Winter Love || Bucky Barnes

1944: Experiment

When I woke up, I was in a small room. I immediately ran to the door, but it was locked. There were no windows, just four gray walls, a tiny bathroom and two beds, but I was the only person.

"Where the hell am I?" I murmured.

I started to panic. The room was too small and I was starting to feel claustrophobic.

"Help," I shouted desperately. "Please help me."

Nobody came.

"No. No. Noo. Noooo."

My breathing became more and more labored and I felt the panic taking hold of my body.

I fell down and leaned against the wall. I don't know how much time passed before the door was unlocked. A man with his face covered by a mask entered with a syringe in his hand. This time it contained a blue liquid. "No," I begged and backed away. "Please. I'm pregnant." But the man didn't care. He stepped closer, grabbed my arm and stabbed my veins. "Is that harmful for the baby? Please, tell me it's not harmful." Without answering, he left the room again.

I felt a terrible pain and clutched my stomach. "Please, no."

After a while the pain subsided. "Everything's fine," I murmured and tried to calm me down. "He wouldn't harm the baby."

I didn't know how much time had passed until before I was visited again. This time it was the man with the notebook.

"Who are you?"

He ignored my question and looked at the notes he had made.

"What's wrong with you?"

He motioned for me to stretch out my arm.

"No," I yelled. "Tell me what this stuff is. And how is the baby?"

Finally, he spoke. "The child will not be harmed."

He injected the syringe into my arm again.

This time it was red.

"Please, no," I begged.

"The child will not be harmed," he repeated.

***

Days passed before I had company again. Three men led a man in, who lay down on the other bed. Then they disappeared and left us alone. I backed away fearfully. "You don't have to be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you."

My mouth remained open. I knew that voice. "James," I called and ran to him.

"Connie," he exclaimed and hugged me tightly.

"You're alive. Oh god, James, I thought I had lost you forever."

I kissed him passionately.

"Are you okay, doll? Did they harm you?"

I shook my head. "I'm fine. And the baby is fine, too."

His eyes widened. "Really? You're pregnant?"

I smiled and hugged him again. "Yes. We're going to have a baby."

I looked at him and beamed. Then I saw his metal arm. "What's that?"

"I lost my arm when I fell off the train. They replaced it."

"Oh, James. That must have hurt terribly."

"Don't worry. It doesn't hurt anymore."

"But how can you be alive? Steve said it was very high." He sighed. "When I was captured, they injected me with something. A serum. That must have done something."

I stared at him. "They injected me with a serum, too."

He looked at me worriedly. "And you're sure you're all right? When I got it, I was quite unpowered for several hours."

"Yes, I'm fine. Perhaps they were different liquids."

"Could be." He stroked my hair and quickly changed the topic, for which I was very grateful. "I can't believe you're pregnant.

"Me neither."

But suddenly none of us knew what to say. The whole situation was just messed up.

At some point, I broke the silence. "I read the book."

He looked at me with wide eyes. "Did you like it?"

"Yeah. I loved it. Especially Kili was great. He reminded me of you."

Bucky smiled at me and was about to reply when the door opened again. Three men entered the room.

Two of them grabbed me and the third threatened Bucky with a gun so that he couldn't do anything to save me. "Where are you taking her?" he shouted desperately, but I was already being dragged out.

***

They took me into a dark room and tied me to a chair. I immediately felt freezing cold. The only source of light came from a small blue cube attached to a machine. The men moved away again and locked the door, but I could still hear them. "Is she ready for this yet?" one of them asked. "I think so."

My throat went dry. Ready for what?

Suddenly the machine started to make a buzzing noise and the cube was brought closer and closer to me. When it touched my arm, I started to scream. It felt like 100 knives were stabbing into my skin. After far too long, I was brought back to Bucky. I could barely stand and immediately sank onto my bed. Concerned, Bucky ran to me.

"What have they done to you, Connie?"

But I couldn't speak. It was as if I was paralyzed.

***

"James? I think the baby just kicked." He sat up and put his hand on my belly. After a short time, a grin crept onto his lips. He gave me a long kiss. " We'll get out of here, doll. And then we'll raise the baby together."

I nodded eagerly. "That sounds wonderful. And then we can buy a house with a garden."

"Yeah. With a white fence and a swing."

"And a pool."

He lauged. "Yes, of course. And a pool."

I closed my eyes and tried to imagine it. It was a wonderful image.

The next few weeks were tough. Either Bucky or I was dragged out of the room so they could carry out experiments on us. But I persevered. For Bucky and the baby.