Violet | Bucky Barnes

Eight | Procedure

Darkness.

Bucky knelt down, his legs buckling as he cradled Lyla in his arms. He struggled to lightly shake her in an attempt to wake her up, she was limp, like a ragdoll. Her arms were motionless, flopping beside her.

"Delilah." He croaked out her full name taking in her delicate features.

Lyla's eyes were closed, her long eyelashes moist from tears. Bucky knew if he pulled back her lids the brightness in her orb like eyes would be gone, out like a light. Lyla looked at peace, her features not showing any emotion, yet her cheeks were still pink, flushed with life.

Bucky started to cry, sobbing uncontrollably, he didn't care who could see or hear him, he'd lost her. Heart wrenching sounds escaped his lips as he held on tightly to her petite body, his head nestled into the crook of her neck.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered, his tears bouncing onto Lyla's cheeks as he raised his head, they mingled with the ones that left her eyes in that final moment. Bucky pressed his lips softly against hers willing her to come back to him. "I..."

"Bucky... we have to go. We need to leave now." A voice interrupted, sounding behind him. It was Sam, he placed a hand carefully on Bucky's shoulder, bringing him back to reality. They had to get out before the place blew, the building was disintegrating alarmingly fast around them.

Bucky didn't loosen his grip on Lyla as he silently stood; turning to the only exit, holding Lyla protectively in his arms. He actively avoided making eye contact with anyone, he just wanted to get her out of there. Bucky took one last look at her face, serene in death as it was in life, before composing himself and focusing his attention on the exit.

Limping out of what was left of the prison compound with Lyla cradled in his arms, Bucky led the way to the jet, to home. Wanda silently cried behind him, warm salty tears staining her cheeks. She was propped up by Nat, who was void of any emotion, pushing everything she had been feeling aside in order to support everyone else around her.

The building behind them crumbled in the distance, the ground vibrating under their feet as it collapsed in front of a fiery backdrop. Dust and smoke filled the air as the building ceased to exist.

Silence, aside from the odd sniffle from Wanda, filled the air as they made the ascent into the jet, Sam opted to fly back, his hands held tightly onto the controls, his knuckles turning white as he tried to stop them from shaking. The controls creaked as they threatened to buckle underneath his grip.

F.R.I.D.A.Y had been monitoring Lyla, she was practically dead, just barely breathing.

Bruce was attempting to work on Lyla's still limp body, machines were fighting to keep her stable. "She's very badly... broken." Bruce mumbled to himself, writing notes on his clipboard, occasionally fiddling with wires and topping up solutions entering Lyla's body via tubes.

The monitors surrounding Lyla, who lay motionless on the table, were all pretty much flat, her heart rate was extremely low, almost untraceable. If it hadn't been for the slight rise and fall of her chest or the light warmth radiating from her skin, anyone looking would assume she was dead.

Bucky had even thought her dead but Bruce had hooked Lyla up almost immediately and found a very weak pulse. He had to fight with Bucky to release his grip on Lyla, he finally relented and slackened his hold on her, opting to clasp one of her hands in both of his own, rubbing his thumb lightly over her knuckles. Bucky held his head to his hands, eyes closed tight, fighting the release of more tears that ached to spill from their prison.

'She has a pulse, she hasn't left me yet.' He thought to himself, willing her to survive this, praying to any and all of the gods to bring her back.