Rated M-sexual assault
He wasn't sure how long he had been in the chair and he blacked out. When he came too he heard faint crying and his arm and wrist hurt. Things started to come into focus bit by bit. He was a room larger and better furnished than his own room.
"Ah you're awake at last," said a voice and he looked over to see Karpov was sitting on his bed fully dressed and with the craziest grin Bucky ever saw. "You've been out for about four hours now. Zola's treatment can be rather taxing."
"The cure is worse than the disease," spat Bucky. He looked around and saw her curled up in the corner. Georgina was wearing only a dress slip and that had been ripped. Her body was covered in red marks, welts, and marks already starting to bruise. He couldn't see her face, but he could hear her whimpering.
"Oh stop it. I haven't even really hurt you yet," said Karpov sounding annoyed.
"Just leave her alone. Whatever punishment you want to dole out for whatever reason I'll take it, but leave her out of this," said Bucky. It was the wrong thing to say and he knew it a second too late.
"You like her too. Good. This makes it more amusing for me," Karpov came over to him and sat closer to him. "So what did she tell you? Did she tell how I was her first? That when I was done I let my second in command have a turn with her...there were seven men in the unit and only one them refused to take part and I had him shot for disobeying orders. That we took her back to Moscow and on the way I enjoyed her as often as I wanted and in anyway I wanted. She was very stupid one night and tried to get away. I could have killed her, but she was much more enjoyable alive so we stopped right at the edge. I know how to get someone to the edge. I haven't had a challenge in a long time and finding your edge is going to be fun. Oh I don't mean to kill you. We need your body. Your mind though. Well the sooner that goes the easier everything else will be. I'm sure she tried to explain that. Didn't you sweetheart?"
Bucky spat in his face. Karpov grinned and wiped it off. He stood up and backhanded him the way he had Georgina. It nearly knocked the chair over. Karpov grinned and took off his jacket.
"So I think I let you watch first."
Bucky woke up screaming and covered in sweat. Alison was pulled out of sleep and went over to his bedside.
"Hey. Hey. It's okay," she said softly. She put one hand on his face and he flinched. "I'm not gonna hurt you. Do you want some water?" He nodded and she went over to sink and filled a cup. She undid his restraints so he could sit up and take the cup from her. He downed it and his hand was still shaking when he gave it back to her.
"Maybe we don't leave any bad dreams for anyone else," she said. It wasn't even 5.30 yet, but she had a feeling they were both wide awake now.
"Do you want to take a shower?" asked Alison.
"Yeah," He had gotten most of his balance back so he could shower alone for the most part. She did stay close to help him wash though. She not going to hurt me, she not going to hurt me. He had to keep telling himself that and he really hated it. He got dressed and she took him over to the sink since he clearly couldn't be trusted with a razor still and helped him shave. She was good though, not a single nick.
"How are you good at this?" asked Bucky.
"A lot of the people I used to take care of have the shakes. I had to get good at this or I had to listen to patients and family members complain," said Alison. His own hand was still shaking a bit, but it was better now. She went to take her shower and he went back to sit in the med room. He started debating running away again. Screw the arm he would get by some how. Steve would blame himself and her for not keeping a better watch. But not me, no he would never blame me. Alison would blame herself too, but not me. How did I end up with two of the dumbest and nicest people in the world?
She came out dressed in jeans and a black NYU shirt with her damp hair pulled back.
"Do you wanna come downstairs with me and I'll make us breakfast?" asked Alison.
"Sure," said Bucky. They took the elevator down and Bucky was almost stunned that they had been up for a good thirty minutes and she hadn't really spoken. Not a morning person. Falsworth could barely function without a cup of coffee, unlike Dernier who seemed to jump out of bed ready to go. That man had too much pep sometimes.
She went right over to the coffee pot and started brewing a pot before going over to the fridge.
"Do you want pancakes or French toast?" asked Alison. Bucky sighed, sometimes this was overwhelmingly hard and it shouldn't be. It was a simple question-what did want to eat? Most mornings he missed having to make a choice about breakfast since she was up first. Lunch and dinner though he had to make a choice. He really didn't care, but Alison and Steve insisted he tell them what he wanted. Just give me something. I don't care. Hydra didn't care if I ate or not. They're not Hydra and they care. Stop being such an ass. She wasn't going to make anything until he told her what he wanted.
"I don't really remember French Toast," admitted Bucky. She nodded and pulled out eggs, milk and bread. She added cinnamon, sugar and vanilla to the milk and eggs before dipping the bread and tossing it on a heated pan. The coffee was finished and she poured herself a large mug. She added a large amount of cream and sugar to hers before handing him a mug of black coffee.
"Could I have the cream?" asked Bucky and she looked surprised before handing it over.
"I didn't know you liked cream in your coffee," she said turning back to the pan to make sure the bread wasn't burning. "Thought all you war guys took it black."
"I missed having cream during the war...I could live without the sugar, but I really missed having cream," said Bucky surprising himself. They normally didn't talk during breakfast, well she would talk and he found himself planning her death and hating himself a second later. It would be too easy and she would never see it coming. She hasn't done anything to you, stop being this way. She finished the toast before making two eggs over easy. She gave the eggs and toast to him before sitting down with her own plate and dumping a ton of maple syrup on her toast. They were both quiet while they ate and Bucky was finishing his eggs when something dawned on him.
"I like my eggs over easy," said Bucky remembering and she nodded. "I didn't tell you that."
"I asked Steve how you like them. My grandpa said you never really know someone till you know how they like their eggs. I didn't think to ask about the coffee though," admitted Alison. She started her second cup of coffee and he just shook his head. Of course he would remember how I like my eggs and of course she would ask. They really think you can get better...you know you could try to meet them halfway. He was about try talking to her again when Tony walked in and grinned.
"Well aren't we up bright and early? I feel like you two need a dog. Just a little one...you can name it Toto," said Tony.
"If you want French Toast it's on the counter," said Alison rolling her eyes. She wasn't truly functioning or patient until her second cup of coffee. She knew she was a guest here, but she could see James wasn't a fan of the Wizard of Oz jokes either.
Bucky looked at him and had to remind himself that this was Howard's son in the room and not Howard. They were sitting next to each other and Howard was taking apart the gun they had brought back from the Hydra base.
"So there are nothing left of the body?" asked Howard.
"Does ash count? Couldn't even find the dog tags or weapons when we were being marched away," said Bucky. "When we saw them taking out the German unit we thought it was our guys with new weapons...until we got rounded up." Howard opened the gun up and carefully pulled out the blue glowing stick.
"There isn't a place to reload," noted Howard.
"Yeah we thought that was weird when they had us building them, but we weren't a position to question," said Bucky.
"Well now we can question all we want," said Howard sitting the pieces aside.
"Are you okay?" asked Alison. She was feeling more awake now and could see James had the fuzzy look in his eyes.
"Can we go outside? I need some fresh air," he said.
"Yeah. We can go to the roof," said Alison. She picked up her coffee and they went to leave the kitchen.
"Come see me Dorothy when you have the time. I have something to show you," said Tony enjoying the toast. Alison fought back the urge to roll her eyes. He means well and he's not doing it to be an ass. Maybe we can ask Pepper and she can plead with him that nicknames need to wait until eight in the morning, thought Alison. They took the elevator up.
"Dorothy….That's from The Wizard of Oz. I saw The Wizard of Oz," said Bucky. Alison was trying to hide her surprise. This was the person Steve had been telling her about. Well it was a little of the person he told her about. He was shy and he seem hesitant to talk to her, but at least he was talking to her. Maybe this is his way of saying sorry. By trying to act like a person.
"I saw it when I was four. The monkeys scared me," admitted Alison.
"The colors...it was amazing to see the colors. It was in color wasn't it?" asked Bucky.
"Yeah. It wasn't the first colored film, but it was the most memorable one to do it Well not counting cartoons like Snow White and stuff." Ask Sophia about color in films. They got up to the roof and he looked at the skyline stunned. It was so different than what he remembered it being. He had to sit down. It was too much to take in all at once.
"I know it's a little more than overwhelming," said Alison sitting down next to him. He shook his head and without thought his hand took hers. She didn't say anything. Maybe we've reached a turning point, thought Alison
"All I wanted to do was come home," said Bucky. She nodded and his grip on her hand got tighter. "I miss my sister. Does she know that I'm alive?"
"Steve hasn't told her yet. If you want to see her…"
"No. It's better she think I died a hero than lived as a killer," spat Bucky. She would forgive you. She loved you. She can't know, thought Bucky. Alison was about to say something when Steve called out.
"So everyone is up early this morning." She felt James pull his hand away quickly and he pushed himself up. It's a start.
…
Steve took James back to his room and she headed to Tony's lab. She was stunned when she found it, she couldn't even begin to guess what half of this stuff did it just looked really cool. He had James's arm on a table and hooked up to computer and it was moving on it's own.
"That's not nightmare fuel at all," joked Alison coming over to study the arm.
"This is the second model of it, the original was made in 1948 and was replaced in the 70's. Remarkable tech for the time, Made of the same stuff as Cap's Shield," said Tony.
"Still the stuff of nightmares," said Alison recalling the detailed notes of muscle transplants and frayed nerves.
"I did make a few upgrades. They're good ones too," said Tony turning back to the computer and typing in some code.
"Like?" asked Alison. Tony pulled out a watch and put it on the hand. He fiddled with the watch and a hologram of a normal human arm covered the metal.
"In case he would like to wear short sleeves in public," said Tony and Alison was impressed.
"This is beyond amazing," said Alison. This might help him be able to go out in public. Well once he got used to crowds or more than four people at a time.
"Oh I do like you. I also increased the sensors in his fingers and hand so he'll be able to sense temperature better," explained Tony. "I plan on passing the info down to our medical division to see if we can duplicate it for other prosthetics and go from there," Maybe you aren't so bad, thought Alison.
"You know a few years ago I saw your press conference when you came back from the Middle East and you shut down the weapons division of your company. You said you wanted to do something other than make stuff that blows up. A lot of people I had classes with thought it was joke or some sort of stunt. It's nice know you really did mean it," said Alison.
"Now I'm gonna blush. Just because I left the weapons trade doesn't mean I don't worry about personal safety. Can I see your hands please?" asked Tony. She was confused, but gave held out her hands. He scanned them with a tablet and went over to a little box and pulled out what look like one those Life Alert buttons. He plugged the tablet into the button and swiped for a bit. He unplugged the tablet and handed her the button.
"What's this?" asked Alison.
"According to Friday and Cap the Tin Man made some rather nasty remarks about wanting to choke the life out of you and I really don't want to pay for your funeral. You are the only person who can activate this. If he tries anything that is going to hurt you, you push the button and it will send a tiny shock from his arm to his body to knock him out. Like a built in a taser. You don't even have to click your heels three times," said Tony.
Alison was conflicted. James had enough people in charge of his well being who had hurt him and she didn't want to be one them. It would take all the shaky trust he does have with me and throw it out the window, thought Alison. She knew how to defend herself a little bit, but Tony was right when he said she was outmatched by James. He was six inches taller and had a least a hundred pounds on her. However it had never been an option to taser a patient before. You never fought back against a patient. You either took it, tried to get away, or wait till security could be paged. 'You don't fight back' had been drilled into her head since her days of volunteering in the ER. Fighting leads to lawsuits and more injury to the patient. She was pretty sure Steve wasn't going to sue her, but this could injure James and that was the last thing she wanted.
"I need to think about this," said Alison trying to give him the button back.
"It's a last resort option," said Tony.
"Does Steve know about this?"asked Alison. Somehow having his permission would make this alright in her head. He's the family member in charge, thought Alison. Tony looked annoyed.
"What are you? 5'6 about...well it's rude to guess a lady's weight, but that man upstairs has you outmatched physically and he beat the crap out of Captain America. He is a trained killer with a lot of issues. You can't drug him and you can't fight back if he tries to anything physical. I really don't want to vet another almost psychiatric nurse for this post. 'Oh yes, were looking for a new nanny because our little boy broke the last one. Physical, snapped her like twig', "said Tony.
"I'm not trying to be a pain in your ass. I'm just not used to having the okay to defend myself against a patient. You just sort of took it no matter what they did until security came in and took them down for you. It's almost a rite of passage to have a patient manhandle you," said Alison. She shoved the button in her pocket.
"Well I'm sort of your boss and you have my permission to not be a punching bag. See I'm like Glinda the good witch handing out shoes and stuff," said Tony going back to the arm. "I think we can do this in a few hours. Before lunch," said Tony.
"Do you mind waiting? I need to talk with Steve and we might have to leave for a bit. James might feel more comfortable with one us with him when you're re-attaching the arm. Just to keep him grounded," said Alison.
"Mystery date?" asked Tony.
"I don't date my bosses, family members of patients or patients. Just easier that way," said Alison.
"You are sad and strange little woman," said Tony.
"I just want a quiet life," she said with a grin and went to leave the lab.
"You could still back out. No hard feelings at least from me," said Tony.
"I'm already neck deep. No sense in backing out now," said Alison leaving the lab.
Tony shook his head. Cap seemed to inspire a deep sense of loyalty and people consider it a personal failure to let him down. I would have lost it after New York if it hadn't been for Pepper. Well I did lose it a little bit. Not to the level she did, I would have if not for Pepper.
Alison's background check was clean for the most part. Pepper said her references checked out along with all her school records. She had withdrawn from school and that did fit what she had said about the loans and she did have a couple thousand in student loans, but nothing that couldn't have waited until she finished. Her grades until that last term before her withdrawal had been fine. Tony was vague on how scholarships worked-he turned all his down just to blow his dad's money. But he was sure she could have gotten at least one scholarship to ease the load. What happened with you on the Yellow Brick Road?
Tony also thought the employment gap was off, even though a lot people had trouble finding work now a days. How did a nurse in this area managed to be unemployed for over a year? Steve had mentioned she had been in accident and that was where Tony started digging. He kept digging and now he wished he hadn't. Pepper would kill me if she knew I hacked her medical records. That would be a huge ACLU issue. He had thought about telling Steve about her time in the hospital and than he thought about Bruce. He got low and he didn't see an end. He also thought about his issues after New York. How do you go back after that?
She wasn't a genius, or a lab experiment, or a demi god. She had just been going about her life when something happened that was way over her head and she tried to cope. I built suits and she did what she felt she needed to do. Tony buried the the records. If she wanted to tell them what happened she would. Maybe she does have the crazy nice person disease, thought Tony. He pulled out his phone and called Pepper.
"I'm getting ready for a meeting," she answered.
"Well I was thinking we could do a dinner tonight. Maybe fly in that sushi chef you like so much or we could go to him once our guests clear out this evening," said Tony. Pepper laughed.
"I'm going to miss having guest, but I won't say no to sushi. Let's try for seven. Love you,"
"Love you too Pep," said Tony ending the call and turning back to the arm. Beside if we started weeding out all the unstable people I would have to remove myself first.
…
"How are you feeling this morning?" asked Steve.
"Okay I guess," said Bucky.
"You and Alison looked to be getting along this morning," said Steve. He had been stunned to see them together, outside and from what he saw Bucky had her hand in his. He didn't like being touched unless it was unavoidable. Bucky had always been one of the most psychically friendly people he had known and to see him shrink away from something as a simple as a hug or someone touching his arm hurt Steve. If I could go back in time and talk you out of taking part of the team I would have, thought Steve.
"She's not bad. She just talks a lot," said Bucky.
"You used to talk non stop. God it was nothing but constant talk when you and Becca were home at the same time. It was nice though. When mom was sick it was too quiet and I hated it. Moving in with you and Becca was the best thing for me. I wasn't lonely anymore," admitted Steve.
"It was nice having you there too," said Bucky. He could remember the nights he didn't have to work and they would have dinner together. That they would listen to music and sometimes Steve would talk either him or Becca into sitting still so he could draw them. Becca was always better at holding still, thought Bucky.
"We can't go back. We just have to move forward. It's not easy, but if there's anyone who can get through this it's you. You're too damn stubborn to let them beat you yet," said Steve. Always the glass is half full Steve Rogers, thought Bucky. Alison came back in.
"So what did Tony want?" asked Steve.
"He wants to reattach the arm this afternoon. Was showing me some of the work he's done on it," said Alison. She was debating how to approach Steve with an idea she had. They didn't want Rebecca knowing James was alive, but maybe she could bring him something of his sister.
"Would it be alright if I borrowed Steve for minute or two? I need to ask him something," said Alison and James rolled his eyes.
"If you want to talk about me I'm right here." Alison sighed, there was no sense in trying to treat him like a child. He had been really decent towards her the last night and the last couple of hours. Maybe being honest would help him trust her a little more.
"Alright. I know you don't want to tell your sister that you aren't dead, but maybe hearing her voice might trigger something for you. I know Steve's been in contact with her so I was hoping he could set up some sort of meeting," said Alison. Steve and James both looked at her stunned. "It's a long shot…"
"I would like hear her voice again," said Bucky looking at her. You would really try to work around some sort of way for me to have something of her? I miss her so much. She can't see me though. "I sort of remember her voice, but it's hazy."
Steve thought about it. Unlike Peggy and the other Howling Commandos, Becca hadn't done any recorded interviews about knowing him and Bucky. She had done recorded interviews about her time modeling, but he thought that might be a little out there for Bucky to hear. She had written a book about him and Bucky that he was sure had pictures of all them together, but no interviews on camera. Trying to keep the two lives apart maybe., thought Steve.
"Well we could try and set something up for today. What do we tell her?" asked Steve.
"That I have a patient who is a huge Bucky Barnes fan and would like to hear from one of the people who knew him best...it's reaching but it might help," said Alison.
"I'll call her," said Steve leaving the room to make the call and James looked at her.
"Thanks," he said.
"It's a long shot, but I thought even if it doesn't do anything for you memory wise it would be nice for you to have," said Alison sitting down.
Yes he would like to hear her voice again. So help me you better come home. It was old and distorted, like he was hearing it from another room.
"She might sound different, it's been a really long time," warned Alison.
"I just want it. Steve said she got married," said James.
"Yeah. You have a niece and a nephew and between them you have four great nieces and nephews," said Alison. She had looked up Rebecca Barnes and was stunned that the pin up model that had decorated her and Sophia's college dorm was his sister. I'll tell you about that another day, thought Alison.
"It's odd. Having someone know your life and you can't even remember most of it," said James. Alison took a gamble and sat on the bed next to him. He didn't flinch, but he did tense for a moment. You got ice water in your veins don't you, thought Bucky.
"You and Steve are heroes and well it's sort of surreal for me to be in the same room with people I had to take tests on. From 1st grade to college any mention of World War Two had you guys in it. If you had a time machine and told my fourteen year old self she would be in a room with Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes she might have fallen over from disbelief." She took a second to gather her thoughts before going on.
"I know you don't think she won't love you anymore once she finds out about what happened. But we all have this 'messy' part of ourselves that we try to hide from people we love because we're scared of what they'll think about us if they know about it. It's surprising though how much people will love you no matter how 'messy' you think you are," said Alison.
Some part of him wanted to lay out every nasty thing he could remember doing and see how far he got before she ran away screaming. Some part wanted to hurt her and that felt the most familiar and he hated it. Another part wanted to scream that she couldn't possible understand anything. There was still another part and that was the one he went with.
"How do you know? What's your 'messy' part?" She closed her eyes and was about to say something when Steve came in
"Ten a.m works for her," said Steve.
"Good. That's really good," said Alison. They started talking about how to smooth out introducing Alison. She never answered his question.
…
Every inch of her hurt and she could hear people talking, but the words didn't make sense. It was liking floating in that hazy place right before you wake up. She kept telling herself to wake up and just couldn't make her eyes open. There were people touching her and sometimes it hurt and then someone would make the pain go away. Why couldn't she wake up?
"Ally. Come on sweetheart. You gotta fight...you made it this far honey." It sounded like her grandfather only he sounded like he had been crying and she hadn't seen him cry since her father died. Other voices telling her they were sorry and that they would see her soon. They sounded like they had also been crying. Why couldn't she wake up? Ok….we're going to open our eyes in three...two...one
Blinding light and she winced from how bright it was. She groaned trying to take in where she was. That was glaring clear in a nano second. It was a hospital, she was pretty sure this was one she was working at. She went to lift her head and shuddered in pain.
"Ally?" she turned her head and realized her neck was in a brace and her grandfather was sitting by her bedside.
"Hey," said Alison and she looked down and saw her right leg was in a sling and in a cast up to her thigh, her left leg was propped up and right arm was in a cast too.
"Let me get the doctor in here," said Robert and he pressed the call light. Monica-the head nurse of ICU and Dr. Stolz came in and both looked relieved to see her awake.
"You gave us a real scare baby," said Monica and kissed her forehead.
"It's nice to see you awake," said Stolz.
"Can I have some water?" asked Alison and Robert held up a cup with a straw for her. After a few sips her throat felt slightly better.
"What's the last thing you remember?" asked Stolz checking her pupils and Alison thought...they had been running late for dinner and traffic had been really backed up. Something in the sky and it looked like fireworks.
"I saw lights in the sky and...it gets hazy. What happened?" They all looked at each other as if deciding who was going to break the news.
"This is going to sound crazy, but there was an alien invasion. It took out six blocks in midtown and that was what you saw," said Robert. Alison thought and remembered something about an alien in New Mexico and how it almost leveled a whole town.
"Where's Matt?" asked Alison and suddenly none of them would look at her. "Is he ok?" She figured if she was this banged up than he must be in the ICU too. Dr. Stolz spoke up.
"The car flipped and you were tossed out. You have a lot of broken bones and we had to take out your spleen to stop the internal bleeding but Matt...Matt still had his seatbelt on and... he didn't make it."
Alison would later get her hands on his autopsy. Matt's neck had broken during the flip and he died minutes later. She had compound fractured her right leg and right arm. Fractured her left knee in two places. Broken four ribs, had a serious case a whiplash, a skull fracture, and the removal of her spleen. On top of the road rash, cuts and bruises she had gotten from being thrown into the street. She had been out for six weeks when she finally came too. And nothing made sense. They had to sedate her after being awake for only three minutes. The hazy place wasn't so bad now. She didn't have to think or feel there. However they wouldn't let her stay in the haze. After nearly ten weeks in the hospital they deemed her well enough to go home and that was when the real pain started.
….
They left a few hours later and Bucky was finding himself dozing in and out has he listened to some music. He thought about reading the Harry Potter book sitting on the stand. They were almost near the end though and Steve really seemed to like it so he would wait. She had taken the Lovecraft home and he wished she had left those. He had missed reading those. There was one he kept remembering bits of called The Shadow out of Time. Gabe's family always sent him books and in one box they had sent Gabe some Lovecraft. Gabe didn't care for horror so they had traded them for smokes. His life was a lot like the man from that story. The man in the story had just been a boring married father who taught Econ and then one day he blacked out and woke up five years later. Only he hadn't been sleeping he had been looking for occult things and had lost his wife and two of his children during his 'blackout'. During my blackouts though I killed people and lost years of my life, thought Bucky.
Maybe that was what upset him the most sometimes, how Alison and Steve would treat him like he hadn't done anything wrong. She called the part of him that had murdered god knows how many people 'messy'. They meant well and they wanted him to be himself again, only Bucky Barnes wouldn't have killed without a reason. I was in a war. They would have killed me, or Steve or anyone they could have if I didn't pull the trigger. Pull the trigger. He dozed off
They whipped her and Bucky could see old scars and now Karpov was adding new ones to her back. Georgina cried and pleaded in Russian. He didn't understand what she was saying, she just kept repeating it over and over.
"Я буду хорошим пожалуйста. Нет больше проблем от меня. Я хочу домой." How she still had a voice was beyond him. If she blacked out Karpov would wait until she woke up again and pick up where he left off. While she was out he would tell Bucky every filthy and degrading thing he had done to her over the last few years. If he had anything in his stomach he would have thrown up.
"I think she's done for now," said Karpov nudging her limp form with his shoe. She moaned slightly and Bucky was stunned. How was she still alive?
"Russian woman tend to be a stubborn bunch. A little like you Americans. Too stubborn to know when to quit."
"You're a monster," whispered Bucky. Calling him an animal would be an insult to them. Animals didn't do this. Karpov shrugged and pounded on the door. Two guards came in and untied him from the chair before throwing him to the floor. One pulled him across the room to where Georgina had been whipped and tied him to that while the other one undressed him down to his underwear.
"Now let's see how long before you quit," said Karpov and he felt the lash rip across his back and blood dripping down a second later. Bucky counted twenty before he blacked out. He would count another ten when he came too and another set of ten. Than he lost count.
…
"You've got to be kidding me," said Alison when they pulled up to the nursing home. Morning Glory Retirement Center
"What?" asked Steve.
"My grandfather lives here," said Alison. Had she met Rebecca already and didn't know it?
"I feel a little bad. I haven't seen her in a few months and I'm asking for favors," said Steve.
"If she knew this was James she would do it in a heartbeat," said Alison. They headed inside and more than a few heads turned looking at them.
"So is it me or you they're looking at," teased Alison.
"Well I am rather well put together for a ninety six year old man," said Steve and Alison fought back a laugh. The door had fake flowers on it and Steve knocked.
"Come in," called a soft voice. Alison let Steve lead the way before following. Rebecca was sitting in a wheelchair by the window. Her once dark hair now gray and braided back, and she was dressed in black slacks and a white blouse. Her eyes were the same dark shade of blue as her brother's and she gave Steve a mischievous grin.
"Six months without a visit and now you're bring in some new floozy. At least this one isn't British and proper. A good ole fashioned American Girl for Captain America," said Rebecca and Alison had to bit her lip hard to keep from laughing. God Bless old people who have no filter, thought Alison. Steve hung his head and.
"There is no dulling you is there?" Rebecca cocked her head to the side.
"I would bore you tears if I did dull." She looked at Alison and her face softened. "Oh you're Robert's girl. She brings the best dip during football season. Sneaks it in for us because good forbid we have anything with flavor or texture."
Alison had to sit down she was shaking from trying not to laugh. Was this what her brother was like before they ruined him? No wonder girls liked him so much-Make them laugh and make them breakfast, thought Alison.
"Well I'm glad you two already know each other," said Steve sitting down trying to not turn red.
"I just knew her as Mrs. Chase," said Alison getting out the book they picked up on the way.
"So what's this for again?" asked Rebecca.
"I'm taking care of someone who happens to be a fan of your brother and well I think having you read of bit of your book about him and Steve might perk him up," said Alison. Rebecca took the book and sighed.
"I swear if he had come back from the war the ego on him would have been impossible to deal with," said Rebecca looking at a photos on her nightstand. Alison followed her gaze to the photos. She saw one of Rebecca, James and Steve taken on Coney Island. He looked so happy and carefree with one arm around his sister and the other around a very skinny and small Steve. Alison could see the family resemblance between James and Rebecca, same dark hair, fair skin and well really good looking. Alison turned and saw Rebecca looking at them with that same piercing blue eyes her brother had, only they held a great deal of joy in them.
"That was taken the summer before Pearl Harbor. Right before Steve threw up on the roller coaster," said Rebecca with a bit of glee and Alison had to laugh.
"I think we can skip over me throwing up," said Steve.
"So Bucky Barnes had an ego?" asked Alison and Rebecca looked over at Steve as if to telling him to be quiet.
"Not a mean one, but I can't count how many times he came creeping in on Sunday morning before Mass, or sneaking a girl out or how long his confessions took," said Rebecca and Alison could only imagine what a 1940's walk of shame looked like.
"He liked to have a good time when he could, but he was hard worker and a good man," said Becca. Steve went over to look out a window and Alison could only imagine what was going through his mind right now.
"Listen to me carry on. What do you need darling?" asked Rebecca. Alison pulled out a tape recorder.
"Could you maybe read a chapter from the book and maybe you have a Bucky story that no one has ever heard. He's a huge fan and I think it might just cheer him a bit to hear from the person who knew him the best next to Captain America," said Alison.
"Of course sweetheart, but shouldn't I rehearse like the Book on Tape people?"
"Oh no, it will sound better if it's off the cuff, natural sounding. Like two friends talking," said Alison.
"I never thought this silly thing would sell. I wasn't important the way Steve and James were," said Rebecca.
"You were important to us," said Steve still looking out the window. She was twenty one when they left. He spent almost his whole life with her and James and than in the blink of an eye at least for Steve and James, she's old and it's hard to understand why, thought Alison.
"What chapter dear?" asked Rebecca.
"Start at the beginning," said Alison turning on the tape recorder. Please let this work. They recorded a few chapters before lunch rolled around.
"I think we've gotten enough for now. Thank you so much Mrs. Chase," said Alison.
"Please if you're a friend of Steve's you can call me Becca," she said.
"I'll give you two a minute. Might as well pop in on my old man while we're here," said Alison. Steve hadn't left his spot by the window in over two hours. Give them a minute. Alison left and Rebecca looked at Steve.
"Do you want to spit out what's bothering you?" Your brother is alive and was turned into a killer by Hydra and it's half my fault because I didn't send him home to you, thought Steve. He turned around and faced her.
"Just feeling a bit guilty for not seeing you lately is all," said Steve which wasn't a total lie.
"You've been a little busy lately. We do watch the news you know," said Becca and Steve sat down and took her hand in his.
"I should make more time for my annoying little sister though," said Steve. Becca gave him a smile and patted his hand.
"So how did you meet her?" asked Becca.
"She knows my friend Sam and she mentioned a patient she was working with that was having some issues. I thought this would be nice for him," said Steve,
"She's a sweet girl. Robert told us she had a bad rough patch a while back, but she's worked through most of it."said Becca.
"Yeah she told me she was in a car accident awhile back," said Steve and Becca frowned.
" Robert said she was in Mid-town," said Becca and Steve was confused.
"What?" asked Steve.
"She was in Mid-town when that alien invasion happened at least that's what Robert told us. One of the other couple's here had a son who was a police officer at the time in Mid-town. The new thing seems to be talking about how close your kids or grandkids were to Mid-town or Harlem during certain events," said Becca.
"She didn't say anything," said Steve.
"Well if she was there maybe she didn't want to tell Captain America about it. You did enough that day for a lot people," said Becca.
"We can't save them all," said Steve recalling what Colonial Phillips had told him years ago.
"Bucky always told me I had a big mouth. She's a nice girl and well you could use a nice girl," said Becca and Steve looked at her.
"Not some Brit huh?" asked Steve teasing.
"She was nice enough. Not good enough for you though by a long shot," said Becca. Steve said goodbye to her and asked a nurse where he could find Robert Conley's room. They pointed him down the hall and to the right. Why didn't she tell me, thought Steve. He poked his head in and Alison was sitting across from an old man who was holding some drum sticks.
"Damn shakes used to wait till the afternoon before starting up," he grumbled and Alison took his hands.
"I'll leave a call for Dr. Mathis about your medicine. I know this is really hard for you," said Alison.
"Don't ever get old Ally it's terrible. End it while you're still pretty," said Robert and her face paled a bit.
"I think I'm just gonna get old," said Alison.
"Not a bit of sense," said Robert and she just gave him a smile. I didn't reach her eyes though. It reminded Steve of the last time he saw Peggy before he left D.C. How he had to smile and pretend he wasn't dying on the inside looking at her.
"I know. I got it from you after all," she said. The old man looked at her fondly.
"How's Matt?" Her face paled a little again.
"He's working. It's Spring and that's when they do all the big concerts. Remember we got to see him play Der Rossenkavalier?" asked Alison.
"Boy could play. It's a shame you didn't stick with music," lamented Robert and Steve could tell she was trying to keep it together. It never gets easy. Steve knocked on the door. It was my turn to off her an out.
"Who are you?" asked Robert.
"Grandpa this is Steve. He's a friend of Sam. He was visiting his aunt and we're all going out for lunch now," said Alison and Robert looked at Steve and he just looked bored.
"Well you tell Sam and Matt I said hello," said Robert and Alison kissed him on the cheek.
"I will. Behave yourself," said Alison. They left and she was quiet on their way back.
"So I think that went really well with Becca. I think Bucky is really gonna like it," said Steve. She looked over at him and gave him a tired smile.
"Sorry. I zoned out for a bit," said Alison.
"It's never easy. Seeing them like that," said Steve and Alison nodded.
" He was having a bad day. I know I should correct him, but he really liked Matt," said Alison fiddling with her ring. She looked back out the window. Now would be a really crappy time to ask her about what happened, thought Steve. It did sort of push a little button in his head though. She told you he was dead, why not the why? Maybe she wanted to spare your feelings or she wasn't sure how you would take if you found out that her fiance died on your watch.
He and the others had been thanked for their part in saving New York, but a rumbling had started after that and it had only got louder lately. People wanted them held accountable for property damage or lives lost during their fights. They tried to save everyone they could, however things happened and you couldn't save everyone no matter how hard you tried. Collateral damage is unavoidable and if you think only about who you didn't save it's going to ruin you from saving anybody. That was what Phillips had told them after they found the camp in Poland.
"You know I'm really glad you didn't stick with music," said Steve and she started laughing.
"Thanks. I really need that."
…..
Bucky woke up and wasn't sure how long he had been out. He knew he had been dreaming, but he couldn't be sure if it was a dream of a memory. Georgina, thought Bucky. He closed his eyes. I don't want to remember her anymore. He opened his eyes again and saw it was past noon from the light in the room. They'll be back soon. He was about to get up when Alison and Tony came into the room. Tony was wheeling his arm in on a tray.
"Do you need me to get you anything?" asked Alison.
"A rum and coke," said Tony and Bucky almost laughed. I wouldn't mind a drink myself, thought Bucky.
"I think we have rubbing alcohol up here," said Alison and sat down next to James.
"Is this going to hurt him?" asked Alison. It's not like I haven't been hurt before, thought Bucky.
"Nah. This shouldn't take too long," said Tony going over to a drawer and lining up tools on another table.
"Once we get this done, we'll have lunch and head upstate. Steve is calling to let them know we're coming," said Alison. "We'll also listen to that recording we got on the way there."
"Thank you," said Bucky. Really. Thank you for everything, thought Bucky. Tony came back over with the table of tools and the table with his arm.
"So hand me the tool to your right," said Tony. She watched as Tony put the wires back on the shoulder base.
"You alright," asked Alison noticing Bucky was getting a far away look in his eyes.
"I just want this done," Bucky said softly. I want to remember more about my sister than Georgina. What happened to her, don't think about it, thought Bucky. She nodded and took his hand, he didn't pull away. She's not them. She's not going to hurt us. Tony had the arm back on the base when a small shock went through him and he winced.
"It's almost over," said Alison. The world faded away for him and he remembered someone else telling him it was almost over.
He lost track of how long the beating went on. Every inch of him hurt and Karpov didn't seem to be wearing out. He pulled Bucky over to the bed and got him on it. He felt Karpov pull his last piece of clothing off and he couldn't fight back. He felt the other man get into the bed and it took Bucky a second to realize he was also naked.
"What are you doing?" asked Bucky barely keeping his eyes open. He was so tired and he just wanted to blackout. Without any warning he felt Karpov go inside him. A scream tore out of him that he didn't know he had in him. Karpov grabbed his hips and started thrusting in and out of him. Bucky felt blood running down his legs and he couldn't stop screaming. Karpov reached down and started stroking him. To his horror he felt himself getting turned on.
"Stop it," pleaded Bucky his voice hoarse from screaming. Karpov grabbed him harder and didn't stop.
"It's almost over and then it's her turn," said Karpov.
It all happened so fast Tony and Alison didn't know what was happening. The left arm was attached and had some function back when Bucky used it to shove Tony across the room. Tony hit his head and was out. Alison went to hit the button for the restraints when Bucky lunged at her, had her pinned to the floor and his right hand was wrapped around her throat. Black spots clouded her vision and she could feel something being crushed.
"Bucky!" cried a voice and she felt him being pulled off her. Her vision was clouded, but she was sure it was Steve. Alison pulled herself to her knees and coughed up blood. Steve was trying to put him in a choke hold, when James threw his head back hitting Steve in the face. James quickly grabbed the screwdriver and was trying to use it like a knife. Steve was trying to avoid it when James jammed it into his side. Steve lunged and got James on the floor. They were rolling on the floor throwing punches and neither one of them getting the upper hand. The button, thought Alison. She reached into her pocket and pulled it out.
I'm sorry, she thought as she pressed the button. James screamed and then everything was quiet.