Avengers Preferences and Imagines

SMAU: Afflictions (Bucky Barnes)

It didn't take the three of us long after hearing Steve's confession to jump into action. Someone had shot Nick Fury; our boss, our friend. And we had to find out why, but most importantly we had to find out who. After we said our goodbyes, the game was afoot. Natasha yanked Steve and me into an empty room, swiftly shutting the door behind us. "I know who killed Fury," she whispered, looking knowingly at me, expecting that I would understand what she was talking about. I didn't, and neither did Steve. Natasha sighed in frustration, knowing she was going to have to spell it out for both of us. "Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists. The ones that do, call him the Winter Soldier." Natasha whispered. My mouth gaped open as recollection came over me. I had heard the stories, I had just never thought they were true. There were no pictures, no tangible evidence, no leads to chase, no strings to unravel. The Winter Soldier was a ghost story... or so I had thought. Steve and I exchanged a knowing look: we were about to start hunting a ghost. And so we did. With the help of our friends, we spent weeks chasing down leads until we were finally able to discover the shocking truth behind Nick Fury's death.

Everything seemed to descend into chaos as I learned that the organization that I had spent so much of my life defending had been infiltrated by HYDRA all this time. I couldn't help the lurching feeling in my stomach as we sped across the interstate with Agent Sitwell in tow. HYDRA's plan for the insight hellicarriers was making me queasy as I zoned out, trying to make sense of everything that had come to light. I was brought back to reality as the back window shattered and Agent Sitwell was thrown from the still-moving vehicle. A glimmer of silver caught my attention in my peripheral and I didn't have to look twice to know who was responsible. He was here. I remained frozen as I watched the soldier fly from the roof of Sam's car, landing with ease on the highway, his metal hand gouging deep grooves into the asphalt. Adrenaline exploded in my veins; already preparing me for the fight that my body knew was coming as the soldier stalked menacingly towards us.

Before I could even begin to process it, the fight had moved from the interstate to the streets below, civilians running in every direction as they fled the scene. Knowing that he could only chase one of us, I fired an antagonizing shot at the soldier, hoping I would be able to lead him away from the crowds. I took off running, somehow knowing without looking that he was following me. Before he had a chance to see where I had disappeared to, I ducked into a hiding spot hoping I would be able to get the upper hand once he passed me by. If I timed it perfectly, and if he didn't see me, I would be able to climb onto the parked van a few feet away and launch myself onto him. My goal was to incapacitate, not kill him, but I would do what was necessary. Watching as he passed, I sprang out, expertly launching myself onto his back, wrapping my legs around him as he spun around trying to fling me off. I locked my legs around his neck and squeezed as hard as I could, exactly how Natasha had taught me. I could hear him struggling for breath underneath me, and I knew I only had to hold on a little bit longer.

But the sound of someone calling out for me distracted us both, allowing him to throw me from his shoulders with ease. I groaned as I hit the pavement, my body rolling a few times before coming to a stop. My head pounded as I opened my eyes only to see him stalking towards me once again, this time holding a knife. I tried desperately to pick myself off of the ground, but my weak and battered body refused to cooperate with me. Before Steve or anybody else could stop him, he lunged forwards, aiming to plunge his knife directly into my stomach. My eyes widened in horror as I mustered my last bit of strength and rolled to my left. Instead of my stomach, the knife buried itself up to the hilt in my shoulder.

I screamed out in pain, the sound cutting through the air around us. I continued to writhe and hiss in pain as my friends looked on, their glances flashing between me and the soldier, none of us moving. And then I realized that I wasn't the only one reacting to the pain. The soldier had fallen to his knees in front of me, holding his shoulder as if he too had been stabbed... exactly where I had been. My pain was quickly replaced with compassion as I moved cautiously towards the man kneeling in front of me. One glance at his steel-blue eyes let me know that something in him had changed in the last few moments; something had broken. He looked crestfallen; scared and lost, but most importantly he appeared to be full of regret. I continued to creep forwards until I was kneeling in front of him; my every moment calm and calculated. "Why can I feel it? Why does it hurt?" he questioned, his voice wavering as he raised his eyes to look at me. Sympathy washed over me as I gently reached up to unclip the mask that was covering the rest of his face. "That's what happens when you have a soulmate" I replied gently as I cast the mask aside, "You can feel their pain. Physical, emotional, all of it." I whispered as I cautiously moved some of his long hair away from his face.