#buck ran from that camp thinking bucky would be right behind him and then he suddenly wasn't

[majorbuckyegan]

"Chowhound One, you are clear for overhead approach. Runway 281 at 1200 indicated. Winds are 300 at 12. Altimeter 2996. Over."

"...Clear-up tower, please repeat? Over."

HE DIDNT CARE WHAT THE ACTUAL WORDS OR INSTRUCTIONS WERE, HE JUST WANTED A REPEAT TO BE SURE IT WAS ACTUALLY BUCKY'S VOICE HE WAS HEARING

[obessedwithfictionalmen]

Princess and the fool

John Egan X Pilot! Reader

Summary: Y/n and Bucky's time in the camp...

Warning: Swearing/ historical inaccuracies/ sexism/ mention of rape (but not the actual thing)/ mention of getting shot/

Word count: 2.07k

The siren went off 5 minutes ago, they were all talking about where the Americans were attacking. ‘’Berlin? It sounds like Berlin’’ Y/n suggested. The guys agreed as the sound of explosion was the only thing they were hearing. ‘’Ah, good fucking Monday Adolf’’ Bucky chuckled. ‘’You think the 100th is with them?’’ Crank asked. ‘’They gotta be’’ Bucky replied. ‘’First daylight raid on Germany’s most precious town, it must me a rough one’’ Buck said. As the guys and Y/n were chuckling, screams echoed, before they knew it, the sounds of 3-gun shots came to the men’s ears. ‘’That’s a lot closer’’ Crank stated. The sound of someone shouting for help made Y/n flinch. ‘’The hell was that?’’ Bucky asked as he got up from his chair.

Buck, Bucky and Y/n ran outside with other POW, 3 guys came from behind the bungalow, holding a very injured Harry. ‘’Shit, Harry’s shot! What the hell happened?’’ Buck exclaimed. Y/n helped the guys holding Harry and quickly looked at his injury. ‘’They shot him for no reason!’’ one of them exclaimed. German soldiers walked up to see what the commotion was about, they came from behind the building, which meant that they shot him.

Bucky walked up to one of the Kraut soldiers and tried to keep his cool. ‘’Why would you shoot him?’’ he raised his voice. The commotion got the attention of the other POW as they got out of their barracks. ‘’He was out of the blocks’’ one of the Germans justified. ‘’We need a doctor, get Glemnitz!’’ Buck ordered. It was pure chaos as the men were trying to help Harry, German soldiers were yelling at everyone to get back inside, and guard dogs were barking. It went so fast, next thing Y/n knew, one of the guards let loose a dog. ‘’Woah, woah! Get that dog!’’ Bucky yelled.

The dog ran past her and chose its pray, the guy right next to her, she didn’t know him. Bucky pulled her by the shoulder to protect her from the German Shepherd. Y/n had his blood on her leg. ‘’Get that dog off him!’’ one of the guys yelled. She was in shock; it could’ve been her. The dog could’ve chosen her. ‘’Everyone gets back inside, now!’’ the German officer ordered. Egan led Y/n back inside, he became protective of her when they found out what the Germans did to female P.O.W. ‘’They’re going to kill us one at the fucking time, Buck’’ he breathed out as they made their way back inside.

Y/n sat down on a chair, watching the blood on her foot. ‘’Hey, you okay?’’ Buck asked the woman. She slowly looked at them. ‘’It could’ve been me’’ she said, her voice not getting louder than a whisper. ‘’You’re okay, don’t let them break you’’ Crank said. Something shifted in her brain, she was getting out of here alive, whatever it took she was getting out of this god forsaken place. ‘’Fuck those fucking Germans’’ she mumbled. Bucky chuckled lightly as he heard her swearing.

‘’Mail call!’’ the guys were waiting for this. Y/n had no one to write to her, since her W.A.S.P status wasn’t recognized by the military, her mother didn’t even know that she was in the army. The letters were passed, none for Bucky and Y/n, they looked at each other as the guys opened their envelope. ‘’Who’s yours from, Buck?’’ Gale was smelling his letter; it was clearly Marge. ‘’Marge’’ he said, smiling. ‘’Marge’’ Bucky mimicked, making Y/n laugh. She got up from her seat and went beside Bucky. ‘’My dear Buck, I love you, and miss you.’’ She finished her imitation with kissing sound, making the soldiers laugh. She even earned a smile from Buck. Bucky got up and followed her into her joke. ‘’My dear Marge, I love you, Bucky is annoying me, but he’s my best friend, I miss you, bla bla bla, I love you’’ he did the same as Y/n, making kissing sound. Everyone was giggling and looking at the pair acted out the letters. ‘’Alright you too’’ Buck chuckled. Bucky and Y/n looked at each other, laughing before they got back to their seat.

They didn’t know what time it was, but the 3 of them couldn’t sleep. ‘’In my last letter, I popped the question, and she said yes’’ Buck smiled. Y/n smiled back to him; she laid on top of Bucky’s back, since she lost a lot of weight from eating only potatoes, she wasn’t heavy. ‘’That’s good, I’m happy for you, Buck’’ Y/n whispered. ‘’I was thinking that you could be my best-man’’ he said, looking at Bucky. ‘’I will be your best-man, Buck’’ he replied. ‘’Of course, you’ll get an invitation, Y/n’’ Buck smiled. ‘’I will gladly attend your wedding. And I have to meet her, she seems lovely.’’

March, raids were more often, and the prisoners were growing tired of this place. Y/n had just fallen asleep before commotion outside woke everyone up. German soldiers were running outside, near the fence. ‘’What the fuck is going on?’’ she yawned. Bucky was looking outside the window to try and get an answer. ‘’I don’t know, but they’re rushing like crazy.’’

‘’3 tunnels, how the fuck did they do that?’’ Bucky exclaimed as Colonel Clark explained what happened in the night. Brits tried to escape via tunnels that they dug, they didn’t know how much got out, but the Germans didn’t look happy. ‘’They’ve been digging for over a year’’ Clark explains. Y/n looked at Buck, then Bucky, they’ve been talking about an escape plan for a while now. When Clark left the room, they all looked at each other. ‘’When the weather gets better, we’re getting out of here.’’ Bucky stated. ‘’Yeah, in a coffin’’ Y/n scoffed. ‘’The odds are against us; you might want to find a plan that would actually work.’’ Buck explained. ‘’When I do, you’re both coming with me’’ Bucky promised.

By summertime, she was slowly starting to lose her mind, this place was sucking her soul and her spirit. On a happy note, the prisoner got new uniforms, suited for summer. Hers was a grey tank top with forest green pants that were too big for her, she used a shoelace as a belt, the Germans were kind enough to give her a bra, she didn’t know where they get it, and to be honest, she didn’t want to know. She got a leather jacket, for the colder nights, and if she was too cold, the boys were nice enough to let her borrow a shirt with long sleeve. Buck wanted to take a stomp out of the ground to use its wood for fire, Y/n didn’t want to do that all day, so she used her body as a motivation for the soldiers, when the were pulling the stomp, she was sitting on the group, topless, only in her black bra. She wanted to tan, but if she could help to motivate the troops, she was happy to help. Plus, the guys had other thing to worry about than try to rape her. Bucky was the one they were more worried about, he was really going crazy, talking to himself, playing baseball with himself, laughing alone and other things, he was going crazy.

‘’Hey! Any of you want to play some ball?’’ he asked Murph, but he was busy pushing the stomp. ‘’C’mon, I can even let you win!’’ Bucky pleaded. Y/n looked at Bucky, putting her shirt back on as she got up. ‘’Either pitch in or knock it off’’ Murph said, sightly pushing Bucky on the soldier. ‘’Why don’t you shut the hell up?’’ Bucky pushed Murph back. ‘’What the hell is wrong with you?’’ Buck asked as he pushed Bucky on the ground. ‘’You’re going to help or stay out of the way’’ Buck says as Y/n watched Bucky put his hands behind his head, making himself comfortable on the ground. Bucky had a teasing flame burning in his eyes. ‘’You’re the new king of the camp, and I’m just in the way?’’ he teased, putting one of his legs over the other. Y/n got closer to Bucky, who kept taunting Buck about the fact that he just wanted to work. ‘’Bucky, c’mon get up’’ she tried to reason with him, no success. ‘’I’m sorry, come on, get up, you fool'' Buck said, offering his hand. ‘’King Stump, stumpity, stump, get to work’’ Bucky taunted, kicking Buck’s hand with his foot. Then, the guys started to fight on the ground, until Buck punched Bucky in the face. It was like the punch he got helped him to get out of his craziness at the moment. ‘’HEY that’s enough!’’ Colonel Clark yelled. Y/n helped Buck get up. ‘’You’re going to fight me too?’’ she asked Bucky as she offered her hand. He took it, without saying anything and got up.

German officer started to run around, a message in German got broadcasted on the camp’s speaker. Buck looked around. ‘’They landed, didn’t they’’ he stated. Bucky scoffed and looked at his friend. ‘’Y’a think’’ he said, sarcastically. ‘’Quit being a smartass, Bucky. We’re all tired here, yet you don’t hear us yapping about it’’ she said, while exhaling. ‘’Sorry princess’’ he said. She was too tired to argue with him, so she rolled her eyes and got back in her barracks.

Fresh meat was coming in, that’s how Y/n liked to call the new P.O.W coming in the camp, but this time, people were talking more, Red Tails pilot were walking in the camp. Y/n had a lot of respect for them, she got the chance to fly with them once, she could safely say that they were one the best pilots she ever flew with. ‘’They look nice’’ she said, looking at them.

They were all very into their game of card when the door opened. It was 2 Red Tails pilot. ‘’Second Lieutenant Alexender Jefferson, 332nd Fighter Group’’ one of the two introduced himself. ‘’Second Lieutenant Richard D. Macon, 332nd.’’ The other said. Y/n smiled to them; other boys didn’t say anything. ‘’Gentleman, welcome to paradise!’’ she said, sarcastically. There was a little bit of tension in the room, but Y/n looked at Richard, he injured his neck and couldn’t climb up a bunk. ‘’Here, take mine’’ she offered the man, who thanked her with a small nod. The next day, Buck, Bucky and she were seated in the stairs in front of their barracks. ‘’You trust ‘em?’’ Buck asked. ‘’Yeah, I do’’ Y/n said. ‘’Think we should too’’ Bucky added as Y/n nodded. That same night, she watched as Alexender was drawing the girl of his dream, Richard was teasing him. Like every other night, she couldn’t sleep. ‘’Girl of my dream’’ Alexender said, showing his drawing to his friend. She seated on her bed. ‘’Can I see her?’’ she asked him, the two men were surprised that she was talking to them. ‘’What?’’ Alexender asked, a little bit confused. She jumped down from her bunk and seated at the chair in the middle of the room. ‘’Can I see the girl of your dreams?’’ she asked again. He turned his book and showed the woman his drawing. ‘’She’s beautiful, you’re an artist?’’ she asked. He shook his head. ‘’What’s your name?’’ Richard asked her. ‘’Major Y/n Y/l/n, W.A.S.P division. But you can call me Y/n.’’ she smiled to the two men in front of her. ‘’Why are you nice to us, Y/n?’’ Richard whispered. ‘’Because you guys saved my life once, and I think that the Red Tails are the best pilots in the hole U.S army.’’ She looked at Richard in the eyes.

Buck was seated at the table, listening to the radio when some German officer yelled. ‘’Quick hide it’’ Murph said. He hid the radio just in time as the officer entered the room. Y/n looked at the officer before looking at Buck. ‘’Evening, sir’’ she said, getting his attention. ‘’Lights out!’’ he said, turning off the lights as he left the room. ‘’They’re close’’ Buck said. Y/n opened a candle, so that people could see a little bit. ‘’Really close’’ Y/n finished his sentence. ‘’We’re going home’’ Bucky smiled.

[animnerd]

Today is the anniversary of Pearl Harbor that started America into ww2. I have written a blurb that doesn't have to do with Pearl Harbor but ww2 more specifically the Holocaust. So yes i realize it has nothing to do with Pearl Harbor. But i will say in a way it does if we didnt go into ww2 then we would not have know the travesity of the Holocaust.

Now note (a/n): the blurb you are about to read has dark theme to it. The subject matter is about stucky in ww2 but the dark theme is about the ww2 horrible side the holocaust! So your reading consumption is at your descrection. I will warn you eventhough right now how much i have written there isn't much description about the camp or the prisoners. I still feel like it is need to have a warrning so i dont get people in the comments saying "why didnt you warn us?"

So i am warning you now! WARNING: there is dark, descriptive examples about people who are skin and bones, dark theme, holocaust (YES THIS IS A WARNING) so dont read if any of the above bother you! VIEWER DESCRECRION IS ADVISED!!!

(Please enjoy, and mistakes are my own. Thanks to @superdcchick for her help!)

"We have been freeing some countries from the Germans me and steve well i should call him captain America…. Anway we recaptured parts of Poland from the Germans. Now we are heading back to the base. Our commanding officer wantes to speak to us. But honestly after the battle today all we want to do is rest. On the way to the base me and stevie talked about rumors going around that the Germans do unspeakable things to the jews during the war but we don't belive it."

Once we make it to camp we go our separate ways and get cleaned up meeting back at headquarters. I know on the door and we walk in. I see Peggy we great her and look over to the comanding officer. "We came like you asked sir" "thank you for comming" as he walks around the room with his hands behind his back. "I knoe you know the rumors about what the Germans did to the Jews…. Well we may have found something that proves that the rumor is right…" he brings out a map and points to a little town of Oświęcim in Poland. "Just outside in the forest area is where we will take you. Its just a simple check into and report back to me." They nodded their heads. "Simple recon misson seems simple enough." Bucky says. "I recommend Rogers bring his sketch book and camera to we get evidence to prove the theory right or wrong." I hope it's wrong" said Steve. "That's why your two jobs are tomorrow dismissed!" The commander shouted and they ran out of there.

The next day as Bucky throws his bag into the back of the jep as Steve drives Buck gets in and pulls out a map leading Steve. As they are in the forest getting closer they see something looming ahead of them. They slow down the jeep as they get closer they see the building looks like a normal building you would see in the town and not think much of it. The building is big and long with brick holding it together which makes the boys confused why is this here out in the middle of no where… and whats up with the railroad tracks? Does the building have goods coming in?

The gates feels like they reach the sky but above the gates is a german word Arbeit macht frei sign and the boys dont know enough to decipher it. But for some odd reason Bucky’s stomach drops when he reads the words and he can’t put his finger on it. They looked at each other shrug their shoulders but their minds was going to be blown more once the gates open.

They drive the jeep closer to the gates all of a sudden some horriable stench when thry get closer to thr gate. As they open the boys have to cover their noses look at each other. "What is that smell?" As the gates opened Steve drove through the gates. Not fully in the camp a prisoner limps forward towards the boys. The boys had to do a double take, and Steve tried not to scream. The person if you would call that would limp towards them. They looked like zombies. Their eyes was so swollen into their heads that you could barley see them, their skin was so pale like they havent seen the sun in so long. And their bodies shown do many bones sticking out Buck feared if they tried to breath they would fly away.

Once the person comes close to them Bucky jumps out of the jep runs and runs over to them. The person steps back as their body shakes they put their hand out mumbles something. Which breaks Buckys heart "i am not here to hurt you" Bucky said the person. Thr person tilted their head and tried to speak in broken english. "You are here to liberat us?" Bucky smiles "yes my name is Bucky and this is my partner Steve. Who parked the jeep jumped out and grabed his bag of his cameria, pencil/pad, and waki talkie. The person walked backwards scared as steve walked over "whats in that…." "Oh nothing bad it hold a cameia, pencil/pad." The person noded their head. Barlet trusting the men "the germans gotten away they have taken alot of our fellpw people on what they call "death march" there are a few of us here. To them we were called "the undesirables."

[cjsinkythoughts]

Right From Left

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Avenger!Reader

Word Count: 3085

Warnings: !FATWS SPOILERS!, Cursing, Zemo being a punk, Bucky getting a little scary, some feelings, Sam being his fantastic, amazing, caring for everyone self

A/N: Here it is! At long last! I’ve been waiting for this episode and it was…holy fuck. I barely have words. And I can’t start or else I’ll be ranting for pages. Anyways, I know this Part is a little on the shorter side - not by much, but it still is - and it doesn’t even cover half the episode, but I’ve had a long day and I’m tired, so I’m going to sleep. I wanted to stop before Walker entered the picture too, because then I’m just gonna get more riled up and I’m working later. I’ll probably have another part out today, and then I’ll finish it tomorrow. Unless I can finish it today. I’ll try, but no promises.

Feel free to rant to me about the episode or the show, too, guys! My friends and I have been going back and forth about it for the past few hours. I’d love to hear your thoughts! I think that’s all for now.

As always, this isn’t beta’d so please excuse any mistakes! Thank you for reading, be kind to yourself and others, enjoy this part and stay tuned!

FATWS Masterlist

cjsinkythoughts Masterlist

!SPOILERS BELOW CUT!

You were avoiding him.

When you first got to Latvia, he had pulled you aside, eyes wide and pleading. “Doll, listen-”

“I really don’t think right now is the time to have the discussion we’re about to have.” Shaking your head, you avoided his gaze, your stomach twisting into knots. It was too much for you to handle; you couldn’t focus on the mission at hand and try to unravel the emotions that were making your gut flip like a gymnast. There were too many thoughts in your head, and you needed a clear mind.

“But-”

“Once this is all done, and our lives aren’t in danger. Once we’re back home, then we can talk, okay? Just…please. Not here. Not now.”

And he dropped it. 

It wasn’t that you didn’t want to talk about it. You just couldn’t. You had always been a ‘leave your baggage at the door’ type of person. Don’t mix work with personal. Not like you had much “personal” anyways when you first decided that was how it should be. And then your coworkers became family and your motto got a lot harder to follow. But you still followed it. And you would continue to follow it.

But that made you start avoiding him. Whether you meant to or not, everyone noticed, but no one said anything. Sam shot you a look when you didn’t offer to go with Bucky when he had to check something out. Zemo raised an eyebrow when he came back and, instead of immediately questioning him, you sat still on the couch, eyes glancing up briefly, before going back to playing with the strings of your hoodie.

You were paying attention to their conversation, especially when Karli Morgenthau was brought up, you just didn’t join in. Not even when Zemo mentioned the Avengers, eyeing you to see your reaction.

Honestly, you were tired, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Your shoulder hurt, your brain couldn’t process what the guys were talking about, and your heart couldn’t take any more hits.

It was something you’d been thinking about…you just thought it’d come after this mission.

“She will not stop. She will escalate until you kill her…or she kills you.”

“Maybe you’re wrong Zemo. The Serum never corrupted Steve.”

For the first time since he first walked in, your eyes met Bucky’s. “Touche.” Zemo pointed at Bucky with a pastry around his finger. “But there has never been another Steve Rogers, has there?”

But you couldn’t wait until after this mission. Not when he was so connected to it. “I think I’m gonna go home.” You blurted out before Zemo and Bucky could argue further, Bucky slumping down onto the opposite side of the couch.

The moment the words left your lips, Sam and Bucky shot up, staring at you in disbelief.

“Wait, hold up. What? Now? We’re so close-”

“Why? Is it your arm? Is it hurting? You should’ve told us-”

“I’m just tired.” You cut in, shaking your head. “That’s all. I didn’t expect this to be drawn out this long when you called, Sammy.”

Bucky’s hand twitched as he hesitatingly scooted closer to you. “Doll, if this is because what happened on the jet-”

“It’s not, Buck.” You tried to give him a convincing smile, but you knew by the look in his eyes that he didn’t buy it for one second. You reached over to squeeze his hand, and when you pulled back, he held on tighter, a sigh escaping his lips as he stared down at your linked hands.

“Okay…if you wanna go home, we can get you home. Just…” His head turned back to you, a pleading pout on his features. “Just…stay. Another day. Please. You can keep avoiding me, I won’t even say another word to you if you don’t want. But stay. Just for one more day.”

Chewing on your cheek, you finally nodded slightly. “Okay. One more day.”

His eyes lit up, before his face fell again when you took your hand back and curled into the corner of the couch. “Let’s talk shop, boys.”

“Okay. So, from my understanding, Donya is like a pillar of the community, right?” Sam easily changed the topic back to the situation at hand, giving you a reassuring wink when you smiled at him gratefully. “So when I was a kid, my Tee Tee passed away.”

Bucky screwed his face up in confusion, straightening his head from where he had it leaned back. “Your - your Tee Tee?”

Sam gave him a look. “Yeah. My-my Tee Tee, yeah.”

Bucky looked at him weirdly. “Who is your Tee Tee?”

The exchange made you giggle a little bit, shaking your head. “Bucky’s a city boy from the 40’s, remember, Sammy?”

“Fine.” Sam rolled his eyes. “When I was a kid my aunt passed away.”

Bucky gave a slight huff, making you chuckle again. You stopped when he smiled over at you, but your grin didn’t leave your face. Even when they were the ones to give you a headache, your fellas were damn entertaining, that’s for sure.

With a sort-of plan in place - the gathering for Donya being no more than a theory, but the only idea you really had - you stretched out from your spot on the couch, twisting to crack your back. “Zemo.” The man stopped his rummaging through the cabinets and looked over his shoulder at you, an eyebrow raised. “Go put some clothes on. We’ve got work to do.”

He gave you an unimpressed look, opening his mouth, but Sam beat him to the punch. “Do as the lady says, man. You’re already walking on a tightrope after you shot Nagel!” Zemo waved dismissively at Sam’s exclamation, heading into a separate room to change out of his robe. “That guy is gonna drive me up the wall.”

“Don’t let him get to that pretty head of yours, Sammy.” You hummed, standing up, wincing slightly as you stretched your sore shoulder over your head.

You could tell Bucky wanted to say something, the way he snapped forwards, hands moving down his thigh like he was leaning over to reach for you, his eyes locked on your injured joint, but, just as he said earlier, he didn’t say a word. But the part that made you upset was…you didn’t stop him. You didn’t tell him it was okay for him to talk to you. You didn’t reassure him that you weren’t purposely trying to avoid him. You simply moved over to the kitchen to get something to drink.

It hurt worse than your shoulder, but you couldn’t handle it. Not then. Not with such an important part of the mission coming up. So you didn’t say anything. You just sipped your water, switching into tactic mode as your mind ran through the scenarios of what could possibly go down in the next 24 hours before you went home.

*************************

Walking under the arch, you couldn’t help but feel saddened as Zemo told you about what the courtyard used to look like. Thanos messed the world up so much more than you realized and, as much as you hated to admit it, the Avengers did have a part in it. Not that they - you - were in the wrong, necessarily. You truly believed you did what anyone in that situation, with the skills and abilities and knowledge the team had, would do what you did. Or tried to do.

“I’m gonna take a look around upstairs.” Sam stated, looking up at the upper stories of the building, before glancing at Bucky. “See what you can find out here. And keep an eye on him.”

“I’ll come with you.” You said, turning on your heel to follow Sam. The back of Bucky’s gloved hand brushed against yours, and instinctually you turned your palm to link your fingers and squeezing. You let go quickly once you realized what you were doing, nearly tripping up the stairs to get to Sam, not daring to wait for Bucky’s reaction.

“You’re an idiot.” He stated simply as soon as you met him at the top of the stairs.

“Can we focus on finding Donya right now, please?” You grumbled, moving forwards cautiously, peeking around the corner. You frowned when you saw two guys at the end of the hallway, looking back at you and Sam warily.

“You need to hear what he has to say, cher.”

You sighed, rubbing your forehead. “I know I do. I know. But I can’t. Not right now. I’m just trying to get this over with first. I don’t want too many things on my plate. I might choke.” It already felt like you were drowning most nights.

He paused at your words, giving you a once over, before nodding. “Okay. I can respect that.”

“Thank you.” You told him earnestly. “Now let’s try to get something from these people.”

He nodded in agreement and you two continued forwards with your search. Room after room, people walked out before you could get anything from them, locking doors behind them. The Flag Smashers logo was everywhere, but you expected nothing less from a refugee camp that practically worshipped what they were doing.

Even when you did get a guy to talk to you, he immediately shut you down, leaving you and Sam dejected. The fact that the world had gotten so bad that these people couldn’t trust you and Sam - Avengers; people who used to be heroes and bring hope to others - it made your heart sink.

“C’mon, Y/N.”

“Are we wrong?”

He froze at your question, his lips pressing together. “About what, exactly?”

You shrugged. “I don’t know. I just…I guess I can’t tell right from left anymore. I always assumed that the Avengers were the good guys. That the actions we’ve taken in the past were us making the world a better place, but…Sokovia and Ultron. Germany and the whole civil war thing we had going on. The entire world and Thanos. We don’t truly ever win. Do we?”

“I can’t answer that for you.” Sam shook his head. “I can’t tell you what to believe or who to believe in. But I can tell you that we’ve made a difference. Steve, Nat, Tony…they made a difference.”

“But was it a good difference? Was it a change? There’s a difference between changing the world and just making it different, Sam.”

He blinked at you, nodding slowly. “Yeah. I guess you’re right. And I don’t have that answer for you either. But they tried. They did what they thought was right. No matter if it was or not. And isn’t that all we can do? Try?”

His words made you think back to the conversation you had with Bucky once he learned about John Walker, which seemed so long ago. When you told him it wasn’t Sam’s fault. That he was just trying. That he did what he thought was right. 

And maybe he was wrong. But he made a decision. It was his decision. To do the right thing. And right then, not for the first time, you could see exactly what Steve saw in the man in front of you.

“You’re a good man, Sam.”

Sam grinned, slinging an arm around your shoulders and squeezing. “And you’re an incredible person, Y/N. Let’s go see if Bucky and the Baron got anything.”

You snickered at his mocking tone towards Zemo and nodded. “Yeah. Okay.”

*****************************

You didn’t like it. You didn’t like it one bit. So far, Zemo kept proving you wrong. Even when it seemed like he was about to jump ship, he came back. No matter how many opportunities he had to escape, he never did. And it was making you even more suspicious.

You stayed out of Bucky and Sam’s conversation, although you had to agree with Sam’s point, especially with the conversation you just had.

Your thoughts were running a thousand miles a minute, only to be interrupted by Zemo information about the funeral this afternoon. Guess a snake will always be a snake.

“And you, uh, didn’t think this was important information?” You questioned, eyes narrowed and brow pinched.

He shrugged. “You have it now, don’t you, princess?”

Bucky growled at the nickname, leaning back on the couch, threatening Zemo with the Dora Milaje.

You can’t remember a time you’ve ever been scared of Bucky. Maybe a little threatened and intimidated by the Winter Soldier, but never scared of Bucky. And when he stood up after Zemo mentioned leverage, you didn’t expect anything from it; maybe another choke hold or something. So the glass hitting the wall, the clench in his jaw as he spoke gruffly to the Baron, for a mere second, he kind of frightened you. Maybe it was all the emotions you’d been through the past few weeks or maybe it was the adrenaline that seemed to be pulsing through your veins 24/7 nowadays. Whatever it was, it made you flinch, bolting up as Sam did.

You left the room quickly, hearing Sam say something about making a call, hoping to calm your racing heart.

“Doll?” You sat up from the bed you were laying on, legs hanging off the edge. Bucky stood in the doorway, nervously shifting his feet. “I know I said I’d leave you alone, but…”

You gave the bed a pat next to you and he gladly accepted the invitation, padding over to sit besides you. “I don’t want you to leave me alone, Buck. You’re my best friend. I-I just need to take it one thing at a time right now.”

He nodded. “I get it. I wasn’t…I wasn’t coming in to talk to you about that. You said we’ll talk about it later, so we’ll talk about it later.”

“I appreciate that, Bucky.” You smiled at him, before frowning. “What did you wanna talk about then? Are you okay?”

“Did I…did I scare you?”

You blinked at his question, tilting your head. “What?”

Jerking his head to the doorway he explained, “just then. With Zemo. Your heart spiked.”

“No.” You answered immediately. You would never ever admit that he kind of did scare you. It was just for a second and you knew how his brain worked; he’d beat himself up over it, go over his actions for hours instead of getting the rest he so desperately needs and deserves. He didn’t need that on his conscience right now. “I wasn’t - I just…you startled me. I wasn’t expecting that reaction-”

“I didn’t like the way he talked to you.” He spat out, glaring at his hands in his lap. “And then the smug bastard thought he was gonna get away with holding back information like that and I just…I dunno.”

His hand came off his thigh, but he hesitated. Before he could put it down again, you slipped your hand under his, linking your fingers, running your thumb in circles against his palm. “Don’t let him get to you, Buck. Don’t give him the satisfaction.”

A sigh left his lips and he nodded. “I know, I know. It’s just…hard. After everything he put me through - put us through - I…I just hate that he’s really our only option.”

You frowned, shifting on the bed to face him, one leg bending beneath you while the other still hung over. “Why are you so obsessed with catching these guys?”

“I wanna do something right.” He murmured, playing with your fingers. “I’ve done so much wrong…I just wanna do something right. And I feel...responsible for it, I guess. In a way. It’s Super Soldier Serum. I thought I was the only one after Steve…” He froze at the blonde’s mention, giving you a side-eyed glance. You nudged him, silently telling him to continue, that it was okay to talk about him. “And Sam’s right, you know. She’s just a kid. So…I dunno. I wanna help. I wanna do something right. And catching them would help. It’s right. Right?”

You nodded firmly. “I understand where they’re coming from. Karli’s just trying to help the world. But she’s doing it wrong. And that I know for absolute certainty. Which is good, I guess. I was talking to Sam early and I mentioned not knowing my right from my left recently. It’s good I know something, huh? And for you it should be easy telling your right from your left.” You joked, tracing the gold lines on his metal arm. “I guess you’re just gonna have to stay besides me to help me remember.”

Looking up, you found Bucky staring at you with something you recognized in his eyes, but didn’t want to name. “Three hours, forty two minutes and thirty one seconds.”

“What?”

“That’s how long I didn’t talk to you. It was too long.”

You sighed, ducking your head. “Bucky, I’m sorry-”

“I’m sorry. For anything and everything I’ve ever done wrong. I won’t mention the plane or anything we’ve talked about until you bring it up first. I promise. Just…just don’t ignore me anymore? I'm not sure I can handle it for much longer.”

You nodded, watching your fingertips dance along his scruffy jaw. “I won’t.” He caught your wrist, opening his mouth, before shaking his head and closing it. “What?”

He shook his head again. “Not until you bring it up.”

“We will talk, James. I promise.”

“You don’t have to explain. I get it. I really do. It’s okay. As long as we’re okay for right now, I can hold it in a bit longer.”

You nearly asked him what he was holding in, but you quickly shoved the question out of your mind, knowing it would take you down a conversation you couldn’t possibly have right then. “How long do you think we have?”

He shrugged. “I dunno. Zemo just said that it’s this afternoon. Why?”

“I started reading The Great Gatsby on the plane. I’ve got it on my phone. It kinda reminds me of you. Do you-do you think we have time to read some? Only if you want, I mean. Like we used to do in Wakanda?”

He grinned and nodded, scooting up on the bed and flopping down into the pillows. You smiled back, following his lead. Once you were comfortable, your phone out with the chapter you were on, Bucky scooted closer, laying his head on your stomach, hugging your waist. 

“Is this okay?”

Your fingers found home in his hair and you nodded when he looked up at you for an answer. “Yeah. It’s perfect, Buckaroo.”

[harold231]

It wasn't real

Pairing: Bucky x reader

Posted: 04/30/2021

Word count: 2.5k

Warnings: None? Maybe a lil angst just a lel bet.

A/N: I think it might be good? Idk You let me know. But like frfr, don't just give me feedback in your mind, put it into words. Also I apparently have a thing for Bucky in a dotted apron soooo yeah.

FYI: time zone/era is open for interpretation. Bucky never became an avenger/soldat and steve isn't part of this one.

The wind that blew around you was warm and sweet with the scent of freshly bloomed flowers. Perhaps it was an act of kindness from some God trying to distract you from the cold bitterness settling into your bones. Closing your eyes you conjure the very memory that left you so desolate.

The sun snuck it's way through the curtains to illuminate the room, effectively disturbing the sleep that you always seemed to be craving. Waking up is always hassle but whenever you remember that you get to spend your day with the only person who tolerates you and you him, getting out of bed is the easiest thing. Bucky is crazy and the damn boy is never in one spot for to long and he always has something to say, but you can't imagine how boring your days would be if you guys had never met. well technically if your parents had never met.

When you were a child you parents had to move to new york for business and they decided that Brooklyn was the place to be. You had been Bucky's neighbor and the first day you guys moved in his mom had dragged him over with the most delicious angel food cake that he so proudly claimed to have made mostly on his own. He just loved cooking and baking since forever, he would tell you that he just liked experimenting with foods but you knew the truth was that the boy liked to eat and didn't have the patience to wait for his mother to come home.

Only a few years after your family had moved to Brooklyn you and Bucky had already built an unbreakable bond. You guys had found a beautiful cherry tree one day when playing tag and had deemed it to be your's and Bucky's spot. Whenever you had a bad day or needed time away from the world you guys would go to the tree and just pick cherries, in the winter time you and Bucky would lay under the tree and kick the trunk so that the snow would fall from the leaves. It was the place where at only 15 years old bucky swore he would open his own Bakery and to quote him "I'm serving my ma's food my way doll, It's gonna be the next best thing to hit New York."

You were laying on the ground with your hands crossed behind your head looking up at Bucky swinging upside down from a branch when he told you all this. You felt something you had never felt before at that moment, looking up at the wild haired boy who loved to eat, loved his family, and had the most ambition you had ever heard from kids your age. Your heart felt full and your cheeks grew warm as you looked up at the same blue eyes you had know for years now, only this time you notice the way they twinkle in the sunlight and how rosy his lips are. Now 7 years laters you and Bucky were preparing to open the very bakery he promised you he'd open. Banners were beautifully strung along the walls and cute retro china was set out, ready to be filled for opening day. There was no hesitation from you when Bucky had asked you to run the bakery with him, you were excited to spend your days with the person you hoped you would spend the rest of your life with.

At around 6:30 in the morning you had arrived at the bakery but it seemed that Bucky had beat you to it. The smell of fresh angel food cake and cocoa danced up your nose as soon as you opened the door. Closing your eyes you smiled at the memories that it brought back. Moving to the back you grabbed your Disney themed apron and placed your bag and coat in its place before scurrying over to the kitchen while trying (and failing) to tie your apron. There in all his dorkiness was Bucky wiggling around to the chordettes. He knew that you loved the 50's aesthetic so he found a way to incorporate it without going overboard, by adding little trinkets, a jukebox, and even those cute little dining tables. In fact at the moment he was wearing a ruffly red polka dotted apron as he frosted some cupcakes.

Apron tied, you were finally ready to get to work. You walked up to Bucky bumping his hip as you reached for some cupcake pans, "Whatcha doin here so early Buck, we don't open until 12" he looks at you with squinted eyes, "The hell are you doing here so early." "Woah,woah,woah completely unprovoked. I'm just saying cuz' you were the one complaining about the opening time being set at 8. Like damn." Breathing out a huff of air he wipes his forehead with a towel "I'm sorry doll, I'm just super nervous and I couldn't sleep so I came to start baking things. I already frosted the ice cream cakes and I just finished the pies, but I was thinking that maybe we needed some cupcakes too, even though we already baked so many pastries and stuff last night I'm worried it won't be enough."

Setting down the trays you move to hug Bucky from behind holding him close to you. "Buck I know we'll do great your food is too good to pass up on especially when it's free." You place a soft kiss to his shoulder " I promise you'll do great, everything you do is amazing you try your hardest at everything Buck, You've worked your butt off and made mine considerably larger to get here, don't start losing your mind on me now." A cute little laugh from Bucky lets you know that he's hearing you and he isn't so stressed anymore. "I just want this to be perfect ya know?" with your head still against his back you nod, "I just want it to be a special day for my special girl."

You couldn't stop the slight blush that rose to your cheeks or the way that your heart suddenly started beating three times faster. You had also wanted to make him something special which is why you had got here so early. Finally releasing your hold on Bucky you straighten your apron out before gathering everything you need for some red velvet cupcakes. Bucky loved your red velvet cake so you loved making it for him. After hours of mixing, baking, and frosting had passed, you guys were rewarded with a bakery that looked as great as it smelled. "Alright doll, I'm heading out, I gotta go get ready. Meet you back here at 12 , Love ya." He didn't even give you a chance to answer as he ran right out the door. "Love you too."

You had stayed behind just a little while longer as you perfected your secret project. Carefully you added snowflakes to some of the cupcakes because you knew how much he loved snow even if he hated winter, some cats, flowers that reminded you of bucky, and one extra special cupcake. When you finish you decide to clean up a bit more and prepare some drinks for later before heading home to get ready. As soon as you got home you took a shower and did the simplest of make up with a light pink lip. You had decided to wear a dress to match the blossoming flowers that spring had brought. Pink with a yellow lace trim and flowers embroided all over the dress, matching it with some yellow flats.

You had decided that it was a perfect day for a walk so you grabbed a light scarf and slung it over your shoulders, grabbed Bucky's cupcakes, and headed over to the bakery. You felt as if a Hundred pounds had been lifted from your shoulders knowing that Bucky had felt the same way about you. You had decided that you would tell him today with your special cupcakes. As you rounded the corner you felt giddy and you couldn't wipe the smile from your face no matter how hard you tried. As you reached the bakery you saw that a majority of the people had already arrived and you knew that it would put Bucky at ease to see all the people enjoying his food. You stopped at the window, closing your eyes to take a deep breath to prepare yourself to join the celebration.

Opening your eyes you reached for the handle only to stop at the sight on the other side of the door. Bucky stood there arms wrapped around a woman eyes locked on hers as he leaned in for a kiss. It must have all happened in about 30 seconds but it felt as if time himself had slowed it down for you to watch the way he tilted her head and ran his tongue along her bottom lip before finally uniting their lips. Your heart dropped as quickly as your smile did and suddenly you felt so stupid for thinking this could be real. You willed yourself not to cry as you allowed your legs to carry you anywhere but there.

That's how you found yourself sitting underneath a blossoming cherry tree. A tree that held only happy memories because it wasn't a place you could be sad... back then. With your back against the tree and box of cupcakes full of unrequited love in your lap you realize how much you over romanticized Bucky. Opening the box you decide it would be a shame to let them go to waste. The first one you grab has a big red heart frosted in the middle, you let out a deep sigh before breaking the cupcake right down the middle. You shove half of the cupcake into your mouth and only then do you allow the tears to fall. You sat there for hours crying eating cupcakes, watching the sunset, and thinking about everything that Bucky did for you, as a friend. You realize you had no right to be angry at Bucky, after all you never told him how you felt you just assumed that he would feel the same way after so many years. With every broken memory another cupcake vanished.

He was always there for you, when no one wanted to come to your slumber party Bucky did and he even did all the girly things with you. Painting your nails, doing your hair, watching chick flicks, and pillow fights. once he even asserted that no one could protect you as well as he could, when you had decided to go camping with your friend from class so he insisted on taking you himself. Your friend was most noticeably gay so you had assumed he wanted to spend time alone with you. But now that you think back on those memories these are things that anyone would do for their bestfriend. And that's what you realized 8 hours and 11 cupcakes later.

The moon floated above you and as it's white rays settled upon the lake you decided it might be time to go home now. You get up and dust your dress off before leaning down to grab the mostly empty box. Turning around you are stopped again by what's in front of you. Bucky stands there brows furrowed as his eyes flash from you to the box in your hands. "Where the hell have you been, I've been calling you all day." swallowing the lump in your throat you go to answer but are interrupted. " everyone's been asking me about you all night and I had no damn idea what to tell them, but apparently you were just out here being inconsiderate. You go and tell me I can do great tonight, that you'd be there for me, but you weren't." You try to answer him but are again interrupted. "You could have told me something earlier instead of leaving me there like a dumb-" "SHUT UP!" this time it was your turn to interrupt him.

Taking a deep breath you look into his eyes before explaining. "Of course I was ready to be there today, you think I wore this dress to sit under a damn tree? Well I didn't. When I left my apartment I was ready and I was excited, so excited. I couldn't even stop smiling on my way over, but then I got to the shop and I saw-" Immediately you stopped as you realized what you were about to say. He cocked an eyebrow and shook his head slightly as if to say 'Hello?' "You saw what? What did you see that would make you abandon ship just like that?" Shame flushed through your being and you could no longer keep eye contact. "Nothing, you know what, it doesn't even matter. I'm sorry I was being dramatic I should have been an adult and dealt with it on my own time. And I'm sorry I abandoned you all, but the night was about you anyways."

"The night was supposed to be about the both of us so it does matter if you saw something that made you want to leave. Just tell me doll, what did you see?" his voice is soft as he pleads with you. "I saw... well I saw you kissing that lady and I just wanted get away and ended up here okay!?" You said it all in a jumble hoping that he wouldn't be able to understand what you had said. But luck wasn't your friend so of course he did. "So seeing me kiss another person was so gross to you that you had to run away, what the hell? are you 13 again?" You hadn't admitted it outloud yet and it seemed that the dumbass in front of you was going to force it out of you.

Stepping around Bucky you pull your scarf tight around your body as you focus on not crying anymore until you get home. You distract yourself by thinking of all the love you saw in all the little things Bucky did for you. Dancing around the newly furnished bakery body against body as frank sinatra brought you heart to heart, watching rom-coms and ugly crying together, but by the time you get home you force yourself to face the ugly truth. The Love was always in your head. It wasn't real.

A new wave of tears blurred your vision as teardrops fell perfectly to the ground. "It's because I have feelings for you Bucky, and I now know you don't feel the same way." Sniffling you don't bother looking up because your heart is to broken for that right now. "I'm Just gonna need a little bit of time and I'll be back good as new like nothing even happened." Still unable to lift your gaze from the ground you decide to focus on the last cupcake left in the box. 'I Love You' is written in tiny light blue frosting letters. "I uhm, uhh." That brought your attention to Bucky, as embarrassment pulsed as strong as ever through your veins. " You don't have to say anything Buck, It's fine, I'll see you next week, on monday" you hand him the box as you go to pass him "I think you would have a better use for this than me I ate 11 others already so."

Divider credits: @firefly-graphics

[rivers-rambles21]

The one with the flipping

Part 10 of The one where Bucky has a cute neigbour series!

Pairing: Bucky Barnes X Reader (f)

Summary | Reader and Bucky become friends after he saves her from  a creep in their apartment building. Each chapter explores a different point in their friendship - very slow burn!

Warnings | 18+ only, Smut in later chapters (this is a slow burn), swearing, unprotected sex, oral sex, (later chapters)

We’re starting to see more from The Falcon and The Winter Soldier - there are some bits taken from the show to help shape the story.

We’ll also be seeing Y/N & Bucky texting whilst he’s away

Chapter 10 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 1 | Masterlist

It didn’t feel right with Bucky away. Although he’d only been gone for just over a day you felt the void he left. Over the past few months you’d become inseparable, seeing each other every day - whether it be hitting the gym together, cooking or just hanging out.

After coming home from yet another terrible day at work, you wanted nothing more than to open a bottle of wine and binge watch TV with Bucky who was undoubtedly now your best friend. 

You were two glasses in when you heard a banging outside your apartment door. 

Stepping out into the hallway you were greeted with two cops hammering away on Bucky’s door, nearly breaking it clean off. “Excuse me, can I help you?” 

Both officers quickly spun on the spot and reached for their guns, stopping when they saw you were on your own. “Do you know the man who lives here?” 

“Yes, do you?”

“Ma’am do you know where he is?” 

“No I don’t” You lied, not trusting the two men infront of you. 

One of their radios suddenly turned on “-he’s is now in custody in Baltimore” 

Both cops nodded to one another before turning back to you. “Nevermind ma’am” 

You watched as they left as quickly as they arrived before running back into your apartment, grabbing your phone and frantically calling Bucky. You tried a few more times before stuffing your wallet into your purse and heading for the door. 

Fortunately you managed to catch a last minute flight to Baltimore after confirming with the police precinct they were holding him in . You hadn’t thought twice about going to him, your heart ached at the thought of him being confined to a cell, trapping him like an animal. 

After paying the cab driver your fare, you sprinted into the precinct heading straight for the desk. 

“Hi, you’re holding my friend Bucky -  I mean James Barnes.” You panted, tired from the sprint to the officer behind the desk.

“Who the hell are you?” 

Turning around, you came face to face with someone you instantly recognised. “Falcon” You grinned, a little bit star struck at meeting an actual Avenger. 

Sure Bucky was one too but to you he wasn’t some superhero on the evening news who fought aliens and terrorists, he was just Bucky - your friend who stole your food and listened to your never ending rants. 

Realising you hadn’t answered his question, you continued. “I’m Y/N, a friend of Bucky’s.” You extended your hand out to him which he shook. 

“Sam” He replied, releasing your hand from his. 

“The one who believes wizards are real” You joked, trying to remove the tension. 

“I’ll tell you the same thing I told the cyborg, a wizard is a sorcerer without a hat!”

“Uhuh” You laughed, rolling your eyes. “Have they said when they’ll let him out yet?” 

Sam gestured you to the seating area and sat down. “Once his therapist arrives they’ll let him out.” You sat in comfortable silence for a few moments as the busy precinct bustled around you, cops and civilians passing through constantly. 

Sam was the first to break the silence. 

“Do you want to watch a funny video?”

The first time you watched the video of Bucky jumping out of the plane you were worried sick he’d hurt himself with his terrible landing. But by the fifth time watching it you’d found it hysterical as you laughed along with Sam as you watched the video over and over again from different angles to kill the time. 

Reluctantly, you left the waiting area and headed to the restroom to relieve yourself. When you came back you were stumped to find Sam wasn’t where you’d left him. 

“Excuse me, do you know where the man that was sat there went?” You asked the officer behind the desk. 

“Therapy session” She replied, pointing towards the double doors before returning back to furiously typing on her computer. 

“Thanks” You muttered before returning back to your seat, patiently waiting. 

You didn’t have to wait for long before Sam came back with an annoyed look etched across his face. “He’ll be out in a minute” he said as he passed by you, heading for the exit. 

With a sigh of relief you stood from your seat and adjusted your clothing as you watched the door with eager eyes. 

The moment you saw him through the small windows you felt all the stress and anxiety of the day seep out of you as you saw he was relatively okay. 

Bucky must have been distracted as he didn’t notice you standing in front of him until his eyes landed on you, his mouth hanging open in shock. 

“Hey Buck” 

“Doll what are you doing here?” He asked as he strode over to you, pulling you into him in a tight hug, your face pressed against his warm chest. Your arms wound around his back, pulling him in closer, his scent overwhelming your senses. He left a kiss upon your head before pulling back slightly to look down at you, searching for answers. 

“Cops came to your apartment looking for you, and then I heard they’d got you and I just panicked. Are you okay?” Reaching up, you cupped his face in your hand, your thumb stroking his soft cheek. 

His eyes fluttered closed for a moment before he opened them again, suddenly aware of where you were. 

“C’mon lets get out of here.” Taking your hand in his, he led you out of the station and into the fresh evening air. 

A shiver ran down your spine as the cold air hit your bare arms. In your rush to go after Bucky you’d foolishly foregone a jacket. 

Instantly noticing your discomfort, Bucky dropped your hand and shrugged his jacket off and wrapped it around your shoulders, the leather swamping your form. 

“Thanks” You said shyly, Bucky merely smiled back at you in response. 

“Well I feel better” Sam’s voice broke you out of the moment as he walked up to you both. Bucky opened his mouth to respond before being interrupted by the sound of a siren and flashing lights.

“Gentlemen!” You recognised the voice from the news - the Captain America knock off. “Good to see you again.” 

You felt Bucky's hand slide down your arm to grasp your hand once again as he walked towards the imposter, angling you behind him. 

“Look, if we divide ourselves, we don’t stand a chance, you guys know that.” 

“So what do you got?” Sam asked, rolling his eyes. 

“Well the leaders name’s Karli Morgenthau. We’ve been targeting civilians who’ve been helping Karli move from place to place.”

“They geotagged a location then scrambled the signal. But our satellites have found their symbol popping up in various displaced communities all across Central and Eastern Europe.”

“We think she’s taking the medicine she just stole to one of these camps.” 

“Well, there are hundreds of those all over the planet since The Blip so I guess you’ll have to look real hard.” If it wasn’t for present company you’d have rolled your eyes at Bucky’s sarcasm.

“Good thing I have 20/20 vision, huh?”

“Where is she now, Walker? Do you know?” 

“No we don’t know Bucky. It’s only a matter of time before we find out”  

“Things are really intense for you, aren’t they Walker” Your lips twitched as you fought off a smirk.

“Take it easy. Look Walker’s right. It is imperative that we find them and stop them. But you guys have rules of engagement and all kinds of authorisations you have to get. We’re free agents. We’re more flexible. So it wouldn’t make sense for us to work with you.” 

You all turned to walk away, Bucky squeezing your hand as you did before fake Captain America stopped you in your tracks. “A word of advice then… stay the hell out of my way.” The two men turned and began to walk before Walker stopped again. “Nice to finally meet you Y/N” 

You felt Bucky tense as he turned back to the two men, his eyes glaring at them. Gently, you squeezed his hand and tugged his arm, pulling him back towards Sam, not bothering to respond to dumb and dumber. Looking down at you, he sighed before complying. 

With one last glance behind, you raised your hand as though to wave before smirking and flipping them both off instead - earning a chuckle from Sam.

A few blocks later, Sam hung back to give you and Bucky a moment alone. 

“I can’t believe you came for me doll” Bucky couldn’t keep his hands off you, he kept switching from rubbing your arms to keep you warm and tucking pieces of hair behind your ears. After the day he’d had you was a welcome sight, reminding him that not everything in his life was terrible. 

“Of course I did” You replied, confused as to why he would even doubt it. “I’d do anything for you.” Your confession came as a shock to both of you. You weren’t quite sure as to why you voiced your feelings, maybe it was the day of stress finally getting to you, or the realisation what Bucky and Sam was up to was dangerous and you feared losing him. But regardless of your reasoning, you didn’t regret saying it. 

Bucky's breath hitched as his blue eyes searched yours, looking for the moment where you’d crack a smile and make a joke out of it. But that didn’t happen. 

Gently, Bucky leant forward and pressed his lips against your forehead, lingering for a moment before pulling back. “I don’t want you getting caught up in this doll.” His right hand cradled the back of your head as his eyes sought yours, trying to memorise every part of your face, committing it to memory. 

“I’ll stay out of it, I promise. I just couldn’t bear the thought of you caged up again-” Your voice had become erratic as you processed the days events. Bucky pulled you into another hug, silencing you as he did, his metal hand rubbing up and down your back. 

“I’ll be fine y’know that right? But I have to stop these people Y/N, the serum can’t end up in the wrong hands. I need you to trust me, to trust I know what I’m doing.” 

You merely nodded in response, too caught up in the feeling of being in his arms. 

Bucky pulled away from the hug and stroked your cheek, wiping away the tears you hadn’t realised had fallen. “Cmon, where’s that smile?” 

You couldn’t resist his boyish charm and smiled back at him, although weakly. 

“Attagirl”

__________________

If you’d like to be added to the tag list let me know!

 @xpurpleglitter​

[emwritesstuff]

as the world caves in | ch. 7 | bucky barnes x reader

synopsis: You are a ghost story. A former Air Force pilot who had her plane shot down by Germany in 1945, but here you were in 2023, alive and frozen in your 25-year-old body.

You haven’t seen Bucky since the 1940’s, before his fall, before you went on a suicide mission only to come back alive. You aren’t sure reliving those memories – and being a living memory of everything the man has lost – is the best for him.

But you and Bucky won’t be apart for long.  

This will loosely follow the plot of TFATWS - so spoilers ahead, specially regarding episode five. Thread carefully!

masterlist | AO3

notes: i got wordy with this one, lol. But there IS fluff and revelations in there somewhere

(warnings: mentions of death, blood, injuries, weapons) (word count: 5K)

seven: timing

You’ve seen death before. It’s inevitable, when you’ve lived an entire century.

You’ve died before, when half of the universe did too, crumbling into dust and fading into thin air. You’ve seen it during the war, during missions, you’ve done it. Yet, you might never get used to it, not like this.

A shield is objectively a protector in nature. Captain America’s shield, once the symbol of salvation, had been tarnished with blood.

Bucky and Sam looked at you when you turned back to them, after watching John Walker ran off from the square. Their silent conversation from seconds before communicated to you through a look.

Walker couldn’t carry the shield. Not anymore.

“We have to take it back.” Sam said, and you and Bucky nodded at the same time.

“He has to have gotten his hands on the serum somehow. He’s too strong.” You made your way through the crowd hastily, having to shove people out of the way, everyone still in slow motion due to shock.

“That means it won’t be easy.” Bucky added as the streets had gotten empty enough for you to start running freely.

“It never is, is it?”

Sam led the way on air while you and Bucky ran, following his coordinates. A fine rain fell over Riga, and it did good of seeping through your hair and clothes, though you didn’t register the cold in the moment. The warehouse you ended up in was empty except for industrial lifts, the lot abandoned and overgrown. A good enough hiding place.

John Walker marched over to you somewhat casually, and your eyes met Bucky’s as Sam stroke up conversation.

“What? You saw what happened. You know what I had to do. I killed him because I had to!” You held yourself from flinching when he raised his voice. “He killed Lemar!”

“He didn’t kill Lemar, John.” Bucky said calmly. “Don’t go down that road. Believe me, it doesn’t end well.”

Your fingers brushed Bucky’s metal ones lightly, them twitching in response.

“I’m not like you.”

That much was right. Sam stepped forward to try and reason with him, you and Bucky staying behind.

“Bucky—” You whispered, urging him to look at you.

He offered you a small strained smile. “I know.”

“Okay. Good.” This time you linked your hands fully, icy skin on Vibranium. You squeezed for a second and let go, forgetting that it probably wasn’t bringing him the comfort you intended. You hoped the message got across, at least.

“We don’t want anyone else to get hurt.” Sam’s voice drew your attention back to Walker and the imminent conflict. “John… You gotta give me the shield, man.”

Walker looked up at you three, a smirk gaining on his face. “Oh, so that’s what this is. You almost got me.”

“You made a mistake.”

“Don’t make another.” You said, your brows furrowing.

“You don’t wanna do this.”

“Yeah, we do.”

When Bucky said that he, you and Sam advanced into Walker, surrounding him as he swung the shield in every direction.

He lunged at Sam, sending him to ground. You were smaller, but that got you to land punches at his side and ribs, which he blocked a few of. You wondered how much more he could take, one against three.

A kick to your abdomen launched you back. He was terrifyingly strong, and you think that this serum had to be the most advanced yet. On top of that, he was completely deranged.

You helped Sam up while Bucky kept Walker occupied, then using the fact that Walker had him pinned against a lift you ran behind him and landed a knee to his spine.

“Why are you making me do this!” Walker flung Bucky first, and your eyes widened in horror when he crashed violently into a metal pillar. You were second, the shield hitting your head and flinging you towards the same direction as Bucky, your body sliding on the concrete floor.

Spots swam before your eyes. You blinked once, twice, trying to get them to focus again. You felt warmth on the side of your head. Blood.

Bucky was still limp on the ground, his metal arm sparking and twitching wildly. Your breath hitched in your throat and your eyes started to fill with water and fear.

“Bucky? Buck—oh my god, Bucky, come on,” Still dazed, you held his face in your hands, watching it twitch along with his arm.

You looked up to Sam altercating with Walker and Bucky stirred in your grasp.

“Y/N.”

A relieved sigh escaped your lips, along with a couple of hot tears that Bucky caught with his flesh hand. “Y/N, the shield—”

Looking up again, you saw what Bucky meant. The shield, seemingly forgotten as Sam and John Walker scuffled on the ground. You ran to it, swaying slightly, and stomped on the edge so it would go up into your arm.

As Walker ripped Sam’s wings out you flung the shield at his back, it flying back to your arm like a boomerang. You had his attention. He ran at you, nearly howling, and you stopped his lunges using the shield.

“You. You’re strong. You’re a super soldier too.”

“I have been… since 1945.” You panted, trying to catch your breath. Walker frowned at you.

You went at him again, not giving him time to process the new information. He grabbed the shield, trying to wrestle it out of your arm. Bucky tackled him before you could crumble, but as they stumbled down and away from you so did the shield, John Walker’s hands still gripping is viciously.

Somehow, he managed to have it strapped to his arm again, hitting Bucky with it as they threw punches.

You and Sam reached them at the same time, one to each side of Walker, taking him off of Bucky. Sam moved to remove the shield from Walker as you and Bucky pinned him.

There was a crack.

Sam took the shield off, rolling away with it, and you let go of Walker when you felt he stopped resisting due to the pain. Bucky spat red, and you cleaned the blood off your face with your sleeve.

Your head was throbbing, and you felt your balance wavering once again.

“It’s mine.”

“It’s over John.”

You tried jogging to Sam’s side, but all you did was limp the quickest you could. Suddenly, your knee was in fiery pain again. You would probably need a new replacement soon.

“It’s mine!” Walker moved on Bucky who was closest. You took a step toward them, but Sam put a hand on your shoulder to stop you.

“He’s got it.”

You turned to him, wondering if you really looked that much in bad shape.

Bucky really did get him, tackling Walker and hurling his body against Sam and the shield. The three of them fell to the ground.

It was over. You finally let your knees buckle, wincing once they hit the floor.

You closed your eyes for a brief second, spots swimming in your vision, and once you opened them again the men were still heaving on the ground. Bucky was the first to get up, picking up the shield and dumping it next to Sam.

He walked over to you, offering his hand. You took it gladly and let him hoist you up. His deeply concerned expression was the same as yours.

“Hey.”

“Hey, Buck.”

He pressed a kiss to your forehead. “Let’s go clean up, sugar.”

--

A shower and your clean civilian clothes got you feeling good as new.

You ended up going back to Zemo’s place, Bucky making you answer too many pointless questions as the both of you tended to your injuries, even though you had assured him you did not have a concussion.

“How’s your knee?”

“Could be better. It’ll be fine, though. I just hope we don’t have to fight Walker or anyone again in the next few days.” You shrugged, pressing an antiseptic tissue to Bucky’s nose. He hissed. “Don’t be a baby.”

You chuckled when he glared at you, slumping his shoulders.

His jaw tensed. “We wouldn’t have fought if Sam—”

“Bucky, don’t start this again—”

“— hadn’t given up the shield!”

“James, none of what happened was his fault. Did you even try to understand his side of things?”

You threw the tissue in the bin and checked your phone. Sam had replied, confirming that he was okay, and that he had managed to find a ride home with a friend. You and Bucky weren’t going just yet, since you still had to find Zemo and give him to the Dora Milaje.

You sighed. “The shield is just an oversized Vibranium frisbee. It’s nothing without the right person behind it.”

Bucky shook his head. “Why are you defending him?”

“Because you aren’t. You should be the first to take Sam’s side.”

“He gave it away like it was nothing. This Vibranium frisbee it’s all we have left of Steve, Y/N!”

“Not it’s not. We have an entire life worth of Steve, Bucky. The shield is just… an object.”

“If Sam was Captain America, Walker wouldn’t even have been nominated.” He grumbled.

You sat beside Bucky and took his metal hand in yours, tracing the golden seams on his palm. He sighed, and you knew he was close to resigning.

“The government didn’t even consider Sam before nominating Walker. Hell, they didn’t even talk to him.” You pursed your lips, feeling Bucky’s eyes on you.

“How can he be Captain America if America’s gonna treat him like that? And it wasn’t a one-time thing, either. So, I get it. I don’t like how things turned out. But I get it.”

Bucky looked at the floor. “Yeah. I want to understand. I’m—I’m trying.”

You beamed at him. It had taken you a while to understand too, and you still struggled sometimes. But you were proud of Bucky, for at least being open to listen.

--

You met Sam the next morning at the displacement camp. Or, at least, where it had been. Sam explained that the GRC was conducting raids in search for Karli, arresting people and closing their lodgings, but without much success.

“They searched this camp and just like the last camp, nothing.”

“Well, she’ll be laying extra low after…everything.” You frowned at Sam’s old gear, wings now a broken mess of carbon fiber and wires.

“She’s gone. We’ll never find her.” Sam’s voice was grave and littered with anxiety.

“We will. She’ll move again. She won’t just stop.”

You looked at Sam and he shook his head. From the other side of the room, Bucky sighed.

“Hey, you uh, you got your sleeve back.” A new voice piped in, and you recognized its owner as the soldier from the hangar the other day. “Oh, it’s you—hi, I’m Torres. Joaquin Torres.”

The boy had a nice, gentle smile. No wonder he and Sam were friends.

“Y/N.” You smiled back at him and shook the hand he extended to you.

Bucky headed to the door without a word.

“Are you off to take care of Zemo?”

You nodded at Sam and gave him a quick hug. “He can’t be running around causing trouble, can he now? Take care, Sam.”

“You too.”

“Alright, good to know you survived.” Torres said at Bucky’s back as he disappeared through the door.

Sam smiled down at you and you let yourself be content with that for now. You still had Zemo to worry about, so you rushed to catch up with Bucky.

“So, I’m thinking we should go to—”

“I have intel he might be in Sokovia.” Bucky shot you a confused look that made you shrug. “You forget I was a spy for more than 40 years, Buck.”

You smirked a little. Retired, sure. But that kind of thing was like riding a bike, and you knew better than to drop all of your hard-earned contacts.

“Did you contact Ayo too?”

You shook your head, and started leading Bucky to the hangar where your plane was waiting. “No, I figured you might wanna do that.”

It was another good fifteen minutes of walking before you arrived, and there it was. Your baby. An Eclipse 500, a pretty little thing with a red stripe and caramel leather seats.

Bucky whistled. “When you said you flew in…”

“I flew in.”

You smiled brightly at Bucky once you were on air, and it was safe to hit the autopilot. “Isn’t she beautiful?”

Bucky chuckled, looking at you. “Yeah.” His smile widened as he turned to watch the nose of the jet cutting the clouds.

Your chest ached with something unwelcome. Oh no. Not this, and not again. You wished for the feeling to go away, so you could just love him as your best friend, as a brother – but your heart wasn’t keen on listening.

“Sometimes it’s hard to remember you’re not that tiny, spunky girl who picked too many fights.”

“Well, that little girl is still in here somewhere. Except now I could say I have a bigger chance of winning those fights.”

Bucky smiled. “You always had a mean right hook.”

He was looking at you in some sort of way you couldn’t exactly determine and you decided not to think too much about it. You couldn’t.

“And now, what? You work for the UN, you have an airplane—you still live in New York, right?”

That was the moment when, after all that you’ve been through the past days, you realized that you and Bucky haven’t had a chance to actually catch up with each other. Everything had been a blur of conflict and stress, and although you knew most of what had been going on in Bucky’s life through Steve, Bucky knew virtually nothing about yours.

“I do, actually—do you remember those rowhouses in Columbia Heights?”

Bucky knitted his eyebrows. “The ones with the… sculpted flowers on the doorway?”

“Yeah. I bought one of them in the 60’s.” You grinned.

“We used to say that we’d live there, remember? Make it big, you, me and Steve.”

You nodded. It was one of the silly things you held on to – your dreamhouse, back when you had no idea that either Bucky or Steve were still alive. Back then, your house made you feel like you had fulfilled some sort of promise. The iron fences and the flowerbeds made you feel less alone in the world.

And then Steve came back. And then Bucky. And now Bucky was back in your life, and Steve was gone. Your eyes watered every time you thought of him.

“I remember, yeah. Gosh, I miss him.” You wiped the corner of your eye.

Bucky nodded, his eyes downcast. “I do too. I guess—guess that’s why I was so hung up on Sam giving up the shield. But you were right.”

“Oh? That’s new.”

“Shut up.” Bucky chuckled. “I’ve been thinking… and I still don’t fully understand. But Sam deserves at least an apology.”

You gave Bucky one last look before turning off the autopilot. What he was saying – that he was willing to understand Sam’s choices, and apologize – made your heart swell.

“Oh my, pigs might fly today!” When Bucky let out a tired exhale, you giggled. “I’m proud of you, Bucky. Really.”

He watched you for a long time while you brought the jet down to Sokovian grounds.

Bucky had gone off to change into new clothes before the two of you headed to find Zemo at the memorial. At least, that’s where he had been seen most recently. You had stayed to speak to the manager of the small airport you had landed in, the jet needed to be fueled and stationed somewhere before you headed back to the US.

“Alright, they’ll take care of her until we—”

You rounded the nose of your jet and faced with Bucky in a well-tailored black coat, his hair was styled and he’d shaven too, now only a faint stubble darkening his jawline. He cleaned up well, to say the least. Your heart skipped a couple of beats.

“—why, don’t you look dapper.”

Bucky smiled. “Have you seen Zemo in that coat of his?”

You laughed. “Alright, hold on a minute now.”

When you returned to him, you wore heeled ankle boots, a dark skirt and a silk blouse, all over your trench coat. Bucky’s Adam’s apple bobbled up and down as he took you in and you twirled, smiling sheepishly.

He offered you an arm.

“Come on, sugar.”

Sokovia was barren land now, most of the old city had gone up in the air, leaving a round crater in its place. There had been some rebuilding efforts, but everything was still quiet and empty. The memorial was right at the center, and as you and Bucky approached you saw him.

Zemo stood with his back to you, in that familiar overcoat, reading the inscriptions on the marble. You wondered if he had been waiting.

Bucky stopped walking, turning to you. “Ayo’s already here. She and the Dora will be waiting for my signal.” He took your hand. “Wanna come with me?”

“Do you need me?”

“I… should probably do this alone.”

You patted his hand with your free one before letting go. You drew a heavy breath when Bucky took out a pistol, then smiled when he emptied the bullets on his metal palm.

He raised his irises at you, a small frown making its way on his brow. “You said you were proud of me?”

You gave him a reassuring nod. “Always. I’ll be here.”

All you could do was watch now that Bucky was making the rest of the way to Zemo. If the Dora were watching somewhere, Bucky was probably safe, but you couldn’t keep your chest from constricting in apprehension as you watched him and Zemo interact.

Bucky raised the gun with his flesh hand, and with the other he dropped the bullets on the ground. That was the signal. The Dora Milaje came from behind Zemo, and Bucky looked over at you.

When they start walking off, leaving Bucky and Ayo behind, you approached.

“We will take him to the Raft, where he will live out his days.” Ayo said, greeting you with her dark eyes as you took place at Bucky’s side. “It would be prudent to make yourself scarce in Wakanda for the time being, White Wolf.”

“Fair enough.”

“And I hope to see you soon, Y/N.”

You and Ayo smiled at each other. “Same to you.”

Bucky gaped at you, and you had to stifle a laugh.

“Hey!” He called Ayo again. “I may have another favor to ask of you.”

You looked at him quizzically, and he smirked before closing the distance between him and the Dora Milaje, discussing something before walking back to you.

“It will be waiting for you once you get there.” She announced, and turned away. You raised an eyebrow.

“What is it?”

“Something for Sam.” Bucky said, wrapping an arm around your shoulders. You couldn’t help but lean into his warmth, and pulled him a little closer.

“How mysterious. Are we paying the Wilsons a visit, then?”

--

Delacroix was a close-knit community just south of New Orleans. It was sunny the day you and Bucky arrived, so much so that you’re able to ditch the heavy coats– you, at least, because Bucky had run back to get his jacket.

You didn’t mind much, that arm was a dead giveaway, and what truly mattered was him being comfortable – but you smiled once you noticed he didn’t have his gloves on.

You let Bucky go ahead and give Sam the favor he had asked of Wakanda by himself, despite his pleads for moral support. You figured it was a peace offering, and that being the case Bucky should deliver it himself.

When you finally approached them, greeting probably Sam’s sister Sarah with a smile, Bucky was busy tightening a pipe.

“Why didn’t you use the metal arm?���

“Well, I—I don’t always think of it immediately.”

“He’s right handed.” You quipped from behind them. Sam turned to you in surprise.

“Hey! I was wondering if I would have to deal with his grumpy ass without you.” He wrapped you in a hug and you laughed against his arm.

You smiled when Bucky rolled his eyes. “He’s actually in a good mood today.”

Bucky cleared his throat.

“So this is the boat, huh?”

“This is it.”

“It’s nice.” Bucky was looking around, rocking in his heels. “Want any help?”

Sam raised an eyebrow at you, and you simply shrugged.

“He was pretty handy in our time.”

Sam studied Bucky for a good two minutes in complete silence. Then, he relented, nodding and walking to the front of the boat.

Bucky stayed behind, looking up at Sam’s sister. “I’m Bucky.”

“Ah. Sarah.”

You raised your eyebrows once you realized just what he was doing. The sly dog. 106 years and he was still the biggest flirt to ever walk the earth.

You rushed to ignore the slight pang of jealously that hit you. You were debating following them when Sarah extended a hand to you.

“You must be Y/N. Thank you for offering the safehouse to us.”

You shook her hand, thinking that you couldn’t really blame Bucky for flirting – she was really pretty. Hell, maybe you should be flirting too.

“It was the least I could do.” You smiled.

“Does he… do that often?” She asked, looking in the direction Bucky had disappeared to.

You’ve lost count of how many times you’ve heard that, from hopeful girls who wished for more than just a date and a dance with Bucky. But you weren’t in the 1940’s anymore, though, and you had a feeling that flirting wasn’t really something he did often now.

“I’ll guess, no?” You shrugged, and she shook her head. “Serious!”

“Okay, okay. You go, I won’t keep you anymore.” Sarah nudged you with her shoulder. “Nice to finally meet you, Y/N!” She said, walking away and waving.

“You too, Sarah!” You waved back.

Sam was inside the wheelhouse when you found him. He was fiddling with a bunch of wires that looked more like a plate of noodles than something that was supposed to power a machine.

“And what’s going on here?”

He huffed. “I can’t get the panel to turn back on. Are you any good at this?”

“Technically I only know my way around flying things. But I can try.” You waved your hand and he stepped to the side, allowing you to start sorting out through the wires and try to see what could be connecting to what.

“You know, I think I like staring Bucky better than flirting Bucky.” Sam said in a serious tone, and you smirked.

“What a protective brother, you.”

“No, no—I’m a protective friend too. You made a face when Bucky started being all flirty with my sister.”

You furrowed your brows, looking at him. “No I didn’t.”

“Uh, yes you did.”

“Did not—” You sighed. “We’re just friends, Sam. Always have been. And that’s what we’ll continue to be.”

You connected a couple of wires and the panel flickered.

“Look. Even before I knew you two were a pair of old relics from the last century, I had a feeling you two would be good for each other.” Sam looked out of the window as Bucky walked by it, busy with scraping the paint off some wooden bitts. “And I am a great wingman.”

He winked at you, proud of his own pun, and you rolled your eyes.

“We are good for each other. Good friends. Best friends, if I may be so bold.”

The panel flickered again, then went out again. You groaned. You were so sure that would get it to work.

“It’s no use. Thing’s busted.”

“If I get it to power on, will you drop the cupid thing?” You stared at Sam with raised eyebrows, a challenge lingering in your eyes. He narrowed his, then turned to the panel.

“Deal.”

You tried again, this time joining a different set of wires, and the panel lit up. And stayed.

You smirked. “All done!”

“No no no, no— you set me up! Deal’s off! You tricked me!”

“No dealing off! You’re welcome!”

You laughed, exiting the wheelhouse and stepping into the warm sunshine. You spent the rest of your afternoon like this – helping Sam fix the boat, looking at the engine but still not getting it to work, scraping off paint and laughing at Sam and Bucky’s antics.

The sun had started to set when Sam called in for a break, offering you and Bucky a beer and a breather.

“What’s in the case?”

You raised your shoulders, just as in the dark about it as Sam was. “Dunno. It’s your gift, you’ll find out when you open it.”

“Well… gonna catch my flight tomorrow.” Bucky started, getting up and taking the last swig of his beer. “Get a hotel room for the night. Crash, you know?”

You knitted your eyebrows. Sam began chuckling.  “So you’re just gonna set me up like that, huh?”

“I don’t wanna make it weird for your family.”

You hid your face in your hands. So smooth, Bucky.

“Just stay here. The people in this town are the most welcoming people in the world. They don’t care if you wear small t-shirts or if you have six toes or if your mom’s your aunt.”

Sam trailed off, but Bucky chuckled, raising a hand to stop him. “Okay, I get it. I mean, you know, the people are nice.”

Sam started laughing and stopped himself quickly. “But don’t flirt with my sister. ‘Cause if you do I’ll have Carlos cut you up and feed you to the fish.” He deadpanned.

You snorted. Sam elbowed you in the ribs.

“Okay.”

“Alright boys, I should get going, though. I can fly myself out still tonight.”

“Ah ah—no, he’s not staying here if you aren’t. C’mon, Y/N.”

The two looked at you expectantly. You sighed.

“Fine. But I am leaving first thing in the morning. The GRC vote is soon, and I have not been benched.”

On the contrary, actually. You knew the bubble was about to burst and so did the government. They needed all the help they could get to keep things running well, with so many international representatives coming over to New York for the vote.

--

Sam’s family home was a cozy three-bedroom facing the water and surrounded by green. It was homey, and the minute you stepped inside you felt at ease.

It was a Wilson thing, really. The house only reflected it.

You and Sarah had hit it off quite well, becoming quick friends after bonding over being completely done with Sam and Bucky’s incessant banter. They even had a staring contest, like the children they were.

“So, Bucky doesn’t flirt often… because you are into each other.” She said playfully as you cleaned the dishes from the dinner.

Your jaw slacked. “What—he’s not. Sarah! We’ve been friends for so long, that’s all.”

“Oh, come on, I see the way he looks at you. And you look at him. Also, Sam told me—”

“Sam was supposed to drop that! I can’t believe he told you.” Actually, you could. You set a couple of glasses on the dish rack, groaning.

“Hey, he told me not to tell you! But I did anyways.”

You narrowed your eyes at her. “Enjoying the double agent life, huh?”

She laughed, and you went along with her.  

“I just think you should tell him how you feel. Before Samuel tries to parent-trap you.”

You knew Sarah was probably right – You should know better than not telling him before it was actually too late. You should, and yet the words die in your throat every time you looked at him.

You were in love with Bucky Barnes again. There was no going around it, but as it turned out, you were a coward. You were a coward, because you needed him to know. He deserved to know too – but you didn’t want to scare him off. Not now, that things were finally good. You’ve come all this way, and you promised him you wouldn’t leave.

This longing – this love – was only going to be a huge problem.

“I can’t. I don’t want to mess things up.”

She sighed at you and turned around to put the dishes away. “So you do have feelings for him.”

You looked at her, your eyes wide. She smiled big.

“Maybe you should date him.” You raised your eyebrows and crinkled your nose as she turned back to you, hands on her hips.

“Ah—no, don’t drag me into this.” She swatted you with a dishcloth when you raised your hands in defeat. “Let’s find you a place to sleep, girl.”

After much insistence on your part, Sarah agreed to let you sleep on the couch instead of Sam’s bed. You didn’t want to strip them off their comforts, so you settled on the couch, and Bucky took a mattress and placed it next to you on the floor.

The setup is familiar. You’ve slept like this before, you on either the bed or the couch and Bucky on the floor. Only thing left was Steve, your third piece. You’ve been trying not to spend all of your time missing him, but quiet nights were especially hard.

You tossed and turned for a while until Bucky reached for your hand, another of those old habits that had been resurfacing ever since you two started spending time together. With your hand secure in his, you drive the grief away and let sleep take you.

--

You woke up with the sounds of two kids making their own fighting sound effects. The smaller had the shield on his arm. Maybe it wasn’t just metal, after all. Maybe it could be more.

Bucky watched them from his makeshift bed, a grin on his face. “Hey.”

You giggled as the boys hurried to put the shield back in its case and ran back further into the house, startled by Bucky’s voice. “They’re so sweet.”

“You ever wanted them? Kids, I mean.”

You’re caught by surprise by Bucky’s question. Taking a deep breath, you processed it, trying to find a good way to answer it.

“I did – still do, I guess. It was never the right time. Or the right person.”

You closed your eyes, thinking that your person was laying right under you, on a mattress on the floor.

Strange thing, timing – you were born in 1918, and spent most of your life believing that your time with Bucky had come and gone. Now you both were more than one hundred years old, living way past your time frame – perhaps completely different people than what you used to be, but together again nonetheless.

Timing wasn’t right then – you wondered if timing could be right now.

Opening your eyes, you glanced at the clock on the wall. It was early, still barely 6.

“I have to go.”

Bucky was sat up, looking at you with a little frown. “No breakfast?”

“Well, I don’t want to abuse Sarah’s welcome. I’ll get it on the way.”

Bucky got up with you, his eyes following you as you gathered your things and he folded the blankets you two used during the night. He followed you to the door, then out to the front lawn, then to the start of the road right at the edge of the property.

“Don’t forget to have that talk with Sam, okay?”

“Yeah. I won’t.” He looked back at the house, and then at you. “I’ll see ya’ back at the city?”

You hummed. “You know where to find me.”

Bucky pulled you in, kissing your head, and you hugged him back tightly. His heartbeat was strong and steady.

“Take care, sugar.”

“You too, Buck.”

You turned back twice as you were walking away, finding Bucky on the same spot the first time and making his way back to the house on the second. Your eyes met both times, and you had to keep yourself from running back.

[wicked-mind]

Remember Me: Chapter Seven

Summary: Y/N and Bucky were the unlikely match when it came to love, but they were inseparable since they met. After a fight, Y/N left to be a trauma surgeon in the military and returns without her memories. How will Bucky remind Y/N how she is the fire in his bones?

Word Count: 4.4k

Warnings: Swearing (I like swearing. Adds character and sounds pretty to me lol), mentions of surgical procedures, car crash, miscarriage, John Walker, slight bit of PTSD.

Series Masterlist

All Writings Masterlist

As always, any likes, reblog, or comments are appreciated (:

*gifs not mine

Previously

Y/N removed her eyes from his face, listening to the story. Her forehead creased a moment as she thought about all that was said before meeting his gaze once again. A small smile curved on her lips and she leaned towards him, kissing his lips softly before pulling away slightly to look at him, “I forgive you, Bucky."

Bucky felt relief flood through him at her words, smiling down to her. He couldn’t find any words to say to her so instead he returned his arms around her body and pulled her closer, kissing her deeply. Those were words Bucky had waited to hear for so long and for a while he didn’t know if he would ever hear them from Y/N. Everything seemed right in the world for now, and even though he was worried about what was written in those journals John had given her due to what Steve had said, he hoped that whatever else it was would be forgiven also.

Truth was, Y/N always had forgiven Bucky for what was said the moment she left. She knew it was from his own fears. But what had broken her heart was hidden in the pages of those journals.

Chapter seven - The truth in the writing

Y/N wasn’t supposed to be back to work until noon, but she got called in early due to an apartment fire that would lead to multiple traumas coming in meaning it was all hands on deck. Bucky watched her pack the yellow folder John had given to her last night into her backpack before taking her to the hospital. He came back to Steve’s to find him and Peggy having some coffee. Bucky grabbed himself a mug of the dark liquid before leaning against the counter, “She took the journals with her.” He said over to Steve.

Peggy narrowed her eyes as they flickered between the two, “What journals?”

Steve sighed, sitting at the dining table next to Peggy, “Y/N’s friend, that blonde guy named John, brought some of her journals that were left behind at her base camp. Says there’s everything in there.” He informed.

“Yeah, including something we don’t know about.” Bucky grumbled out, “Something that made our break-up worse than just the words that were said.” He would be lying if he said he wasn’t worried. He replayed that night so many times in his head that every moment was burned into his brain and he couldn’t think of anything other than what was said before she left, “We gotta figure this out. So I can at least try to make it better after she reads whatever is in there.”

Peggy set her glass mug on the table, “Okay, then let’s walk through it.” She said helpfully, “Y/N came here that night after her shift and showed us the deployment papers with the date for her to leave set in a month, June 7th. She was so excited to tell you that she left immediately after. What happened at your house, James?”

Bucky sighs, setting his mug down on the counter to run a hand through his dark hair, “She came in all excited and jumped into my arms. Everything was fine and then she showed me the papers. We argued about it because I didn’t want her to go. I told her if she walked out those doors I wouldn’t be here waiting for her and not to come back. And then she left.” He flinched at his own words. He hated that he had said that to Y/N.

Steve leans back in his chair, “Then she came back here in tears and frantic. We tried to get her to talk to us about what happened but she just packed her bags, got in her car, and left.” He sighs, “I called her everyday for about four days until she finally picked up and told me she was fine, just needed some space, and she would be back soon. After that, I didn’t hear from her until she was deployed.”

Bucky cocks his head to the side at Steve, narrowing his eyes, “You never told me that.”

Steve scoffs slightly, “Yeah, well, you made my sister run away, we weren’t exactly on the best speaking terms, Buck.”

“So we have no idea where she was or what she was doing for a month before she was deployed?” Peggy interrupted, watching Bucky and Steve shake their heads to say no. She bit her bottom lip for a moment, “Maybe something happened in that month.”

Bucky looked over from Peggy to Steve, “What did she say while she was deployed?” He asks curiously, folding his arms as he leaned against the counter.

Steve looked from Peggy to Bucky, picking up his mug and bringing it to his lips for a drink before setting it back down, “Y/N called me when she got to the base, told me she made it safe and she was sorry she didn’t come back before she left, that she couldn’t come back. I asked her what happened between you two and she told me what was said. I told her you didn’t mean it and to at least give you a call.” He watched Bucky’s features soften for a moment, “There were a few more phone calls. She told me what you said hurt, but that she was okay and there was another reason she couldn’t come home or talk to you. We didn’t really talk about you two after that.”

Bucky groaned slightly. What had happened? The more he thought about it the more the timeline didn’t make sense. Everything had been fine between them the days, even weeks leading up to when she ran away were fine. He sighs looking back to Steve, “I don’t know, man.” He said, “Everything was great. We made cookies together, went on rides, had a Star Wars marathon. Everything was perfect… So perfect in fact I bought a damn engagement ring.”

Steve looked at Bucky with almost fully wide eyes before looking at Peggy who was sipping her coffee avoiding eye contact, “You knew about this, Peggy?”

Peggy put her coffee down, pursing her lips a little before speaking, “Of course I knew! Who do you think had to help him pick out the damn thing?”

Steve nodded and turned his attention back to Bucky, “Wow.” He said still nodding, “Well, now I really wish things would’ve gone differently. She would’ve been so excited.” He said with a small smile towards Bucky. Steve had always trusted Bucky with Y/N. The way he treated her was like a queen.

Bucky’s lips twitched into a small smile for a moment at Steve’s approval before it faded back into a stern line. He was going to ask Steve for help with the proposal when Bucky eventually figured out how to ask, but hadn’t gotten around to it before it all went to shit, “So nobody knows what the reason is…”

Steve nodded slowly, “Well… none of us know. But there is one person who does.”

Bucky groaned a little again and rubs his hand along his face, “God, I really hate John Walker.”

—

Y/N dealt with the wave of incoming traumas from the apartment building fire, running point on sorting patients by the degree of their injuries to create a steady flow in the operating room and emergency room. Once everything had died down, Y/N sat in the attending’s lounge eating a sandwich and starting to go through yellow folder from her backpack. There were photos of Y/N with Bucky and some of her with Steve and Peggy as well of her with John. There were also photos of her while she was deployed mostly doing silly poses in the middle of nowhere. She placed the photos back into the folder and pulled out the two notebooks next. They were leather-bound full sized journals. She opened the first one that looked just a bit more well used, figuring it was the first one. Her brow furrowed when she turned to the first page. It was dated at the top, May 15, 2019 but the rest of the page looked like the words had been gone over with permanent marker. Y/N turned to the next page and the next but for about ten pages over the next ten days from May 15th, all the words had been scribbled over with permanent marker, “Well, that’s just great.” She mutters out to herself softly, “Thanks me. Super helpful.”

Y/N finally found a page with actual words instead of just a page of black marker, the date read May 25th, 2019. It was filled with the words repeating ‘I am not my trauma.’ over and over again until the last line that read:

I’ll forget the piece that was taken away from me.

She frowned a little. What trauma did this refer to? What had happened? She turns the page quickly to read the next page.

May 26th, 2019

I leave in eleven days.

I want more than anything to call him. I don’t know what I would say. How do I explain what happened. Where do I begin?

He told me if I leave to never come back. That he won’t be waiting for me.

A part of me knows that’s a lie. I know he’d be there with open arms if he knew what happened.

I found that ring after all…

Y/N had to read the line over again a few times. Ring? There was a ring?

But how would he feel if he knew how ruined I was?

His sun swallowed into a dark pit.

He loves me. And I don’t think I’m me anymore.

Nobody wants broken things.

May 28th, 2019

I want to feel safe again.

They say writing down what I feel is going to ground me to reality. They also said I should call somebody. I can’t do that. I can’t let them know how much I hurt. I just want to run as far away as possible and that’s what I’ll do. I need to get out of here. It feels like I can’t breathe and everywhere I look I’m met with eyes filled with pity. It makes everything worse the way they look at me and stare. I get released tomorrow, I’m signing out AMA. Then it’s just nine more days. Maybe it’ll replace my trauma with a different trauma. Anything would be better than this.

I miss Bucky. I miss running my fingers through his hair and the way his stubble would brush against my skin. I miss being in his arms the most. They were so safe like nothing could ever hurt me. I wish I would’ve stayed then none of this would’ve happened. We could’ve just fought about it then go to bed and sort it out until I left. At least then I would’ve felt save and would’ve been safe.

I think the worst part about our fight was that I knew about the ring. I found it in his boxer drawer when putting away his laundry. You’d figure he would’ve picked a better hiding spot, but nope. He’s never been good at hiding things from me. I was halfway expecting him to propose when I showed him my deployment papers so we both had something to look forward to when I came back. I would’ve said yes in a heartbeat if he did. After all, James Buchanan Barnes is the man I want to spend the rest of my life with. But that’s not what happened. And here I am stuck in pain and guilt.

Y/N shut the book when she heard someone come in, wiping away some tears she hadn’t noticed falling from her cheeks. She looks over and put on her best smile for Chief Miller, “Afternoon, Chief.”

Miller had his hands tucked in his pockets, “Everything okay, Y/N?” He asks gently, nothing the tear brimmed eyes.

Y/N nodded, keeping the same smile on her face, “Yeah, everything’s good. A friend brought me some journals to see if they’ll help me remember. It’s just confusing and a lot to read.” She said softly, “Were you looking for me?”

Miller nodded at her words, “I’m sorry, that must be hard.” He said with a reassuring smile, “I was just getting all your medical records transferred over and one was locked from a hospital in Queens. I just wanted to ask if you wanted to unlock it so we have that information on file in case it’s needed in the future.”

Y/N tilted her head at him, her brow pulling together in confusion, “I don’t remember what the nature of that visit would be… Did it have a date? I can call the doctor from the hospital to get it unlocked if I know the date.”

“May 14th, 2019.” Miller replied, “The doctors name I think was Wanda Maximoff.”

Y/N nodded slowly at the date. It was the day before her journal started with the scribbled out pages. She pushed the journal into her backpack, “Thanks, Chief. I’ll give them a call.” She said with a small smile before standing and leaving the room. She found an empty office with a computer, googling the hospital in Queens and asking for Dr. Maximoff.

“This is Dr. Maximoff.” A woman with an accent said over the phone when Y/N was connected.

“Hi, this is Dr. Rogers from Brooklyn Mercy. I was calling about a locked file in my health records.”

“Oh, Y/N! How have you been? Are you back from deployment?”

“Been better… And yes, I am. I was calling because a medical report of mine from May 14, 2019 is sealed and I don’t remember the nature of the visit. I lost a lot of my memories due to an incident overseas and I’m trying to put pieces together.”

“I see.. I’m so sorry to hear that. Our hospital isn’t too far from Brooklyn Mercy, I think we should talk about this in person given the situation. I’ll drive down and meet you in about forty-five minutes, would that work?”

“That’d be perfect, thank you Dr. Maximoff.” Y/N said before enhancing goodbyes and hanging up. It felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest with how fast it was racing and she felt sick to her stomach as she tried to remember what happened. Whatever happened, it was bad enough that Dr. Maximoff was coming to tell her in person.

Y/N asked Chief Miller if he would be there when she went over the information with Maximoff, wanting some sort of support in case whatever happened was really bad. She kept adjusting herself in the chair in front of Chief Miller, nervous for whatever information was about to come out. She put on a small smile when Dr. Maximoff came into the office holding a medical file, shaking her hand and watching her take a seat in the chair next to her, “Nice to meet you again, Dr. Maximoff.”

“Oh call me Wanda. And again, I’m very sorry about your memory loss. I want to start by saying that we have support groups I can recommend after we talk about this information. Given that you don’t remember, it is possible you’ll go through all the emotions and grief again.” Wanda said before placing the file on Chief Miller’s desk and opening it slowly, “The night of May 14th, 2019 paramedics responded to an accident involving two vehicles. You were in one of them. It was determined the other driver was driving under the influence and had a large amount of alcohol in his system.”

Y/N nodded slowly, watching Wanda instead of looking at the file. Her eyes were full of kindness, even maybe a little pity, “What happened to the drunk driver?”

“He died in surgery. With the amount of alcohol in his system, the bleeding couldn’t be controlled and the damage was too severe.” Wanda said before continuing, “It was later determined that he was going forty miles per hour over the speed limit and from your statement, he was driving down the wrong side of the road with his headlights off. You didn’t see him coming until it was too late.”

“How bad was it?” Y/N asks softly, picking at her fingers nervously as she listened.

Wanda sighs, flipping through pages of the file on Chief Miller’s desk, “You sustained abdominal bleeding, two fractured ribs, and superficial lacerations that our head of plastic surgery took care of which is why there is no scarring. You made me promise not to call your emergency contacts.” Wanda paused, observing Y/N’s reaction but she was just sitting there nodding, “We took blood samples to cross match your blood so we couldn’t have to keep giving you O-negative blood. Those blood tests showed trace amounts of the hCG hormone. After we took care of the abdominal bleeding, you miscarried from stress. You didn’t know you were pregnant. You asked me to seal the records of the accident and you signed yourself out against medical advice.”

Y/N took a deep ragged breath, looking down at the floor in shock. The writings in the journal were making sense. She could hear Chief Miller and Wanda asking if she was okay but they sounded distant and like they were underwater. Flashes started coming back in her mind of that night. She was driving down the road back to her hotel she was staying at, crying and listening to sad songs on the radio when the crash happened. Y/N put her hand on her chest as her breathing became more erratic, it was like she couldn’t get enough air. She could see Wanda and Miller trying to ask if she was okay and calm her down but their voices were so different and everything around her was swaying. She remembered sitting in a hospital bed and crying over the news and the guilt she felt for leaving the safety of Bucky, “Can’t breathe…” She whispers out, trying to stand slowly from the chair. Y/N remembered the day after it happened, Wanda brought the journals to her hoping it would help to write what she was feeling since she wouldn’t contact anybody. She remembered the grief she felt as well as the shock and pain. This was the reason she didn’t come back to Bucky and avoided him, she didn’t know what to tell him. The world was swaying like she was on a boat and it felt like she was underwater, unable to get air in her lungs or hear the muffled sounds coming from Chief Miller and Wanda. She stumbled around at the room spinning, blinking rapidly before the world around her started fading to black and she fell onto the floor.

——

Steve, Peggy, and Bucky were still all trying to figure out events that lead up to Y/N running away a month before her deployment, trying to think of any clues that would help put the puzzle pieces together.

Steve’s phone starting ringing and he excused himself from the conversation to take the call, “Hello?”

“Hi, this is Doctor Miller, Chief of Surgery over at Brooklyn Mercy. Is this Steve Rogers, Y/N’s brother?”

“This is Steve. Is everything alright?” “Yes, everything is alright. I’m just giving you a call to ask you to come in. Your sister had a pretty serious panic attack and lost consciousness. I think it would be good if you came in.”

“What? Yeah, I’m on my way.” Steve said, walking back into the kitchen, “We have to go, Y/N’s been admitted to the hospital for a panic attack.”

Bucky frowns, “Probably read those damn journals.” He growled out, turning immediately and walking out the front door to his motorcycle and speeding down the road towards the hospital with Peggy and Steve right behind him in their car.

When they arrived at the hospital, Chief Miller was waiting for them at the front doors. He lead them up to the room Y/N was in where she was talking to Wanda with the door closed and crying, pulling an oxygen mask up to her mouth every so often. Bucky looked through the window to the room before noticing that none other than John Walker was standing a little bit away from the room leaning against the wall with a frown. Bucky immediately felt rage consume him, stomping over to John and pushing him against the wall, “What were in those journals?!” He yelled before landing a punch to John’s cheek.

John winced at the hit and pushed Bucky away from him, “She knew about the ring, asshole! She thought you were going to propose that night but instead you broke up with her!”

Chief Miller and Steve quickly pulled the two apart, Miller holding John back while Steve held Bucky back, “That’s not what it was about! Now knock if off before I call security.” Chief Miller said, moving to stand between the men, “Due to her privacy, I can’t tell you what it was but it wasn’t about a ring.”

“She knew about the ring?” Bucky said, wide eyed as he processed the words. No wonder she had been so mad at him and what he had said. She thought she was coming home to a potential proposal and instead he told her if she left to never come back.

Peggy had separated herself from all the testosterone and walked into the room Y/N was in, shutting the door behind her, “I’m Peggy, her sister-in-law.” She told Wanda before she took a seat on the edge of Y/N’s bed, gently taking her head, “Are you okay, honey?”

Y/N shook her head rapidly, keeping the oxygen mask pressed to her mouth and nose as she cried into it. She remembered the pain when Wanda had told her she miscarried and feeling alone due to the fight she had with Bucky. It was the reason she had ran- she didn’t feel like she had a home to go back to and she wouldn’t know what Bucky would think if she told him she had lost their child. All Bucky had wanted was to grow up and have a family with her and she ruined that. Her gaze set on Bucky through the window and she pulled the blanket on her legs up over her head, sobbing loudly underneath the blanket. How could she even look at him knowing what she knew now?

Wanda got up to close the blinds in the window before returning the chair placed next to the bed, “Y/N,” Wanda asks gently, reaching out a hand to rest reassuringly on Y/N’s leg over the blanket, “You’ve dealt with this pain alone for a long time and you’re going through it again like it’s fresh. You should talk to someone about it, you need support.”

Y/N pulled the blanket off her head at the sound of the blinds shutting, looking at Wanda through her blurry tear filled eyes, “I can’t…You… You tell Peggy… I can’t… I can’t.” She sobbed out, dropping the oxygen mask to her lap and putting her face in her hands.

Wanda looks over to Peggy who was eyeing her curiously, “The night of May 14th, 2019 Y/N was brought in after her car was hit by a drunk driver. We took care of all the injuries… But we found out she was about six weeks pregnant. Due to the stress of her injuries and the stress she was already under, she miscarried.”

Peggy’s jaw dropped at the news, slowly looking over to Y/N. She quickly adjusted herself on the bed to scoot closer to Y/N, pulling her into a secure hug and stroking her hair softly, “Shh… It’s okay… I’m so sorry, honey…I’m here…” She soothed gently. It all made sense of why Y/N didn’t come back before she was deployed and why she never talked to Bucky.

Eventually Wanda offered a light sedation for Y/N since she couldn’t stop crying and keep her breathing under control. Y/N drifted off to sleep from the sedative, her mind finally calming but the ache in her body didn’t fade. When she opened her eyes, it was nighttime. She looked over to the window to see Peggy and Steve talking to Wanda and Chief Miller outside of the room. Her attention was take when she felt a soft squeeze of her hand, looking over and seeing Bucky sitting in the chair staring at her with a small smile. The sight of him almost made her break again, pulling her hand out of his grasp and pulling the blanket up over her head to hide from his face.

“Hey, Y/N,” Bucky said with a small frown when she hid away from him under the blanket, “Baby, come on look at me. Talk to me.” He pleaded, trying to pull the blanket away from her face, “What happened, doll?”

Y.N eventually quit fighting the tug of war with the blanket, letting him pull it away from her face. She didn’t meet his gaze though, staring into her lap as tears started to roll down her face. She was amazed she still had any water left in her body to cry, “I can’t… You should go…”

“Fuck that, darlin. I’m not going anywhere when you’re crying.” Bucky told her, moving himself from the chair to sit by her bedside. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, leaning close and kissing her temple softly, “Talk to me, please.”

“I can’t.” Y/N replied, still not meeting his gaze as she shook her head, “I was finally feeling like everything was right in the world… Like I was back where I belonged with you… Safe.” She took in a sharp breath, releasing it slowly, “Now, it’s just all going to be ruined again. We’ll be ruined. You’ll leave.”

Bucky’s frown deepened at her words as scenarios ran through his mind of what Y/N could be talking about, studying her features intently, “No we won’t. I told you that you are the love of my life, Y/N. Nothing is going to change that.” He told her, moving his position to take her face in his hand and forcing her to look at him, “Now talk to me.”

Y/N stared at Bucky for what felt like forever, studying his face. She wondered what would reflect back to her in his eyes when she told him. Right now his eyes were pooled with concern for her but once she would tell him, they knew that concern would leave, “The night we fought… May seventh right?” She watched him nod, “On May fourteenth I was driving and I was hit by a drunk driver. I was taken to a hospital in Queens where I was treated.” She watched the concern grow in his eyes at her words, “I didn’t know I was six weeks pregnant and I lost the baby… Our baby… I would’ve came back if I knew, never left… But after I couldn’t come back to you.”

Bucky’s mouth parted slightly at the words, his eyes moving across the features of her face watching the tears leak down her face. He hadn’t even noticed his own tears starting to fall at the news. Guilt raked through his body at the words he had said that made her leave, put her in that position to get hurt. It would have never happened if he would’ve swallowed his own fear and anger at her deployment. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug, “I’m so sorry, doll.” He said through his own shaky breathes, trying to control his breathing as he cried, “I’m sorry, Y/N. I did this, it’s my fault… I’m so sorry.”

_____________________________________________________________Taglist: @vicmc624 @buckypops @shawnie--jo @ahahafudge @intothesoul @austynparksandpizza @stcrryslibrary

Shout out to @shawnie--jo for having a big brain and guessing correct (:

If I missed anybody on the taglist or you would like to be added, send me a quick message, comment, or ask. Thank you for the support (:

[harryspet]

a long way down [3] b.barnes & s.rogers

[Warnings] dark bucky barnes x reader, dark steve rogers, violence, death, heavy angst, the walking dead au, slice of life, domestic steve, vaginal sex (wear protection, please)

A/N: I love how this was supposed to be a one-shot and now I’m finding all the ways to make this series longer and add more drama. 

ADULT AND TRIGGERING CONTENT AHEAD

In which your world is shaken again and you’re forced to run back to your first safe haven. 

word count: 3.4k

series masterlist

T H E  N E X T  S P R I N G 

“She recognizes you,” You said, watching Peter’s eyes widen as the baby smiled up at him. It was currently tummy time in the living room and the two of you laid beside her, watching her explore her environment, “That’s Uncle Peter, right Margot?”

You watched her little fingers wrap around her little toys as she proceeded to put them in her mouth to taste them. Six whole months had passed since she was welcomed to this scary world and she’d already grown so much, “It’s me, Margot. It’s me,” Peter spoke in a cute voice and the baby proceeded to babble something incoherent, “Bet you I can get her to say Peter before she says Mama.”

You rolled your eyes at that as you continued to watch her, “You will be saying Mama first, missy,” You told her though she was only focused on a bright orange ring toy. You could look at her little face for hours on hours. You hadn’t felt true love until you laid eyes on her. 

The long journey it took you to get here only made you love her more. You were lucky that she didn’t come too early. God forbid you needed a c-section or she was facing the wrong way. You wanted her to survive and that’s all you hoped and prayed for. When you lost too much blood and began to pass out, you were still happy knowing she’d be okay. 

You didn’t think you would make it. Sharon did her best to give you the best care she could but modern medicine wasn’t available to you. You were sick and on bed rest for the first two months she was alive so now you were enjoying the time when you could move around with her. During the time you were unconscious, Steve had made the considerate decision to name the baby Margaret after some long lost love. 

Margaret Rogers. 

You refused to call her that and decided on a nickname of your own choosing.

“C’mere, Margot,” You sat up, lifting the baby into your lap, “Let me show you something cool, Peter.” 

Peter sat up too, his eyes confused as you removed one of her little socks. She was still happily waving around the toy as you ran a finger down the sole of her foot. Her little toes spread out like a little fan, “That’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” Peter declared and you giggled. 

“It’s called the Babinski reflex. It might go away as early as twelve months so I’m going to savor the cuteness,” You encouraged Peter to try it too and the boy seemed to swoon over Margot. You moved the baby into his lap, continuing to tell him about all the little milestones that Margot was passing. 

“She’s like a sponge, it’s amazing,” Peter said, bouncing the little girl in his lap, “Do you get any sleep?”

You nodded, “I’m up by five every morning but I’m used to it now. If she wakes up while I’m sleeping, Steve takes care of her. Luckily, she’s sleeping through the night.”

“Such a sweet girl,” Peter cooed, “I’m sure you’d never cause Mommy any problems.” You were lucky that Margot’s temperament was easy. She got frustrated like all other babies but she wasn’t very sensitive. You thought it meant she’d do well in a world like this. 

The two of you spent more time with Margot but your peace and serenity was interrupted when both Steve and Bucky returned home. You always got the feeling that they disliked Peter being around but that never stopped you from being friends with him. Peter probably cared more for you then both of them combined. 

“It’s getting late, son,” You heard Steve say, his deep voice trying to be as authoritarian as it could. Steve scared Peter, you could tell that much. 

“I’ll go then,” Peter rushed out, handing the little girl back to you. Margot seemed a bit upset at his absence and you held her to you in order to keep her calm. You knew it was useless to argue about this with Steve and you doubted Bucky would have your back. 

You stood up from your place on her baby blanket, using Margot’s hand to wave goodbye, “Say bye-bye, Peter,” The little girl only mumbled something incoherent, “See you tomorrow.”

“Bye, Margot. Goodbye, Y/N,” Peter smiled before walking out of the living room. The room went silent as Peter made his way to the front door and tension only increased 

Steve walked over to greet his daughter, lifting her from your arms, “Hello, honey-bear,” Margot’s mood seemed to lift again as she recognized her Daddy and Steve’s hard exterior softened. When they were together, it reminded you how alike they looked. He lifted the giggling girl, taking a whiff of her bottom, “You need a change, don’t you?”

“I can do it-”

Steve interrupted you, “No, I’ve got it. Daddy’s gonna change you, yes he is.” 

“Wash your hands please,” You told Steve who was too focused on the tiny creature. As Steve walked away to climb the stairs, your eyes met with Bucky’s. Although you liked that he was forced to face the consequences of his actions, you knew that he was still chasing your affection. He was facing his demons in order to get closer to you. 

“Catch anything good?” You asked, leaning down to collect all the toys. There was a lake just outside the compound limits that Steve and Bucky frequented for their “time to just be a man” where they liked to go fishing. 

“Nothing alive,” Bucky said, following you as you walked into the kitchen. You put the toys into the sink, turning the warm water on in order to clean them. Bucky leaned against the counter and you felt his gaze burning into you, “It’s still pretty peaceful out there, we didn’t run into any walkers. I was thinking we could go out there together, you could take a break like you deserve.”

“Go out there and do what?” You asked, your eyes not meeting his. 

“I don’t know, have a picnic or something.”

“Or something?” You scoffed, scrubbing at the toys, “Sounds romantic.”

Bucky’s lips pressed into a thin line of frustration, “I’m trying here. I’m not good at … romantic stuff.”

“To say the least,” You added, “Bucky, I don’t need or want a break. I’m perfectly content right now.”

“You’re sure about that? You don’t have any other needs begging to be met?” You scowled at him, knowing what he was hinting at. Steve had barely touched you since you started showing and, after the rough birth, he wasn’t willing to rush into trying for a boy. 

“I’m sure.”

+

“Looks like both the girls are down for the night,” Steve said, letting out a sigh as he sat in his desk chair. Bucky sat in the chair in front of Steve’s desk, his feet kicked up on the desk. 

“What about Sharon?”

Steve rubbed his temples at the mention of the woman, “She’s been working late at the infirmary. She won’t tell me but I know it’s because my attention has been elsewhere,” Bucky was beginning to doubt Steve’s feeling for Sharon in the first place. It seemed Steve was ready to completely let the woman go due to her infertility, “I don’t really care if she doesn’t come back. Y/N and I can handle things on our own.”

Bucky only nodded, his mind already wandering elsewhere. Steve noted his friend's frustration and wondered why the man continued to bother with you. Even after all this time, Bucky still didn’t have anyone else on his mind, “What’s on your mind, Buck?”

Bucky’s fingers rubbed over his facial hair as he thought, “That Peter kid.”

Right away, Steve understood. It had been a topic they avoided despite knowing how each other felt about it, “What about him?”

“You don’t think he spends a little too much time around here? With your daughter?”

Steve didn’t believe Peter was any real threat to his family here. Steve saw him as a distraction for you. Someone who helped you forget your worries, “This is about her, Buck. You don’t want him around her.”

“Fine,” Bucky threw up his hands in defeat, “I think he’s getting in the way of Y/N letting me in again. She has Peter to be there and tell her everything's going to be alright so she doesn’t need me.”

“Tell her not to see him then. Matter of fact, tell him to stay away,” Steve spoke simply, the solution obvious in his mind. 

“If she knows I had something to with it, it’ll make things worse. I have to be the good guy in her eyes.”

Steve smiled, a lightbulb going off in his mind, “Shall I be the bad guy then?”

Bucky moved his feet, leaning forward in his chair, “What are you thinking?”

“I still need someone to replace you. Someone to travel and relay messages between our camp and my allies. Peter could fill the position for the time being,” Bucky didn’t think over it long before he agreed. All that was on his mind was winning you back and this would only help his cause, “I need to keep up appearances around here anyways. We don’t need some kid running around here with our girls, right?”

“Right,” Bucky said, his mind on you, “Thanks, Steve.”

“No need, Buck. We have to look out for each other. Besides that, I think it's a good time to ask you to be my second in command.”

+

Margot was a complete celebrity in Liberty. You couldn’t walk on the street without people coming up to wave or to get a look at her. Margot was good with strangers which only solidified her position as princess of this place. 

It was a sunny spring day and you had dressed her in a floral dress and a pink bow. You carried her in one hand and held a tupperware of deserts in the other hand. Sam wasn’t far behind but that hadn’t changed in the past year. 

“We’re going to find uncle Peter, yes we are,” You cooed to the little girl who was energized from her latest nap, “And he’s going to love the cookies we made him.”

You eventually got to the barracks where Steve’s group of soldiers usually stayed, you walked through the long lines of bunk beds to find his. As you passed some men, all of them burly and intimidating, they even waved hello to your little one. 

As you approached Peter’s bunk you found it empty, only a mattress sitting on top of the metal. All of his comics and textbooks were nowhere to be found. You searched around for the nearest person and found a group of older men playing some dice game, “Excuse me, do you know where Peter Parker is today? He slept over there,” You asked, pointing to Peter’s bunk. 

“Packed up early this morning,” The man said, “Think he got reassigned.”

“Reassigned where?” You asked.

“Something outside of the compound. Poor kid.”

Your heart started pounding heavily as you turned back to Sam, “Take me to Steve. Now.”

“He’s on duty-”

“Find him and take me to him, Sam.”

+

Margot was screaming in your eyes mostly because she sensed how upset you were. As soon as you approached Steve, he swooped the little girl into his arms, trying to calm her, “What the hell are you doing?” Steve asked. He came down from one of the watchtowers, a rifle still strapped to his back, as he saw you approaching with Sam. 

“Peter? Where did you send him?”

Steve sighed, “Y/N-”

“Where did you send him?” You shouted back. 

“I needed a new emissary and he volunteered to do it,” Steve stated simply. 

“By himself? He’s a kid, Steve!” Margot cried louder but your blood was boiling, “You’re going to get him killed!”

“We all have to earn our keep around here, Y/N. Some people put their lives on the line for a chance to live here and then people like you spread your legs for it. That’s how it works, sweetheart.”

“You’re a fucking monster,” You spat at him. 

+

Bucky scoured the camp looking for you for a good hour. You were sitting at the bottom of a big tree, staring out into a small field. Where the field ended, the wall began. Bucky startled you when he suddenly appeared and you were quick to try and wipe away your tears. 

He took a seat beside you, leaning his back against the tree. This area of the camp was peaceful, it was no wonder that you had taken a liking to it. 

“What are you doing here?” You asked, your face in a frown. 

“I thought you didn’t need a break,” Bucky said, avoiding your question. 

“This isn’t a break,” You said softly, “You’re supposed to feel relaxed on a break-” As your voice cracked and the tears started falling again, Bucky wrapped an arm around your soldier. You leaned into him and sobbed into his shoulder. 

“I didn’t even get to say goodbye,” You tried to speak as you choked on your sobs.

“He’ll be back, I promise” Bucky stated, “Probably sooner than you think. The kid can handle himself.”

“He shouldn’t have to. Margot shouldn’t have to,” You said, “It isn’t fair.”

Bucky rubbed your shoulder, drawing lines on your skin with his fingers, “I know, doll.”

It was like losing your family all over again. It was worse than losing them. At least you knew they were dead. You wouldn’t know if he was alive or dead and, if something happened, you wouldn’t even know how it happened. There were so many things outside of the walls that could get you killed. 

You pulled away from Bucky gently, realizing how long it had been since you’d been in his arms. Looking into those blue eyes gave you a weird sense of familiarity. Of home, “Maybe you could talk to Steve? For me?”

Bucky nodded, “Of course, doll.”

You stared at his moment and Bucky noted the way your gaze traveled to your lips. Bucky reached over to wipe a tear from your cheek. He couldn’t hide how attracted to you he was, even when you were crying. Bucky placed a soft, hesitant kiss on your cheek, “Everything’s going to be okay. All I should worry about is your little one.”

You took a deep breath, nodding in agreement. 

It must’ve been the emotions or the off-balance hormones because, when Bucky leaned into your lips, you didn’t stop him. In fact, you welcomed that touch. The soft kisses soon became more desperate and hungry. Your lips were angry, demanding as they moved against his. 

It shocked Bucky as much as it did to you. Bucky was elated but he had little time to celebrate you being back in his clutches. You were hungry for something and he was going to make sure you were satisfied. 

Bucky pulled you into his lap and, as you straddled him you said, “Just this once.”

“Just this once,” Bucky agreed, knowing the opposite would be true. 

Your lips devoured each other and Bucky explored your mouth with his hands pulled down the straps of your sundress. As your breast sprang free, he palmed them his hand. The cold of his metal hand sent shivers down your spine but Bucky warmed you again with his mouth. He played with your nipple in his mouth causing you to bite down on your lips. 

Your hands ran through his hair as you savored the feeling. As he moved his mouth away, his head tilted up at you, “You’re so beautiful,” Bucky said and you rolled your eyes, leaning down to undo his belt and zipper. 

“Just fuck me, okay?” Bucky grabbed you by your ass roughly pulling you into him. He reached under your dress, tucking your underwear to the side as he positioned himself at your entrance. You could feel how hard he already was and the idea of him filling you up was making your mouth water with anticipation. 

As you slowly impaled yourself on his cock, your mouth was agape. You realized how full he made you fill, how complete you felt. Bucky held your hips as you began to bounce up and down. Bucky groaned huskily, loving how your face contorted to different expressions as the pleasure went through you. 

As you tried to contain your moans, Bucky placed kisses along your jaw and then on your neck. He felt all your anger and sadness as you used it as motivation, moving your body hard against his. 

The two eventually met your climaxes together, your body shaking as you rode out the rest of the wave. You breathed heavily, leaning against his body. You tucked your head into his shoulder and Bucky simply wrapped his arms around you. 

“Say you won’t leave again,” You whispered.

“I won’t leave you ever again, doll.”

+

The next day you awoke beside Bucky. You watched him as he slept peacefully, his hand over his shirtless chest and his chest slowly rising and falling. That “just this once” had turned into four times which you were sure he was happy with. You had to admit that you didn’t have that morning-after regret that you expected. Bucky had done such horrible things to you and yet he managed to bring you joy like no other. 

You hated that you ran back after resisting for so long but, without Peter, you were once again feeling completely lost. Being with Bucky reminded you of simpler times and, despite the hell you knew it would bring, it was worth it just to feel that comfort. 

Suddenly, you heard commotion coming from downstairs, glass shattering and Steve’s booming voice traveled through the air. You shook Bucky awake as you  began to throw on some clothes, “Bucky, something’s going on!” You threw on some boots and Bucky put on a t-shirt before the two of you filed out of your room. 

You heard your little girl wailing and you followed the sound. You found the front door wide open and quickly ran out of it. As you moved down the porched steps, the sight before you stopped your heart. Steve was holding Margot in one hand and a pistol in the other. A pistol that was pointing at a begging and pleading Sharon. 

Bucky tried to grab your hand but you ran towards him, “Steve, what the hell are you doing?” Your eyes widened even more as you noticed that Margot had no clothes on except for a checkered dishtowel and her skin was wet.

Steve handed you the child but kept the gun pointed at the woman. By now, everyone had filed out of their homes and were watching the chaos, “She tried to drown our baby,” Was all he said, shaking with anger. 

“I-I would never!” Sharon shouted back, her hands up as she laid on the gravel, “Please-”

“I fucking saw you!” Steve shouted back and you felt Bucky’s arm pulling you away. You stepped back with him, knowing that if the gun went off that you didn’t want Margot anywhere near it. 

Your eyes connected with Sharon’s and there was only pure hatred there. She didn’t even look sorry for what she was being accused of, “I was helping! I was taking care of her! You know me, Steve!”

Steve didn’t believe her and you hated that you didn’t either. Was she really capable of something like this? All because of jealousy? Jealousy over a life that you didn’t even want. 

“You weren’t even supposed to be in my house!” You watched as Steve cocked the gun, “You’re lucky I walked in when I did. If you had gotten away with hurting my little Margaret, I would’ve dismembered you piece by piece and I would've enjoyed it. Consider this a blessing.”

“Steve, don’t-” You pressed yourself into Bucky, trying to protect the crying child in your arms as the gun went off and the blonde woman fell limp. 

Steve tucked the weapon into his belt, his muscle still tense, as he tried not to contain whatever emotions were coursing through him, “Early start today. Everyone get to work!” Steve shouted to every citizen who was listening, “And get her body off my fucking street!”

Silence fell over the small town of Liberty. 

+

Hope you enjoyed! Let me know your thoughts and predictions!

[itspufflehuff]

Alone Chapter 4 - Bucky Imagine TFATWS

Summary: SPOILERS As you all get closer to the flagsmashers more problems begin to arise, mostly to do with John Walker.

MATERLIST // TAGLIST

I try not to write too much in these summaries in case anyone hasn't caught up with TFATWS but one thing is for sure there is a lot of fighting in this chapter as most of the episode is full of fight scenes. Don’t worry there are still some cute moments with Bucky! 

Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three

Word Count: 3057

~~~~

After everything that went down in Madripoor and with the information you were able to get you all mad your way to Riga hoping to find Karli or any information on her.

Zemo wasted no time settling back into his old home while Bucky decided to take a stroll on his own for a bit. Meanwhile, you and Sam sat beside each other on the couch with your legs resting on his lap. "Remember when we were in Spain?" He smiled at the memory, "Yeah we spent most of our time hiding out in one of those Air BNB's, you were the least recognizable of us so you had to go out and get us food." You laughed along, "Yeah I guess one good thing did come out of sitting out on a lot of missions." It went quiet for a second as you rested your head back on the couch, "You know that was when I realized my family was bigger than just Steve, Nat, and Tony. I had Wanda, Vision, and you."

Before Sam could say anything in response Bucky came in with news of the Wakandans arriving in Riga. You all devised a plan to head into town and try to find out some information on any services they may be having for Donya. This would, hopefully, lead you all to Karli.

The four of you headed to one of the camps where many of the refugees were staying. Bucky watched over Zemo while you and Sam headed into the building to find anyone you could talk to. Everywhere you went you were met with scared people who scurried off into the next room. Then you both walked into a room with children and a man, the teacher. It only took a minute for the man to send out of the children and himself out of the room. "Why won't anyone talk to us?" Sam asked with a hint of frustration. "You have to understand Sam, these people had a connection to Donya and somehow the Flagsmashers are connected to her. They'll do whatever to protect her and them. When a man comes in here looking intimidating they're gonna run away.

He looked at you offended, "I do not look intimidating."

"Well, when you come in here with your hands in your pockets and asking questions... it sends the wrong message." He took his hands out of his pockets and tried to loosen up. You pated his shoulder and began to walk away, "A little too late for that Sammy."

The both of you joined Bucky outside and watched Zemo from afar, "What the hell is he doing?" Bucky asked aloud. "He's gaining their trust." You said with a side glance to Sam.

Back at Zemos house, you all sat on the couch feeling defeated as Zemo made tea. You laid your head back as everyone bickered over Karli's morals. You rubbed at your eyes not wanting to hear this anymore. It was the same conversation you all have had before and never ended any different. "I'm going to lay down," you pushed yourself off the couch. Sam and Zemo continued their conversation but Bucky looked over to you concerned, "Are you feeling ok?"

The truth was you were feeling tired and dirty. You just wanted a nice bath and a long nap but now was not the time for either of those. Instead, you nodded your head, "I'm fine. I just need to lay down for a few minutes. Bucky nodded unconvinced but he didn't want to push you on the topic.

You barely laid down for two minutes when you hear glass shattering. Worried you ran out of the room to see Bucky storming away from Zemo with anger. From the door you called him over, ushering him into the room, and shutting the door behind you. "What was that all about?" He was pacing around the room, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to wake you I know you were trying to rest." You sat at the edge of the bed and patted the spot next to you, "That's alright, come sit."

He hesitated for a second but gave in keeping his distance from you, "What's wrong?"

"It's just- he's treating this like a joke. Hiding information from us as if he has the upper hand." Bucky let out frustrated.

"That's how it's like with people like him. They want to believe they're always on top, especially when they know they're not."

"Yeah, you're right. Well, you should get some rest before-" Bucky was cut off when Sam burst into the room.

"We should get going. I have Sharon keeping an eye out for us and Zemo said he can lead us to the memorial." He left without waiting for a response.

You and Bucky looked at each other before you chuckled tiredly, "A hero's life is not a peaceful one."

~~~~

On your way to Donya's service, you were unpleasantly met with John Walker and Lemar Hoskins. John made no effort to cover up his anger as he charged at the four of you, "Hey take it easy before it gets weird." Sam said pushing back at John's chest. Cautiously Lemar nudged John then pointed to your hands. Your hands were beginning to glow red hot as the energy from your magic built up. You didn't even realize you were preparing for a battle until Lemar pointed it out. The men took a step back as they lowered their voices to a calmer tone. Although it didn't stop them all from bickering the whole way.

"My associate is just up ahead." Zemo gestured to the little girl he was speaking to at the camp. He made his way towards the girl as everyone followed close behind.

"Whoa guys, I get the whole superhero walk but she's a child loosen up a bit. We don't want to scare her." You commented as you watched the men walk over to her looking intimidating.

The "transaction" between Zemo and the girl went smoothly. He handed her some money for her and her family. She then lead all of you towards Donya's memorial. "What the hell?" John cursed to Lemar.

"Language." You said as you continued walking in front of him. Beside you, you could hear Sam and Bucky snicker, "Don't say a word."

As you all waited for Sam, Bucky strolled over to you leaning on the wall. "Language huh? Steve really did raise you." He laughed.

You felt your neck heat up, "It just slipped out." He chuckled shaking his head as you stammered over your words, "It was- well I- I was just worried about the girl hearing someone cure. I don't usually care."

"I didn't get to talk to Steve much when I came back but when I did he talked about you a lot."

"Really?" You asked turning your head to him, "Yeah. He said you were like a sister to him."

You smiled at the thought but didn't have time to respond. Frustrated John walked towards the both of you trying to get by but Bucky refused. "Your partner needs backup. Do you really want his blood on your hands?" You turned to Bucky seeing how that comment hit him. He looked as if he was ready to give in and let John pass, "Don't listen to him, Buck. He doesn't know what he's talking about."

This only seemed to make John angry. He straightened himself up, shifting his feet to turn towards you. Bucky stood in between the both of you like a shield as Lemar reached for John's arm, "Come on man she's just a girl."

"Just a girl?" John shouted, "She's killed more people than you think!"

This made you defensive, "I only kill bad guys. I'm not going to kill you unless you're calling yourself a bad guy?"

"No, but you're not as perfect as you pretend to be." John spat back.

You were beginning to get angry. You tried to move Bucky out of your way but he kept an arm extended, not to protect you but to protect John from your anger, "What is that supposed to mean?" John looked down at your hands looking smug as of to say 'I told you so'. You could feel the energy running through your veins hot like fire but it didn't hurt you, it never did.

You didn't care that you were doing exactly what he thought you would because he was starting to piss you off. "I'm not waiting around any longer. There's a soldier in there who needs back up. If you're not going to help then stay out of my way."

"We're not at war John." Bucky sighed.

"If you go in there you're going to screw this up for all of us." You stepped up.

"I'm not going to ask again, move." John said I'm a stern tone.

"No." It was as if he had never been told no before. He lifted up the shield and tried to make himself look intimidating. You and Bucky stood your ground preparing to fight back if you needed to.

"Stand down soldiers." He warned. This only made you laugh, "I'm not a soldier. I'm an Avenger."

He charged at you. Bucky was ready to jump in front of you and push John out of the way but using your powers you were able to knock him down with ease. He stood back up angry. He charged at you again, this time Bucky knocked him down. You were able to manipulate the wind to keep John staples to the ground he thrashed around trying to get back up but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't.

Then you felt someone wrap their arms behind you locking your arms to your side. This distracted you allowing John to be set free. "I'm sorry but he needs to get in there." You heard Lemar's voice. You tried pushing yourself out of his grasp but he was much stronger than you.

Bucky was fighting off John until he saw you stuck in Lemar's hold. You could see him debating whether he should help you or hold Lemar back. He wanted to help you but he knew how important this mission was. Ultimately he pushed John back and ran to your side.

It didn't take long for John to slip through the door and into the room where Karli and Sam were. The three of you ran after him forgetting all about Zemo.

Everything moved so fast. John walked in with so much authority it was sickening. Lemar was trying to hold me and Bucky back. Karli pushed Sam to the ground and began her getaway. Bucky pushed Lemar out of the way chasing after Karli. You ran to Sam's side but he brushed you off, "I'm ok. We have to get to Karli." The both of you ran off in different directions hoping to corner her somehow. Instead, you and Sam reunited along with Bucky, "I lost her."

The three of you tried searching the place once more but gave up and decided to head back to Zemo's place.

There you all took a much-needed break as you regrouped and planned on what to do next. One thing that was for sure was to keep John Walker out of your way. Had he not intervened Karli would have stepped down and trusted Sam.

You sat at the table with Sam, listening to him type away on his computer. You were too zoned out of everything to pay attention to what was happening. It wasn't until you heard Bucky's voice next to you, "Would you like a drink?" You turned to see him shifting on his feet awkwardly. "A drink would be nice, thank you." He placed two cups on the table and poured the drinks. When he was done he passed one to you and took the second one for himself then pulled out the chair next to you to take a seat. You sipped your drink as the men talked.

It wasn't long until John came bursting through the door shouting, "Alright, that's it. Let's go. I am now ordering you to hand him over."

You rolled your eyes and continued to take sips of your drink. You watched as John tried to intimidate Sam, but everyone knew it wasn't working. Well everyone except John and Lemar. He put the shield down on the floor preparing to fight Sam but as soon as he stood back up a spear came hurtling towards him. You gasped turning to the source. The Dora Milaje.

Shit just got real.

As always John was trying to be his cocky self and show some authority. That didn't go too well with these women. The second he placed his hand on one of them a fight ensued. You sat back in your chair amused. You weren't the only one. With a quick look around the room, you could see Zemo and Bucky enjoying the show of John Walker getting his ass handed to him. Sam on the other hand looked concerned.

"Looking strong John!" Bucky shouted mockingly. You laughed. Sam scolded him. They jumped in to attempt to save John and Lemar from the ladies but that was proving to be harder than it seemed. Sam and Bucky were both distracted with saving John that they didn't notice Lemar about to get him. You jumped in pushing him out of the way before a spear came flying at him. Before you could grab it one of the ladies took it and started fighting you. Sam jumped in to help but even with the both of you, it was hard to take her down. Suddenly she turned to throw the spear and John immobilizing him. Seemingly at the same time, the other women disarmed Bucky. Literally. He looked at her in shock as she walked towards the bathroom.

"He's gone." You didn't know who "he" was until you took one glance around the room to find your prisoner had escaped.

~~~~

All day it seemed to be one fight after another. Soon after the visit from the Dora Milage the three of you went to pay Karli a visit. Not much talking or negotiating was done before Walker had to once again come and ruin it. The three of you jumped off the patio and made your way to John. Sam flew but you decided to run with Bucky. As soon as you got there everything was chaos. Lemar was taken hostage and John was... strong? Much stronger than before.

You ran ahead of Bucky making your way up the stairs when you heard him grunt. You turned to see one of the flagsmashers attacking him, "Bucky!" You shouted as you made your way back down. He was in a chokehold and was fighting his way out. He shooed you away with his hand as he managed to say, "Go!" You furrowed your eyebrows, shaking your head, "I'm not leaving you behind."

Bucky got himself loose then kicked the man down the stairs. He jumped down, kicked him into the wall, walked over to his unconscious body, and said "Stay there." You couldn't help the grin that crept up to your lips. Sure this was a serious moment but he was such a dork. It was cute.

He made his way back up the stairs trying to hide his confidence, "Let's go." He placed his hand on your shoulder leading you up.

When you walked into the room where all the action was going on a dagger came flying towards Bucky. With ease, he dodged the dagger then grabbed it. As he started fighting the man who tried to kill him someone came up from beside you trying to attack, but you were faster than they were. You stepped back grabbing onto their fist that lunged to your face. Without a struggle, you punched them in the gut and pushed them down to the floor.

Suddenly Lemar came rushing in to save his best friend. What happened next was too quick to understand.

Karli punched him a little too hard. It sent him flying back into the pillar. Even through all the fighting, you could hear the crack of bones. Everyone stopped. It was like slow motion. The man who was holding John back let him go.

He made his way to Lemar trying to regain his conscious but it wasn't working. He was already gone.

The flagsmashers all made a run for it. You, Sam, and Bucky went chasing after them.

You made your way to the front of the building to see a crowd of people with their phones out. That's when you saw it.

John proudly holding onto a bloody shield. A man dead on the floor.

You felt sick. You could taste the bile rise up to your mouth as you swallowed it down. With one hand rested in your stomach and the other on your mouth you turned unable to look at the scene in front of you. Concerned Bucky pulled you in with one arm hiding your face into his shoulder.

You tried taking deep breaths and closing your eyes but you could see John plunging the shield into that poor man's body. Of course you'd gone on missions before and seen blood, injuries, and sometimes death. But this was the most gruesome thing you'd ever lay your eyes on. You could hear everything that was going on and prayed for it to end.

When it finally did Sam motioned for you and Bucky to follow him, "You go on we'll catch up." Sam gave you a concerned glance. He didn't want to leave you considering how sick you looked but he also couldn't allow John to getaway. He nodded to Bucky before running after John.

Bucky lowered his head to look you in the eyes and put his hands on your shoulders keeping you a small distance away, "Are you up for this? If not you can sit this one out no one will judge you." His eyes filled with worry as he examined your face.

Your eyes were to the ground as you took some more breaths in calming yourself down. A few seconds later you nodded looking up to lock eyes with him, "Let's take the shield back."

~

~

~

@majo240820 @yougottalovefandoms @sebstanfan123 @twpkhes

[lillywillow]

From Russia With Love

Summary: When Steve and Bucky investigate an old HYDRA base left over from World War II, they find something nobody could have ever predicted... A pilot from the legendary 588th night bomber regiment frozen in time.

 Word Count: 2117

 Square Filled: Military Base

 Pairings: Bucky x Female Reader

 Warnings: WWII warfare, slight angst

Written for @star-spangled-bingo

 Author’s Note: Although I will be using real historical people and events, some of the names and actions I will be using are fictional. The 588th night bomber regiment were an all female squadron from Russia in World War II. They were given hand-me-down men’s uniforms and poor, outdated equipment. Their planes were not designed for combat. The planes let out a whistle as it idled through the sky which the German’s thought sounded like a broomstick, giving them the nickname ‘Die Nachthexen’ or Night Witches.

 Germany, 1944. Three Polikarpov U-2 biplanes move silently through the night sky, their engines cut at the behest of the navigators. A soldier was making his rounds about the perimeter of the base when an unearthly scream pierced the air. A chill ran down his spine as he looked around. Suddenly, a shadow of a plane darkens the ground. The soldier abruptly realised what was happening.

 “Die Nachthexen!” he screamed. The base was rapidly brought to life with activity when the air raid siren wailed. Soldiers rushed to man the anti-aircraft guns as the Night Witches dropped the first bomb. Two of the planes broke formation to draw away the ground fire as the third dropped the next bomb. The last plane made a sharp turn and was able to drop the last bomb on the base. With their mission complete, the engines went back on and the planes headed home to Russia.

 Out of nowhere, a German fighter plane appeared. The biplanes were slower but their much smaller size gave them an advantage in the fact they had a tight turning ratio but for one plane, it wasn’t enough. One of the pilots cried out in pain as a bullet grazed her arm. The canvas wings of the plane were ablaze, there was no other option but to bring the plane down. The navigator held the pilot’s shoulders to steady her as they crashed into the ground.

 Dazed by the impact, the pilot held her head, feeling something wet and warm drip down her face. She turned behind her to check on her navigator whose head was slumped to her chest. She reached for her hand.

 “Yelena... I’m sorry...” Black spots swam in her vision before the darkness took over.

...

Germany, present day. Steve and Bucky were called on a mission to investigate what was possibly a HYDRA base left over from WWII. On their way in, they noticed the remains of a downed plane a few miles out from the base that nature had taken over in the course of sixty years give or take. On the surface, it had the hell bombed out of it. Steve managed to find a charred door in amongst the wreckage and went in, Bucky following behind. Underground was a rabbit warren of rooms and passageways, their secrets lost to time, waiting to be uncovered.

 “We should split up,” Steve said, getting out his flashlight. Bucky nodded and got out his own. The duo headed in, checking each and every room for anything that might be of HYDRA origin.

 This place gave Bucky the creeps and bad memories began to invade his mind; memories of when he lost his identity of Sergeant James Buchannan Barnes and given the new one of The Winter Soldier. Room after room they looked in until Steve found something.

 “Buck, you gotta see this...” Bucky made his way to where Steve called him to and whatever he was expecting, this was not it. The room was still lit with sickening fluorescent lights. In the back corner, there were two pods. One was empty, whatever test subject it held was long gone. The other had a woman still cryogenically frozen inside. Bucky placed his right hand on the glass.

 “She’s just like me...”

 “Think you can make sense of these?” Steve asked, holding up a dusty file written in German. Bucky picked them up and read through the notes. It stated the woman’s name and why she was there. There was also information on a second woman, presumably whoever was in the second pod. Apparently, they were going to be used for a programme akin to the Winter Soldiers or the Red Room but the project had been scrapped and only one of the subjects was moved.

 “I’m going to let Fury know what we’ve found.” Steve headed out to make the call but Bucky stayed behind. He couldn’t leave this woman all alone now that he knew she was there.

...

 Feeling a pounding in your head, you opened your eyes. Slowly, you sat up, looking around. You appeared to be back in your base. Funny... you didn’t remember making it back. The last thing you remembered was crashing after completing a mission. Was a rescue sent out and that’s how you got here? You spotted another woman in one of the other beds. Steadily, you got up and went over to her.

 “Come on, Yelena. We’ve got another mission,” you said, shaking her shoulder. As she sat up, you immediately noticed that this was not your navigator.

 “You’re not Yelena...”

 “No, I’m a new recruit. My name is Natalia Romanova,” she replied in Russian.

 “Well I hope you’re a quick study, Natalia. Major Bershanskaya will not make things easy for you. Now get ready. Training for you starts now.”

 As you got dressed, something struck you as very odd. Your uniform fitted perfectly like it was tailored for you and your boots weren’t oversized. It set off alarm bells in your head but you didn’t want to frighten the new girl. As you headed out, you saw an officer standing and waiting for you.

 “Who are you?” you asked, confused as to why this man would be here, especially one who looked so high up in command. Something else that you noticed was that there were planes around the base.

 “I’m your new commanding officer...” That did it. There was no way your commander would leave her girls. You managed to snatch his sidearm but even faster, Natalia had you in a headlock, one hand holding the wrist you held the gun.

 “Who are you?! Where am I?! What have you done with Yelena?! Where is my navigator?!” The pair exchanged a look and conversed in English, something you didn’t understand.

 “I can explain everything... just give me the gun,” the man prompted. Slowly, you handed him the sidearm which he put away and Natalia let go of you.

 “You have been asleep for over sixty years...”

 “What?! How?! We... we were just there... and... Yelena! Where is she? Is she okay? Is she safe?” The pair exchanged another look.

 “You were the only one we found in the base...” You broke down sobbing and straight away the man held you up as you trembled. He rubbed your back and stroked your hair which you found strangely comforting. How could you have been asleep for sixty years? It was only hours ago you were flying to drop bombs on German bases.

...

 A few hours later, you were sitting by the window of the room which had been set up for you thinking over all the new information which had been given to you. They had given you new clothes but the only ones who spoke your language were the ones you met at the fake base camp. Your thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

 “May I come in?” A male’s voice asked.

 “Yes...” The man who you came to learn was named Bucky walked in with a plate of food.

 “I thought you might like something to eat...”

 “I’m not hungry...”

 “I know what you’re going through but you still need to eat...”

 “How could you possibly know what I’m going through?! Do you know what it’s like to be with friends one minute and find out they’re all gone?! To wake up in a strange place with strange people?! To have no idea what the hell is going on?!” He was quiet for a few moments.

“Actually... I do.” You were taken aback from his response. Bucky sat down on your bed and began telling you his life’s story.

 He told you about his best friend Steve who always used to getting in trouble. He enlisted in the American army the moment he could. His time in the Howling Commandos. About how he fell off the train and became a weapon for HYDRA for decades. As he spoke, his eyes began to ghost over, reliving the old memories that you could see were haunting him. You sat next to him and held his hand. Bucky hastily wiped his eyes.

 “What about you? Tell me your story...”

 You smiled softly. You told him about your father who died defending Osowiec Fortress and how it inspired you to fight for your country. When the call went out for women to fly bomber planes, you and your best friend Yelena Belsky both applied and got in, you as a pilot and she as a navigator. You flew many sorties together. Your commander Major Yevdokiya Bershanskaya was stern but fair with you girls but taught you everything you knew. You spoke about your last mission, the one you were on when your plane was shot down.

 Bucky listened to your every word, looking at you with total admiration. Most of the men looked at you with pity or distain. You couldn’t help but blush a little under his intense gaze.

 “I, um... I think I’ll have something to eat now,” you mumbled, taking the plate he brought with him. “Thank you...”

 “Anytime... if you ever want to talk, you can always come to me. Nat should be available too...”

 “I appreciate that.”

 To Bucky, those memories were a lifetime ago but to you, they were only like yesterday. It somehow felt good to share those stories with someone who understood what it was like to go through the same thing you were.

...

 The months flew by and before you knew it, a year had passed. Between Natasha and Bucky you were now fluent in English. They taught you hand to hand combat and other things you would need to join The Avengers, although, you were pretty much an ace pilot when it came to the jets. Natasha became your best friend and you frequently spoke in Russian with her. You formed a bond with Steve too once the language barrier came down, sharing war stories with each other but the person on the team you were closest to was Bucky. He taught you a lot over the months and it wasn’t long before you started dating. It was inevitable.

...

 One night, you were standing on the balcony, looking at the moon and thinking about that fateful night you were assigned to bomb that base all those years ago. You wondered if your friend was dead or alive. The team had told you they would help you find her, searching all HYDRA archives they came across and Bucky helped you to follow every lead. Your heart hoped for the best but you knew to expect the worst.

 “Hey, Doll.” You turned to see Bucky standing in the doorway. He walked over to you and put his arm around you, kissing your head. “What’s on your mind?”

 “Yelena... I can’t help but hope that I’ll find her one day. She was like my sister. Natasha has been wonderful, you all have but it’s hard being stuck in the past...”

 “Tell me about it,” Bucky muttered softly. “You know... it’s been just over a year now since we met...”

 “So it has,” you wistfully replied. “Time sure flies...”

 “It sure does... and I don’t want to waste any more of it.” You looked confused as Bucky pulled away from you.

 “When I was called on that mission to uncover an old HYDRA base, I never thought I would meet the love of my life. You’re one of the bravest, strongest, most incredibly women I know. Will you marry me?” Bucky got down on one knee and presented you with a beautiful ring. You couldn’t help but tear up.

 “Yes, Bucky, I will!” Bucky smiled and stood up, sliding the ring on your finger and kissing you.

 Who knew that a German base lost to time would connect two military personals so perfectly together?

[slutforbuck]

Traveling Soldier Part 2-- Bucky Barnes x Reader

Part 1 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

“Mr. Stark? I was told you needed to see me.” Howard glanced up from his papers to see you standing in the doorway of his office. “Yes! I want you to meet our candidate for Project Rebirth.” Howard jumped to his feet with an excited look on his face. You looked to your feet, knowing exactly who the singular candidate was. You knew when Steve never came back from the Expo that he had finally gotten what he wanted. You followed Howard to the lab where Dr. Erskine, Steve, and Peggy Carter were waiting. Steve’s eyes grew wide when he saw you walk in. “What are you doing here? I thought you were a secretary y/n!!” Howard, Peggy, and Dr. Erskine looked between the two of you confused. “I am Mr. Stark’s assistant, Steve. I hope you understand what you have gotten yourself into.” Howard stepped forward, “How exactly do you know each other?” You smiled, “Steve is my brother. You’ve chosen a great candidate Dr. Erskine. He’s one of the bravest men I know.” You walked away and began getting everything set up to start the process.

“Are you ready?” Steve nodded. “Take off your shirt, your tie, and your hat.” You stood behind the booth with Howard as Dr. Erskine led Steve to the chamber. You knew how painful this process would be for Steve, and you felt a pit begin to grow in your stomach. “Levels at 100%.” You looked down, not knowing if you would be able to watch the process. “That’s fifty percent. Sixty. Seventy.” You heard Steven begin to scream, and tears began to stream down your face. Peggy screamed for them to shut it down. You were barely able to hear Steve telling them to continue through your sobs and Peggy yelling for them to shut it down. Suddenly everything stopped. “The son of a bitch did it.” You looked at the chamber, and saw a huge man step out. Peggy stepped towards him, “How do you feel?” “Taller.” You smiled, “You look taller.” Before you knew what was happening, Howard pushed you under the booth. There was a loud explosion, and you saw Dr. Erskine fall to the ground. You crawled towards him and grabbed his hand. Steve knelt beside you, checking over you and the doctor. Dr. Erskine pointed at Steve’s chest, and you felt him go still. Steve looked at you, and you whispered, “Go. Be careful.” He nodded, then jumped and ran out the door.

“Mr. Stark are you okay?” You had finally calmed down, and were able to stand. “I’m fine y/n, where is..” Howard trailed off as he saw Dr. Erskine on the floor. “Oh no..” You walked to the booth and gathered Howard and the doctor’s notes. “I will put these in your office, and make the call for Dr. Erskine. Is there anything else you need Mr. Stark?” Howard rubbed his forehead, “No..no we can regroup tomorrow. Go home and get some rest, be here early tomorrow.” You nodded then walked out. As soon as you made it to Howard’s office, you fell against the wall. Tears streamed down your face as you realized that it was a very real possibility that you could lose your brother and your best friend. After what had just happened here at home, where it was supposed to be safe, made your worries all the more real. You hailed a cab, and rushed inside. You had a letter from Bucky waiting in your bag that you had been waiting to open.

He told you as much as he could about how things were, and asked about how things had been at home. You smiled sadly, and debated on whether to tell him what happened. You began writing, recounting as many details as you could. You told him what happened with Steve, and then about the explosion. You didn’t want to worry him, and reassured him that you were fine. The next few weeks of work with Howard was trying to recreate the serum. When Dr. Erskine died, the serum formula died with him. Letters between you and Bucky were frequent, and they helped you make it through the day. Bucky began to worry about you working with Howard, feeling that it was putting you in danger. You smiled down at the letter as you wrote back that he shouldn’t be allowed to have all the fun, and with he and Steve gone, you had to do something stupid to feel normal. One day after leaving the lab, you checked your mail and found a letter from Bucky. You hurried inside excited to read it. Your face turned from happy to worried as you neared the end of the letter. He had mentioned a mission that the 107th was about to leave for. As you read the last two lines of his letter, tears began to form. “When it’s getting rough over here, I think of that night at the Expo. I close my eyes, and I’m home. I see your eyes, and feel your arms around me. Don't worry doll, but I won’t be able to write for a while. I love you y/n.” Your eyes shut tightly to try to stop the waterfall of tears that began to stream down your face. You whispered, hoping that your quiet voice would carry to him, “Be careful Buck. I love you.”

“Y/n on the plane. Now.” “Mr. Stark what’s happening?” Howard pulled you to the plane, not stopping to explain. As he dragged you onto the plane, you saw Peggy and Steve. “What is going on?” Peggy pulled you to the side, “The 107th has been taken. Steve plans on getting them back. Mr. Stark needed you here in case anything happened.” “Th..the..the 107th?” You could barely hear your own voice as you looked to Steve. “We are going to find him.” His eyes showed confidence, his voice didn’t waver. You slumped down into a seat, holding back your tears.

You waited anxiously in the camp, hoping and praying that the men would come back safe. “Look who it is!” You jerked your head up to hear cheering, and saw Steve and Bucky leading the group of returning men. Steve looked at Bucky and nodded in your direction as he walked towards Peggy. You had never seen a man run as fast as Bucky did towards you. He grabbed you around the waist and his lips crashed against yours. Your tears began to mix with the mud on his face, and you struggled to catch your breath. “Why are you here? You shouldn’t be here. I can’t have you getting hurt here, you won’t recover from it.” Bucky pulled back and wiped the tears from your eyes with a worried look on his face. “I came with Agent Carter and Mr. Stark. I was told I was needed, and I went where I was told.” You kept your arms around his neck, afraid that if you let go he would disappear. “I’ve missed you so much y/n. I thought we were going to die, and all I could think about what that I promised you that I would come home safe. I can’t break that promise.” “Y/n, we have to go,” Howard rested his hand on your shoulder, “I’m sorry.” You looked at Bucky with tears steadily falling. “Buck…I love you so much James Barnes. You stay safe, and I will see you when you get home. Promise me that you’ll come back safe.” “I promise, y/n. I love you.” Bucky whispered the last words in your ear as he pressed a soft kiss to your lips, and then another soft kiss to your forehead. As you followed Howard to the plane, you kept your hand in Bucky’s until your fingers were too far apart to reach.

You followed Peggy through the streets of London. “Peggy where are we going?” “You’ll see.” You stopped in front of a small destroyed bar. “Before we go in y/n, I want to say I’m sorry for what has happened. I am here if you ever need anything.” You looked at her, trying to read her expression as you followed her through the rubble. “Steve?” You whispered to Peggy, becoming more confused. “Dr. Erskine said that… the serum wouldn’t just effect my muscles, it would effect my cells. Create a protective system of regeneration and healing. Which means um…I can’t get drunk. Did you know that?” Peggy gave him a sad smile, “Your metabolism burns four times faster than the average person. He thought it could be one of the side effects. It wasn’t your fault.” You spoke up, “What wasn’t his fault?” Steve stopped pouring and turned to look at you. “Why did you bring her here? It’s dangerous.” “She doesn’t know Steve. She needs to know, and I don't think that Howard or I are the right people to break the news to her.” You looked between them, beginning to realize what Peggy was sorry for, and what Steve believed was his fault. Your heart fell to your feet. “No. He’s fine.” Tears began to well in your eyes, your throat began to burn, and you felt the urge to scream. “He promised Steve! He swore that he would come home safe!!!” You fell to the floor, unable to support your weight. Steve slid down next to you, “I tried..I couldn’t…he just….” Peggy looked to the both of you sadly, “You did everything you could. Did you believe in your friend? Did you respect him? Then stop blaming yourself. Allow Barnes the dignity of his choice. He damn well must have thought you were worth it.” You leaned onto your brother’s shoulder, “What happened?” You tried wiping the tears away, but the more you wiped away, the more seemed to appear. “He fell..from a train..above a ravine..I tried y/n. I tried to save him..Just a few more inches, and I would have had him. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Sobs racked your body, you tried to reassure your brother that he had done everything he could to help Bucky, but all you could do was cry. Steve seemed to understand what you were thinking and wrapped you in a tight hug. “I’m goin’ after Schmidt. I’m not gonna stop until all of HYDRA is dead or captured.”

You stood in the control tower with Peggy, waiting to hear something, anything. “Come in. This is Captain Rogers. Do you read me?” Peggy grabbed the radio, “Steve, is that you? Are you alright?” “Peggy! Schmidt’s dead.” “What about the plane?” “That’s a little bit tougher to explain” “Give me your coordinates, I’ll find you a safe landing site.” “There’s not going to be a safe landing. But I can try and force it down.” “I’ll get Howard on the line, he’ll know what to do.” You looked at Peggy, “There won’t be time. Peggy, he’s going to try to crash it and sacrifice himself. I…I can’t listen to this. I love you Steve.” You slid down the wall of the control tower, blocking out Peggy trying to talk Steve out of it. The next thing you know, Peggy is on the floor with you, sobs racking her body. You held each other as you cried, not sure what to do without him.

*a month later*

“Y/n, you know I have been working on recreating Dr. Erskine’s serum formula. I think I finally cracked the code. Do you think we could find a candidate that would be willing to test it?” You glanced up from the files you were working on, “Why not me Mr. Stark?” Howard stopped in his tracks. “Absolutely not.” You stood in front of him, “And why not? I know the risks, I know what can happen. Howard I have nothing to lose.” He looked at you shocked. “You’re serious. Are you sure you want to do this?” You smiled, “What’s the worst that can happen?”

Howard got you in the chamber, “Are you still sure you want to do this? You can still back out.” You rolled your eyes. “I am positive. I told you, I have nothing to lose now. Promise me that you won’t stop. No matter how much I scream, you make this happen Howard. Don’t forget to take notes for me.” You smiled at him, hoping to reassure his doubts. He made his way to the booth and began increasing power. The pain you felt was excruciating, and you felt like you were about to die. After what felt like hours, the chamber opened. You stumbled out, and Howard jumped to catch you. “Are you okay? You don’t look different.” You smiled at him, “Let’s go test this. Give me every test you gave Steve.”

After all of your testing had been completed, Howard grinned staring at his notes. “This is amazing. Just. Amazing! We did it. We finally cracked his formula, and look at you! No-one will even know!”

“Our new base of operations! Camp Lehigh.” You looked around, “Mr. Stark, this is an army base.” “Exactly,” Peggy began to explain, “It’s a wonderful disguise. No-one will ever suspect a thing.” For a couple of years things went smoothly at the SHEILD base. “Y/n, I have something to show you. Follow me please.” You followed Howard to a hidden elevator that took you below the office. As you stepped out into the room, you were confused by what you saw. “This is where we are housing everything for Project Rebirth. It is the most hidden place we could find. HYDRA is still after the serum formula, we had to find a way to make sure they don't get their hands on it.” You looked at Howard, knowing there was something he wasn't telling you, “They want to experiment on me don't they?” Howard nodded his head, unable to look at you. “So what are we doing about it?” “I..Well, I’ve come up with a new technology. Since your body has been altered by the serum, it is possible that your blood won’t freeze, and you’ll be able to stay alive, but asleep.” You looked at Howard questioningly, “What are you going to do, stick me in a freezer?” Howard, again, looked away. “In a manner of speaking. It’s called cryostasis. Basically it will freeze you, without killing you. When things die down and it is safe for you again, we can get you out.” “It’s safe?” “Of course.” You looked at Howard, a little skeptical. “Okay then, I have nothing to lose. Let’s do this.” The last thing you see is Howard closing the door.

[underoosweb]

5 more minutes ch.2

No warnings: Bold italics are thoughts/ Italics are dreams

BuckyxOC!

4.6k words

                                             3 months later

It had been 3 months since Serenity arrived in the Marvel Universe and she was getting more and more frustrated by the minute. 3 damn months of the same thing. She and Steve travel all over Europe and him performing the same act over and over again. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes as Steve got ready once more to punch “Hitler” in the face. She stared out into the crowd, soldiers nothing but soldiers out in the crowd. This wasn’t exactly Steve’s demographic. She felt his warmth against her back, she sighed.

“Are you ready to do this again?”

“Honestly… no.”

“Captain, it's your cue.” She turned and placed her hand on his shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile

“Good luck.” He sighed, giving her back the same smile

“Thanks.” 

 “How many of you are ready to help me sock old Adolf on the jaw?” Silence. Serenity winced.

 “Okay. Uh… I need a volunteer.” Steve tried to hide his embarrassment.

“I already volunteered! How do you think I got here?” The crowd of soldiers laughs

 “Bring back the girls!”  There’s a cheer from the soldiers. Serenity glared

“I think they only know the one song. But um…let me…I’ll…I’ll see what I can do.” She scoffed

“You do that, sweetheart.”

“Nice boots, Tinker Bell!” The crowd of soldiers laughs

“Come on, guys. We’re all on the same team here.” 

“Hey, Captain! Sign this!” A different soldier stands, turns and pulls his pants down and the crowd starts to throw things at Steve. Serenity had enough, rolling her eyes. She walked up the stage and the men quieted down. They heard rumors of the girl’s temper and how she can beat any of them to put them in the hospital. She smirked as the men sucked their breaths in.

“Come on, Steve let’s go.”

“Ladies.” She motioned for the girls to come back onto the stage. The women run on stage and the crowd cheers.

“Don’t worry, pal. They’ll warm up to you. Don’t worry.” The senator’s aide patted Steve’s back. Serenity had no idea why she was even here if the aide was following them around. He was managing both of them. Steve’s lips formed into a tight line. 

“Go get changed, Steve.” He looked over at Serenity and nodded. 10 minutes later the crowd dispersed and so did the girls. Hopping onto the stage, she plopped in the middle of the stage. Hearing the rain hit the roof of the stage, she smiled and closed her eyes. 

“Yeah. Uh… I had to improvise a little bit. Crowds I’m used to are usually more uh… twelve.”  Serenity’s brows furrowed when she heard Steve’s hushed voice 

“I understand you’re "America’s New Hope"?” 

Peggy?

“Bond sales take a ten percent bump in every state I visit,” Steve responded, Serenity rubbed her eyes but laid still not wanting to disturb their conversation

“Is that Senator Brandt I hear?” Peggy asked

 “At least he’s got me doin’ this. Phillips would have had to be stuck in the lab.”

 “And these are your only two options? A lab rat or a dancing monkey? You were meant for more than this, you know?”

“What?” Peggy asks after she sees him hesitate 

“You know for the longest time I dreamed about coming overseas and being on the front lines. Serving my country. I finally get everything I wanted, and I’m wearing tights. They look like they’ve been through hell.”

“These men more than most. Schmidt sent out a force to Azzano. Two hundred men went up against him and less than fifty returned. Your audience contained what was left of the one-oh-seventh. The rest were killed or captured.” Serenity shot up when she heard Peggy say Bucky’s regiment. 

 “The one-oh-seventh?” Steve asked

“Bucky.”  Steve and Peggy looked over at her.

“What?” Peggy asked, Serenity stood up and jumped off the stage.

“Come on!” The three of them ran towards the colonel’s tent

“Colonel Phillips.” 

“Well, if it isn’t the Star-Spangled Man With A Plan and his little assistant. And what is your plan today?”

“I need the casualty list from Azzano.”

“You don’t get to give me orders, son.”

“Colonel, we just need one name.” Serenity butted in

“I just need one name. Sergeant James Barnes from the hundred and seventh.”

“You and I are gonna have a conversation later that you won’t enjoy.” The colonel said pointing to Peggy

“Please tell me if he’s alive, sir. B-A-R…”

“I can spell. I have signed more of these condolence letters today than I would care to count. But the name does sound familiar. I’m sorry.” Serenity bit the inside of her cheek. She knew he was alive and they needed to find him quickly.

“What about the others? Are you planning a rescue mission?”

“Yeah! It’s called winning the war.”

“But if you know where they are, why not at least…?”

“They’re thirty miles behind the lines. Through the most heavily fortified territory in Europe. We’d lose more men than we’d save. But I don’t expect you to understand that, because you’re a chorus girl.”

Serenity tuned out the rest of their conversation. She came out of her trance when she saw Steve storm out of the tent.

Fuck.

She follows Steve to his tent where he starts to change and pack some things 

“What do you plan to do? Walk to Austria?” She asks Steve

“If that’s what it takes.”

“Steve, you can’t just walk there. I understand you have super serum now but by the time you get there you’re going to be exhausted and that’s not going to help Bucky or anyone.” Peggy walked in

“You heard the Colonel, your friend is most likely dead.”

“You don’t know that.” Serenity sneered at Peggy. Peggy rolled her eyes

“Even so, he’s devising a strategy. If he detects…”

“By the time he’s done that, it could be too late!” Steve tells Peggy

 The three walk out to a jeep.

“You told me you thought I was meant for more than this. Did you mean that?”

“Every word.”

“Then you gotta let me go.” He gets in the jeep.

“I can do more than that.” Peggy hops into the Jeep and Serenity follows

“What are you doing?” Steve asks

“Trust me when I say this right now, don’t piss me off. I’m coming with you whether you like it or not.” Steve sat back down in his seat. Serenity smiled. Peggy drove off. The three sat in silence, Steve kept sneaking glances at Peggy. She leaned forward and whispered into his ear

“It’s been 3 months and you still haven’t told her how you feel.” She noticed his ears turning red

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Steve cleared his throat

“Whatever you say, Rogers,” Serenity sat back down

“I’m going to take a bit of a nap, will you wake me when we get there please.”

“Sure,” Peggy responded

“Ah, before that,” She leaned forward one more time this time towards Peggy

“You two would be a cute couple.” Now it was Peggy’s turn to blush. Serenity smirked

“Good night, you two. Try not to have too much fun without me.” Serenity leaned back and closed her eyes. Darkness greeted her.

She could hear his screams, it sent chills down her spine. It was blood-curdling. She covered her ears, tears pricked her eyes. Walking down the dark hall, she saw him lying there on a cold metallic table. She felt hot tears start to stream down her cheeks. He looked drained. No. Broken. He couldn’t break now, Steve. Steve will come for him. Her eyes narrowed as two men in black came on each side of Bucky. They looked over to the Doctor, who nodded. The men covered her view and his screams filled the room. The scene in front of her started to fade, she screamed and cried for him for someone to help him.

“Serenity!” She gasped. Looking around she met Steve’s concerned eyes. Peggy had the same look on her face. Serenity’s hands went straight to her face, the tears would not stop.

“You had a nightmare.” the English accent sounded like velvet

“You yelled out his name.” Serenity met his eyes

“Bucks.”

“What was the nightmare about?” Peggy asked

“I-I… They were…” She swallowed the choked sob forming in her throat

“They were torturing him. He was laying there on a table… just screaming.”

“Who was torturing him?” Peggy asked

“I don’t know. Th-there were two men and a doctor.” She knew exactly who the doctor was. Arnim Zola. 

“Hello, love.” Her eyes flickered towards Howard. His face changed once he saw her tear-stained cheeks and puffy red eyes. She quickly wiped her face.

“Howard,” Peggy responded

“I hope you were talking to Peggy, Stark.” Serenity replied, her voice a bit hoarse

“I was actually talking to you, love.”

“I’m not your love.”  Howard rose his brow and smirked

“I brought a leash this time.” Steve choked 

“You can use it on Steve, he’s bound to get into trouble.” Steve blushed and Howard laughed.

“Come on,” He cocked his head to the side

Fuck.

“This should be fun.”

She hated heights.

She was clutching Steve’s hand for dear life. She looked over at Peggy, she apologized with her eyes. Peggy understood, the poor girl looked petrified. 

“The HYDRA camp is in Krausberg, tucked between these two mountain ranges. It’s a factory of some kind.” Peggy told Steve

“We should be able to drop you right on the doorstep.” Howard slightly yelled from the pilot’s seat

“Just get me as close as you can. You know, you two are gonna be in a lot of trouble at the lab.”

“And you won’t?” Peggy asked

“Where I’m goin’, if anybody yells at me I can just shoot ‘em.”

“They will undoubtedly shoot back.”

“Well, let’s hope it’s good for somethin’.” He knocks at his shield.

“The fact that the shield is holding up amazes me.” Serenity managed to choke out

“Agent Carter, if we’re not in too much of a hurry I thought we could stop off in Lucerne for a late-night fondue. Would you like to join us, Serenity?”

Peggy looks awkwardly at Steve who’s getting ready to parachute. Serenity simply couldn’t respond

Steve grabbed Serenity’s hand, her panicked eyes met his face.

“You’ll be okay,”

“You can come up here and hold my hand,”

“Are you insane? You want me to walk up there and look out that front window!”

“You can hold my hand and face your back towards the window.”

“You are insane.”

“I don’t think Agent Carter will hold your hand.” Serenity sighed and walked towards the front, her back facing the window and holding onto Stark’s pant leg.

“Don’t want my hand?”

“You need them to steer the plane. I would rather not die, I’ll hold your pant leg, thank you very much.”

“Stark is the best civilian pilot I’ve ever seen. He’s mad enough to brave this airspace, we’re lucky to have him.”

“So are you two…? Do you…? Fondue?” Steve stammered. Serenity snickered 

Peggy ignores Steve’s awkward and confused rambling.

“This is your transponder. Activate it when you’re ready and the signal will lead us straight to you.”

“Are you sure this thing works?” 

“It’s been tested more than you, pal,” Stark says as their plane is being attacked Steve goes towards the opened door of the plane to jump

“Get back here! We’re taking you all the way in.” Peggy yelled

“As soon as I’m free, you turn this thing around and get the hell outta here!”

“You can’t give me orders!” Serenity snorted at Peggy’s comment 

“The hell I can’t! I’m a Captain!” he looks at her and then jumps out of the plane.

“Don’t worry, he’ll be fine.”

“You say that as if you know for sure.”

That’s because she does

“Trust me.”

“Trust you?” Serenity nodded, resting her head against the bottom of the control panel. She zoned out of Howard and Peggy’s conversation and eventually fell asleep.

*************************************************************************************************************

It’s been 4 days since Steve left on his rescue mission, her and Peggy got an earful from the colonel. Serenity rested against one of the tent poles watching the colonel and Peggy argue.

“Senator Brandt, I regret to report that Captain Steven G. Rogers went missing behind enemy lines on the third. Aerial reconnaissance has proven unfruitful. As a result, I must declare Captain Rogers killed in action. Period.” The colonel said as a corporal started to type his words

“The last surveillance flight is back. No sign of activity.” Peggy said

“Go get a cup of coffee, Corporal.” The colonel sighed

“Yes, sir.” he leaves

“I can’t touch Stark. He’s rich and he’s the Army’s number one weapons contractor. You two are neither one.” He pointed back and forth between Peggy and Serenity

“With respect, sir, I don’t regret my actions. And I don’t think Captain Rogers did either.”

“I just simply do not care.”  Serenity shrugged

“What makes you think I give a damn about both your opinions. I took a chance with you, Agent Carter. And now America’s golden boy and a lot of other good men are dead, ‘cause you had a crush.”

“It wasn’t that. I had faith.”

“Well, I hope that’s a big comfort to you when they shut this division down.” Soldiers start running and talking excitedly around them.

“What the hell’s going on out there?” Serenity smiled.

“They’re back.”

They follow the crowd to the edge of the camp where Steve’s arriving with the freed prisoners.

“Look who it is!” Everyone cheers

“Some of these men need medical attention.”

“Medic, we got wounded.”

“Right over here.”

“I’d like to surrender myself for disciplinary action.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Faith, huh?”

“You’re late.”

Holding up the broken transponder “Couldn’t call my ride.”

Serenity smiled at Steve, she could feel someone staring at her. She met Bucky’s eyes. His eyes were the blue-green of the mountain lakes, hues that could tell tales of the sky and evergreen giants all the same. He stood there frozen, what was she doing here? Why wasn’t she back at his apartment? She slowly made her way to him. 

“Sergeant?” He blinked

“Doll?” 

“How many times do I have to tell you? I’m not your doll.” She laughed, her laugh sounded like music to his ears.

“I thought you didn’t like ma’am.” She looked up at him and nodded

“You’re right.”

“Doll, why are you here?”

“Well…”

“I wrote to you.” Her head snapped up

“What?”

“I wrote you letters, I thought you left or maybe you were ignoring me.” his gaze now on the floor

“Bucky…” Bucky blushed, she called him Bucky

“Every time the mail would come in, I hoped you would write back.”

Shouldn’t he have written to Connie?

“I’m sorry, I didn’t remember the way to the apartment and Steve ended up seeing me walking around. He and Peggy ended up taking me to Stark.” His eyes widened

“Luckily the senator sent me to follow Steve around and that’s how I ended up here.” Bucky met her eyes. Serenity stepped closer, Bucky’s breath hitched. They were practically chest to chest.

“I am curious though,” She met his eyes

“What did you write to me, Sergeant?”

“I wrote about everything.”

“Everything?” he nodded

“That’s very specific.” She rolled her eyes, Bucky smirked

“I’m glad you’re alright, doll,”

“Me? What about you? Are you alright?” Bucky let out a slight chuckle

“You know I was very honored to hear that you were so worried about me, but I’m fine.”

“Hear?” Bucky smirked and Serenity groaned

“Steve…” She murmured 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She said walking back towards the tent, Bucky smiled and ran behind her

“Really now?”

“Yup.”

“Where are you going?”

“Just want to talk to Steve.”

“Just talk?”

“Yup.”

“Then why do you have a murderous look in your eyes?”

“I do not.”

“Speaking of the devil.” She said as Steve jogged towards the two

“Hey Buck, let’s go get ready.”

“Ready for what?”

“The colonel is allowing us to go out and celebrate the rescue mission.”

“Serenity, Peggy wants to see you.”

“Why?”

“No idea.” 

“Before I head over,” Serenity grabbed Steve’s hand and dragged him away from Bucky

“Ah, you stay over there,” She said when she saw Bucky trying to follow them

“Yes, ma’am,” He rose his hands up in defeat and smirked

“I do hate when he calls me ma’am,” she said to herself, turning she placed her finger on Steve’s chest

“You told Bucky about my nightmare?” 

“No, I just told him you were very worried about him.” She narrowed her eyes

“I may or may not have told him you cried,” She groaned

“Steven Grant Rogers,” She playfully punched his chest

“He talked about you, you know” She rose her brow

“The whole way back, he was saying how he wrote letters to a dame and I asked if it was Connie and he shook his head. I think he likes you.”

“He’s just flirting,” Steve smiled and shook his head

“Captain.”

“Agent Carter,”

“I asked for her 10 minutes ago,”

“Ah, sorry. I just needed to ask him something. What’s up?”

“Come with me,”

“Oh no, am I going to be punished?” Peggy smiled

“No, everyone is getting together and I thought we should get ready together.”

“Are, are you suggesting giving me a makeover?”

“Slightly,” Serenity smiled, looping her arm through Peggy's

“This is going to be fun,”

************************************************

“Ummm, Peggy,” Serenity started to pick at the pins in her hair. Peggy smacked her hand away

“Leave them alone, you look gorgeous.” Serenity stared at her reflection through the store’s window. The emerald green dress hugged her chest and waist while the bottom slightly flared out. 

“You’re kidding me right,” She looked Peggy up and down

“If Cap doesn’t ask you out, I will.”

“If Sergeant Barnes doesn’t ask you, I will,”

“Why does everyone think he likes me?”

“Because, love, he does.”

“He can’t like me, he doesn’t even know me.”

“Captain rogers-”

“Ah, don’t say Steve doesn’t know you. He spent boot camp with you.” Peggy rolled her eyes.

“Do you think I can wear different shoes?”

“No,”

“Why? I hate wearing heels.”

“It holds the outfit together, so too bad.”

“There they are,” Serenity cocked her head to the side 

“What do you think they’re talking about?” 

“Probably complaining about the men singing,” Serenity smiled

***

“See? I told you. They’re all idiots.” Bucky smiled, placing his hand on Steve’s shoulder.

“How about you? Are you ready to follow Captain America into the jaws of death?” Steve asked, smiling back

“Hell, no. That little guy from Brooklyn who was too dumb not to run away from a fight. I’m following him. But you’re keeping the outfit, right?”

“You know what? It’s kind of growing on me.” The two of them smiled and laughed.

The singing in the bar stops as Peggy in a tight-fitting, deep-red dress walks in.

“Captain.” Peggy looks at Steve

“Agent Carter.”

“Ma’am.” Bucky smiled at Peggy

“Where’s Serenity?” Bucky asked

She turned to see Serenity still standing in the door entrance. Peggy smiled and grabbed her hand, cocking her head to the side to follow her.

Fuck, she hates social interactions

Bucky on the other hand was thanking the colonel for this, he was thanking the gods. She walked in and his breath hitched, he could feel the heat on his face. She looked absolutely stunning. 

“Howard has some equipment for you to try. Tomorrow morning?” Peggy continued her conversation, still holding Serenity’s hand. Bucky eyed their hands, Peggy smirked.

“Sounds good.”

“I see your top squad is prepping for duty.”

“You don’t like music?” Bucky asked

This is music? 

“I do, actually. I might even, when this is all over, go dancing.” Peggy smiled and looked over at Steve.

“Then what are we waiting for?” Bucky asked

“Steve.” Serenity coughed, Peggy narrowed her eyes and ignored her comment. Serenity shrugged

“The right partner. 0800, Captain.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll be there.”

“What about you, doll?” 

“What?” She jumped a bit and asked too quickly, Bucky chuckled

“Do you dance?”

“I-I don’t know how.”

“You don’t know how to dance?” Steve asked

“No, I wasn’t one for parties and I’ve never been asked.”

“Now that I don’t believe,” Bucky said with slight disbelief in his voice

“Why is that so hard to believe?” Serenity rose her brow

“A dame like you probably got asked to go out or dance all the time.” 

“Again, I wasn’t one for going out and I tend to ignore men. They tend to annoy me.”

“Do I annoy you, doll?”

“No, Steve does sometimes though.”

“Hey,” Serenity smiled

“You know I love you,” Bucky froze, she loves him? Peggy stood next to Bucky

“They have gotten close over the last 3 months, they bicker like siblings all the time.”

Serenity laughed at something Steve said, Bucky stared at her. She looked over at him and smiled. Her hands were placed behind her back.

“So Sergeant, are you going to teach me to dance, or are you just going to sit there?” Bucky smiled, standing and extending his hand towards her

“May I have this dance, doll?” She smiled and grasped his hand

“Just don’t get mad if I step on your toes.” She said as they moved to the middle of the floor

“Never.” He said softly, wrapping his arm around her waist. Serenity looked down at her feet as soon as Bucky started to move. He smiled, placing his finger under her chin. Her eyes met his, hers were full of worry while his were full of reassurance. 

“Keep your eyes locked on mine,”

“But if I step on-”

“You’ll be fine, trust me.” She nodded, staring into his eyes. She felt the heat rise to her cheeks. She hated eye contact, it made her nervous. She could feel her heart racing, hearing the beating pounding in her ears. Was she nervous from the eye contact or was he making her nervous, both? She froze when Bucky winced, he smiled at her and shook his head. 

“You’re doing great, doll.” He whispered

“You know Steve and Peggy are just staring, do you think he’ll ask her to dance?”

“Steve’s a bit..shy.” Serenity sighed and the song ended, she could feel the soldiers staring at them, she turned to look at them, the dream team smiled at them and rose their glasses while the others looked away from her gaze. She smiled back at the boys and laughed. Sliding out of Bucky’s grasp, he frowned as he watched her make her way towards the table of soldiers. Bucky turned, Peggy was gone and Steve smiled at him. He sat back down next to Steve.

“She had a hard time making friends.” Bucky looked at Steve

“We both did, they treated me as a joke, and her, well, they were intimidated of her.” Bucky glanced at Serenity sitting with the new group of men.

“Intimidated by her?” Steve nodded

“Peggy thought it would be good for her to get some training in and she ended up”

“Kicking their asses?” Bucky smirked and sipped his beer

“Language.” Bucky laughed, looking over at the table when he heard her laugh. 

“You really like her, Buck?”

“Huh?” Bucky turned his attention back to Steve

“You like her?”

“Yeah, don’t you?”

“You know that’s not what I mean, Buck.” Steve rolled his eyes, Bucky eyed his glass, beer almost completely gone. Serenity looked over to Steve and Bucky

“Would you like a beer?” Serenity turned her attention back to the men

“Oh, no. I don’t like beer”

“You don’t like beer?”

“Who doesn’t like beer?”

“It’s too bitter,” Serenity shrugged

“It seems that Sergeant Barnes can’t keep his eyes off you.”

“Maybe he’s just keeping his eye on Cap’s men, making sure they will be able to do their duties tomorrow.” Serenity smiled

“Maybe,” another replied

“Highly doubt it,” a voice to the right said

Serenity rolled her eyes but smiled. She shook her head and stood from the table.

“It was nice to meet and talk to you boys,”

“Nice to meet you as well,” They said, as she made her way towards Bucky and Steve.

“Peggy left?”

“Early day tomorrow,” Steve responded

“You should’ve asked her to dance,” Steve smiled against his glass and shook his head

“Chicken,” Serenity crossed her arms and pouted slightly

She sighed, “It’s getting late, I should head back.”

She started to make her way towards the door

“Wait, Doll!” She turned to see Bucky chugging the last of his beer and quickly grabbing his jacket

“What?” She asked when Bucky jogged next to her

“I’ll walk you back,” Serenity shook her head

“You should stay here. Catch up with Steve and have fun with your friends.”

“It’s fine,” She turned to look at Steve

“We can catch up later. Let him walk you.” Steve smiled

“Are you sure?” 

Steve nodded “Go,”

Serenity smiled and nodded “I’ll see you later Steve,”

He raised his glass towards her and Bucky and made his way towards his team. Serenity turned back to Bucky, he held the door open for her and they made their way down the street.

“You and Steve got close?”

“Following him all around Europe for 3 months can do that.”

“I’m glad the two of you got close,”

“Why’s that?”

“Cause Steve’s my best friend,”

Serenity faked gasped “Are you saying you wouldn’t be friends with me if I didn’t get along with Steve?” 

Bucky smirked and chuckled.

“Maybe,”

“I am offended,” She laughed

Serenity tried to run her fingers through her hair but groaned when the pins pulled on her hair, slowly she pulled out pin by pin

“I have no idea how girls can wear their hair like this, I think Peggy used at least 2 packs of pins on my hair,” She said irritated, Bucky watched her nose scrunch up in frustration. He smiled. She continued to pull pin after pin out of her hair. Bucky reached out and she froze. Serenity hated when people touched her hair, Peggy had to fight her on it. Bucky’s hand froze when he saw her glare at it, he smiled slightly and hesitantly pulled a pin out of her hair. He held it up

“You missed one,” 

“Thanks,” Her voice was shaky. She reached for the pin

“I should give these back to Peggy,”

“I don’t think she’ll mind if they went missing,” Serenity smiled, she flipped her hair in front of her face and shook her head, running her fingers through it. Flipping her hair back, she smiled brightly.

“That feels so much better.” She moaned slightly, massaging her scalp. She looked back at Bucky who had slight pink tint on his cheeks

“Are you ready to keep walking?” Bucky nodded

“Where are you staying, doll?”

“Hmm, well I’m staying with Peggy now.”

“Now? Who were you staying with before?

“By myself, Steve and the senator’s aide would stay together.” Bucky nodded

The two walked in comfortable silence, every once in a while she would hum a random melody, their hands brushed against one another. Bucky glanced over at their hands, he slowly reached over, but she turned sideways and pointed.

“We’re here,” Bucky looked over towards the little barrack. They made their way towards the door

“Thank you for walking me back, Bucky.”

“It was my pleasure, doll,” He smiled, Serenity opened the door. She turned back towards him.

“Buck,”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for teaching me how to dance,” She kissed his cheek and walked into the barrack. Bucky stood there, face red and smiling like an idiot.

Tags:

@bluemoon-icecream​ @ginger-swag-rapunzel​

[steves-on-a-plane]

I’ll Be Seeing You

Written for: @star-spangled-bingo​ 2021!  (& All Caps Flash Bingo!)       Words: 1526  All Caps Flash Square Filled: Learning Together Pairing: Steve Rogers x Bucky Barnes (Stucky) Warnings: none, all content SFW.  Summary: Bucky and Steve go on their first camping trip together in ninety years. When Steve forgets to pack his own tent, the cool night air turns steamy...

“You two all ready for your big camping trip?” Sam asked Bucky and Steve as they loaded up the latter’s SUV.

“Sure, you don’t want to come with us?” Steve offered again as he stuffed two extra-large sleeping bags into his trunk.

“Am I sure I don’t want to be out in the hot sun for three days with nothing but mosquitos and Lyme disease?” Sam laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure. Besides, someone’s got to protect and service while you two are out in the woods playing Rambo.” Sam wished both his friends a safe trip before jogging back inside the compound.

“Which one of us is Rambo?” Steve asked Bucky.

“Get in the car, Rogers.” Bucky shook his head. He hopped into the front passenger’s seat and waited for Steve to slip behind the steering wheel.

“This is nice.” Steve gripped the steering wheel eagerly. “When was the last time we went camping together?”

“Twenty-Nine? Maybe? That one year we were in the scouts.” Bucky tried to recall.

“So, a solid ninety years ago? This will be fun.” Steve seemed confident. He started his vehicle and began piloting it out of the Compound’s long driveway. They still had a journey ahead of themselves until they reached the nearest campground in Virginia.

“You know, Shuri taught me that you can put music on these things?” Bucky indicated his smartphone. “So I asked her to help me do it. This is one of my favorite songs.” He tapped on the first song in the playlist.

As the song began to play on the SUV speakers, Steve was first impressed that Buck had figured out how to work the Bluetooth thing in his car. He then began to listen to the song. It was I’ll Be Seeing You this particular recording was being sung by Billie Holiday and still had that microphone crackle that all old recording once had. The song went on to say how Billie would be seeing someone in all their old familiar places. Lovely summer’s days, the moon and even the park. Steve understood why Bucky would like the song so much. It was how he’d always felt about his best friend.

There wasn’t a day that went by when Steve didn’t think of Bucky. Not before or during the war and certainly not after. He often found himself “seeing” Bucky everywhere he went. Whether it was imagining the two of them dining together in a small café or strolling together down a Brooklyn street. But you don’t have to pretend anymore. He reminded himself as the song reached its conclusion.

“Now this next one is because I know how much you like the movies.” The unmistakable tune of Somewhere Over the Rainbow began to play next. Steve couldn’t help but sing along.

“There’s a land that I’ve heard of, once in a lullaby. C’mon Buck, Sing with me!” He insisted.

“I’m not going to do that.” Bucky frowned.

“It’s just us, who are you trying to impress?” Steve laughed. “Someday I’ll wish upon a star…”

“And wake up where the clouds are far behind…” Bucky crooned reluctantly.

“That’s it!” Steve nodded, encouragingly. “That’s where you’ll find me!”

Bucky always hated singing, but music and movies made Steve happy. Especially back in the pre-serum days when he was weak, nothing brought a smile to Steve Rogers like belting out his favorite tune. So Bucky was going to suffer the entire four hour car ride to the camp ground just to watch his best friend light up beside him. He’d known for almost a century that he’d do anything for Steve Rogers.

“Well, here we are.” Bucky announced as if Steve wasn’t the one following the GPS directions to their campsite. Steve parked his SUV in the designated parking spot and the two began unloading their gear. “Should we start with the tents first or get a fire going?”

“I say divide and conquer.” “Steve breathed. “Get the most out of what little daylight we have left. I’ll pitch the tents and you can get the firewood?”

“Last one to finish has to cook dinner?” Bucky suggested.

“Bring it on.” Steve agreed.

While Steve dug around in the trunk of the SUV, looking for the tents, Bucky skulked off into the woods in search of firewood. Twenty minutes later, Bucky had a decent pile of wood gathered and started building his fire. He noticed Steve had managed to only set up one tent so far.

“Rogers, where are you sleeping this weekend?” He asked nodding at the single tent.

“Yeah, about that…” Steve rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Apparently we only packed one tent.”

“That’s my tent.” Bucky commented, continuing to work on his fire. “So really, it’s not that we only packed one tent it’s that you didn’t pack any tent.”

“It appears that way.” Steve sighed, dropping his hand to his side.

“Don’t worry Rogers, my parents taught me how to share. There’s plenty of room for both of us.” Bucky smiled and turned back to his fire which he was just about to light.

“Only seems fair I cook dinner.” Steve offered. “I’ll finish setting up camp. That give you enough time to finish the fire?”

“Fire’s finished.” Bucky said, fanning at his small spark. After a few seconds, he produced a small flame. “All that’s left to do is kick back and watch you cook.”

Bucky set up the two foldable chairs Steve had managed to excavate from the back of the SUV and took a seat. He was sure to angle his chair so that he could watch Rogers single handedly unpack their equipment. It wasn’t a particularly warm night, but carrying the equipment certainly had Steve sweating. He peeled off his sweat soaked shirt before hefting their cooler out of the vehicle.

“You know Rogers,” Bucky commented getting out of his seat to remove a beer from the cooler. “I’m not that hungry. He twisted the top off his drink and pressed the bottle to his lips.

“We haven’t eaten all day.” Steve huffed as he watched his friend down the cold beverage. “How can you not be hungry?” Bucky just shrugged in response. “We could skip dinner and go right to campfire songs…” Steve teased.

“I’d literally rather chop my good arm off.” Bucky countered.

“Fine, fine.” Steve shook his head in surrender. “What’s your opinion on s’mores?”

“You’re not going to stop until I do one of these manufactured-idealized camping moments with you, are you?”

“I’m not going to force your hand Buck…” Steve laughed.

“Where are the marshmallows?” Bucky rolled his eyes.

Three bags of marshmallows, several chocolate bars and a sunset later, Bucky and Steve sat in their folding chairs and watched their fire die down. Bucky stretched and yawned, now full of gelatin, sugar, crackers and chocolate he was ready for bed. Steve couldn’t help himself but yawn too.

“Ready to hit the hay?” He asked his best friend.

“Yeah I could call it.” Bucky agreed.

He got to his feet and made his way over to the tent. Bucky kicked off his shoed and climbed into the tent. Steve followed him. He turned on their magnetic tent light so that they could get ready for bed. As both men stripped down their boxes, Steve noticed for the first time to amount of scars covering his best friend’s body. He couldn’t help but wonder what the hell was strong enough to scar a super soldier.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer.” Bucky commented sarcastically. He felt uncomfortable under Steve’s gaze.

“I-I wasn’t…I Just…” Steve fumbled for an explanation. Bucky watched his friend’s cheeks flush in the dim lighting. The two were so close together in the tent they could practically feel each other’s breath.

“Oh these old things?” Bucky joked. He trailed one scar that ran across his chest and up over his shoulder. “Most of ‘em don’t hurt much anymore.”

“What about the other ones?” Steve sighed, his breath shaky.  

“You get used to it.” Bucky shrugged.

“Could I…” Steve reached out cautiously. His fingers brushed the same scar that Bucky’s had just traveled. His friend shivered slightly at the touch. “Sorry…” Steve started to pull back, but Bucky caught his wrist.

“it’s okay, I’m not made of glass.” He said in a gruff tone.

The two men locked eyes. Bucky wasn’t sure if he leaned into Steve or if Steve had moved towards him, But the two men shared a silent agreement as they pressed their lips together. It was everything Bucky had been dreaming of since before the war. Bucky moved his arms so that he was holding Steve and just as he was about to part his lips, he felt Steve’s hands push his shoulders away.

“I’m sorry!” Bucky apologized immediately.

“No, No.” Steve mumbled rubbing Bucky’s shoulders. “I’m sorry. It’s just…I’ve never done something like this before.”

“Neither have I. Do you want to stop?” Bucky asked with genuine concern.

“No.” Steve answered.

“Can we just, ah, take it slow?” Steve bit his lip.

“As slow as you want, Baby.” Bucky promised, gong back in for another kiss.

[athenasbloodyspear]

The Viper: Chapter Four

Bucky Barnes x Female Reader

Find this fic on Ao3.

This fic is 18+ for violence and eventual sexual content. Please read at your own risk.

Master list

Everyone was silent as they hurtled across the Atlantic. The void only broke when they finally started to lose altitude as they approached Kyiv and Tony went over the plan again. 

Bucky had only really been paying half attention. Something about trying to save whoever was being kidnapped, and to see if they could get their hands on any intel in the building. They needed to know what Hydra was planning. 

There was a faint hissing sound as the ramp to the jet opened slowly. They were a few miles out from the building they were going to try to break into. Tony believed it was a temporary Hydra camp in a warehouse. A stop on their route. They were holding hostages there, likely waiting for an extraction. The goal was to get in, kill as many agents as possible, free the hostages and get intel. 

Bucky and Tony were on duty to distract hostiles. Steve was in charge of finding and protecting hostages. Nat was on intel. Sam was to stay flexible and assist where needed. They were likely a little outnumbered, but they’d be okay.

“Bucky, are you sure you’re okay to do this?” Steve murmured softly. “You seem a little out of it.” 

“I’m fine, Steve. Just thinking.” 

Steve gave Bucky a solid pat on his shoulder before wandering down the ramp. 

“You’re not crazy.” Nat spoke quietly from where she had crouched to adjust the straps on her boots. “I felt it too. I don’t think she’s working for Hydra.” 

Bucky looked over at Nat then. “Why are you so sure?” 

Nat stared at Bucky for a long moment before standing. “Something about her eyes.”

Bucky grunted. They both stared down the ramp at where Steve and Sam were stretching and Tony was suiting up in silence. 

“You can trust your instincts Buck.” Nat murmured. 

Bucky didn’t say anything else as she sauntered down the ramp and headed into the woods, throwing a snarky “You comin boys?” over her shoulder. 

He wanted to listen to her, but when Hydra was involved he always wondered if it was Bucky or Soldats instincts talking to him. 

--

When they approached the perimeter of the warehouse they split up, Nat and Steve went one direction with Bucky, Tony and Sam heading another. It wasn’t long until they encountered some agents patrolling the perimeter. With the silencers attached to Bucky’s weapons he easily disabled the agents before they could even touch any buttons on their radios. It was a little bit disturbing how quickly Bucky’s mind slipped into a calm. This was a world he knew very well, on both sides of his mind. 

“Alright everyone. Metal man and I are going to make a scene at the front of the building, it’s time for you to get in there.” Tony crooned over the coms. Bucky just rolled his eyes. “What, big guy? It’s not like I’m going to ask you to perform karaoke for your mortal enemies. Unless you want to.” 

“Just get on with it Tony.” Bucky muttered. 

“Gladly.” Tony flew upwards quickly, landing directly in the middle of all of the agents at the front of the building. “Hey there assholes.” 

“Fucking-A…” Bucky mumbled jogging a bit to break through the tree line. He crouched behind a truck and began picking off agents from afar as Tony was blocking bullets and engaging in some intense hand to hand combat near the front door. “By distraction I didn’t think you’d land in the middle of them.” 

“Don’t miss, James.” Tony spluttered between punches. 

“Oh but it would be so easy for me to claim that I was aiming for them right now…” Bucky snapped back. 

“We might need a little help in here…” Nat’s voice suddenly came crackling through the coms. She sounded a little winded. “There’s definitely more baddies here than expected.” 

“We’ll be there in a second.” Tony grunted out, punching the very last of the agents surrounding him directly in the throat. The hostile spluttered and fell to his knees. Bucky put a bullet in his head as he walked past Tony and through the front door. “That was a waste of a bullet.” Tony snapped. 

“He didn’t need to suffer.” Bucky muttered. 

“You’ve gone soft Barnes.” Tony snapped back. 

“Yeah and you’re a dick but you’re not usually evil.” 

“I’m angry, Barnes.” 

“Join the fucking club.” 

“Can you two stop it and get over here? We’re in trouble.” This was Steve this time. “Sam stay outside and make sure we have an exit clear. We might just have to abandon this and come back after for recon.” 

“On it. Aim for the south entrance, that one looks the best for sightlines.” Sam commented from the sky. 

When Tony and Bucky rounded the corner into the main hangar of the warehouse they saw exactly what Steve and Nat had meant. There had to be about thirty agents around them, all engaged with them in hand-to-hand and more kept trickling in from various doors and hallways. 

“Jesus they were ready for us…” Tony muttered. “Fucking Viper.” 

“Shut the fuck up.” Bucky barked as he snagged an agent on the outside of the circle around the middle and body slammed him down against the concrete. It seemed everyone was opting for hand to hand combat now that they were all in such close quarters. It was a little too close for anyone to use firearms without risking their friends. 

The four of them seamlessly fell into a rhythm, Bucky and Tony fought through the crowd toward Natasha and Steve before turning and covering their backs. 

“They just keep fucking coming.” Tony grunted. “We’re just going to have to fight toward the south door and maybe gain an advantage outside.” 

A hostile had Bucky in a headlock currently, and he was trying to shift his weight so he could topple him backward when suddenly Bucky felt the splattering of blood across the right side of his face and his attacker crumpled to the ground, nearly taking Bucky with him. Bucky staggered and looked down at the man and found a round bullet hole in his forehead. When he lifted his head to look around he watched as four other hostiles crumpled to the floor as they rushed him, all with matching bullet holes in their foreheads. With the trajectory of the bullets the person must be… behind him? 

He spun and all of the breath punched out of his chest. 

It was you. The Viper. You were repelling quickly down from the ceiling, cocking and reloading your weapon and firing in quick succession at anyone who got too close to any of the four of them. 

You were here. Firing on your own agents. 

What was happening? 

Suddenly all action seemed to pause as everyone realized a new comer had entered the room. Tony, Steve and Nat all looked up at the same time. 

“Jesus christ.” Tony spluttered. 

“Hey fuckers!” You yelled. “Miss me?” 

You hit the ground with a vengeance, springing at the nearest Hydra agent and tackling him to the ground, shoving a knife into his chest. The agents around you all broke into rapid discussions in Russian and from what Bucky could pick out, they were very concerned. No, they were terrified that you were there.  

What the fuck is going on? 

You tore your way through a wall of agents that were rushing you and ran straight at Natasha. Steve jumped in front of Nat quickly and lifted his shield. Tony was half watching you and half punching agents. 

“Easy Captain.” You chuckled. Bucky watched as you reached around the Captain’s shield and plopped a flash drive into Nat’s palm. “Get out the south door. They officially want me more than you at the moment. No offense. It’s personal.” You lifted your gun and fired three times over Nat’s shoulder, clearing a direct path to the door. “Go.” 

Then Bucky watched, completely entranced, as you ran north. Directly opposite of the safe exit. All of the hydra agents paused briefly and seemed to war with what to do. A good chunk of them broke off to follow you. He heard your sultry chuckle and a low “It’s been a while boys” before Steve grabbed his shoulder. 

“Bucky we have to go!” Steve shouted, chucking his shield and knocking down two agents before it ricocheted back into his hands. Steve grabbed him by the elbow and started dragging him toward the south door. Bucky’s feet cooperated and started running, but his attention was still behind him. 

He watched as you flipped and jumped and took down agent after agent with your fists. It was brutal, efficient, and beautiful. You didn’t hesitate. The team was almost at the south door when suddenly a loud blaring alarm sounded and a voice came over the speaker in Russian. Something about code four. They all skidded to a halt, looking at both Bucky and Nat to translate before they ran out a door into the unknown. 

“They’re firing up the anti aircraft guns!” You yelled from the opposite end of the hangar. You’d managed to knock out every agent that had pursued you. You were crouched with your hands on your knees, sucking in deep breaths. There was so much blood on you and it terrified Bucky that he didn’t know if any of it was yours. “There’s no hostages here. There’s no one to save. You have to get out of here. And get your friend out of the sky.” 

You stood, and turned, started running toward a set of stairs on the edge of the room. 

“Where are you going?” Tony called.

“Worried about me Tony Stark?” You quipped as you started climbing the stairs. “How sweet. I’m going to go see if I can fuck with their auto aiming system enough for you to fly your fancy jet out of here.” 

“Where will you go?” Nat called. 

You didn’t answer. You just paused and gave nat a quick smile before slipping through the door and into the compound. 

“Well you heard the woman. Let’s skedaddle.” Tony spoke up. 

The group sprinted out the warehouse doors and surprisingly didn’t run into any agents as they ran through the woods, back to the jet. They met Sam on foot, running through the woods. He must have heard her message through the coms. Back on the jet, Tony started running scans to see what kind of anti-aircraft guns they had. Friday warned that there were multiple missile locks on the jet.

Tony and Friday worked in tandem to see if they could find a way to jam signals or scramble the scanner just enough to get out, but it was unnecessary. After a few minutes of frantic working, Friday informed them that someone must have scrambled the system from the inside because Hydra no longer had a missile lock on the jet. 

“Sir, you have about five minutes of free air before their system goes back online.” 

“Everyone hang on!” Tony yelled, yanking up on the throttle and hurtling them into the air. 

“You okay?” Steve asked Nat, who was hanging onto the straps on her seat tightly and staring blankly out the back window of the jet. 

“She doesn’t think she’s going to make it out.” Nat muttered. 

“What?” Bucky barks. 

“The look in her eyes as she ran out that door. She didn’t enter that warehouse thinking she’d walk out of it. I know that look.” 

“We have to go get her.” Bucky snaps at Tony. 

“Listen, Buck, I’m really glad she helped us out back there, but that doesn’t mean I want to risk all of our lives to go back and pick her up. We still don’t really-” 

“She saved our lives, Steve!” Bucky cut Steve off. He was seething now. “You locked her in a little glass box even though she surrendered to us on her own. You subjected her to tests like a goddamn animal. Exactly like they did to me. You treated her like a monster and she still risked  her life in there. Multiple times. For us. Go back. And. Get. Her.”

There was a moment of tense silence in the jet.   

“He’s right.” Sam whispered. 

“I swear to god Barnes, if I die because we’re turning around to pick up a mass murderer I will personally oversee making your time in hell even worse.” 

Suddenly the jet rattled and the whole team whipped around to watch out the bottom windows as the entire warehouse was engulfed in flames. The explosion caused the whole jet to shudder. 

“No.” Bucky whispered. 

“Fuck.” This was from Nat. 

“Nat. Give me that thumb drive. Whatever was on there must really be worth it to her.” Tony muttered. 

Nat walked slowly to Tony and dropped the flash drive in his hand. Tony hesitated a moment before he put it in the quinjet. “Do you still want to go back?” 

Bucky didn’t say anything as he stared at the flames. 

Tony plugged the flash drive in. 

--

Your lungs were burning and full of ash. 

You’d dragged yourself out of the rubble and crawled a hundred or so yards into the woods before collapsing onto your back. 

You didn’t know if anyone was still alive back there. You were kind of shocked you still were. You really didn’t care at this point if one of them found you and took you out. You just wanted some fresh air and to see the sky.

You were so tired. 

The twilight blue of the sky made you smile. Soon there would be stars. You loved the stars. A little light in the dark. It always spoke to you. 

They had the information. They had more power and resources than you did. They could take care of it. They had to. It was what they did. They saved people. 

You never should have deluded yourself into thinking you would do it with them. You weren’t a savior or a hero. You were a killer. Plain and simple. A monster. Unable to make the right decisions to help anyone but yourself. It was survival and vengeance. That’s all you felt. 

They would help. They would save them. You couldn’t, but you’d gotten the information to the people who could. 

You offered a small smile to the sky before you opened your dry cracked lips to whisper.

“They’ll come get you. You’ll be okay. I promise.”  

Taglist:

@maxsaturdayhatesnarwhals

@daddysfavoritesexkitten

[arrow-guy]

Broken Flock (7/??)

Summary: It’s been two years since you uprooted your life and left to figure out who you really are, leaving behind Bucky and Clint with little more than a note as a warning. Now, New York is calling your name and it’s time to go home. How will Clint and Bucky react to your return, and how will the time have affected your relationship?

A/N: Again, this chapter is dealing with really heavy themes that could potentially trigger some readers. Please read at your own discretion.

Page dividers by @carryonmyswansong​

Word Count: 2.8k

Pairing: WinterhawkxReader

Warnings: Kidnapping, panic attack, mentions of sedation, needles

Part 6

Clint and Bucky don’t get home till nearly four in the morning. They stumble up the stairs, exhausted and on the verge of collapsing. They’re determined to make it up to (Y/N)’s apartment before they fall asleep.

They bundle into the apartment and are surprised to find only the stove light on. (Y/N) usually leaves, at least, a couple of lamps left on in the living room and a lamp on in the bedroom. Bucky looks up at Clint, concern evident on his face and Clint squeezes his arm in an attempt to reassure him. Clint moves further into the apartment to check the bedroom, while Bucky investigates the kitchen.

It only takes Clint a moment to flick on the bedroom light before he calls out to Bucky and joins him in the kitchen. He stops short when he sees Bucky hunch in on himself and cover his mouth with his hand.

"What is it?" Clint asks.

Bucky holds up a slip of paper. "Something's wrong."

"What?" Clint turns on the rest of the kitchen lights and takes the paper from him. "She left a note?"

Bucky nods silently and Clint gently pulls him to his chest with one arm. He runs his hand up and down Bucky's back, hoping to keep him calm, while he reads the note.

Hey guys!

I don't know if you'll be back before me, but in case you are, I'm heading out to stretch my wings. After last week I think I need a little break, haha. It's 8:45 right now, but I'll stop by Clint's place to feed Lucky before I head out for the day. I'll have my phone with me if you need to get in contact.

See you when you get home!

(Y/N)

P.S.: I'm not running away again. I promise.

The note falls from Clint's hand and he wraps his arms fully around Bucky. It slowly sinks in that (Y/N)'s been gone for well over twelve hours and Clint begins to panic.

"Maybe she decided to camp out for the night," Clint offers. "She hates being cooped up for too long."

"No, she would've texted or called or something." Bucky takes a deep, shaking breath. "Something's wrong, and you don’t want to admit it."

“Of course I don’t wanna admit it, Buck. She’s-” Tears form in his eyes and he wraps Bucky tighter in his arms. “She’s our girl.”

“We gotta get her back.”

“We will.”

Bucky shakes his head and pulls away. “I can’t do this again. I can’t lose her.”

Clint wipes away Bucky’s tears and then his own. “I know. And we’ll find her. I’m gonna call Steve and Nat and Sam. We’re gonna get every single pair of eyes we can on this.”

Bucky covers his face with his hands and Clint tucks him under his chin. They stand silently in the kitchen until they’re able to speak again. Bucky takes a seat on the couch and texts Steve while Clint immediately calls Natasha. He can hear Bucky sniffle and has to force himself to stay where he is.

Natasha is not in a good mood when she picks up.

“It’s four in the morning.”

“I don’t give a shit, (Y/N)’s gone.”

“What do you mean she’s ‘gone’?”

“Bucky ‘n I just got home and she wasn’t here.”

“She probably ran off again. I know you don’t want to hear this, but she’s done it once, she’d probably do it again.”

“The fuck she would, she’s settled here, Nat. She wouldn’t just leave without telling us.”

“You don’t know that.”

Clint’s tempted to break something. “Nat, I’m telling you, she wouldn’t fucking do that. She wouldn’t do that to us. Not again.” His breath catches in his throat and he does his best to hold back his tears. “Please, Nat. We need your help.”

Natasha sighs. “Fine, I’ll be there in a bit.”

Clint sighs, relieved. “Thank you. Would you bring Steve with you? Buck’s getting in contact with him, but we need his help on this.”

“I’ll let him know.” She pauses. “Anyone else you want on this?”

“Sam,” Clint says. “He’s good at this kind of stuff. And I’m gonna call Tony and see if he can help at all. I don’t want him physically looking for her though. We’re already impatient enough as is without adding his stress to the mix.”

“Okay. See you soon.” She hangs up before Clint can say goodbye.

Clint sits on the coffee table in front of Bucky and takes hold of his shaking hands. “Nat’s on her way over with Steve and Sam.”

Bucky nods, but it’s clear that he’s still trying to process what’s happening. “Okay.”

“I’m gonna see if I can get Tony to help us track her phone.”

“Okay.”

“We’re gonna find her, Buck,” Clint murmurs. He kisses Bucky’s knuckles. “I promise.”

“You’re sure she didn’t just leave again?” Natasha asks.

“I’ve already fuckin’ told you, she didn’t just leave,” Clint growls.

“She left a note,” Bucky says. His voice is rough and makes Natasha do a double-take. When she sees his red-rimmed eyes, she realizes how serious this is.

“Can I read it?”

Bucky nods and points to the kitchen counter. Steve picks up the slip of paper and scans over it before handing it to Natasha. Her frown grows deeper the further she reads into the note. She opens her mouth to speak and Clint holds up one hand to stop her.

“We know she’s missing. Her laptop is still here and so is the rest of her stuff.” He wraps his arm around Bucky’s shoulders and sighs. “Like I said. She wouldn’t do this to us.”

“No, Clint I get that. Do you know where she would’ve gone?”

“North,” Bucky croaks out. “We were up there a couple weeks ago. She likes flying up there.”

“Did Stark manage to find her phone?” Steve asks.

Clint shrugs and checks his phone. “I think he’s still working on it. I’ll call him again-”

“No,” Steve says. “It’s alright, I’ll do it.”

Clint absentmindedly rubs circles against Bucky’s shoulder, trying to calm himself more than Bucky at this point. For all of his optimism, Clint knows how much he’s lost throughout his life. He’s lost his brother to the Swordsman, his childhood to abuse and the circus, his mother to his father… Hell, even his shitbrick of a father dying was a loss. But losing (Y/N) a second time overshadows all of that. There’s no time to mourn or process, just an overwhelming need to go, find, rescue. The urge to protect Bucky is there, too, but he knows that Bucky would never fall into his arms like a damsel in distress, even if there’s a tiny part of him that wishes he would. Wishes Bucky would let him take care of him. But he knows that taking care of Bucky means finding (Y/N) first.

Steve interrupts his thoughts, letting them know that Stark’s found the location, and Clint coaxes Bucky to his feet. He grabs his spare bow and quiver from his apartment before they leave the building.

Dawn breaks and brings even more anxiety with it.

They find her phone in the middle of the field Bucky had taken her to not even a month ago. Bucky's heart drops to his feet and he would walk away from all of this if it weren't for Clint's hand on his shoulder.

Bucky crouches down and picks up the phone. The screen is freshly cracked and the battery is nearly dead. He pockets the device and scans the surrounding area for any other sign of human life. He's about to say something when he notices that the top of a nearby tree has been snapped off. He reaches out to Clint and takes off as soon as he's got a hold of his hand.

"What is it?" Clint asks breathlessly.

"Something."

Clint knows better than to try and get anything more out of him when he's like this.

Bucky drags Clint to a clearing littered with crushed leaves, broken branches, and feathers that are too big to have come from any kind of bird. Both men freeze at the sight in front of them and Clint feels nauseous when he notices the dark, tar-like substance stuck to the majority of the feathers.

"I-I saw the broken off trees and I…" Bucky trails off and drops to his knees. "Oh, God."

Clint glances up from the carnage to see Sam hovering in front of a particular tree. He grabs something before he drops to the grass and walks over to Steve. Clint sees him say something about a bag and "Caught on a branch." His stomach clenches and he manages to force himself to walk over and investigate.

Sam turns as Clint approaches and holds out a tattered pack.

“I’m sorry, man,” he says. “This is all I could find.”

Clint reaches out with shaking hands and takes the bag. His breathing stutters. “Shit.”

“Is it hers?”

Clint nods. “Yeah. It’s hers.” He looks around the clearing. “The feathers are hers too, and they’re every-fucking-where.”

Clint watches Natasha prod at a clump of feathers. She frowns when she touches the tar-like goop and a string of it pulls away with her fingers. She scowls and walks away, making a note on her phone. Bucky’s wandered over to the one clear space in the middle of the grass and Clint joins him. He takes Bucky’s hand in his and hopes it’s at least a little comforting.

“She fell here,” Bucky murmurs, tracing a vague indentation in the grass. “And then it's like she just disappeared.”

Clint shakes his head. “She didn’t disappear, Buck. She was here. We’ll find her.”

He kisses the side of Bucky’s head and wraps him in a tight hug. Bucky hesitates, but slowly wraps his arms around Clint’s middle and presses his nose to his chest. Clint notices Natasha speaking with Steve and his brows pull together when she glances back at him before talking to Steve again. He sees her say “shot down” and “kidnapped” and the hopelessness starts to settle in again.

There’s something wrong with my left wrist. Probably a sprain. Both of my wings are sore from tip to shoulder, but I think I twisted my right wing on the way down to the ground. My ribs are probably fractured after snapping so many branches, and it’s hard to breathe. Secondary to all of that, every inch of exposed skin stings with little tiny scrapes and cuts.

I have to take my time in sitting up and wince when my wings stretch a little too far. There’s something that’s stopping my feathers from fanning out to the point that any kind of movement slowly becomes painful. I slowly extend my left wing, hoping to investigate whatever's stuck to my feathers and stare in confusion at the mess of black goo covering the majority of my secondaries. Cautiously, I reach out and try to remove some of it, and I only succeed in pulling a feather loose. I swear and flick the goo that came away on my fingers to the floor.

I sigh and try to fold my legs underneath myself, but my motions are inhibited by a pair of shackles around my ankles. A long length of chain tethers the shackles to the floor. With that, in combination with the crippling soreness that's starting to settle deep into my bones, I realize that I'm not getting out of here any time soon. Wherever here is.

I shuffle back until my back hits the wall and my eyes slowly begin to adjust to the low light in the room. It looks like I’m being held in a small barn. Little slivers of light creep through cracks in the walls and fall across my hands, revealing every little cut and scrape. I sigh and angle myself so that I can reach the goop on my left wing. I lick the pads of my fingers and try to work some of the stuff from my feathers. It’s slow going, but I manage to avoid pulling out any more feathers.

Eventually, I can’t keep up with cleaning myself, and exhaustion settles in every inch of my body. I curl into myself and doze off.

“An excellent specimen, Doctor.”

I don’t recognize this voice. The sounds of conversation slowly creep in at the edges of my consciousness. I keep my head down and just listen.

“As it should be, I made the serum!”

“When was she made?”

“I can’t be sure. It was not a procedure that I performed. I believe she was an accident.”

“Ah, well, you know what Bob Ross says.”

The second voice laughs. “I think you’re onto something, there, my friend.”

It takes a moment for it to register that these people are the reason I have my wings. And they’re just talking about me like I’m some kind of animal. An experiment.

One of them begins to pace in front of me. “It appears that she’s been sleeping for nearly twelve hours. Should we be concerned?”

“No, the serum imparts a sort of healing factor. The fastest way for her to heal is to sleep.” The shift and their shoes scrape along the concrete floor. “That being said, I don’t know the extend of her injuries. And her breathing has changed since we started speaking.”

The one pacing stops mid-stride. “She’s listening.”

“Precisely.”

Their footsteps approach and I panic. Fingers sink into my hair and wrench my hair back. I’m forced to look up at the woman who had previously been referred to as the Doctor. Out of the corner of my eye, I can just barely see the wiry young man that holds my head back.

“What should we do with her?” the young man asks. “Do you think she’s ready for tests.”

“Please,” my voice comes out scratchy. “Please, don’t.”

“I’m not sure,” the woman says. She begins to pace. “On the one hand, I’ve been waiting for weeks to capture her. Her strength and speed are unlike any of our previous subjects. I’m curious to see what makes her different from the others.”

“But?”

“But she’s been very clearly hurt.”

The man’s hold on my hair tightens and I whimper. He just tugs harder and I force my hands to stay where they are in my lap.

“We’ve been very careful in the past,” he says slowly. “We’ll sedate her. Keep her limbs still. She won’t feel a thing.”

“That is true…” I catch the wicked glint on her eyes and my stomach churns.

The young man laughs in my ear. “Excellent.”

“We’ll have to trim the tar from her feathers.” The doctor shakes her head. “Shame. They’re so beautiful.”

“Don’t touch my wings,” I plead. “Please.”

They just carry on as if I’ve said nothing. I watch the man grin, his eyes crazed. The doctor gestures towards the door and several large figures bundle into the barn. They all stalk over, arms outstretched and ready to grab me. I try to shrink away, but the man holding my head is stronger than he looks, and I can’t move an inch.

Hands latch onto my wrists, ankles, and wings, and I cry out in pain. I go limp in an attempt to make myself too heavy to carry, but they just twist my wings back to fold them. I bite down on my tongue to keep every whimper, groan, and sob from surfacing. My wrist and right wing scream out white-hot pain and, each time they jostle me around, a new jolt of pain lances through my body.

The three men dump me face down onto a metal table and roughly strap my arms and legs down. I beg them to leave me. To let me go. To just let me go. Nothing I say seems to reach their ears and tears streak down my cheeks by the time they wench my wings down to the table. Two large clamps descend from the ceiling and pin my wings to the table. I’m stuck and in pain.

The doctor appears at the edge of the room and she slowly approaches me. She seemed hesitant earlier. Maybe there’s some way I can reason with her?

“Please, don’t do this,” I plead. “You don’t have to do this. Please.”

She grabs my face and turns it from side to side. I whimper and pull against my restraints when she twists my head a little too sharply.

“You don’t understand,” she says. She presses my cheek to the table and my entire body seizes up as I feel someone slowly inserting a needle into my neck. “I want to.”

Her manic grin is the last thing I see as the world goes black. The hum of electricity fills my ears and my body goes completely limp.

-------

Part 8

So that was a ROUGH chapter, but I promise that there will be a happy ending I just need you guys to trust me on this.

If you’d like to yell at me, absolutely comment, reblog, and/or shoot me an ask.

If you would like to be tagged in future chapters, please let me know!

Tag list:

@ghostlyhamlet, @claws-of-vibranium, @creaturefeatures101, @buckysendoftheline, @imagine-assembling-the-avengers, @ptprocrastination, @1950schick, @amayasymone23, @arfrona-and-marvel, @ek823, @fanaticfangirl001, @furrywerewolfcollector, @kissofvenom922, @dawn-phantomhive, @fangirlwithasweettooth, @mairhof1, @starryeyesbadguys, @trap-house-homiecide, @buckywhitewolfbarnes, @kaepm981, @howdoesoneadult, @pcdmesamidala, @thefandomplace​, @sian22redux​, @skeletoresinthebasement​, @lady-thor-foster​, @jazzcutie​, @gaytonystark​, @geeksareunique​, @nyxveracity​, @breezy1415​, @feelmyroarrrr​, @darling-loki​, @lemonadeorange73​, @tofeartheunknown​, @queenoftheunderdark​

This fic:

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