Ten Words- Bucky Barnes x Reader

Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

Ali sat on her cot in the tent, twirling Bucky's dog tags between her fingers. It had been a while since Rumlow and his cronies had left the perimeter of her tent, but she still couldn't sleep. The fact that she was off the base was thrilling to her, and she was determined not to miss a second of it.

Meanwhile, maybe a half a mile away, Bucky was considering his approach. The grass of the field was tall, but he knew too well that if any agents saw him, they would waste no time emptying a magazine of bullets into his body. His best bet would be to move quietly and slowly into the camp, visit Ali, and work his way back.

Bucky grimaced at his own plan, knowing damn well how many ways it could go wrong. "But I need to try ," he thought "Out of hope for Ali ''. With one final shuddered breath, he pulled his gun to his shoulder, and began to creep through the tall grass.

Now hours had passed and Ali was still restless. Pacing back and forth through her small tent, she tried to think of any plan. Escape, attack, or something. The lack of sleep and the stress of the past week we're starting to get to Ali. She suddenly became painfully aware that the room was spinning, and sat down on the bed to remove the wobbly feeling from her knees. She surrendered to the silence, just to sit and be. Except that, the silence was no longer present.

She became aware of something moving in the dark, prowling outside the tents. She instinctively grabbed the small knife from her pack and crouched by the opening flap of the tent. Cautiously, she peered around the edge. A man in all black was working his way around the tents, clearly looking for something. "He doesn't look HYDRA" Ali considered. This thought was both comforting and troubling at the same time. The man turned his head and looked straight at Ali. Having realized the mistake she made, she quickly moved away from the flap. Something had been striking about the man, but she couldn't quite place it. Maybe it was the way he walked or the piercing gaze that met Ali's own.

Whatever it was, Ali knew she wasn't in the best of situations. The man had clearly seen her, and that couldn't be good. Trying to steady her breathing, Ali focused her attention on the tent opening, waiting for the man to barge through. When she saw the flaps of the tent rustle, she pounced immediately. Flipping her legs around she pulled him to the floor, kicking his gun away, sitting on his chest, her knife at the base of his throat.

"Who are you and what do you want?" she spat, the fear completely gone from her voice. Eyes closed, the man lay quite calmly under her grasp. She found it odd that the man offered no resistance, when he could have easily pushed her off. Slowly, as if in a trance, the man opened his eyes and lifted his hand to her wrist. At once she saw the stone blue of his eyes and the flash of silver that was his wrist.

"Ali", he said quite faintly and immediately she snapped out of her trance. "Bucky!" She immediately jumped off his chest and pulled him to a sitting position. He pulled her into a hug, and it was clear the tight embrace was something they had both missed.

They could have sat there for some time, but they were in no situation to stay. The two recounted their parts of the story in rather hushed tones, trying to fit the puzzle together. Bucky explained how Zemo had used him to try and tear the Avengers apart. Ali found this fascinating, as all she had ever heard about the Avengers was negative. To her, they sounded like nice enough people. He recounted how he was now on the run with Steve and Sam, and that others were ready and willing to help him out.

Bucky stopped his story, however, when he saw the obvious distress that Ali was in. She was visibly shaking, twisting her hands in her lap, and trying to keep from crying. "What is it, doll?" Bucky asked soothingly, moving to sit besides her, wrapping his good arm around her shoulder. "I'm here to kill you", she whispered. "They want me to help hunt you down", Bucky raised her chin with his hand, looking into her big brown eyes, glistening with tears. "I-I don't want to have to hurt you. I don't know what to do."

Bucky pulled her into his chest, resting his chin on her head. As she sobbed into him, he took consideration of the situation. He knew the HYDRA agents couldn't kill him, let alone Ali. But what would they do to her when she failed the mission? Would they kill her? Or just make her life a living hell? Endless outcomes ran through his head, none of them ending well for either of them. He needed to get her out of this situation, and he needed to do it soon.

"Ali" Bucky said, pulling her away so she would look at him. "Listen to me", she fell silent. "You are not going to kill me, and I'm not going to let them hurt you. Just keep doing what you're doing, and I promise I will come and find you. Does that make sense?" Even as he said it, Bucky knew that the plan was weak, but Ali nodded nonetheless. They heard a rustle from the other side of camp, and both of them turned involuntarily. Bucky knew he had spent too much time there, and that he needed to leave.

He looked back at Ali's face, and before he could change his mind, left her a chaste kiss on her forehead. He rose to his feet and was about to leave when she called out. "Bucky?" he immediately turned, and realized in that motion that he couldn't have refused her anything, that he would have done anything to make her happy in that moment. "T-thank you for the letter, please keep writing to me." Still reveling in this new found emotion, he took no notice of what she had said, and gave a brisk nod before creeping around the flap of the tent. It wasn't until he had gotten back to the abandoned building and withstood the scolding of Sam and Steve before he realized what Ali had said. She spoke of a letter from him, and he had no recollection of writing anything of that sort.