Chapter 3
"How is this not my fault Steve!" Bucky shot off the bed.
"The only reason she was taken is because of me! You know she did not want to date me at first? I bugged her and keep coming around until she gave in. She told me she was not here as a play thing for us boys. I kept at her until she caved and-"
"She was in love with you Buck. I saw it when I was at camp with you both and I saw it when we thought you had died. She was head over heels for you as much as you were her. Don't try and convince yourself otherwise."
Bucky pointed his finger back at the bed. "They could have done anything to her. Even if some divine intervention kept her alive all these years, we don't know what they've done to her mind."
"Bruce will be ready and wait for us when we get back. You know he's the best, he do everything he can for her."
Bucky looked long and hard at Oakleigh.
"What do we do?" Bucky asked helpless.
Steve's brain quickly analyzed all aspects of the situation. "We get her on the jet, bring her home. She shouldn't have to wake up in this place."
Natasha came back while Bucky was gently lifting the frozen girl into his arms.
"I explained things to Banner, he'll be ready. He also said that we should not do anything extreme to warm her up. He'll have warm liquids ready to pump into her once we are back, he will slowing bring her temperature up."
.
Bucky did not say a word on the flight back. The only difference this time bring he had a unconscious girl in his arms. Natasha had piled some blankets on the floor from him to lay Oakleigh, Bucky did not go for that. He was not letting her out of his arms. She was his and he was going to protect her, like he had failed to do so many times before.
When they did land, Dr Banner was right there waiting with a hospital bed and warm bag of saline. Bucky forced himself to let Oakleigh go, realizing how stiff his arms had become from clutching her body to his.
Bucky was right on top of Bruce the whole time, watching every little thing he did to Oakleigh. In his mind Bucky knew Bruce would not do anything to hurt her, but he could not help himself.
Steve came and went, having to debrief other members of the team. Both on the origin story of Oakleigh and Bucky and the bits of information Bucky had trusted him with.
Bucky had told Steve most of the story while he waited to see if Oakleigh would wake up. Some memories were hard to bring forward, so he skipped over them.
Steve tried to make Bucky feel better with stories of his and Oakleigh's time together, after they though him to be dead.
Bucky knew nothing had gone on with his best friend and his girl. But he could not help but feel jealous that they had gotten to be free together. Before she was captured, thrown into to a new cage, with him.
Bruce came back to check on them after a couple hours, having spent the afternoon analysis Oakleigh's vitals and reading threw her Hydra files.
"I could not find anything in Dr Zola's notes or in the tests I've run to suggest that Oakleigh's system was biologically changed."
"What about her brain?" Bucky asked.
Bruce shifted his weight, "We can't know until she wakes up. There was nothing in her file however to suggest she was brainwashed. The cryo pod was programmed to be self sufficient, it why it kept her alive after she was abandoned."
Bucky nodded his thanks, Steve clapped Bruce on the back. "Thanks."
Bucky could not let those words comfort him, not yet. He needed to keep his guard up until he knew for sure. He could not afford to put all his eggs in one basket, not matter how much he wanted to root for her.
Steve stayed with him, watching Bucky's eye glaze over as he shielded his mind. All Steve could do was pray that however Oakleigh woke up, that she was still intact. There was still a small chance that she would not wake up. Her body was still functioning, her brain too. They just had to wait and see. If she couldn't wake up, if she was too far gone and they could not bring her back. Steve knew he would not be able to protect his friend from the fallout.
There was just a certain amount of shit a person could take.
It usually took Bucky an hour tops to fully wake up for a stint in cryo. If he was under for a couple years it would take a little longer to shake off the side effects.
Two days and Oakleigh had still not woken up, every hour Bucky's panic grew bigger and harder to contain. He was on edge and it was clear to anybody who looked at him.
Three turned out to be a lucky number after all, on her third day in the lab Oakleigh woke up.
"We should discuss what we'll do once O's awake." Steve said as he passed Bucky another mug of coffee.
Bucky bristled. "We're going to help her-"
"Right, and we have to have a plan on what to do. She's going to need help, more than we or Bruce can give her. We don't know what could have happened to her, outside of what you know."
Bucky clenched his fists. "I want them dead Steve."
"Zemo's still out there, but we'll find him Buck. We'll find all of them, just like we planned."
One of the computers surrounding Oakleigh's bed went off. Both soldiers stood and looked down at her, neither knowing what to make of the numbers and lines on the screen.
"J.A.R.V.I.S get Dr B-"
Bruce speed walked into the room. "I'm here." He took a moment to looked over the data before him.
"Why are you smiling? Is she ok." Bucky's heart was racing so fast he thought it might explode.
"She's more than fine Sargent, look."
All three men looked down to the women in the bed, her eye lids and fingers twitching as she came to life.
Bucky steeled himself, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
"Bu-Key" Her voice rough and unclear.
Bucky stepped forward and grabbed onto her hand, Oakleigh whimpered at the touch.
"O? Come on, open your eyes." Her eye lids fluttered. "That's it, come on Blake."
Slowly she did as she was told, her hand gripped him tighter. Her eyes opened and closed them immediately. The harsh lights dimmed behind her eye lids and she tried again.
When she opened her eyes, Oakleigh seemed confused to find Bucky looking back at her. His heart stopped, she did not remember him. But she had said his name, she knew who he was. It did not matter, Hydra took everything from him, they could not have her. Not again. He would remind her who he was every day for the rest of their lives, he did not care.
Oakleigh's eyes shifted to Dr Banner, she flinched away from him. Then to Steve and she froze, tears filled her eyes. He was here, he was going save them and help her fix Bucky.
Bucky's jaw clenched at Oakleigh's reaction to Steve, the relief and happiness that radiated from her upon seeing him.
"Where are we?" Her voice cracked.
Steve answered, while Bucky held onto her hand with all he had.
"Some place safe, you don't have to worry. Dr Banner is a friend." He explained softly.
Oakleigh looked back over at Bucky, unsure. "You called me O."
He nodded unable to speak, Dr Banner stepped in. "Do you know your name?"
Oakleigh shook her head, Bucky wanted to cry. She does not know who she is, what the hell had they done to her? Did Bruce miss something?
"You haven't called me O since before they-" Here eye flickered between the two soldiers. "Bucky?"
"Yeah Darlin', it's me." He kiss her hand that was still in his.
Oakleigh launched herself toward him, Bucky held her tight. Her body trembled as her muscles protested for being used for the first time in so long. She did know who she was, he sighed in relief, she just did not think he knew who he was.
Steve and Bruce excused themselves to the other side of the room. Trying to give the couple a little privacy.
"That seems like a good sign." Steve whispered.
Bruce fixed his glasses. "It does seem like Oakleigh's situation is the same as yours. She's waking up, just after a very long nap. She's going to need some time to adjust, though I think we may have an easier time with her than they did with you."
"I woke up alone, with a nurse who was a terrible actress. Oakleigh has familiar faces, she has me and Bucky looking out for her." Steve looked back toward the reunion that was taking place. "As far as she knows, it's still the 40's, unless Hydra told her different."
Bruce nodded, "We'll reintegrate her slowly. Try as best we can to reduce her culture shock."
The two headed back over to the hospital bed.
"Miss Blake." She turned to look at him, begrudgingly pulling her body back from Bucky's. "My name is Dr Banner. You were in cryo sleep for quite a while, would it be ok if I checked you out?"
Oakleigh looked to Steve and then Bucky, both smiling encouragingly.
"Sure."
"I've got to warn you, she makes a bad patient." Bucky teased.
Oakleigh rolled her eyes at him, "I do not."
Bruce smiled, "All nurses do."
He took some blood work and kept to simple tools. Medicine had come a long way since she had last practiced, and he did not want to tip her off.
Oakleigh seemed very tense when Bruce slid the needle under her skin. Bucky frowned, she had never had any problems with needles before.
"What is the last thing you remember?" Bruce asked.
Oakleigh flinched at the question, looking sadly over at Bucky.
"I'm really sorry. I tried to be quiet." Her screams echoed in his mind. "Usually when they wanted to punish the solider, they would inject me. I don't know what it was, but it was always painful, It felt like fire in my veins."
"But they didn't the last time you were awake?" Bruce asked.
"No." Oakleigh shook her head, not wanting to meet anyones gaze. "Zola he-."
When she did not continue, Bucky rubbed his hand along her thigh in a comforting motion. He meant to comfort her, but having his hands on her served to comfort him as well.
"I don't know what he did. As soon as the needle entered my skin, I can't remember anything."
"You were screaming." Bucky interrupted, voice shaking. "The last time I remember you being awake. You screamed just like the other times."
"Details might come back to you in the next few days. While you seem in perfectly good heath physically, your mind might need time to play catch up."
Oakleigh smiled, nodding. She was still a little foggy, waking up with Bucky and Steve beside her, instead of that concrete facility. It was more than overwhelming.
"How did you find us?" She asked Steve. "I watched them kill they guys that stayed behind with me, you must have thought the worst."
Steve nodded, putting himself back in the moment he returned to camp. "When I couldn't find you, I figured you either escaped or you were taken."
"So where are we now? This place looked a lot nicer than any of the hospitals i've been in."
Bucky and Steve looked back at each other, "Thats complicated O."
She looked at Bucky. "What do you mean? Are we still in Europe?"
"No. We are in New York."
Oakleigh gasped, Bucky had brought her home with him.
"The wars over then?" Again they looked at each other. "Why do you two keep shooting each other glances like you're trying to come up with answers to my questions, just tell me the truth."
Bucky pulled at Oakleigh's caves till her legs were hanging off the bed, facing him. He massaged her calf muscles as he spoke.
"The war is over, our side won." She smiled in relief. "But Hydra is still alive. O, the war ended while we were in the facility. It lasted six years."
"That doesn't make sense though. Then why were you going out on missions in the 50s if the war was done?"
Bucky took a steading breath, "They held us for a really long time, O."
They watched as her confused expression dropped into one of indifference.
"What year is it?"
Bucky wanted more than anything not to tell her. They had wanted to take this slow, bring her up to speed without shocking her. She had asked him flat out, he was not about to start lying to her now.
"It's 2016."
Oakleigh shook her head. "No no it, no it's not."
The men looked at her, waiting for her to work threw the news. He saw the questions flicker threw her eyes, her confusion and understanding.
"We were in cryo for seventy years?"
"You were, give or take the couple days they woke you up for." He clarified. "I spend more time out of the pod."
Oakleigh's attention snapped to Steve. "How are you here?"
He looked just ask old as the day she had met him, super solider serum slowed the ageing process, but not that much. Steve should look a lot older than this.
Steve smiled sweetly at her, "It's a long story, I'll tell it to you in a couple days. Once you've gained your footing."
Oakleigh wanted to demand he tell her now, that they tell her everything now. But she was already feeling tired and she was still foggy. She trusted Bucky and Steve, she believed what they were telling her, but it just seemed too unreal.
Her hand reached out to cup Bucky's cheek. "They never let me see you, not after the solider fully took over."
"I did a lot of bad things O. I can't say that I'm upset you missed them."
"The solider did those things, not you."
"How many times do you remember walking up?" Bruce asked.
"Two, maybe three. It's really hard to remember."
Bruce patted her shoulder, "Don't worry about it."
"How did we get away?"
Bucky rubbed her thighs, guilt sitting heavy in his gut. "There is a lot that we have to talk about, things that are upsetting and hard to hear."
"You can tell me." She insisted. "I'll deal with it, whatever it is."
"I know you can, tomorrow. I promise I will tell you everything. Is she free to go Doc?" Bruce nodded. "How about a warm shower?"
Oakleigh had not realized she was shivering until then. "That would be good."
Bucky back up to give Oakleigh some space. She slid from the bed and wobbled. Her legs felt like jelly and she was finding it hard to keep her balance.
"Don't push yourself to hard these next couple of days." Bruce advised. "Your body will take a little while to get use to moving around again."
Oakleigh nodded, she fell into Steve, squeezing him in a hug. "I'm really happy you're ok too."
"Back at ya O."
Bucky was there to take her hand as she let go. She smiled at him, letting him lead her away. Their walk was quiet, none of them quite knowing what to say.
"What is this place? it's not a hospital."
"This is the Avengers training facility. Steve and I live here, along with some others."
"Dr Banner?"
"He has his own home, most of us do, we could live here full time if we wanted. It's nice to get away from everyone when things get overwhelming."
"You have your own place?"
"I have an apartment, once I got away from Hydra I needed to be alone. The more my memories returned to me, the worse I felt about all the things I did."
"All the things the solider did." She corrected. "I met him once, in the very beginning."
Bucky froze, all his blood seemed to leave his body. This was the other shoe, they had made him hurt her, like he had the girls in the red room.
Pressing the button for the elevator, Bucky could not find it in him to look at her.
"Maybe we should talk about this once we get you settled."
If he was being honest, Bucky was not sure he could handle her recap of what her encounter with the solider entailed.
Oakleigh's grip on his hand tightened, she pulled him into the elevator with her. "Nothing bad happened, you didn't- the solider never hurt me."
Bucky looked at her like he did not believe her, the asset did whatever his handler told him to do. Zola may have promised to keep her alive and safe as long as he behaved. The others made no such promises.
Oakleigh backed Bucky against one of the elevator walls, leaning into him.
"I think at first they wanted to see if I was still worth keeping around." Bucky tensed. "It took almost two months before they said you were ready. When they finally let me see you, I took one look and knew you weren't you anymore. You stood at ease and just stared like you did not know what to make of me. When I started to cry you frowned at me, like you were upset too."
"I walked over and hugged you, but you didn't hug me back. Then you whispered 'mine', like somewhere in your mind you still knew I meant something to you. Even if you didn't know me anymore. Zola told you that I was yours, that as long as you completed your missions you could keep me. They didn't let me stay long after that, they wanted to send you out on your first mission. They made you stand there while they put me in the pod, you put your hand on the glass as it froze over. The next time I woke up, it must have been the 50s."
She remembered them showing her the newspaper. A senator had been killed and they had told her Bucky did it. They seemed rather pleased with themselves.
Bucky nodded, "They wanted me to kill an entire village, there was a little girl that I just couldn't kill. Now I realize it's because she looked like you. You were hurt because I couldn't complete my mission."
"No! I got hurt because Zola is a vile excuse for a human being. You saved a little girl that day, I know you don't see it that way, but that's the truth."
The doors opened, and Bucky led Oakleigh down the hall to his bedroom door.
"I have a shower I here. It looked like someone already sent down some clothes." A pile of folded laundry laid on the end of the bed, along with some toiletries. "While you shower, I'll take to Tony and we can get you set up in one of the guest rooms."
Oakleigh wrapped her arms around herself, he did not want her to stay with him? He seemed a lot more adjusted to this new era than her, maybe he was quicker to wake than she. How long had she been in that hospital bed? Maybe he already moved on and had a new life, a new girlfriend.
"Ok." She said softly, going to grab the clothes from the bed.
"What's wrong?"
Rip the band aid off, she told herself. "Why can't I stay here?" If he didn't want to be with her, or he already had someone else she wanted to know now.
This was day one in rebuilding her life. She had to know if he was with her or if she was in this alone.
