40's!bucky

THIS IS NOT MARVEL, but something i wrote with the inspiration coming form a post by @screaming-till-im-numb, a deactivated tumblr user

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the woman got thrown off the ship, and soon a new mermaid followed the boat. singing about treasure, women, and rum, all that a sailor could wish for, her beautiful broken voice filled the heads of the sailors, until they, one after the other, jumped off the ship, just like they had thrown her and her sisters off.

the sailors fell, the water was cold, the salt stinging their eyes. their throats closing up, lungs hurting from the water they can’t seem to stop breathing. noses burning from the harsh water. spirits broken.

and when their panicking finally took off, and they looked around with their scared eyes, they could see the women that had lured them into the sea. recognition sparked in their brains and one last collective thought came to all the drowning men.

“No. No! Bucky... please. You can’t leave me,” she says, tears running down her cheeks, her heart about to break. She had known it was coming for some time. Ever since he enlisted after the attack on Pearl Harbor. America was in on the war, and she knew it. But that didn’t mean that she accepted it. 

Bucky turns around and take the few steps back to her. He sighs and looks into her eyes. Holding his own tears back. “Doll... you know I wouldn’t leave you if I didn’t have to, right?” He questions.

She nods, unable to speak. Hugs him tight, and hides her face in his shoulder, even more tears leaving her eyes than before. It wasn’t right, that the war had to take him away from her. She needed him more than they did. Who should she dance with on the weekends, who should take her to go get milkshakes in the afternoon? Who should hug her and kiss her and tell her that he loved her?

“I have to go now,” he whispers into her hair, “you’ve got to let me go.” He kisses the top of her head. “The sooner I go, the sooner I’ll be back.”

“Why do you have to go?” She asks, already knowing the answer, but none the less hoping that he’ll say that he’ll stay with her. Go back home, go out dancing, go to work the next morning, come home to her - kiss her and cuddle her and love her here, not from the other side of the world, but right next to her.

“You know why, Doll. I’ve got to go protect this country... protect you,” he says, “You’ve gotta let me go do that, alright.”

She nods. “I love you James Barnes, please come back to me?” She says, wiping away the tears that won’t stop falling from her eyes. 

“And I love you.” He kisses her on the cheek, and on the mouth. “I’ll write as soon as I touch ground again.”

“I’ll be waiting,” she wipes another tear away. 

“Write back, okay?” He looks at her, taking all her features in. It’ll be long before he’ll be seeing her again, a war isn’t won in one day. And the picture he has in his pocket, and the letters he’s sure she’ll send will be all he has to remember all of her beauty while he’s gone. Her eyes, her hair, her lips. Everything. 

“Of course.” She tightens her grip on his hand. 

Bucky pulls her into another hug and kisses her again. As he let her go again a single tear rolls down his cheek. He laughs a little.

“And I’m trying to be the strong one here,” he says, a sad smile present on his lips. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you even more.”

“I don’t think that’s possible,” he says. “At least you’ll have Brooklyn. I’ll have to do with some camp in the middle of nowhere.” He pauses for a second, just looking into her eyes. “I love you,” he whispers. “You’ll be waiting for me?” The last sentence a question. He knows that he’ll be away for long, she could find another dance partner, someone else to get milkshakes with. 

“Yes. Yes I will. I’ll wait forever, if that’s what it takes,” she wipes away yet another tear. “I’ll love you forever.”

“Thank you.” He kisses her one last time, before slowly beginning to walk towards the ship that’ll take him to England. 

“Please be safe,” she says, feeling her heart break into a million pieces. “I can’t lose you.”

He salutes and gives her one of those classic Bucky Barnes smiles. The ones that she’ll miss more than anything. 

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Fic number 2 ever posted to tumblr... I hope you liked it. This one took a quite some time to come up with, I had to think a lot about how angsty I wanted it - hope I fullfilled it. Please leave some feedback, both on what you liked (if you liked any of it...) and on what I could do better. But in a nice way, thank you. Also, it would mean the world to me, if you would like this fic, if you like it, so I know that someone out there have enjoyed my writing.

Saying goodbye was never easy. Especially when you didn’t know if you were going to see that person again. No scratch that. Especially when you didn’t know when you were going to see that person again. Because he would come home again. He promised. And James Buchanan Barnes had never broken a promise before.

The day the letter came, she didn’t know how to react. MIA. That hurt. But she kept telling herself that he was only missing, not dead. Only missing. Because he had promised that he would be back. As soon as possible. As soon as the war was over. He promised. And James Buchanan Barnes had never broken a promise before.

Months passed and they didn’t come with any news. She began doubting herself. She began doubting the soldiers defending her country and her world. If they couldn’t even find one man, how would they be able to find a solution to this nightmare that had become reality. But she had to believe that he would return. He promised. And James Buchanan Barnes had never broken a promise before.

When the soldier showed up at the front door, tears began to spill. She didn’t know if they were happy or sad tears, she only knew that they were there. Her hand shook with nerves, as he handed her a letter, dreading what could be written inside. But it would be okay. He promised. And James Buchanan Barnes had never broken a promise before.

The moment after she had opened the second letter was one of the happiest in her life. Two pieces of paper fell out. One was official - they had found Sergeant James Barnes and he was tired and hungry, but otherwise at good health. She skimmed through it quickly. The other one was informal - handwritten. She read it again and again. He was coming home now. He promised. And James Buchanan Barnes had never broken a promise before.

More than a year later than their goodbye, they could say hello again. She was sure of her tears from the beginning this time. They were happy. They were the happiest tears she had ever shred. As she stood on the docks waiting for him she couldn’t remember a time she had been looking more forward to than this. They would be together again. He promised. And James Buchanan Barnes had never broken a promise before.

They hugged tighter than ever before when they were finally together again. Both of them smiling as if they were mad. Everything stopped around them. They didn’t see or hear the other soldiers and their families and friends and lovers. They only saw each other. They only heard each other. He was finally home again. Just like he promised. And James Buchanan Barnes had never broken a promise, not even a war could change that.