DISCLAIMER:This fanfiction will follow its timeline, however, I've tried to stick to the movie timeline as much as possible. It must be noted that this story is rated M as there will be some explicit content mentioned later in the story (depictions of sexual intimacy, and also mentions of rape and abuse) but forewarnings will be provided at the beginning of the respective chapter.

It must be noted that I don't own any of the Marvel characters or anything affiliated with the Marvel Universe. However, all OC and original content have been created by me.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

"The One with the Performance (Part 2)"

[BUCKY POV]

Bucky watched as Lilah released a deep breath, readying herself for what she was about to sing and then he heard the words:

"Stars shining bright above you

Night breezes seem to whisper "I love you"

Birds singin' in the sycamore trees

Dream a little dream of me"

Lilah's voice was almost hauntingly beautiful to this group of people who had now fallen completely silent. It took Bucky just two lines when he was suddenly overcome with a feeling of familiarity. He blinked hard focusing not only on Lilah but on the song. "Wait a minute," he shifted his body, turning slightly to Sam, "I think I know this song," he said, thrilled that he may actually know one of the songs, but now a bit concerned by what was playing out in his mind. Behind his now tightly shut eyes, he saw a flash of a memory, a woman and man dancing in a kitchen to this song being played over the radio. In the memory, the man and woman were holding each other lovingly and swaying to the song being played softly in the background and it was as if Bucky was spying on the couple. He took a long look at their faces but couldn't put his finger on who they were. Bucky could feel his brows furrow and crease as he pushed harder into his deep subconscious to try and remember who they were and that's when he heard Lilah sing the second verse:

Say " nighty-night" and kiss me

Just hold me tight and tell me you'll miss me

While I'm alone and blue as can be

Dream a little dream of me

At that moment, the man in Bucky's memory playfully dipped the woman and brought her back up to standing, "Oh, George Barnes! You great fool!" She yelped in surprise and delight. Bucky's eyes snapped open straightaway. He couldn't believe he had forgotten. Of all the memories that HYRDA had taken away …

His parents.

He even knew what the song was called now, who was singing it, and what year it was from. It was like a wave of information had just washed over him.

Sam was still looking at him warily, waiting for him to say something, "Hey, you're lookin' a bit pale there, man, you sure you're okay?" he asked. Bucky nodded in response, swallowing hard, trying to compose himself. "Dream a Little Dream of Me. Ozzie Nelson. He originally recorded this song in 1931," he added with an air of triumph in his voice. Sam narrowed his eyes at Bucky, "How do you even know that?", Bucky smiled and responded, "I can remember it being released and being played on the radio - I was there."

The next song Bucky didn't know and lucky for him, nor did Sam. Overhearing some of the younger girls in front of them, they established that it was Bethany Joy Lenz's song called Feel This. By this point, Bucky was convinced that no matter what song Lilah was given, the woman could sing anything. She had the crowd enthralled and mesmerized with her voice as she put her all into the performance. When she was done, every person was shouting and whistling, and Holly scurried onto the stage to pull Lilah into a deep hug. It was clear that the songs meant a great deal to her.

[LILAH POV]

If Lilah held onto Holly any longer she would have burst into tears. That last song took everything out of her. It was the song that she sang to Holly after her last chemo treatment. She went into remission after that and has been for the last 2 years; until last month. As Holly pulled away, Lilah tried to lighten the mood by whispering, "We're almost done, I promise," into Holly's ear, but Holly just shook her head and muttered through gritted teeth, "Oh, I am so haunting all of your asses once I've crossed over!" Lilah's eyes grew wide and let out an audible gasp that turned into a bark of laughter. Having come close to death's door many times, she knew that Holly was comfortable enough to joke about death, but still, in the back of Lilah's mind, it was a constant reminder that this day could very well come soon.

Before Lilah could delve deeper into that hole, Elton appeared between the two of them, "Okay, okay, that's enough with the soppiness," he said separating them and ushered Holly off stage. Then, with a glimmer of something Lilah could only recognize as mischief in his eyes, Elton turned to Lilah and said into the mic, "Let's turn up the heat a smidge here, shall we?" and the crowd screamed in approval.

They had the last three songs to perform and these were Holly's favorite songs to dance around to in the hospital. While the staff had been practicing these moves for weeks, they decided to not take on the whole songs, but rather just a verse or two of each. Lilah and Elton held onto their mics and moved to opposite corners of the stage, blending into the darkness as the hospital staff took over the stage. Kira and Michael sauntered down the middle of the group to the front of the stage dressed to perfection in their costumes as Sandy and Danny from the movie Grease.

[BUCKY POV]

Bucky watched in absolute bewilderment at what was happening on stage. Is this what constitutes as 'romantic' these days? He thought to himself. The leads of the song were practically feeling each other up on the stage! Sam on the other hand was watching with pure amusement. He looked over to Bucky, "It's a song called You're the One that I Want, from the musical Grease," he noted. Unimpressed, Bucky just nodded along to Sam's statement, "Charming," he remarked, "Can you see Lilah anywhere?" Sam quickly glanced over at Bucky and then looked back at the stage, humoured at the former assassin's need to focus on the doctor. "No, I can't see her, but this is definitely her singing," he looked at the two dancers on stage, "they must be lip-synching," he added. Sam was right. After listening to her sing tonight, there was no way Bucky was going to let her voice escape his mind.

After the second verse, the song faded and another started up, "Oh, no way are they to do this song!" chirped Sam with a little jump and grip on Bucky's shoulder, "they're doing Dirty Dancing," Bucky stared back at him, clearly displeased with his level of excitement, "Would you just relax, please," he said to Sam, shrugging his hand off his shoulder as he looked back at the stage. Bucky swore heard Sam say 'buzzkill' under his breath but chose to ignore it.

Most of the dancers had moved to the edge of the stage and the spotlight now shone brightly on Sophia, clad in a blush pink dress, and a man next to her, who was fitted head to toe in black attire. With Elton voicing the opening lines and seeing the couple take center stage, the crowd went ballistic. Bucky watched intently as both of them started dancing, 'interesting take on ballroom dancing' he thought to himself as the dance seemed much more intimate and - for lack of a better description - sexually charged. As the dance continued, Bucky listened to Elton and Lilah's voices melt together as Sophia and her partner kept perfectly in step.

Then, Sophia's partner sprung off the stage and joined a group of dancers who were already standing at the foot of the stage, while Sophia danced her way down the steps to stand right in front of the stage. The male dancer turned back to Sophia and gently nodded, and from the crowd, Bucky could see that she responded with the same nod and a smile. Suddenly, it was like the air on the rooftop changed. Everyone went silent, holding their breaths, knowing exactly what was coming next; except Bucky. Sophia broke into a run and threw herself into her partner's arms at the last second but he was ready for her. He braced her at her hips and hoisted her above his head, holding her there for a few seconds with her arms spread out to keep her balance, as the crowd around them cheered and applauded. As Sophia was set back down on the ground, Bucky's eyes darted from them back to the stage, where Lilah and Elton emerged from behind the curtain, singing the last verse of the song, he couldn't help but read the relief on Lilah's face. As they both ended the song, Elton held onto Lilah's hand as the background music changed to something with more spunk. Sam turned to Bucky and managed to tell him the title of the song just before the dancefloor got flooded with all the ladies and Lilah started to sing, Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody," he said. Bucky nodded in response, watching meticulously as Lilah danced with Elton on stage. They were having such fun up there, that neither of them took a second to look down at the dancefloor until the song was nearing its end and they had to call Sophia and the rest of the dancers to come back on stage for the final bow.

All of a sudden, it was like the whole rooftop was alive, erupting in cheers, whistles, and claps, as the hospital staff all lined the stage and took a bow. Bucky watched as they all blew kisses in Holly's direction as they either walked off stage or peeled off backstage to change. Sophia stayed in her pink Dirty Dancing dress and proceeded to link arms with both Lilah and Elton and led them both off stage towards Holly, who was now standing by the bar.

Author's Note:

Please review!