A/N: Sorry for the late update, but this is probably going to be the norm since I am firmly back in classes now. As always, thank you so much my lovely beta's Emerald2211 and Blueowl. They are the sole reason this chapter is going up now and not on Wednesday (or going up with a thousand mistakes).
Steve thought it was bad before when Bucky didn't remember him, but Steve quickly realized that it could have been worse. Is now worse. Last night it was clear that Bucky was confused by Steve, but he was still Bucky. Now it was like looking at a stranger who had a super realistic Bucky mask on his face.
Steve should have done more last night to convince Bucky to stay. Now Lani is gravely injured and Bucky is-
Not gone. This isn't like back with the train which felt like only a few weeks ago for him but was actually decades ago. Bucky is here next to him helping Bruce with whatever he needs to help Lani. It's not too late.
"...okay that's all I can do. She'll need surgery, but the bullet missed her bones so it's not as bad as it could have been," Bruce explained as he wrapped up the wound again and after a moment's hesitation had Bucky put pressure on the wound.
Steve was holding the IV bag up since there wasn't time to set up the stand for it. They were already minutes away from Stark's tower and Bruce spent that time telling Steve and Bucky what to do. Steve hasn't even had time to talk to Bucky or ask just what happened. If he still remember or...
"What about the bullet? Is it still in there?" Steve asked, looking from Lani to Bucky's face even though he was asking Bruce.
"Part of the damage is from whoever removed the bullet."
Steve tried to keep himself from looking at Bucky again. He remembered soldiers on the frontlines who would try removing bullets or shrapnel and most didn't make it. But this was the future. It wouldn't be the same for Lani.
The 15 minute flight seemed to stretch on for an eternity even though Bruce kept them all busy for most of it. Steve wondered if he should have tried harder to convince Bucky to give Lani to Stark; it would have been faster for him to fly. Sure Bruce mentioned she was stable but, looking at her here, it was hard to believe that. Her skin had a sickly look to it, there was bruising around her neck that was just starting to turn colors, her breathing was sharp and shallow. Pained.
Steve briefly wondered if this was how Bucky felt when he was stuck in the hospital for a weekend after breaking his collarbone in a fight and getting an infection.
When they finally landed, there was already people waiting for them. Bucky tensed at the sight of them, and it seemed that Steve wasn't the only one who noticed.
"Tony Stark already alerted his medical team and a trusted pediatrician surgeon who will be arriving shortly," the robotic voice of Jarvis explained before the engine cut off.
"Good. That's very good. Barnes?" Bruce waited until Bucky was looking at him before continuing, suddenly looking very weary. "These people are here to help Lani, and you need to let them."
For a long moment Bucky just remained still, looking at Bruce while still putting pressure on Lani's wound. Then he removed his hand. Bruce immediately waved the team up and Steve stood by, watching Bucky as they transferred Lani to a stretcher.
"She'll be fine Buck," Steve said while Lani left and Bucky just stood there.
It was worrying that he wasn't even following them. Bucky had never been known to have good bedside manners. Always willing to do whatever he could to remain by Steve's side, and he would assume it would be the same for his daughter. Would be if he was in his right mind.
"Are you okay, Bucky? Physically, I mean. Any injuries?" Steve asked since he wasn't ready to know just what they did mentally.
Not right now.
Bucky just gave him a blank look, but when his eyes flickered to his thigh - to where Bucky shot him moments earlier - Steve could just hear him say 'are you really asking me that when you're bleeding over there?'
"Please tell me that's not your blood on your pants," Bruce said before Bucky could.
"I'm fine. It stopped bleeding a while ago."
"Since for some reason Tony got the idea that I'm the Avengers' doctor, I'll be the judge if you're fine or not. We'll have to clean up anyways to be allowed into Lani's room once she is out of surgery."
Apparently that was enough for Bucky to start moving, and he followed them inside.
"Sir, you have an incoming call from James Rhodes," Jarvis announced, interrupting Tony from his clean up work.
Not that he was doing much in terms of gathering the remaining Hydra personnel. He kept getting distracted by their equipment and what experiments he could find. Natasha apparently found some doctor missing an eye - a fact that she assured wasn't her fault. She also found Lani's bag in the same room which was disturbing.
Mostly they were able to get the police to detain all of them. Tony was certain a few escaped just because the place had 15 different exits and not all of them could be automatically locked.
At least for the moment things were calm. Jarvis told him minutes ago that the kid arrived safely and her operation went smoothly.
"Sure, put him on," Tony said before putting on a fake smile. "Hey, Honeybear, what's up?"
"Why are you on the news again? I thought you said the alien stuff was dealt with."
"It is. This is something different," Tony paused as he wondered whether this was a conversation best said in person.
Probably, if the long sigh from the other end of the line meant anything. Rhodey never liked having serious conversations over the phone.
"I'm flying back from my mission now; do you need my help with anything?"
"Not right now, but if you come by my tower I'll introduce you to everyone." 'And explain what's going on,' went unsaid.
"You better, I still can't believe that Captain America is back from the dead and living with you now."
"And he's not the only one," Tony commented before remembering who he was taking to.
"What?"
"Sorry, got to go, see you tonight, Rhodey!"
"Wait, Tony-" Rhodey got off before the call was disconnected.
He wanted to be with the girl, but the doctor that he didn't even need to threaten to treat the girl said it would be safer to leave her with professionals. And they better be the best professionals because if the girl dies heads would be rolling.
At least making sure the man with the shield was also treated was a good way to fill up the time. As long as the mission processed in this direction, he won't need to harm the man with the shield in the future either. He decided that keeping the man with the shield out of trouble can be a sub mission. Allies can be useful for a mission after all.
"Sorry again about that, but the wound was already starting to heal up with the bullet inside and I doubt we have any painkillers strong enough for your metabolism. Might be a good project to work on in the lab Tony said I could use," the only good doctor in existence said as he pulled off the slightly bloody gloves.
The man with the shield rolled his pants back down and got off the examination bed. Then, with a weak smile, turned to look at him.
"Ready to go see Lani, Buck?"
He gave a nod.
The girl was called Lani. He knew that. Like how he knew that the man with the shield was trying to divert his attention. It didn't matter since the mission was to save Lani. He needs to have visual on Lani before figuring out the next best steps. Sub mission would be easier with the man with the shield in the same room.
The room was still empty when they arrived, and he just had enough time to check all the equipment before she was rolled in.
"Hi, I'm Dr. Banner," the good doctor said to the other physician, talking about how the surgery went and how Lani lost close to a liter of blood.
"I'm so sorry, Bucky," the man with the shield suddenly said, speaking to him even though he was staring at Lani.
He's decided the man with the shield is an idiot.
"I know you told me to stop apologizing... which you probably don't even remember." The man with the shield looked at him for that last bit.
Does he want a response? It wasn't a question, but the man kept looking at him. It wasn't an order either, but the girl was still unconscious. The machine she was hooked to monitored her heart rate, which was a little slow but still within an acceptable range.
"I get it if you don't trust me, I really do. But I also wasn't making an empty promise last night. Even if you never remember everything...I still want to help. I... I'm with you till the end of the line, Bucky," the man finished, his voice sounding a little wet near the end.
The man was definitely an idiot for getting so emotional over nothing. The conversation (if you can even call it that) was starting to make his chest feel tight. It didn't make sense since he took minimal damage, but the feeling passed soon enough. As soon as the man stopped looking at him.
"You don't need to say anything. I just want you to know that."
"I apologize for interrupting, but sir and the rest of the team have returned and is requesting your presence in conference room B," a British voice said out of a speaker almost invisible to the human eye.
The man with the shield stood at attention, all evidence of sadness gone from his face. The good doctor also came back into the room.
"Okay, we'll be back soon, Bucky," the man said before the good doctor pulled him over to the side.
"Steve, I'm not sure if it's the best idea to leave him alone in this state. I'm no psychologist but he is showing clear signs of dissociation and we still don't know what exactly they did to him. At the very least, if Barnes lets us, Tony can fix the wires hanging out of his arm so he can't electrocute himself on accident. I'm surprised he hasn't done so already."
He wasn't going to say anything since it wasn't his place, but then the man with the shield started nodding slowly like he thought it was a good idea.
"No."
Don't they know the girl Lani has no way to protect herself like this? Bodyguard mission isn't something that he has knowledge about, but he knows leaving the room is a bad way to go about it. It already happened once, but that was necessary so that the other doctors could fix Lani.
"Bucky, it would just be for a little while. We'll just leave if Stark ends up talking for too long," the man - Steve (he knew that) - said with a fake smile.
"Sir also wanted me to let you know that he has a tablet set up to monitor Lani along with a live video feed," the voice from the speakers said, and Steve looked surprised by that.
"See? If anything happens, we'll be right back here," Steve pleaded with those idiotic blue eyes of his.
Being an idiot might also be contagious because he ended up nodding in agreement even though he knew how little time you need to kill someone in this state. Knew about 15 different ways to make it look like an accident as well.
At least now Steve was smiling for real.
[Game̷͑ sa̸̛ved]
[H̴̔P at 30]
[S̵̹͝P at max]
[Staṫ̴us co̵͠ndition: maj̵̔or con̶̋cussion (2/3), bull̶̔et wou̸nd (1/1?)]
Holy shit. I like to think I have a high tolerance for pain, but it literally felt like my upper arm area was on fire. On fire with red ants swarming around. Or maybe red ants that were on fire and yet not dead because those things might be immortal. Aren't fire ants and red ants the same thing? Or at least it's like how a square is a rectangle but a rectangle isn't a square.
Anyways.
Waking up wasn't pleasant and I quickly realized that A) Bucky wasn't anywhere to be seen, and B) I passed out from blood loss before we could escape. At least this time I wasn't tied down in an evil dentist chair, but that only makes the situation slightly better. At least I no longer had a pounding headache. Still felt a little nauseous, but for all I know that could be because I haven't eaten in a while.
I don't even know how long I was out. Long enough for me to heal and hopefully save properly. Though still not the best location to reload a save to.
I removed the IV in my wrist before removing the heart monitor from my figure, which turned out to be a huge mistake since the alarm started going off.
[Lo̸ad save̵͗]
[...]
[Error̶̀]
[Save corru̸pted cǎ̷n not̴͊ be loade̸d]
Really? That is still messed up? I hope to fuck that once my concussion is all healed up that it goes back to normal becuase I don't want to live another life where I have to always face the consequences of my actions. Already did that once, thank you very much.
I grabbed a scalpel chilling on a medical tray nearby before crouching down by the bed. I could already hear footsteps approaching, which didn't give me a lot of time to think.
[Mai̴n Me̵͝nu]
[ ] Que̸st lő̶g
[ ] Stȃ̵ts
[ ] Re̸̕lationshi̸ps
[ ] Runscript̶͆
[ ] Loa̸d Sav̸e
Even the main menu pause wasn't working normally. The door opened slower than normal, but still not the slow-mode that I was used to. There were only two people coming in. That was something I could deal with.
My method worked pretty well last night...well, before I got shot. Getting shot is not part of my plan, and since the room wasn't moving like before I think I'll be fine.
I was more worried about what they did with Bucky. Sure I used the trigger words, but I have no idea who also knows them. They might have been able to force him into the chair physically as well.
The main menu closed out automatically once I moved, vaulting over the bed in what I hoped looked cool. My shoulder wasn't appreciating the cool move, but it wasn't enough to make me stop. I didn't bother using my alchemy since preserving my SP for later seemed like a wise option. The two nurses/doctors/whatever hardly had time to react before I was an arm's length away. A scalpel isn't the best weapon, but all I needed was a distraction in order to run away.
I buried the medical knife into one of their knees, using all of my weight to shove them into the other before I took off like a bat out of hell. Even if my "gamer powers" were still being funky, at least I was able to run in a straight line this time. I was in a different part of the building (assuming I was even in the same place as before) and this time there were windows. I didn't have time to get a good look, but windows make great exits.
Just needed to find Bucky. Again.
I know I got extremely lucky last time, but I can't just leave him. I'm too invested and... it's kinda my fault we got captured in the first place. I was too stressed about having Steve and Bucky meet again and thought that New York would be too big of a target for us to stay. All I needed was a second to realize that lady in the bathroom was no good and then I would have just reloaded the day but instead-
My internal monologue got interrupted by the last people I expected to see. My run also got interrupted because why were the Avengers here? The only thing that I could think of was that they found out that Hydra found us and this was a rescue mission. But if it was a rescue mission then why was Bruce here instead of the Hulk and why wasn't Tony in his armor? Bucky was still in his winter soldier mode (which I really wished that wasn't the case), but that was the only thing that was making sense.
Maybe my concussion wasn't as healed as I first assumed and I was actually hallucinating.
"Lani, do you know where we are right now?" Bruce asked, walking over to me slowly while he held a hand out to keep the others back.
It was only Steve and Tony; Bucky was already next to me and I was dimly aware he was waiting on me to give an order or something.
"I thought I did, but now I'm not so sure."
How long was I out?
"You're in my tower, ten levels down from where you stayed last night. Sorry we didn't have anyone with you when you woke up, Brucie here thought you would be still working through the anesthesia for another few hours."
"Wait, anesthesia?"
Bruce gave a nod before explaining, "We had to fix your shoulder, there was muscle damage from the bullet and, uh, removal of said bullet."
I made a face when Bruce said that.
"That might not have been my brightest idea."
"Wait, you removed the bullet? I thought Bucky..." Steve looked over to Bucky and it was almost worst seeing how broke he was looking than how blank Bucky was now.
"No, it was me, I-" I started to explain before remembering that I killed someone with the bullet I had extracted from myself.
I know the Avengers never had a no-kill clause like Batman and other superheroes, but I still didn't want to tell them. I would much rather never think about it again to be honest. I know that's not healthy, but there was just too much going on.
There was Bucky for starters. We are right back where we started over two years ago. I don't think the trigger words last as long as the chair mind wipe but it was still hard to see him like this. And my worries about staying in the tower is still valid. There are just too many unknowns in a place like the Stark Tower. People work here; it would be easy for Hydra to slip in if they aren't already.
"Hey, don't worry, Lani, we aren't going to let anything else happen to you. Natasha was even talking about having one of us guard you, would that make you feel safer about staying here?" Steve somehow got in front of me, kneeling in front of me.
As if I needed to be reminded of my shortness.
"Not that we think you need much guarding with how you dealt with your nurses," Tony added, and almost immediately Steve turned around to give him the Look (TM).
"My nurses?" I parroted back before my mind processed the meaning. "Oh shit, I just stabbed an innocent guy didn't I?"
"It was an accident Lani, you were scared."
"That doesn't make it okay! I... I should apologize or something."
It was a good thing that I went for the knee instead of the eyes again. That would have been bad. Or worst since stabbing someone is still pretty bad.
Apologizing is going to be so awkward.
"You really should get back to bed. You can apologize to Miss. Robert after you rest up," Bruce said with just enough force to his voice that I could tell I would have trouble arguing with him.
Going back to sleep did sound really nice, but I really don't want to wake up in Hydra's clutches again. Unfortunately my choice was taken out of my hands when Bucky picked me up under his arm.
"Really? You know I can walk." I tried sounding annoyed but I couldn't keep the smile from reaching my lips.
Last time it took months for Bucky to get this familiar with me. Maybe we aren't starting right back at square one.
"It would be better not to jostle your arm too much. It really should be in a sling," Bruce said instead of trying to get Bucky to put me down.
I don't know. I felt like my chances of teleporting Bucky and myself to another town was good, but... I don't know. Maybe I was wrong to leave before. Maybe the tower is safer than going out alone. At least for now.
A/N: I have some mixed feelings about this chapter, but I did get to all the scenes I wanted to.
Thank you so much, everyone, who has favorited/followed this story. As of writing this, I have a total of 1102 follows/Subscriptions to this story. That insane. Though I do have to give special recognition for everyone who took the time to leave me a review. Thank you Triflight, FleshyBalloon (on chapter 16), IAMLORDTHORNE, KingKaiju31 (times 2!), PrincessMagic, Lioness32, the guest named Shotogun (I would say you need 18 strength to duke it out with thor, but the real issue is you need like 20 con to not get KO in one hit), flick02816, Alucard1992, chibi-no-baka, bored411, the guest who reads my story on ao3 and decided to leave an review over on this site as well, pyroguardian-of-thewhiteflame, the guest who said this has a lot of favs (I know it's crazy), the guest who wished my dogo a happy b-day, Inu-Angel Z, Mitsou the Universe jumper, KEZZ 1, Eslynn, RedDragon395, the guest SunnySides (thanks for the typo catch. I think I still need to change that for this version of the story), Omega-66 (times 2!), Nameless Angel 00, Ashliyn, Miss A. Winchester (times 2!), wickedlfairy17, Bisque-Ware, Roxycall18, verycoolname, CyberWolfWrites, Cboylan, Death Fury, zackman2k12, LoveToBake, the guest who said this was "Great, captivating, and amazingly spectacular", FrankyJ, I.D's Fantasy, oneoddtodd, and BlackDove WhiteDove. Last chapter broke a new record for most review/comments per chapter with 39 for this site and 50 total! And so many of them where lovely happy birthday wishes for my dog (his name is Teddy Bear). You all are all so nice.
It might be another two weeks before the next update, but my plan is to update this again before the end of the month. Hope you all have a fantastic day/night!