Chapter Text
When Bucky entered cryo, he never dreamed. It was just a world of black, a realm where no imagination or creativity could roam free. The only thing that dared to disturb the darkness were flashes of white hot pain, memories of the torture he would go through almost every day. The cold never bothered him, so he had nothing to feel, nothing to focus on but black. Every time he was dragged out of cryo, somewhere inside his broken soul, a little piece of him cried out in joy because he could dream. Sort of.
Most of the time the electromagnetic "therapy" would just zap those dreams and destroy them, but tiny little fragments of them were still there. The little shard of Bucky that was the Bucky before the fall kept those little fragments of dreams with him, hoping to use them once again. Turns out, they would be kinda handy. Those little fragments were instrumental in helping Bucky gain his memories back, for all those little dreams were memories of the life before HYDRA. The dreams were slowly being stitched back together into a patchwork quilt of memories. But that ground to a halt once again when Bucky decided to go back into cryo.
He knew he was doing the right thing. The world needed to get back on its feet, and with that book still floating around, he would only push the world back on the ground. So cryo was the only option. Safe in Wakanda, he entered the pod, and felt the familiar sensation of ice covering his body. He had always wondered why he never felt the ice's cold, only the feeling of being covered, but that never came to him in his memories. He just took it as a side effect of the super soldier serum. As Bucky closed his eyes, he entered the blackness that had become familiar to him, but way far in a corner of the black, a brilliant light blue was spreading.
Bucky watched as the blue erupted over the black, washing away the numbness and replacing it with a feeling he couldn't describe. It was extremely intense and it blanketed his body like a massive tidal wave. Bucky closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to stare so hard into that feeling, but he was to curious, and he opened his eyes again. What he saw was amazing.
He was walking through a huge courtyard, filled with trees, animals, flowers, and stone structures. Topiaries lined the path he was walking on, a brilliant mix of plant and.... ice? Just at that moment Bucky noticed that this kingdom of nature was intertwined with one made of ice. The flowers glowed with a beautiful icy sheen, and tree branches were covered with intricate carvings made from the ice that covered them. Animals played around in their winter coats, fur all white instead of its normal brown. Bucky couldn't help but wonder about this world around him. How was he here? How could he go back? Who lived here? Soon he got an answer.
Down the path, much farther off but still in Bucky's line of sight, were two people walking hand in hand. One seemed to be covered in ice while the other glowed as green as the flora around him. They were laughing and talking, nuzzling foreheads and smiling sweetly at each other. Bucky wondered who these people were, and why were they holding hands? Also, why did they live in this place?
One of the two figure's hand lifted up into the air, and from a small cloud that floated down to greet the hand, a tiny ice sculpture fell out. It was perfectly carved and looked exactly like a small spider. The figure clad in blue gave it to the green one, and the green one jumped for joy, than gave the blue a kiss. As soon as the kiss was planted, Bucky felt warmth spread through his body, as if it was HIM that the green person was kissing. Wait, the person in blue kind of looked like him. Could it BE him? No, that's impossible.
The blue person began to sing as he turned around to stand in front of the green person. All of a sudden Bucky was hit by a memory of him singing to a girl he was courting way back before the war. That voice.... that was HIS voice! Bucky took off towards the couple slowly strolling down the path, mind reeling. It couldn't be him! He never dressed like that! He didn't have white hair! And he didn't know that other person! Didn't he?
As he approached the two, he saw their faces clearly for the first time. The figure in blue was most definitely him. The blue person had his same face shape, same body type, and he even had a metal arm! Then the figure in green turned.
He was the most beautiful person in the world! His brown eyes were like melted chocolate, and his smile was so sweet. Bucky wishes he had a person like that. But wait, if the person in blue was him, than he did have someone like the figure in green! But who was it? Bucky swears that he had seen someone like that, someone with that body, someone with those gentle hands.
Bucky was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard voices float through his head. They were filled with love for the other, and Bucky knew that those voices had to belong to the other version of him and the green person. "Oh Spring, what would I do without you?" the blue person said. "You wouldn't do anything because I'll never leave you" the green person said.
That voice. Bucky knows that voice! But who did it belong to? Then it hit him. A young man, excited and nervous. In awe of his metal arm. Clad in an outfit that looked like it was covered in spider webbing. The name just kind of floated into Bucky's head. Peter.
Bucky kept having that dream. It repeated itself like a broken record player, scratching over and over. It always ended with Bucky realizing that the person in green was that Spider-Man. He just knew that they were meant to meet. But he always wondered what was going on in that dream's world. Why did he have white hair, icy blue eyes, and why was he clad in a suit literally made out of ice? Why was he holding hands with the Spider-Man? Why could he conjure an ice sculpture out of thin air? So many questions, no answers. All he knew was that the two people in the dream were himself and Peter. But the him from the dream called Peter Spring. Did that mean he was Winter? It seemed to fit, and it felt right, like it belonged to him. But Bucky still wanted to know more. Maybe Peter knew more? He should find out.
Bucky made a decision while he watched the two figures dance and sing with each other. He would find Peter, and he would ask him about what the heck was going on. Who knows, maybe Peter had been having the same dreams as him. So Bucky started the long process of trying to wake himself up. He tried and tried to break out of the stasis, but his body wouldn't listen. He screamed in his mind, willing the ice to recede and let him go free. And he felt something melt.
Bucky was dragged back out of the dream and found himself staring at a screen depicting his vitals through a foggy glass pane. It hissed open and Bucky checked his surroundings. He didn't want anybody knowing that he was out, in fear of them keeping him locked up. He knew that Steve would most definitely do that. As much as he loved having his old friend back, Bucky was a different person now, and he needed to be able to learn how to do things himself again. Anyways, this trip was one of discovery for him, not Steve.
Once Bucky was sure that the coast was clear, he unlatched the clasps on the belts keeping him in the cryo tube with his one good hand. Oh yeah. He had forgotten that he only had one hand. He took a step forward on shaky legs, and managed to cross over to a mirror that was propped up on one of the many tables around the room. He looked at the mirror, happy to see that he was the same old him. He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to think of a way to get out of Wakanda without anyone knowing he was gone. Thankfully, the cryo tube alarm didn't go off because nothing was broken, so that was a good sign. He could always disguise himself and get out of the country. Yeah, he would do that! He would pretend that he was a foreign diplomat, visiting from the United States. He would be the best fake diplomat with...white hair? Bucky hadn't even noticed when he first looked at himself, but now that his hand was propping up most of his hair, he had a good view of the one lock of hair that was bone white. Not brown. White.
Oh crap. That dream really was real. That just confirmed Bucky's suspicions. Now it was official. He was getting out of Wakanda and going to the States. The Spider-Man spoke like an American, so that was where he would go. Putting his hair down and concealing the one white lock, Bucky set off down the nearest hall to find his costume. He was going to the United States of America.