Hard to Love (Bucky Barnes fanfic)

Chapter 52

I quickly kneel down next to her, ignoring the burning pain beneath my flesh, "hey, hey I'm sorry. It's gonna be okay."

Not exactly sure what to say but hoping my words come off as reassuring. When she doesn't take notice to me, I grab ahold of one of her trembling hands. The magnetic force yanking within me suddenly stopping as if nothing had even happened the moment I touched her, our power finally connected and leaving our hands warm. The woman stops mid-scream, her pain disappearing as well

The crowd looks to us in wonder, murmuring things in their native tongue. The woman grips my hand tighter as she peeled her eyes open to look at me. And I was stunned

Her iris's quickly faded away from a light purple to a gorgeous green with speckles of hazel. The color popping beautifully with her tanned skin and black hair. She frantically looks from the crowd of people and then back to me, fear eminent on her face

"Wh- who are you?" She stutters, a faint British accent lingers in her voice

Swallowing my cottony saliva, trying to figure out the best way to approach this while still surrounded, I squeeze her hand, "a friend." I reassure

The woman looks all over my face as if to gauge if I meant my words. A moment later, she nods and shifts to stand up, never releasing my hand. The surrounding people all give us a mixture of confused and still worried looks but slowly start to disperse as I help the mystery woman to her feet. I motion with a tilt of my head down the sidewalk I previously came from and the woman hesitantly follows

"Listen, I'm sure you have a dozen questions-" I start in a hushed tone, glancing around us

"You're bloody right I do!" The woman half yells, interrupting me. I'd be annoyed but honestly I loved her accent so I didn't mind

"Who are you?" She continues, her dark brows pinching together. I finally look back at her, holding her gaze as we leisurely walked down the cobblestone path, hands still clasped to ease our powers

"My name's Amelia. And you?" I ask, keeping my tone calm and friendly even though I was a nervous wreck internally

"Grace." She scans the street as she spoke

"Nice to meet you Grace." I offer a soft smile. She dips her head as if to say 'you too' before looking back down at our hands, still holding the others

"What are you Amelia?" Her eyes flicker up to mine through her lashes

Taking a deep breath, I shrug. "A runaway science experiment like you I suppose." Grace eyes me for a moment, registering my answer

"Are you one of them?" She asks quietly, fear staining her voice. I sigh, again trying to think of how to properly word my response

"If you mean Hydra... I was. Not by choice though." I state honestly

Thinking she'd freak out and try to run away at the mention of the group, I prepare myself for a chase. But it doesn't happen. Grace doesn't even tense or gasp at my confirmation, clearly relating

"How did you get away?" She asks in a low voice so any prying ears wouldn't hear

"Well, the Avengers- my team- rescued me. You?"

I glance around us again, noting Steve and Bucky are now in view. Bucky leaning against the back door with his arms crossed over his chest while Steve was still sat in the drivers seat. Thankfully Bucky was facing the buildings on his side of the road, he'd probably scare off Grace with his intense staring. But I knew he was listening, his head tilting a smidge in our direction