Battlefield ★ Bucky Barnes

XLII. It's Now Or Never

Connie sat criss-cross on the bed she had been provided with. She stared down at her hands in her lap, trying desperately to figure out what the hell had happened to her. All she had been told was that she had been injected with something to help her heal, and that was only confirmed when she woke up an hour and a half ago. Connie was completely healed. She felt absolutely fantastic, but she could feel that there was something inside her that just wasn't right. It was something that she couldn't begin to figure out no matter how deep she delved into her brain for assistance.

Connie felt weaker than she normally did, but it wasn't because of her wounds. She figured it was because of the injection, but she could find or feel no evidence to support that claim. Her body also felt stiffer than normal, and her senses were nowhere near as strong as they used to be. She hated feeling the way she did, and she hated even more that she couldn't figure out why she felt the way she did. It was the most frustrating thing she ever thought she'd have to deal with.

The door to Connie's room slid open, and Connie looked up from her lap to see Steve making his way into the room. She sent a small smile his way and looked back down at her hands, both of which she was now clenching into fists. She was testing her strength, or at least trying to build up what she was unaware she didn't have.

"How are you feelin', Connie?" Steve asked her softly as he moved to sit down on the bed beside her.

Connie shrugged and glanced over at him; she figured Bucky would be with him as well, but he wasn't, and that upset Connie slightly. "I wouldn't know how to describe the feeling, Steve. Where's Bucky at?" she asked him.

Steve let out a nervous breath. "He's taking care of something at the moment. He should be down here in a little bit," Steve told her.

Bucky wanted nothing more than to come see Connie, but he couldn't see her without thinking about the fact that he had to leave her, and he couldn't leave her without telling her first, so it was crucial that he took the time to work out exactly what it was he was going to say to her. The last thing Bucky wanted to do was leave Connie—he loved her too much to be away from her—but leaving her was the only way he knew she would be safe.

"Oh, okay."

Steve studied the estranged expression on Connie's face, and he looked down at her clenched fists in her lap, his brows furrowing in slight confusion as he tried to figure out what was going on with her. "Would you care to tell me what's going on with you, Connie? You're acting peculiar."

"Uh. . ." Connie clenched her fists again, though was angered by the lack of result she was hoping for. "I don't know, I honest to God do not know what the hell is going on with me and I'm so angry because of it."

"Whoa, calm down, Con," Steve tried to comfort her. "Just tell me what's going on."

Connie opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, Bucky walked into the room. Connie's eyes lit up as she looked at him, and she hopped off of the mattress, moving as quickly as she could to wrap him in a tight hug. There was a notable difference in Connie's movements as well, or at least to her there was, and it only further angered her. Hugging Bucky also felt so much more forced than usual due to the lack of strength inside her body.

"Hi, sweetheart." Bucky breathed out a sigh of relief as he hugged her back. He squeezed her small form tightly in his arms, much like he normally did, but for the first time in years he had squeezed her too tight.