Ice Princess

35

When they entered the castle, there was pandemonium going on. The servants had left in a hurry, leaving beds unmade, food uneaten, food in pans on the stove and bread in the oven burning. Things were knocked over as if people were running to get out. Bruce looked around more curious than anything. Bucky looked around and tried to figure out where the best place to start was. As if on cue, a scream could be heard ringing through the castle. The echoes made it near impossible to locate the epicenter as each echo over lapped the last. Clearly, it was a male, not female.

"She said her room was in the turret furthest away from ours. That sounds like a good place to begin." Bucky told him. Both Bucky and Bruce searched the tower coming up empty handed. Then they started looking through the rest of the castle including their own turret. Still nothing. Bruce noticed the rug in the study had a strange indentation in it. He started pulling at books, ripping them off the shelves. The screams were louder and clearer in this room than any of the other rooms. Bucky soon joined in on the other bookshelves. Wall scones, small statues, anything and everything made a soon large pile in the center of the room. Eventually, Bucky sat at the desk and started to go through it, pulling out the drawers and looking for a hidden switch. Something either one or both of them did made a bookcase open, there was a long staircase that was dimly lit. An acrid smell wafted up and occasional breezes came at them. The screaming was clearer now.

The two men went down one level and searched it, finding computers and lab equipment. Going down to the next level, it looked more 'lived' in for lack of a better term. Things were not as neat and tidy as they were on the previous floor. But, still nothing. Going down to what had to be the third and final floor was where they did find something. Light was pouring out of it so bright, it was hard to see inside. Clearly there was a machine going and that was where they saw Doom with a metal mask on his face, his eyes wide and wild under it.

"No, stay back." He screamed, but it wasn't at Bucky or Bruce. They couldn't see who he was talking to.

However, in a darker corner, lay a small figure, looking away into the corner. Her hair obstructing her face, but clearly the size of the body was right and so was the hair color. But something was wrong, she wasn't moving. There were cords going from the machine that Doom was hooked up to which lead also back to her. The manacles that were on her wrists and forearms looked heavier than she was at the moment. When they got closer, their hearts dropped. It looked like Melinoe was a dried out husk, all the life was drained out of her.

"Oh, Meli, no." Bruce said. "Bucky, help me get these manacles off of her." Together it was difficult to break the adamantium, but they did. When they did, her eyes opened, unfocused.

"The nightmares and ghosts will mess with his mind. Destroy the machine and the labs." Her voice sounded like a rustling of dried leaves over ice. Then, her whole form collapsed into dust, leaving only her hair, clothes, and bones. Bucky fell to his knees, despite everything he finally realized he ran out of chances to ask for forgiveness and love her the way she deserved. He felt like he lost Steve all over again. There were little lights which were almost like fireflies which floated up from her corpse and away.

"Bruce, you're going to need to take Doom. I don't think I can not kill him. But I can take care of the machine and the lab." Bucky told him. While Doom wasn't easy to remove, Bruce did so and eventually, Fury appeared, was filled in on the situation. Doom would be imprisoned in the ARK. Meanwhile, Bucky set about destroying the lab and the machine. More of the firefly like things floated away from the machine as it was destroyed. Before he set fire to the lab, he found a box and gently brushed Melinoe's remains into it. It weighed nothing.

"I'm so, so sorry. But we are not leaving you here." As he rose to the next level, he destroyed that lab, setting it also on fire. Then did the same for the first level. Finally, he started a blaze in the library and joined everyone outside in the blizzard that was currently going on. When they entered the helicarrier, that was when Bruce noticed the small box with a lid. "I did as she asked. I couldn't leave her there, it wouldn't be right."

When they got back to the compound, it was the middle of the night. Bucky had yet to put the box down. Going down to the gardening shed, he found a shovel and walked to an area near the lake. It was the same place he said good bye to Steve at. Near the tree, he started digging. The ground was still frozen and winter wasn't over yet by a long shot for New York State, but luckily, there recently was a warm up which made things go a little faster. When he finished, he gently placed the box in the hole and started covering it up. Her couldn't just stand there and not say anything.

"I'm so sorry you had to be alone going through that for almost an entire week. But, thank you for saving us. While we still don't know what Doom was doing or for what purpose, you shouldn't have had to endure that alone. I picked out a good spot, you'll have a great view of the lake come spring time." He wiped some tears away. "I'll make sure you get a marker and bring Love to visit. God, this is such a bad eulogy. I'll let the others know and they'll do something better. I promise." But even with doing this wouldn't fix the hole he felt in his soul.