Red Winter - COMPLETED

Chapter Twenty-Six: Rainstorm

The next morning Wanda opened her eyes while in his arms, she pulled away lightly and looked around the dim lite room as her body woke up. Outside rain pelted the window, the trees in view were blowing in every direction. The girl's red eyes were no longer wet, but sore from her tears. She rubbed her eyes and pulled her knees up to her chest. Wanda didn't feel like herself at all, her bandages felt loose in her hands and she knew she would have to wrap them up again. Slowly she took off the bandage and attempted to wrap it back up, beside her Bucky opened his eyes and yawned. The man didn't say anything, he watched what she was doing and sat up in the bed. Without thought he reached over and grabbed her wrist lightly, "Let me." Wanda felt embarrassed as he took her hands and began to wrap them for her. They were bad. The pale skin was covered in healing cuts and bruises. Bucky couldn't help but feel guilty for her pain, his face was easy to read. "It isn't your fault." He bit the inside of his cheek so he wouldn't argue with her, of course it was his fault. 

After he wrapped her hands they laid back down, both facing the window and watching the water flow over it. Bucky wrapped his arm around her, she looked down at it on her waist and admired the metal. "Tony made it. Man's got a talent." Wanda gulped, looking at the joints at the knuckles. Tony was still not one of her favorite people. "You're still you ya know." The words pierced her mind as she realized what he was bringing up. "I don't want to talk about it." So they didn't.

Wanda went off to meet with Dr. Cho while Bucky went to work out. In the weight room he found he wouldn't be working out alone. Natasha was busy teaching the punching bag a lesson. They chatted lightly while they both occupied the room. "How does she seem?" Natasha looked over at him while he worked on the back weight. "Distant." She could sense a hint of sadness in his voice. Nat wasn't sure how much the two had bonded back in Wakanda, but she had an idea. "She feels like she's empty. I've never seen her seem so..." Bucky looked up at the ceiling, then back down to Nat. "So cold?" Nat nodded. "She...," He thought about not mentioning it, but sooner or later they would all find out, "...when we woke up, I mentioned that she was still herself, no matter what they took from her. I felt her tense up...it's like the wall rebuilt in a matter of seconds and she was gone again." It felt weird, opening up to someone so new. Steve trusted Natasha though, so he would try to as well. "She needs to talk about it, maybe she will talk to you." Bucky nodded, wondering how he could get her to open up to him like she had back in Wakanda.