Till the End of the Line

Alive

Becca wasn't dreaming anymore, if you could call it dreaming. It felt like she was swimming in her head. The darkness kept pulling her down no matter how hard swam for the light. She was getting tired. Every time she wanted to give up Bucky's face swam into her vision.

Bucky sat by her bed, hands folded, face blank, his mind is in turmoil. The doctors said that there was a good chance she wouldn't live to see tomorrow. God, he wished he could say he was proud of her one more time. "Please don't go. I need you." He whispers.

Becca's entire body is in pain. It feels like it's on fire and frozen at the same time. She wonders if this is what The Winter Soldier feels like when he's frozen in cryo. She can't move, can't speak, and it feels like something is pressing down on her lungs. she feels weightless and weighed down at the same time. 

Bucky is exhausted, but he will not sleep. He hasn't slept in two days he's been so worried about her. He absentmindedly reaches out and strokes her silver hair out of her face, taking some of the strands between his metal fingers and play with them. he traces the outline of her face with his flesh hand. 

Becca can see her brother and father. They seem so happy and peaceful and she's almost there, almost back with her family. She tries to swim away, tries to swim towards the light but her body is too tired to fight. Then she feels the warmth of something on her face, and something about it gives her the strength to stir. 

Her place in the world isn't fulfilled yet. She needs to fight. So, she does, she gets closer and closer to the light. 

Bucky wipes some sweat from her forehead and stares down at her. He would never admit it but he's terrified. Not just of losing her but of losing her memory. If she's dead then HYDRA had no use for him, he would be wiped and put back into cryo until they needed him for an assassination or to be a trainer for the next recruit. He'd be left with no memory of her and he can't stand that idea.

Becca is lucid again. She can feel her body screaming in agony but she's sort of awake. She' still not able to move, but she can see Bucky through bleary eyes. He looked...sad.  She didn't want him to be sad, so she fought.

Bucky felt her stir, but she didn't wake. He had hope. The doctors had told him she wouldn't even make it through the night. He squeezed her hand in his and her eyes flutter open and shut like she was in REM sleep. 

Becca was getting closer to the light, she could hear things now, she could feel a pair of hands in her hair and smell the moldy scent of the base they were in, but her eyes wouldn't open.

Bucky watched her, fighting for consciousness.

But she was alive.