Possibility of Tomorrow - 39

 

Cont...

Darling waited for Bucky to come out of his third session in a fancy memory jogger machine. Since finding out his subconscious was home to dangerous information, they were forced to find and copy it. The more they knew, the better they could predict who was coming for them. 

Tony called the machine BARF. He had the stupidest acronyms. 

Bucky was always shaken when he came out, but they were making lots of progress. Shuri estimated that they would only need five sessions to find it all. The bad part was that part of his mind would have to relive the worst parts of his life. She'd equated it to dredging in fishing. You'd pull up a lot of fish or useable information, but you'd also pull up a few unwanted bits. It was hard. But it was working.

 Harley sat with her silently as he worked on his tablet. Darling had given up on the book she'd been trying to read, so now she was watching him do rapid math on his tablet, trying to keep up. 

The door opened suddenly from the BARF machine. Tony and Shuri were trying to support Bucky, who was out for the count and completely dead weight. 

Darling jumped up, "What happened?"

 "He collapsed. I guess the memories were too much." Shuri said with concern as she switched with Darling.

 "Let's get him to Med Bay, make sure he didn't hit his head." Tony directed Harley, who called the elevator. 

"What was he doing?" Darling asked, distressed. 

"I don't know. I haven't seen the footage yet." Shuri said. 

"He was running back and forth and then stopped and dropped." Tony explained, "Looked terrified."

"I can't believe you two let him do this! This is exactly what I was afraid of!" Darling shifted Bucky's weight. 

"This is good for him, to relive it. He's getting much better." Shuri said calmly.

"Better?!?! Good for him? He passed out from the thought of it!" Darling shrieked. 

They came out to the Med Bay and got Bucky on the bed. Darling let them check that he was fine without protest.

"You good?" Harley asked quietly. "No," Darling whispered, voice cracking. 

"Hey," Harley turned, so they were faced each other, "What's up?"

"I told him this was a bad idea, but did he listen? No." Darling was starting to cry now. 

"Listen, I know this is scary. But if he thought he could do it, why don't you trust him?" Harley asked.

"I do trust him; I just don't want him to overestimate his abilities." 

"Maybe he didn't."

 "Maybe he did!" Darling gestured to the bed.

 "You do realize you're scared, right?" 

"Yeah. I know." 

"Why are you so scared?" 

"He's all the family I have, Harley. I don't wanna be alone again." 

Harley slid closer and pulled Darling in so she was leaning on him, "You won't be." Darling sighed in response as they sat together. 

"I'm pretty sure that classifies as PDA. Please don't where I can see." They both jerked apart when Bucky spoke.

 "Are you okay?" Darling checked at his side immediately, "How do you feel?"

 "I'm fine. I just fell over." Bucky chuckled. 

"Good," Darling relax before smacking Bucky, "You scared me! Don't ever do that again!"

"Hey! Ow! Stop hitting me! I'm sorry!" Bucky batted Darling's hands away.

 "You better be!" Darling huffed, stopping smacking him. 

"Look, I didn't know that would happen. I'm sorry." Bucky said gently, taking Darling's hands, "I promise."

 "I don't want you to do anymore." Darling said, "Not after this." 

"Darling, I can't just back out now. I'll be fine. But I need to finish the procedures." Bucky said firmly, "I know you're worried about me, but stopping now won't help the situation." 

Darling looked at him for a long moment, "You collapsed. Do you know how scary that is?" 

"Oh, Darling," Bucky pulled his daughter into a hug as she started crying, "I'm sorry I scared you. I didn't mean to." 

"I know." Darling sniffled, "I know you didn't mean to." 

"Hey, only two more sessions, and then we're done with this." Bucky said upbeat, "How's that sound?"

"Good," Darling admitted. 

"It might have to be less than that," T'Challa said, entering. 

"What happened?" Bucky asked, finally sitting up.

 "Everett Ross found out she was the other person in the recording. He wants to meet her, off the record." T'Challa said. 

"And how does he know that?" Bucky asked suspiciously. 

"I told him. The truth would have to come out at some point. He wants to bet her, make sure the recording is legit." T'Challa admitted.

 "You told him?!" Bucky stood. 

"Dad, it's fine. He's right. It would have to come out at some point if we wanted to take this to court." Darling cut in. 

"So you're willing to meet?" T'Challa asked. 

"Yes, but on our terms." Darling nodded. 

"You sure I want to do that?" Bucky asked. 

"Yes, I'm sure." Darling nodded, "This is how we end it. This is how we are free."

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