This time, when I woke up gasping, I knew I wasn't in a dream or a memory. My heart was pounding, and my body felt weak and achy the way it always did after I turned Chaos on someone. I was in a hospital bed, albeit a more comfortable one. Still in the facility recovering from what I'd allowed Chaos to do.
I could feel her churning in anger beneath my skin. But I could feel the Darkness too. The Darkness that had always been mine, if what Wanda said was true. There was more Darkness than Chaos. Because she was currently feeding on Bucky.
I was running out of time.
I leapt out of the bed, knocking over the IV trolley that was still attached to my arm. I gently pulled the tube, stopping the flow of fluids to the needle attached to the back of my hand. I didn't have time to be careful. So I hurried to the other side of the room and ripped open the curtain keeping us separated.
Bucky was lying in another bed, also attached to fluids. But unlike me, he wasn't awake. There were dark circles under his eyes. He looked pale and sickly.
"Stop,"Chaos whispered in my voice. The push of her voice was fainter than before. She couldn't control me anymore. She'd gotten what she wanted, but she'd given me more power in doing so.
I climbed onto the bed, onto his lifeless body.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Give him back," I told her, gripping his face in my hands so each part of her knew who I was talking to. "Give him back to me now."
"STOP."
I didn't listen. I squeezed his mouth open and pushed my lips against his. I tried to remember what it felt like the day she almost killed him. The day she nearly got what she wanted, and I'd put a stop to it by calling the Darkness back to me. Darkness was what she was made of. Not what she was. And the Darkness was mine.
I felt it, deep inside him, already latching itself to his organs and his mind, sucking the life out of them bit by bit. He wouldn't have lasted much longer. And if Wanda hadn't summoned me with her own chaos magic, I never would have known. I would have woken to find him dead, and it would have killed me.
"He's mine,"she hissed.
"Give him back!" I demanded. I reached for that Darkness. That Chaos. And I pulled it back.
"Jo, let him go!" someone shouted. "What are you doing?" I felt hands pulling at my arms, but I didn't relent. I shot a hand out, acting on instinct. And let the Darkness pull my attacker away from me. I didn't open my eyes to see where they'd gone. Not until I knew I'd drawn every last bit of Chaos from his blood.
"Jo!" someone else shouted.
But I broke away before they could try to intervene. I stumbled back off of Bucky as the wave of sickness flooded through me again. Too much. Too heavy.
"What have you done?"she asked. I looked up and met Sam's gaze from where he was helping Liv to her feet. His eyes were wide with horror or fear. Something, I wasn't sure. I answered the question anyway.
"I took him back," I explained.
I tried to climb off the bed but missed on my burning legs. I felt weightless for a moment. Right before my body thudded against the hard floor.