You Must Remember This

Chapter 42 - Cause for apprehension?

Wakanda, 2016

Dreams were an unusual thing for Bucky Barnes. For the past sixty years, there'd been no reason to dream. What was there even to dream about when his mind wasn't his own? When most of his life revolved around suffering? Around torture. Death.
All he saw when he closed his eyes were terrors. Nightmares. Those he'd killed were ghostly specters haunting him. Those who'd inflicted pain upon him were crowding shadows, their hollow laughter echoing through the void of his mind and inflicting more pain on his already shattered being. Only one face smiled at him with care and love. Only one laugh resonated like a sweet melody, lifting his sorrows. 

Was she here? Bucky blinked, fighting his subconscious from pulling him back into the darkness. Yes, there she was — a beautiful angel come to set him free. His love. His Evelyn. She spoke, but her words sounded flat. Dull, like they bounced off the walls his mind had built around him. 
Evelyn caressed his jawline with the tip of a single finger. It tickled, but... something felt wrong. Her touch, the one he craved so much, felt wrong. She felt like death. Bucky tried to speak, but could only utter a raspy noise from the back of his throat. His heavy eyes followed Evelyn's hazy figure. What was she doing? What was she saying?
He caught sight of something in her hand and willed himself to shake off the lingering daze, to concentrate on—wait. Wait, those eyes. Those weren't Evelyn's eyes. Hers were warm, comforting, beckoning. These were cold, calculating, and... filled with an intent purpose. This wasn't Evelyn. It was... It...

Bucky's eyes widened as he gasped for breath, desperately sucking in every bit of air the respirator provided. The rapid beeping of the heart monitor alerted every member of the Wakandan medical staff. No longer was there a blonde young woman at his side, but a dark-haired, ebony-skinned nurse with surgical gloves.
Onyx eyes were the last thing Bucky clearly saw before he was wheeled off. Her intense gaze followed him into the all-too-familiar abyss. A gaze he himself had often worn when he wasn't Bucky Barnes, but the Winter Soldier. The gaze... of a killer.

***

The sun's warm embrace woke Bucky up. He blinked against the light entering through the window and turned his head, only to be greeted by an ever brighter light from above. What kind of new torture was this? Wasn't the darkness enough for HYDRA? 
Then he remembered this wasn't HYDRA. He wasn't in Siberia or any other base or safe house belonging to those bastards. His eyelids peeled open, and Bucky recognized the clean white walls of the Wakandan infirmary. Why was he back there, though? Had something happened? Did the Winter Soldier...?
Bucky's eyes widened. He jolted up, grunting upon feeling the restraints cutting into his body and forcing him to lie back down. Slowly, the memories of what had occurred returned to him. The reason why did as well. Tears sprang into his eyes. He shut them, pressed his lips together, and shook his head, praying for it all to just be another one of his nightmares. 

"You're awake."

The sound of Steve's voice snapped Bucky into reality. He looked up, seeing his best friend seated opposite the bed, next to the little table the nurses used. 

"You've been unconscious for nearly fifteen hours," said Steve. "You remember what happened?" 

"Is Nat okay?" asked Bucky. 

With a silent nod, Steve opened the blinds to the glass screen in the wall separating Bucky's room from the one next door with the push of a button. Natasha was in bed like him, except she wasn't tied down by her ankles, waist, and arm. Her left hand was wrapped in a protective brace, and she had a couple of visible bruises, but didn't appear to have any other major injuries. She waved from her propped-up position, giving Bucky a weak smile.

"She'll make a full recovery with a few weeks of rest and the treatment plan Shuri's got her on," said Steve. "It could've been a lot worse, though. One of her broken ribs nearly perforated her lung."