literature

Hazy Shade of Winter - Bucky X-reader Pt. 14

Deviation Actions

the-other-sam's avatar
Published:
1.6K Views

Literature Text

3 DAYS AGO – AIRFIELD NORTHERN ENGLAND

SaturnMoonbeam.”

Your eyes sprang open but your body remained still, as you looked up at Jackson, clutching the leather-bound notebook against his smart black suit.

He smiled sweetly at you, “Welcome home, soldier.”

“Thank you, sir. What would you like me to do for you?”

He pulled a piece of paper from inside the notebook and handed it to you. “Two targets. Extremely high value. Clean shot at distance, no other casualties. Copy?”

You ran your thumb down the paper, absorbing the finer details. Travel itineraries, media timings, photographs of the targets. When and exactly how you carried out the mission was up to you. A smirk spread across your face. You knew what to do. “Copy.”

“Good girl.”

NOW – TRIBECA

“So the two targets were the British prime minister and….erm, the Russian president?” Bucky gulped, knowing full-well the answer to that question.

You could only nod your head, as fear and guilt overwhelmed you.

He shuffled closer to you on the couch and gently placed his metal hand on your knee. You frowned, then opened your mouth to speak, but still no words would come.

“If you only take one thing from this conversation, [name], remember this; you are not to blame, do you hear me?”

“B…but I killed them,” you whispered, forcing your voice to the surface.

He shook his head, “You didn’t even know your own name. Your will was not your own.”

You looked at him closely with your eyes squinted, then watched as he lifted your cup out of your hands and placed it on the coffee table in front of the couch. “Do you believe your own words, Bucky Barnes?”

He contemplated for a moment as he returned to facing you. “If you’d asked me that when I first broke free from HYDRA, I would’ve said no…absolutely not -”

“Exactly, so why shou -”

But now,” he interrupted, moving his hand to rest it on top of yours and giving it a gentle squeeze, “Now, I know where the line begins and ends. Some people say a weapon cannot kill without a human standing behind it, so the human is ultimately responsible. Well, I was the weapon. You were the weapon. HYDRA, A.I.M…they were the ones pulling the trigger.

“Y…you really believe that?”

He began to nod his head slowly, but as you watched him thinking it over, his actions became more definite, more accepted in his own mind, “Yes, [name], I…I do.” He licked his lips and dropped his head to keep your focus. “And I hope that you will come to the same conclusions as me. They tried to take our humanity from us, but we fight back. Do you blame yourself, for all of this?”

You shrugged, “Certain things, sure.”

“Like what?”

“Like…” you sighed and glanced up at the ceiling, “I was too trusting, when I think back to be…before it all happened, when I was in college.”

“You can recall that far back?”

You nodded, chewing on your lower lip.

He gave your knee another squeeze, and smiled warmly, “That’s good! It’s taken me a long time to piece together a lot of my memories from before it happened. So what kinds of things do you remember from then?”

“Lectures…sitting in those tiers of desks, scribbling down notes.”

“What was the subject?”

“Erm…” You allowed your mind to fall back, in search of the answer. It was as if you were being transported into your own body 10 years ago; the images were grey tinged, and dappled with clouds. You could see your hands, writing on notebook paper. You glanced to your left and caught your…room-mate? Joanna. She smiled at you and gave you a nudge, as a professor’s voice in the distance called your name. You spun back around to look down at the man wearing a smart suit. Jackson.

Your heart began to pound again, seeing his face staring up at you and smiling warmly. Bastard. Your breathing was becoming heavier, and you were sure your palms were beginning to sweat. It felt as if you were falling, or were you being dragged? No! Your vision clouded up completely, as if a dense fog was closing in on you, and suddenly a spark. Jackson coming towards you with a needle. Words failing you, as you lay helpless in the back of a van, surrounded by men. You could feel pain in your abdomen, and your hand instinctively pressed against the area. A scar. You’d nearly died. Jackson did it, he -

The cool touch of Bucky’s metal arm against your cheek stirred you from your memories. Your eyes popped as you gasped for air, but his face instantly calmed you down.

“You’re all right, I’m here…” he smiled, “Everything is okay.”

“Calculus,” you swallowed. Your throat felt like sandpaper.

He frowned.

“That was th…the subject in class.”

His smile spread to his eyes and he nodded, a light chuckle breaking through. “Excellent, you’re doing so well, [name].”

Xxx

Natasha leaned against the kitchen wall with her fingers laced together behind her head. They’d been in this room for hours, going over every tiny piece of information Andrew could recall from his close proximity to Secretary Ross.

“I was there, y’know, at Avengers HQ,” he said with a nod.

Nat looked at him, puzzled, “When?”

“The day Ross revealed the Sokovia Accords to you guys. I was stood to his right, watching him deliver his big speech; you wouldn’t have noticed me.”

She shrugged apologetically and glanced over at T’Challa who had been thoroughly riveted to your brother’s every word for hours.

“And what do you think of the document?” the king asked.

"I think it made some fair points but, honestly…” he flashed a look at Nat before returning to T’Challa’s face, “I agreed with Captain Rogers.”

“Why?”

“Well, knowing what happened to my sister, I could picture someone like Ross issuing a kill order against someone like her, without hesitation. I mean, hell, it was guys like him who fired a nuke at Manhattan, wasn’t it?”

Nat dropped her hands to her sides and gave a pitiful nod.

“I know how you guys think; the steps you take to keep as many people safe as you possibly can, without the need to just kill anyone who is against you.” He sighed and leaned back in his chair, “What I’m trying to say is…None of you guys would’ve killed my sister, even in her most dangerous state, but Ross would.”

“He’s a fool,” T’Challa stated.

Andrew’s head shot up. “Don’t underestimate him…or anybody involved in this mess, please. They’re a lot smarter than we give them credit for. There’s always a backup plan.”

Nat scoffed, “Yeah, like the tracking device [name] found -”

“What did you say?” Andrew asked, shuffling in his chair. “She found a tracker? Where?”

“Her leg…it’s okay though, I think it was found, diverted, and destroyed in time.”

“Did she check for any more?”

Xxx

It felt like hardly any time had passed at all, sitting there talking to Bucky, but when you looked out of the window, the sky was darkening. Tall buildings that surrounded the area cast thick slabs of shadow at 45 degree angles, dragging night-time over you twice as fast.

A slight chill filled the air, and Bucky rubbed his right arm before pushing up off the couch, “I’m gonna grab a sweater, I’ll just be a second.”

You gave a sleepy nod and climbed out of the mountain of deep, cosy cushions, “More coffee?”

“Sure.”

You shuffled over towards the kitchen area, your oversized sweatpants sweeping on the floor as you moved.

Bucky went to the end of the hallway and pushed the door open just wide enough to fit through, flicked on the light and headed straight for the walk-in closet. As he routed around for a sweater big enough for his body, he heard you pressing buttons on the coffee machine, the whirling sound that followed proving surprisingly soothing. He couldn’t believe how far you’d come already in such a short space of time. You remembered a lot about your life before Jackson and Rappuccini had got their claws into you, and he thought back to seeing the flicker of light in your eyes as you recounted playing tag football with your brother and cousins during teenage summers. She can do this. She’s going to beat this. He finally picked out a sweater, rolled it down and headed back out into the bedroom, when he heard a soft thud. “You okay out there?” he said, opening the door wider and stepping out into the hallway. The sound of coffee being poured hit his ears.

You’d turned on one or two lamps that sat on small tables around the vast loft, giving the room a warm glow as he approached. “[Name]?” Silence. He instinctively plunged his hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone. Without looking, he typed in the words, Something’s wrong. Get here, and sent it to Natasha.

He almost expected one of the highly polished floorboards to creak, but the only sound he heard was his own heart throbbing in his ears. “[Name], is everything all right?”

Stepping out into the open space, his eyes grew wide. There you were behind the kitchen island, your head lolled against a soldier wearing tactical black from head to toe, his hand tight around your waist. Your eyes were heavy as you looked down your nose at him. They’d done something to you, because you were still and eerily calm. Just then, he caught sight of a large empty needle on the counter top. They’ve given her another dose.

“Sergeant Barnes, what a pleasure to finally meet you,” a voice said from the shadows, his body silhouetted beside a large window.

He turned, sipping a cup of coffee, and Bucky scoffed, recognising the man instantly. “Thaddeus Ross.”

“I’ve been looking for you for a long time, Barnes.” He took a step into the light, revealing two black eyes and multiple cuts and bruises to his face. As he spoke again, he winced and touched his painful nose. “And isn’t it just typical that the moment I finally have you in my cross-hairs, I find myself with more pressing matters?” He pointed in your direction, as you continued to stand with the aid of the Special Ops soldier.

“How did you find us?” Bucky asked, his voice low and menacing.

“Tracked, like wild animals,” Ross sniggered, his eyes aflame with excitement.

“But she…” Bucky gulped. I’m not giving him ammunition. “I took care of it.”

A laugh escaped Ross’s lips, patronising and wicked in equal measure. He took a few more steps across the room toward the kitchen area, put his cup down, and motioned to his silent helper, as Bucky stood tensing his muscles mere feet away.

The man grabbed you by the hair, yanked your head upright and then turned it violently to one side. He then parted the hair halfway down your head and tapped on a small scarred area, which had been completely hidden by your thick hair.

“You didn’t think we’d have a backup plan? Oh, Barnes,” Ross groaned with sarcastic glee, “I’m disappointed in you, son.”

Bucky gulped, watching as your hair was released and you flopped forward. The soldier pulled you back like a ragdoll, and your mouth broke into a light-headed smile. “Get out of here, now. I’m only going to ask you once.”

Ross laughed again and looked to his soldier, who scoffed under his breath at the threat.

“I can’t leave her, Barnes, if that’s what you’re expecting. You see, she has a mission outstanding, and...” he checked his watch, “Her first window of opportunity closed a long time ago, so I’ve had to make other arrangements. She’s not missing it for a second time.”

Bucky growled and stepped forward. Suddenly, half a dozen more Special Ops soldiers seeped out of the shadows, their guns pointed right at him. He froze, his gaze shifting to you. If he tried to grab you, the bullets would start flying, and he didn’t want to risk you getting caught in the crossfire. He held up his hands and took an exaggerated step back.

“Good man,” Ross nodded, before turning to the soldier holding you up. “Get her downstairs to the van.”

The soldier nodded and scooped you up into his arms. Your head fell back, revealing your chillingly vacant stare. Bucky felt sick. He’d finally got you to a safe place, talking about your memories, healing, and now you were being walked out the door to be reloaded as a weapon.

Ross looked him right in the eye and took a final swig of coffee, before heading towards him. “Thanks for keeping her warm, Sergeant.” He patted Bucky’s metal arm and turned to leave, “Let me just take care of this business, then I’ll come back for you, too.”

Bucky’s rage began bubbling to the surface. “Make the most of those black eyes, Ross.” The Secretary stopped in his tracks. “Because by the time I’m through with you, they’ll be the least of your problems, I guarantee it.”

Ross spun back around and frowned. “Did you just threaten the US Secretary of State?”

Bucky smirked, clenching and unclenching his fists.

Ross chuckled and winced once again as his nose throbbed. He threw Bucky one last look of hatred before turning on his heel and heading straight for the elevator. As the door began to close, he spoke, “Finish him.”

Uh oh! Those damn bad guys think of everything! Get ready for some majorly angry Bucky :angry:. Thoughts and comments are very gratefully received, I love to know what you think of the story (and I adore hearing about your theories, lol)

xoxo

© 2016 - 2024 the-other-sam
Comments20
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Kat-Talbot's avatar
Oh My sweet baby one-eyed Odin!
And here was I almost melting with Bucky sharing moments with her and then BANG! Eveything goes to hell again! I liked it!
Oh my! I'm sorry I only read this now. Still, keep up the fantastic job sweetie! Clap