Winter's End [winter soldier//Bucky Barnes AU]

Chapter Nine

" How odd it is to be haunted by someone that's still alive. "

-anonymous

___

*Sarah's POV*

Loki vanished out of thin air soon after we closed our deal.

I was shaking, like actually shaking, once he left. What the hell had I gotten myself into?

I wanted to save Bucky desperately, because I couldn't let him suffer with guilt like that any longer. I didn't want to be scared of the only man I had ever loved. I needed a solution; and I had found one.

Unfortunately, I had to make a deal with the Devil to make it happen.

I was worried that Loki would ask me to do the favor at a terrible time, and I was 99% sure he would. I was also almost positive that he would make me do something horrible or evil. But it was too late now, and no matter how much I would regret this decision, I couldn't change my mind now.

I stood up after the shaking went down a bit and sprinted to the hospital, knowing that Loki's magic had already cured me and Bucky. And Bucky was the only person I wanted to see right now.

A few minutes later I burst through the hospital doors and hurried to his room, ignoring all the nurses telling me I couldn't go back there. I turned a sharp corner and was suddenly outside of his room.

Did Loki's magic work? Was Bucky back to normal?

I reached for the handle and pulled the door open wide, glancing up to see Bucky sitting on the side of the hospital bed shirtless. His metal arm glinted in the bright hospital light and he looked up right then, his eyes lighting up instantly.

"Sarah!" He exclaimed, jumping off of the bed as we ran to each other, wrapping our arms tightly around one another's body and crying in relief.

He wasn't guilty anymore, I wasn't scared anymore.

We were no longer broken.

He tucked his head into the crook of my neck and cried tears of joy, grasping my waist tightly as if scared I would leave. I pulled him just as close, running my fingers through his hair, which was now getting long again.

"Sarah I'm so sorry, I didn't want to hurt you." He mumbled against my neck, his mouth soft against my skin. For a second I was worried that he was still feeling guilty, but if he was still feeling as guilty as before then he wouldn't be hugging me right now.

"Shhh." I whispered, closing my eyes and enjoying the embrace that I had missed so, so much. "It's ok. We're safe."

He nodded and lifted his head, pressing his forehead against mine as he rested his hands on my hips.

"We're safe." He repeated.

For some reason, the phrase had come to mean a lot to us. It calmed both of us down and made all our problems seem smaller.

Right now, all I knew was that I had Bucky back. And he made everything else okay.

--

A few hours later, me and Bucky were still awake as the sun rose. We didn't want to close our eyes for fear of losing each other again.

Bucky told me about what it was like in the coma, and how he thought for sure that he was going to die before the building even exploded. I told him about how horrible it had been without him, how scary it was waking up everyday with him in the hospital bed dying, and I even showed him that I was wearing his dog tags. I asked if he wanted them back but he just shook his head, telling me that he would much rather know that I was keeping them close.

We talked and talked and talked, closing the gap that our separation had caused. I fought myself to not tell him about Loki.

Because the only person I really wanted to talk to about the deal, was Bucky, the one I could never tell.

He would be so mad. He would think I was being careless, thoughtless, stupid. But he didn't experience what I did, where the only person you really loved was lying in the ER, dying. And as they say, desperate times call for desperate measures.

We lay on the small bed facing each other. His hair, that was getting long again and was almost as long as before, was flopped over his eyes. I brushed it from his face as we talked, earning a smile from him. Our feet were tangled in a knot, and he brought his real arm up to stroke my hair.

I couldn't explain how much I missed this, missed being with him, and missed his touch.

As terrified as I was, he was the only person besides maybe Steve or Natasha who could make me not scared anymore.

Eventually, we nodded off to sleep, Bucky's arms around me and pulling me close. His warmth spread through my icy body, repairing my damaged heart and making me feel whole again.

--

*Cara's POV*

Ever since I woke up, my telekinesis powers have been stronger. Much, much stronger.

I don't know why, but it was suddenly difficult to control my powers, and I had to find a way to manage them. I was only sixteen- the youngest of the group by a long shot. If I didn't show control over my powers, then I didn't have much of a reason to be here, because I would just mess things up. I would get kicked out of the Avengers, when I had finally found a group of people I belonged with.

They were like my family I never had.

I never told any of them, but I've been a Hydra experiment ever since I can remember. I cannot think of a point in time when I haven't been in a cage or on an operating table.

I have no clue whether or not my parents are alive, but I'm assuming they aren't. My only guess as to who my parents are is that they were Hydra enemies, and were killed when I was small. It's the only explanation for me being an experiment all my life.

My thoughts were interrupted when my head began pounding ferociously, something else it's been doing since I woke up. And that wasn't all that'd been happening- i'd also been hearing voices.

And they came directly after the headache.

Cara, come to us.

The voices whispered. I tried to get them out of my head, but I was never able to do anything about them except wait for them to finish.

We aren't done with you yet. You still have more adjustments to be made.

I stayed silent, like usual, hoping the voices would leave.

In four days, we are coming for you. Be ready.

They said threateningly, and I frowned in confusion. They'd never said that before.

What did it mean?

And who, exactly, was coming for me?

--