Winters End

Blood Upon the Snow

Bucky gasped while he took a step back, not quite believing what he was seeing, the trail seemed to have just appeared and there was so much blood. Could an animal survive losing that amount of blood? Was this even from an animal? Just then he heard a scream coming from where the trail led into the forest that sounded like his sister. He immediately took off running calling Rebecca's name, following the blood trail to try and find where she could be.

He ran for what seemed like forever, the cold air numbing his face. His body quickly became tired, not used to running through this much snow. It was one of the coldest winters he'd seen and he was unprepared for it. Eventually, it got to be too much and his knees buckled underneath his weight, causing him to land on all fours in the blood-soaked snow. Tears ran down his face as he called out for someone to answer him, hoping this was somehow just some sick prank Steve and Rebecca were playing on him.

The wind tore through him causing his body to shake violently, he could feel his heart pounding in his chest, tasted the blood in his throat, and heard ringing in his ears. He was breathing too fast and felt like he was being choked all at the same time. He bent forward and rested his head in his hands, trying to control his breathing while he started to rock back and forth in the snow lightly. 

Finally, after quite a while had passed with James lying in the snow, he heard someone call out to him. "Bucky? Is that you?" The voice sounded strange like it hurt the person just to get the words out. James looked up and saw his sister, but was horrified to see her body all mangled and bloody, some of her bones poking through her skin. It made him feel sick, he curled his body back into itself and kept whispering that it wasn't real and that he was just dreaming. "A dream? Or a memory?" Rebecca asked him as she stepped closer. "You're messing with my memories! This was the last time I saw my sister and you're tainting the memory, making it something it wasn't." Bucky cried out. He tried to focus on the real memory, that day when he went ice skating with his best friend and sister before he sent her to the place that would cause the end of her life. When Rebecca took another step forward he tried to get away by scrambling backward but was forced to stop when he felt his back hit a tree. 

Becca stalked toward her brother and what looked to be wings, twisted and broken, dragged behind her in the snow. "Look at yourself, the great Winter Soldier fallen so low. You've killed many and yet a nightmare is where you crumble? How pathetic." Rebecca scoffed as she ridiculed her brother. 

"Don't call me that!" James shouted. He took a shaky breath and then spoke again, "I am no longer the Winter Soldier. I am James Bucky Barnes, and you're part of my efforts to make amends." Bucky repeated the mantra that he was forced to say in therapy, hoping that it would somehow help him in this fight against his own mind.

"Amends? Don't make me laugh. How can you ever make amends for being the reason your little sister is dead?" Rebecca was now standing right in front of James, with him on the ground muttering she towered over him, some of her blood dripping down into the snow around them.

Gusts of wind swept through the air, causing Bucky to shiver even more than he had before, with no hope of gaining any warmth. Becca crouched down to look James in the eyes,  "This cold is nothing compared to the hand of death that will soon greet you, brother. So for now I shall take my leave, let us meet again in your sleep tomorrow." She stood up and started walking away deeper into the forest.

His sisters' words snapped James out of his daze, he tried to stand but was so weak that he collapsed back into the snow. He called out to her, trying to get her to wait while he crawled after her. Even though it was a nightmare, it was the only time he could remember his sister's face so he didn't want her to leave just yet, he wanted her to stay at least a moment longer so he could try to commit her face to memory. "Rebecca, please." He called out faintly as his vision started to go black. It was time for him to wake up.