Chapter 9 - The Pain of a Broken Heart
The next day, Bucky was woken up by Nat shaking him.
"Hey, Buck, wake up, you did it!" she said excitedly. Bucky opened his eyes and blinked in confusion. He reached for the notepad on the nightstand and wrote
'How did you get in?'
"I picked your lock." Natasha answered. "Now get up, Steve said he has big news about the person he loves, and I think it's about you!" she exclaimed and left the room, and realisation crawled onto Bucky's face, and he quickly burst out of bed. Getting hastily dressed, Bucky ran down the stairs to the lower level where Nat was waiting for him, and Cap stood in the lobby with a woman in his arms.
"Oh, hey, there you are." he said, and signalled for the two to come over. "You guys, meet Wanda. She's the one who saved me." At this, Bucky's heart snapped completely in two. He immediately recognised "Wanda" as the ghastly Scarlet Witch, and used every ounce of strength he had to not shoot her the deadliest death-stare. Nat looked at Bucky in complete remorse.
"Well, you must be the famous Bucky and Natasha, Steve told me all about you." she said in a voice as sweet as honey, her Sokovian accent replaced by an American dialect. Nat hesitated before saying anything.
"Nice to meet you." she said coldly. This newcomer was suspicious; Steve would never lock arms romantically with another woman.
"I was almost certain that the person who saved me was a guy, but, it turns out it was Wanda all along." he said and gave her a loving gaze, to which she returned the gesture. "I told myself that when I found the person who had saved my life, I'd be theirs right away. Me and Wanda are actually going out on the ferry tonight…"
"And we're going to…"
"Seal our vows!" the two said in unison, and both Bucky and Nat looked at them in shock. What on earth was Steve talking about? This Wanda what's-her-face was a complete stranger, and besides, Steve had never shown an interest in girls before, Nat was certain he was gay. Something wasn't right here. She looked over at Bucky and could see that his was trying to hold back tears, and mouthed an "I'm so sorry" to him.
"Congratulations." Nat said emotionlessly, but the new couple didn't seem to notice. "I have to get to work, see you around." she said, and she turned to leave, leaving Bucky alone with Steve and the Scarlet Witch.
"Well, Buck, can you come tonight?" asked Cap.
"Oh yes, we'd love you there." Wanda replied, and if Bucky had his metal arm, he would have snapped her neck right then and there. Instead he just shook his head.
"No problem, I know we all have plans." said Steve, breaking Bucky's heart into thirds when he knew that Steve would have normally fought for him to come. "Well, we'll be seeing you, Buck." Cap said with a nod, and the two turned to leave the inn, and Bucky dashed back upstairs to his room where he collapsed on the floor as soon as he had shut the door, finally allowing himself to cry. HYDRA wasn't there to beat him for it anymore.
Bucky had been starved. Tortured. Beaten. Broken. Abused in every way. Imprisoned. Experimented on. Dehumanised. But this, the pain that he was feeling right now, the pain of a broken heart, was worse than anything HYDRA had ever done to him.
Hours later, Bucky watched from the cliffside as the ferry sailed off into the afternoon daylight, once again gazing from afar. As he sat with his knees brought into his chest, Bucky mentally prepared himself to die later that day. Steve was gone, the Witch had clearly spelled him, Bucky had seen the glow in Steve's eyes; it had taken over the beauty of his sky blue ones. As soon as the sun set, the Witch would be back for his soul. Oh well. Perhaps he'd be doing this world a favour if he was no longer a part of it. Eventually, Zemo had found him and sat down beside him, his legs hanging over the edge of the cliff.
"Hey." he began "What happened?" he asked, but Bucky gave no response. Zemo could only gaze at the face of this utterly broken man and wonder what he had been through. He had known of the Winter Soldier's existence as a master assassin, and he could probably guess that the HYDRA base wouldn't exactly be the Four Seasons Restaurant. Eventually, Bucky got out his notepad and wrote,
'The Witch cheated, stole Steve'
And Zemo was able to piece together what the Winter Soldier meant. Oh god… oh god it was all over… Or was it?
"James!" Zemo exclaimed, almost startling Bucky, but he had been brainwashed to not flinch for anything. "I had an idea. If Steve is under one of that Witch's ghastly spells, then it certainly can be broken, yes?" Bucky's face remained unchanged but he slowly nodded. "Well then. You just need to get yourself over there and break that spell." he said with a satisfied smile.
'How?!'
Bucky wrote, and Zemo rolled his eyes. "He is in love with you James, that Witch just made him forget it. Once you go to him, he will remember that he loves you. Now what are you waiting for. Are you the Winter Soldier, or a mouse?" he commanded, and Bucky looked at the sun beginning its descent on the horizon. The Scarlet Witch's words echoed in his ears.
"Before sunset on day number three…"
The third day… Bucky thought. If there was even a small chance to set things right, he was sure as hell gonna take it, and he got up to follow Zemo.
"Hold it!" Came a sudden voice, and the two turned to see Natasha emerge from the nearby bushes. "I heard everything, and I'm totally in." Zemo and Bucky smiled. "But fist.." she said, and walked right up to Bucky, slapping him hard across the face. "That's for shooting your target through me." she said, and Bucky nodded, taking out his notepad and writing,
'I deserved that'.
The trio dashed down the mountain trail, both Bucky and Zemo extremely grateful that Nat had joined the fight, having blown off work help them when she knew something was up. Once at the docks, they headed for Zemo's private motorboat. Of course Zemo had a motorboat, he was a man of many mysteries. The three jumped in and zoomed as fast as the little engine would carry them, and Bucky panicked as he saw the sun sinking further and further into the sea…
"Don't worry, James!" Zemo called over the whir of the motor. "We're going to make it! Natasha, is there a way you can stall the people on that ferry?" Nat rolled her eyes.
"Don't insult me, of course I can." She said and retrieved a pistol from her belt, previously camouflaged into her Avengers suit. With a carefully planned shot, Natasha pulled the trigger, sending mini smoke-bombs flying through the air where they landed on deck and exploded into puffs of red smoke, harmless but definitely distracting. A cry of confusion was heard coming from the vessel, and Nat grinned at her success.
On board the ferry, Once the smoke had cleared, Cap began to look in worse and worse shape, Wanda keeping him close at all times.
"Just think!" she said as she clutched his arm. "Just a few more minutes until that little wretch's soul is mine and I become the most powerful being on earth. Isn't that just amazing?" she said to Steve, who only looked out in front of him, no trace of emotion on his face. "Well, I'm looking forward to it…" she said as she clutched her locket in her fist, the magical energy inside it glowing through her enclosed fingers. "Oh, mister host…" she called after the ferry's owner.
The three finally approached the side of the ferry, and Zemo slowed the boat down for Nat and Bucky to climb up. Turning off the boat's motor and ditching it, Zemo jumped onto the railing in pursuit, however, his attempts were far more clumsy due to not being half as fit as an Avenger and super-soldier, and Bucky and Nat had to help him up. As soon as they were all on deck, they made for the crowd where the smoke bombs had died down, and Cap and Wanda stood at the front of the deck holding hands.
"Ladies and gentlemen..." A smartly dressed man began, clearly the host of tonight's event. "This lovely young coupe has asked if they could have an audience to witness them seal their vows. I think we can all agree that they deserve our-"
"Stop right there!" Natasha exclaimed, and everyone turned to look at her. With a stride as confident as a tiger, she made towards Steve. "Cap, this isn't you." she said, but noticed that his face had become noticeably more slackened than it had been his morning, almost as if Wanda's spell was polluting his mind and making it weaker. "Steve, you have to remember. You have too!" she pleaded, shaking him, but it did nothing.
"What is the meaning of this?" Wanda interrupted. "Get your hands off my man!" she snapped.
"And you!" Nat exclaimed, turning to Wanda. "I don't know what you're up to you little Witch, but you're gonna stop it right now before you eat lead." she threatened, to which Wanda played the innocent card.
"What on earth? She just threatened my life! Someone get her away from me!" she whined.
"I believe her." said Zemo, coming forward. "Give it up, Witch." he said with a deliciously wicked expression. "I've always wanted to say that…" he said not quietly enough. With a motion quick as lighting, Zemo snapped the locket off of the Witch's neck, dropped it to the floor and crushed it with his foot, to witch the Scarlet Witch screamed.
"NO!"
But it was too late for Wanda, as the glowing orb of red magic emitted from the broken pieces of the pendant, and everyone on board turned to face the magic happening right before their eyes. The orb hovered in mid-air before identifying its target and floating upwards. The orb made its way slowly but steadily towards Bucky, who watched in awe and relief as the orb circled around him, leaving a trail of translucent light as it did so. Finally, the orb settled itself back into Bucky's throat, and he touched a hand to it as the sensation warmed his entire body.
With Bucky's voice being released from its prison, the spell over Cap instantly broke, and he shook his head to clear it, feeling as though he just awoke from a dream. Suddenly, he saw Bucky standing a ways away when his vision cleared, and his memories came back to him.
"Bucky?"
"Steve!" Bucky replied, and the two ran to each other and grabbed each other's hands.
"You… you can talk!" Cap exclaimed.
"Steve, get away from him…" Wanda breathed furiously, her demeanour starting to change and a red aura taking over her body.
"It was you. The whole time it's been you, you're the one that saved me!"
"I wanted to tell you so much…" Bucky said as the two once again leaned in for a kiss.
"Steve, no!" Wanda screamed. Steve and Bucky's lips were inches apart, when Bucky was forced to pull away as an unbearable pain shot down his left arm, and he screamed. Falling to the ground, Bucky's left arm burned away in a flicker of embers as well as his jacket sleeve, (again) and the whole party on board watched in horror and confusion.
Bucky cringed in pain as his metal arm somehow grew back from his flesh, the red star gleaming for all to see.
"Oh my god…" Cap breathed. "You're the winter soldier…" Bucky started to panic and tried to regain his composure.
"Steve, I can explain, I-"
"You're too late…" Wanda began to chuckle with glee, pointing to the sun having finally reached its setting point. "Times up, little soldier." she said as she transformed back into her true self in a burst of red light, clouding the sky with dark, grey clouds and the rumbling of thunder. Her hideous cackle shattered the sky and the crowd gasped in fear. Wanda immediately dashed for Bucky, where in a puff purple smoke, she had him in a headlock. "You see, Captain Rogers, me and Bucky here made a little deal, and now it's time for him to fulfil his part of the bargain." Natasha immediately drew a gun from her arsenal and shot three bullets straight for the monster's head, but the Witch easily stopped them in mid air with her magic and melted them into nothing.
Cap ran up to Wanda, planning to give her the mightiest punch he had ever given, but he was sent flying back by a flick from the the Witch's wrist.
"He can never love you now, Bucky." she whispered into his ear, to which he tried to shake himself off her grip, but his attempts were in vain. "Who could ever love a monster such as yourself?" she hissed.
"You're the monster…" Bucky choked through her grasp, and managed to break free with all his might, drawing his blade. "You really shouldn't try to restrain me, I have a lot of experience in that department." he said, but Wanda closed her fist as if crushing a handful of leaves, and Bucky's knife melted away into thin air.
"Enough of this." she hissed, and sent a blast of magic throwing everyone back. With a wave of her hand as one would signal an orchestra to grow louder, Wanda lifted a glowing red orb of magic from Bucky, this one much larger than the one before. Bucky screamed in pain, all colour leaving his face as his soul was sucked from him, his eyes flickering shut. Shrinking the orb down into the size of an apple, the Scarlet Witch's eyes turned black as her mouth gaped open to devour Bucky's soul, where she leant her head back as she herself began to transform, bright violet lightning somehow both coming out of her and going into her as she started levitating...
