Unchained Melody

Chapter 14

"Wake them up, Tony!" Steve yelled. "Can't you see it's hurting them? Wake them up!"
Wanda and I were both screaming in pain, tears streaming down our cheeks.
"I can't wake them up. It can hurt them more. Wanda's powers are very temperamental." Tony watched the monitors, making sure that both of us were still ok.
I squirmed around on the table. The screaming turned into sobbing before turning right back into screams.
"Tony, you pull Wanda out of Melody's head or I will," Steve growled at Tony.
Bucky's head was buried into my arm, squeezing my hand as if his life depended on it.
The video feed had attracted some attention. More people were in the room, watching what was going on. Suddenly the feed went black.
My body launched upright, almost throwing me off the table. I turned around to look at Wanda, she was sitting with her eyes locked onto mine, crying.
"I am so sorry," she whispered, barely even making noise. She got up and walked over to Vision, pressing her head to his chest as she couldn't help but cry more.
I sat at the end of the table, looking down at my hands as I tried to catch my breath. I could still feel the pain, every ounce of it.
Bucky stood up, reaching over and grabbing my hand.
I looked up at him, climbing off the table before wrapping my arms around him. Pressing my face into his chest. My arms reached around him, grabbing onto his shirt as I tried not to cry.
"I'm sorry," he was able to choke out a couple of words. He pressed his face into the top of my head. His body shook as if he began to cry.
Steve walked up behind us and gently nudged us towards the door. "Buck. Please take her to get some rest."
"We aren't going to talk about the fact that Bucky choked your sister to death?" Clint chimed in. He was hidden in the corner of the room.
Bucky's grip around me got tighter. He placed his hand on the back of my head, holding me against him as if he was trying to protect me.
"No, Clint." Steve kept pushing Bucky and me. "Wanda and Melody have been through extreme stress for more than 24 hours and they need rest."
"Vision, please take Wanda to her room to rest. Stay with her." Tony requested. "Everyone except Bruce and Steve, get out."
Bucky picked me up, letting me wrap my legs around his waist as he walked out of the room. He carried me to our room. Once we were there he locked the door and set me down on the bed, sinking down onto the floor with his back to me. Bringing his hands up to hold his face.
I slid off the bed and knelt next to him. Wrapping my arms around his head, pulling him into my chest. His arms slid around my waist to pull me impossibly closer. I nuzzled into his head, leaving soft pecks.
"I didn't- I didn't want you to know." He struggled to form words. "I'm sorry Melody."
My hand gently ran down the back of his head. Resting my chin on the top of his head. "Shh. Just breathe, Bucky. Take a deep breath."
"I almost killed you. Fuck. You were dead. I felt your pulse stop. I remember it. It keeps me up at night." He grabbed onto the back of my shirt.
I placed my hands on his cheeks and pushed his face so that he would look up at me. Using my thumbs to wipe away the tears running down his cheeks I began to cry as well. "I love you, Bucky. You didn't know what you were doing. You were following orders. You couldn't have stopped yourself. You didn't have any free will."
"I didn't protect you. I should have protected you." His eyes locked onto mine as he brought his hands up to my cheeks.
I leaned down to gently peck his lips, pulling away slightly before pecking again. "You will protect me until the day I die, Bucky. You didn't kill me. I'm right here. If you didn't do that I would have been gone. They would have killed me themselves."
He nodded a little as he moved his right hand down, intertwining his fingers into mine. His head turned just enough to kiss my hand. "I love you, Melody."
"I love you too Bucky." I gently pecked his forehead before pulling away slightly. Standing up and pulled his hand with me as I crawled onto the bed. "My head really hurts and crying isn't helping. Can you please get into bed and just hold me?"
He turned around just enough to crawl onto the bed, getting under the blankets and laying down.
I laid my head on his right arm, turning enough to leave soft kisses on his skin. My gaze made its way to his eyes, I could see how much pain he was in.
His left arm wrapped around me, pulling me against his chest.
My hand rested gently on his cheek. Brushing away his hair before gently caressing his cheek with the back of my index finger. "I'm not going anywhere. So please. Don't look at me like this is the last time you will see me."
He nodded a little and closed his eyes.
I left a small peck on his nose before closing my eyes as well. Slowly falling asleep.

I yawned softly as I slipped out of bed, grabbing my phone to check the time.
'3:42'
Bucky was sound asleep, facing away from me. He was hugging onto a pillow. The sound of his snoring echoed in the quiet room.
I giggled softly at the sight. Making my way to the bedroom door, attempting to quietly slip out. Then I made my way to the common area.
Wanda was sitting in the chair facing the windows, watching the black abyss.
I walked over to the counter, grabbing a half-drunk bottle of Jack and a glass. "Can't sleep?"
"I feel like I should have told you no." Wanda hummed softly as she looked down at the glass of water she was holding.
"Well, I'm glad you said yes. It might suck to know what I did but at least I know everything. It sucks more being in the dark. Letting everyone know stuff about you that you don't even know." I poured the Jack into a glass. Downing the glass and then refilling it.
"You've been through so much and you're still here acting as if nothing happened." She turned to look at me.
"There's no point in holding onto it. Grudges take up time and energy you can spend on things and people you love. I mean, if I get to murder everyone in HYDRA with Steve and Bucky by my side then that's great but I'm not gonna go get myself killed when I could be here. With all of you."
She sat quietly as her gaze went back to the window.
"Anyways, do you know if Steve is awake?"
"He should be in the lab with Tony. They have been glued to the tapes since we went to bed."
"Thank you, Wanda." I walked up behind her and wrapped one arm around her to give her a half-assed hug. Then made my way upstairs to the lab.

"Hurry up Steve! If you take too long then all of the good skates will be gone." My voice echoed over speakers in the lab.
I quietly opened the door and slipped in. Trying to keep Steve from noticing I was there.
"Slow down Melody. They aren't going anywhere." Steve's voice echoed back.
It was as if he was watching an old home video. Little snippets of my memories were playing on a monitor for him to watch. Wanda had skipped some stuff. What had felt like years and years of my life was only around 36 hours for her in my head. The tapes... were longer.
"You were trying to convince me to wait for Bucky to meet up with us before we went roller skating. But it was my birthday and I was too excited. I gave no fucks about him." I let out a chuckle before pulling up one of the roller chairs and sitting down next to Steve. My arms wrapped around the back of the chair with my chin on the backrest.
"He took so long because he couldn't figure out what present to get you." He sat back in his chair a bit and rotated it to look at me.
"Why are you looking at these?" I reached over for the computer mouse and tried to fast forward it.
"Why are you awake?" He leaned forwards to get closer to me, resting his elbows on his knees.
"I was thirsty." I raised my glass at him. I swirled it a little to let the dark liquid splash around in the glass.
He took the mouse from my hand and turned back towards the monitor. "I needed something to keep me calm between rewatching HYDRA's torture videos. I want to see if there's anything I could find that will help."
"You could sell those on the net for good money." I smiled at him, trying not to laugh.
"Haha. Really funny." He was glaring at me.
"I know. I'm hilarious." I stood up and pushed the chair against the desk, out of the way. Setting my drink down on the desk before taking a step back. "Dance with me. Like how mom used to dance with us."
"Are you drunk? I didn't think super soldiers could get drunk." He let out a chuckle before standing up. Rewinding the video to where there was a slower song before making his way to me.
I smiled as I placed my left hand in his right hand, wrapping my other arm around him and then placing my head on his chest. We began to slowly sway back and forth.
"How are you holding up?" He gently laid his head on top of mine, closing his eyes.
"I'm fine honestly. I remember it all. And I'm happy I'm not stuck in the dark anymore." I closed my eyes, letting out a soft yawn.
"If you go back to bed, I will go to bed."
I shook my head. "Just a couple more minutes please."
"Buck is going to wake up and tear this whole compound apart if you aren't next to him." He chuckled as he picked his head up, looking down at me.
"Bleh." I rolled my eyes as I looked up at him. "He's a big boy. He doesn't need me there 24/7."
"I know. I know. But you need to sleep anyway." He smiled before leaning down to peck my nose. "Now go."
I groaned as I made my way towards the door. Quietly walked down the stairs and back to my room where Bucky was still cuddling his beloved pillow. I crawled in on my side of the bed, gently wrapping my arms around him. My chest pressed to his back as I nuzzled into his shoulder blade, leaving soft kisses across his back.
My movements must have woken him up because he rolled over. Wrapping his arms around me and pulling me into his chest. A couple of moments of silence pass before he starts to snore again.
I nuzzle into his chest and close my eyes. Trying to fall back to sleep as well.