A/N from Mad Hatter: Thank you so much for the reviews! I feel more comfortable continuing this story with your support!
Now, this is the chapter where I take a few liberties in my 'I am not a comic savvy person' state. I don't know what Bucky's cybernetic arm is made out of, but adamantium sounded like a fantastic plating to me! Again, please be gentle! First fic in a while! Enjoy!
Chapter 2
I'm Waking Up
Inspiration Music (a little epicness for the road):
-Ironheart by Two Steps from Hell (yes, I named my fic after this song!)
-Radioactive by Imagine Dragons
-What Are You Going to Do When you Are Not Saving the World? By Hans Zimmer
-Dream is Collapsing by Hans Zimmer
Lacey's eyelids were heavy as iron as she worked on finishing setting the adamantium plates against the newly constructed cybernetic arm.
Since her childhood, Lacey always enjoyed building things. Her father taught her at a young age how to work on car engines, and fix pretty much anything. Lacey smiled vaguely as she fused in the plates around his metal fingertips.
She finally set in the last plate and hooked in it into the nerve wire. She heard a satisfying series of clicks and whirring as the wires all finally connected with one another, making the bionic arm come to life. She grinned until the start-up process suddenly ended when the arm recognized that the body was on sleep mode.
Lacey pulled back and looked at her work, running her fingers down over his adamantium bicep and slid down to his faux-muscular forearm.
He was prepared for revival.
-x-
Only an hour later, there were supervisors, administrators and medics were flocking around the glass-plated balcony and in front of the door. Lacey requested only two choice nurses and two guards in the room in the event of emergency.
"I do not want you to approach unless I command you to do so," Lacey told them firmly.
"Yes, Dr. Turner," they all said.
Lacey smiled and then turned to look up at the superiors in the balcony and picked up the microphone that went over the loudspeakers, "Attention. Attention."
Their quiet muttering among each other quieted and all the men and women gave her their attention.
"We are going to revive Subject James Buchanan Barnes a.k.a. Sergeant Bucky Barnes, code number 332. He has had extensive time to heal from the injuries inflicted in 1943, which consisted of a fractured skull, bleeding on the brain, a broken jaw, 5 broken ribs, a destroyed left arm, both femurs broken and several ruptured organs and covered in multiple lacerations. We set his bones and patched him up to the best of our ability, then he was put under in a cryogenic sleep to be preserved for the past 70 years. Last month, the director decided to have him pulled out of the preservation sleep. Since then I replaced his missing arm with a cybernetic arm. It's plated with the strongest metal we could get our hands on: adamantium. This high-tech prosthetic will serve as the primary source of his power, coupled with the super soldier serum we've injected. Now, I've gathered you here today to watch him be pulled for the first time completely out of his drug-induced coma. He'll most likely be confused and frightened when he wakes up, so just for precaution, please exit through the door behind you if anything goes wrong, for your own safety. Subject Barnes will be extremely powerful and dangerous in his new state, especially if powered by fear. With that being said, let us begin."
Lacey turned to Barnes and picked up a kick-start drug syringe and poked it into his IV. She gently pushed the syringe, injecting the fluid into his system.
She only had to wait a couple of moments before his heart rate began picking up on the monitor. His breath began to push past the respirator tube and to Lacey's fascination, his bionic arm lifted off the table and turned to sluggishly scratch at the tube.
She heard the group above exclaim and clap, showing their appreciation for the working arm.
Lacey stepped forward and gently eased the tube out of his mouth. He gagged and coughed until it was out, then took a huge raspy breath of air as if he were just surfacing from being held underwater too long.
"Shh, it's okay," she whispered as Bucky's eyes snapped opened and darted around in a panic.
His pupils constricted as his breath coupled with his voice, coming out as a crazed whimpering.
"Shhh," Lacey said again, subtly wrapping his wrists in the Velcro straps on the edge of the mattress, "Bucky, you're okay, you're safe. You're in a hospital."
Bucky's jaw opened and closed, like he was trying to say something. He looked around wildly before his grey eyes, tense with fear, landed on Lacey.
"You're in a hospital in Switzerland, Sergeant Barnes. You've had a bad accident, but we patched you up. You're absolutely safe," Lacey said, brushing a strand of his dark hair out of his eyes.
He froze and stared at her with wide-eyes, not moving a muscle at the kind gesture.
His tongue darted out of his mouth to wet his parched lips before wheezing out of his raw throat, "Wh-what am I-I doing h-here?"
"Mending. You've been out for a long time, Sergeant." Lacey whispered.
"S-sergeant?" Bucky stated hoarsely.
"Yes, sir. You were a Sergeant back in World War II," answered Lacey, glancing at the monitor for his vitals which were climbing.
"Back in W-World War t-two? H-how long have I-I been out?" he inquired, finally breaking his stare to take the time to look around at the newfangled gadgets that had progressed so far since the 1940s.
"A long time..." returned Lacey.
"A number!" growled Bucky through gritted teeth, which would have probably been a yell if his sore throat allowed.
"A little over 70 years..." Lacey said carefully.
"Wh-what?" gasped Bucky, blinking once before slamming his eyes shut against reality.
"I know this is a shock, Sergeant, but we're here to help-"
His grey eyes flew open again and he looked sharply down at his left arm.
"What the hell?!" he cried out as he got a view of his new bionic arm, "My arm!"
He tried to jerk his arms up, but his strapped wrists jerked uselessly against the sides of the bed.
"Why am I tied down?" he demanded, looking up frantically at Lacey.
"It's just a precaution, Sergeant, please calm down. We are trying to-"
"Help me?" Bucky's voice rose an octave, "The hell you are! If you were trying to help me, I wouldn't be restrained! Let me loose!"
"Sergeant, please-"
"Quit calling me a sergeant! I have no idea what you are talking about! Let me go!" Bucky yelled at her.
Lacey looked up at the roomful of spectators, relieved to see they already vacated. She looked back at the guards, who were standing rigidly, watching everything intently.
"Ma'am?" the guard asked.
Lacey made a gesture for him to stay back, then turned to Bucky again who was thrashing against his restraints.
"Sergeant Barnes!" yelled Lacey.
"I'M NOT A SERGEANT!" screamed Bucky.
"BUCKY!" Lacey called out, reaching forward to take his face between her hands, forcing him to look directly at her.
His eyes flicked wildly between hers and his chest was heaving, verging on hyperventilation. His skin was sweating profusely as the panic attack overtook him.
"Sergeant James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes. That's your name," she told him firmly.
He looked at her for only a second longer before his clenched his teeth and spat out, "You're lying to me."
"I'm not, Bucky, I promise."
A strange look came over his face. His brow furrowed as he turned his face away and lifted his strong arms upwards. Lacey yelped and jumped back as Bucky easily snapped the restraints. He sat up with a determined groan, the white sheet covering his body falling to the mattress. He stood wearing nothing but the black knit pants customary to patients of the Soviet site. It occurred to Lacey, even through her shock that she'd never seen the entirety of Bucky's serum-enhanced body. Lacey stared at his strong back, ashamed to find herself admiring the strong ebb and flow of the muscles stretching across his bones. His cybernetic arm only made his form look even more untouchable.
Bucky paused in the middle of the room and raised his arms slightly, clenching his fists and staring at the swell of his thick arms and large biceps. His long hair gently brushed his broad shoulders as he stared down.
"Barnes..." Lacey gently said, taking a careful step towards him.
His jumped and turned his head slightly towards her.
"I'm strong..." breathed Bucky, turning completely around and glowering at her, "If I've been asleep for 70 years, s-shouldn't I be weak?"
He pointed an accusing finger at her as he slowly advanced, "This is your handiwork, isn't it! You've prolonged my life for no reason but to make me into...whatever this is!"
Lacey lurched back when Bucky gave a terrifyingly loud yell of anguish and whipped around to let his bionic arm crash into the two guards, smashing them completely through the opposing wall.
He swung around and reared back his metal arm and threw a punch towards the metal door, completely crushing it inwards and ripped it off the hinges. Lacey covered her mouth to stifle a scream, but couldn't only hesitate a moment. The renegade subject charged out of the room, Lacey hot on his tail.
To Lacey's horror, she realized that the guards had fled the hallways. A lone male nurse stepped out of one of the rooms, and upon seeing Bucky, the fool unknowingly stood up to the super soldier.
"Head back to your room, sir!" the brave but doomed nurse commanded.
Without hesitation, Bucky grabbed him by the throat with his adamantium fingers and pressed him against the wall.
"Barnes!" exclaimed Lacey, but it was too late.
Ignoring her call, Bucky put his human hand against the nurse's chest to brace him against the wall. He plunged his adamantium fingers savagely into the nurse's neck. Without one swift movement, Bucky ripped out the nurse's throat. Blood spewed everywhere from the exposed jugular vein on the pale, wide-eyed face of the unsuspecting nurse.
"BARNES, NO!" screamed Lacey, running forward to slam into Bucky's side, catching him off-guard and loosed his grip on the murdered nurse.
Bucky stumbled on a bit, but regained his balance quickly and pushed Lacey away with a lot less strength than she expected. She landed on her back, then scrambled to her feet to chase Bucky down the hall.
"Where on earth is everyone?" thought Lacey frantically as she rounded the corner.
She almost faltered when she saw him throw the metal doors leading outside open.
"Oh god, no!" she gasped and ran outside after him.
She slammed into something solid and fell down into the deep snow. She looked up to see Bucky glaring down at her. His arms hanging limply at his sides, chest heaving in exertion.
Lacey glanced to her left and right and saw why he'd stopped. There were massive amounts of soldiers surrounding the exit, all pointing weapons at him.
He leaned down swiftly and picked Lacey up by the collar then turned her around, tightening his cybernetic arm around her throat. Lacey cried out in defiance, but couldn't fight the metal grasp holding her to his chest.
Bucky turned to the soldiers and yelled, "You will let me go or I will kill your precious doctor here!"
In many cases, the soldiers would easily choose to shoot a meaningless doctor to make sure a subject didn't escape. But in this situation, Lacey remained one of the few who knew how to create cybernetic limbs and work with adamantium.
The soldiers all glanced among one another, then hesitantly lowered their weapons. Bucky walked slowly past the mob, carefully easing around, holding Lacey firmly as he backed out until they reached the large gate in the 10-foot high fence that surrounded the site.
Lacey cringed as Bucky switched his hold on her so that her throat became entrapped in his flesh arm. He reached back with the metal hand and crushed the lock on the gate as if he were wadding up a piece of paper in his palm. He pushed his back into the gate and backed away until they reached the forest that encircled the Soviet site.
Once they were a great deal away from the soldiers, Lacey felt her head become light with the restricted amount of oxygen entering her lungs. Just when she felt her eyes fluttering shut, Bucky let her go, carelessly dropping her into the snow.
Lacey landed and fell face first into the powder, coughing and gasping for air.
"Where the closest town? I need clothing," Bucky said sharply.
"What are you going to buy clothing with?" gagged Lacey, rubbing her raw throat.
A flash of anger reflected in Bucky's eyes and he stepped forward and reached in her lab coat to pull out a wallet.
"Hey!" snapped Lacey, reaching out to take it back, but was too late.
Bucky dumped a wad of cash into his hand and shoved it into his knit pant pocket.
"Tell me where the closest drug store is!" he growled.
"Drug store? Where do you think you are? Mayberry? We're in the middle of Switzerland. There could be a McDonald's and Wal-Mart in the closest town," Lacey responded, standing up and wrapping her arms about her cold self.
"I don't want to buy walls, I want to buy clothes!" Bucky snarled.
Lacey gave the super soldier an exasperated look, then shook her head, "Wal-Mart is a place to buy everything for cheap, which would be about 10 miles to the north. Luckily, we aren't too far off the beaten path since the world things we are just a laboratory."
Bucky turned and started to walk away.
"Do you expect that you can go into a store half-naked with an arm like that and not get asked questions?" inquired Lacey, stepping towards him.
"I don't care."
"Barnes, gallivanting all over the place in this terrain when you just woke up from a 70 year coma isn't a good idea! You're going to crash in a while and most likely it will be in the snow on your way. You're going to kill yourself," Lacey called out.
Bucky walked without hesitating barefooted through the snow, "I'll manage," he called over his shoulder.
Lacey scowled. There was only one way to capture him without sending him over the edge, resulting in taking more innocent lives. She had to wait him out. He would crash without proper rest from all his earlier exertion, and she'd be there to pounce when he fell.
"Okay, I'll see you later. Have fun on your trek. I'll just go tell the soldiers where you went," Lacey said, marching back towards the site.
Before she got even five steps away, she felt two strong hands grip her waist and spun her around.
Bucky roughly grasped her shoulders and hunkered down a bit to look her straight in the eye.
She gazed into his sharp eyes that were the color of a storm. He seemingly searched her own eyes for something.
"I suppose that it would be wise to bring you with me. Collateral aside, you know how my body will react to this poison you've put inside me," Bucky finally said, letting go of her and standing at his full height which was a good head taller than Lacey.
Lacey, satisfied that she got her way, nodded her head with a smile, getting a cold glare from Bucky in return.
"Come on," he said gruffly, grasping her wrist with his tight metal fist.
Lacey gasped in pain as Bucky dragged her through the snow. After a few minutes of pulling her through the knee-deep snow that she struggled to get through, he growled in irritation and stopped, yanking her towards him.
"God! Do you mind? I'm not a ragdoll-" Lacey's words hung in mid-air when Bucky pulled her arm and easily swung her into his grasp, holding her with one arm under the bend of her knees and the other around her shoulders.
Lacey froze and hesitantly looked up at Bucky's stone-cold face as he carried her through the snow.
"Y-you don't have to-"
"It would have taken us three months to get ten miles at the rate that you were going," growled Bucky.
Lacey shivered in Bucky's arms until they the finally saw the light of the town.
"You can put me down now," Lacey murmured, laying a hand against his broad chest just to get his attention.
He sucked in his breath sharply at her touch and Lacey quickly pulled away.
"You weigh nothing at all," Bucky said, jaw muscles visibly working under his skin.
Lacey wasn't sure if he was mad or just determined to 'be a man' and battle his way through the cold, wearing practically nothing.
Lacey stared up at him until she saw him take a breath and saw his teeth chatter slightly as he closed his mouth.
"You're cold," murmured Lacey.
"I'm perfectly fine," he retorted shortly.
Nonetheless, Lacey leaned into his embrace and rested her head against his shoulder. She knew it would only give him a bit more warmth, but it was all she could do. Yes, she wanted him to crash, but she didn't want him to get hypothermia. She worked to hard to revive him perfectly. She felt compelled to stick with him now no matter what happened and help him...
Mad Hatter: Well! There is the second chapter! And now I'm off to go see Winter Soldier in theaters! I'm so excited! See you all later! Remember to comment, compliment, or give me constructive criticism! I love feedback! :)