Come Back To Me

Chapter 26

July 2016 - Bucky's POV

"That man on the bridge. Who was he?"

"You met him earlier this week on another assignment."

"I knew him."

"Your work has been a gift to mankind. You shaped the century and I need you to do it one more time. Society is at a tipping point between order and chaos. Tomorrow morning we're going to give it a push. But if you don't do your part, I can't do mine. And Hydra can't give the world the freedom it deserves."

"But I know him."

The man in front of me nodded, standing up. "Prep him."

"He's been out of cryo freeze too long."

"Then wipe him and start over."

I was pushed back against the chair. I opened my mouth, waiting for the mouth guard. I knew this process because it happened over and over again. I knew what to expect but it never made the pain hurt any less. I closed my eyes as I began to breathe heavily, preparing myself for what was about to happen. Once I did, I saw something. A beautiful woman smiling, calling out the name Bucky. I immediately opened my eyes as I briefly remembered who that woman was. Riley.

The machine turned on and I bit against the mouth guard, my entire body clenching at the pain. I couldn't help but scream. The pain was unbearable. I tried to focus on my breathing, thinking about Riley. Her beautiful smile and those green eyes but the memory slowly started to fade away.

I jolted awake, breathing heavily. I could feel the sweat forming on my forehead. I looked around seeing I was in my room at the Avengers compound. I sighed, falling back against the pillows. Another nightmare. I've come to terms that I'll never get rid of them.

It had been two years since the takedown of Hydra. I didn't want to run after pulling Steve from the river but my mind was clouded. Once he said the words, "til the end of the line," fragments of memories started racing through my mind. I couldn't recall everything but I was sure that I knew him. But the only thing that mattered at the moment was getting away so I ran.

I was quick to remember Riley, I kept dreaming about her. But it did take me two days for me to remember her name. That's how it usually happened, I would come across something that would trigger a memory or I would dream about her. No matter what they did to me, frying my brain over and over again, I was never able to forget her face. They couldn't take that away from me.

The years I spent on the run, I tried to piece everything together. I tried to make sense of what happened to me and understand how the world worked now. Eventually Steve found me but it wasn't under the best circumstances. The United Nations building was bombed, killing many people including King T'Chaka of Wakanda and I was being framed for it. Steve believed I had nothing to do with it and stuck his neck out for me. This caused a lot of tension between him and his friends. In the end we found out a man named Helmut Zemo was responsible for the bombing and other criminal acts.

Zemo was defeated and arrested for what he did but there was still tension among Steve and his friends. Zemo tried to corrupt the Avengers and tear them apart from the inside and he did this by showing Tony a video from a street camera dated December 16th 1991. This video was evidence that I was the one who murdered his parents, Howard and Iris Stark. That will always be the one mission that will haunt me forever. I not only killed Tony's parents but Riley's best friend.

All of this happened two weeks ago. Tony knew what happened wasn't my fault and is working on forgiving me. He welcomed me into the compound so I had a safe place to stay.

I rubbed my hands over my face, sitting up again to look at the clock on the side table. It was seven in the morning. I stood from the floor, grabbing the pillows and blanket, throwing them on the bed. I grabbed a shirt from the dresser, putting it on.

There was a knock on my door before Steve opened it slightly. "Hey man. I wanted to make sure you were up."

I nodded, sitting down on the edge of the bed. Steve glanced at the unmade bed. "You sleep on the floor again?"

"Yeah. I'll try sleeping on the bed eventually."

Steve sat down beside me. "So there's something I need to show you. I wanted you to have some time to adjust to life before I gave it to you."

I furrowed my brows when he pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket. I grabbed it and opened it. I immediately recognized Riley's handwriting.

"Iris, I know this sounds crazy but there is a chance Bucky may still be alive. You know I would do anything to see him again so I need to find out if it's true. Tell Howard that I'll miss him. And please tell my Mom I love her so much. I'm so sorry that I can't say goodbye to you in person. You're my best friend and I'll forever be grateful for you. Maybe we'll see eachother again. I love you."

I stared at the note, feeling confused and angry. "Where the hell did you get this Steve?"

"After I found out that Iris was Tony's mother, he let me look through some of her things. I found the note in one of the boxes."

"Do you know what happened to her?"

Steve shook his head. "No. I looked through SHIELD files and Howard had a team look for her but nobody ever found anything."

"I need a minute." I stood from the bed, walking out of the room. I made my way out of the compound, walking towards the lake and taking a seat at a bench. I read the note again. I shook my head, folding it and shoving it into my pocket. I'm not sure how long I was out there before I felt someone place their hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see Steve. He sat down beside me, leaning forward placing his elbows on his knees.

"What are you thinking?"

"There is only one logical thing that makes sense. Hydra took her."

"Buck you don't kn-."

"Think about it Steve!" I raised my voice, standing from the bench. "They probably found out she was my wife. What if she was taken because of me?"

Steve sighed, standing from the bench. "We uncovered all of Hydra's secrets when we got rid of Pierce. There wasn't anything about her."

"Then what else could have happened?"

"I don't know pal."

I nodded, looking out at the lake before looking back at Steve. "When are we leaving?"

"In about an hour."

T'Challa, the new king of Wakanda has offered to let me stay there so they can help me get rid of the trigger words that Hydra put in my head. I don't know how long was going to take but I needed to do this. I want to get better and I also want to become the man Riley always believed I could be.