Found you
Bucky found you first. It was weeks after being captured, months after giving up on finding you, years after your letters stopped. He found you.
He found you.
You were strapped down to a lab table; the door was wide open so he could see you as he passed by. At first, he didn't believe it, he thought you were dead. You had died, you stopped writing, you didn't come home. A hallucination was the only excuse. But he had no excuse for when you were dropped into a cell next to his. It took a moment to let it sink in but it was you, you were here, you were alive. Bucky almost burst into tears.
"Belle." he called. "Doll?" You turned over, eyes closed it was you and Bucky cried out with joy as he dropped to his knees and reached for you through the bars.
"Doll, Doll, I've been looking for you. I thought you were dead. We thought you were dead." Nearby soldiers broke as they watched the scene unfold. There was no one in the 107th who didn't know about Belle Lewis. Bucky talked about her and his scrawny friend Steve nonstop. She was the reason he was here, that and the draft. It broke everyone's heart the reason Bucky was here
…
Belle was beaten, bruised, broken and possibly died on the floor.
"D-doll... it's me ... it's me Bucky. I found you, I found you, please wake up. P-please Belle please." Bucky cried as he held her hands through the bars.
"Why are you crying?" Her rough yet high pitched voice echoed off the walls getting everyone's attention.
"She's alive." Someone whispered.
"I-I've missed you." Bucky cried, kissing her hand. She sat up and leaned against the bars. "What happened, why are you here?"
"I...I snuck into... the field to ... treat wounded soldiers and drag them out ... I wanted to help. I couldn't sit and wait for someone to drag a dead body in for fixing. I had to help, I had to go while hearts were still beating. I .... I had to ... I had to." Belle began to cough violently and a man in the cell with Bucky reached over and patted her on the back.
A few people had introduced themselves. Everyone was nice to her, comforting her and making sure she was okay. Belle was something they could all agree on and hold on to, and they really needed that. Belle spent a few days in her cell as Bucky and the rest of the 107th went to work on whatever they put them to. But not long after, guards came back for Belle literally dragging her out of her cell as she fought, kicking and screaming. A few hours later Bucky was gone too. The couple was gone and so was every soldier's hope.
Steve was devastated when the letter for Belle arrived and it said she was KIA. Steve was still recovering from that of course when he heard about Bucky he became reckless. Bucky was all he had left; he was not going to lose him. When Steve found the prisoner his first question was, "Sergeant Barnes?"
"They dragged him off," Dum Dum answered, "The girl too."
Steve stopped in his tracks "What girl?"
"Her name was Annabelle Lewis."
"Belle?"
"Yeah, you know her?"
Steve barked orders at the men and made sure they knew where they were going before he left to find his Bucky and Belle.
His emotions were all over the place right now he was happy he was so close to having them together, he was scared the possibility of them being dead was very high, he was sad about what they had been through. In the halls he had no direction in mind he just prayed that Belle and Bucky were this way.
It was Bucky who he found first strapped to a table. "Bucky." Steve breathed a sigh of relief as he undid the straps Bucky was mumbling nonsense to himself.
"Steve?"
"Yeah, pal it's me. I thought you were dead."
"I thought you were smaller. What happened to you?"
"I joined the army," Steve smiled "C'mon we've got to find Belle."
"I know, I know where she is." Bucky led them down several stairs past empty group cells and brought him to a thick metal door. Bucky banged on the door and started shouting, "BELLE!"
"Move Bucky." Bucky jumped out of the way as Steve rambed the door.
Oh, God. There was a table covered in blood, literally dripping with blood. Tools and syringes covered in blood to the side towels and bandages on the floor... but no Belle.
"Wh-where is she? where is she?" Steve said as he stepped into the room his legs were shaky he couldn't breathe. Bucky held on to the frame of the door as he whispered.
"Oh god I don't know, I don't know, oh god no, no, no, I don't know." He dropped to his knees and cried as he clenched his chest. Where was she? Last he saw her she was on this table. She was smiling and she said, " I'll be fine."
"We gotta find her w-we have to we have to." Steve was crying as he paced around the room, "Where, where, where?" He whispered as he paced around the room he dropped his shield and ripped his helmet off and cried, "WHERE?!"
Taking his gun out Steve marched out the room and down the hall.
"Steve, Steve." Bucky called as he chased after him shield and helmet in hand. Steve fired at every soldier he came across no hesitation, heads shots no blinking, death no mercy. When he ran out of bullets he used his hands.
"WHERE IS SHE?" he screamed as he knocked a gun out of a soldier's hand, grabbed his shirt and punched him in the face. "WHERE IS SHE ?" He continued to scream as he punched the face of the soldier. The soldier's face was too contorted and swollen to speak; he shakily pointed to a door at the end of the hall. Steve dropped him and ran to the door, Bucky following after him.
Steve immediately rammed the door knocking it off the hinges. There laid Belle. Strapped down in a chair she was naked, dirty, covered in bruises and blood, her skin pale and her head hung low.
"No, no, no, Please, please, please." Dropping Steve's things, Bucky dropped to his knees in front of Belle. He lightly tried to shake her awake. He couldn't find a pulse. "Please doll, doll, doll wake up, please wake up." Bucky begged as he tried to wake her. Steve stood in the doorway not knowing what to do, not knowing what to say, frozen in place.
"Bucky... Bucky, I'm cold." Belle’s soft voice whispered. They both rejoice at the sound of her voice.
"Doll, doll it's me ...Bucky." he said as he cupped her face in between his hands.
"Hi Bucky," she whispered, "I'm really cold, Bucky."
Bucky removed his white undershirt and Steve removed her restraints.
"Who are you, who is this?" Belle asks as she notices Steve remove her restraints.
"It's Stevie, Doll, he joined the army." Bucky chuckled as he put his shirt on her.
"Stevie? But Stevie is smaller and cute, you're big."
"I'm not cute anymore," Steve said as he removed his jacket to give to her. Belle leaned in closer to his face, getting a good look at him.
"You're still cute Stevie." She kissed his nose.
Other soldiers looked on with pity as Steve carried Belle. Limp in his arms, her skin was extremely pale, bruises dark in contrast, drenched in blood they knew was hers, she wore nothing but a thin shirt that used to be white and a coat. She looked like the dead, broken... done for. No one said anything to Steve or Bucky about it as they took turns carrying her, out of fear of their reaction. They let them carry their dead.
Arriving just before the entrance Steve switched off and handed you to Bucky. Head held high but mood down low Steve came front for his punishment. While everyone gathered around Steve, Bucky took you to the infirmary and begged for help, even though they thought she was a corpse. It also didn't help that most of them were trying to get outside to see Steve. But your heartbeat proved them wrong and the nurses began running around trying to save her... the corpse with a beating heart.
"He used to look at me ... like that." she breathed looking at Steve who seemed to be fonding over a new woman. "You think he's done with me? I'm broken and he is brand new." Bucky didn't know how to answer because this Steve was a bit foreign to him too.