Nostalgia (Bucky Barnes//Avengers fanfiction)

Chapter Two

Wakanda + September 2016
-Bucky-

"Buck," I heard someone whispering.

I opened my eyes to find myself on a bed in a perfectly white room. I glanced up at Steve, who I assumed woke me up, looking at me nervously.

"I said I wanted to go back under Steve, it was my choice. Put me back, you know I don't trust myself like this," I sighed frustratedly running my only hand through my hair.

"I wouldn't have pulled you out unless it was absolutely necessary," he walked over to my bedside and pulled me up.

Steve slung my arm over his shoulders, putting all my weight on him. My muscles were stiff and sore, and each step pained me to take. I was very slow at first, but got faster as my previously frozen muscles started warming up, and eventually I was walking on my own. We walked down a maze of corridors in perfectly white halls, until we reached some sort of waiting room, with floor to ceiling windows. The view was breathtaking, over looking the Wakandan rainforest as it drizzled, the fog filling every available space on the moist jungle floor.

"I know this is the last thing you wanna hear but... We found another Winter Soldier," Steve stated, refusing to look me in the eyes.

"What do you mean? You saw Zemo, he killed all of them- a bullet straight though their brains. There's no way they could've survived that, no matter what type of serum they could've possibly had," I tried to avoid thinking of all the catastrophic things that could've possibly occurred if they weren't actually dead.

"That's what's even more troubling..." He paused. "She's a new one."

I looked at Steve for answers, shocked. "New one? She? I don't-"

"Neither do we," He looked out the window, troubled. "We have very few reports of her, she's definitely trained in stealth missions. She is like you were- a ghost story. So..."

"You want the ghost to find the ghost," I sighed, admitting it to myself.

"Not like that," Steve looked at me worriedly, like he'd worded it wrong. "We thought your help would be very valuable, saying you have shared life experience. Maybe see if you could talk to her when we capture her, try to help her-"

"How am I supposed to convince someone else their mind is playing tricks on them when I know for fact my mind can still play tricks on me?" I hissed, making him flinch. "You know I am still mentally vulnerable-"

"Buck," he cut me off. "I know I'm asking a lot of you, but we really need you on this. You're the only way we can get her back here."

I looked into his eyes. "I can't trust my own mind. Do you know how frustrating that is? Knowing that whatever you do, even if it seems good, seems right, there's a terrible thought in the back of your mind gnawing at you. The thought that your mind isn't even yours?"

"Then trust me," Steve put his hand on my shoulder, supportively. He smiled softly, and I knew I was stupid for making him for feeling guilty. It wasn't his fault. I just always tend to screw up whatever chance with people I get.

I breathed deeply, trying to get my anxieties under control. "I'll do it."

"I appreciate it. It'll all work out. I'm with you til the end of the line," he looked intently at me, and I gave him a half smile. He went through all that trouble to help me... Helping him find someone in the same situation I was in seemed like the least I could do to repay him.

"What about combat?" I questioned, looking at my detached metal arm.

"I would gladly help you with anything, after attempting to kill an innocent man," the Black Panther entered into the room with grace.