Winter Love || Bucky Barnes

1944: Escape or trap?

One day I woke up with a bad feeling.

I instinctively put my hand on my stomach to feel the baby. That always calmed me down. But my belly was flat. "James?" He was with me immediately. "What's wrong, doll?"

"The baby," I stammered, and a tear rolled down my cheek. "It is gone. James, our baby is gone."

"What?" he gasped with a pale face.

"The baby is gone," I repeated and now cried even more.

"But how?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. It just isn't there anymore."

He hugged me tightly. "Oh doll."

I didn't know how I felt.

Anger, sadness, guilt. A mix of everything.

But most of all I felt numb.

I just stared at the wall, hoping this was all just a bad dream.

The next time the man came in, Bucky could no longer contain his rage. He stormed towards a man and pressed him against the wall with his metal arm. "What did you do with our child?"

"We did nothing," the man croaked. "You must have imagined it. Look at your stomach." I did as he said. "You see. No scar. No sign that you've been pregnant."

He was right. My stomach was as flat as it had been before.

"Now let me go."

Bucky stared at him angrily, but then let him go.

They quickly left the room. Bucky looked at me with a look I had never seen before. Sadness, compassion but hope at the same time.

He approached me, took my hand and placed an object in it. It was a gun. Now I understood. That was why he had attacked the man. "What am I supposed to do with this?" I asked quietly.

"It's a chance for your escape" he replied softly. "The next time the men come in here, you have to pretend to be unconscious. I'll fight back to have one or two men stay with me. You can finish off the other one and escape."

My eyes widened. Was he really planning for me to escape without him? "No. I'm not going to do that. Not without you, James. We'll find a way out. Together."

"Please, doll. This might be the only chance. Do it for me. Please." I tucked the gun in my pants.

"Fine, but I'll come back and free you."

I took a deep breath "You know, I think these experiments have changed something in me. I heard two men talking the other day, even though there was a steel door between us."

Bucky raised his eyebrows. "Wow. Sounds interesting. Do you think you can do that again?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Maybe."

Suddenly we heard a key being turned in the lock. Bucky gave me one last, quick kiss before I lay down on the floor and closed my eyes.

"What have you done to her?" Bucky shouted loudly. "She just fell over. If she dies because of you, I'll kill you all."

I felt a strong pair of hands lift me up off the cold, hard floor and carry me away. I was placed on a table and slowly opened my eyes. Luckily, I only discovered a man taking a syringe and putting the blue serum in. I quickly grabbed the gun and pointed it at him. "Don't move. Hands in the air." He did as I told him.

"Good."

I grabbed the syringe and the serum.

"And now take me to Bucky," but he just smiled. "I said, take me to him!" My hands started to shake. "I can't do that. They've already killed him," he said cold and emotionless. I laughed. He was just trying to distract me. Bucky was alive. The man took a step towards me, a new syringe in his hand. Without giving it much thought, I shot him in the arm. He groaned, dropped the syringe and fell to the ground.

I rushed out to find Bucky. First I ran to our room but it was empty. Bucky wasn't here anymore. My grip on the guard tightened as I crept quietly through the building.
I decided to go to the laboratory where experiments were being done with me and the blue cube. I pulled open the door and and almost dropped the gun in shock. Bucky was lying on a table, an empty syringe next to him.
Quickly, I checked his breathing. Nothing.
I felt his neck for a heartbeat. Nothing.

Panic slowly took hold of me. I pressed my lips to his and tried desperately to wake him up, but nothing helped. He no longer moved. I pressed on his chest, but that didn't help either. 

Suddenly I heard footsteps coming closer and closer. I knew that I had to get out of here if I wanted to survive. With a heavy heart, I got up and ran away with one last look at Bucky.