Project Elemental

Chapter 11

Steve layed in bed, and like most nights, he was wide awake. The bed was uncomfortable, despite being on the firmest setting. The covers were thrown off his body; he wasn't hot, just uncomfortable.

Flashes from that night were playing rapidly through his mind. The serum that had made him into Captain America was becoming more a nuisance with each passing minute. With his physical strength came stem cell growth, which affected his hippocampus. Long-term memories became as vivid as if he was truly there, making nightmares unbearable. Especially if he fixated on an event like this one.

Deciding that stewing in his emotions was probably not the best course of action to continue with, Steve decided to take a walk to help clear his head.

Buck, who also lay wide awake, heard the heavy footsteps of his best friend. Silently, he got up and followed him.

Wide awake, Steve found himself standing in front of the door to the room he was trying so desperately to avoid.

"Steve..."

He turned his head so he could see Bucky out of the corner of his eye. "What?"

"Why are you..."

Steve's hand dropped from the metal handle. "I needed to apologize." His voice was soft.

"You?" Buck shook his head. "Why?"

"This..." He gestured to the door, his back still to his friend. "It's all my fault."

"Steve, you had nothing-"

"I DID."

Bucky saw a vein pop as his friend's neck muscles tensed with anxiety.

Steve's voice was low and he practically growled. "Project Elemental. It was my mission to stop Hydra, to protect them, to save them, to-"

"You can't save everyone."

"Two kids, Buck." Steve's hands clenched and unclenched. "I couldn't even save two kids. I had one, I had her... F/N, in my arms... And Hydra... One kid."

Bucky sighed. He placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "You did save them. Maybe not when you wanted to, but now. You're here now. Without you, we would've never found 'em. They'd still be with Hydra if you hadn't believed me."

With a heavy sigh that told Buck more than words could express, Steve turned the handle.

Inside, the air smelled of lemon cleaning solution. Soft beeps came from monitors, and a green light was cast across the floor from the heart monitor. Moonlight through a window filled the room with a faint silver glow. Wires and IVs connected a comatose woman to machines she had probably never seen before.

002 looked up from her book. Despite the lateness of the hour, she was still wide awake. "Couldn't sleep?" She whispered.

Bucky nodded. He sat on the edge of her bed. "I think Steve has some unfinished business." He tossed his head to where Steve stood near 003's bed.

He knelt at her bedside, unable to tear his eyes away from the mission he had failed. He rested his head and forearms on the rail of the hospital bed, his breathing unsteady as his heart pounded in his chest. The last time he had seen her, she had been a child. And now she was a woman. She had grown up under Hydra's lacerating wing, suffocating in their care. She had suffered her entire life, and it was his fault. He reached out and took her hand in his, and the feeling of her cold skin reminded him all too much of all the others he had lost.

"F/N, I am so sorry." His voice was coarse like sand and soft as a duckling down.

With those words, the young woman began to stir.

She opened her eyes, blinking in the dim light. "Captain... Captain America?" Her voice was hoarse as she studied his face. She looked past him, eyes wide. "And... and the American. Bucky?" She whispered, recognition blooming in her eyes.

And then 003 smiled a soft smile that reminded Steve of a gentle snowfall. She locked eyes with 002, who felt every emotion that was swirling through F/N's mind.

"Y/N..."