Battlefield ★ Bucky Barnes

XVII. About Damn Time

Connie could not think properly at all. Her mind was so muddled due to what had just happened to not only her, but Steve as well. Her thoughts were running a million miles and hour through her head, though she couldn't make a single one of them out. She figured it was her mind's way of trying to process everything happening, but in her opinion it was a shitty way of doing so.

One thing that was clear inside Connie's mind, however, were those crystal blue eyes that she knew belonged to the man she loved. She couldn't deny that the man so intent on putting an end to her and Steve on the street was Bucky Barnes, no matter how much she wanted to. The man on the street was, of course, a shell of Bucky, but it was still him, nonetheless.

Connie was so happy; she was so happy to know that after spending so many years believing her lover to be dead, he wasn't. She was, however, quite brokenhearted to know the truth. Hydra had not only taken her back in 1945, but they had also taken him as well, and they had broken him down and made him into a weapon much the same as they had done to her. She wondered why she had never seen him during her time with Hydra, but she figured it was to prevent distractions in order for him to do the work he was ordered to do.

What bothered Connie was knowing that Bucky didn't know her, nor did he know Steve. His blue eyes had been void of any emotion or recognition regarding the two of them, which led Connie to believe that he had been wiped of his memories. Connie wondered if the reason behind it had anything to do with how hard he fought against them and how hard he resisted, as Connie had done nothing at all during her time held captive by the Soviet Union.

Connie complied to the orders she was given without much protest, if any at all, so she was very easy to handle; she never fought against her captors, mostly because she believed there was nothing else left in her life to fight for. The only reason she felt she needed to escape was because her humanity was at risk and it was the last good thing about her she had left to lose. Her humanity was something she refused to let go of, and she wondered if that was the way it had been for Bucky, only for him to have his forcibly ripped away from him in the end.

"It was him," Steve's voice sounded from beside Connie, tearing her from her thoughts. "He looked right at me like he didn't even know me."

"How is that even possible? It was, like, seventy years ago," Sam said.

"Zola," Connie forced out. "His whole unit was captured in '43. Zola experimented on him; whatever he did helped him survive the fall as I so distinctly remember hypothesizing. They found him, and. . ."

"None of that's your fault, y'know?" Natasha assured the two of them.

"He was the only other person besides Connie who really saw me for me," Steve sighed. "Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky."

Natasha leaned her head back against the wall of the van as the pain in her shoulder became more intense. Sam looked over at her. It was clear that she was losing blood, but as the minutes passed she was only losing more and more. If they didn't get her help soon, she would bleed out then and there.

"We need to get a doctor here. If we don't put pressure on that wound, she's gonna bleed out here in the truck," Sam said to one of the officers.

The officer he spoke to pulled out an electroshock baton, startling Sam. The officer didn't make a move to attack him, but instead attack the officer at their side, shocking the four prisoners. The moment the officer was down, the attacking officer pulled their helmet off to reveal Maria Hill.

"Ah, that thing was squeezing my brain," Maria grunted as she glanced around at the four of them, her eyes finally stopping on Sam. "Who's this guy?"

_____

Connie wasn't really sure where she and the rest of the crew were. All she knew was that they were safe, at least for now they were.

Maria pulled the van door open and Steve hopped out, pulling Natasha with him. She and Sam followed behind them and into the strange building they had just arrived at. They walked through a long corridor, and before long a man began running towards them.

"GSW!" Maria yelled to him. "She's lost at least a pint."

"Maybe two," Sam added.

"Let me take her," the strange man said.

"She'll want to see him first," Maria told him.

She lead the four of them into a room, and as she pulled away a slip of tarp, Connie's mouth parted. Several feet in front of her, hooked up to numerous machines, was none other than Nick Fury. She wanted to be shocked to know that he was actually alive, but after learning that Bucky was alive after spending so many years believing that he wasn't, this wasn't exactly all that surprising to her.

"About damn time," Nick teased as his gaze fell on his agents.

"What the hell?" Steve breathed out.

Connie moved to sit down, Natasha was ushered toward the doctor, while Sam, Maria, and Steve remained standing.

"Are you shocked to see me or something, Cap?" Nick chuckled.

"Obviously."

"What happened, Nick?" Connie inquired.

"A lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, and one hell of a headache, that's what happened," he told her.

"Don't forget your collapsed lung," the doctor reminded him.

"Let's not forget that. Otherwise, I'm good."

"They cut you open. Your heart stopped," Natasha chimed up.

"Tetrodotoxin B," Nick said. "It slows the pulse to one beat a minute. Banner developed it for stress; didn't work so great for him, but we found a use for it."

"Why all the secrecy? Why not just tell us?" Steve asked, his tone filled with annoyance.

"Any attempt on the Director's life had to look successful," Maria answered.

"Can't kill you if you're already dead. Besides, I wasn't sure who to trust."

Connie let out a sigh and stood up from her seat, feeling desperate for some sort of fresh air. Everything happening around her was becoming too much for her to take in. She had never been subject to so much in such a short period of time, and it was frying her brain. She just hoped that after this was all over, she would get a nice, long break, but the situation that presented itself most likely would not permit it.

"I'm gonna go get some air and try to make sense of whatever this is," Connie informed the group. She disappeared rather quickly, not allowing much of a response of reaction from anyone. All they could do was watch as she walked away.

"Is she okay?" Nick asked Steve. "The girl came in here lookin' like she'd just seen a ghost."

Steve shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest. "One or two, give or take," he answered, leaving Nick to ponder over what he could possibly mean. He would, however, find out in due time.