A/N: Hello, everybody! Thank you for being so patient while I got this chapter out! I really was looking forward to writing this chapter but life has just been crazy!
I wanted to touch on a couple things made known to me through reviews and such: Okay, so yes, Bucky and Lacey already have an attraction towards each other. How can they not? I don't plan on having anything too crazily romantic happen between the two because this story is not going to head in that direction. I have different thoughts of how I want it to end and a lot of you may not be happy with my decision. Anyway, for those of you who aren't, I am planning on writing a sequel that'll take place after Captain America: Winter Soldier when I'm through with this fanfic! If you like the ending to this story, I doubt that you'd want to read the next one, but for you who want more Bucky and Lacey, then it shall continue on because I randomly had an idea for a whole other plot while in the shower the other day! :)
Again, thank you to all my reviewers! You give me such encouragement and I love hearing your positive feedback. You guys are awesome!
-Musical Inspiration:
Devil May Cry by The Weeknd
Rinzler by Daft Punk
New Way To Bleed by Evanescence
Chapter 9
Playing With Fire
A warm, wet sensation mopped over Bucky's forehead. His eyes cracked open to find himself staring straight into Lacey's green eyes. She pressed wash-cloth against his head, then gently pushed some stray locks off his brow.
She smiled in relief when he shifted in his place on the couch he reclined on, "Hey, good, you're awake."
"Wh-what happened?" Bucky croaked, feeling a dull pain thrumming in his brain.
"You strayed off for a while then while I was talking to my dad I heard you screaming. We found you passed out at the bottom of the cellar stairs. That's all I know..." Lacey explained.
"Cellar? The cellar!"
Bucky sat up abruptly, tossing the wash-cloth to the side. He ignored his pounding head and jumped up, grabbing Lacey's hand, "We got to get out of here!"
Lacey balked, "What are you talking about?"
"Your so-called father has one of those machines that erase memories. I-I looked at it and all I could feel was the excruciating!" Bucky hissed to her, trying to coax her away, "Didn't you see the chair in the cellar?"
"I saw it, but don't worry, my father explained," Lacey responded calmly.
"How do you explain having a memory-wipe machine in your basement, Lacey?'" Bucky's voice rose an octave as the fear of being submitted to the memory wiper afflicted his being.
"It isn't a wipe chair," Jack's voice said from behind Bucky, giving him a start.
Bucky swung around and swept his flesh arm out to push Lacey protectively behind himself.
"Bucky..?" Lacey murmured, her tone questioning.
"What do you claim it is?" growled Bucky, clenching his bionic fist, hearing the arm's mechanics clicking faintly under his sleeve.
"It's a simulator, my friend. If you'd just looked a little longer, you would have noticed the difference. The wipe and simulator chairs are very similar in appearance, but so different in function," Jack answered smoothly, walking towards them.
Bucky narrowed his eyes, keeping a firm hold on Lacey's arm to keep her behind his form.
"I assure you that this machine's sole purpose is to do good," Jack told Bucky sternly.
"Then why hide it in a cellar?" Bucky countered.
"Because you don't understand the rarity of the machine. I'm still working out the kinks. I'm the only one who has gotten so far in the development for this device, which was intended to be used to train soldiers," explained Jack, sitting down in armchair across from them.
Bucky wasn't convinced. He glowered at Jack and asked, "If the machine does what you say it does, then you could show me that you're telling the truth."
"I could but I highly doubt that you'll be brave enough after that fainting spell you had just at the sight of the machine," snorted Jack.
Bucky could only be pushed so far. With a vicious snarl, he released Lacey's arm and jumped forward, grasping the older man's collar angrily and yanked him upwards with his flesh hand.
"Bucky!" exclaimed Lacey.
Jack and Bucky were nose-to-nose. Bucky hissed through clenched teeth, "Don't mock me!"
Jack looked at Bucky without fear, eyes cold as ice. He brushed away Bucky's hand. Lacey desperately grabbed a hold of the super soldier's sleeve to make sure he didn't advance on her father again.
"Touchy," sniffed Jack as he walked towards the back door, "And you're welcome as ever to test out the simulator."
A growl rumbled in Bucky's throat as he took a step to follow Jack, but Lacey pulled at his sleeve again. She stared up at him with wide eyes and said seriously, "You don't have to prove anything."
"I do, actually. I need to find out whether we're safe here. You saved me from that hell-hole and I don't plan on idly standing by with this guy being so suspicious."
"He's my father, Bucky, I don't think he'd hurt either of us," Lacey said quietly.
Bucky took Lacey's hand in his gloved cybernetic hand, "You've had your memory erased, Lacey. You can't trust your own mind. You need to follow your gut instinct. If nothing about Jack Jefferson seems strange to you, just tell me and I won't test out the simulator. I won't ever say anything negative about him again. I trust your feelings. But if there is even one red flag going up in your mind, I beg you to let me to keep investigating."
Lacey looked up at him for a long moment and bit her lip, looking down at her boots.
"I just want something to be real, and I thought that discovering my father would bring me clarity..." she whispered in a broken tone.
Bucky felt his heart tighten. He, more than anyone, understood her longing to know the past. Nothing felt worse than having a whole part of your life stolen from you.
Bucky gently pulled Lacey's into his arms and enveloped her in a tender hug. He felt her stiffen in surprise for only a moment before melting into his chest and wrapping her arms around his strong midriff. She buried her face in his flesh shoulder and he could feel her entire body quaking.
"We are real, Lacey," Bucky murmured into to her auburn hair, placing his flesh hand gently on the small of her back, "And we can only trust one another from now on."
Lacey nodded into his shirt, then she pulled back and smiled up at him, cheeks blushing. Bucky couldn't help but mirror her shy, trusting grin.
"Let's go check this 'simulator' out," Bucky said, then walked to the cellar with Lacey.
Lacey knew Bucky well enough to know when he was scared.
He'd been scared when he woke up from a coma when he'd been Subject 332.
Bucky definitely feared the chair.
Lacey glanced up at his tight expression as he warily stood before the cell-like room. Jack prepped the monitor in sync with the device on the outside of the cell.
"Have a seat," Jack offered, flourishing his hand towards the villainous chair.
Bucky walked stiffly like his legs were bionic as well, sitting down in the chair and leaning against the reclined back.
"What exactly does this do?" Bucky asked shortly as Jack walked in after him and placed small, sticky black plastic electrodes against the super soldier's temples.
"You see your fears and face them," Jack answered, "If a soldier knows how to face his fears, then he is invincible."
Lacey gulped, worried for Bucky's well-being. As a doctor, she knew this wouldn't be good for his mental stability, but he implored to test this machineto ensure their safety.
"Get outside of the cell, Lacey," Jack instructed her, taking her by the arm and pulling her away from Bucky's side. She made brief eye-contact with the super soldier as she moved away, blood running cold at the terror that was building behind Bucky's stormy eyes.
"You'll be in the simulator for 10 minutes to begin with," Jack announced, locking the cell door behind them, "Just remember that you can't exit the simulation for that time frame."
"We can't pull him out if his heart rate rises too much? I mean, this simulator works like a nightmare would, so if he's scared badly enough his pulse is bound to skyrocket," Lacey said urgently.
"I am quite certain he'll be fine for 10 minutes," Jack sighed, then directed his voice to Bucky, "On my count, we'll turn the simulator on. No one but you will see what you fear, but the brain waves we monitor will tell us if we need to intensify the dream. Once you've reached maximum intensity, that means that you're able to handle all situations. I'm starting nightmare intensity at only 1.5 percent."
Bucky's chest heaved and he responded, "Just start the damn thing."
"As you wish," Jack retorted with a bitter chuckle, "Begin simulation in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."
Lacey jumped when all the lights in the cellar suddenly went off and an automated voice said, "COMMENCE SIMULATION."
The only illumination in the room was the dull screen light of the brain-wave monitor on Jack's desk.
Lacey paused for a moment, then whispered, "How long will it take for the nightmare to-"
Suddenly the needles scratching out Bucky's brain waves on the paper started going crazy. She stepped forward and looked at the graph in shock. Bucky was having a nightmare.
"It works..." breathed Lacey.
"Of course it works. You didn't think the man who taught you everything about prosthesis was an idiot, did you?" scoffed Jack.
Lacey didn't answer when she suddenly heard horrific moaning coming from inside the dark cell as Bucky thrashed about the chair.
"Begin simulation in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."
"COMMENCE SIMULATION."
Bucky froze when the lights went off in the room and a cold sensation swept over him. He shivered slightly, then blinked in confusion to find himself sitting in the middle of nowhere on a ground of ice. He stood up, booted feet almost slipping out from under him as he looked around. He saw nothing, except the hazy weather of a winter mid-day. Each way he turned, nothing but icy dullness could be seen.
"What the hell?" Bucky breathed, but gasped when he felt something strange beneath the soles of his boots.
He looked down as the ground wrapped itself around his feet, slowly consuming him. He gasped and attempted to pull his leg away, but the ice continued to coil itself around him, pulling him into the icy prison.
"No!" he cried out, feeling the choking power of the ice swallowing up his body until he was up to his naval in ice.
"Bucky!" a distance voice called out from the echoing tundra.
Bucky's eyes shot up and he looked towards the sound. He saw Lacey standing far in the distance. She waved at him and began to approach, but was suddenly seized by a faceless man.
"Lacey!" Bucky yelled, trying to come towards her but the ice slowly engulfing his body was up to his shoulders now, pinning down his arms to his sides.
The man threw Lacey to the ice and put a gun barrel to her skull.
"NO!" Bucky tried to cry out but his voice halted when the ice reached his face, covering his mouth.
He froze in time, his eyes glued open, staring out into the white abyss. His lungs stuck in an inflated state, his mouth agape.
He couldn't breathe, he couldn't move, he couldn't help the one who needed him most.
He hadn't a clue how much time passed before his chest felt the ache of the lack of oxygen. His head spun with his terror for Lacey's safety as his mind faded out. He grew fuzzier as consciousness left his body and if he could move, his eyes would've rolled back in his head as he blacked out.
"Lacey..."
"Stop the machine! He's going to have a seizure!" Lacey exclaimed as she heard Bucky thrashing around violently in the chair.
"It only has 30 seconds left, honey," Jack said, unconcerned, "He'll be fine."
Lacey growled in frustration and lunged towards the cell door.
"Lacey, no!" Jack's hand shot out to unsuccessfully grab her arm as she unlatched the door and ran into the dark cell.
"Bucky? Bucky, wake up!" Lacey cried out, sliding to a halt next to the super soldier.
He hung off the edge of the chair, his body convulsing in the grips of the simulation. Lacey grabbed a hold of his shoulders and attempted to awaken Bucky from his nightmare.
Suddenly the lights overhead snapped on and sound of powering down thumped loudly. Bucky let out one last cry and he slumped weakly into Lacey's arms. She stroked his dark hair and twisted around to glare at Jack, "1.5 percent? What the hell would anything higher have done to him?"
"That wouldn't have happened if he had reacted the appropriate way to the situation in his mind," Jack answered, "He's unexperienced."
Bucky groaned against Lacey's shirt, then shakily sat up. He pinched the bridge of his nose, blinking hard.
"Are you okay?" Lacey inquired uneasily, gently brushing his hair out off his forehead.
"Lacey? You're all right?" he rasped, looking at her intently with his intense, blue-grey eyes.
"Of course I am," Lacey responded quietly.
"You got attacked by...someone...he was going to shoot you and I couldn't stop them..." he whispered, licking his lips and looking down at the space between them.
Jack stepped forward and inquired, "Who was the person who attacked Lacey?"
"I-I don't know, his image was blurry," Bucky stammered, blinking hard.
"I was afraid of that," Jack sighed, running a hand through his thinning hair, "Because of your damaged mental strain, you'll be unable to see clear images. And without clear images, your mind can not accurately retain the training you receive inside the simulator. So it's like you've not been inside it at all."
Bucky scowled up at Jack, "So, you're telling me that if you keep going into this simulator that you'll be mentally trained to take on any combat situation?"
"The longer you stay in the simulator, the more comfortable you become. You can handle the situations your mind and the simulator creates. You'll be ready to fight outside of the simulator from what you learn on the inside," Jack explained, "But all of that doesn't really matter since you just wanted to find out if I was telling the truth or not, correct? This is most definitely not a wipe machine."
Bucky looked off to the side thoughtfully and Lacey could see the desire to use the simulator again wash over his stern features.
A side effect of the super soldier serum was the constant need to train and exert the mind and body. Lacey could often see Bucky's restlessness when he wasn't active. He wanted desperately to explore this new training method.
"Say that I wanted to continue...Is there anything you can do to make my visions clear so that they'll be 100 percent effective? I don't want to subject myself to that again for no reason," Bucky asked slowly.
Lacey opened her mouth, "Bucky, I don't think that's-"
"There is a drug that sharpens the mind when in the simulator. I could inject you with it if you wanted to try again to see if it would work," Jack cut Lacey off.
Lacey inquired sharply, "What sort of drug?
The men ignored her words again.
Bucky clenched his fists and nodded, "I want to try it."
"I developed for people without sharp memories and I think it'll make retention of the simulator more clinging," Jack replied, walking out of the cell to a cabinet.
Lacey looked back at Bucky and whispered urgently, "I really don't think you should do this, Bucky, I thought you said that we can't trust anyone but ourselves!"
"Exactly, this is why I should train myself to protect you and I," Bucky responded seriously, not looking her in the eye.
Lacey knew it her gut that this wasn't a good idea. But try forcing a superhuman to not do something they wanted to do.
Jack returned with a syringe in his hand and said, "Roll up your sleeve and we'll get started."
Lacey stood up away from Bucky and intently watched the scene developing before her.
Her mind screamed as Jack injected Bucky's muscular forearm, "No, no, no, no!"
Lacey ran a hand through her hair and nervously walked out of the cell as Jack said, "Let's restart at 1.5 percent again."
Lacey couldn't look as Jack shut Bucky in the cell and began the countdown. She turned away and stared blankly at the wall as she heard Jack's voice, "Begin simulation in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."
"COMMENCE SIMULATION."
