Bucky Barnes x Reader Blurb : You photograph the aftermath. He prevents the next one. Bucky Barnes has always been protective — maybe too much so. You just thought it was love. But the lines between devotion and darkness blur when your work starts colliding with his secrets.

Tropes: dark romance, secret identity, moral ambiguity, lovers and liars, “I’d burn the world for you”, angst with tenderness, power couple energy

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You always said the camera never lies.

But Bucky knows better.

He watches you from the kitchen doorway as you scrub the smell of another night’s work off your hands, the faint trace of metallic tang that never seems to wash away. You look tired, your smile weaker than it used to be, but when you lift your camera bag and glance up at him, that soft spark lights again behind your eyes.

“Rough night?” he asks.

You hum an answer, trying not to think about the scene; about the alleyway, the blood, the victim’s watch still ticking. “They’re getting bolder,” you mutter, “like they don’t even care anymore.”

Bucky’s jaw flexes. They. You always say it like that. And every time, something darker coils in his chest, the thought that he could stop them, that he has.

He steps closer, pressing a kiss to your temple. “You shouldn’t have to see things like that.”

You laugh softly, hollow but sweet. “Someone’s gotta make sense of the mess.”

If only you knew how many messes he’d already cleaned up for you.

Later that night, you develop photos in the dim red light of your home studio, unaware that Bucky’s gone. The faint click of your camera shutter echoes through the room, rhythmic, familiar, comforting.

But across the city, he moves through the dark like a ghost. He knows the name of the man who hurt that girl in your latest case. He knows where he hides, what he’s done, what he’ll do again if someone doesn’t intervene.

He doesn’t think about what happens after. Only that you’ll sleep easier knowing justice is served.

When he returns, the first thing he hears is the gentle hum of your music, the faint laughter spilling from your lips as you talk to yourself about the perfect shot. He leans against the doorway again, watching; that same camera that captures tragedy now aimed at a vase of flowers, light streaming in just right.

“You’re home late,” you tease, turning to him. “Out saving the world?”

“Something like that,” he says.

You cross the room, slip your hands into his. They’re warm — warmer than they should be. “You’re shaking,” you whisper. “Everything okay?”

He looks down at you, guilt and longing at war in his eyes. “I just—sometimes I wish I could take it all away for you.”

You smile, leaning up to kiss him. “You already do.”

And in that moment, he decides not to tell you. Not about the men who won’t be found, the names that won’t reach your crime scenes.