"Mm, given the season, I'd say about six months. Which is crazy to me, because I never left the city."

Bucky shakes his head. "What've you been doing this whole time?"

"Well, considering everyone I used to work with is either dead, lost in time, finding a new sidekick, or sidekicking with someone else, a whole fat lot of nothing."

"Hey!" Bucky protests. "I am not Sam's sidekick, we're partners."

"Oh shit, I didn't realize that you two were dating. How's that going? Is he treating you well? I know you two didn't get along when you first met and-" Bucky presses her back against the wall and she laughs. "Okay, I'll stop."

Bucky's hands come to rest on (Y/N)'s waist and he sighs. "I missed you."

She wraps her arms around his shoulders and hugs him. "I missed you too."

"Why didn't you visit?"

"I didn't want to mess with your therapy."

"Bullshit."

"Okay. I didn't know if you'd want to see me."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Too many memories? I was kind of stuck between you and Steve and the others for a long time, and you were starting a new life outside of that." Bucky pulls away, but (Y/N) refuses to look at him. "I don't want you to have to worry about how to fit me into your life, Buck."

"You don't get to make that choice for me. I'm the only one who gets to decide who is and isn't worth my time."

"Okay."

"You get that I care about you, right? I don't care how you fit into my life, I want you there. Understand?" She nods. "Good."

(Y/N) sighs and presses her nose to Bucky’s chest. “I really did miss you. I’ll always miss you when I’m not with you.”

“(Y/N)…”

“I’m sorry, Bucky. For everything. I should’ve stuck around. I just… I got very, very used to being on my own while you were gone. I haven’t been in a good headspace since we were in Bucharest. Things made sense there. And that’s no excuse to fucking off without saying anything, but it feels like every time I finally get close to you, I lose you. It happened when you were sent to D.C. and then Bucharest and Wakanda. But if I figured that if I didn’t hold onto you this time, maybe it wouldn’t hurt as much when something else inevitably takes you away again.”

Bucky tips her chin up to look her in the eye. “You’re not gonna lose me.”

“You can’t know that.”

“I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen.”

(Y/N) bites her lip to hold back the negativity that sits just on the tip of her tongue. Bucky’s hand shifts to her cheek and he presses his lips to hers in a brief kiss. He pulls back just enough to ask if it’s alright.

“Only if it’s something you want,” (Y/N) breathes. “If I’m something you want.”

Bucky just nods and kisses her again. (Y/N) grabs fistfuls of his coat and pulls him as close as she can get him. Her mouth opens under his and Bucky groans at the first brush of their tongues. Want flashes through (Y/N)’s stomach and she begins shuffling them towards her door.

“Can I come in?” Bucky asks.

(Y/N) nods and backs right through the solid door and drags Bucky through after her by the front of his coat. He stumbles into the entryway and has to take a moment to regain his balance.

“Doesn’t matter how many times you do that, it’s still weird as hell.”

(Y/N) laughs. “But so convenient when you forget your keys.”

She quickly sheds her scarf and jacket and tosses them to the side before Bucky can pull her close again. With his hands on her waist, he takes his time kissing her. (Y/N), however, makes quick work of unzipping his coat and the hoodie underneath and Bucky lets her shove them off his shoulders. He tosses them to the side and crowds her further into the apartment, spurred on by her quiet laughter.

They stumble their way to (Y/N)’s bedroom, occasionally breaking away to discard a piece of clothing.

Just past the couch, (Y/N) sneaks her hands under Bucky’s shirt. “Is this something you want?”

Bucky nods and moves her hands up his chest, hitching his shirt up in the process. “For a long time, actually.”

“Okay.” (Y/N) nods and pulls his shirt over his head. “Okay, good.”

As soon as she tosses Bucky’s shirt onto the couch, Bucky picks her up, his hands warm and sure under her thighs. (Y/N) loops her arms around his shoulders rests her forehead against Buckys and he walks them the rest of the way to her bedroom.

“Should I be worried about ruining our friendship right now?”

“Only if by ‘ruin’ you mean ‘make it better’.” Bucky laughs and says, “I mean, if we’d had more time to ourselves in Bucharest I’m pretty sure we would’ve ended up here anyway.”

(Y/N) rolls onto her side to look at him. “You think so?”

He nods. “Three more months and I would’ve broken down and said something.”

“Three months?”

“Mhm.”

“It was the shared bed, wasn’t it.”

“It was the shared bed,” Bucky confirms.

“How long if I hadn’t been your live-in dream catcher?”

“No idea. But I don’t think a world exists where you wouldn’t have crawled into bed with me, so I won’t worry about it.”

“I’d be far more offended if you weren’t so dead on.” With featherlight touch she traces down his nose, over his lips, chin, down to his chest. “Y’know, the short hair looks good on you.”

Bucky turns his head and grins. “Yeah?”

“Mhm. You almost look a little lighter. Brighter, maybe. I like it.”

“Good.” He places (Y/N)’s hand over his heart. “I wish you actually had messed with my therapy. Would’ve gotten the shrink off my back a helluva lot faster.”

“Oh?”

“Do you know how hard it was trying to convince her I had friends? And apparently Wilson doesn’t count, and I couldn’t get in touch with you, so you don’t count either, which is such bullshit-” (Y/N) giggles and Bucky rolls over and wraps his arms tightly around her. “You think that’s funny?”

“A little, yeah. I mean, I spent years trying to prove I was your friend and now you have to prove you’re mine. That’s hilarious.”

“Mn, right, hilarious.” He holds her tighter and kisses her as she starts laughing again. “You should do comedy.”

“The only person who thinks I could ever be funny is you.” She pauses to think and her nose scrunches up. “Maybe Clint, but his sense of humor’s shot, so I don’t know if I’d trust it.”

“Have you talked to him recently?”

(Y/N) shakes her head. “I saw a few things about the Ronin and him on the news around Christmas. I think he might’ve had something to do with the tree at the Rockefeller Center falling over, but I can’t be sure.”

“I don’t even wanna know.”

“I hope he’s doing alright, though. Being left behind… it took a toll on everyone. Especially if your people were taken from you.” Her body briefly flickers and she pushes away from Bucky the second her shoulder dips into his. "Sorry, I… shit."

"What was that?"

She shakes her head. "Nothing."

"(Y/N)."

"It was just a glitch, it happens sometimes. It's fine."

"Why'd it happen?"

"Sometimes it's emotions, sometimes it's the weather. Honestly, it's probably a combination of the two at the moment. As it is, I'm not entirely corporeal when it's gray like this."

"Does it happen a lot?"

(Y/N) shrugs. "Not as much as it used to."

"When did it start?"

"It's always happened when I was anxious, but it got really bad a few days after that first snap. After we - I lost you."

"I'm sorry, (Y/N)."

She shakes her head and gently kisses him. "I don't want you to be."

"I just… you went through so much-"

"Everyone did, Bucky. Everyone lost someone. And I am one hundred percent sure there was nothing we could've done to prevent it. I mean, you saw the numbers we had. We were vastly outgunned." She sits back against the headboard and sighs. "I wish I could move past it, but it's so hard."

"It was five years. It doesn't need to be easy." Bucky takes her hand and gently rubs his thumb over her knuckles. "Tell me what happened?"

“I…” She scrubs her free hand down her face. “I shut down. There were things that had to be done, so I took whatever assignments Steve would give me to keep busy. And it worked, for the most part.”

“But?”

“But about a year in, my sister reached out. Our mother had passed away and our father and her immediate family turned to dust, so I was, quote, ‘all she had left.’ Which really made my skin crawl because they’d wanted nothing to do with me or my trauma. But I met with her because there’s something clinically wrong with me, probably.”

“What’d she want?”

“Well, at first I thought she just wanted to commiserate. She complained about money and cried about her family, but she’s barely better than a stranger at this point, so it just felt weird. And she’d never know what it was like to lose my, well… my you.” Bucky squeezes her hand. “But then she changed the subject and she-she wanted me to use my connections with the Avengers to get her a job, or something. So I just got up and walked out. After that it was just years of empty anger and grief.”

“(Y/N)…”

“I thought about you every single day.”

“You were the first person on my mind when we were brought back. But then you disappeared.”

“I know.”

“Did you even think about staying?” (Y/N) nods. “Why didn’t you?”

“I don’t know. I was someone else’s responsibility for so long and if I stayed I’d either be a burden, lose someone else, or both. So I just…” She shrugs and shakes her head.

“I wish you’d stayed. That I could’ve done something to keep you around.”

“It was never your fault, though.”

“I know, but-” Bucky carefully pulls her closer- “I don’t have many people left. Please don’t cut me off.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Mhm. As long as you want me around, I’ll be there.” (Y/N) gently combs her fingers through his hair, slowly dragging her nails along his scalp. “Are you still living in the city?”

“Yeah. Not sure I can stay in that spot, though.”

“Oh, why?”

“Mn. Shit happens.”

“Like that “shit” with Sam a few months back?”

“Different shit.”

“I see.” He grunts. “You did good with that, Bucky.”

“Sam did most of the work.”

“So it was a different beautiful man with a Vibranium arm saving those important government officials from a burning van?”

“No,” he grumbles. “That was me.”

“And it was a different man who went after that knockoff Captain America?”

“Well, Sam was there too-”

“Bucky, you did part of the work. You were the good guy. You are a good guy. Give yourself a little credit here.”

“You say that like there weren’t losses,” Bucky grumbles.

“Losses that Sam openly and publicly condemned.”

“Have you been keeping up with the cases or something?”

“A little,” (Y/N) admits. “I keep an eye on anything odd that shows up in the news.”

“And?”

“And it was interesting.”

“Oh really?”

“Well, that, and I think Walker’s an ass. It was only a matter of time before something went wrong.”

“The government tried to negotiate the terms of Steve’s legacy. Something would’ve gone wrong regardless.”

(Y/N) hums. “How’s Sam dealing with that, by the way?”

“He’s figuring things out. I just wish we’d talked to him about it before Steve handed over the shield.”

“Probably would’ve been a good idea.”

“I mean the shit he’s gotten because of the color of his skin is ridiculous. You know some people have started “Not My Captain America” rallies? It’s right up there with the election denial shit that happened.”

“There’ll always be angry racists out there. It’s one of the unfortunate side effects of where we live.”

Bucky snorts. “Shit’s ridiculous.”

“Yeah, but you know Sam. He’s more capable than most of doing the job, regardless of the social reaction. He’s already proved that to the world. And he’s got us and what’s left of the Avengers to back him up. We’ll make sure the shield stays with him.”

Bucky nods and (Y/N) kisses him and hauls herself out of bed. She shimmies into a pair of clean underwear and goes to get a glass of water from the kitchen. When she returns, she’s wearing Bucky’s shirt.

“Were you alone for the holidays?” Bucky asks.

(Y/N) shrugs and crawls back into bed. “Kind of, but it’s no big deal. Christmas was never all that important, so it’s not something I celebrate on my own.”

“Oh.”

“Was your family big on the holidays?”

“A little. We at least made sure we were all together for the big ones.”

“That sounds nice.” She props herself up on one elbow. “New Years used to be the big thing for me. Something about a fresh start was really appealing. Especially after I moved out for college.”

“Then I’d hate for you to be alone on New Years.”

“Well, you’re here right now. I’m not entirely alone.”

Bucky awkwardly clears his throat. “Sam invited me to spend New Years with him and his family.”

“Oh.” (Y/N) forced herself to smile. Bucky said she wouldn’t lose him again. So why does it feel like he’s about to break that promise? “That should be nice.”

“Hey, don’t do that,” Bucky sees right through, as always. He runs the backs of his fingers over her cheek. “Don’t shut down.”

“Sorry.” (Y/N) sighs and scrubs her hands over her face.

“Talk to me.”

“It’s nothing.”

“(Y/N).”

“No, it’s nothing. What’s Sam’s family like?”

Bucky sighs. “They’re normal, in the best way possible. His sister, Sarah, is real nice and her boys are great. They’re just… they’re just kids, y’know? They love their mom and they get to play and the only things they have to worry about are homework and whether or not they remembered to do their chores.”

(Y/N) tucks one hand under her cheek. “Sounds perfect.” Bucky hums his agreement. “Do you need a ride to the airport?”

“I was hoping I could convince you to come with, actually.”

(Y/N) frowns. “You want me there?”

“Of course I do. And Sam would love to see you again, obviously.”

She bites back her smile. “Obviously.”

“Will you spend New Years with me?” He kisses her knuckles. “Please?”

“Yes.” She grins and Bucky wraps her up in his arms and kisses her. “And Sam, of course.”

Bucky laughs. “Of course.”

Well, that’s the end! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, as well as the earlier ones.

I’d love to know what you thought of either this chapter or the story as a whole! Do you think Bucky and the Reader character can make it? Do you think their relationship felt like a natural progression of what was happening pre-thanos snap? Did you like the ending? Be sure to like, reblog, comment, and/or shoot me an ask and tell me all about it!

If you’d like to be tagged in future fanfiction, please let me know ;u;

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When they felt that she was ready, she worked quick little “get in, get out” type assignments with Clint and Natasha.

She initially worried that she’d settle into old habits. Fall back into the silence and minimal involvement. That she’d go back to being someone’s tool. But having her teammate’s voices in her ear, Clint going at an almost constant chatter, kept her present. Natasha asking for her opinion made her focus and stay engaged. The intense gaze Nat directed at her with each question told her that she knew what (Y/N) was feeling and she was doing it on purpose. (Y/N) was endlessly grateful.

Bucky happened to call just as they arrived back from her first extended assignment. She answered as soon as she saw his number and she knew he could tell something was different.

“Did something happen?”

“That depends, Good or bad?”

“You just sound happier is all.”

“Oh. Well I’m definitely happier.”

“Good.” He paused and just as (Y/N) was about to say something asked, “What changed? New friend or something?”

“Hah! (Y/N) has a new friend, that’s hilarious.” She giggled to herself for a moment before she could compose herself. “No, no new friends. But um… okay, this might sound dumb.”

“I doubt it.” (Y/N) didn’t continue, and Bucky grew worried. “(Y/N)?”

“I’m working with the Avengers.”

“You’re working with them?”

“I just got back from an assignment, actually.”

“How-” he cleared his throat- “How’s that going?”

“Really good, to be honest.” Bucky didn’t say anything and (Y/N) signed. “I’m sure you think it’s a bad idea.”

“It’s not that. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

"I'll be fine. It was my choice. And it's not like I'm working jobs on my own." Bucky huffed, not entirely pleased with her answer. "I don't know what to tell you. This is what I'm doing now."

"You were doing great as Stark's assistant."

"I was doing a great job tracking you. Because that's the only thing I was doing." He grumbled something along the lines of "At least you were safe," and (Y/N) shook her head. "Do you want me to send you updates? Because I can text you when I get back from missions. Let you know I'm home in one piece."

"Only if you tell me when you're hurt, too."

"Do you actually want to know when I'm hurt?"

"No. Maybe that's incentive for you to stay out of the line of fire."

"I think getting shot that first time with you was more than enough."

"Good."

"I'll keep you apprised then."

"Thank you."

Tentatively, (Y/N) asked, "How've you been?"

"I'm alright. Definitely been better."

"Oh?"

"Don't get me wrong, I've been worse too. But I haven't been in one place alone like this in… I can't actually remember the last time. It's kind of like learning to exist again."

“That’s the hardest part. Figuring yourself out after everything that’s happened.” Natasha slowed as she walked past and raised her eyebrows. (Y/N) shook her head and Nat shrugged and walked off to find Clint. (Y/N) lowered her voice before continuing. "I wish I could be there to help, but I know you need space."

"Yeah. And it's better for everyone this way."

"I don't know if it's better. It's definitely quieter."

"And safer."

"For now." The other end of the line is silent. “I can hear you rolling your eyes.”

“No you can’t.”

“Your eye-rolling silence is different from your regular silence. I know when you’re rolling your eyes.”

“I’m starting to get why you didn’t have friends in school.”

“Ugh, so rude.” Bucky laughed. “Look, all I meant is that being alone is safer for now. You’re not always going to feel like you don’t own your brain.”

“You can’t know that.”

“Maybe not. But what if I’m right?”

“Then that’d be great. But I’m not going to take that chance. Especially not with people I care about.” (Y/N) said nothing. "No quick comeback?"

"I don't know if you know this about me, but I hold within me an abundance of stupidity. I don't always have a retort prepared." She plopped down on a shipping container and leaned back against the hangar wall. "I trust you to know what's best for you. You're the only one who knows what's going on inside your head. When you're ready to share, I'll be here."

"Thank you. I'm sorry I'm making this hard on you."

"You're not, so don't be. I worry about you, but your situation isn't about me. I'm sorry that's how it came across."

"It's fine."

“Just-”

“(Y/N)!”

Clint appeared in front of her and, startled, she shouted her surprise.

“What?!”

“Debrief time, let’s go.”

“I’m on the phone.”

“Nat decided we’re meeting now, and she’s the boss.”

(Y/N) groaned. “Looks like I have to go.”

“Yeah, sounds pretty important.”

“Incredibly. Take care of yourself.”

“Mhm, you too.”

“Talk to you later.” They hung up and she shoved herself up from the container. “You have the worst timing.”

Clint grinned. “Who was that?”

“A friend.”

“Oh come on, you don’t have friends.”

“Neither do you.”

“Ooh, harsh.”

(Y/N) rolled her eyes and followed Clint out into the hallway. He stopped just short of their meeting room.

“You really should be a little more careful,” he said.

“About?”

“Taking calls like that. Steve’ll notice sooner rather than later.”

“Believe it or not, I have thought of that.” Clint kept his expression carefully blank. “Look, can we please just drop it? I never told him I’d keep him a secret. Just that I wouldn’t find him.”

“You’re sure?”

“I already got this lecture from Nat the first time he called. Let’s just get this meeting over with so we can move on.”

Clint and Natasha kept her secret as long as it remained one.

(Y/N) worked more frequent and more dangerous missions as time pressed forward, but she never failed to keep Bucky in the loop. She was concussed on one mission and she texted him as soon as she knew.  He called and kept her company after she was discharged from the infirmary. They talked for several hours and just as (Y/N) joked that they were tempting fate, Steve stepped into her room to check on her.

The first words out of her mouth were “I’m sorry,” quickly followed by “I can explain.” And she was lucky Steve gave her the chance.

Bucky stayed on the line while she explained the situation. That he was the one to call her. To ask that she stay away and stop looking. That she'd agreed, as long as he promised to keep in touch. That they’d been in contact for months without Steve knowing.

And he sat there, nodding while she talked, his frustration very obviously simmering just beneath his skin. But, in spite of the frustration and disappointment, he understood their reasoning.

When (Y/N) trailed off, Steve sat there on her bed, deep frown firmly in place. Eventually he sighed and asked Bucky if he was alright. Bucky said that he was and Steve nodded and told him to take care of himself. (Y/N) almost asked if there was more he wanted to stay, but Steve patted her shoulder and left before she could get the words out.

They didn’t speak for several months after that until (Y/N) felt compelled to fill Bucky in on what was happening with Ultron. She had been tossed around a bit by one of the bots during Tony’s party, but otherwise sat out for the whole ordeal. Bucky knew this and was still worried

In spite of staying out of the limelight with the Ultron incident and never going on missions where she would be publicly visible, someone, somehow, still knew she was working with the Avengers. And, lucky her, they followed her to the little cafe three blocks away from the Tower when she left to get herself, Steve, and Clint coffee one afternoon.

She could tell just by their shoes they were a federal agent. She couldn’t tell which branch, but it didn’t matter. Any attention from them was bad attention.

They followed her out of the cafe without even bothering to get their own drink as a cover. They tailed her for a good half hour as she led them around in circles around the Tower. They didn’t seem to even notice she was doing it. Eventually she stopped behind a dumpster and waited for the agent to stumble past her.

It wasn’t that (Y/N) wanted to draw attention to herself, but she couldn’t just let the guy follow her home. So she stopped and waited for him to come to her.

She leaned against the brick wall and, as they walked past her, asked, “Hey, what do you want?” The agent jumped and pulled his gun on her. She simply lifted the tray of drinks and her free hand. “That seems like a bit of an overreaction, now doesn’t it?”

“(Y/F/N) (Y/L/N), correct?” he asked, shoving his gun into the back of his waistband.

“Why do you ask?”

He flashed a nondescript badge and clipped it back to his belt just as (Y/N) was trying to squint to read it.

“I have several questions you need to answer.”

“Who’s asking?”

“That’s need-to-know information, ma’am.”

“Okay, well I need to know, if you want me to answer your questions.”

The agent flushed red behind his shitty sports sunglasses. “What is your involvement with the Avengers?”

She decided to give him half the truth. “I’m one of Tony Stark’s assistants. Next.”

“You have ties to Hydra, correct?”

“Not that I know of.”

“There’s video evidence of you working with the Winter Soldier.”

“Where’d you get it from?”

“That’s classified.”

She raised her eyebrows. “But the Winter Soldier isn’t?”

“Well-”

“And if you already have such damning evidence, why do you need me to confirm anything?” She tilted her head to the side, but didn’t move otherwise. “Could it be you don’t actually have anything?”

His face turned three shades darker. “Why you-”

“I mean, I’m not actually guilty of anything, clearly. So I’m just gonna-” she pointed to the mouth of the alleyway- “head out.”

She left and returned to the tower to hand off Steve and Clint’s drinks. She apologized for them being cold, but Clint immediately drank his and Steve simply said he’d heat his up later.

Over the course of several weeks after that first incident, (Y/N) found that she was being followed by several different agents when she went out. She mentioned it briefly to Tony and began taking pictures of them when she had the opportunity. F.R.I.D.A.Y. was able to identify them and they all traced back to one person; Secretary Thaddeus Ross.

She immediately texted Bucky:

Hey, I’m being followed. I need a palace to lay low.. Do you trust yourself enough to help me?

The response was instantaneous:

When do you need to leave?

They decided she'd leave that night.

Steve walked in on her packing and just stared.

“What’s this?”

“I’m being followed. Something’s up.”

“Slow down.” He gently grabbed her wrists. “What’s going on?”

She sighed. “Three weeks ago I was followed out of that little cafe I like. Government agent. Couldn’t figure out what branch. I led him around in circles for a while, couldn’t lose him, and then he started asking all these questions about my affiliation with the Avengers and Hydra and Bucky and more of them just keep showing up whenever I leave the tower and I can’t take it anymore.”

“So you’re leaving?”

“I’ll be safe. Out of the public eye.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about.”

“I know. But I’m more worried about what’ll happen to you guys if I stick around. I mean… Secretary Ross is above the guys who’ve been following me, and that spells nothing but trouble.”

“We can help you, (Y/N).”

“Not without putting your own reputation on the line. And you guys are doing too much good to be dragged down by some ex-Hydra hero wannabe.”

“You’re sure about this?”

“I am. Something big’s on the way and you don’t need me under your feet when it happens.”

“Will you at least tell me where you’re going?”

“No, but you know who I’ll be with.”

“You’ve already spoken with him about this?” She nodded. “When do you leave?”

“Tonight.”

“So soon?”

(Y/N) shrugged and resumed her packing. “From what I can tell, whichever Agent-of-the-Day is following me is punching a time clock. They disappear after seven most nights and the next shift picks up some time before eight the next morning. The sooner I leave, the harder I can make it to follow me.”

“And if we need to find you?”

“You’ll figure something out.” She grinned at him. “You’re smarter than they are by a million.”

“I appreciate the confidence.”

“I’m serious about this though. And I’ll come back after whatever this is blows over. If we’re lucky, I won’t be alone when I do.”

“Just let me know when you’re settled, okay?”

She slipped her laptop into a backpack and crammed several shirts in on top of it. “I will.”

“Good. I want to know you’re safe.”

(Y/N) paused and looked him in the eye. “Y’know, sometimes I’m really glad you found me.”

Steve wrapped his arms around her and hummed softly. “So am I.”

She allowed herself to linger in the embrace for a moment before pushing him away and clearing her throat. Steve sat on the bed and watched her shovel a few more things into her bags before she tugged her coat on and reached for her backpack. He slung her duffel over his shoulder and walked with her to the elevator when she was ready to leave.

They stood in silence as she put on a stocking cap and carefully tucked her hair up into it. She put on a black medical mask and took her duffel from Steve when the elevator doors opened.

“Okay, well…” she slung the duffel over her shoulder and stepped into the waiting elevator. “I guess I’ll see you later then.”

Steve nodded. He didn’t leave until the doors closed.

(Y/N) spent a week traveling from New York to Bucharest, opting to travel by boat, train, and bus over planes. Bucky was waiting for her at the station when she arrived. (Y/N) approached tentatively, unsure of the reception she'd get. They stared at each other for a solid two minutes, each assessing their separate situations. When the corner of his mouth twitched up into the closest thing to a smile she'd ever seen from him, (Y/N) stepped forward and hugged him. He froze initially, but slowly wrapped his arms around her shoulders and relaxed in her hold.

"I've always secretly wanted to do this," she mumbled.

Bucky chuckled, the sound a warm rumble from deep in his chest. "I'm glad you got here safely." (Y/N) hummed. "You weren't followed, were you?"

"No. I think there might've been someone in Toronto, but they were easy to lose."

"Good."

He took her duffel bag and batted her hand away when she complained and tried to take it back. With (Y/N) tucked safely under his arm, Bucky led her back to his apartment.

(Y/N) sent Steve one quick text before permanently turning her phone off and removing the SIM card.

Arrived safely. We're fine. Don't look for us.

To (Y/N)’s surprise, and carefully hidden delight, they worked well together. There were no squabbles over who’s turn it was to cook or clean and they took weekly trips to the library and the market. They’d collapse on the couch together after a long day of errands and read. When they finished their books, they’d swap and settle back in.

In the beginning, (Y/N) slept on the couch. It was fine. Definitely not the worst back pain she’d experienced. But a month in, Bucky started having nightmares.

The first time it happened, she woke him up, calmed him down, and went back to the couch. The second time it happened three times in one night. She woke him up for the first and second and then crawled under the covers after waking him the third time.

“I could hurt you,” Bucky said. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t.”

“(Y/N),” he warned.

“You won’t,” she repeated. She squeezed his hand. “Do you want me to leave?”

HIs eyes went wide. “No.”

“Then I won’t. And you won’t hurt me. The pact is sealed. You’re never getting rid of me. Okay?”

Bucky nodded. “Okay.”

“Good.” She shuffled closer and held his hand to her chest, fingers laced.

“Thank you, (Y/N),” he murmured.

“Thank you for accepting the help.” Bucky squeezed her hand and hooked one foot around her ankle. “Go to sleep, Buck.”

They had their routine. It wasn’t anything exciting, but it worked for them. It was comfortable. They liked it.

They had a year and some change of peace before Steve appeared in their kitchen.

(Y/N) had returned from the market early and he was flipping through one of Bucky’s journals.

“That’s not yours.” Steve turned to face her and placed the journal on the counter. “If this is your way of telling me I was right about Ross, it sucks.”

“Yes and no. Ross is involved, but there was an attack on the U.N. They think Bucky’s involved.”

(Y/N) scoffed. “That’s absurd. We haven’t left the city in well over a year.”

“Which is why I’m here. We-”

“(Y/N), we have a problem.” Bucky rushed into the apartment and thrust a newspaper at her. On the front was a blurry picture of someone who might’ve looked a little like Bucky, provided you could squint hard enough.

“Where’d they get this picture?” (Y/N) held the paper out to Steve. “And why the fuck didn’t you get here sooner?”

“I-I don’t know-”

(Y/N) didn't leave time for Steve to answer and plunged her incorporeal hand through the floorboards, only to pull two packs out a moment later. She handed one off to Bucky and looped the other around her arms.

She slipped the journal from the counter into Bucky’s pack and asked, “How much time do we have?”

“Not enough,” Steve said.

“Then we leave. Right now.”

And then all hell broke loose.

Somehow, (Y/N) wasn’t placed in a cell beside Bucky. Instead, she was escorted to a conference room with Steve and Sam. With the amount of anxiety surging through her, (Y/N)’s powers flickered and Steve had to stop her drumming on the table when her fingers started sinking into the wood. She’d been so focused on the monitor and Bucky that she hadn’t realized what she was doing, let alone the weird looks she was getting.

She was first through the door, or wall, rather, when the lights went out. Her goal was to intercept and distract him long enough for Steve to find them and get the hell out. She managed to calm him long enough to guide him away from Tony. The plan went to hell after she took a particularly heavy blow to the back of the head. She crumpled to the floor and lost consciousness soon after.

She woke to Sam’s hands around her arms. She quickly got to her feet and Sam explained the situation as he led her out of the building. Steve was waiting for them in a beat up Bug with Bucky, soaked and unconscious in the back seat. She stuck to him like glue even after he woke up.

The following days blurred together. If there weren’t security footage, she wouldn’t believe it actually happened.

(Y/N) was taken to the Raft after the airport battle.

She didn’t have it nearly as bad as Wanda, but they’d put the same shock collars on both of them. Once, her powers flickered during an anxiety attack and she nearly pissed herself with the amount of electricity coursing through her body. (Y/N) opted to sleep through most of her time there.

After Steve rescued them, (Y/N) finally let herself cry. Mourn what she and Bucky had lost in Bucharest. The home they'd worked so hard to balance between the two of them. The time she'd finally gotten back with him. But she didn't let herself wallow. She knew there was still work to be done, so she followed Steve wherever he needed her. And when Bucky was fully deprogrammed, she asked if she could be allowed to stay with him in Wakanda. Keep him company. T'Challa very kindly gave her permission to do so.

She had three months with him before he was gone again in a violent flurry of aliens and ash.

In the following five years, (Y/N) shut down. She went where she was needed and did as she was asked. She didn’t get her hopes up at the prospect of retrieving the Infinity Stones. Couldn’t celebrate when those they’d lost returned and joined them on the battlefield. Couldn’t celebrate their victory. All she felt capable of was mourning. Mourning Vision, Tony, Natasha… even inevitably losing Bucky again.

So to protect herself, after Tony’s funeral and Steve’s goodbye, she left. Found a little apartment for herself in the city and tried to start over.

In spite of her efforts to keep herself busy, the loneliness was unrelenting.

Coming home one day, her knees nearly gave out at the sound of his voice.

“What the hell, (Y/N)?”

----------

Part 3

Ah yes, the patented Erin Cliffhanger (not actually patented, I do not have that kind of money.) The final chapter will be up next week!

Until then, I’d love to know what you thought of this chapter! What do you think of the reader’s relationship with the other Avengers? What would you have done if you were the one living with Bucky in Bucharest? Be sure like reblog, comment, and/or shoot me an ask and tell me all about it!

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Though she was terrified of him at first, (Y/N) found that she actually liked working with the Soldier. He was far more focused on the mission, getting in and out, than he was on her. They’d worked together for a year before he said a single word to her. Most communication was relayed to them by their superiors, so the Soldier generally communicated through head and hand movements and the occasional grunt where necessary. But then she was shot while they were on a mission and everything changed.

The round tore through her right thigh. (Y/N) cried out and fell to the asphalt just behind the Soldier and he just barely looked over his shoulder in time to see her knees hit the ground. (Y/N) heard a singular hissed “fuck” through his mask as he stopped in his tracks and ran back to grab her. She told him to leave her, but he simply shook his head and slung her over his shoulder without a single slowed movement.

And he ran for cover just like that. The enemy continued shooting and (Y/N) pressed her hands to the Soldier’s back and asked him to trust her. He simply nodded and kept his eyes forward. In turn, she dug her fingers in and shared enough of her power with him that the bullets that would’ve taken them down flew right through them. If he was surprised, the Soldier didn’t show it.

When they were able to finally take shelter, (Y/N) assessed her wound and extracted the bullet herself, only to sob into her elbow while the Soldier stitched her up.

When he finished she mumbled, “Thank you.”

“It’s fine,” he muttered. (Y/N) stared at him in shock and he said, “What?”

“I’ve never heard you speak,” she explained. “Not until today, at least.”

The soldier folded his arms and sat back against the wall. “I talk.”

(Y/N) shook her head. “Not really. But I can’t blame you for keeping quiet. It’s safer.”

It was silent, save for the sounds of their breathing, then, “You don’t talk much either.”

Confused, she said, “Sorry?”

“I’ve seen you with the Handlers. You don’t say much more than one or two words at a time.”

“Oh. Right.” She sighed and leaned heavily against the wall. “I wasn’t always like this. But you know how it is with these people.” The Soldier nodded. “I tried to escape once.”

“Oh?”

(Y/N) nodded. “Got maybe two miles away before they pinned me down and dragged me back.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Should’ve known better, y’know?” She sniffed and rubbed her tears from her cheeks. “And I don’t know why you’re apologizing. You’re not the reason I’m here.”

“I kind of am. You’re stuck with me on these missions.”

“I’d rather be with you than someone who doesn’t get it.”

Silently, he moved to sit beside her and gently nudged her with his elbow. She laid her head on his shoulder and the Soldier sighed. (Y/N) dozed on and off for several hours before he said anything further.

“We’ll have to move as soon as it’s dark.”

(Y/N) didn’t open her eyes, but she nodded. “I’ll be fine by then.”

“Good.”

“Will you ever talk to me again?” she whispered.

“Probably.”

“Okay.”

The Soldier kept his promise and spoke with (Y/N), however sparingly, when they were alone on assignment. There wasn’t much for them to talk about, but just having someone in those circumstances was a comfort.

They worked together for three more years before the Soldier was assigned to a high level mission in Washington D.C. and (Y/N) was transferred to a facility in the middle of some German forest she couldn’t point out on a map if you put a gun to her head. Though he had once been one of the most talked about operatives in Hydra, there was a point where all mention of him died off. No one mentioned him. There was no news of his mission in D.C., or updates on where he was going next, and while (Y/N) was used to being kept in the dark, this lack of information scared her. There was no talk of going back to the States, and soon their operations were moved, quiet literally, underground. (Y/N) didn’t see sunlight for close to six months after the move, and even then it was only because the ceiling of her cell collapsed.

A man in a suit of red and gold metal fell through the hole in the ceiling just as (Y/N) pressed her back against the wall. They swung around, hand outstretched, palm facing her and she dropped into a crouch and covered her head with her arms.

“Who are you?”

“Who are you?!” she countered.

“I asked first, kid.”

He shifted forward and (Y/N) scrambled back through the wall on pure instinct. She could distantly hear the armored man’s shouts of disbelief, followed by a call for backup. The door of her cell blasted out into the hallway and the man stuck his head out of the doorway and loudly asked “how the hell she did that.” She didn’t stick around to answer and pelted through the maze of hallways that she never had any time to familiarize herself with and prayed that she’d make it out before someone, good or bad, grabbed her and dragged her back.

She was caught off guard when a pair of arms reached out and grabbed her from a dark doorway. No matter how much she struggled, they wouldn’t loosen their hold. Even when she managed to smash her head into their chin.

“Let me go!” she cried.

“I can’t do that,” they growled.

“Please let me go,” she begged. She tried to phase through their arms, but through her panic all she could manage was a tiny flicker in solidity. Their arms tightened around her and she lost all of her fight and went limp against their chest. “Please don’t hurt me.”

 “Why would we hurt you?”

(Y/N) shook her head and she flickered again. “You’re attacking Hydra. I work for them. Why wouldn’t you?”

“Pretty straight forward when she says it like that, eh, Rogers?” The man in the armor appeared in her periphery and she cringed away from him. He held up his hands when he saw her reaction. “We’re not going to hurt you.”

“Then let me go.”

“Can’t do that,” said the man holding her. “You’re still Hydra.”

“Not by choice.” The man holding her seemed surprised by that, and his arms loosened just enough for her to knock them away and scurry away to the mouth of another hallway. Both men lurched forward and she held her hands out to defend herself. “Don’t.”

“What do you mean? Are you being blackmailed?”

She finally got a good look at the man who’d grabbed her. He was tall and broad through the shoulders. The red, white, and blue suit he wore seemed a bit gaudy. Old fashioned. By the time she saw the shield on his back, she was kicking herself for not recognizing him sooner. “You’re Captain America,” she said. She almost laughed. “You’re supposed to be dead.”

“Oh, so you know him, but not me?”

“He’s in history books.” She deadpanned. “Am I supposed to know who you are?”

“I’ve consistently made national headlines for the past six years.”

“I haven’t really seen the news since two-thousand eight. Maybe longer.”

“It’s like talking to a wall.” He turned to Captain America and said, "I'll go find the others. You talk to the kid."

The two men nodded in agreement and the armored man disappeared down the hallway again.

There wasn’t much Rogers had to say to get (Y/N) out of the compound. Once she knew they weren’t there to punish her, but rather wanted to help instead, she readily went with him. He guided her onto their jet and a redheaded woman she immediately identified as a Black Widow approached them. She instinctively took a step back and a gentle hand on the small of her back stopped her.

“She’s a friend,” Rogers said.

In turn, (Y/N) said, “She’s a Black Widow, is what she is.”

“You say that like I’m going to kill you,” the Widow said.

(Y/N) shrugged. “I’m not stupid enough to think you couldn’t.”

The Widow snorted and said “Smart.”

She quickly learned those who'd found her were part of a team called the Avengers. They gave her a place to stay and ensured she was safe and healthy. In return, she cooperated with any tests they asked for. Stark was particularly interested in how her powers worked. Even more so when they occasionally malfunctioned.

She spent two weeks in the tower before she heard talk of her transitioning back to society. She didn’t really know what that entailed, but in the time she’d been given to catch up on what happened in the years since she was snatched, she tried getting in contact with her family. She called her mother, who simply chose to call her a liar and hang up. She tried her father and didn’t receive much more. When she finally managed to get ahold of her sister, she was told that her family had assumed that she’d disappeared on purpose and they’d moved on instead of cooperating with police investigations.

“So none of you care that I was kidnapped? None of that fazes you?”

“To be honest, weirder things have happened around the world since you disappeared. I mean, literal aliens invited.”

“What the fuck does that have to do with me? My life was destroyed, but you three are fine, so it doesn't matter. Is that it?”

She could practically hear her shrug. "I don't know what to tell you, (Y/N). You weren't here."

"Do you hear how fucking blasé that sounds?"

"(Y/N)-"

"No, y'know what? Go fuck yourselves."

She hung up and tossed the phone onto the bed and leaned back against the wall, willing herself not to cry. There was a gentle knock on the doorframe and (Y/N) looked up to find Steve standing just inside the doorway.

"Did you hear that?" she asked, her voice small.

He nodded. "Do you need to talk?"

Her bottom lip wobbled and tears spilled over as she nodded. She quickly swiped the tears away. “Sorry. I’m not usually like this.”

“You don’t need to apologize.” Steve sat on the edge of the bed and clasped his hands in his lap. It was clear that he wanted to provide some kind of physical comfort, but didn’t want to overstep. “What happened?”

“I uh…” she sniffed- “I heard you and Tony talking about getting me back in society, so I tried getting in contact with my family, but it’s like I never existed. Like I was missing for seven years and they just never looked for me.”

“Oh, (Y/N)…”

“They literally told the police to stop looking for me. I called my mom, she called me a liar, my father did the same thing, and my sister acted like it was my fault for getting snatched in the first place. Because apparently an alien invasion makes a family member’s kidnapping mundane, or some shit.”

"So you told them to-"

"Go fuck themselves, yes."

"Honestly, I don't blame you."

"What?"

"Sounds like they don't care about you, and if that's the case, they can eat shit."

(Y/N) laughed and the sound was borderline hysterical. "Christ, the fact that you just said that blows my little pea brain right outta my head."

"Aw, come on. Your brain's bigger than a pea."

"Mm, maybe a cashew?"

Steve laughed. "Maybe."

(Y/N) sighed, shaky and tired, and looked Steve in the eye. "Thank you."

"Of course. But um…" He scratched his chin and averted his eyes. "I need to ask you a few questions."

"About my time with Hydra, right?"

"Right." (Y/N) watched his brows pull together as he thought. "I don't exactly know how to ask this."

"Just do it. I mean-" she shrugged- "what're you afraid of? It's not like you can offend me."

"Right." He sighed. "Did you work closely with anyone? They might've been high level or secret ops."

"Uh, yeah actually. I did." She frowned. "I get the feeling you have someone in mind."

"I do. I just want to know if we're thinking of the same person."

"Okay… I worked with someone they called the Winter Soldier." (Y/N) watched Steve's expression morph into something akin to grief. "I was initially assigned to him because I could get him in and out without drawing attention to an entry point. We worked together for a total of four years, I think. And we worked really well together, if I'm being honest."

"Were you close?"

"As close as we could be, given the circumstances. He was my friend. "

"Was?"

"He was placed on a mission months ago and I haven't heard a thing about him since. I can only assume he's dead." Steve frowned and she said, "Is he alive?" When he didn’t answer she grabbed his arm. “Steve, is he alive?”

“Yes, he’s alive.”

(Y/N)’s shoulders sagged with relief and she covered her face with her hands. Steve placed a gentle hand on her knee and she let her hands fall to the mattress.

“What is he to you?”

"His name is Bucky," Steve said. “He's my best friend.”

"Holy shit." She almost laughed. "I had no idea he was that old."

"I don't think he knows he's that old."

(Y/N) did laugh then. When she'd quieted down, she asked, "Are you looking for him?" Steve nodded and she covered his hand with hers. "Can I help?"

"I don't know…"

"You know I don't have anyone waiting for me at home. And you knew him before he was the Soldier, but I know him now. As he is. I can be useful."

"It's not that I don't think you're useful, (Y/N), it's just not your responsibility."

"Well, I'm not your responsibility either, but you still took me in."

"We couldn't just leave you there."

"But you could've just dropped me off somewhere and made me someone else's problem." Steve still hesitated. "I'll beg. I'm not above it."

"You want to help that badly?"

"Outside of this tower, he's the only person I have. I absolutely want to help that badly."

Steve caved pretty easily and (Y/N) joined the investigation immediately.

Steve and Sam were easy to work with, for the most part, but she always itched to go off and look on her own. Part of her knew that the reason they made so little progress was because Bucky knew they were looking for him. So she suggested that they back off for a month or so. Shortly after they did, the algorithms Tony helped them set up began pulling in leads. Most of them were just brief sightings, but it was something and Steve seemed pleased.

Months passed, and while Steve was training or working or off on a mission, (Y/N) was back at the tower, neck deep in the investigation. She rarely left the tower, mostly citing her lack of money and familiarity with the city when someone asked (Tony quietly hired her as an assistant at one point. She tried to turn him down, but he wouldn't take no for an answer.)

She followed any lead she could dig up, each time finding that the trail would disappear after a couple of days. This happened for weeks on end before she decided to back off, giving a day or so between research sessions. Initially, the same thing happened, but she didn’t give up She backed off, and went back to a sighting in Paris. She monitored movements from there, tracing him to Austria before the trail went cold. She gave it a couple days and sure enough, he cropped up again in Rome. She wasn’t sure exactly what he was doing, but she was glad she’d found him.

When Steve dropped by to check on her, she let him know she’d found him. He wanted to pack up and meet him, but she explained how she’d found him and suggested that they let him get settled before trying to make contact. The last thing they wanted was to spook Bucky and lose him again. Steve agreed and dropped his jacket in the chair beside (Y/N) and asked her for a full update on what she’d found.

(Y/N) kept tabs on him for several months, but otherwise took on other projects. She joined Natasha for training and assisted Tony to the best of her ability when he needed her. She was left to her own devices otherwise.

There was a night several months down the road during a particularly rowdy party, thrown to celebrate Thor’s return to Earth, where (Y/N)’s phone rang. It wasn’t a number she recognized, so she excused herself to take the call.

“Hello?”

“(Y/N).”

She knew it was him immediately and the sound of his voice stole her breath. “H-hey.”

“You’ve been tracking me.”

“A little. How’d you know?”

“Because you’re not aggressive as Steve is.”

“I feel like there’s an ‘and’ in there somewhere.”

“There’s no and.” He sighed. “I tried to find you in Germany, but the base was empty. Security footage showed you going with the Avengers.”

“Right.” She sighed and ran her hand down her face. “Look, I’m sorry if I overstepped, but I hadn’t heard about you for months after you were sent on that last mission, and I thought you died or something, so when Steve said you were alive I had to do something to find you. Even if it was just to make sure he was right.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re all I have.”

“You have a family.”

“They don’t give a shit about me.”

“The Avengers, then.”

“They don’t know me.”

“And I do?”

“Better than most.”

“You’re a better liar than that, (Y/N).”

She felt like she was about to lose him all over again. “Look. We worked together for four years. Maybe that’s not a long time for you, but it was for me. And you were the only person I could rely on to not use me. I can't lose you again.”

“I didn’t realize you felt that way.”

“Well we’re friends, aren’t we? And you and I don’t really have many of those.”

He chuckled and (Y/N) couldn’t remember ever having heard the sound before. “That’s true. Unfortunately.”

(Y/N) smiled and leaned against the wall. “So. You went all the way to Germany to liberate me?”

“I did.”

“Sorry to waste your time.”

“Wasn’t a waste of time. I learned you were safe, at least.”

“Are you safe?” she asked.

“Me?”

“Yeah, wherever you are. Are you safe?”

He was quiet for a moment. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Good. Are you still bouncing around?”

“Not for much longer. I found somewhere to settle, at least for a little while.”

“I’m glad. You deserve a little quiet.”

“Thank you.” He paused. “I’m not gonna tell you where I’m going.”

“Wasn’t planning to ask. We’ll respect your privacy.”

“But Steve-”

“He’ll get over it. Just make sure he can’t find you.”

“What,” he said, smile evident in his voice. “Like, you’d do a better job than him?”

“I’m more patient than he is.” They both laughed, but (Y/N) sobered quickly. “What do you want me to call you now? ‘Soldier’ doesn’t really bring back good memories.”

“No,” he murmured. “Just… just call me Bucky.”

“Are you sure?”

“It’s my name. Might as well use it.”

“It’s a nice name.”

“Thank you.”

“Will you stay in touch?”

“I can’t promise much.”

“At least call when you’re settled then. Just so I know you’re good.”

He sighed. “Okay, yeah. I can do that.”

“Thank you.”

“I should probably get going. I have a boat to catch.”

“Okay. Thanks for calling. It’s really nice to hear your voice again.”

“Yours too.” A horn blared in the background of the call. “That’s my ride.”

“Then you better get going.”

“Talk to you later.”

“Mhm, later.”

“Bye, (Y/N).”

The line went dead and she stared at her phone’s dimming screen with a smile playing at her lips. She glanced up and found Natasha leaning against the wall opposite her. Her sudden appearance startled (Y/N) enough that she almost dropped her phone.

“Well that sounded friendly,” Natasha said.

“How much did you hear?”

Natasha shrugged. “Enough. ”

“Okay then.”

(Y/N) ducked her head and tried to excuse herself back to the party, but didn’t make it very far.

“I hope you know what you’re doing, (Y/N).” Natasha’s voice was quiet and held an edge of concern that (Y/N) wasn’t used to.

“I’ll admit, I’m inept in most areas, but I know him. I trust him.” She met Natasha’s gaze. “Please trust me enough to let me handle something like this on my own.”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you to handle yourself.”

“You don’t trust him.”

“I don’t trust his mind.”

“I don’t think he does either. But I can’t lose another friend. I know you understand that.”

Natasha gave in far more readily than (Y/N) expected. “You’re sure you can keep this from Steve?”

“I’ll figure something out.” Natasha raised one eyebrow. “What, you think I’m not crafty enough to lie to Captain America?”

“You have yet to prove you can.”

“I haven’t had to. Which is pretty nice, considering I was Hydra for almost a decade.”

Her posture softened and she placed a gentle hand on (Y/N)'s arm. "You know we're happy to have you, right?"

"That means a lot, coming from you. Thank you." (Y/N) grinned. "I won't mention this if you don't mention the call.

That earned a surprising chuckle from Natasha. "Deal."

----------

Part 2

OKAY so I know that this fic is entirely out of left field, especially with the structure, but trust me: it’s good (?). Yeah, let’s go with that.

How do you feel about the structure of this story? What do you think of the Reader character so far? Do you like her background? What about her relationship with Bucky? Where do you think it might lead in the future? I’d love to know what you think! Be sure to like, reblog, comment, and/or shoot me an ask and tell me all about it!

If you’d like to be tagged in future chapters, please let me know!

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“What do you mean eventually?”

“I don’t have any way to predict how long she’ll be out for, but it’ll most likely be a few days.”

"And if it's longer?"

"She's safe here. We'll keep an eye on her, and I'll do what I can to make sure she recovers." He watches Bucky's frown deepen and folds his arms. "What is it?"

"What about her shop?"

"Right." Strange sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose. "I'll talk to Stark about it. See if he'd be willing to compensate her employees while the store's closed."

Bucky nods. "Alright."

"Satisfied?"

"Your bedside manner is terrible," Bucky says.

“So I’ve been told. Anything else?”

“No.”

“Wonderful.”

Strange disappears through another portal, leaving Bucky alone with (Y/N) in an otherwise empty room. The only sounds are his breathing and the heart monitor that lets him know that she’s still there. He stands at the end of her bed for almost an hour before he can tear himself away to even make an attempt at working.

He makes it through, roughly, three hours of work before he finds himself back in the infirmary.

He settles into a chair at (Y/N)’s bedside and keeps watch over her until he falls asleep around eleven at night. He wakes the next morning to Strange checking her vitals. He thinks he should be startled to see him, but he isn’t.

“How’d you sleep?” Strange asks, looking at the heart monitor instead of at Bucky. “Can’t be comfortable, spending the night in a chair.”

“I’ve slept on worse.”

“I’d imagine you have.”

“How is she?”

“Better than she was yesterday.” Strange’s hand hovers over her chest. “Her heartbeat is stronger and her magic will slowly return as she rests.”

“Still no guess as to when she’ll wake up?”

“No. You’ll be the first to know when I have something.”

“Thank you.”

Bucky pushes himself up and out of the chair and leaves Strange to monitor (Y/N). He distracts himself with work for the majority of the day and manages to drag himself back to his room to shower and change his clothes before he finds himself at (Y/N)’s bedside again. As the sun sets, his stomach growls and he debates whether or not he should eat something. His stomach wins out in the end and he leaves to make himself a sandwich.

He repeats this routine for two more days with little change in (Y/N)’s condition. Steve, though, grows concerned for his friend as he watches Bucky eat less and less in favor of watching over (Y/N). Steve decides to talk to him on the fourth night.

He leans in the doorway and says, “You really should sleep in your own bed.”

Bucky shakes his head. “Can’t.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want her to wake up alone.”

“I don’t think there’s a single person in this tower that she’s not friendly with. She won’t be alone.”

“You know what I mean, Steve,” Bucky says. “I want… I need to be here when she wakes up.”

“You need sleep.”

“I can sleep just fine right here.”

Steve sighs. “Will you at least make sure you eat something? I haven’t seen you put more than three meals in your body since you brought her in.”

“Yeah, I can do that.”

“Good.” Before he leaves for the night, Steve says, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Bucky nods. “Mhm.”

He falls asleep holding (Y/N)’s hand, his upper body laid out across her legs.

Around three a.m. the fifth night, Bucky’s awoken when someone squeezes his hand,

Everything hurts and I’m more tired than I’ve been in years, but the warm weight of someone’s hand in mine pulls me back to reality.

With the strength that I do have I squeeze their hand. They squeeze back and I can hear them stir beside me. I find Bucky sleeping in a chair beside my bed when I manage to pry my eyes open.

“Bucky?” My voice comes out hoarse and it makes me cringe.

Bucky blinks sleepily and looks at me in confusion. “(Y/N)?”

I nod and squeeze his hand. “I used too much magic.”

“Yeah.” He frowns. “You’ve been out for almost a week.”

“I’m so sorry,” I murmur. “I didn’t mean to scare you like that.”

“I know.” He scoots closer and holds my hand to his chest. “I’ve been so worried about you.”

Tears well at the corners of my eyes and I gently pull on Bucky’s hand, urging him to join me on the hospital bed. He very gently bundles me up in his arms and curls himself around me once he’s on the bed, careful to ensure that my IV doesn’t get tangled.

“I got him, right?”

“Mhm.” His arms tighten around me. “Threw him a good twenty feet through that portal, too.”

“Really?”

“Yup. Pretty impressive. I didn’t expect you to be that strong.”

“I’m not. Magic plays a big part in that.”

“Doesn’t matter.” He kisses my forehead. “My girlfriend kicks ass. That’s what matters.”

“I’m just glad you’re safe.”

“Well I’m glad you’re safe.”

I settle against his chest and yawn.

“Get some sleep,” he whispers.

I nod and doze off.

Shortly after I wake up, Stephen strides into the infirmary. The surprise on his face tells me he wasn’t expecting me to be awake.

“You’re looking surprisingly chipper,” he says.

“Well, I’m not dead and Mordo’s probably trapped somewhere in the Sanctum, so there’s not much to be sad about.”

He hums and takes my wrist to find my pulse. “How do you feel?”

“A little sore, but Bucky says I’ve been out for almost a week, so that tracks.”

“That’d definitely do it.” He pats the back of my hand. “Don’t try to walk without help for the next couple days. Barnes would kill me if you got hurt.”

“Aw, no, he’s a teddy bear.”

“If you say so.”

He tells me he’ll be back tomorrow morning and leaves just as Tony slips through the door. He lets me know that he’s taken care of Lena and Robbie’s pay for the week and ensured that they focussed on packing and sending out online orders.

“Tony, you really didn’t have to do that,” I say. “I’m more than capable of paying my employees.”

“I know, but your little doctor slash wizard friend asked me to.” He plops down in the chair beside me. “And there wasn’t much else I could do while you were comatose, so I’m happy to help where I can.”

“Thank you.”

“How are you?”

“I’m fine.” He frowns and I reach out and poke his cheek. “Honest, Tony. I feel alright.”

“I guess I’ll just have to trust you on that.”

“I’ll be back on my feet in no time.”

“Well, you currently only have one foot, so…” I shove his shoulder and he laughs.

“Leave my stump out of this!”

He stays and talks for another half hour before he has to go back to the lab. I doze for a couple hours until Steve shows up with lunch. We eat and talk for two hours and Steve chronicles everything that happened between me passing out in the street and waking up early this morning. He’s clearly very worried about Bucky, but I don’t want to let on that I am too, so I just listen and nod when appropriate. He doesn’t seem to notice.

We finish our meals and Steve hugs me briefly before clearing our plates and heading back to work. Clint shows up moments later and we talk until I can barely keep my eyes open. As he's leaving, he promises to bring Lucky with him tomorrow.

I nod off again, but when I wake this time, Natasha is startlingly close to my bed and I nearly roll off the edge in surprise.

“Jeez, Nat.” I press my hand to my chest and try to even out my breathing. "You know I hate it when you do shit like that."

The corner of her mouth quirks up. "I know. It's just fun to watch you jump."

"You're as warm as ever, I see." I try to scowl at her, but fail miserably. Instead, I reach out for her and smile when she takes my hand. "It's been a while."

"It definitely has." She looks me over. "How've you been?"

I shrug. "Well enough. The kids have been doing a lot of good work at the shop and business is good. I also might've met someone."

"Oh, I am well aware of your little someone." She chuckles. "He cares about you. A lot."

"Does he?"

"He's with you almost every day of the week. If anyone should know, it's you."

“I know.” I lean heavily against the mountain of pillows behind me. “I like him so much, Natasha.”

She squeezes my hand. “Then you should tell him, because he’s smitten with you.”

“I just don’t want to scare him off, y’know? We’ve barely been together a month at this point.”

“But you fall fast.”

“What if he doesn’t?”

“If he cares about you, he’ll stick around. Grown adults know that a love confession isn’t an obligation to say it back.”

“You’re right.” I frown. “Why don’t we talk more often?”

“Because we’re both extremely busy and you once accused me of having commitment issues.”

“You say that as if I was wrong.”

She laughs. “No, you were right, but it still hurts, (Y/N).”

“Ah, well. Words cut deeper than knives, and all that.” She shakes her head in an attempt to hide her growing smile. “You’re gonna use that next time you make a scathing remark, huh?”

“I might.”

“Very devious, Nat.”

She just pats my hand and pushes herself up from the chair. “Talk to him,” she murmurs.

“Of course I will. I’ve been out cold for a week. Haven’t really had an opportunity, as of late.”

She glances up at the door then back to me. “Keep in touch when you get out of here, okay?”

”Only if you do.”

“Of course.”

As soon as Bucky steps through the infirmary door, he hears (Y/N) laughing. He sees her looking at Natasha, who has a calm smile on her face, and grinning. Natasha glances up at him and says something he can’t hear, kisses (Y/N)’s forehead, and heads for the door.

“Be nice to her,” she says as she passes. “She’s still tired.”

Bucky frowns. “I know she is.”

Natasha squints at him, looks him over, taking note of the flowers in his hand, nods, and disappears down the hall.

Slightly confused, Bucky walks further into the room and relaxes when (Y/N) turns her smile on him.

“Hey,” she says. “How was work?”

Bucky shrugs. “It was fine. Would’ve rather been here with you, though.”

“Aw, you’re sweet.” She sees the flowers and brightens. “Are those for me?”

He smiles. “Yeah, you need some color to brighten up the place. It’s too sterile.”

“How are you this nice?”

“Pretty sure this is the bare minimum when your girlfriend’s in the hospital.”

“Doesn’t matter,” she gestures for him to come closer. “I think it’s nice.”

“Okay then.” Bucky places the vase on the bedside table and leans down and kisses her. “Hi.”

She smiles. “Hi.”

“How are you feeling?” He plops down in the chair and immediately reaches for her hand. “I heard a lot of people visited you today.”

“Mhm, just about everyone in the tower. Steve brought me lunch.”

“Did he?” She nods and Bucky smiles. “Good. I didn’t know if I’d be able to.”

“It was nice to talk with everyone,” she says. “It’s been a while since I could just pop in and say hi.”

“I guess there had to be a silver lining in there somewhere.” Bucky draws circles on the back of her hand with his thumb. “Is it alright if I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“Where did you take Mordo?”

“Oh, that. There’s a plane of reality adjacent to ours called the Mirror Dimension. It mirrors the structure of our own, but the two don’t touch, which means that we could fight without putting civilians in danger.”

“Is everything made of glass?”

She shakes her head. “It’s just a mirror image. Everything’s solid and substantial, same as our reality.”

“Right, dumb question.”

“No, it’s not. It’s the Mirror Dimension, mirrors are made of glass, it’s a reasonable line of thinking.”

She says that with such conviction, Bucky can’t help smiling.

“Okay,” he says. “What happened in there then?”

(Y/N) shrugs. “We swatted at each other a bit, I threw him into a building, and then... it all blurs together. Like I remember fighting and him escalating things, but I was just so tired by the end that I barely got out before collapsing.”

“I’m glad you did.”

“So am I.”

“I don’t know why Strange didn’t go in after you,” Bucky grumbles. “Just said we had to wait and trust you, like I don’t already trust you completely. It was like he wanted you to do his job for him or something. I-what?”

“What ‘what’?”

“You’ve got this look on your face.”

“What look?” she asks. “Amusement and pure adoration?”

“I don’t know!”

She laughs. “You’re actually mad at Stephen over this, huh?”

“Yeah, I am.”

(Y/N) smiles, squeezes his hand, and says, “I love you.”

Bucky freezes. “What?”

“I love you, Bucky Barnes,” she repeats.

“You do?”

“You are so kind and soft and determined. How could I not?”

Bucky elvelops her hand in both of his and leans heavily on the side of the bed. He searches her face for any sign of humor or deception. “You’re serious?”

“As a heart attack, sweetheart.” She rolls over onto her side. “This isn’t me asking you to say it back. I just needed to tell you.”

“I appreciate that, but…” He smiles and kisses her hand. “I love you too, (Y/N).”

“Yeah?”

Bucky nods and laughs at the growing smile on her face. “Yeah.”

(Y/N) tugs on his hand and Bucky scoops her up and places her in his lap once he’s situated on the bed. She tucks her head under his chin and pokes his stomach. Bucky laughs.

“You love me,” she murmurs.

“Yeah, I do.” He wraps his arms around her and she relaxes against his chest. “And you love me.”

“Mhm.” She sighs and Bucky kisses her forehead. “Will you stay with me tonight?”

“Of course,” he answers. “I’m not going anywhere.”

And that, my friends, is the end of this story. Thank you guys for being along with me for this ride, I’m so glad that I was able to share it with you. I know that someone will ask about what’ll happen with the Reader’s magic, and in my mind she gets is back when she’s well rested enough to be back on her feet. I promise she’s totally fine!

That being said, thank you so much for making it this far! I’d love to know what you thought about the finale! Do you feel like the ending is satisfying? Does their confession feel like a natural development? What do you think about the reader’s relationship with Natasha? Do they seem close? Do you think Bucky and the Reader will live Happily Ever after? And, most importantly, what’d you think of the series as a whole? I’d love to hear all about it! Be sure to like, reblog, comment, and/or shoot me an ask and tell me all about it!

Tag list:

@ghostlyhamlet​​, @claws-of-vibranium​​, @creaturefeatures101-blog​​, @imagine-assembling-the-avengers​​, @buckysendoftheline​​, @ptprocrastination​​, @1950schick​​, @amayasymone23​​, @arfrona-and-marvel​​, @ek823​​, @fanaticfangirl001​​, @furrywerewolfcollector​​, @kissofvenom922​​, @dawn-phantomhive​​, @fangirlwithasweettooth​​, @mairhof1, @starryeyesbadguys​​, @trap-house-homiecide​​, @buckywhitewolfbarnes​​, @kaepm981, @howdoesoneadult​​, @pcdmesamidala​​, @thefandomplace​​, @sian22redux​​, @skeletoresinthebasement​​, @lady-thor-foster​​, @feelmyroarrrr​​, @jazzcutie​​, @gaytonystark​​, @hermionie-is-my-queen​​, @darling-loki​​, @geeksareunique​​​, @nyxveracity​​​, @lemonadeorange73​​​, @princess-unicorn124​​​, @tofeartheunknown​​​, @avengerscompound​​​

This fic:

“You said it, not me.” He turns to face me and leans on the bookshelf. “But you’re not flighty. If you were, you wouldn’t have that shop, you wouldn’t be in a relationship with Barnes, and you definitely wouldn’t have made it through any kind of training at Kamar-Taj.”

“Maybe.”

“No, not maybe. I’m right.”

“Asshole,” I mutter.

“What was that?”

“I said fine.”

“Sure.” He sighs and takes a seat across from me. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

“It’s been two weeks. I’m fine.”

“You weren’t fine when you first came to me and I’m pretty sure you still aren’t.” He leans back in his chair. “Beside that, just because it’s been two weeks doesn’t mean that you’re not still on edge. It was almost a month between the last two incidents. Deep down, you know that as soon as you get comfortable, he’ll attack again.”

“I’m a little on edge, that’s it.”

“You haven’t been outside since he attacked.”

“For good reason!”

“I’m not saying it isn’t! I’m just concerned about you, (Y/N). And what all of this is doing to you.”

I stare at him, debating whether or not talking to him will help. Eventually, I decide it can’t hurt.

“I’m not sleeping well,” I admit. “It’s easier when Bucky stays over, but I just… I worry that I'm not doing enough. Like I should be able to run my shop, and help you, and be with Bucky, and keep everyone I care about safe, but I know that I can't, and that it's not all up to me.”

"You're right. But for all the time you spend insisting that you can take care of yourself, your partner is more than capable of taking care of himself too."

"Logically, I know that. But there's an emotional part of me that ignores that information."

“Being self aware enough to recognize that is important.”

“Yeah…” My phone chimes, pulling me back to reality. “Oh, I should get going. Bucky and I have plans.”

He lifts one eyebrow. “Oh?”

“We’ve been doing movie nights instead of going out recently. You understand why.”

“Of course.”

“I’ll see you later.”

“Mhm,” he waves me out of the room. “Stay safe.”

“Well that was… good? I think.”

I laugh. “Stardust isn’t for everyone.”

“It wasn’t bad, though”

“No, but that doesn’t mean you have to like it.”

“But it’s one of your favorites,” he whines.

“And you sat through the whole thing!” I lean heavily against his side and grin up at him. “I really appreciate that.”

“Yeah?”

“Mhm.” I tip my head back and he kisses me gently. “Aside from it not being bad, what’d you think?”

“I don’t know. I think Tristan and Yvaine went from hating to loving each other faster than I expected, but I guess that’s just how it’d have to work out to fit the narrative.” I nod and he takes it as a sign to keep going. “Captain Shakespeare was… I don’t know. His character felt off.”

“Mhm. Kind of a caricature of a queer person.” He nods. “I agree. They took De Niro and made him this character that’s incredibly effeminate in private while being very masculine with everyone else.”

“His crew seemed to accept him well enough, so I’m not sure what the point was.”

“I think they were trying to subvert the audience’s expectations of his crew rejecting him for being a little fruity. Which is fine, but it was still not great. The characterization was redeemed a little when Shakespeare winked at Humphrey in the end though.”

“He what?”

“Did you miss that?”

“I didn’t even see it!”

I laugh. “Humphrey smiled too. It was hilarious.”

“Jeez. How’d I miss that?”

“To be fair, I’ve seen it dozens more times than you have.”

“True.” He frowns. “Even with all the weird shit, it’s still one of your favorites?”

I shrug. “Looking at the time it was made, it’s pretty clear that the intent wasn’t to harm a specific group, so I can look past it. Like you have to get to a point in your life where you can recognize the issues with a piece of media that you enjoy, critique them, and enjoy it anyway.”

Bucky hums. “I see.”

“But, as much fun as recognizing flaws in something can be, don’t underestimate how much I love bad movies.” He chuckles. “That being said, you get to choose the next movie.”

“Oh, you’re so kind, (Y/N).” He kisses me and I laugh. “Maybe we’ll go back to Lord of the Rings. We stopped after the first one and haven’t gone back.”

I hum. “Yeah, definitely fell asleep in the middle of that one.”

“Yeah, but that night was…”

“Special?” I offer. When he laughs I poke his stomach. “I know, it was weird.”

“It wasn’t weird!” he says. “Parts of it were weird.”

“Aw, Bucky,” I whine.

“What? Everything turned out fine.”

“What parts were weird, then?”

“Well, for one, that woman from your book club who patted my ass and said to ‘go get ‘er, tiger.’ That was pretty weird.”

“No.” My eyes go wide and I look up at him. “She seriously said that?”

“Mhm. That, and things were kind of awkward between us until we finally talked.”

“I should’ve just told you how I felt when we saw Singin’ in the Rain.”

“Why didn’t you?” 

“We hadn’t known each other all that long and I didn’t want to scare you off.”

He smiles. “You think that’d scare me off?”

“I don’t know! I’d just shown you my magic leg, things weren’t exactly normal that night. I figured it’d be the thing to make it way more overwhelming than it already was.”

Bucky bumps his shoulder against mine. “I wanted it to be a date, y’know.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. I didn’t want to ask because I was scared of the answer. Being around you was nice enough, asking for more seemed like too much, at the time.”

“You’ve changed your mind, right?”

“Well, yeah, of course I have.” His arm tightens around my shoulders. "Where's this coming from?"

"I get a little insecure sometimes," I mumble. "I worry that I forced you into this, or something, and I don't want you to feel trapped."

"You didn't trap me, (Y/N)," he says softly. "I don't do anything that I don't want. Not anymore."

"You're sure?"

Bucky nods. "I'm sure."

"Okay."

"Should we head to bed?"

"Probably. But only if that means you're staying the night."

"Of course I am." He kisses my forehead and rises from the couch. "Where else would I go?"

I smile and take the hand he offers me, and laugh when he hauls me up off the couch and into his chest. We get ready for bed and I fall asleep with my head on his chest. I sleep soundly through the night.

"I could stay and help out today," Bucky offers.

"No, I can't hog you any more than I already have," (Y/N) says. "I'm selfish enough with you as is."

"Nah, I don't think you're selfish enough." He smiles and leans in close. "Remember when you said you'd steal me away?"

She rolls her eyes, but smiles regardless. "You have to go to work if that's gonna happen. Which means you can't stick around."

"You're no fun."

“I’m incredibly fun. You just don’t want to go to work.” She follows him out onto the sidewalk and grins up at him when he turns back. “Which I don’t have a problem with, but I’m pretty sure Steve would start calling me a bad influence if he found out.”

“Maybe he would. But-” he pulls her close- “maybe he wouldn’t.”

(Y/N) laughs. “You really want to tempt fate?”

“A little, yeah.” Bucky ducks his head and kisses her jaw. “Gotta live on the edge from time to time.”

“Mhm, sure, living on the edge.” When Bucky pulls away she tucks his hair behind his ears. “You could start ‘living on the edge’ by staying over on a weeknight, if you want.”

“Really?”

“Mhm.”

“Sounds a little risky.”

“Well, you don’t have to.”

“No, I want to. It’d be nice to see you more.”

“Maybe tomorrow night?”

Bucky’s about to answer when he notices that (Y/N)s attention has been drawn to something behind him.

“What is it?” he asks.

“It’s him.”

“Mordo?”

She nods and slips her phone from her pocket and types something Bucky can’t see. Mordo taunts (Y/N) from the safety of his portal, but she ignores him. Instead, she presses her phone into Bucky’s hand and steps around him.

“Call Stephen. Tell him what’s happening.”

“What’re you gonna do?”

Using the same whips (Y/N) used the first time Mordo attacked, she pulls Mordo from his portal and onto the pavement.

“I’m going to kick his ass.”

“(Y/N)-”

“I’ll be fine. Just get Stephen here. Fast.”

Bucky watches, speechless, as (Y/N) grabs the back of Mordo’s collar and drags him along with strength that he didn’t know she possessed. She makes a large, sweeping motion with her arm and reality splinters in front of her. She disappears through the cracks with Mordo in tow. Bucky calls Strange.

“What.”

“Mordo showed up again. (Y/N) just dragged him through some kind of portal? It looked like shattered glass.”

A sparking portal opens directly in front of Bucky and Strange steps through, shortly followed by Wong. Bucky hangs up the phone.

“You said it looked like shattered glass?” Strange asks.

“Y-yeah.”

“Where?” Bucky points and Strange sighs and places his fists on his hips. “Great.”

“Did it look cool?” Wong asks.

“What?”

“Did it look cool?” he repeats. “(Y/N) was always aggressive when she fought at Kamar-Taj.”

“She uh… she pulled him out of his portal-”

“Bare handed?”

“Uh… no.”

“Whips?” Bucky nods and Wong shakes his head. “What a thing to miss.”

Bucky rolls his eyes and turns back to Strange. “What do we do now?”

“We wait, Sergeant Barnes.”

“That’s it?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“Of course,” Mordo says. “The Mirror Dimension. A little unfair, don’t you think?”

“In what way?” We begin to circle each other and I slowly realize what he means. “You think I’m drawing from the Dark Dimension?”

“I know your type, (Y/N).” He brandishes his staff at me and I slap it away. “I know the deals the Ancient One taught you to make.”

“I don’t need the Dark Dimension to walk, Mordo. I need magic.” I conjure my whips and stand at the ready. “And that’s all I need to kick your ass.”

He surges forward and I dodge him, deftly kicking him to the side. We exchange blows, each of us managing to hit one another several times. I manage to stay on my feet each time Mordo strikes at me and it only serves to frustrate him more. With his tenth missed shot, he lets out an animalistic growl and launches himself at me. I sidestep him, lash my whips around his middle and swing him around. When I’ve built up enough momentum, I hurl him into the side of a building. His body makes a dull thud upon contact and he hangs there, seemingly stuck, before he falls to the street below. It takes him several minutes to recover.

“How?” he asks. “How is it that you’re able to just dance around me?”

“You were always so concerned with yourself that you never paid enough attention to your peers. I mean-” I shrug- “Sure, you watched me for a bit, but when you decided that you could take me down. That I wasn’t a threat. And that's where you fucked yourself.”

He pushes himself up onto trembling legs and shakes his head. “I don’t believe you. You must be drawing power from something.”

“Yeah, myself.”

“You’re arrogant.”

“And you’re injured.”

“I can still take you down.”

“Then do it, coward.”

“It’s been half an hour, Strange,” Bucky says. “We have to do something.”

“Have faith in her. She won’t go down without a fight.”

“That’s what I’m worried about,” he mutters. “She’s too stubborn to give up and he’s too blinded by his own beliefs that he won’t stop till she’s almost dead, or worse.”

Strange begins to pace and Bucky follows him with his eyes. He stops after three minutes, seeming to have come to a decision.

“We give her five more minutes. If she’s not out by then, I’m going in.”

“You should go in now.”

“We have to give her time.”

Bucky scowls. “She’s had time.”

Strange opens his mouth, but before he can say anything, Wong taps him on the shosulder and points out into the street. Their attention is drawn to the same reality splintering portal that (Y/N) had disappeared through not even an hour before.

The three men inch forward before quickly backing away when Mordo comes flying out of the portal. He skids to a stop on the sidewalk and doesn’t move.

While Strange and Wong move to inspect Mordo, Bucky is far more concerned with (Y/N) and quickly walks up to the portal. He’s halfway there when she stumbles out onto the pavement.

Her hair is a mess and she has dirt smeared all over her face. A cut over her left eyebrow drips blood down her cheek, but her bright eyes and the smile on her face are a testament to her victory.

“Thank God,” Bucky murmurs.

He walks towards her, arms outstretched, smile on his face. (Y/N) reaches one hand out to him and attempts to take a step before her smile falters and her knees buckle. Bucky surges forward and catches her before she can hit the pavement.

As he sinks to the ground, he smooths his hand over her face, a chorus of ‘no’s and ‘please’s falling from his lips. She fists Bucky’s shirt in one hand and her eyes slowly close. Bucky curses and holds her closer.

Her leg flickers and disappears. Her body goes limp.

-------------

Part 10

Please pardon me waxing towards Literary Criticism with that conversation about Stardust. I love the movie and I miss academic discussion. Sue me. BUT. HERE WE HAVE FULLY RETURNED TO DRAMA. SO EXCITING. HOPE Y’ALL ENJOYED IT.

But! What’d you think of this chapter? How do you feel about the Reader character’s relationship with Doctor Strange? Are you liking these movie dates? If you’ve seen Stardust, do you like it? How do you feel about the fight with Mordo, and do you think the Reader is alright? And, most importantly, where do you think the story might go from here? I’d love to hear all about it! Be sure to like, reblog, comment, and/or shoot me an ask and tell me all about it!

If you’d like to be tagged in future chapters, please let me know!

Tag List:

@ghostlyhamlet, @claws-of-vibranium, @creaturefeatures101-blog, @imagine-assembling-the-avengers, @buckysendoftheline, @ptprocrastination, @1950schick, @amayasymone23, @arfrona-and-marvel, @ek823, @fanaticfangirl001, @furrywerewolfcollector, @kissofvenom922, @dawn-phantomhive, @fangirlwithasweettooth, @mairhof1, @starryeyesbadguys, @trap-house-homiecide, @buckywhitewolfbarnes​, @kaepm981, @howdoesoneadult​, @pcdmesamidala​, @thefandomplace​, @sian22redux​, @skeletoresinthebasement​, @lady-thor-foster​, @feelmyroarrrr​, @jazzcutie​, @gaytonystark​, @geeksareunique​, @nyxveracity​, @hermionie-is-my-queen​, @darling-loki​. @lemonadeorange73​, @princess-unicorn124​, @tofeartheunknown​, @queenoftheunderdark​, @avengerscompound​

This fic:

He groans out something unintelligible, but I don’t stick around long enough to hear him repeat it. I portal myself home and text Bucky to let him know I'm okay.

Hey, I'm fine, I'm home. Mordo is unconscious on the sidewalk, so I’d honestly suggest you stay inside for a while.

I send the message and pause a moment before typing out another.

I don’t know if I’ll see you much this week, but please don’t come by the shop. I don’t know if he’ll be hanging around. I don’t want you to become more of a target than you already are. I’ll come to you, I promise.

I send the message and set my phone aside to charge.

I know he probably won't answer tonight. Either too stressed to read the messages or already in bed, though I'm sure it's the former. Bucky's not the type to just settle down when something might've happened to someone he cares about. Even so, I know that I can't allow this incident to stop my life. So, I get ready for bed and turn in for the night.

In the morning I wake up to Bucky's response. His messages came in about an hour after I sent mine. They read:

I'm glad you're okay.

Keep me updated.

Stay safe ❤️

The little red heart that punctuates the final message makes me smile. I respond:

Update: I'm opening the store as usual today. I'll stop by the Sanctum after work. We're gonna figure out a way to stop him.

I'll call you tonight.

Before I send the last message, I tap my phone against my lips as I debate whether or not I should add the same heart that Bucky did. I go back and forth for several minutes before ultimately deciding there's no harm in it. I had two red hearts to my last message and hit send and shove my phone in my pocket and ignore it for the rest of the day.

The work day flies by. Lena and Robbie seem to pick up on my mood and they behave perfectly their entire shifts. No doors slamming, no shouting or dropping expensive books. Nothing. Just a smooth day that ends exactly as it's supposed to. I send both of them home early and decide to do the closing cleaning in the morning so that I can leave earlier.

When I finish at the shop, I let Bucky know I'm headed to the Sanctum and leave immediately. Stephen has his nose in a book when I arrive.

"I'm guessing he came back?"

"Oh, he did more than just come back. He attacked Bucky and I outside the Tower last night."

That catches his attention.

Stephen closes the book and looks directly at me. "He attacked both of you?"

"In public, Stephen."

"What happened?"

"He attacked, I retaliated, I shoved Bucky through a portal to get him out of the line of fire, and put Mordo on his ass." I shrugged. "Then I went home to regroup."

"And you didn't think to bring him here?!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, did you want me breaking down your door at two in the morning?"

"No, but it'd be a hell of a lot better than leaving him in the street."

"We have different priorities. Yours lie in keeping the public safe, and I’m more concerned with Bucky, Lena, and Robbie. The rest is up to you and your cohorts."

"Fine. What do you propose we do, then?"

“I’m not waiting for him to come to us anymore,” I say simply. “We’re going to him.”

"You're sure about that?"

"He wasn't going after the people close to me before. Now he is. And we know he has no problem taking people out when he decides they're in his way. I want to take him down."

“We’re not killing him.”

“No shit, Sherlock, of course we’re not killing him. It’s illegal.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Obviously that’s not what you meant. But I know what your conscience is like, and I’m not really into ending someone’s life. We can do this without stooping to his level.”

"True, but even so, we have to be smart about this. We both know how skilled Mordo is. There has to be a solid plan."

"Of course." I begin to pace. "But we don't even know where he's hiding. He could be anywhere."

"True, but he may be closer than we'd expect. It’s just a matter of figuring out how to track him."

“You think we could?”

“There’s very little that can’t be done with magic.”

“Surveillance could be risky, though. If he’s willing to attack out in the open, I doubt he’s just going to let his guard down when he’s alone.”

“That’s exactly why we need a plan.”

“Can we get Wong in on this? He’s been around the block, I’m sure he’d have a few tricks up his sleeve for this sort of thing.”

“You’re right.”

The three of us moved between the Sanctum and the library at Kamar-Taj, looking for anything that could possibly help. As wonderful as it is that none of us have been stalked like this before, it’s proving difficult to scrounge up anything of substance.

There were a few masters who heard us grumbling who offered assistance, and we wrote down everything they had to say. In the end, it doesn’t amount to much, and I lay on the floor beside Stephen, tired and frustrated.

“I wish this were easier,” I grouse.

“So do I.” Stephen turns the page in the book he’s skimming through. He’s already read it four times. “But we’ve got a few leads. Thalia had some helpful information.”

“True, but she hasn’t spoken with him since he left.”

“Just be grateful we have some kind of clue as to what his habits might be.”

“Did you not pick up on any of this when you were training with him?”

“Did you?”

“No, I didn’t train with him. I did better in group settings than one on one. Other than that, I had occasional meetings with the Ancient One for assistance with my leg.”

“Did you ever train with Master Hamir?”

“No. My disability is different from yours.” I hold my hands out defensively. “Don’t get me wrong, he’s vastly talented and all that, but you’re the one who needed to quit bitching about not having use of your hands.”

“Don’t remind me,” he mutters.

I sing one arm over my eyes. “I don’t get him.”

“Hamir?”

“No, Mordo. Like I get that he’s lost and upset after what happened with the Ancient One, but in what plane of reality does that justify taking someone else’s life into his own hands? Because none of this is up to him. All of us made the choice to study magic. We all follow the same rules. Sure, our teacher kicked some serious holes in them, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t benefit from her lessons.”

“I agree. But it’s not like we can do anything about how he feels and thinks.”

“Well, I mean, that wouldn’t be productive anyway. I just wish there were some way to show him that he’s not doing the good he thinks he is.” My phone buzzes and I check it to find several texts from Bucky and a couple missed calls. “Aw, balls.”

“Hmm?”

“Bucky’s been trying to get ahold of me.”

“Ah. You two are together now, right?”

“Mhm, a little over a week now.”

“That’s great,” he says, no inflection in his voice. I’ve known him long enough to know he’s being sincere.

“It’s almost midnight, I should probably get going.” I haul myself to my feet. “I’ll swing by again tomorrow,”

Stephen just waves me off and I head home. As soon as I’m in my apartment I call Bucky.

“I was starting to worry.”

“I know, I’m sorry. I meant to call you earlier, but I got sidetracked.”

“Any luck at the Sanctum?“

“A little.” (Y/N) sighs and Bucky wishes he were there with her. “I’m going back tomorrow. Hopefully they’ll be able to find something I wasn’t while I’m not there.”

Bucky flops down on his bed. “Aside from that, how was your day?”

“It was fine. Lena and Robbie were incredibly well behaved, but I think it might’ve had something to do with my mood. I’m afraid I wasn’t as perky as I usually am.”

“I’d say you had a pretty good excuse for that.”

“Even so, I could’ve made an attempt to be a little brighter.” She sighs and he hears the creak of her bed as she takes a seat. “How’re you feeling?”

“I’m fine. Mostly worried about you.”

“I know, I’m sorry. And I’m sorry about forcing you into the Tower. It was impulsive and I didn’t think before doing it. I just wanted to get you out of the line of fire and away from him.”

“I know. I forgive you.”

“That sounded a lot like an excuse. I promise it wasn’t. I just feel like I need to explain everything I’m doing.”

“I appreciate that. I’d rather be in the loop.”

She hums. “How was your day?”

“Aside from worrying about you?”

(Y/N) laughs. “Of course. What’d Avenging entail today?”

“Mostly paperwork.”

“Ah. Gross.”

“Very. But I’ll take paperwork over training newbies any day.”

“Ooh, can’t argue with you there. There’s something especially frustrating about beating the ‘i know better than you’ out of someone who definitely doesn’t.”

Bucky laughs. “Exactly that.”

“Would you… maybe want to come over on Friday?” she asks. “We could do dinner and a movie from the safety of my above ground bunker.”

“You think it’s safe?”

“As long as I bring you directly over, I think so.”

“Okay. What’d you have in mind?”

“Nothing set in stone for dinner, but maybe we could watch Willow?”

“What’s it about?”

“I’m not really sure how to describe it. A little found family, a little magic, a destined hero. All kinds of good stuff.”

“You’ve seen it before?”

“I don’t know if you know this about me, but one of my favorite things is sharing movies I love with people I care about.”

Bucky smiles. “So you don’t mind watching it again?”

“Only if you’re here.”

“That was the cutest thing you could’ve said just now.”

“Does that mean I can pick you up on Friday?” Bucky can practically hear her smiling.

“Yeah, of course. I look forward to it.”

“Aw, yay!” Softer, she says, “I’m excited to see you again.”

“I’m excited to see you too,” Bucky murmurs.

“Under better circumstances, of course.”

“Oh, of course.”

Bucky yawns and (Y/N) says, “I should probably let you go.”

“No, I can still talk.”

“We can talk tomorrow. You should get some sleep.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I’ll call you tomorrow. Earlier. I promise.”

“Okay. You’re done working for tonight, right?”

“Mhm.”

“Good. You should get some sleep.”

“I will. Goodnight, Bucky.”

“G’night.”

----------

Part 9

Another movie date at home? Groundbreaking. I’ll take twenty more, please and thank you,

Tag List:

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This Fic:

“Oh come on, you don’t think he and I have at least one thing in common?”

“Absolutely not. You’re bright and happy. He’s a surly grump.”

“We’re both amputees. We both left the people we loved so that we could be better for ourselves and everyone around us. We have similar tastes in books and movies. He’s kind and, yeah, he’s a little surly, but he thinks I’m funny.” There’s nothing but static from Tony’s end. “I could keep going, if you’d like.”

“No, you’ve made your point.”

“But?”

“No but. I just think I’ll have to see you two together to understand.”

“I don’t like the sound of that.”

“Why? I’ve never done anything suspicious in my life.”

“Sure. And I’m a brain surgeon.”

“Could be if you wanted.”

“Too expensive.” Tony grumbles something unintelligible and I laugh. “Look, I gotta go. Things to do, events to plan, and all that.”

“Aw, really?”

“Yeah, really.”

“Hot date?”

“If you have to ask, you already know.”

Steve says something in the background and Tony pulls the phone away to answer. “Steve says I need to leave you alone.”

“Steve’s usually right.”

“So mean.”

I laugh. “I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“Yeah, fine.”

“Don’t miss me too much.”

“Oh, ha ha.” He pauses. “Have fun tonight.”

“I will, don’t worry.” He starts to say something else, but I cut him off. “Talk to you later, bye!”

I hang up and flop back down on the bed. I roll over and sleep for another hour.

"Hey," Bucky says. "Didn't think I'd hear from you till later."

"I know, I just wanted to see how you're doing today." Distantly, (Y/N) says something to Lena and sighs at the response. "Tony called earlier."

"Oh yeah, I heard him bickering with Steve earlier." Bucky frowns. "Does he seriously dislike me that much?"

"No, I think he just doesn't know you enough to understand. I mean, you're not always the most talkative person."

"Are you saying I need to talk more?"

"No, I'm just saying you're kind of an enigma to people who don't know you."

"You seemed to get me right off the bat, though."

"I'm an outlier. I had previous knowledge of you and a store filled with talking points. Like I had a distinct advantage over other people." Bucky can hear her shuffling something around on her end. “But his opinion doesn’t matter at the end of the day. We like each other. That’s what matters. Right?”

“Right.” Bucky smiles and kicks at a scuff on the linoleum. “Are we still on for tonight?”

“Yes! I actually wanted to talk to you about that. Would you be up for a slight change of plans?”

“That depends. Should I be worried?”

“Aw, don’t you trust me?”

“Well, yeah, I trust you. I just wanna know if I’m supposed to be prepared for, I don’t know, mountain climbing, or some shit.”

(Y/N) laughs. “No mountain climbing. Ever. I promise.”

“Okay, good. What’d you have in mind?”

“An adventure.”

“(Y/N).”

“We’ll have dinner at a great restaurant and go on a little adventure. Completely safe.”

“Where?”

“A mystery city, of course.”

“Seriously?”

“Please just trust me on this. It’ll be fun, I promise.”

Still skeptical, Bucky says, “Alright. I’m choosing where we go next time, though.”

“Absolutely!” Something falls in the background and she curses. “I gotta go monitor the kids.”

Bucky laughs. “I’ll see you later?”

“Yup, I’ll be at the Tower at eight. Make sure you have a jacket!”

Bucky thinks eight is a little late, but he doesn’t question it. “Alright, I’ll see you then.”

They say their goodbyes and Bucky the day of work ahead of him.

Bucky is waiting just outside the Tower when I arrive. He smiles when he sees me and I hasten my pace to meet him.

“Hey,” he says. He slips one arm around my middle and kisses me softly. “How was your day?”

“It was alright. I’ll admit, it was tempting to just take the day off and steal you for the day.”

“You should do that someday,” he says.

“You think so?” He nods. “Maybe I will.”

“Good.” I lead him down the sidewalk and he asks, “So, where are we going?”

“Seattle.”

“Seattle?!”

“Mhm.” I turn down an alley and slip my zing ring onto my fingers and open a portal. “Pike place first to get dessert and then we’ll go to dinner.”

“Holy shit.”

“This first place might be a little overwhelming, so just stick close, okay?”

He nods and takes my hand when I offer it. Bucky follows me through the portal and it closes as soon as we’re on the other side.

The line at the Three Girls Bakery is almost nonexistent, and we’re lucky enough that they still have a decent selection of cookies left. I choose a snickerdoodle and a lavender shortbread and Bucky chooses peanut butter and classic chocolate chip cookies. With the cookies hidden safely in my purse, I take Bucky’s hand and lead him out of the wet market and down the street towards the Art Museum.

“That was a lot to take in,” Bucky says.

“I know. The tourist traps are always crazy, even around closing time. But it’ll be quieter where we’re going.” 

I squeeze his hand and he squeezes back.

When we reach University Street we take a left and I apologize to Bucky before practically dragging him up the hill towards the restaurant. I complain about the hill being steeper than I remember and Bucky jokingly offers to carry me. I graciously turn him down and, with as much drama as I can muster, insist I can find the strength to go on.

“Where are we going for dinner?”

“It’s called Purple.”

“Purple?”

“Mhm. I reserved a table at the back of the restaurant, so no one should be able to recognize you.”

“You really went all out on this, didn’t you?”

I laugh. “Yeah, I guess I did.”

As soon as we set foot through the door we were led to our table. Bucky’s eyes just about pop out of his head when he sees the prices on the menu.

“Don’t do that,” I say. “The most expensive thing on the menu is less than fifty dollars.”

“Barely. Are you sure about this place?”

“I’m completely sure.” I set my menu to the side. “I think I’ll have the basil pesto.”

Bucky still has his face buried in the menu and I can see him shake his head. “I don’t know.”

“Okay, well, what looks the best to you?”

“(Y/N)...”

“I’m serious!” I reach across the table and push his menu down. “Would it make you feel better if we shared?”

He sighs. “Yes, actually.”

“Okay, so what looks good?”

He returns his attention to the options and points to something. “The seared halibut.”

He rattles off the description and I nod. “How about baked brie, to start?”

“Are you sure?”

“Anything we don’t eat, I can just put in the fridge till we get home.”

“Right.” He thinks it over and nods. “Alright.”

We gave the waiter our orders and spent the rest of our time talking, and as soon as our food arrived, we placed our plates side by side and picked at each other’s dishes while we continued our conversation. Bucky told me about what they were working on at the Tower and I told him about the newest books I was looking forward to stocking in the coming months.

By the time we finish, our plates are empty and it’s nearly 7:30. We pay, leave, and head back down the hill towards the pier. I retrieve our cookies from my purse and offer Bucky one of his. He chooses the chocolate chip and I go with the shortbread. Bucky holds his cookie out to me and I take a bite. It’s just as sweet and buttery as I remember it being. In turn, I offer him a bite of my shortbread. As he chews, he frowns, and I laugh.

“That bad?” I ask.

“No,” he says. “I think I expected it to taste more like lavender smells.”

“Mm, it tastes a little more lemon-y than you’d expect it to, yeah.”

He nods. “Where are we headed?”

“The aquarium.”

“Wouldn’t it be closed?”

“Sometimes they have after hours events for adult type people. So no kids, no massive crowds. Just a chill night looking at some fish.”

“Sounds nice.”

“I hope you’ll like it. It’s one of my favorite aquariums.”

“I’m sure I will.”

The aquarium isn’t super populated when we arrive.

We stop at the massive tank at the entrance where a diver is giving a presentation with someone asking them questions on the aquarium floor. Bucky stands transfixed by the rotation of fish and the long kelp that sways in the water. We watch for a good half hour before Bucky is ready to move on. We move past the wave tank  after we get splashed and my attention is immediately grabbed by the octopi. There’s more activity I’ve seen from the tank before, with one cephalopod working to get a snack out of a Tupperware container.

The octopus eventually gets the container open and devours the fish that’s inside. When I can finally tear my eyes away from the sight, Bucky’s standing under the jellyfish arch. He watches the little blobs float through the water, completely calm. The blue light illuminating the arch casts him in an ethereal glow. I snap a couple of pictures before I join him. He smiles at me and tucks me under his arm.

When we finish at the touch tanks more people have arrived and we decide it’s time to move on to the other exhibits.

We take our time wandering through so that we don’t miss anything. Bucky takes a few pictures of the aquatic mammals outside. Most of them are sleeping, but the seals are still playing together and the sea otters swim up to us when we stop to look at their exhibit.

In the end, we find that we like the underwater dome best and circle back when we’re done with everything else.

No one else has made it this far, seeing as the alcohol is in the main building and they’d rather stick close to that. That just means that there’s more space for Bucky and I to sit on a bench and watch the fading daylight filter through the water.

Bucky kisses the top of my head and I lean heavily against his side.

“This is nice,” he murmurs.

“It is. Thank you for going along with this. I know you haven’t been particularly comfortable tonight.”

“No, but I needed this, I think. I tend to stick close to people and places I know. With you here I can do at least one of those things.”

“I’m sorry about dinner, though. I know I was a little harsh.”

“No.” He pauses. “Well, yeah, a little. But I understand. I appreciate that you can recognize that, though.”

I nod. “It’s your turn next, so you get to drag me where you see fit.”

“Oh, believe me, I will.”

I laugh. “Good.”

Bucky yawns and I check the time, surprised to find that it’s nearly 10, which means it’s well past midnight on the east coast.

“We should get home,” I say.

“Probably.”

I open a portal home right in front of us. Bucky asks if we should go out the normal way. I shrug and offer him my hand, which he takes. We walk through the portal side by side.

“You’re sure I can’t walk you home?”

(Y/N) laughs. “I’ll be fine. I could get into my apartment from right here, if I wanted.”

“Right, magic. I forgot.” Bucky smiles and shakes his head. “Still getting used to that.”

“It takes a while, I know.” She smiles and steps forward to gently poke him in the stomach. “I should probably go. I have work in the morning.”

“I know.” Bucky wraps his arms around her. “But I’ll see you again soon enough.”

“Oh, if you’re not knocking down my door tomorrow I will call Steve to make sure you’re okay.”

He laughs. “Duly noted.”

Bucky leans in and kisses her and he can feel her smile against his lips. (Y/N) pulls away and quickly pecks him on the lips.

“I really do have to go.”

“Aw! Five more minutes?”

(Y/N) starts to laugh, but her smile falls. She looks to her right and frowns.

“Go inside.”

“What is it?”

She shakes her head. “I’m not sure, but you definitely need to be inside, right now.”

Bucky tries to protest, but (Y/N) pushes him towards the door just in time to avoid a glowing projectile.

“What the fuck was that?!”

(Y/N) doesn’t answer, instead she settles into a fighting stance, producing long, glowing whips from her fingertips. She strikes down another three projectiles in quick succession and yells when she’s forced to dodge the fourth.

“You’re going to just attack from the fucking shadows?” she shouts. “You’re a coward!”

Bucky pulls (Y/N) out of the way of another projectile and her weapons disappear.

“Are you okay?”

She nods. “I’m sorry about this.”

“What? It’s not your fault.”

“Not that. This.”

Bucky feels a rush of air behind him and (Y/N) shoves him back through a portal. He stumbles and falls to the floor of the common area. The portal closes before he can even get to his feet.

-------------

Part 8

AND HERE WE OBSERVE THE RETURN TO ✨DRAMA✨I know it’s not super clear where we can go from here, but I promise everything will turn out okay. Drama always precedes the peace, so we’ll just have to get through this together lmao

BUT that being said, what’d you think of the chapter? Did you think Tony overreacted, or was that just him being Tony? What’d you think of their date? Do you think you’d like lavender shortbread? How do you think Bucky is feeling after such an exciting end to a relatively relaxing night? But most importantly, where do you think the story will go from here? Be sure to like, reblog, comment, and/or shoot me an ask and tell me all about it!

If you’d like to be tagged in future chapters, please let me know!

Tag list:

@ghostlyhamlet​, @claws-of-vibranium, @creaturefeatures101-blog, @imagine-assembling-the-avengers, @buckysendoftheline, @ptprocrastination, @1950schick, @amayasymone23, @arfrona-and-marvel, @ek823, @fanaticfangirl001, @furrywerewolfcollector, @kissofvenom922, @dawn-phantomhive, @fangirlwithasweettooth, @mairhof1, @starryeyesbadguys, @trap-house-homiecide, @buckywhitewolfbarnes, @kaepm981, @howdoesoneadult, @pcdmesamidala, @thefandomplace, @sian22redux, @skeletoresinthebasement, @lady-thor-foster, @feelmyroarrrr, @jazzcutie, @gaytonystark, @geeksareunique, @nyxveracity, @hermionie-is-my-queen, @darling-loki, @lemonadeorange73, @princess-unicorn124, @tofeartheunknown, @queenoftheunderdark, @avengerscompound

This fic:

“Actually-” he scratches his stubbled jaw- “Are you free tomorrow night?”

“Uh, well… kind of. If you want to join a bunch of wine-moms for their Friday night book club, we start at six and finish out the night at eight-thirty. If that’s not your jam, I’m all yours at nine.”

“I think I’ll have to pass on the book club.”

“Totally understandable. They can get a little rowdy after a couple glasses of rosé. Even worse if someone decides to mix things up and bring whiskey.” I lean on the counter and rest my chin in my hand. “What’d you have in mind?”

“I was thinking we could watch a movie, or something. I mean-” he shrugs- “I finished Lord of the Rings and you’ve been talking up the movies since I met you.”

“That’s a serious commitment, Buck.” I joke. “You sure you’re ready for that?”

He laughs. “We can start with The Fellowship and go from there.”

“Ah, I see. Testing the waters. You need to be careful with that. Next thing you know, we’ll be marathoning the director’s cuts and you’ll be stuck with me for a whole weekend.” I shake my head. “Dangerous stuff.”

He hums and leans against the counter. "I think I could manage it."

The door to the back room slams open and Bucky abruptly steps away. Robbie wanders out onto the floor, arms laden with boxes for restock. He doesn’t seem to register what he did and I roll my eyes.

“Robbie, what’d I tell you about the door?”

He looks up, as if just noticing we’re there, and I raise my eyebrows to prompt his answer. “The door?”

“You slammed it into the wall again. Do you know how many times I’ve had to fill and repaint the dents you’re making?”

“I’m not the only one who does it.”

I sigh and scrub my hands over my face. “I know you’re not, but Lena is on vacation right now. When she gets back, she’ll get the same reminder. Until that happens, please be more careful with the door. Okay?”

He nods solemnly but brightens when he sees Bucky.

“Mr. Barnes!” he says. “I didn’t expect to see you back here so soon!”

Bucky just nods and looks back to me. “I think I’d better go.”

“I understand.” I reach out and gently squeeze his arm. “See you tomorrow?”

He smiles. “Yeah. Nine on the dot.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

I watch him leave and turn my attention to Robbie when he clears his throat.

"Did I scare him off?" he asks.

"No, he was just checking in."

"Oh, okay." He drums his fingers against his legs as he tries to think of his next question. "Am I in trouble?"

"You're not in trouble. I just need you to remember where you are sometimes.”

“Okay,” He nods. “I understand.”

“Good.”

“Next time there’s a dent, I could maybe fix it,” he offers.

“We’ll see about that. Just focus on the restock for now, okay?”

He nods and salutes me before returning to the pile of boxes he left in the middle of the store.

Bucky shows up exactly at nine. (Y/N) stands at the front of the store, talking idly with a short, stout woman with a kind face and rosy cheeks. When she sees him, her face lights up and she waves to him through the window. Bucky smiles and shyly waves back. The woman (Y/N) is talking to notices and reaches out to touch (Y/N)’s shoulder. Bucky can’t see what she says, but whatever it is makes (Y/N) laugh and roll her eyes.

Bucky waits for the conversation to end before entering the store. The woman talks past him and pats him on the ass and says “Go get ‘er, tiger,” before disappearing down the street. He looks to (Y/N) for some kind of explanation, but she just shakes her head and gestures for him to follow her after she locks the door.

“That was Deb,” she says. “She’s the troublemaker of my group.”

“Oh?”

“She decided tequila would be more fun than wine tonight.” She sighs. “Honestly, I don’t know what I’m gonna do with that woman.”

“Seems like she’s got herself sorted out pretty well.”

“Yeah…” (Y/N) turns back when they reach the stairs. “I’m really sorry about her. She just assumed you were here for a hookup, or something. Wouldn’t listen when I tried to tell her otherwise.”

Bucky tries to laugh, but mostly finds himself feeling uncomfortable. “She sounds like a handful.”

She holds her hand out to him. “Movie night?”

He smiles, nods, and takes her hand. “Movie night.”

(Y/N) leads Bucky up the stairs and into her apartment. While she moves deeper into the apartment, Bucky finds himself standing awkwardly in the living room. There’s a comfortable looking couch sat in front of a large T.V. and entertainment cabinet, with a huge leather recliner off to the side. The entire space is decorated in warm reds and browns and the walls are lined with bookshelves. Any free wall space is covered with framed art. It’s warm and vibrant and inviting. It feels like somewhere that (Y/N) would live.

“Y’know, this is the first time I’ve been in your apartment,” Bucky says.

“Oh shit, you’re right.” (Y/N) pokes her head out of the kitchen. “You want popcorn?”

“Sure.”

She disappears again and calls, "Do you want butter, or is just a little salt okay?"

"Whatever you like is fine," Bucky answers.

"Just a little salt it is, then!"

Soon enough the two of them are situated on the couch, massive bowl of popcorn placed between the two of them. (Y/N) starts the movie and Bucky settles in, braced and ready to watch an almost four hour long film.

Half an hour in, (Y/N) moves the popcorn bowl to her lap and shuffles close enough to rest her head on Bucky's chest. He wraps his arm around her shoulders and she leans against his side. Bucky's heart pounds against his rib-cage, but he's never felt so calm.

Two and a half hours down and (Y/N)s eyelids begin to droop and it's clear she's trying to stay awake because Bucky's there. The tenth time she shakes herself awake, Bucky chuckles and moves the popcorn to the coffee table.

"Sleep," he says softly.

"It's movie night," she mumbles. "Can't leave you alone on movie night."

"I won't be alone. You're right here."

"But-"

"You've already watched this," he says. "and you're clearly tired. Just rest a while, (Y/N)."

She nods and replaces her head on his chest. "Okay."

Her eyes finally close and her breathing evens out as she slowly relaxes against him.

An hour later, Bucky finds himself nodding off.

Before I even open my eyes, I can feel the ache in my neck. Then there’s the arm holding me against a warm body. I frown and lift one hand to rub at my eyes, willing myself to some semblance of wakefulness.

When I finally manage to open my eyes, the light from the T.V. is blinding, but I can just barely make out the clock on the cable box. The time reads 4:32.

Bucky snores softly beside me, his arm heavy on my shoulders and his body warm against mine. Why did he let me fall asleep on him? Even more pressing, why is he still here? I don’t think he had any intention of spending the night, but… it’s hard to care when he looks so relaxed. The constant crease between his brows is nonexistent. Somehow he looks younger.

Seeing Bucky vulnerable like this, it’s hard to equate this man with the one Steve brought into my shop. I can’t say that I’m surprised that we’re close now. I do count myself lucky, though, that he trusts me so fully. And if my heart flutters a little when I remember that, who’s gonna know?

He makes a small noise in his sleep, and his hand tightens on my shoulder, pulling me closer. Unsure of what to do, I gently place my hand over his heart. Bucky’s eyes flutter open and he looks around, not quite sure where he is. When he sees me beside him, his expression softens and he leans in and rests his forehead against mine. With his free hand, he traces the backs of his fingers over my cheek, then cups my jaw. I readily lean into his touch and raise my eyebrows when his gaze flicks between my eyes and my lips. My breath catches when he bumps his nose against mine. He pauses a moment before he tilts his head to the side and briefly brushes his lips against mine. I bunch up his shirt in my hand when he pulls back slightly and meet him in the middle when he leans in again. I swear my heart skips when our lips meet, but the kiss is over too soon.

Bucky pulls away and shakes his head.

“Sorry,” he says. “I should probably go.”

“No, stay.” I place my hand on his arm. “It’s four a.m. and you’re tired.”

“(Y/N)-”

“Just stay.” I coax him up from the couch. “We can share the bed.”

He opens his mouth to protest, but simply takes my hand and allows himself to be led to my bedroom. I change in the bathroom and come out to find Bucky sitting on the edge of the bed, sans jacket and jeans. I crawl under the covers and Bucky follows suit when I ask him to.

“Am I making you uncomfortable?” I murmur.

Bucky shakes his head. “I’m glad you asked me to stay, actually, it’s just…”

“What?”

He scrubs his hands over his face. “I shouldn’t’ve kissed you.”

I snort. “I’d say it was more of a team effort than you’re making it out to be.”

“(Y/N), please-”

“I kissed you too. I wanted to kiss you.”

“Really?”

“Bucky, I’ve liked you since the day I met you. So, yeah, I wanted to kiss you.”

“Wh-seriously? That long?”

“Mhm.” I frown. “You really couldn’t tell?”

“I mean, I felt like there was something there, but I didn’t want to just assume you were into me.”

“Well, I am. Confirmed, super into you.”

He reaches out and traces his fingers along my jaw. “I have feelings for you, too.”

I can’t help but smile. “I’m glad.”

Bucky wraps his arm around me and pulls me close. “Is this okay?”

I nod and press my nose to his chest. “This is perfect.”

----------

Part 7

TWAS SMOOCH TIME. Honestly, I’m really excited to finally reach this point. I mean, yes, it’s just the beginning of their relationship, but it opens up so many more options for the story for me. Which you definitely don’t need to worry about. At all. I promise.

ANYWAY, I’d love to know what you thought of this chapter! What’s you think of their date? What about their first kiss? Is this the kind of start to their relationship you were hoping for? And most importantly, where do you think the story could go from here? Be sure to like, reblog, comment, and/or shoot me an ask and tell me all about it!

If you’d like to be tagged in future chapters, please let me know!

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