Project: A Stark Winter

Chapter Sixteen: Ghostbusters

Your eyes lazily drift open as they are met with blinding white light. Blurry shadows dance across your vision, crating a kaleidoscope of shapes that make you feel dizzy. I've got to stop waking up like this. Trying to focus more clearly on your surroundings, you blink away the heaviness of sleep. Attempting to lift your head from the hospital bed, you are instantly hit with a wave of nausea and uneasiness. The world around you spins and shifts like the rolling ocean waves, deep out at sea. You let your head fall back with a soft thump against the thin pillow and whimper in discomfort. The whispering of soft voices in the distance stops momentarily as a shadowy person steps into view. Squinting and blinking your eyes, you strain to focus on who they are, but the blurriness will not clear from your vision. Timidly you reach a hand out to the figure and rest it on the curve of their stubbled jaw; your fingertips gently caressing the skin there. The figure tenses as you feel the jaw beneath your fingers twitch before relaxing into your touch.
"I-I who are youuu?" Your slurred words beg as you trace over their string features. Eyelids still heavy, they fight against any effort to get a better view of your companion. The figure moves their hand to hold yours and you feel cool metal wrap around your fingers in a comforting hold. Bucky. You think to yourself sleepily, a sluggish smile toying at your lips. Whatever drugs they had given you to help you sleep had left you feeling slow and unsteady as you fought against it.
"Buck, mm ssso tireddd, but I don' wanna sleep." You mumble groggily, your words slurring together in an almost incoherent jumble.
"Shh, y/n. You need to rest. That poison stuff really did a number on ya." Bucky shushes you in soft tones as he places your hand back on the bed. A sense of panic takes over as you begin to feel him shift away. You grab needily at his hand and hold it in your own firmly.
"Pleassse, stayyy!" Your voice is strained with fear as your lip quivers. The horror of the voices and creatures of your nightmares has you shaking and grasping aimlessly for Bucky. He nervously steps forward, startled and concerned by your reaction to him taking a few steps away. Bucky takes your hand firmly as he drags the hospital chair closer to your bedside and settles in. His fingers begin tracing over your knuckles as he nervously watches your breathing return to normal.
"I'm not goin' anywhere, sweetheart. Just rest." His calm voice coos at you, relaxing your moment of panic instantly as you melt into the familiarity of his closeness. Your eyes drift closed as you let out a soft hum of contentment that caught Bucky off guard. He tilts his head as he watches a smile form on your lips; peaceful once again as you recover.
As you lay there in silence, his hand in your own, you begin to feel the same sense of safeness, the intimacy you had left behind in your own universe. The ability to sit in comfortable silence, not expecting anything from one another except for company. Minutes passed in this quiet sanctuary that rolled into well over an hour. You dozed on and off, never letting yourself fall completely under the spell of sleep. Every time you'd almost get pulled under, your body would jerk awake and you'd grab Bucky's hand in a viselike grip, and every time he'd let you. Finally breaking the silence, he tugged on your hand to draw your attention to him. You tilted your head to face him, eyes opening to see his clear, smiling face.
"Are you always this needy?" Bucky asks with a small chuckle the snark ever present but playful, as he uses his free hand to tug on his hair. You weave your fingers in between his metal ones and give a squeeze.
"You have no idea, Barnes." Your voice comes out strained, but clear as the effects of the medicine have begun to wear off. Bucky shakes his head and looks at you, concern clear in his eyes. His dark circles tell the story of sleepless nights and reality begins to sink in.
"How...how long have I been out?" You ask timidly, your voice a hushed whisper. Bucky looks away and then back to you, uncertainty written plainly across his face.
"A week." He admits finally, his tone level and emotionless as he looks you over for signs of stress.
"A week!?!" You shout the question at him, bolting upright in bed and trying to rip out the various wires, IVs, and monitors attached to your body. Bucky stands abruptly and pushes you back onto the bed, pinning your shoulders as he leans over you. Your heartbeat rapidly quickens and your breathing continues to come out in shallow gasps as you struggle beneath him. A nurse comes running in the room at the commotion and watches as Bucky struggles with your feral form.
"Mr. Barnes, is everything okay? Do you-"
"Got it. Thanks." He grits out without looking up as he continues to fight against you. The nurse blushes at his harsh tone but exits quickly knowing there not much she could do anyway.
"Calm down. Y/n, listen to me!" Bucky pleads with you as you fight against his strong hold on your body. The anxiousness of having been out for that long had settled deep in your stomach as nausea slowly crept back in. It hadn't felt like much time had passed, but the panic in Bucky's eyes told you it was true. As the fear took hold, a rippling feeling crawled up your arms and towards your throat. Your eyes dart down to your wrists to see the same black ink creeping through your veins.
"What the fuck!?!" You shriek as you watch it travel further up your veins when pain begins to burn through your body suddenly. Bucky presses his chest against yours in a last ditch effort to subdue you without hurting you as he cages your head in between his hands arms; face inches from your own.
"Y/n, you need to calm down! If you get too upset, the poison activates. Please!" Bucky begs you, desperately trying to soothe you. Taking one measured breath you nod and try and focus your energy on being calm, but it's not working. Whimpering you pull your hands to your face and cover your eyes, fighting desperately for peace. Sensing this losing battle, Bucky leans back quickly and before he can over think it, he pulls you into a hug and tightly squeezes. Your breath comes in short gasps as the fear rolls over you in waves. Your chest aches from the effort of each breath, but still, Bucky holds you. His metal hand cradles the back of your head as his flesh hand trails up and down your back in a soothing pattern. Tears spill-free as anger and frustration take over and you cry. The wailing sound tears free from your throat as you pour out all the hurt you had been holding onto. You cry for the loss of your friends and family in your home universe, at the thought that you would never be able to see them again. You cry for your father and how you tried to desperately to fix losing him, failing to head the potential dangers, and for taking for granted everything you still had. You missed your Steve who knew just what to say and the bad day dates to a diner for homemade apple pie. You ached for the chance to hold the people you loved again. As you cry for what you've lost and the consequences you are now left with, Bucky just held you firmly. He slowly rocked you and comforted you as you let out everything you had been hanging on to. Gradually your sobs slowed into a soft hiccup and sniffle as you pulled away and wiped your face. Gaining composer, you cleared your throat and sheepishly looked up at Bucky, who looked at you with a sad smile.
"Thank you, Buck." You awkwardly thank him, as a light blush colors your features. He shoves his hands in the pockets of his worn jeans and plops back into the hospital chair, leaning back casually.
"Anytime." His one-word reply is curt and quick as his eyes avert your gaze. Leaning back against the hospital bed, you stare up at the ceiling. Your eyes trace over the edges of each ceiling tile, memorizing their corners in a half-hearted attempt to distract yourself.
"Where's the rest of the team?" You ask casually, eyes trained on the ceiling to hide the nerves you felt. To your surprise, he doesn't answer. You wait for a beat before raising yourself up to meet his eyes, but he looks away.
"Buck, where are they?" Your voice is firm but strained as you peer into him, begging for an answer. He takes a deep breath as he runs his hands through his hair anxiously.
"They went to get me." A deep voice responds in Bucky's stead. Your head whips to find Stephen Strange leisurely strolling into the room, the rest of the team closely behind him. Your eyes trace his familiar figure as he reaches a hand out for yours.
"Dr. Stephen Strange. Nice to meet you." He politely introduces himself with the wink of an eye and a knowing grin. Returning the grin you giggle at his introduction drawing confused looks from the team.
"Lovely to see you, Strange. But what brings you to my humble abode?" You question brows raised as Stephen steps forward and begins looking you over appraisingly. Tony emerges from behind the group and steps forward seeing your confused look.
"He is a wizard of magical-" Tony explains before being cut off abruptly.
"Mystical." Stephen corrects as he smiles at you and motions for Tony to continue.
"Right, mystical arts." Tony's eyes narrowed at Stephen as he spoke through gritted teeth. Sensing the growing agitation in Tony, Bruce steps between the two and takes a measured breath.
"We figured that whatever is...poisoning you, isn't something normal science can fix."
"So we called in a ghostbuster!" Sam quips from the back of the group and is met with a chorus of groans.
"I resent that." Stephen replies, curtly. His cape ruffling in annoyance.
"I understood that reference!" Steve chimes in, his cheeks flushing with fresh embarrassment as everyone gives him a stern stare.
"Got it, not the time." He concedes as Wanda nudges his shoulder with her own. Natasha stomps forward and sassily juts out her hip and crosses her arms.
"We don't have time for this. Can you help her or not?" Her face remains calm and collected, if not a bit annoyed, but you pick up on the slightest waver of her voice. She was scared, they all were and so were you. Stephen steps even closer leaning over your body as he scans you for any sign of the mystical. Bucky bristles next to you ever so slightly which draws a smirk from Strange as he leans back and shrugs. Eyes still trained on yours, he addresses the group.
"I need to speak with her-"
"Okay, well do it then-" Tony snarks dryly, his eyes rolling as he cuts off Stephen.
"Alone." Silence hangs in the room as Stephen turns to stare down Tony. Something flickers in his eyes that's gone in an instant before he scoffs and steps toe to toe with the sorcerer. His voice drops dangerously low as he points a finger at Stephen's chest.
"Five. Minutes. And if anything happens to her, I will hurt you, wizard boy." Tony turns sharply on his heel and gestures to start shooing the rest of the team into the hall. Bucky, who had remained silent stayed still and brooding in his chair by your bed. Your eyes met his as you smiled warmly at him and nod your head to the door.
"I'll be okay, Buck."
"I'm not leaving. My job was to watch you." He huffed as he crossed his arms, annoyance clear on his face.
"The hallway isn't that far and you'll just be on the other side of a door. I'll be fine." Bucky chewed his lip, mulling over the choice as he shifted in his seat uncomfortably. He sighed deeply and without another word, stood and stomped out of the room leaving you alone with Stephen.
"Alone at last, y/n." He joked, a light chuckle falling from his lips as he plopped into the chair Bucky had been sitting in.
"So...can you fix me?" You ask quietly, your small voice nervous for the answer to your question. He stares at you thoughtfully for a moment, his eyes tracing every inch of your face.
"Depends." Strange admits finally, his voice level and measured as he spoke. His features were unreadable as he stared back at you.
"On what?" You ask, your voice clipped and annoyed. He huffs slightly and leans back in his chair.
"Well, on a lot of things." His voice was deep and melodic as he spoke, his hands casually gesturing to the air before him. Pinching the bridge of your nose and squinting your eyes against the growing pain, you sigh deeply.
"Could you be a little more specific?"
"Do you want me to fix your past, present, or future?"
"I'm sorry, are we in the Christmas Carol?"
Stephen laughs at your sarcastic comment and chooses to brush past it as he stands and holds his hands out over your body. With a snap of his wrist, his sling ring creates a tiny, circular pattern. He drags it over you until he comes to a stop above your heart. Stephen looks at you in question to which you nod and he presses his hands there firmly. You feel a sharp stab of pain that turns to warmth as it spreads throughout your veins. Golden light glows under the surface of your skin as Stephen attempts to pull out the corrupted parts of you. Without warning, the blackness inside your veins begins to overtake the glowing mystical light. Stephen's hands begin to tremble and shake as he tries to fight against the dark force inside you. You look on in a mixture of fear and pain, unable to move from your spot in the bed; a captive witness to the events unfolding. With a resounding boom, Stephen is thrown away from you and crashes through a medical cart and onto the floor. Hearing the noise, the team rushes in but they stop as they see the pulsing darkness creeping up your arms once again. Bucky shoves past everyone as he runs to your side and cradles your head in his arms. He turns your head to the side just in time for you to cough out more black, inky liquid from your lungs. Your throat aches from the retching, but it finally ceases. You rest your head against Bucky's chest tiredly; your whole body aches. Tony steps around to your other side and rests a hand on your shoulder, tenderly squeezing to offer his reassurance. Stephen stumbles to his feet and leans a tired arm against the foot of the bed. Taking a few ragged breaths he looks to Tony and shakes his head incredulously.
"Now, there's something you don't see every day."