Violet | Bucky Barnes

Nine | Nightmare

The tenebrosity was split by occasional strands of bright purple lightning crackling in the distance, highlighting Lyla's cheeks and her chest. All the while she was sitting in the black, her eyes shut, fading in and out. No recollection of time. Going in and out of consciousness.

Suddenly another intense, bright flash of purple lightning and a thunderous boom, forced Lyla to open her eyes, helping to illuminate her surroundings. It was blinding. The flash imprinting on her irises.

Maniacal laughter rang out in the distance. Although Lyla didn't understand it, being in the astral plane for so long had brought her closer to the nightmare world. A dangerous place ruled by a dangerous man. Nightmare bordered Lyla's astral plane alongside a number of other splinter dimensions. Lyla couldn't stay for much longer before he would notice.

Someone, a male form, started to walk out of the light in the distance, his form like a mirage. Something shimmered to his left as the sky continued to flash violently, he didn't flinch once. The ground started to shake with every rumble in the sky. Was it Nightmare?

Bucky lay on the table, his body tense, veins popping out of his arm and forehead. Bucky gripped tightly onto Lyla's hand with his right, their fingers entwined, his left scrunched into a tight fist, the mechanics of his arm whirring ferociously. They were both hooked up to wires and monitors, which beeped loudly in the expansive and sterile room.

Bucky was out cold now, eyes rolled into the back of his head which dripped with sweat. His mouth no longer frothed, which Shuri took as a good sign. Wanda was in Bucky's mind, whispering to him the entire time. Feeling for any sign of distress. Probing. Sending instructions.

"Buck. Can you hear me? Do you see her?"

Lyla could just make out the male form approaching her. He seemed familiar. But how? Her brows knit together in confusion. How could someone else be here with her, in her mind?

As the male form walked closer, things around Lyla started to come into focus. Her eyes flickered and adjusted to the change in the atmosphere. Dead mangled trees stood against the horizon. Yellowing grass spread across the ground, weaving through the cracked dry substrate. Jagged rocks littered the yellowing savannah, and a deep dark threatening sky loomed overhead.

Lyla could do nothing but sit stock still, huddled on the cold ground, holding onto her body and legs for comfort as she watched him approach, her brows furrowed in confusion. Everything around her was threatening to crumble away into dust, where it would cease to exist.

Bucky was twitching on the table. Spasming. Writhing. This was dangerous. He could get lost in there. Lyla's machine started to beep, the sound echoed down the hall from her room, alerting guards and doctors alike. Lights within the medical center flickered sporadically.

Lines on the monitors signalling Lyla's brain waves started to move and twitch very slightly. These had barely moved for months. Just the occasional peak, nothing like this. The specific brain waves flashing on the screen signified to Shuri that Bucky had potentially found her. Wanda confirmed it as she sighed, a teary laugh escaped her as she nodded, realising she was one step closer to having her friend back.

Bucky slowly approached; sitting beside Lyla carefully. He softly spoke her name "Lyla..."

'Is that my name? 'She thought. She didn't know. Lyla looked at Bucky, confused and disoriented. 'Who is this man?'

"Lyla" he says again, "I'm not leaving without you." She slowly looked over to him. His blue eyes boring into hers, she knew he meant it. She trusted those eyes, not really knowing why. She felt comfortable with him beside her.