#jaws must have lost their damn mind if wanda has anything to say about it

[inkblot-inc]

Jaws and Yelena going around the compound seeing what they can box jump onto. Wanda throws things at them when she finds them standing on the kitchen counter

PFFT- 😂

These two just stay *doing shit*

Jaws was the first to try and jump on the counter. "HA, got it first try! I told you I could- *ACK!*"

"Jaws, I know you aren't standing on top of where we EAT!"

[shurisneakers]

harmless (x)

Summary: Bucky volunteers to go stop a small time villain, but nothing can prepare him for what exactly he has to deal with. (Bucky x villain!reader, drabble series)

Warnings: cursing, frustrated bucky, dramatic reader, anxiety, smidge of angst, mentions of violence

Word count: 7.8k (i went overboard. clearly.)

A/N: as well all know, i am a humanities student writing science geeks. if any of this sounds unrealistic or nonsensical, it’s because it is and i am honestly too exhausted to research data privacy and AI so here’s my take on how STEM should work i.e. the power of friendship  <3 major shoutout to @iamlittlesparkler for the idea for this chapter!

here’s my ko-fi if you’d like to support my writing <333

Previous Part  || Series Masterlist

“As you know, we have a busy week ahead of us.” 

Coffees line the conference room table, pens click against the stacks of paper that settle in front of various agents and the smell of deodorant mixed with post-training sweat lingers at the back of the room like a disgusting witch concoction. 

“The annual parade is coming up and since there are a few security threats, SHIELD has been asked to step in. Therefore, all of you will be working security this week, possibly even at the parade.” Murmurs broke out in the room the minute this was said; mostly from first year field agents who were way too excited to have earpieces and fingerless gloves. 

Bucky, on the other hand, doesn’t think much of it. They’ve dealt with threats before, most were declared empty the minute it got out that SHIELD or the Avengers were involved. It’s the 12th one that year. 

“That’s only if we don’t catch it first,” Steve continued. “Our first priority is precaution. The tech and analytics teams are working on it. However, if you see anything suspicious, bring it up with Director Fury. He’s going to be around to make sure we’re not overlooking anything. Do you have any questions?”

More whispers erupted at the mention of Fury’s name. Wait till they realise he lives up to his name when they accidentally manage to set him off just by existing incorrectly.

Bucky smirks at the thought.

“You can leave then.” Steve straightens up as chairs shuffle against the carpeted floor, over twenty people leaving the room.

“And remember, if you see an eagle today, be sure to stand there and thank it on behalf of Steve for its service. Freedom! Liberty! And whatever else,” Tony calls out from the corner of the room, earning a sigh from the captain. Others only snicker as they close the door behind them.

“Thanks.” Steve stares at him stone faced, bemused at the symbolism that had been bestowed upon him.

“Gotta keep the patriotism high.” The only ones that remain are the official team. Bucky thinks that he should have left with the other agents but apparently, it was rude and not a good show of team spirit.

“How serious is this threat anyway?” Clint has his head face down on the table, hand holding his to-go coffee cup so it doesn’t fall over. 

“We’re not sure.” Steve finally takes a seat on the chair in front of him. “It’s the biggest event we’ve had this year, wouldn’t put it past them.”

“If it’s those Welsh kids again, I’m gonna punch a hole through their house this time,” Clint warns, voice muffled through the furniture. 

“It’s not them, we checked.” Nat had her leg up on the armrest of Clint’s chair. “Tech team’s been working overtime to figure it out.”

“You have anything that could help?” Sam sends a nod towards Tony.

“I got a few things but it’d take a while to put it together.” 

“Didn’t you learn quantum physics in a night?” Wanda’s picking apart a cookie into pieces, chewing slowly.

“Thermodynamic astrophysics,” he corrects her. “Quantum science took lesser.”

Bucky scoffs slightly at the brag, eyes still trained on the table in front of him. Maybe if he made no noise, they would forget he’s here.

“Yeah, so this should be a piece’a cake.”  

“If your cake was somehow made out of a highly specified tracker that somehow doesn’t violate the data privacy of the entire world while analysing millions of terabytes worth of information, then yeah. A piece of it.”

“What he means to say-” Bruce interjects, “-is that we’re trying. It’s just taking longer than usual.”

“Well, the parade’s this Sunday. Think it’ll be done by then?”

“Hey FRIDAY,” Tony crosses his arm over his chest. “How many hours have I slept this week?”

“Three and a half, boss.”

“How much more will I be getting?”

“From previous experience, about six.”

“Yeah, we can get it done.” Tony looks back at Steve. 

“Ask someone on the tech team to help you out.” Everyone was well aware of Tony’s bad coping mechanisms and how futile it was to get him to change his mind about it, but they still tried.

“They’re too busy.” Bruce pressed his lips into a straight line. 

Bucky tunes out at this point. If he could help, he would have reluctantly chimed in by now, but he couldn’t. 

“So what now?” Sam rips Clint’s doughnut into two, keeping one half for himself while leaving the other to the latter who still hadn’t lifted his head up from the table.

“I actually asked Fury if I could call in an external to come help,” Tony pipes up. 

“And he agreed?” Nat raised an eyebrow.

“After he realised I wasn’t going to leave his office until he said yes.” He pulled out his phone, rapidly typing out a message before hitting send. “It didn’t take too long.”

“Do we know this person?” Steve asks a little suspiciously.

“Well-” Bruce sneaks a glance at the broody man on the chair, “-kinda.”

Everyone can tell Bucky isn’t paying attention by the way he’s glaring holes into the plant. He doesn’t mean to, it just so happens that it looks like he wants to kill it. Nobody tends to bother him during meetings, knowing well and fully that he did not care.

“You’re about to.” Tony jumps up, making his way to the door to pull it open.

Bucky perks up. An open door means they can leave, right? He can go watch The Bachelor? He’s not sure what everyone was talking about, but if the meeting was over he could go ask Wanda who was always kind enough to help.

“Our newest recruit,” the billionaire announces, quickly adding the next part, “on a trial basis.” 

Bucky looks at the door.

His jaw drops open.

“No,” he says loudly, posture immediately stiff as a plank. 

“Hello to you too, Barnes.” You roll your eyes before sending a small wave to everyone else. “Hey everyone.”

“What are you doing here?” He looks like he’s seething. 

“Don’t tell me you forgot about our date.” You cross your arms over your chest in defiance. “You told me 3 o’clock, you player.”

“What is she doing here?” He whips to Steve for an answer.

“Hey Y/N,” Sam greets with a smile on his face before Steve can reply.

“Sam Wilson, good to see you again.” You grin.

“Right back at ya, sugar.” 

Wanda looks amused, Clint finally lifts his head off the table at the mention of your name while Nat takes her feet off his armrest, and Steve’s body relaxes when he realises what’s going on. 

“Okay.” Tony claps his hand. Bucky shoots daggers at him. “As you all know, this is Y/N. She’s going to working with us this week.”

“This is ridi- how did you even find out about her?”

“Aside from the fact that she’s all you talk about?” Clint snorts. Bucky shifts his glare to him. It was bullshit and an exaggeration and Clint was going to get a shoe up his ass very soon.

Your grin only grows bigger.

“We saw one of the repulsors she made some time ago,” Bruce answers his question like the sane person that he is. “Tony’s had her in mind for a while.”

“Repulsors? How on ear-” Bucky connects two and two together before turning to Sam. “You. You got her this job.”

“Sam’s my best wingman.” You send him a small heart made from your hands. Whether the pun was intentional or not, no one would know.

“Don’t look at me, I had nothing to do with this idea.” Sam raised his hands to brush off the blame.

“You’re a villain,” he points out loudly.

“I’m a saint.” You raise your hand to your heart in mock offence. “I have done nothing wrong in my life, ever.”

“Listen, Robocop,” Tony interrupts your conversation, bringing the attention back to him, “I cleared it with Fury. He’s the boss here.”

“Fury doesn’t know-”

“What don’t I know?” The atmosphere of the room changes the minute he saunters in. 

With an eyepatch on his face, gaze sharp and a long black coat, Nick Fury puts Bucky’s dark outfits to shame. Not like he was competing. 

Bucky doesn’t continue his sentence. Nick’s imposing presence loomed at the doorway, putting a stop to the ridiculous arguments that were beginning to boil. Instead, he looks at you, only to find your attention trained on the man of the hour.

“Nicholas,” you half cheer from where you had shifted to in the middle of all the commotion. 

Nicholas?

Nicholas?

No one had ever called him Nicholas. 

“Y/L/N,” Nick addresses in return. “Been a while.”

“You haven’t come to the lair in months, Nick.” You pout at him. “I even sent you an invite.”

Bucky furrows his eyebrows. Since when are you on such good terms with Fury? Since when was anyone on good terms with Fury?

“It must have gotten lost in the mail,” he fires back, “Or maybe it’s because I just happen to be the busiest man in the damn country. Take your pick.”

You roll your eyes, muttering something under your breath, but the good natured smile on your face shows that you didn’t take any of his passive- or straight up- aggressiveness to heart. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realise I was interrupting your little tea time.” He looks around the rest of the room with an edge in his voice. “Don’t you all have work to do?”

“We do,” Tony interrupts, holding up his hand before pointing to Bruce and you. “Everyone else just sorta sits around and looks pretty.”

“I’m gonna go talk to the organisers, see what spots are most vulnerable.” Steve stands up. “You coming?”

“Yep,” Sam responds, flicking Clint’s shoulder to drag him along. “Come on, man. When was the last time you took a shower?”

“I’ll go see what the kids are up to in training. They’re probably flying off the handle right now.” Natasha brushes off crumbs from her lap. “Barnes, you in?”

Bucky silently shakes his head, eyes focused on you as you introduce yourself to every Avenger who walks out of the room, sharing a small fist bump with Sam.

“I’ll do it,” Wanda volunteers instead, finally leaving behind only the Science Bros, you and Bucky in the room with Fury. 

“I’ll give you a tour of the lab.” Tony beckons and you nod, following him. “New eyepatch, Fury? Prada, I assume?”

“Stark,” Nick says curtly. 

Bucky stares after you, arms still folded across his chest.

“Any problem, Sergeant?” 

Other than the fact that his arch nemesis was now working with his friends, no, not really. But that did seem like a pretty big one.

“No,” Bucky mumbles instead, getting up from his place finally.

Apparently, no one else was worried about the possibly lethal combination of you and Stark, even with Banner there to dilute it. 

Fine.

Guess he just has to observe you the whole week.

Well, half a week. It was Wednesday. 

He observes inconspicuously over the rim of his coffee cup. He has a newspaper spread in front of him at Bruce’s table. 

It’s not suspicious. He’s been there multiple times to sit in silence with the scientist who occasionally tinkers with something while engaging Bucky in tidbits of conversation. He finds it calming, refreshing even

Today he has an agenda. Everyone knows about it too. 

“You know he’s staring at you, right?” Bruce looks up briefly from the giant blueprint laid in front of the group. 

Tony had been dragged away to get a proper meal into him after he stayed up for 36 hours straight with caffeine keeping his system running. 

“He has a tendency to do that.” You’re looking over the plan the three of you had come up with the day before. There were certain changes to be made in terms of efficiency. “Turns out if you annoy him, he stares harder.”

“We’ve heard about the inventions. Inators, he calls them?”

“Yeah,” you point out something on the sheet, drawing a circle around it to come back to later, “only good things I hope?”

“He doesn’t really talk much.” Bruce writes down a small comment against your arrow mark. “But if he hated them, he’d have a lot to say. So I’d take it as a compliment.”

“Would it annoy him if I did?”

“Probably.”

“I’ll take it as a compliment, then. Pass me the ruler?” You draw a line connecting two pieces. 

Bucky’s ability to lip read is excellent but he refuses to do it, for privacy purposes. He knew that SHIELD had pulled some strings and had another teacher substituting for your classes the whole week since your other option was to come only after school hours. Anything else about this plan was murky.

“You gonna sit there all day?” Tony looks over his shoulder, following his line of sight.

“I’ve done it before.” He continues to look over the newspaper at you with your finger extended at something on the blueprint as you explained something to Bruce.

“You look like- how do I say this nicely.” He wasn’t going to. “A fuckin’ stalker.”

“I’m supposed to stop her from doing anything evil.”

“Sure.” Tony snorts. “That’s what this is. Should I get you a fedora and sunglasses while we’re at it?”

Of course Stark wouldn’t care; he brought you into this project. It was pretty much impossible to get him to agree with Bucky.

Bucky just narrows his eyes and continues his observation. 

The menu of the cafeteria keeps changing. They like to keep things interesting.

Every time they do, Bucky spends too long staring at the menu, trying to figure out what exactly is familiar enough to order. Vietnamese week had him eating pho the entire duration it stayed.

“You plannin’ on eating anytime this century, sarge?” He recognises your voice immediately. 

He knows what time your break is and he knows that you generally eat lunch in the cafeteria with the science team. Generally, the three of you pour over solutions and debate points all through the meal, and he spends the time getting acquainted with his new, lowkey Instagram account. 

He blocks the Bucky Barnes hashtag the minute he gets an account again. God save his eyes from people asking him to break their back like a glow-stick. However, one afternoon of accidentally watching three cat videos has led to his entire explore page being taken over by them and he’s been trying for three days to get it to stop. 

“Just trying to-” he tilts his head. “-understand what I’m reading.”

“Not a big fan of Greek food?” You join him in looking at the menu. 

“Never really had the chance to try.” Tony and Bruce don’t seem to be in the room, probably pushing aside their meal to work on it as they’ve often done.

“Ah.” You already had your order in mind but you wait there. 

Two minutes later he’s still staring at the menu. He can feel your presence next to him, unmoving. It unnerves him.

“Why are you still standing here?” He cranes his neck to look at you.

“I’m just seeing how long it takes for you to order.” You shrug. “So far it’s been five minutes and forty six seconds. Forty eight now.”

“Go away.” The concept of someone standing beside him, waiting for him to do something reminded him far too much of him trying to bag his stuff at the grocery counter rapidly while other customers waited to pay. 

“Six minutes and thirty seconds. This is just sad now.”

“Your face is sad.” It was pathetic that he had now resorted to this.

It earned a laugh from you. 

As entertaining as it was to be able to get on his nerves by just standing silently next to him, you finally ask, “Do you want a recommendation?” 

He eyes you wearily. “You gonna give me food poisoning?” 

“Not today, no.” You shake your head slightly. “Maybe tomorrow.”

He stares a little longer. You remain unshaken in your offer.

“Fine.” He sighs, stepping aside. 

You tell him that since it’s his first time, you’d get him something basic. He thought it made sense. 

He argued with you when you ended up paying for the both of you, only shutting up when you told him he’s holding up the line and that he could pay you back later. It doesn’t stop his incessant mumble complaining. 

He ends up with gyros at his table and you sitting opposite him with your meal. He asks where the Science Bros are. You tell him it’s Science Hoes now, as christened by Tony, and that they’re in the lab.

“So?” You look at him eagerly.

“What?”

“How is it?” you urge, nodding at him.

He takes a cautious bite, really taking his time with it to annoy your impatient ass. 

“Well?” You raise your eyebrow at him.

“It’s-” he pauses, looking down at his food. “-good.”

“Aha.” You lean back victoriously. “Knew it.”

He likes it. He also knows that this is probably going to be the only thing he orders for the next week unless you had planned otherwise. 

“You’re not eating?” He gestures to your untouched tray.

“Taking it up to the lab. Got a few things to work on and we’re already behind.” You gather up your stuff and get up.

“Uh-” he pauses from practically inhaling the entire thing. He was already halfway done with it. “-thanks.”

“No problem. You wink at him. “Try figuring out what’s wrong with it.” 

You turn on your heel to leave, taking your order with you. He can see your shoulders bobbing with silent laughter. 

He stares down at his plate, swallowing slowly. 

He pokes at it with a fork, lifting up the leftovers to check if there’s anything underneath. Nothing. 

He checks to see if his limbs are still intact or his face was a different colour. Nope.

His stomach twists in worry about what’s going to happen. He still has a bit left but he pushes the tray aside.

The rest of the day he spends supervising you has you occasionally catching his eye, only to laugh. It only freaks him out more.

It takes eight hours of waiting and self induced tests later to realise there was nothing wrong with it. You were just playing with him.

He’s surprised to find you in the rec room when he strolls in with Sam, given that you haven’t taken a break all day.

You don’t share the same surprise... almost like you expected him.

“How long have you been waiting for me?” he immediately asks.

"I wasn’t here for you.” You raise an eyebrow at him. “Heard that Wilson was makin’ an appearance here soon so I stopped by to get a good look at him."

"Take a picture, it'll last longer.” Sam laughs, inserting a dollar into the machine and punching in the code for what he wanted.

"Gladly. Strike a pose, would you?" You grin, raising your phone.

“Maybe when I’m not covered in sweat.” Sam counter offers and you accept with a thumbs up.

“You going to the parade, Sam?” You toy with the can in your hands.

“I’ll be working security, so probably.”

“Sarge?” You take a swig of your drink.

“Huh?” He snaps back into the conversation, putting a stop to the mental list of reasons he was making of why you could be here at the same time as him. He knew your schedule, it wouldn’t be very hard for you to figure out his.

“You coming to the parade on Sunday?” you ask again.

“I guess.”

You wince.

“What?” he asks instantly, curiosity making him a lot sloppier than usual.

“It’s just- you wear so much black.” You gesture to his current getup to prove your point. ”I feel like all the bright colours would vaporise you if you looked at them.”

He doesn’t look amused.

“You know, like Prince Philip.”

“I think I’ll be fine.” He gives you a sarcastic smile.

“You comin’ Buck?” Sam laughs, unwrapping the bar he bought from the machine.

“You go ahead, I’ll catch up,” Bucky says offhandedly, still glaring at you innocently drinking your soda.

Sam chews absentmindedly on his protein bar as he walks out, amused at the situation Bucky pulled himself into.

“What’d you do?” Bucky asks, studying your body language.

“I bought a soda.” You lift the can to prove your point. “And now I’m drinking it.”

“Why are you waiting for me?”

“I thought I’d return the favour,” you point out. “I’m supervising you.”

“Don’t.” He walks to the vending machine, pulling out his wallet for some loose change. There was a Snickers bar he had been craving since morning that he bought every alternate day. Small joys.

“Why? I have the time.” You take a sip, setting it down with a clang.

“You’re only here for this week.” Bucky counted the coins he had. He’d use a dollar but he was trying to get rid of the jingling in his pocket that made him sound like a fucking clown when he walked.

“Actually,” you begin innocuously, “Tony offered me a full-time position.”

Bucky’s movements stop, hunched over the money in his palm.

“What?”

“Yeah.” You nod seriously. “A full nine-to-five as a researcher here.”

“And you’re taking it.” He shakes himself out of the minor shock to assess the damage.

“I don’t know. I got a lot of things to consider.” The chair scrapes against the tiled floor as you stand up. “But maybe you should get used to seeing me a lot more around here.”

He punches in the code for his Snickers. The row whirs forward slowly.

“See you at the lab.” He hears you discard the empty can in the trash before exiting.

He waits patiently for his bar to drop while his mind internally screams about the consequences of having you work here. You wouldn’t be evil anymore. Unless you were here to steal secrets from the Tower. On the pro side, his weekend would be free again. On the con side, his weekend would be free again.

His bar stops right at the edge of the row. He waits for it to fall over. It doesn’t.

He shakes the machine, suppressing the primal urge to beat the shit out of it when the damn bar refuses to fall.

He punches in a few random buttons hoping that at least it would give his money back.

The little monitor instead flashes a new message across the screen.

‘Have a good day, sarge <3’

Motherfucker.

Captain America looks less daunting up close, you realise. But he is still a very large man with very large shoulders. You know at least four people who would like to scale him like a tree, not that you’d ever tell him.

“Hey, Y/N.” He sends you a small smile when you walk into the room for a mid-week update. A clipboard in your hand, report attached and a few stationery items in case some points needed to be noted done, you look professional and ready.

“Afternoon, Captain.” Tony saves a seat for you and Bruce beside him since you’re on the same project. You almost miss the fact that Bucky isn’t in the room.

He walks in a few minutes late; tall, dark and brooding, immediately bringing the excitement in the room down by 40% by just existing. 

Bucky surveys the room before catching your eye. He picks up his chair with ease and drags it over to where you are, sitting right beside you, ignoring the small cry of protest from an agent whose view he now obstructed. Everyone else just silently shifted over.

“Clingy much?” you whisper at him, eyes still trained on Steve who had waited till everyone was seated to continue.

“I’m supposed t’be keeping an eye on you,” he rebuffs in a hush.

“Well, you’re late. What if I went rogue, huh?”

“Therapy ran overtime,” he mumbles.

“Oh.” You blink. “How was it?”

“Same old.”

“You good?”

He refrains from answering when Steve starts addressing the room but yes, he was fine. He sends you a nod to confirm. 

“This is just a usual checking in. We’ve received all your reports, but just to keep everyone on the same page-”

Bucky logs out mentally. He knows what his job is, he’ll probably lead a division of the security team or join the mission to neutralise the threat in case they find it first. Either way, he’ll figure it out without having to listen to an intern nervously stammer their way through their team’s report. 

On the other hand, you’re not listening either. You were until you saw Bucky’s eyes glaze over while glowering at the window, assuming that he had stopped paying attention when his gaze doesn’t shift.

You should be listening. You’re new here and you should know what’s going on because any bits of detail are crucial to the working of your system. 

Instead, you rip out a sticky note and discreetly place it on the back of Bucky’s metal arm. He doesn’t notice.

You bite your lip to stop yourself from smiling. More post-its from your pile of stationery make their way onto the vibranium, shades of pink, purple, green and yellow decorating his arm like a bulletin board. 

You’re about to contemplate sticking one on his shoulder blade when he whips around to look at you. You freeze, hand in the air with a sticky note. He looks down at his arm, a scoff escaping him in disbelief. 

“Are you serious?” He twists his arm to check the extent of how far you’ve gone. “What are you, six?”

“How’d it take you so long to notice?” You watch as he tugs them off one by one, counting to see how many you had managed to get on there.

“It’s impossible not to zone out in these shitty meetings,” he mumbles, pulling off the last one, crumpling all of them into a ball to throw at you. You skilfully avoid them. 

“Don’t you feel pressure or heat or anything here?” You poke at his metal arm.

“No.” He clenches and releases the fist. “It can block bullets though.”

You snort. “Bet that’s a popular line in bed.”

He rolls his eyes. “I mean, it helps that I can’t feel anything. Sometimes,” he adds the last part as an afterthought. 

“Like when you’re blocking bullets.”

“Especially then.” He nods. 

“Would you ever want to?” you ask casually. “Like if you got the choice, would you prefer having feeling in that arm?”

“I don’t know.” He’s thought about it, but it doesn’t seem feasible in his line of work. He’d like it, though, to feel sand slipping through his fingers and the comforter under his palm. “Maybe when I’m retired.”

“Aren’t you well past that age?”

“Shut up.” He rolls his eyes. “And pay attention. You’re next.”

“So you are listening.” True to his word, Steve asks about what’s going on with your team. “Traitor.” 

Tony shoots off about how you only had to test it out on a small batch first to see if you could acquire the targeted data without compromising anything else. You chime in about a few specifics, and Bruce more or less just confirms what you both are saying, only stopping to let them know that you’d be finished in a day or two.

Steve nods, moving on to the next committee.

“Did I get a good grade?” you whisper when you lean back again.

“B minus at best.” 

“Fuck you, dude. I was great,” you protested. “It’s definitely worth a gold sticker.”

Someone shushes you sharply. You apologise quietly, whacking Bucky’s metal arm when you see a dumb smirk on his face. 

He narrows his eyes at you. 

You try sticking another post-it on him.

You’re only here for a week. That’s what he’s been told. Over six times, actually, after which he’s been told to go away the next time he asked.

No one’s brought up the job offer so he asks Tony if it was true and all he gets is a dismissive ‘yeah, whatever’. Besides, you haven’t told him if you accepted or denied it yet so isn’t sure if this entire thing is set in stone, per se.

So then why do you have a giant box of your belongings that you’re lugging around the lab, looking to set down?

And why does Tony allow you a table right in the centre of the lab for everyone to see as soon as they walk in?

There are a gazillion trinkets, picture frames and obnoxiously bright stationery that stands out against the dull minimalism of the lab.

“Every single one of these is a fire hazard,” he reports, standing over your desk.

You give him a side glance before reaching over to the side of your desk, pulling up a fire extinguisher and setting it on the table in front of him. “I came prepared, bitch boy.”

He doesn’t dignify that with a response. He chooses to look at what exactly you’ve brought with you because it’s a lot.

There are small cards with ‘thank you!’ sprawled on them in uneven lettering, bits and pieces of paper with small cartoons on them, little clay models and other miniature trophies with ‘you’re the best!’ under it.

“Your students gave you these?” He can’t remember the last time he gave his teacher anything other than a headache.

“Sometimes they learn or communicate better when they have something to keep their hands busy.” There’s a certain fondness in your voice that he isn’t used to hearing. “I end up with a lot of doodles and craft.”

“’s nice of them.” He can tell that this means a lot to you. He hasn’t seen it before.

He thinks the little decorations are adorable and maybe he’d keep another fire extinguisher on hand, just in case. 

Until you start pulling out a set of framed photos and his smile drops.

Several collages of Bucky in flower crowns, him with terribly edited backgrounds of beaches and mountains, a photo of him laughing with ‘Live, Laugh, Love’ next to it in an italicised font.

“What the fuck,” he states, grabbing one of them.

You stifle a laugh, pulling out several more to place along your table.

“Where did you fucking get these?” He starts pulling them off the table one by one.

“I don’t think you know how much the internet is obsessed with you.” You set an especially large one of him in a Hello Kitty bowtie right in the centre. He doesn’t miss the star shaped frame you chose for this.

“What is wrong with you?” He swipes that up immediately, looking for a place to discard, possibly burn these pictures. “Why do you even have these?”

“It’s imperative that people know we’re friends.” You bite your lip, bringing out the last thing to annoy him.

“What is that?” A teddy bear with a blue jacket and a grey felt arm stared into his soul.

“A Bucky bear.” Don’t laugh, don’t laugh, don’t laugh. “Limited edition.”

He snatches it along with the fifteen other picture frames, thinly veiled distress and mostly disgust on his face.

“I hate you.”

“But I love you.” You lift the small heart shaped locket you hung on one of the pictures of your class.

You use both your hands to click it open for him, watching his face morph into one of disbelief.

Bucky my beloved, it read on the right with a small picture of him on the left looking intensely disgruntled. He doesn’t bother asking where you found that specific picture of him outside a Burger King at 3am.

He doesn’t even make an effort to take it away this time. He knows that you’ll simply bring up more and more until you drove him crazy.

“You still have to see the Avengers calendar.” You reach for the inside. “I changed all the pictures to you, it looks great-”

He turns around and leaves before you get a chance to flip open the pages.

He wanders around, looking for the best disposal area he can find. He knows there’s a giant fireplace in the common room in the Tower, and for that, he’d have to go up a couple of floors.

He steps into the elevator, chin pressing down on the several picture frames in his hands to prevent them from falling over.

No one sees him carrying a couple of fan edited pictures and merchandise of him. Which was good.

Unfortunately, the doors ding open on the next floor and his best friend steps on with possibly the worst timing ever.

“Buck?” Steve sounds confused. He should be, considering the sight.

Bucky shimmies slightly to get a better grip on his belongings. “Steven.”

Steve glances at what he’s holding.

“Is this,” Steve pauses, trying to frame his words correctly to sound as supportive as possible, “a therapy thing?”

“No.”

Steve waits for a further explanation.

“It’s Y/N’s,” he elucidates. Steve’s eyebrows furrow.

“Why are there so many pictures of you?” He looks at the content in his hands a little closer. “And a bear.”

“She’s evil. And I hate her.”

“Alright.” It doesn’t answer his question but his friend looks irked enough.

The elevator dings to the common room floor.

Bucky turns on his heel to head toward the place to set all the pictures on fire. He saves the picture frames to give back to you though, he’s sure those cost money. But he makes sure every last square inch of the picture with several hearts around his portrait burns to ash.

Bucky knows that by the time Saturday afternoon rolls around, the three of you would have been working for thirty hours straight, scrambling to get the last minute details done.

You’re still at it but he can tell through the adrenaline of the upcoming deadline that you’re exhausted. 

Now he’s grouchy but he’s not an asshole. He’s already done two coffee runs for the team and brought you food when you didn’t show up for lunch. He mumbles something and dismisses it when you call out a ‘thank you’ his way. He considers it a debt repaid for the gyros.

He’s still keeping an eye on you but along with an emergency box of doughnuts for any sugar rushes that may be needed and bottles of water that he occasionally leaves at the corner of the table for you three to subconsciously keep yourself hydrated. 

“Are you sure we checked it?”

“Yes.” Bruce nods.

“Double checked it?”

“Yes.”

“Triple checked it.”

“Yes.” 

You look satisfied enough to move on to the next item. “Pass me the welding torch for a second.”

Bucky has a book in front of him that he hasn’t moved beyond the second page of. He’s more interested in seeing who collapses from burnout first. He has the infirmary on speed dial. 

After another hour or so Tony holds up a silver tablet, roughly the same size as a smartphone, examining it from all sides.

“That’s it,” he states. “The final product.”

You exhale lightly.

“We should name it.” You have your hands on your hips, looking down at it in wonder. Maybe the zero hours of sleep was finally kicking in because you couldn’t believe you were finally done. 

“You got any suggestions?” Tony asks. 

To be frank, no, you didn’t.

“No.”

“Okay, we’ll do that later.” Tony sets it down, not sounding too disappointed. “F.R.I.D.A.Y, tell the team to get down here, please.”

“Yes, boss.”

Bucky jumps off his chair to join you in the lab, leaving the book behind. 

It only takes a few moments for the others to join. Fury and Steve walk in together, already engaged in conversation.

“Greetings.” You clap your hands together. “We did it. We think.”

“We think?” Nick raises an eyebrow.

“We know,” Bruce clarifies quickly, stepping in. “We’re positive it works. We tested it out.”

Tony pulls up the holograph of F.R.I.D.AY’s system, sliding the tablet to the middle of the table.

“Is it secured under FRIDAY’s core?”

“Locked and loaded.” Tony hits the table lightly to signify that it was safe.

“I think we’re ready,” Bruce confirms.

“We better be, or else half the country is suddenly going to lose their internet connection,” you say under your breath.

“What?” Bucky’s eyebrows knit together.

“Nothing,” you beamed, “Okay F.R.I.D.A.Y., run sequence, global parameter.”

“Running sequence,” F.R.I.D.A.Y. parrots. 

There was no going back now. 

From what Bucky can see, Tony looks fairly confident but you have your bottom lip caged between your teeth, chewing on it nervously. 

There are several hundreds of photographs popping up and disappearing within a minute. Everything looks like it’s going according to plan.

The giant holograph of the AI dims. Your face drops when F.R.I.D.A.Y. seems to sputter to a halt. 

No one breathes.

In the midst of the tension, Clint mutters if they should play some background music. It’s followed by a swift ‘ow’ when Natasha flicks him in the shoulder.

You could hear a pin drop.

It suddenly picks back up again, running faster than the last time and the sigh everyone collectively heaves is almost comical.

It runs for a few seconds more before a list of names suddenly pop up accompanied by a series of photographs and geo locations.

“Sequence complete. Six names detected, zero encroachment on public or private databases,” F.R.I.D.A.Y. broadcasted. “Location determined to be Holland. Exact coordinates are computed into the quinjet.”

You let out a small cheer, looping your arm around Bruce, squeezing him in a half hug. He has a smile on his face, dropping his head as he laughs slightly. 

“How dangerous are they?” Tony, however, continues to ask.

“A few prior convictions and a series of similar threats. Danger level determined to be at approximately five out of ten.” 

“That’s not bad,” Steve commented. “Looks like we don’t need the full team there.”

“Romanoff, Barton, Wilson, Rogers can go ahead and take care of that,” Nick finally spoke up. “Everyone else is working security tomorrow, just in case anyone else decides that terrorism is on their fuckin’ to-do list for the day.”

“Buck, assemble a team and go over strategy for tomorrow,” Steve adds on. “Everyone else go suit up, wheels up in thirty minutes.” 

“Fuckin’ Holland,” Sam scoffs, shaking his head. “Of all the places.” 

“What do you have against Holland?” Nat asks as they leave together.

“Just don’t like ‘em.” Their voices grow faint the further they get.

“Hey.” A small greeting from behind you has you turning around.

Wanda stands in front of you and you have to ignore the fact that the most powerful being on Earth is talking to you. 

“Hey,” you say back.

“I just wanted to say congratulations. You did a great job.” Bits and pieces of her accent poked out. She didn’t seem like she was putting in the effort to cover it up as opposed to the press interviews you had heard a few years ago. 

“Thank you.” You smile. “T’was a team effort.”

“Well, we owe you one anyway,” Steve joins the conversation, leaving aside Tony who was still talking to Bruce.

“I wish I was humble enough to turn it down but I’m not.” You laugh. “It’s nice to have an arsenal of superheroes at my disposal.”

Steve looks like he’s going to respond but his attention is drawn towards F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s announcement that the quinjet was ready to go. He shoots you an apologetic look but you sign for him to go on, you’d meet with him later.

You watch as he claps Tony on the back, telling him to go get some sleep and something with more nutritional value than a pizza pocket in him, nodding at Bruce before taking leave. 

“Y/L/N,” Nick stands beside you, looking ahead at the conversations being had as Steve tugs Clint along with him.

“Nicky,” you tease.

“I know at least seven underground prisons I can put you in if anyone hears you calling me that,” he says stoically. 

“We all know you won’t get rid of me.” You shake your head. “Who’s gonna send you a Christmas card then, huh?”

He simply shakes his head, jutting his hand out and offering a handshake. “Not sure anyone here could handle another day of a highly caffeinated, sleep-deprived Stark.”

“Just say ‘thanks’, Nick, geez.” You roll your eyes. 

Bucky watches the entire interaction unfurl; only the body language, not employing the lip-reading ability. 

“You’re welcome.” You let go of his hand, a devilish look on your face. “You know what I want in return.”

Nick gives you a long, hard stare that could probably melt through Steve’s shield before turning around to leave. 

But Bucky doesn’t miss the subtle high-five he gives you while walking out, unbeknownst to anyone else, bringing the biggest grin to your face.

He makes it a point to ask you what the fuck kind of leverage you have over the man for him to play favourites with you. 

You finally collapse at your desk, letting out a loud exhale. You clench your eyes shut, your body finally melting into your chair. You look exhausted.

He’s not sure how to help. You don’t seem like you have the energy to tell him.

Bucky leaves a doughnut and water bottle on the table in front of you before shuffling out of the room quietly. 

He’s certain that he’s spent far too long in Bruce’s lab this week. He liked the man as much as the next guy, but he probably wouldn’t come down there for the foreseeable future. 

You’re at your assigned desk, reading light illuminating the space. Thankfully you’ve cleared up most of your stuff from the table, leaving no more liabilities to fall over in case he walked into the desk. 

“So you’re done for the week.” His voice surprises you. You were scrolling through your phone, slightly hunched over.

“It appears so.” You put your phone down, swivelling the chair to look at him. 

“How’d it go?” He leans against your table, making sure he isn’t using his full weight.

“Well, I slept for fifteen hours straight, so...” you leave him to connect the dots. He’s done the same several times.

“You’re probably gonna need more,” he says, mostly from his own experience, “I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

“Actually-” you reach beside your table and lug your gigantic box of belongings onto the table with a loud thud, “-you won’t.”

He looks at the box that was nearly overflowing with its contents, the majority of the space being taken up by empty picture frames. “I thought you said Tony offered you a job.” 

“He did,” you confirm. “I didn’t accept.”

“Why?” He watches you shift through a few things, adjusting it so that it wouldn’t fall over.

“This whole thing- it’s cool and all, but it’s not what I want to do.” You shrug. “I like teaching. I miss my class.”

He gaze lands on one of the thank you notes sticking out from the corner of the box. “Ah.”

“Back to school from tomorrow.”

“And evil on the weekends?” he prods, dropping a pen into the heap of stationery. 

“Obviously.” You give him a lopsided smile. “Where else am I gonna use all this brilliance?”

You point to your head. He lets out a small exhale in the form of a laugh.

“Speaking of-” You look like you just remembered something.  

You rummage through your backpack and pull out a small container, handing it to him.

“What’s this?” He turns it over, looking for any hidden clues. “Are you proposing again, because I’ve said no-”

“I’m not proposing,” you interrupt, “yet.”

He gives you a deadpan look.

“Open it,” you urge, and he complies.

Two small squares sit side-by-side. They’re slick black, barely bigger than the face of a dice.

“You put one of them here-” You tap on his bicep “-and the other here.” You tap his shoulder, a few inches below his clavicle.

“What does it do?” He thinks it’s like Nat’s little taser things, a nifty little tool that he could use on missions.

“It, uh-” you hesitate “-it allows you to feel sensation in your metal arm. Heat, pressure, texture.”

His breath hitches in his throat. He doesn’t mean for it to happen, it just does.

“You said that sometimes you’re glad you couldn’t because of the bullets and stuff. They’re detachable, so just take them off when you go on missions and wherever it is you Spandex ambassadors go.” You scoff slightly. 

He can’t remember the last time he felt something soft with that arm or used it for something that wasn’t directly related to his job.  

“I’m not messing with what the Wakandans gave you. It’s the most advanced piece of tech out there.” You shrug. “But if you ever want to feel it when someone attaches sticky notes to your arm, this could work. Just thought it’d be nice to have an option.”

He can’t decipher what he’s feeling right now. He looks up at you, only to catch you eyeing him cautiously, assessing his reaction. When you notice he’s looking at you, a nervous smile makes its way onto your face. 

His stomach does a flip. 

“Thank you,” he says quietly. 

“Don’t mention it.” You sound a little relieved, picking up the box that he’s pretty sure weighed a ton what with all his memorabilia in it. “See you next week.”

He doesn’t know how to explain what it means to him. 

Instead, he shoves his hands into his pockets. “What are you doing later?”

“Nothing.” You pause. “Why?”

“Are you gonna watch the parade?” 

“Yeah, probably.” You shift your weight to your other leg to compensate for the box.

“Want some company?”

“Aren’t you heading a security division?” You have to consciously hide the bewilderment from your voice. 

“Yeah. The place I’m stationed just so happens to have a good look into the street,” he explains, toying with the bracelet on his wrist. “Can’t really promise that I’ll be paying attention to it or that I’d even be there the whole time but for the most part...” he trails off. 

“Uh-” You force yourself to shove aside your surprise at his determination, “yeah, sure. That’d be cool.”

He nods. “Okay. See you there.” 

“See you,” you murmur as you walk to the elevator. 

He opens the tiny container to look at the small chips. They’re still there, silently like they don’t change his world just by existing. 

Gosh.

Next part

[fandomwriterstuff]

Traumtänzer (Pt. 2)

Rated T

German Translations:

Mein Gott - My God

Der Herr de Ringe - The Lord of the Rings

Il Principe - The Prince

Part 1

Part 3

“So… He went back in time to meet up with a woman he kissed once and who was happily married with children?” You asked skeptically. That didn’t sound like the Steven you’d known. But then again, you hadn’t known him all that well.

“It’s confusing, but that’s the gist of it,” Sam interjected, taking a sip of his tea. The four of you were getting cozy in your living room, though it was a bit small. Sam and James shared the couch and you and the Baron found yourselves in arm chairs.

“Why are you so willing to stick your neck out for him?” James asked, looking for more information.

“He,” you paused. How much should you say? “He helped me out when I had nothing,” you shrugged and looked down into your empty teacup. Chamomile had always been a favorite of yours.

“That explains why you owe him a favor, but you’re really going out of your way. You know we’re harboring a criminal,” James nodded towards the Baron. You squinted your eyes at him, wondering if he could be trusted.

“He kept my secret… He found out my background and he didn’t turn me over to the authorities or insist I go get tested on,” you could tell you’d piqued their attention with that one. It was true, what you’d been thinking before. You didn’t tell anyone about your background, but Wanda had seen you and told Steven, and he helped you get off the grid. “How do I know I can trust you?”

“You don’t,” the Baron finally spoke up. “But we’re not in a place to be helping SHIELD out considering the circumstances, so we have no real reason to turn you over.” You accepted his answer with a frown. It wasn’t a lot but he was right.

“I knew the Maximoffs when they worked for HYDRA because my parents were secretly HYDRA agents,” you looked down into the teacup again, fighting the tensing of your muscles and the urge to run. “They sent me in to be experimented on by the-” You lost the word for scepter. Damn it all. “The thing, you know.” You rolled your eyes and growled, swearing in Sokovian. The Baron smirked at that. “ The scepter, god what’s the fucking word,” you mumbled in Sokovian. You knew James and Sam wouldn’t understand but the Baron was Sokovian and should be helping you out. “ Help a girl out,” you pleaded in Sokovian, and you could tell he was holding back a laugh.

“The scepter?” He added in English.

“Yes!” You exclaimed. “They experimented on me with the scepter!” You were so excited to have found the correct word, you didn’t notice the silence or meaningful glances James and Sam sent each other. “So I got some cool powers, they ran a lot of tests, terrible time,” You continued quickly, wanting to get this part over with. “Steven knew this, and helped me get off the grid. I owe him more than a favor, I owe him my freedom, my life,” you said emphatically.

“So you’re HYDRA?” James asked, tensing up. You glared over at him.

“I do not associate myself with Nazis, James,” you were cold, but this was a tough topic. “I was forcibly experimented on for years, and you think I would willingly associate myself with them? You should know better.”

He had the self-awareness to look a little ashamed, though you couldn’t care less. You didn’t need his shame or his pity.

After a brief pause, you sighed. “You can stay here for a little bit. Where are you going next?”

“Madripoor,” the Baron answered smoothly, and you choked on your own spit.

“ Mein Gott,” you mumbled. “Why on Earth would you want to go there?”

“We have business there,” he said, noncommittal. You raised your eyebrows, so it was top secret. Interesting. You stared at each other for a moment, unsure where your next words would lead you. You didn’t want to push too far but your curiosity was burning.

“I suppose I will prepare dinner,” you finally said after losing a staring contest with a criminal.

It was an uneventful night. You prepared food and you all ate in silence. It was only later when you were sitting in the living room reading Der Herr der Ringe that things got weird. James was sharpening a knife while Sam fiddled with some electronics. The Baron was reading your copy of Il Principe quietly.

“ What is your superpower, then? Wanda has her mind tricks and Pietro had his speed,” the Baron was speaking in quiet Sokovian, though he didn’t even glance up from his book. You noticed James side-eye him, but he left it for the moment.

“ I hardly think I should tell you,” you huffed. He raised a single eyebrow, still looking down at the book.

“ Indulge a poor curious man,” he finally looked up and caught you in his gaze. You felt pulled towards him, like his fluent Sokovian was a homing beacon and you just wanted to be near him. It was dangerous, but you hadn’t spoken Sokovian in ages, nobody here knew it and it was becoming a dead language.

“ They called me a dreamwalker,” you whispered in your native language. “ I don’t know why I’m telling you this,” you frowned at yourself. You couldn’t trust him. But he was right, who was he going to tell? Alerting the authorities to you would also alert the authorities to him. You kept eye contact with him this time, tilting your head.

“ Tell me, Maus. How does dreamwalking work?”

“ I-”

“English please,” Sam groaned. You pursed your lips and made a quick decision to lie to him. He would have no such issues alerting the authorities. He was an Avenger.

“I was simply telling the Baron about my book. Der Herr der Ringe. The Lord of the Rings,” you replied smoothly.

“What’s so interesting about it?” James asked, this time genuinely curious. Though what was more curious was the small smile the Baron was giving you. You felt your cheeks burn at the attention and tried to hide it by glancing back down at your book.

“It’s the follow on to The Hobbit and follows the third age of Middle Earth,” you began, but James’ jaw had dropped.

“There was a sequel to the Hobbit and you didn’t tell me,” he glared at Sam, who only raised his hands placatingly.

“Dude, I didn’t know you were so into fantasy,” Sam raised his eyebrows.

“It’s actually three books,” you added. “Not just a sequel.”

“Oh man,” James shook his head. “I have been missing out. Is Gandalf still in it?”

You nodded, smiling. The previous topic was forgotten, you started telling him about the movies and how they helped you learn English.

All throughout the evening though, the Baron was glancing at you, trying to figure you out. You were sure he was curious about your powers, though you were sort of afraid to tell him. At the same time… It would be such a relief to talk to somebody about it.

You retired early after setting up the pull out couch and allowing the three men to figure out where they would sleep. They agreed that Sam and James would share the couch and the Baron would take the single bed in the guest room. Their explanation was that they’d be closest to the door if he tried to escape. You couldn’t sleep though, images from your past running through your mind.

It was nearing four when you simply decided to get up, make some tea, grab your book, and return to your room.

However, when you got to the kitchen, the Baron was sitting quietly at the table in the dark sipping on some tea.

“ Good morning,” you whispered in Sokovian, trying not to wake the men in the next room over. The Baron tilted his head towards you and smiled softly, the dark shadowed his face but you could see his features fine. You’d always preferred the night time and the darkness that came with it.

“ Couldn’t sleep? ” He replied in the same language. It must be nice for him to be able to speak it again, just like it was for her.

“ No,” you sighed. “ My mind was racing. And on top of that I’m not used to having guests.”

“You’re uncomfortable being vulnerable around us?” He asked softly, but you shook your head.

“ That’s not it.  I don’t want to accidentally walk into one of your dreams. I’m out of practice.”

He nodded sagely, it would make sense. You seemed like a polite girl and you likely wouldn’t want to intrude.

“ Tea? I made extra,” he gestured towards the teapot where steam was still rising and you smiled, smelling the chamomile.

“ Thank you,” you murmured and poured yourself a cup before sitting down at the table with him. “ You couldn’t sleep either?”

“Too much to do and plan,” he replied with a shrug of one shoulder. “ Will you tell me about your powers?”

You sighed, resigned, and nodded.

“ I suppose it wouldn’t hurt. I can walk through dreams and change them. It works for daydreams too, when people are in ‘the zone,’”  you explained. “ Though it’s harder then, when people are awake.”

I can also project my thoughts into other people’s minds you spoke this time directly in his head and his eyebrows shot up.

I haven’t figured out how to read minds per se, but I’m hoping I can learn.

“ Fascinating. Absolutely sensational,” you blinked and blushed at the praise, hoping he wouldn’t notice in the dark room. “ You’re incredible, Maus. Is there anything you can’t do?” He chuckled and you ducked your head, looking up at him through your lashes with a small smile. “ Oh, that’s not all, is it?” He wondered, a slow smile spreading on his face when you nodded your agreement.

“ It’s new… I have only developed it since my time in this flat. But just as I can project my thoughts, I can project my body. Sort of like teleporting,”  you murmured, smiling again when he looked at you, astounded.

“ You truly are wonderful,” he praised you again, this time noting your reaction. You spoke with him for a little while after that about the places you’d teleported to, but you found you’d drifted off when you ‘awoke’ in the dreamscape.

It looked like a forest, this place that your mind conjured. In the forest were many trees and shrubs but also little glimmering puddles. Those were the dreams. You walked as if in a trance, sometimes you had no control in the dreamscape. The puddle nearest to you was dark and murky, you were frightened and your chest tightened up, but you couldn’t hold back as you dipped your toes in and were immersed in the dream.

It was dark. It was always dark at first. But then there was a light and a voice.

You searched and walked around, looking for it, but you regretted entering this… this… this nightmare.

It was James as the Winter Soldier on a dark, cold night. You watched the scene as if in slow motion, and screamed as he killed his friend and his wife.

He jerked back to look at you, noticing you for the first time, and stalked towards you.

“You’re next,” he growled at you, but you scrambled backwards, trying to find your way out of the dream. You tried to conjure something to snap him out of it. You could usually do whatever you wanted, so you changed the scenery. You were on a hot beach, white sand beneath our bare feet, and the Winter Soldier kept stalking towards you.

“Let me out!” you screamed at him. “Let me out!”

You gasped and fell from your chair, and the Baron shot up to catch you.

“ Maus? Are you alright?” his arms were warm around you as you shook off the last of the terror. You were afraid of dying in a dream. You weren’t sure if you’d wake up.

“What the fuck?” James growled from the door frame, rumpled and angry.

“I am sorry,” you choked out. “I did not mean-”

“Stay out of my head,” he cut you off and retreated to the couch, where Sam sat, confused.

“ You might want to stay out of his dreams,” the Baron whispered, arms still caging you in, but you appreciated the strength as tears pricked at your eyes. You hated when people raised their voices.

“ I can’t always control it. I couldn’t get out,” you choked on the words. You huffed a ragged breath and righted yourself, finally pulling away from the Baron. “ I’ll start breakfast,” you mumbled and turned away from him so he couldn’t see the few tears you allowed to fall from fear and apprehension.

Masterlist

[ladytea19]

Cold-Hearted (A Bucky Barnes Fic) Chapter 8

A/N: Hello beautiful people! Here is chapter 8 of Cold-Hearted and it's packed with angsty filled goodness! The team learns more about the infamous trafficking leader and the relationship he has with Raina. We also get an emotional heated moment between Raina and Bucky that I feel you guys would enjoy. Just a heads up: the smut part comes in the next chapter ;) Again, I own no rights to Marvel nor its characters.

Chapter 8

Adrian Reese.

“That's the name she gave you?”

“Actually, that's the only thing she said before she went upstairs.”

The remaining team members, minus Bucky and myself, sat in the meeting room learning about the trafficking leader and the relationship he had with me.

“Adrian Reese. Born in Orlando, Florida to Cuban immigrants but moved to Detroit, Michigan starting his freshman year of college. Attended the University of Michigan majoring in bioengineering and joined the United States Marine Corps to pay for schooling. He learned marksmanship, stealth, combat training and mastered every single category. He could tackle enemy forces in the blink of an eye, and nobody could see him coming. Like smoke, hence the nickname. He was ruthless, fearless, and a natural born leader.” FRIDAY informed the team.

Steve went on: “While attending college, he met Raina who also attended the University of Michigan majoring in psychology and behavioral sciences minoring in Spanish. They got into a relationship upon Raina's junior year, and things seemed to be going well until various restraining orders and complaints were made against Reese by her. She reported numerous times to Detroit PD about her being abused by Reese coming in with black eyes, bruised ribs, and one time a broken jaw.” Steve's eyebrows furrowed in anger. “The most Reese got was a $1500 fine and spent 36 hours in the county jail.”

“The son of a bitch abused her on the regular and the police didn't do a damn thing to stop him?!” Sam was seething.

Tony frowned. “About a year or so ago, Reese and a few of his ex-Marine buddies started up an organization selling weapons and intel to various world leaders for profit claiming he wanted to help countries become stronger on their own against future forces without the help of the Avengers. He claimed for so long the world has always relied on us to fix their problems ignoring their own military and local law enforcement just because they're superheroes. It's the military men and women who are the real heroes and they don't get as much recognition as the Avengers, and I guess his hate for us grew ever since.”

“Apparently Raina found out about what he was doing and wanted no part of it or him anymore,” Natasha spoke up and gave a sympathetic look. “Can't really blame her considering what he put her through. Reese tried to prevent her from leaving and Raina managed to escape from him by delivering a permanent injury to Reese's left eye. She checked into a local medical facility to treat her recent injuries received by him before she moved to New York City. Seems like he found her again while we were in D.C.”

“He should pray to God that I don't get my hands on him,” Sam fumed.

“We shouldn't go at him with rash emotions,” Vision informed. “Even if what he did to her was vile.”

Rhodey spoke up: “Since the drop in D.C. failed, it's obvious he wants to make up for the profit and product he lost. So it's highly likely he will strike again.”

“And when that comes we'll catch him,” Steve informed. He sighed deeply and spoke again. “It's been a long day and I think it's best for everyone to get some rest. I'm gonna go check on Bucky.”

Steve left the meeting room and the others soon followed. Wanda was still sitting at the table on the verge of tears and Vision noticed.

“Is everything all right Wanda?”

Wanda wiped away her tears and sniffled. “I'm just worried about her,” she said. “She was with that man for almost 3 years and all he did was abuse her. I can't imagine what she must be going through now that he found her again.”

Vision placed a hand on her shoulder. “She has us here to support her. We just got to give her time. We'll protect her.”

Wanda gave a small smile. “Yeah. I guess that's true.”

***

3:06 a.m.

Everyone was asleep except for me. I spent the rest of the day distraught ever since we got back from D.C. My body felt numb and it took everything in my power not to cry. I was angry, hurt, scared and guilty. I jeopardized the mission by letting Carlos get away and caused Bucky to get injured in the process.

Bucky…

I felt the tears creep up again. Bucky sacrificed his own body to save me because I was too scared to move. My own fear caused one of my teammates to get hurt, specifically the one person who I have grown deep feelings for. I couldn't take it. He had to know.

I walked down the hall and made my way to Bucky's room. I raised my shaking hand to knock on his door but hesitated for a moment. Then I gathered the strength and knocked three times on his door. A few seconds later Bucky opened his bedroom door. He was dressed in his black pajama pants, a black tank top, his hair falling loosely on his shoulders, and a bandage covering his upper right shoulder from where he was shot. He appeared to be wide awake (he told me that he suffers from insomnia sometimes) but immediately his face turned into a look of concern once he saw me.

“Raina?” he spoke. “What's wrong?”

I tried so hard to fight back tears and my body trembled on the inside. My voice cracked when I answered him.

“Hi Bucky,” I said. “Do you mind if we talked? Please?”

Bucky opened his door wider and invited me in. “Yeah sure come in.”

We both sat down on the edge of Bucky's bed and he looked even more concerned than before.

Before he got a chance to speak, I spoke up.

“Are you okay?” My voice cracked. “How are you feeling? Bucky I'm so sorry this was all my fault!”

Bucky's face softened a bit. “Raina the worst injury I ever had was falling from a cliff in 1945 and losing my arm. I should be dead right now. Getting shot in the shoulder? This is nothing.”

I turned to face him tears now streaming down my face.

“But if I hadn't been distracted then you wouldn't have gotten shot in the first place!!!!” I was hysterical. “I let one of the people I care about get injured and I could've stopped it!” “I…”

Bucky grabbed my shoulders and spoke in a soft tone.

“Calm down Raina. Take a deep breath for me please.” He sounded scared.

The tears kept flowing and I stared at him with so much guilt and hurt. There Bucky was comforting me and genuinely concerned for my well-being. He wanted to make sure I was okay despite him being the one injured. My heart swelled. I placed a hand to the back of his head and brought him close so that our foreheads were touching.

“Bucky,” I whispered. “There's something you need to know.”

“What is it?”

“The traffic leader Smoke… I know him. In fact, we used to be a couple.”

Bucky pulled back and his eyes widened. “What?”

My voice cracked even more and the tears kept coming. “His real name is Adrian Reese and he hurt me… he hurt me the entire time we were together. Every time I voiced my opinion about something I disagreed with he would hit me. If I said nothing, he would punch me or throw me. It's like every day he would find a way to belittle me. He treated me like I was nothing and lied to me by saying he loved me.”

Bucky sat there in shock. His jaw tightened as he listened.

“I thought I was free of him,” I whispered my head hung low. “I thought I was done with the pain and humiliation he put me through. Once I left him, I promised- no vowed- to myself that I would never go through that again. That I wouldn't fall for someone and risk my life and trust for a person who would abuse me.” I turned to face him again. “That was why I couldn't tell you the truth about how I felt about you. Bucky, I have had feelings for you for a while now. I think about you all the time and every moment I spend with you I treasure. I wanted to tell you how I felt a long time ago but… my past relationship with Reese kept me from doing that.” I rested my head on his chest and clung to his shirt. “I love you Bucky. And I'm so sorry. I just couldn't handle being hurt again.” and with that the dam burst and I cried hard into his shirt.

***

Bucky's POV

My heart shattered. I watched the girl sitting next to me cry her eyes out and tell me her darkest secret. I felt all sorts of emotions. Anger. Sadness. But what I felt the most was Love. I had been attracted to Raina ever since the first day we met. I couldn't stop looking at her; I lie awake at night thinking about her. However, the moment when I realized my feelings for her was the night after our training session. It was so easy to talk to her; I felt like I could tell her anything. But I didn't want to rush anything or make her uncomfortable so I said nothing. Tonight just solidified my love for her, hell I took a bullet for her! And I'd do it again; I would do anything to protect her because… I loved her too.

I wrapped my arms around her and I could feel tears in my eyes. I let a few of them fall before I spoke, my voice low.

“When I find him, I promise you I will make him pay for what he did to you. I will protect you with my life or die trying doing so.” My hands cupped her face and I lifted her head so she could look at me. “I love you, Ariana. And I swear to you that I will never ever hurt you.” I stared intensely into those beautiful brown eyes that I admired so much. They held so much pain and sadness behind them. I could relate to that on such a deep level. I wanted to ease her pain; I wanted to make her believe that I cared. So I did the one thing that immediately came to mind.

I pressed my lips to hers in a heated kiss. My hands tangled into her dark curls as I parted her lips with my tongue and slipped it inside her mouth. I could taste her tears as I noticed she was still crying. My hands tore away from her hair and I wiped her tears away with my fingers. A soft gasp escaped her lips and I felt her arms wrap around my neck. One of her hands slipped into my hair as she pulled me closer, her movements becoming more aggressive and needy.

“This was what she wanted.” I thought. “To know what it feels like to be appreciated and loved by someone. All she ever known was abuse. I wanted to fulfill her deepest desire.”

I grabbed her waist and guided her onto her back. I slowly climbed on top of her as I continued kissing her. I traced my tongue along the inside of her mouth and gently bit down on her bottom lip. I could hear her moan into my mouth and I shivered inwardly. I wanted to give her more. I wanted to show her that I loved her, how a woman should be treated by a man. I broke the kiss and placed my forehead against hers.

“Do you trust me?” I whispered against her lips.

Raina nodded slowly.

“I need to hear you say it,” I told her. I wanted her consent.

Raina snaked a hand behind my head and tangled it into my hair. She sniffled then placed a soft kiss to my lips.

“I trust you, Bucky.”

Tag List: @tacoshu @gold--gucciempress @littledeadrottinghood @defenseofourdreams6277 @the-carter-mob-don @wwevampireamongkpop @nerdlife0612 @kingslayers-queen @queenofthearchitect and anyone else who wants to read it!

[justsomebucky]

Knowing Him

Summary: Songfic AU. Reader struggles with new feelings and insecurities in a new relationship.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x fem!reader

Word Count: 2,596

Warnings: language, fluff, insecurity, bagel discourse

A/N: This is for @propertyofpoeandbucky‘s writing challenge (non-disney). My prompt was the song “How Will I Know?” by the iconic Whitney Houston. It’s short and fluffy. I listened to this song so many times I need a five-year break from it, haha.

There's a boy I know, he's the one I dream of Looks into my eyes, takes me to the clouds above

You had another dream about him.

That was your first thought, first realization, first eye roll of the day as you awoke that Saturday morning.  Eight dates was all it took…a mere one month of dating and you were already all-in with this one. There was just something about him…not that you wanted to be that way. Normally you were cautious with your heart.

It was a simple, soft morning as pale light streamed through your window and all over the room. Saturdays were usually your day to get a couple extra hours of sleep, but lately you’d been waking up on your own, always just after sunrise. It was like your subconscious was eager to start the day even if your body didn’t always want to cooperate.

You got out of bed almost lazily, as if slowing down the process would allow the images from your dream to linger. It was easy to get lost in the romanticism of it all, after growing up with Disney movies that brainwashed you with this starry-eyed happily-ever-after stuff.

Ooh I lose control, can't seem to get enough When I wake from dreaming, tell me is it really love

In the dream, Bucky held you in his arms, something that wasn’t unusual. You felt safe and happy, which was also normal. But then…

It was totally normal to dream about saying ‘I love you’ to someone you had only been dating for a month…wasn’t it?

After all, dreams were where implausible, crazy things happened. It was almost like the dream where you go to school in your underpants and don’t realize it, or the one where you clench your jaw and crunch all your teeth together by accident. They were just fears coming to mind while you were asleep, so that your brain could confront a fear or something.

It didn’t mean anything…right?

“Right,” you confirmed aloud to absolutely no one.

You made your way to the kitchen, still in your pajamas, and settled on a quick bowl of cereal for breakfast. Cereal was comfortable and familiar, like your pajamas, like the couch you sat down on, like the news anchors on TV who’d been there for nearly a decade…

…and familiar meant that you knew all about it. It meant that you weren’t second-guessing anything, because you didn’t have to. You weren’t wondering if you were crazy or imagining things, imagining feelings that weren’t really there.

Could your new relationship really be going this well? It seemed almost absurd to you. All your past experiences were nothing like this.

You heard your phone ring, the dream dilemma momentarily forgotten as you realized (with a really loud groan) that it was still on the counter next to the cereal box. You stood up and set your cereal bowl on the coffee table, making your way to the phone to stop its incessant ringing.

A quick glance at the caller ID told you who it was. “Hey, Wanda.”

“Y/N! You’re actually awake?” Her voice was cheerful as usual, though her thick accent always seemed to make her sound bored to someone who didn’t know her as well as you.

You leaned against the counter, vaguely wondering how long it would take for your cereal to get soggy. “Yeah, it’s this new…thing…anyways, what’s up?”

“I was calling to see if you had plans today. I thought maybe you’d wanna catch a movie or something? I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.”

That was eye roll moment number two. “I’m not as busy as you think, Wanda, it’s just that we have similar work schedules.”

“And you’ve been seeing that Borky guy-“

“Bucky,” you corrected her, biting back a smile. She knew what his damn name was, she was just agitated that he’d taken up a lot of your time lately.

“Whatever,” Wanda sighed. “Are you in or not? The weather’s going to be perfect for staying inside.”

That’s exactly what you had been thinking, though you were hoping to stay in your pajamas. “Sure, Wanda, but can we watch a movie here on Netflix or something instead of going out?”

“Yes! That works for me.”

“Okay. Maybe we can order in, too.”

She paused for a second. “I was worried that you might ditch me for him again.”

“You ditch me for Vis all the time,” you reminded her. “Remember the trip I planned?”

Before Bucky, before you had even decided to try dating again, you had planned a little trip to a music festival upstate you’d been wanting to go to for years. You plotted the entire weekend and sent the details to Wanda, only to have her thank you and go with her boyfriend instead.

“I thought you planned a romantic trip for us,” she protested with a laugh. “It’s not my fault you wanted the romance for you and me instead.”

“You are so funny,” you muttered, glancing back at your cereal. Yeah, it was probably mush by now.

“Oh, you know you love me. At least I have that over Borky, right?”

How will I know (Don't trust your feelings) How will I know How will I know (Love can be deceiving) How will I know

You stayed silent, your eyes flickering to the counter.

“Right?” Wanda prodded again.

When you didn’t answer a second time, she sighed in your ear. “Please tell me it’s not true.”

“Wanda!” you exclaimed, feeling a little offended. “Why can’t I feel what I feel?”

“Because you always do this, Y/N. You get these really deep feelings way too soon, and you always get your heart broken. I just don’t want to see you get hurt again, friend.”

Technically, she wasn’t wrong. You did tend to give your whole heart in your relationships, probably much sooner than the other person, but it was only because you cared deeply about people. You thought people deserved love, and while in the past you were better off just being friends, there was no denying that what you really wanted was true love.

Maybe that was the true issue.

Were you forcing it already? Did you make it all up, project onto Bucky what you wanted him to feel to justify it? Wanda’s words struck a chord; now you weren’t even sure yourself.

“Well, friend,” you echoed, trying by failing to keep the irritation out of your tone. “How am I supposed to know what I’m feeling? How am I supposed to predict how he’s feeling, while we’re at it?”

How will I know if he really loves me I say a prayer with every heartbeat I fall in love whenever we meet I'm asking you what you know about these things

“Well, has he said anything about it yet?”

With your cereal long forgotten, you flopped back down on the couch. “I mean, not really, no. Nothing like, explicitly declaring his love for me if that’s what you mean.”

Now the world didn’t seem as warm and bright as it had earlier, as if the sky was reflecting your change in mood. The clouds that were promised by the local weatherman were rolling in, and with them came a dim light and slight chill in the air.

Wanda didn’t speak for a few beats.

You picked at a piece of lint on your pajama pants. “Wan?”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Y/N,” she said finally. “You don’t want to say it too soon, you know, because you don’t want to scare him off, right?”

That was a reasonable statement. You stretched your legs out, putting your feet on the coffee table.

“Right. But I don’t want it to seem like he’s just a casual thing for me either, Wanda.”

“So ask him.”

How will I know if he's thinking of me I try to phone but I'm too shy (can't speak) Falling in love is all bittersweet This love is strong, why do I feel weak

The mere thought of bringing any of this up to Bucky made you want to curl up in a ball and hide under a blanket. You’d been so sure this morning, so certain that you were right, that this connection was different and much stronger than previous relationships.

It must not be that strong if one call from your best friend could derail your confidence that much.

“I can practically hear your panicked thoughts over the line,” Wanda laughed. “Y/N, I’m going to ask you some rapid-fire questions, okay? It’s something that Vis told me about, from an article he read or something. Whatever your first answer is, that’ll be it, okay?”

You made a face. “Uh, I guess?”

“Okay. Here we go.”

“Okay.” Your grip on the phone tightened. For some reason you were nervous to see if this would actually work.

You were nervous if the truth would be different from what you wanted it to be.

“Earth to Y/N! Are you awake?”

“Yes.”

“Is it raining?”

“No.”

“Is my name Wanda?”

“Yes.”

“Are you at work?”

“No.”

“Is it Saturday?”

“Yes.”

“Did you go outside today?”

“No.”

“Are all dogs cute?”

“Yes”

“Do you love Bucky?”

“Yes.”

Your left hand clamped over your mouth in shock. You sure as hell blurted that out without thinking.

Oh, wake me, I'm shaking, wish I had you near me now Said there's no mistaking, what I feel is really love

Wanda chuckled on the other end of the line. “So anyways, there’s your answer about your feelings, Y/N. I guess it’s true.”

You could barely hear her, though, as your thoughts raced and you tried to focus on the implications. That might have solved half of the dilemma, but it still didn’t answer your main question:

Did Bucky Barnes love you, too?

How will I know (Don't trust your feelings) How will I know How will I know (Love can be deceiving) How will I know

“So now,” Wanda continued, her voice getting louder. “Now you text him and spend the day with him instead, okay?”

You shook your head. “Wait, I thought you wanted to come over and watch movies?”

“I did,” she agreed nonchalantly. “I’m over it. Go be with Borky, Y/N. I’ll see you tomorrow, maybe?”

“Okay, Wanda, and thank you. I love you.”

“Oh, now you just love everybody, is that it?”

“Again, so funny.”

“Love you too. Have fun. Text me later.”

If he loves me, if he loves me not

You pressed end on the call, then stared at your contact list. Bucky’s name was just sitting there, ready for use. All you had to do was press call, or send a quick text. All you had to do was take a step towards the truth.

If he loves me, if he loves me not

“Come on,” you muttered, giving the phone a shake as if it was the reason you weren’t calling or texting Bucky. “You can do this.”

If he loves me, if he loves me not

What would you even say, though? ‘Hey, it’s Y/N. Wanna come over and maybe let me know if you love me or not?’

“Feh.” You stood up and launched the phone into the couch cushions, deciding to dump your mushy cereal while you tried to come up with what to say to him.

“This shouldn’t be so hard,” you chided yourself as you scraped the congealed cereal into the garbage bin. “You’ve been together an entire month now. Four weeks. Eight whole incredible dates. You can-“

Your self-pep talk was interrupted by a few raps on the door. It was probably your neighbor telling you to stop talking to yourself. That’s the kind of crazy your insecurity was causing.

You opened the door, not bothering to adjust your hair or pajamas.

To your utter surprise (and inner despair), Bucky was standing in your doorway, his blue-grey eyes wide as he took in your messy state.

“Y/N, hey,” he greeted with a warm smile. “Can I come in?”

“I uh…I wasn’t expecting you, Bucky. You usually text first?” You felt your face growing warm with embarrassment as you moved aside to let him in. If only you hadn’t worn your Wonder Woman pajamas to bed last night. Why, why, why…

“I’m sorry about that.” He held up a paper bag. “But I was nearby and I brought you bagels. You know, the ones you like from the café on the corner of Union and...what’s wrong?”

You shook your head, moving around him to head to your bedroom. “Let me just get changed.”

“Why?”

A quick glance back at him stopped you in your tracks. He truly looked confused. “Because I’m in my pajamas, my hair’s a mess, I’ve not even washed my face let alone put on makeup, Buck…I just…a little warning would have been nice.”

“I’m sorry,” Bucky repeated, stepping closer to you, his hands sliding to rest on your hips as he turned you back toward him. There was a small smile on his mouth and sincerity in his eyes. “I think you look great.”

“I look like a sloppy nerd,” you pouted, trying in vain to pull back from his embrace. So maybe you were flirting a little, too. Whatever. You had information to dig up, so it was almost necessary.

Oh, how will I know?

“You do,” he agreed, his smile widening. “But it’s really cute. And you’re cute when you’re embarrassed, too.”

“Bucky!”

He finally got you to stand still by brushing his lips over yours once, twice, enough times to make you lean into the kiss for more. The two of you stood there, wrapped up in each other for what seemed like ten minutes but was probably less than one, before he pulled back to look at you, his eyes twinkling.

“So I take it you forgive me?”

“I guess.” You shrugged as you untangled yourself from him, making your way over to the counter and the bagels he brought. You emptied the bag and opened the cream cheese. “I mean, you did bring me food, so you must really care.”

“I do care, obviously,” Bucky agreed, coming up behind you and reaching for a bagel. “I mean, love makes me do weird things, like show up early with breakfast. Speaking of, do you want yours toasted or not?”

You felt utter shock for the second time that day as you set the cream cheese down and stared at him.

He waved the bagel in your direction. “Toasted? Not toasted?”

“Not,” you said softly, offering him a smile.

Bucky gave a nod and set your bagel on a plate for you, then moved to toast his while you went over to the couch with all the supplies. Apparently he didn’t realize the gravity of his casual comment, or if he did, he wasn’t letting on.

“Do you wanna watch a movie?” he asked as he settled in beside you, steadying his plate on his knee.

“Yeah. I’ll let you pick,” you offered, taking a generous bite. Those bagels really were heavenly.

“Really? You’d even watch an old war movie with me?” Bucky gave you an incredulous glance, then wrapped his free arm around you, reaching for the remote with the other hand. “I thought you hated those.”

“Yeah,” you repeated, snuggling closer to him. “I mean, love makes me do weird things, like put up with your bad taste in movies.”

He chuckled, pressing a soft kiss to your temple. “Good to know.”

[that-sokovian-bastard]

Mortal Immortal (4/31) - August 4 - Avengers x Reader

Words: 1411 Pairing: Avengers x (f)Reader Characters: Pietro Maximoff, Wanda Maximoff, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Thor Odinson, Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson, Bucky Barnes Warnings: there's probably swearing, fighting Chapter Summary: After the ominous message was left the day before, it was time to meet the real deal. However, things are not as they seem. Also: Steve and Sam return! Author’s Note: i a m s o e x c i t e d

Mortal Immortal Masterlist / Full Masterlist

Ao3 / Wattpad Links

You were on alert all night. Technically, since you are immortal, you won't die from lack of sleep. Meaning, you were on guard of the lab most of the night while others got their rest or worked to get everything working again. It both benefitted and was useless- nothing struck, no fights and no more threatenings, but there was no luck getting back into the system. It was all getting too close for comfort, and you had a bad feeling that something would be upon the team before everyone was ready. So, naturally, you got them ready as soon as you felt something was off.

"What a way to end off a week," You sighed as you walked with Pietro and Wanda. "A new villain...Threatening the world...Again."

Pietro laughed and Wanda smiled. "Yeah, it's kind of getting out of hand. You'd think after so many failed attempts of taking over the world the villains would get the point that they aren't going to win," Pietro shrugged. "I mean, we even used to be like that...but switched sides. And boy, I am glad we did, because we would have lost."

Wanda felt bad. She is very powerful and every time she gets to fully use her powers, it was either for bad, or things turned out bad because of other issues. "Yeah, I know. The track record just happens to be a powerful trickster god, a supercomputer gone robot, and a bunch of smaller-" You were cut off by an explosion, all three of you jumping. "What was that?"

Running to the window, the Avengers Facility was surrounded by an army. "We need to get out there!" You shouted, running to the closest door, meeting the rest of the team outside. The army floated the ground, throwing explosives on the grass and near the base. The outfits they wore were laced with silver but also had black. "Watch out!" You shouted at Natasha and Clint who hadn't seen a bomb fall behind them. You rushed over and quickly transformed to protect the two of them. "What the hell is going on?" You asked.

Natasha pointed up. "The Silver Shadow has made his appearance," She groaned. You looked up to see a floating figure in the sky wearing a black hooded outfit, complemented by silver. All you could see of his face was a smirk in the middle of it, and his finger touching his temple.

"What are we waiting for? Let's kick some ass!" You shouted, grabbing a gun and aiming for the enemy (alien? You have no idea) closest to you. You were ready to see the enemy fall to the ground in defeat, but the bullet went straight through the enemy and it kept getting closer to you. In fact, the bullet and any punches thrown had not affected any of them and they were still fighting, getting closer, shooting and throwing explosives.

Pietro ran over to you. "What's going on? I can't land a hit and I know I've punched a lot!" Pietro expressed, breathing heavy.

You looked around in confusion, your eyes squinted, trying to figure it out. You looked at the Silver Shadow to see him still holding his temple and moving his other hand around. Then you looked back to his army; back to him, then to the army. "He's...controlling them?" You whispered. "But they're practically ghosts...but they can still hold things. We just can't touch them?" You spoke slowly, trying to work it out in your brain. "But how does he control them? And how do we stop them?"

"Wanda, can you put up a large forcefield?" Tony called as he flew over. "Maybe it will fend them off for a while!" He yelled.

"I can try," Wanda replied.

You walked closer to her. "Focus entirely on what you have to do. Let nothing distract you, focus on protecting," You told her, loud enough for her to hear but not loud enough to throw her off guard. Within a few seconds, you watched a large forcefield grow around the group and even the Avengers base. She had done it! "Yes!" You smiled, making Wanda smile. Then, everyone turned to Tony for instruction.

"What are these things?" Tony asked, standing on the ground now.

"Projections from his mind...kind of?" Your voice got higher towards the end of your sentence. "But they can still- you know, I have no idea. But he's controlling them," You decided on your ideas.

Rhodey groaned from next to Tony. "So you're telling me we have no way to fight against these alien things? We can't hit them, we can't shoot them, how do we stop them?" Rhodey exploded.

Everyone went quiet- the only thing they could hear was the explosions from the aliens/robots/ghosts destroying the ground. Then, the silence was cut off from a gasp from Wanda. "He's a hacker, right? They've got to be programmed into something he has," She started. "He keeps touching his temples, maybe it's glasses or a headband, but the aliens must be programmed in that. We just have to hack that!" Wanda said. She had no idea where this idea came from, but it sounded like a damn good plan.

"FRIDAY, let's hack into it," Tony said. He pulled out his phone and turned it sideways to project a larger screen and started typing as fast as he could, as the rest of the team waited for things to change.

"Wanda, I need you to really concentrate for me, okay?" You whispered to her and she nodded slowly. "I need to get out of the forcefield."

She didn't say anything, she trusts you, and closed her eyes in extreme concentration. Slowly but surely, a small opening appeared in the forcefield, just big enough for you to get out. With the power you have to mimic another's powers, like what you did with Pietro's speed, you stared at the villain and copied his flight. Floating up to him, you seemed to come unnoticed. "Hi, nice to meet you, I'm (Y/N)!" You startled him. Honestly, you didn't really know why you were doing this. A distraction? Trying to figure things out? Either way, it would be interesting.

Silver Shadow did not jump, he simply turned his head to where you were floating. "Ah, the immortal. It's a pleasure," He nodded.

"Got it!" You heard Tony from the ground, seeing all the holographic robots disappear and the weapons retreat to the source.

You smirked. "I think we just grounded you-"

"Yes, it seems you have," He sighed. "If I were actually here."

"Wh-" You swiped your hand to punch him, but it only went straight through with nothing changing. A second later, his body glitched away and you saw an orb floating a little higher up with a projector in it- what must have been projecting his body.

"This is only the beginning, Miss Immortal," His deep voice called as the orb flew away and disappeared.

You dropped to the ground and Wanda's forcefield went away. "What is this guy's deal?" You rolled your eyes. "We need to do more research."

Thor flew in and landed hard on the ground, leaving an indent. "I could not track anything down, wait, what happened here?"

"It's a long story, Thor," Bruce sighed as he walked out of the base. "Come with me."

Thor walked with Bruce and everyone else headed inside. "I don't understand," You said as you walked with the twins. "Everything was a hologram? But how were they causing destruction...even the Silver Shadow was a hologram?" You rambled on, hearing Tony's voice in the background, but you didn't listen to it. You just kept going.

"You're back already? That was quick," Tony shook his head.

Sam shrugged. "Yeah, well, as soon as we got there we wasted no time. Tracked down the lead, got him to comply, and then got Natasha's call and he was more than happy to come back with us," Sam explained to Tony.

Steve entered the room talking to Natasha about the things they saw. "(Y/N)?" The man's voice next to them called. You turned around quickly and your jaw dropped.

"Bucky?"

All of the sudden, you could feel your bones begin to stiffen up and everything become weaker. Your hair lost its volume and your eyes were tired and heavy. Looking down at your hands, they were much paler and you could see the veins and the new found wrinkles.

Everything went black.

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[lomlwintersoldier]

The Sun and The Stars {2}

Previous parts: Part 1

Word Count: 3158

Warnings: some light nsfw content

You have to leave. That man knew you and if anyone knew you, then it was time to leave, but you were thrown off by what he’d called you. My star. What a strange thing to call someone.

You couldn’t recall a single thing about this man but the way he looked at you, with a certain tenderness in his clear blue eyes…it unnerved you. He knew you and something deep inside you told you that he cared for you, which was unthinkable. No one cared for you.

You quickly shove your clothes into your backpack, frantically trying to escape your small apartment. It was far enough away from the center of Bucharest that it had survived the alien attack, although a few things had fallen from the shelves after the initial blast. You swing the pack over your shoulder and left the room through the window, ever the cautious one, swallowing your fear as you did.

Time to disappear.

Bucky runs through the city, searching for any indication of Y/N. He’d shoved a quick explanation to Tony but it really wasn’t much and before Stark could even question him, he was gone on his search for her. The memories ran through his mind, spreading like wildfire as he sprinted through the empty streets: a kiss, a loving touch here and there, and finally, the heartbreaking night she’d disappeared. It all came rushing back to him at a nauseating speed but all he knew was that he had to find her, this girl he knew he’d loved.

After four hours of searching, he realizes she’s bolted and is probably halfway across Europe by now; she was always good at disappearing; he knew that from experience.

He’d stumbled upon an apartment building at the edge of the city with the help of Red Wing and  searched every room until he found hers. It was entirely bare but somehow he knew it was hers. Her scent, although faded, lingered in the blankets that were spread across the floor in a makeshift bed and the only thing left behind was a forgotten notebook, wedged between the blankets. Bucky snags it and starts to head back to the quinjet, although slowly. He needs some time to think before he faces the others and he figures it would probably be better to read the journal in the safety of the jet.

By the time he get’s back, the entire team are already in it and are flashing him glares of various glares of anger and annoyance at the fact that he’d made them wait so he heads to the back of the plane, taking one of the spare seats far away from everyone else and grabs the journal from one of the pockets in his pants. Bucky breathes a deep breath as he opens it, preparing himself for what he’s about to read.

She’s scrawled short notes in the stained pages, much more like military log book entries than a diary; he smiles, remembering how tough she was back at HYDRA. It’s obvious she still has the same fire.

Date: 3/22/12

Still no memories. Absolutely fucking nothing. It’s been a two months since I got out and I can’t think of anything that happened at HYDRA that wasn’t torture. Traveling to Italy now.

He winces at her words, knowing the feeling all too well before flipping to the next page, an entry made about a month later.

HYDRA agents searched for me last night. The Asset was there. Barely made it out of Paris unseen.

Bucky’s eyes narrow as he reads the entry. He remembers that night well; he’d been assigned to bring her back and when he failed to, he was punished accordingly and now he realized that even though the Winter Soldier had no recollection of her at that point, some unconscious feeling caused him to sabotage the mission to protect her, sending the men on a false lead to give her more time to escape.

He continues to read through the journal, flipping page after page of her thoughts, jotted down quickly in between cities and events. HYDRA had been relentless in trying to get her back and she’d been unable to stay anywhere longer than a few weeks. He reaches to a point about six months after the first entry when a noise pulls him out of his thoughts. It’s Steve sitting beside him. He’s quiet for a moment, just studying his friend before he speaks.

“What the hell was that back there?” He asks, drawing the answer out of Bucky. “Stark told you?” “Of course he did. Got pretty damn pissed about it too. Also you didn’t turn off your earpieces before you guys started yelling at each other.” Steve replies pointedly. “Scared half the team, thinking we had another civil war on our hands.” Bucky laughs humorlessly and looks down at the journal again, thinking of her.

“So tell me, what happened? Who is she?” Bucky sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose before replying. “Her name is Y/N Y/L/N. She was an experiment at HYDRA, the first successful one they ever had using an infinity stone, she can do anything and everything with her mind and I’m willing to bet she’s even more powerful than Wanda.”

Steve’s eyebrows flick up in surprise. Bucky knew what he was thinking; another enhanced, unstable individual with powers even stronger than Wanda’s….well let’s just say that he wasn’t happy about it. “What else?” Steve asks, demanding more. He wanted to know why she meant so much to Bucky but he wasn’t ready to tell Steve everything that happened between them. Bucky sighed heavily before answering. “They had me watch her, train her so I did and we…we got close. We were sent on a mission together one day and I kissed her. I never saw her again after that. They'd told me she died.” “How were you able to kiss her though? You were the Winter Soldier at that point right? You couldn’t feel anything.” Steve states pointedly. “But that’s the thing, whenever I was around her I could. It was like whatever they’d done to her gave me my will, my strength, my personality back. Not my memories though.” Bucky smiles to himself, remembering the first time he saw her. She’d glared at her handler with a defiance that caused her to set her jaw and stand straight, and he knew instantly that she was special, not just in her powers but in her entire personality; there was something about her that HYDRA could never take away from her and it was what ultimately gave her the strength to escape. “What happened?”

Bucky looked down at his hands, remembering the night she’d escaped. No one knew how she got out except for him; she was the strongest enhanced individual he’d ever seen. She could have escaped long before that night but she’d stayed for him, to be close to him. He pushes away the painful memory of the night she left just before it begins to tear a hole in him.

“She escaped.” He whispered. “They ordered me to look for her and kill her but I refused. I couldn’t bring myself to do it. That was when they realized how much they’d lost their control over me and they told me they'd killed her. Told me it was my fault for falling for her.”

“Wow.” Steve mutters in shock. “Do you have an idea of where she might go?” “I didn’t even know she was alive until about five hours ago.” Bucky sighs. “But as soon as we land I’m leaving again. I need to find her.”

“Do you want any of us to come with you?”

Bucky shakes his head, closing the journal and replacing it in the pocket of his pants. “I need to do this alone.”

Steve nods and claps his hand on Bucky’s shoulder, giving him a comforting smile.

“Good luck, pal.”

Bucky ended up being gone for nine months, searching seemingly the whole world for her without any leads. She was incredible at disappearing, he’ll give her that but as each day passed and more and more memories of the two of them surfaced in his mind, the more his heart hurt. The way he missed her was undeniable and the pain of losing her that night seemed to be renewed every day he woke up in a new city.

But still he searched, trying to find any place she would have gone but she seemed to always be three steps ahead. By the time he got to where he thought she was she was long gone.

“What the hell are you doing?” She giggled as Bucky pressed small kisses to her neck. His actions caused a small moan to escape her lips even though she was trying to push him away lightly. “What does it look like I’m doing?” He growled lowly against her skin. She didn’t reply, only curled her fingers in his long hair the way she knew he loved. They rarely had the time or the freedom to do this but when they were sent on missions together, like right now, they could do whatever they wanted. And because of her aura, he was able to do what he wanted. He wasn’t the Winter Soldier around her, just a man she loved.

Right now, her leg is hitched around his hip and her hand is resting against his chest, stroking gently. He can’t remember the last time he was touched by a gentle hand and the way her other hand is curled in his long mop of hair comforts him.

“We have to report back in the morning.” She whispers in his ear. “We need to look like we’ve gotten even a little bit of sleep.”

“Do we?” Bucky hummed against her skin before moving back up to her lips, pressing a heavy kiss to them.

“Yes! We must sleep, solnyshko moyo.” She murmurs but the lust in her eyes tells a different story. Bucky continues to move down until his lips are pressing light kisses to the valley in between her breasts.

“I don’t see why.” He whispers as he continues down to her stomach and then to her hips, although he doesn’t leave any marks; if anyone knew what they did on these missions they would most likely be put to death.

“I guess you’re right.” She moans as he kisses her over her panties. He lets out a breathy laugh, the first one in months and goes back up to her lips. “I love you.” He whispers to her. “Zvezda moya.” She smiles up at him as he hovers over her, his waist in between her thighs. “The same to you, solnyshko moyo.”

Bucky is pulled out of the memory when he realizes he’s been standing at a crosswalk longer than he should have. He blinks and heads down the street, pulling his hat down further over his face to cover himself. He didn’t need anyone to recognize him right now; that would be an inconvenience that would be difficult to explain to the team. The one thing he’d promised when he left was that he would stay under the radar and out of trouble but there had been a few close calls. He had to avoid publicity even more now. Bucky heads down a bare alley, walking lightly as he heads down the empty strip when suddenly he’s shoved against the wall, dragged into a side street by an inhuman force. A knife is pressed to his neck before he can even react.

“Why the hell are you following me?” She snarls as she presses the knife deeper into his neck, ready to slice at a moment’s notice. Bucky raises his hands the way he did when he first saw her, nine months ago. “Listen-” Bucky begins. “No, you listen.” She barks in the same harsh tone. “I’ve done a damn good job at disappearing so you need to back the fuck off and let me escape. I don’t know who you are, if you’re with HYDRA or if you somehow know about me and my powers and you want me for some sick personal gain but you’ve gotta stay the hell away from me.” “Y/N, look, there’s a lot you don’t remember, I know that, but look at me.” Bucky says softly but urgently. “Look at me.”

Her eyes don’t lose the cold, unforgiving stare but she doesn’t make a move to kill him which is an improvement.

“You have to remember me.” “I don’t.” She replies with hostility. “I have no idea who you are.” She releases him and makes a move to leave but he grabs her hand, entwining his fingers with hers. The gesture seems to surprise her, his familiarity catching her off guard. “Zvezda moya.” He whispers urgently. “It’s me.” The faintest hint of recognition flashes in her eyes but she doesn’t pull away from him. “Just let me explain. Please, come with me; I won’t hurt you. I just want to talk.”

She tugs her hand from his before glancing around her warily. “Don’t try anything funny. I think you understand what I could do to you.” She threatens lowly.

Bucky’s heart leaps at her acceptance, even though it’s grudgingly. “I have a hotel room, not too far from here.” “No. No hotel rooms.” She says. “Too many people.” “Where then?” “Come with me.” She turns on her heel without any explanation but Bucky follows. He finally has her.

They walk to a small abandoned factory about an hour out of town. The thin walls do nothing against the windy chill that blows through the building but she doesn’t seem to notice as she pushes through the dirt and filth that’s overtaken the place. She leads him to a tiny room, barely a broom closet where she has blankets set up, much like her other home and there’s a small lamp that casts a dim light over the tiny space.

“You live here?”

“Temporarily. Everything is temporary.” She says as she places herself on the blanket, but her eyes follow him, still not trusting him; he can’t blame her. She doesn’t remember him and the thought tugs at his heart painfully. When he sits across from her, she shifts back slightly, wanting to keep him at arm’s length for her own protection. It’s a moment before he speaks.

“Do you remember anything about HYDRA?” Bucky asks. Pain flashes in her eyes before being taken by a deadened, numb expression, an expression he knows all too well since he escaped HYDRAs grasp as well.

“I know what they did to me.” She winces at the thoughts that come rushing back, as does Bucky. He knows what they did to her as well. “All they caused me was pain. Nothing good came out of that place.”

The comment hurts him more than he thought it would. They really did a number on her memory if she doesn’t remember him at all.

“Do you remember anything about you and I?”

“I know you are the Asset, a dangerous killing machine. I heard of you through my handler.”

Bucky sighs although he didn’t really expect a different answer.

“Do you remember what we meant to each other?” He whispers, shifting slightly, preparing himself for the inevitable truth.

“No.” The word is cold and harsh and it cuts him like a knife but he can’t blame her. He knows they wiped her before she escaped. They both had no chance.

And so he began his story, telling her of the nights they spent together and the stolen kisses in the dark hallways of the facilities they’d stayed in. He tells her about the first time he saw her smile and that the happiness it caused him doubled because he knew the cause was him. He speaks about the sudden rush of feeling he experienced when she smiled at him that first time and how those feelings tripled when he finally kissed her. As he continues to speak, her face becomes less guarded and more intrigued but she still looks at him with a certain detachment which only signifies that she doesn’t remember any of this. When he finishes, she just stares at him but the hostility and anger she so confidently wore when she looked at him is no longer plastered across her face.

“All of that happened? With you and me?” She asks quietly, cocking her head slightly to the left.

“Yeah.”

She heaves a sigh, her eyes never leaving his. “I don’t remember you.” She whispers as she shifts so that she’s closer to him. “But I want to.”

She holds his gaze as those words melt him from the inside and a small smile, the first one he’s felt in months, makes it’s way to the surface.

“You were the only person who was kind to me, weren’t you?.” She whispers as she leans into him slightly, her closeness affecting him in ways he didn’t think possible. Just her being in this close proximity sends a wave of calm over him.

“I loved you.” He whispers, leaning closer so that their faces are just inches apart and he’s overwhelmed by the need to kiss her.

Clang.

Instantly, the guarded expression is back on her faces as she spreads her gloved hands, ready to defend herself at a moment’s notice. Bucky’s on the defensive as well, crouched protectively over her even though she doesn’t need protecting.

“I’ve stayed here too long.” She mutters as she grabs her things and shoves them into her backpack and clips the lamp to the outside of it.

“Wait.” Bucky grabs her hand but instantly she pulls it back. “Come with me. I can take you somewhere where you can be safe.”

Voices accompany the noises and her eyes dart back and forth between him and the direction of the noises. She still doesn’t know whether to trust him. “You wouldn’t have to run anymore.” Bucky promises as he gazes into her eyes. She seems uncertain but he takes her hand, forcing her to look at him. “I can help you now. I can take care of you.”

After a few moments she nods. He yanks then both of them up and together, they run through the warehouse as excited voices start to yell.

“Hey boys, there she is.” One of them yells. “Fucking get her. Alive.”

“Fuck off!” She yells back before sending a burst of energy at the rafter over where they’re standing. It doesn’t take much effort for the roof to collapse on top of the team of HYDRA agents but both Bucky and Y/N know they’re not dead. Bucky can still hear them swearing but the two of them manage to escape, running into the darkness of the night but at some point during their track, their hands instinctively find each others and that’s when Bucky feels the faintest flicker of hope. 

A dangerous feeling.

Next part: Part 3

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