#vendetta 2

Y/N put down her leather jacket and draped it over the couch. A loud exhale escaped her throat. He was supposed to arrive any minute. Steve had sent her a text saying they were leaving the hospital. That was twenty minutes ago.

Her mind kept coming to scenarios of what if – what if he doesn’t want to see her; what if all the messages were fake and he did it just to get her back to the city to get rid of her; what if once he sees her he’ll break up with her? All she wanted to do was bite her nails. But the expensive manicure would be a waste of money.

Again, nausea hit her hard and she did some breathing exercises so she wouldn’t vomit on the beautiful carpet under the coffee table. Sighing, she sat down on the couch and went through her emails, just to be sure she didn’t miss anything. Peter kept giving her updates when he found something that could help her solve the mystery. This was the calmest weeks of her life, minus the problems with Bucky. No one was trying to blow up anything and the rest of the business was booming.

The sound of keys and door opening brought her attention to the hallway. Her heart skipped a beat and she held her breath for a short moment. Her ears were focused on the sound of steps approaching the living room.

Bucky appeared at the entrance door to the room. That was the moment he stopped walking and his eyes locked with hers. “Y/N,” he whispered.

“Hi,” she greeted him. Her voice was low and emotionless. Bucky would have missed it if he didn’t watch her lips move.

Her eyes moved to the spot where his left arm was missing. She wanted to cry. How could she hurt the man she loved that much? No, it wasn’t her fault. The bomb was meant for her. “How,” she cleared her throat, “how are you feeling? Any pain?”

He took a few steps closer and looked down at the missing limb. “I have some medications for the pain but it’s not bad – more like phantom pain.”

“Oh, okay,” she nodded.

The atmosphere was heavy and they were surrounded by grief and something that resembled darkness. It seemed that they wouldn’t be able to move on from this traumatic event.

“I went through hell when I woke up,” Bucky started to talk. “I discovered that I was in a hospital and realized that I don’t feel anything in my left arm. When I looked down, it was gone.” He stopped talking and observed the missing arm. “So many emotions went through me – I wanted to scream, break everything and beat every person that touched me. It was a lot.”

She couldn’t muster a word. It was painful to hear about his feelings and what he went through.

“Do you know what the last thing I saw was? Your face – your beautiful smiling face. But before that, before I went unconscious after the explosion, I saw someone walking away from me. I didn’t know who it was and what they were holding, but then the image of your face came to me and I thought I you did this.

“So, yes, when I woke up and saw you, I was angry at you. I was screaming at you and hated you. I wished you nothing but the worst. I didn’t want to see you, I didn’t want to know anything about you, and for a brief moment,” he paused, hesitating if he should continue. He did. “For a moment, I stopped loving you.”

Her eyes widened and a tear immediately ran down her cheek. This was it. “Oh,” she said timidly and lowered her gaze. “Okay.” She had to sit down on the couch, her heart pounding loudly.

“No, no Y/N, it’s not okay. They brought a psychologist and doctors that talked to me about the injury, as well as all my emotions. As much as I hated it, I worked with them. They helped me realize a lot of things. But it was Sam and Steve who brought me back to my right mind. They helped me move forward and opened my eyes.”

He decided to sit on the couch right next to her. He put his right hand on top of her thigh and squeezed it. “I love you, Y/N. I know you had nothing to do with it.”

“You almost died because of me,” she whispered. The cry was soft as if she didn’t want him to see her cry.

He shook his head. “No, it wasn’t because of you. You didn’t know it would happen. I was the one who offered to go to the house.” The hand was now on her cheek, stroking it gently. “I’m alive. I’m here.” Bucky took one of her hands and put it on his chest where his heart was beating. “I’m alive.”

After all those weeks of mixed emotions and suppressed anger, Y/N started to cry heavily. Tears were streaming down her eyes. She kept shaking her head, watching her hand on his chest. She felt the heart. He was there, with her. Maybe they would be able to overcome this.

He lifted her head and looked into her eyes. “I love you, Y/N. I would never stop loving you. Even when I was mad, angry, and sad, and depressed, I still loved you – even when I felt I stopped for a moment.” And then his lips found hers in a soft kiss. It felt like their first kiss after eternity. “Now,” he leant his forehead against her, enjoying the closeness. “Please, tell me why you left.”

“I should have stayed in bed,” she said out of nowhere.

“What?” Bucky was confused.

She pushed away. “Wait,” she said and ran away from him.

For a second he thought she was going to run away, but when he saw her run into the bathroom he was relieved. The door closed with a loud thud. “Are you okay?” he shouted. That’s when he heard the sound that was vomiting. He made a grimace.

He stood up from the couch and walked closer to the door. It was fast. He heard the flushing sound and then running water. When she came outside, he noticed how beaten she looked. “Hey, what’s happening?”

“Nerves,” she sighed and looked at him. “This whole thing makes me nervous, stressed and nauseous.”

“From me?”

“From everything,” she admitted, defeated. “I almost lost you. You hated me and I realized you’ve changed me. I never cared so much about anyone but you. I care about Yelena. I do, but the thought you hated me, and blamed me for everything, it broke me.”

“Y/N.”

“I was ready to give up on us. I was ready to accept that you were done with me and I needed to move on. And I thought I can’t be sad about one man that hates me. So I left town and the States.”

Bucky’s eyes were filled with sadness. “Are you giving up on us?”

She stared into his blue eyes. “Are you giving up on us?”

“Never,” he said.

She shook her head. “Neither am I.” That answer made him relax again. “When I came back I heard your voicemails. At first, they were not nice. I was ready to flush the phone. Later, they turned from nice to heart-warming and I ended up crying because I knew I loved you so much. The thought of not fighting for you was terrifying.”

“I love you so much, doll.”

She reached for his left hand only to realize that it no longer was there. It was awkward and she felt ashamed. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

“That’s okay,” he smiled. “I still forget that it’s not there.”

“To answer your question,” she reached for the right hand and entwined fingers with him. She walked them back to the couch and sat down on it. “I couldn’t stop fighting for you and that’s why I’ve visited some old friends of mine who owed me a service. I have managed to arrange a meeting with them. All I have to do is call them.”

“A meeting? That’s why you left the States?”

“I- uh, I was arranging something for you as a form of an apology,” she admitted. “Could you please not ask more? I would like this to be some sort of surprise,” she made puppy eyes.

He leaned in and kissed the tip of her nose gently. He wanted to kiss her on the lips, but because of the vomiting, he moved to her nose instead. “Okay,” he said calmly. “So, what now? Will you be staying here with me or are you going back to Yelena’s?”

“Do you want me here?”

“Of course, doll. I love you and you are my girl, my wife. I want to be with you. It’s been a long time and I don’t want to let you go. So, stay, it’s your home too. We can order in and either we can spend the day alone or we can call everyone and enjoy the night with our closest family.”

“Just the two of us, please,” she hugged him tightly. “I’ll arrange the meeting. Could you order food?”

He smiled and kissed the top of her head. “Chinese, I know what you love.”

. . .

A phone was loudly vibrating on a night table. It kept going for a very long time before Y/N reached for it and looked at the screen with sleepy eyes, barely able to see the name of the caller. She frowned, annoyed that someone was calling her this early in the morning. That someone was surprisingly Loki.

“What?” she mumbled into the phone, letting him know that he woke her up and she was not pleased.

Loki: Morning darling, did I wake you up?

“Such a stupid question for 7 AM,” she snarled. “What do you want? And make it quick.”

Loki: I am back in the city with Thor and I want to know if you’d like to join us for lunch.  You had a birthday and we hoped you’d call but we haven’t heard from you at all.

She rolled her eyes and then Bucky’s right arm wrapped around her waist. He hummed to her back, pissed someone woke him up. “I had some personal issues I needed to take care of,” she said. “Hold on the line,” and she muted the call. Y/N rolled to Bucky and kissed his forehead. “I’m sorry,” she apologized.

“Who is it?” he mumbled.

“Loki and his brother,” she said. “They want to take me out for lunch. Would you mind if I go?”

“Yes,” he replied and then grinned. “I wanted to take us out for lunch with everyone. How about breakfast? I am tired and you are already up.”

She smiled at him and kissed the tip of his nose. She unmuted the call. “What about breakfast in an hour? Pick a place and text it to me.”

Loki: There is this nice French restaurant that serves amazing breakfasts. I believe it’s on Spring Street, Manhattan.

“Uh,” she started to think. “I think I’m going to need an hour and a half. I’ll meet you there,” and she ended the call. “Suddenly people want to meet with me,” she commented.

“The Asgardians?” Bucky asked and put a pillow over his face with his hand.

“If you don’t want me to go just say it and I will stay,” she proposed.

He put the pillow down and looked at her with a smile. “Go. I will sleep a bit longer. The lunch will be at one so be on time. I’ll text you the address,” he winked at her cuddled into the duvet.

With one last quick kiss on the lips, she stood up from the bed and quickly took a shower, brushed her teeth and dressed in something casual. She was meeting old friends and nothing more. Y/N took one of the sports cars Bucky owned and drove to Manhattan where she met with Loki…

Just Loki.

She parked the car and then walked inside the restaurant where she was met with a table for two. She squinted but walked to him with a neutral expression on her face. “Where’s Thor?” she asked him.

“Hello, darling,” he stood up and approached her. He took her hand and kissed the top of it. “I’m glad we could meet.” He pulled her chair and helped her take a seat like a gentleman. “Thor wanted to be here, however, that moron has a huge hungover and he decided to stay in bed.”

She chuckled. “Typical Thor. Well, maybe next time then. So, how are you? Still, making lives miserable around you? I know that is your speciality.”

He had a smile on his face and called a waitress. They ordered orange juices, black coffee and some pastries. “I love my job, you know that,” he said when the waitress left. “It was fun the last time you visited us. How long was that? Two years ago or three?”

“Something like that. But that was a long time ago and a lot of things changed,” she said. “Yes, it was fun when I visited you when I came back from the army. We had a great time together.”

“LA is fun,” he said proudly. “You loved LA. I thought you would come back but that didn’t happen.”

She put her chin on top of her hands, scanning his pale mystical face. He was a very attractive man, she had to admit. “Yeah, well, I had a lot of stuff going on. I believe you heard that my brother was killed and my father died because he couldn’t fight anymore and thus everything belongs to me.” This time, she was proud when she said it.

“I know, I’m sorry for your losses and congratulations on being the new head of your family and the Foxes. I was worried that your brother would be the new head but luckily, that didn’t happen,” he put a weird type of smile on his face – as if he was trying not to offend her.

She was annoyed. “Dude, my father is finally dead and my brother was an idiot. If they didn’t shot him, he would have died due to a drug overdose. Chill, please.”

“Your brother was a dick, that’s true,” he admitted. “Seriously now, will you ever come to LA?”

“Visit? Sure, I can find the time with Yelena or with Bucky. It would be a nice vacation,” she said.

The waitress brought them their drinks and food. When Y/N glanced at her, she kept smiling at Loki, basically flirting with him. She found it funny. Loki was a man that could easily seduce a woman. She could see him doing it now with the waitress.

“So, you and the big bad Wolf,” he exhaled and averted his gaze to her when the waitress was gone. “When did that happen?”

“Over a year ago,” she replied and put a piece of croissant into her mouth.

“Wow, well, uh, that’s great,” he quickly kept nodding. “So, uh, how does that work? Two big rival families are now working together or how should I picture it?”

Loki started to eat his food while Y/N answered him. “It’s simple. We formed an alliance against Hydra, defeated them and now, we have most of New York for ourselves. Also, Stark helped. We work great together.”

“Huh,” he grimaced and put another piece of food into his mouth.

“What?” she frowned.

“It’s just that these things don’t last. It’s only a matter of time before someone will turn on you and destroy you.” He looked straight into her eyes, his face all serious while eating. “Plus, you don’t seem to be the kind of woman who would like to be with one man.”

“Well, clearly, you don’t know me well enough,” she winked at him.

For a few minutes, they ate in complete silence until she decided to talk again. “If that happens,” she drank the rest of the juice in one go, “they know I’ll give them hell. They saw it, they know who I am. Everyone knows what I can do.”

“That’s sweet,” he commented.

“Come on, Loki. You saw it with your own eyes,” she bit her lower lip and relaxed in her seat. “You saw what I did to those young men when I visited you in LA. Don’t say you weren’t impressed. I dare to say you were a bit scared of me.”

He leaned closer to her and tilted his head. “That was a long time ago, darling. Maybe I’m going to need a little reminder.”

That’s when she put the cutlery on the plate and leaned against the backrest. She knew what he was doing and she wasn’t falling for it. “Listen, Loki, I’m glad that we got the chance to hang out and talk. But next time, if you try this shit when I told you minutes ago that I’m with Barnes, I’m going to shoot you in the head in front of the whole restaurant and still get away with it.” And then there was the wicked smile she put on her face.

“Come on, Y/N. Don’t tell me you are serious with that man,” he had to laugh at her. “Remember the good time we had together?”

“It was one night. One fucking night. We got drunk, smoked weed and needed a release. That’s all.”

“It was a hell of a night. I think about it almost every day,” he admitted. The sparkle that was in his eyes made her uncomfortable.

She wiped her hands with the white cloth they each had and stood up. “I was expecting a lot of things but not this. Now, if you excuse me, I am going back to my husband.”

“Whoa, wait, husband? I thought he was your boyfriend and not husband,” he was shocked by that information.

“Bye Loki. Thanks for the food,” and then she left him alone.

Y/N’s body shivered when she left the restaurant and headed to the car. Loki was a good friend and now, he turned into a weird guy. A guy who was too alone to think straight. What happened to him?

As she was sitting behind the wheel, her phone started to ring. When she discovered who was calling her, she got excited. “Hello?”

Woman: I would like to confirm the meeting, Miss Fox. Is the address, you’ve sent, correct?

“Yes,” she nodded with a smile. “We’ll be waiting for you this Friday at 6 PM.”

And that was the end of the call. With these people it was typical. It was always a quick phone call just to double-check and that was it. Luckily, the meeting was confirmed. At least something good was happening after such a long time.

Tags: @lethallyprotected​ , @memeorydotcom​, @valkyrie418​ , @mannien​ , @brownlee-22, @michaelfuckinglangdon , @calwitch

She didn’t know who said it. She registered hands on her shoulders and arms, pulling her towards a car. There were too many words describing what had happened to him. She heard the words bomb, explosion, blood and a hospital. Somehow, those were the words that kept stuck and running inside her mind. She couldn’t focus on anything else.

Yelena was sitting in the back with her, holding her hand tightly as her mouth kept running. It was all muffled and sluggish. Y/N’s stomach kept turning and twisting. The voices that surrounded her became muted until there was silence. Only the sound of her heartbeat was keeping her occupied. But it did speed up and her stomach did another turn.

“Stop the car,” she screamed at the driver. “Stop the fucking car,” she demanded again.

It didn’t matter if they were talking to her, what she needed was to get out and puke. That’s what she did when they stopped. She opened the door, put both feet on the ground and before she could get her ass up, everything went flying out of her mouth right on the ground. All the alcohol, some of the cake and even the water she had.

This news was difficult and it turned her world upside down. One minute she was in bed with him, the other, he was in a different bed, trying to survive.

“It’s all right,” she heard Yelena say as she kept stroking her back. “Let it all out. You’ll feel much better.”

Y/N wanted to bark at her but the vomiting didn’t let her, which was only good for her friends. She wouldn’t like the words that wanted to escape her mouth.

The cars behind them were honking, screaming at them. The blonde pulled Y/N inside and the car continued to the hospital where they were operating on Bucky.

“Is he going to die?” was the first thing Y/N asked them. “He cannot die,” her eyes filled with tears.

“Hey, nobody’s dying,” Sam said from the front seat. “He’s going to make it.”

“What the fuck happened?” Y/N asked again.

Yelena took a quick glance at Sam who was already staring at them from the rear-view mirror. “There was a bomb inside your house and it exploded. Bucky was there when it happened. He was close to the explosion.”

Sighing, she leaned against the backrest and tried to breathe deeply to avoid another round of vomiting. Nobody needed to see that again. Y/N hid her face in her palms and stayed in that position for the rest ride until they were at the hospital.

Again, everything was a blur. Yelena had to help her out of the car; all the sounds were mushy and straining together, so she couldn’t comprehend what they were saying. And suddenly, she was inside the hospital, standing in a broad hallway that smelled like betadine and chemicals. Throughout the whole time, Yelena was holding her left hand tightly.

“Miss Fox,” a man’s voice brought her back to reality and she found Dr Strange walking to them with Steve by his side.

“Steven,” she sighed his name and quickly wiped off a tear that escaped her eye. “H-how is he?”

“Stable,” he sighed, relieved. “But there is something you need to know, Y/N,” and he pointed to the nearest seat. When they made her sit, with Yelena still by her side, he could proceed. “He had a concussion but his brain is fine. No internal bleeding or anything that would put his life in danger. However-“

“What?” she quickly jumped in. “Tell me, Steven.”

“He lost his left arm. The damage was too severe and we couldn’t save it – mainly because nobody could find it. It was probably under the debris and thus, it would be too late to do something about it. Also, the tissue and nerves were fried. We wouldn’t be able to save the arm no matter what.”

“Oh, shit,” Yelena gasped.

“He has no arm?” Sam had to ask. He couldn’t believe him.

“There is a tiny limb coming from his shoulder but we kept it that way for the future prosthetics arm,” Strange explained. “The healing process could take some time – we are talking about weeks, here… maybe even months.”

“I can’t believe this,” Y/N shook her head. “Was anyone else hurt – the workers, Darcy Lewis?” she asked.

Steve crossed his arms akimbo and frowned. “No one was there when I was talking to him. He was there alone. I was on the phone with him. He called me. Bucky had a bad feeling and he was right. This was a set-up.”

“For me,” Y/N whispered. “This is all because of me.” And then, the dam was broken and the tears kept coming. It kept hitting her like a train – Bucky being injured; this being Y/N’s fault; him losing his arm because the bomb was for her and she was the one who sent him there. “It should have been me.”

“Can we go see him?” Sam asked Dr Strange.

“Not for another few hours. He’s in ICU and will be asleep, trying to gain some energy after the surgery. I suggest you go home, take a shower, and have something to eat and we will call you when he’s up.”

Y/n kept shaking her head. “No, I am staying here, with my husband until he wakes up!” Her voice was reverberating through the whole hallway.

“Oh, she’s pulling the married card,” Sam mumbled under his nose.

Strange sighed in defeat. “I’ll take you to a private meeting room where you can stay, sit down and cry, yell or do whatever the hell you want to do. I won’t let you do it here, in the hallway where patients are in every room, trying to get better.” Steven lowered his voice and continued. “And I don’t give a shit that you are someone dangerous. You may be a boss out there but I’m the boss here. Is that clear?”

They all silently nodded except for Y/N. She kept glaring at the doctor, thinking about what she could say to him. But she rather kept her mouth shut and waited for him to show them the room.

Steven left them all there and quietly left. Y/N took a seat at the head of the table and kept staring at the faux flowers in the middle of the table. Last night, she was celebrating her birthday and enjoyed amazing sex with the person she was madly in love with. Now, she’s waiting for him to wake up from surgery and try to adjust to some changes.

She used the time to think and make a plan. What could she do to help him? What would she do to the person who caused this – the pain, the trauma and the destruction of the business her family created?

“Are you all right?” Yelena’s hand found her shoulder.

She smashed her hands against the table and glared at her like she was an enemy. “No, I am not all right. I am not fine. I am in a hospital where the man I love just came out of surgery and there is nothing I can do at this moment. All I can do is cry and swear and imagine how I’m going to kill the person who is responsible for this.”

Steve didn’t like the way she talked to her best friend. He swiftly moved to her and put both of his hands firmly on her shoulders. “Calm down, Y/N. I know this is difficult and terrifying, but we must stay calm and help Bucky get through this.”

“Get your fucking hands off me, Rogers,” she shook them off and stood up from the chair, bumping it forcefully into his legs. “Don’t tell me what to do. You are not my boss.”

“Y/N!” this time, it was Yelena who had to shout at her. “Calm the fuck down and don’t be fucking rude. I know you are scared and many emotions are running through your body, but don’t let these emotions affect everything around you.” Both men were surprised by the way Yelena talked to her boss. “It sucks, I know. And it is going to suck even more, so you need to calm down and be there for Barnes as the rest of us will be. Also, I will be there for you – the whole time.”

And then, Y/N ended up in her strong embrace. Yelena let her cry on her shoulder and let the emotions get out of her system. Sam had a smile on his face when he was looking at Yelena who took matters into her hands.

“I’m sorry,” Y/N whisper-cried. “I’m sorry Steve. I’m sorry I’m a bitch. I just can’t…”

“That’s all right,” he nodded and took a seat next to Sam. “Now, we have to focus on Bucky and we will deal with the rest a bit later. His recovery is important.”

A few hours passed before a nurse came into the room. “Mrs Barnes, your husband is awake,” she informed them. “I’ll take you to him.”

Y/N thought that once Bucky reunites with her, he would relax and be happy to see her. But she was wrong.

When they entered his room, Dr Strange was already there. He stopped talking once Y/N stepped closer to the bed and looked at her man. She put a smile on her face. “Oh, Bucky,” she whispered and reach for his hand.

He pulled away and frowned at her. “Get the fuck away from me,” he said with a raspy voice.

“Buck?” her eyes filled with tears. “Hey, it’s me, Y/N. I’m here baby.”

“Get the fuck away from me!” he yelled. “This is all your fault. You did this!”

“Buck,” Steve stepped in. “I know you are in shock, but this isn’t Y/N’s fault.”

Bucky was fuming. His heart rate went up. “It is all her fault. I almost died because of her. I lost my arm because I went into that stupid house! It’s all her fault. Get the fuck out of here you bitch! Get the fuck out before I kill you myself!”

Y/N’s body stiffened and tears kept coming out of her eyes. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. He hated her, he wanted to kill her. He thought it was her fault – maybe it was. All she knew was she sent him into the house and it exploded.

Yelena grabbed her by the forearm and started to pull her to the door. “Come, let’s go,” she whispered. It took her some energy to get Y/N out of the room, but once she did, she put her inside her tight embrace.

“He hates me, Yelena. He hates me for this,” Y/N cried harder than before. Her heart was breaking into million pieces. “I did this to him. It’s all my fault.”

“Shh, Y/N, he doesn’t hate you,” she whispered back. “He’s in shock. He’s in pain. Give him time.”

Together, they started to walk down the hallway. Yelena kept her by her side with an arm wrapped around her shoulder. “I’ll take you to my place and you will get some sleep. The best advice is found on the pillow.”

. . .

DAY 1

Y/N couldn’t sleep the whole night. She was staring at the dark ceiling, thinking about everything that happened. Her mind was racing with many thoughts and she kept replaying the moment he yelled at her over and over again. She was sure he hated her. For fuck’s sake, he wanted her dead.

Time flew fast and suddenly, she was sitting behind a table, trying to eat breakfast that Yelena made. But she just kept staring at the eggs, playing with them.

“You should eat, Y/N,” said Yelena when she noticed her boss was not eating or drinking the coffee she made. “You need the energy and drink the damn coffee, please. I know you weren’t sleeping all night. Uncle Fester called, asking about you,” she tried to joke.

“I can’t,” she mumbled under her nose and yawned. “I’m not hungry.”

Before the blonde could reply, her phone rang. She quickly looked at the screen, seeing Steve’s number. She picked up the call before Y/N could intervene.

Steve: Don’t come today.

“Why, what happened?” Yelena asked him, backing away from Y/N who was getting worse by the second. Depression was hitting hard.

Steve: He doesn’t want to see her. He’s mad and screams and just can’t deal with her at all. Don’t come.

“Did you tell him that it wasn’t her fault? Did you tell him it was never her intention?” she whispered and stepped closer to a window with a beautiful view. “Steve, she’s miserable. She’s dying inside.”

Steve: I talked to him. He doesn’t want to hear shit. Tell Y/N to be more patient and give him time.

Yelena sighed, not happy to hear that. “Fine. If anything changes, please let me know.” She ended the call and lowered her head.

“He doesn’t want to see me,” said Y/N sadly and pushed the plate with food away from her.

. . .

DAY 5

Y/N ordered Yelena and Wade to take care of things while she kept lying on Lenka’s couch. All she’s been doing was sleeping and crying. She wasn’t able to work or eat. Yelena was lucky enough to force her to drink some water or coffee.

It was late afternoon and the sun was slowly coming off the sky. That’s when the door to Yelena’s apartment opened. Y/N was too tired to look who came, but she was sure it was Yelena.

“Look at her,” she heard a whisper. “I’ve never seen her this depressed.”

Sam and Steve were standing in the hallway, looking at Y/N from afar. Her hair was greasy and her face was without colour. She looked bad – as if she climbed out of a trash can.

“I need to force her to take a shower. She’s been in those clothes since day one,” Yelena said tiredly. “I don’t know what to do. She doesn’t talk much and she can’t do her job. If anyone would know about her state, they would use it against her.”

Steve walked inside the living room and approached the woman on the couch. Gently, he sat down next to her and patted her shoulder. “Y/N,” he said her name gently. “I have some news and I want you to listen, okay?”

She didn’t say a word, just kept staring somewhere else and not at him. So, Steve kept talking. “Bucky’s recovery will take a few weeks before they will send him home.” He waited for a second, expecting her to say something, but nothing came. He continued. “The arm has to heal before they can work on some prosthetics.”

“He still doesn’t want to see me,” she whispered.

“I’m sorry,” he said honestly.

She shrugged and stood up from the couch. Without a word, she moved into the bathroom where she hid. Steve looked at Yelena and Sam.

“This is ridiculous,” Sam sighed. “She has to get up and do something.”

Yelena frowned at him. “Shut up, Wilson. She’s in love and she is suffering. She really loves Barnes and it is killing her. Don’t you get it?” she said with a lowered voice. “I hope Barnes will understand that she didn’t do any of this and I hope that she… would get a long hot shower!” she yelled the last part on purpose.

“We should go,” said Steve.

“Please, if you can, keep us posted,” Yelena asked with a gentle smile.

. . .

DAY 8

Yelena was wrapped in fluffy towels when she came out from the bathroom, drying her hair. But when she saw Y/N fully dressed in her slutty work clothes and with full make-up on, one of the towels fell on the floor. “Hey,” she greeted her, quickly taking the towel off the floor. “You look… sexy.”

Y/N drank the rest of the coffee she had in front of her. “I have work to do,” she replied neutrally.

The blonde was shocked. Last night, she was still depressed and sad and now, she was ready to kill someone with just her look. “Are you all right?” she asked her carefully. “Should I come with you?”

“No,” she glanced at Yelena. “I have a business to take care of and I’m going alone.”

Y/N was ready to leave but half-naked Yelena stopped her before she left the kitchen. “What happened overnight? Have you talked to Barnes and you are back to your old self?”

Y/N raised a brow and crossed her arms akimbo. “I don’t have time to sit here and be all sad because of a man that thinks I would hurt him purposefully. Barnes can go fuck himself and I have work to do.”

“Y/N,” Yelena sighed.

“This was a mistake,” she said. “Falling in love with someone was a mistake. I was better off alone.” And with that, she walked past Yelena and left the apartment.

The blonde kept standing in the middle of the apartment, shocked to hear Y/N say something like that. Without thinking twice, she ran to her phone and called Steve who picked up almost immediately. “Steve, something’s going on with Y/N.”

. . .

DAY 15

“You haven’t seen her for a week?” Steve was sitting on Yelena’s couch, holding a glass of whisky in his hand. He kept shaking his head, not believing everything was falling apart.

Everyone important was present in her apartment – Steve, Sam, Peter, Scott and Wade. They’ve been trying to find her since she left god-knows-where. They all have been drinking, trying to figure things out.

Sam shook his head. “Today was the first day Bucky asked about her,” he announced. “He wanted to know how she was doing… and we had to fucking lie to him,” he was angry. “We couldn’t tell him that she’s been MIA for the last few days.”

“But he’s still mad at her,” Steve added. “Well, not as much as he was before. I think he’s slowly realizing that she was not the one who did this to him.”

“Peter,” Yelena turned to the youngest man, “and information for us?”

He only shook his head. “I’m sorry but all her tracking devices were off. I tried to dig deep but without any result. In my opinion,” he continued carefully before anyone could comment on it, “she’ll come back on her own when she’s ready. She did it in the past and she would do the same now. All she needs is time.”

“Yeah, well, what if she’s somewhere dead or hurt?” Yelena raised her voice. “What if something happened to her, or someone kidnapped her?”

Wade chuckled. “If someone tried that, it would be the last thing they’d do in their pathetic life,” he commented. “I’m not worried about our girl. She’s a big girl, a badass and she’s going through a rough time.”

“How can you say that?” Yelena barked at him. “You think this is all amusing? Wade, a lot of things happened. One day, she’s celebrating her birthday with him, having the time of her life and the next day, her house explodes and the love of her life almost dies. And he now hates her and blames her for everything.”

Sam put a hand on her shoulder to try to calm her down. She just shrugged it off. “Yelena, we will find her and in time, everything will be back to normal.”

But will it?

. . .

DAY 19

Sam and Steve was standing next to Bucky’s bed. They kept listening to him talking about work and what would he do once he was out of the hospital. His friends were waiting for the right moment to tell him what happened.

“Buck,” Steve interrupted him. “We need to talk.”

The brunette shut his mouth and sat up. He had some trouble with balance but managed to keep steady. “Please, don’t talk about little Fox. I don’t want to hear anything about her.”

Sam sat down next to him. “Dude, you need to listen and don’t say anything until we are finished.”

When Bucky nodded, Steve could talk. “Y/N’s been MIA for over a week. Every single Fox has been trying to find her but without any success. We don’t know where she is or what she’s doing.”

It was the first time Bucky’s expression changed from pissed to concern. “Wh-what do you mean you can’t find her?” his voice shook. His men couldn’t answer that. “Where the fuck is my wife?” he growled.

Sam rolled his eyes. “Suddenly she’s your wife? That the fuck, man?” he stood up from the bed, fed up with everything. “You didn’t want to hear anything about her. You didn’t want us to even mention her name because everything is her fault, to quote–unquote you.”

“Sam,” Steve tried to stop him, but he just kept going. “When you asked the last time about her, you know, like a casual question, we had to lie to you because she was already missing. But before that, she was depressed. She couldn’t eat or sleep. She kept blaming herself for everything. Bucky, she fucking loves you and you pushed her away. You didn’t give her a chance.”

Bucky’s eyes found Steve and waited for him to say something. “Well, someone had to tell you the truth,” he said. “We understood you were in shock and after surgery, but the way you treated her, that wasn’t fair.”

Bucky reached for his phone with his only hand and quickly dialled her number. He kept waiting for her to pick up the call but to no avail. “Fuck,” he cursed under his nose and tried it again. He thought that maybe when she’d see him calling, she would pick up the phone. Nothing happened. His anger got the best of him and he threw the phone across the room into the wall, breaking it.

“As if that is going to help, Buck,” Steve shook his head.

“She did this to me!” he started shouting at his best friend. “Because of her, I lost my arm. I went into that damn house because she had sent me there. I am a cripple, Steve. How the fuck am I supposed to run business and be the boss of Wolves looking like this?”

“It was not her fault!” Steve raised his voice. The last time he screamed at his boss was years ago. “The bomb was meant for her, James. She was supposed to go there and be killed, not you. You offered to go there. You offered, Buck. Don’t blame her. If it weren’t you, it would be her.”

And with that, he exited the hospital room and left Bucky and Sam alone. Still, everything was falling apart.

. . .

DAY 28

Yelena was awoken by the sound of someone opening and closing the cabinets in the kitchen. She took a gun from a night table and slowly crawled out of the bed, ready to see the intruder inside her kitchen. When she peeked from the corner, she found Y/N standing in there, making herself some cereal.

“What the fuck, dude,” she groaned, pissed that she made her get out of bed in the middle of the night.

Y/N turned her head and looked at Yelena. “Sorry, I was hungry. It’s been hours since I last had a meal.”

The blonde put the gun down before she would throw it at her. “Where the fuck have you been, Y/N? We have been worried about you. We all were worried about you. We have people looking for you.”

She raised her brows, not believing her a word. “Nah, not everyone was worried, don’t lie.”

“You think I would lie to you?” she shook her head in disbelief. “Barnes has been going crazy since he found out you were missing. He’s put every Wolf in the city to find you. Wade has been driving around the east coast, trying to look for you because he knew places where you could’ve gone. This wasn’t funny. Where the fuck have you been?”

Y/N put her feet on top of the expensive table and kept eating her cereal as if nothing happened. “I had some business to do.”

Yelena rolled her eyes, annoyed. “What kind of business?”

“Aren’t you a little too curious?” she grinned at her.

That pissed Yelena even more. “So, this is how things are going to go now? You will be all secretive and not tell me anything? You are talking to me as if I wasn’t your friend anymore.”

Y/N put the bowl on the table and put her feet down. “You are not my friend, Yelena,” she said with a serious tone in her voice. “You are my family, Lenka. No matter what happens, you will always be my family.”

The blonde quickly sat next to her and put both hands on her friend’s shoulder. “If I am your family, you need to talk to me. You need to tell me things, otherwise, you will give me a heart attack,” she huffed.

Y/N hugged her tightly. “I’ve been out of the States,” she said. “I visited an old friend of mine and tried to arrange something important.” She pulled out of her embrace. “Once everything is ready, I will tell you more details – hell, I will tell you everything once the time is right. Believe me, when I say, this is pretty big.”

“Just don’t fucking leave without saying something, okay?”

“Okay.”

. . .

DAY 29

Bucky rolled his eyes when he heard a knock on the door. He didn’t have to open his mouth and the person who knocked walked in. It was Steve – of course, it was Steve, who else would it be? His girl was MIA and didn’t return his calls. He’s been trying to get to her through texts and voicemails. He tried hard from the hospital bed but she never replied.

“Please tell me you have some good news, Steve. I am going crazy here,” he huffed and fixed his blanket with his right hand. He wanted to use the left one but it wasn’t there anymore. “It’s been almost thirty days and I can’t still get used to the fact that I don’t have one fucking arm.”

Steve pulled a chair closer to the bed and sat on it. “News,” he sighed. “There are some.”

“Well?” he pushed him to spill it out.

“Y/N’s back in the city,” he said with a smile. “She’s fine, not harmed. From what I’ve learnt, she left the States but we don’t know where. She won’t tell it to Yelena.”

Bucky exhaled loudly and for the first time in weeks, relaxed. “She’s back,” he whispered. “C-can you…”

“What, ask her if she could come here and talk to you. I don’t think so, pal.”

“Please,” he sighed and scratched his thick beard. He hadn’t shaved it since he got to the hospital. He didn’t ask Steve to do it or Sam, or anyone else. “Steve, please, go get her. I need to talk to her. I tried everything I could from here.”

The door to the room opened again. There was a little hope that it was Y/N coming to see him unexpectedly. However, it was only Dr Strange with another doctor who held a chart in his hands.

“Barnes,” Strange said loudly and proudly. “I have some exciting news for you. If everything goes as well as it is going now, you will leave this bed at the end of the week. Your arm is healing nicely and there were no complications so far.”

Steve put a big smile on his face. “Looks like things are finally turning around.”

. . .

DAY 35

Y/N had her head inside the toilet, vomiting everything she had in her stomach. It was the second time that day and it also happened the day before. “Fucking nerves,” she moaned into the toilet as another wave hit her.

Yelena came inside the bathroom with a wet towel that she pressed against her friend’s forehead. “You look terrible.”

“I feel terrible,” she spat, lowering her head on the lid. “I want to go to bed and sleep,” she started to cry. “I hate when I’m sick. I feel weak… I am fucking weak.”

The blonde laughed a little. “Barnes is being released today and you are panicking because as much as you don’t want to see him, you want to see him badly,” she explained. “Of course, it is up to you.”

“He hates me.”

“He doesn’t, Y/N. Trust me.”

Y/N pushed herself up from the toilet and let the wet towel fall on Yelena’s naked legs. She heard her curse under her nose but ignored her as she dragged her legs across the apartment into one of the rooms she was staying in – good thing Yelena’s apartment was spacious.

She climbed on the bed and lay down, hugging a pillow tightly. Her stomach was making weird sounds but it was calmer than ten minutes ago. She knew it was the nerves – she has never been this nervous when it came to something she had to deal with. However, this was Bucky and their relationship. It was new and scary. The man she loved hated her guts.

Her eyes fell on the phone that was resting on the night table. She didn’t check the texts she got from him or the voicemails that were waiting for her to listen. Today, he was supposed to leave the hospital. Should she visit him?

She reached for the phone and opened the folder with all the voicemails. Her heart started to beat fast and her hands got colder by the second. She took one last deep breath before she played the first message.

Bucky: Where the fuck are you? Call Yelena, she’s freaking out.  

She rolled her eyes and moved to another message.

Bucky: This isn’t funny. Everyone is looking for you and you are not answering anyone’s calls. People are worried about you. Call me back and at least tell me you are alive. I don’t care about the rest of your crap.

It brought tears to her eyes. Of course, he was still mad at her. Of course, he didn’t want to talk to her anymore and blamed her for everything. With a heavy heart, she played another message.

Bucky: I talked to Steve… or Steve talked to me and told me what was going on. He told me what you went through when I sent you to hell when all you wanted to do was to see me. I… I don’t know what to say. I’m sorry.

And then she quickly played another message.

Bucky: Y/N, please, call me. I’m worried about you. Just let me know if you are well.

Bucky: I know I screwed up. I am very sorry. But please, pick up the phone or call me. I need to hear your voice.

Her heart was breaking. She could hear in his voice how scared he was. But the next few messages made her cry.

Bucky: Y/N, I know I have been calling you nonstop. I know I screwed up and I am sorry. I want to talk to you. I want to see you.

Bucky: It’s me again. I am hoping you will pick up the phone so that I could hear your beautiful voice. I hope you will pick up the phone and yell at me for what I had done to you – how badly I treated you. I am truly sorry, Y/N.

Bucky: I am going crazy, Y/N. I am terrified that something happened to you. I am scared that I will get a call and they tell me that you are dead. You can’t be dead. I would never forgive myself if something happened to you. I love you so much, Y/N. I love you with my whole heart. Please, come back to me. Please, let me see your face at least one more time. I fucking love you.

Bucky: I realize it wasn’t your fault. How could you know something like this would happen? The bomb was meant for you. Maybe, if you went there you’d be dead and I would kill anyone for hurting you, for taking you away from me. Maybe it was a good thing I went there – I survived even though I lost an arm. But I’m still alive. I hope that you will come back and we will talk about it all. Please know that I love you. I am so madly in love with you and I don’t know if I’m going to survive this without you.

Tears kept falling down her cheeks. She could hear the pain in his voice. Oh, how she missed his voice. She loved him too much to not care and leave him to suffer.

The decision had been made. Y/N sent a quick text to Steve: I’ll meet Bucky at the penthouse. I want to talk to him alone.

Chapter three

Warm lips pressed against her neck and she purred like a cat. “I love that sound,” Bucky said to her ear as he pressed another kiss right under her earlobe. “I want you to purr for me, pretty girl.”

She giggled and turned her head to him, smiling. “Only you can make me purr like this,” she winked at him and pressed her crimson-red lips onto his in a deep kiss.

“Let’s dance,” Yelena shouted suddenly and jumped on her feet. “I love this song, come on, Y/N,” she reached for her hand and pulled her up, making Bucky growl. “Oh, hush, she’ll be yours in a few minutes. Relax, Wolfie.”

Y/N laughed at that. Before Yelena could take her to the dance floor, she leaned forward to Bucky. She put a bright smile on her face and suddenly pulled down the front of the dress and flashed him. Her breasts were right in front of his face. “Fuck,” he bit his lower lip. He wanted to put them into his mouth.

“These are all yours later tonight, but now, I want to be with my girl,” and she fixed the fabric, covering herself up. The way he was looking at her made her laugh. She even had to close his mouth because something would fly right into it.

As both women walked away from the VIP zone, Steve returned with another bottle of champagne and poured all the glasses full. “What did I miss?” he asked when he saw Bucky’s fucked face.

“I have the best wife,” Bucky commented and took the glass, drinking the liquid in one go. “I have the best wife with the perfect set of boobs.”

Steve raised a brow, confused. “Okay,” he said and sat down next to his best friend. “I don’t get it but fine.”

“She just flashed me,” Bucky laughed and wiped the corner of his mouth. He could feel a drop of saliva there. “Damn, I am one lucky son of a bitch.”

His eyes were locked on Y/N’s dancing body. Both Yelena and she were enjoying the music, singing and dancing their troubles away – no wonder. The last few months were difficult for everyone. Three warehouses, which belonged to Foxes, exploded and no one knew who was behind them.

Bucky took out a cigarette and lit it up. He relaxed on the couch and kept his eyes on his woman – the perfect woman on the entire planet. He had to admit, the way she was dancing with Yelena, made his pants too tight. They were touching and rubbing against one another making his dick twitch. He wasn’t jealous. It was hot.

His eyes lingered on her body as he kept checking out every move she made. Her hips were swaying, her breasts were bouncing and she kept touching her body. The colours reflected on her dress. She was like a dream – a wet one.

That was until he noticed two men approaching them. Under any other circumstances, Y/N would already punch them or put a knife under their necks. To his surprise, she hugged the blond, muscular one with a wide smile and then the man next to him. He had longish black hair and wore a dark green suit.

Suddenly, the group was coming to the VIP section. Steve looked at his boss, trying to find some answers. As he found out, Bucky knew nothing about them.

“Hey,” Y/N waved at Bucky and his men. “Look who came to visit New York on my birthday,” she pointed at the two men. “These are the Odinsons from the Asgardian clan. They rule the whole west coast.”

Bucky stood up with a stern face and shook hands with both of them. “Of course, Thor and Loki,” he said their names with a deeper voice. I’ve heard about you. Impressive work, by the way.”

“Thanks,” Thor smiled and took a seat at the end of the couch. “I can say the same about you. Your father was a legend but you will beat him soon.”

Y/N took a seat next to Bucky and crossed her legs. Immediately, Bucky’s hand was on top of her thigh, holding it firmly. He had to send them a message that she was his. Yelena took a seat by her best friend and Sam, pouring everyone drinks.

“Cheers to the birthday girl,” Sam shouted as he raised the glass and everyone followed.

“Y/N,” Loki said her name and pointed at the glass she was holding. “Come on, that is not how we drink together,” and he pulled out a lighter, lighting up his shot.

She laughed and let him light her drink. “You are right. Cheers, Loki,” they clank their glasses and drank the fire-y liquid in one go.” Sam whistled, Yelena clapped her hands and Bucky was not impressed at all.

In the past, she mentioned something about them. She knew them and had a fine relationship with them. But the way Loki was staring at her, made Bucky want to throw a punch into his pale face. He knew hungry eyes when he saw one.

“Why are you here?” Y/N asked them.

“Business and vacation,” Thor answered.

“What kind of business?” Bucky had to ask.

“We have a guy here who own us a lot of money,” Loki explained. “And because he doesn’t want to pay, we are here for his wife – you know, to give him a push to do something about it before she loses all of her beautiful fingers.”

Yelena’s body violently shivered. “I always said you two are twisted – especially you, Loki.”

“Guilty,” he laughed at it. “And while we take our time with this person, we will enjoy New York.”

“And because it is your birthday,” Thor pointed at Y/N, “we wanted to see you.”

The conversation was interrupted by a waiter holding a big chocolate cake with many candles and singing Happy Birthday to Y/N. The whole club chanted together, and even the music stopped. The cake was put on the table, right in the middle of it. Happy Birthday Y/N was written with white chocolate and it was surrounded by candles. It was adorable.

The whistling and shouting started again once the singing was over and she blow off the candles. People kept clapping their hands for her. Yelena pulled Y/N into a tight hug and give her kisses all over her face. Then, it was Bucky’s turn to kiss her – and he did, passionately for everyone to see. He pulled her onto his lap and smacked his lips against hers. His tongue kept battling with hers, tasting every corner of her mouth.

“I love you,” he said when their lips disconnected. “Happy birthday my beautiful girl.”

. . .

She was clutching the sheets tightly in her hands. Her mouth was wide open as moans of pleasure kept escaping her throat. Bucky was between her legs, licking and nibbling on her pussy. He had his arms wrapped around her thighs just to keep her down and enjoy the feast.

“James, fuck,” she called his name. “I’m going to cum. Please, please, keep going.”

He listened to her plea, working even harder to bring her to her peak. He found a perfect spot on her clit that made her go feral. He focused on that particular spot, sucking until he could hear her cry. Y/N’s body was shaking from the orgasm. One of her hands found his hair and tugged on it.

“Fuck, yes,” she kept breathing loudly. “Holy shit, that was so good.”

“You taste so good, baby,” he kissed her navel and pulled himself up so he could reach her lips. When he started to kiss her, something awakened inside her and she kept grinding against his hard length that was pressed between her legs. “Does my princess need more?” he asked and moved to her neck where he left a fresh hickey. “I believe I wore you out pretty good after we came home from the party.”

“I think I need more,” she whined. “I want your cock again, Bucky.”

“Such a dirty, horny little girl,” he smiled at her.

As he was about to bury himself deep inside her wet pussy, the knocking on the bedroom door interrupted them. “Boss?” it was Barton. “We have a situation.”

“Shit,” he cursed. “I am in a middle of a situation so fuck off.”

“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important,” Clint sighed. “Y/N, the meth lab you had on the east border, was destroyed this morning.”

“What?!” she almost jumped out of the bed, ready to get out of the room naked. “You have got to be fucking kidding me.”

“I wish I was,” said Clint. “Nick Fury is also looking for you. He’s fed up with the mess that’s been happening. He needs to talk to you.”

The news sucked. They both had to get up and start working whether they liked it or not. “Such a cockblocker,” said Bucky, annoyed by the whole situation. “I was about to fuck you real good, baby. I wanted to fill you up and watch as it leaks from your hole.”

“I know,” she stroked his cheek lovingly. “Unfortunately, I have another emergency and I honestly don’t know what I’m about to do. That meth lab was such a good business. The money was beautiful.”

She went into the walk-in wardrobe and took out clothes for both of them – something casual and comfortable. While she was dressing up, Bucky kept eyeing her, enjoying the view. “I love when I undress you, but this is also sexy,” he chuckled.

“Enjoy the view while you can,” she said with a smirk on her face.

As if the morning couldn’t get any more hectic, Y/N’s phone started to ring. When she looked at the name, she smacked her forehead with her hand. “Oh, no,” she sighed and picked up the phone. “Darcy, I am so sorry, I totally forgot,” she apologized.

Darcy was an architect and an interior designer. She was working on the reconstruction of Y/N’s home for some months. The last person that worked on the project sucked and Y/N managed to find someone with good taste.

Darcy: That’s all right, Miss Fox. I want you to come down to the house for the check-up before we move further with the reconstruction.

“Can you please hold on the line? I’ll be right back,” and she muted the call. Y/N’s eyes found Bucky’s. “I already hate this day. What more can happen today? I totally forgot.”

“Hey,” he approached her and stroked her shoulders reassuringly. “If you want, I can drive to the house and meet with Darcy,” he offered. “I think, you need to see Fury as soon as possible and deal with that. He can be a son of a bitch if people are not following his requests.”

She smiled at him. “You would do that for me?” she tilted her head, looking at him like a puppy. “You’d go to the house and deal with Darcy?”

“Of course, anything for you, doll,” he nodded and kissed her forehead. “Once I’m done at the house, I’ll call you and we can meet later… finish what we started,” he winked at her.

With a quick peck on his lips, she went back to the phone call. “Darcy, we’ll be there in an hour, if that’s all right.”

Darcy: All right, I will see you in an hour.

Once they finished dressing up and cleaned their teeth in the bathroom, they ran into the kitchen where they were met with sleeping Yelena. She was thrown on the counter with a cup of coffee in her hand, snoring.

“Lenka,” Bucky patted her shoulder. “Wake up, Lenka.”

She almost fell off the barstool when she discovered Barnes standing above her. “Holy shit, what time is it?” she rubbed her eyes and face.

“It’s almost lunchtime and we have a big problem,” Y/N grabbed Yelena’s coffee and drank half of it. It was already cold.

“The only problem I have is that you have taken my coffee,” the blonde frowned at her boss and yanked the cup from her hands. “What a night,” she mumbled under her nose.

“Woman, wake up,” Y/N nudged her shoulder. “The meth lab is gone and I need to talk to Fury.”

“What?” she gasped. “What do you mean it is gone? What happened?”

“Explosion,” said Y/N. “And Fury is fed up. I need you to go with Wade to the lab and check it out – secure the perimeter and try to find anything that would help us solve this mystery,” she reached into the cabinet and took out a clean glass. She poured cold water into it and drank it in one go. Bucky then took the glass and did the same.

“Can I take Scott? I can’t drive. I’m too fucked out,” she sighed and massaged her nape.

“I wanted to take him, but, sure, he’s all yours.”

“Take Clint,” Bucky patted Y/N’s shoulder. “I can drive since I didn’t drink as much as you did. You were the birthday girl after all,” he kissed her cheek. “Once I’m at your house, I’ll call you if anything.”

When they said their goodbyes, Clint drove Y/N to see Fury, Yelena and Scott went to the destroyed meth lab and Bucky drove to Y/N’s house which was under reconstruction.

The ride to Y/N’s house took some time due to heavy traffic. Bucky kept checking his watch, annoyed that drivers kept honking at each other as someone in the very front kept them waiting. He was listening to the radio, humming the tunes of the song that was on.

Here and there, his phone would light up and before he could notice the notification, his eyes locked on the picture where his beloved girlfriend, well, wife, was. A smile appeared on his lips. Somehow, he still couldn’t believe that things were working out between them. He was madly in love and his men could tell.

There was a simple text from Y/N: Lunch with everyone back in the apartment? How about Chinese take-out? <3

She knew him well. They both loved Chinese food and truth be told, he was craving some. The convoy of cars started to move. Quickly, he sent her a red heart and locked the phone. His ride could continue again.

As he was approaching her house, he felt some sort of heaviness inside his body. He didn’t know why, all of a sudden, this unpleasant feeling came and it got worse once he stepped out of the car. Bucky frowned and turned around. He couldn’t see anyone there – no cars, trucks, or people in general, working there.

He checked his watch. It was two in the afternoon. Was it possible they all were taking a lunch break?

His intuition made him take out the gun and slowly walked to the front door. They were unlocked. Swiftly, he opened the door and pointed the gun inside. Then, when he checked the perimeter and found out no one was present, he lowered the gun a little. And yet, that feeling never went away.

“Miss Lewis?” he called the woman’s name. “Darcy? Are you here?” There was no answer. It seemed that the house was empty.

Again, the feeling never went away.

Bucky took out his phone with his free hand and called Steve. Slowly, step by step, he walked through the hallway. Everything was a mess. The stairs were half done; the entrance to the dining room didn’t exist anymore. The place was covered in dust and smelled like concrete and alcohol.

Steve: What’s up?

“I don’t know,” he replied, still walking around the place carefully. “Something’s not right.”

Steve: Should we come over?

Bucky approached the kitchen. All the counters and equipment were gone and the walls were stripped of their painting. “Yeah. Take Sam and come here as soon as possible. No one is here. Lunch break was over an hour ago.”

Steve: We are on our way. We should be there in twenty-five minutes. Shall I call a backup? I believe some of the boys are closer to you. Maybe even Scott.

That’s when he heard it. The tiny sound that was coming from the walls. His heart started to beat fast and the adrenaline that was already running through his body heightened. “Uh,” he couldn’t muster a word.

Steve: Buck?

He came closer to the nearest wall that divided the kitchen and a newly made pantry. This time, the sound was louder and it was a ticking sound. Once he realized what was happening, the sound accelerated. “Shit!” and he was already on the run. “There’s a bomb! It’s about to-“

It went off. The whole place exploded, throwing him somewhere into the wall and then on the ground. He was too close to the explosion. One by one, the rooms were damaged and under fire. The entire place was covered in smoke and ashes.

In one second everything changed.

When Bucky’s eyes opened slightly, he noticed a tall person in a mask walking away from him. He didn’t know who it was. He wasn’t sure if it was a man or a woman. But they were holding something that he couldn’t recognize. What grabbed his attention was a weird sensation coming from the left side of his body. But he didn’t have the energy to turn and look. His body was in shock that he didn’t feel any pain.

Bucky closed his eyes and let it all consume him. Somewhere in the back, he could hear screams coming his way. People would say, that life would flash before their eyes before they die. In his case, the last thing he saw was Y/N’s smiling face.

Chapter two

CHAPTERS:

Chapter one - Bitter-sweet afterparty

Chapter two - Dark days ahead

Chapter three - Moving on