Better Love || A Bucky Barnes Fanfiction

- Gift To Me Forever -

He had told them the news at breakfast a week after they had arrived in Wakanda. The words that left his mouth made both of them pause, Elena dropping her cutlery on her plate while Steve stared in open-mouth disbelief. 

"I'm sorry," Elena quickly said, looking down at her plate before looking up at Bucky and Steve, a bewildered smile on her face. "I... I think I heard you wrong, Bucky."

"You didn't," the man replied, unable to look either of them in the eye. Steve cleared his throat, eyebrows furrowed as he stared at his friend, Elena still trying to absorb what it was Bucky had just announced to the pair.

"What... what do you mean you're going back under?" Steve asked.

"I mean, I'm going back into cryosleep."

"How?" Steve said, leaning forward. Bucky swallowed, eyes flickering up to meet his.

"They've got people here who can make it happen. They'll put me under, run some tests, figure out how to get HYDRA's programming out of my head so then what happened in Berlin never happens again-"

"Programming," Elena squeaked, finally beginning to pull herself back into the conversation. Steve frowned at the look on her face, unable to comprehend exactly what it was Elena was experience. For him, he was shocked, sad, but understandable. He wasn't going to stop Bucky from doing what he wanted, especially when it came to something that could be beneficial to his health. He had been controlled long enough. But there was a desperation in Elena's eyes that told him she wouldn't be as willing to let him go like that. "You're - you're not a robot, Bucky. Programming, re-wiring, you're - you're human. You don't have to do this, we can find something else to help-"

"But I don't want to," Bucky interrupted, finally lifting his eyes up to meet Elena's panicked blue ones. "I've spoken to T'Challa. His sister is a genius. She'll be leading the programme. She'll help to heal me."

"But-" Elena stopped herself from finishing off the sentence, realizing how it sounded in her head. But that's my job. I can do that. I can heal you. She wasn't a teenager or part of some soppy romantic film. She swallowed. "I don't understand."

"While I'm under they'll run some tests. They'll figure out what needs fixing and once I'm healed, they'll let me out again."

"But how long will that take?" Steve asked when Elena didn't speak, her mouth opening and closing as she struggled to find the words to reply. At this question she shut it, eyes wide as she stared at Bucky. Having both their eyes on him made Bucky shift in his seat, forehead wrinkled as he thought about it.

"They've never had to do something like this before," he admitted. "It could take weeks... months..."

The thought of losing Bucky for that amount of time made Elena jump out of her chair and she walked away from the table, pacing the room as Bucky watched, Steve instead leaving his eyes on his best friend. 

"Buck..." he murmured, taking hold of his arm. "There must be another way. I - We only just got you back."

"I know," Bucky whispered. It was a decision he hadn't made lightly, and one he had thought about that whole week. It had to be done, though. As though she had read his mind Elena responded, walking over to him with fists clenched.

"I'm going to be selfish and ask you to not do it," she admitted, stopping in front of him. He could see how hard she was trying to keep herself together, her whole body trembling as she took his hand. "I'm going to be selfish and ask you to find another way. Because... because we can. We can find another way to help you to get better, Bucky, I know it. The journals were helping, and the reading. We can find something else, anything... anything but this."