Nostalgia

- - - - -

"You are going to fix her. Now."

Bucky had the barrel of his shiny gun against the head of a Hydra scientist, openly glaring at him with so much hatred and disgust. Ana was slumped against a metal table behind him, turning white and blue from the harsh cold and blood loss. She was breathing, but barely.

Jorah looked at the barrel of the gun, gulping thickly at the sight of it. His hands were frozen on the table, after the Winter Soldier had stormed in and forced him next to Ana, demanding him to stitch her wound up.

"But I'm a scientist, not a doctor!" He argued.

Bucky lowered the safety, making it click dangerously next to his ear. Jorah inhaled sharply and nodded, "Okay, comrade." He quickly answered.

Bucky watched him take out a metal box, lifting the lid up and taking out a few needles and string. He kept on glancing at Ana then Bucky with a unreadable glint in his eye. Bucky held in a groan, pressing his metal hand to his lower hip. The blood that was coming from the cut started to clot and he took a chair, dragging it next to the table Ana was on.

Jorah cringed at the loud scrapping of the metal legs on the hard concrete floor. He pulled his latex gloves on and went to cut open Ana's shirt. A metal hand clamped down on his wrist and squeezed, "Don't do anything stupid." Bucky drawled.

Jorah nodded, not lifting his eyes to the man. He cut the black shirt up the middle and pulled up the the flap with a tattered bullet hole. All he and Bucky saw was red, so much blood had escaped but the good news was that it stopped bleeding.

Then, Jorah wiped the red liquid clear and worked on stitching the wound. Bucky watched him intently, gun at the ready incase he decided to hurt Ana further. He had seen Jorah around the warehouse, and from everything he had heard, Jorah was a mad man.

When Jorah lifted the needle, tugging it upward, it signalled he had finished. Bucky then stood up and dragged him away from Ana, looking him in the eye. He didn't want to leave anything to chance.

"Where are all the provisions you made last week?" Bucky demanded, holding him by his white coat.

Jorah clamped his mouth shut and stayed quiet. Blue eyes flickering between his mouth and eyes, Bucky then forced his mouth open and took out the false molar, ignoring his cries. Jorah tried to push Bucky away, slapping at his chest, but he just snapped off the cyanide tooth and threw it to the side, taking Jorah by the throat.

"Cyanide tooth. You can't get away that easy. Where the hell are they?" He asked once more, pressing the barrel of his gun in-between his eyes.

"The body armour and arsenal were shipped off yesterday. And before you ask, I don't know where. Davos said they were going to another party." Jorah answered, gasping for breath when Bucky squeezed his metal hand tighter around his throat.

Bucky sent a single punch across his head, and Jorah fell backwards to the floor unconscious. He stared down at him until there was a small intake of breath behind him. Ana looked up numbly at the ceiling. She couldn't feel her hands or feet from the cold, but she could feel the throbbing from where she was shot.

There was a shadow that blocked the ceiling lights before Bucky's face came in. He looked at her with a frown, softly brushing the piece of hair in her face away. Her blue lips parted and her voice croaked as she tried to speak.

"So, my plan wasn't flawless." She muttered, cringing when she could taste blood in her mouth.

Bucky chuckled, shaking his head at her. "You're an idiot, voin." He replied, earning an eye roll from her, though she pulled a weak smile.

"Where are we? Please tell me we're still at the warehouse." She said, pressing her palms down on the table and going to lift herself up. Bucky snaked an arm around her back and helped her up.

"Yes, we're inside the warehouse." He answered.

"Good. I wanna blow this place up and leave like a badass." She grumbled.

Ana looked down at the black stitching on her torso, feeling a small tingle, and felt a piece of clothing drop on her shoulders. She looked at the oversized black parka and to Bucky, who shrugged at her look. "You're blue." He just said.

Ana quirked an eyebrow, she didn't feel cold at all. "I definitely can't feel anything then." She zipped up the jacket to her neck, cuddling into it.

When she slid off the table, her feet slipped and Bucky grabbed her elbows before she could fall, huffing at her innocent smile. "Ease up, Ana. You literally almost died."

Ana smirked lazily, "But I didn't." She said, or tried to, since she entered a fit of coughs. The hand that covered her mouth had a splotch of blood on it and Ana sighed, "That's no good."

Bucky weaved her arms around his shoulders and gripped her waist. She went with his feet, leaning on him for support. Her body was hunched over to prevent her wound from reopening. She noticed an unconscious man behind them and raised an eyebrow.

"Who's that dude?"

"Nobody. Let's go." Bucky replied, punching the butt of his gun to the panel by the door, making them slide open. Ana looked down the ghostly hallway, the darkness sending a shiver down her spine.

"No one comes down to this level since it was closed off for experiments. There's a car down this way," He pointed to his side of the hallway where there was a window at the end.

"Explosives?"

"I've set them up around the base days ago." He took out a small black remote from his back pocket and placed it in her purple hands, "You can press the button that goes boom."

Ana grinned up at him, "Thanks."

- - -

Ana didn't get to do her badass walk with a huge explosion behind her, instead she looked at the distant blur of orange and white as she stood up through the sunroof, feeling Bucky's metal arm securely wrapped around her knees so she wouldn't loose balance.

She peered down at the remote that set off the chain explosion and threw it up in the air, letting it drop into the snow covered ground as the car accelerated down the curvy road, away from the industrial dock and warehouses.

"Ana."

Bucky pressed the buttons on the dash, putting the heaters on so she could warm up. Ana got back into the car and closed the sunroof. She pulled up her legs and cuddled them to her chest, wrapping her arms around them.

"What now?" She asked.

Bucky looked to her, "Now, we go to my place. We get cleaned up and then," He smiled slightly, turning back to the road, "You rest, Warrior."

"What about food?" Ana added, rubbing her fingers over the stitches when they irritated her skin. Bucky looked at her, raising an eyebrow.

"Seriously."

- - -

Ana blinked her eyes open, the skin that was stitched on her chest kept on getting itchy. She refrained from reliving the annoyance by scratching it and opted on getting a glass of water. She removed the covers off of her and went to get up, only for Bucky's metal arm to tighten around her.

She kept on glancing at his sleeping form, a smile making its way onto her lips. Once his arm relaxed for a fraction of a second she slipped out of his hold and swung her legs over the bed. A chill went up her spine from the freezing timber floors as she stood, shuffling to the joining kitchen in Bucky's temporary apartment.

It was small, with many windows and doors. Easy escapes, he explained. Very little things were around the apartment, a small bed, a few cooking utensils and cans of food. The best part of the whole thing to Ana was the arsenal of weapons in his fridge. Ranging from handguns to fully automatic firearms and daggers to grenade launchers. She had to get past a Uzi to grab the frozen fruit earlier.

It was a bad idea to go back to her apartment in Moscow, since there would likely be men camped there for her to get back. And with guns. And with the shape she's in, a bullet wound and a healing mind, she wouldn't be able to beat the odds.

Grabbing the clean glass, Ana turned the tap on and collected the cool water. She tuned around and leaned on the counter, folding her arms and bringing the cup to her lips. Her lips twitched when the itch on her wound burned. She walked into the small bathroom and turned on the light. They flickered for a moment before she positioned herself in front of the dusty mirror.

"Oh, man." Lifting her top, Ana spotted the red and dotty flesh around the stitching. She grabbed the towel on the small hook on the wall and rinsed it before washing the cut. She was so focused on her infection she didn't hear the sharp intakes of breath in the other room.

It was when there was a loud crash, she turned her head and exited the bathroom in a hurry. Her fingers fiddled for the light switch and when the room was illuminated, she sighed and lowered her curled fists. Bucky was still sleeping, back facing her. Though there was a sprinkle of glass shards on his side of the bed.

She went to grab a cloth to collect the pieces, bending down and removing the glass. When she went to get up, she heard Bucky's breaths. They were short and sharp, causing a pit of worry to form in her stomach. As she leaned closer to him, he started mumbling in his sleep. His head was shaking and eyebrows scrunching up.

"Bucky?" She whispered, wanting to wake him up. She put the back of her hand on his sweaty forehead and noticed how warm it was, she could even feel the veins throb underneath her fingers. She placed the folded cloth of glass on the table. He started getting more violent. She caught his metal arm before he could swipe at her and glared, "Bucky?" She called more louder, leaning down closer to his ear.

Nothing. Ana then tapped his cheek softly and called his nickname, which got his attention. His eyes snapped open and he grabbed her shoulders and forced her down, going on top of her. She gasped when his knee dug into her stitches.

Ana gripped his metal shoulder, using her other hand to force him off. She could see his eyes, they were so dark, and there was a layer of water just underneath them. He wasn't thinking. He was remembering something, stuck in an altered state. She gritted her teeth when he wouldn't move and tightened her grip on his shoulder, causing the metal to creak.

"Bucky!"

In a flash, he was off of her, blinking wildly. Bucky looked down at her through the pitch black darkness. He could make out her face, and mouth as she bit her lip and crossed her arms over her chest, placing her hands on her sore shoulders.

"Ana..." Bucky gulped, reaching out to help her up. She shook the hair our of her face and looked up at him, slowly extending her hands up to his own. He hauled her up and she stood there, in front of him unmoving. He wanted to look away but something inside made him stare right back.

"Where were you?" She questioned quietly.

Bucky understood her question, reaching up to brush his brown hair away. "Uh, it was raining. There was a hotel and two, maybe three, men in a room. Then a whole lotta red."

"You remembered something." Ana nodded but Bucky shook his head, sitting on the edge of the bed. His hands were gripping the sheets and he sighed, "Something bad." He said.

"You should write it down."

"No. It's always the same. Always something bad, never anything but bits and pieces." Bucky replied, his voice raising slightly.

Ana went quiet and pursed her lips together, ducking her head. "Sooner or later, you will remember something good." She said, wanting to leave it at that. She went to grab the cloth when his hands shot out and grabbed hers.

Bucky looked up at Ana hesitantly. "They don't stop no matter how hard I try. The nightmares continue to come. They unravel from my past the harder I try to bury them." He explained.

"What if by trying to bury them, you're making it worse?" Ana asked.

"There's a war in my head. Sometimes I think I've won. Other times, I'm not so sure." He mumbled, rubbing his metal arm down from the shoulder to his elbow.

Ana sat down next to him. "Memories are anchors to ourselves. They bind us to who we are. You can't fight it. I know it may seem like they're only making that war in your head worse, but in the end you will win."

Bucky looked at her from the corner of his eye and she continued with a shrug, "I may not know you to your core, James Barnes. But I believe that you will overcome this. Win the battle."

"How?"

Ana flashed him a soft smile, "I just do, you're gonna have to trust me on that."

Bucky tilted his head and smiled ever so slightly. "I do. Trust you, I mean. You're the only one in the world like me, the only one who gets what I'm going through."

Ana rubbed her hands together and exhaled, "Because I'm going through it too. Maybe not as much as you, but still. There's a dark part inside me, I can feel it. It's like its trying to claw at my head," She put a hand to her head and closed her eyes, "It wants to take over, but something is holding it back."

Bucky caught the single tear that rolled down her cheek, wiping it away without thinking. Ana opened her eyes at the contact and peered at him, feeling exposed and insecure all of a sudden.

"Your strength, your bravery and perseverance is holding it back. For as long as I have known you, or the parts that I remember anyway, you always fight back. That's what I admire about you, doll." Bucky said lowly, framing her face with his hand.

"Doll?" Ana echoed, a small smile making its way onto her face.

Bucky rolled his eyes, "It just slipped out."

They shared a smile and then the air around them changed. As they looked into each other's eyes, there was something new inside them. Trust. Bucky felt compelled to lean in as Ana looked down to his lips. She closed her eyes, and they shared a kiss.

Bucky held her waist, pulling her closer and sighed into the kiss as Ana cradled his head in her hands. They pulled back for air. He lifted his hand and rubbed the back of his neck, offering her a smile. "Was that okay? I'm out of practise."

Ana chuckled, nodding. "That was okay, soldat." She then gripped his shirt and pulled him closer, smirking, "Let's keep practising though."

"Yes ma'am."

- - -

For the first time in a long time, Bucky Barnes and Ana Michaels had a nightmare free sleep. They were enjoying each other's comfort under the bed sheets, with her head on his chest and his arms around her waist. The sun was streaming through the small uncovered parts of the windows, past the newspaper that was taped over them.

"Do you think there'd be people posted at my apartment uptown?" Ana asked, lifting her head and brushing the hairs behind her ears. She peered down at him as he moved his arms up behind his head and looked up at her.

"Possibly. Why? You need something?" He asked.

"Well," Ana sighed and gave him a soft smile, "Now that I've found you, Steve's waiting to hear back from me. He wants to know you're okay."

Bucky's gaze fixated on the concrete ceiling above them and he clenched his jaw in thought. "I can't."

Ana frowned, "Can't what?"

"I can't talk to him. Everything that I've done, he's not going to get past that. All the people I've..."

"You stop that talk." Ana shook her head firmly. "You know damn well that it was always Hydra. They pulled at your strings, manipulated you, used you, placing you back in cryo when they didn't need you anymore. But now," She used her finger to tip his head so he could look at her, "You're free from them. You're back. Steve knows it, I know it. And soon the whole world will know it too. Bucky Barnes and the Winter Soldier are two very different people, right?"

Bucky nodded silently.

"You can start over, Bucky." Ana said, "Be the man you want to be. Change your destiny and all that. You are in control now."

She could see Bucky was taking in her words. She sat up and placed her clothes on, throwing her hair into a ponytail. He followed her and put on a shirt and pants, before sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Ana. I'm not ready." He mumbled, "I still have a lot of things to do, answers to find."

Ana walked around the bed and slid her hand over his shoulder, settling it on his metal shoulder blade. "I get it. Just make sure you make yourself known when you are." She smiled when he looked up at her, "It took me like a week to actually find you."

"Technically I found you." Bucky countered.

Ana smiled, "Right."

- - - - -

I feel like this is shit, but whatever. I'm getting started on the Civil War phase and it's gonna include a lot of surprises. I'm gonna post another chapter after this with more Stephen Strange and Peter! I hope you enjoyed and please tell me what you thought!

Q- Are you looking forward to watching Suicide Squad? I watched it and I thought is was really good. I think Jared Leto did a great job as the Joker.