Marvel One-Shots

The Same {Bucky x Reader}

Dammit. I've lost my touch.

"Kinky," I retaliate. "What part of 'shut up' don't you understand?"

"The 'up' part. Why is that the phrase to tell someone to stop talking?"

"Smart ass...you shut your jaw up-why am I having this conversation? Let's just go. We need search for food, a clean water source, and a signal."

"Well, I can't help with my hands tied and all, so I'll just sit here, and-"

"Your legs work. I'm not leaving you alone." He grabs me to make sure I don't separate. He has an intense look as he walks like in a movie. I sign in defeat, too tired from the swim to argue. This is going to be...interesting. I need to find a way to escape or, like he said, the Avengers will capture me.

~~~~~

We survive the first few days with a great struggle. Although we were both trained for this situation, how to survive while stranded in many environments, we spend too much time at each others throats to get much done. 

"You're doing it wrong."

"I'd like to see you try and do this while your hands are cuffed together, jackass."

Things calm down after what I'd guess to be a week in. We give up on being picked up anytime soon, and escape. He uncuffs me, deciding I'm more helpful with the free range, but keeps a close eye on me. Two weeks in, and I give up on escaping entirely. Either Hydra will find me and use me again, or the Avengers will find me and kill me. I think I prefer the ladder.

"I never would have guessed your friends were so incompetent. I mean, we weren't that far from the wreckage." I say one afternoon. We lie in the sand under the shade of a tree. Where he once would have ignored or argued with me, he instead says, "You know? Me too. They managed to find me after all." 

"You must be delirious to be agreeing with me." I joke. He chuckles. "Maybe." I roll over so we're looking at each other. "What's your name?" I ask. "Your real one, I mean." He narrows his eyes at me, as if trying to figure out the hidden meaning. "Why do you care?"

"I'll tell you mine in exchange." He still looks skeptical. "Come on, shouldn't we try to work together here?" He's silent for a moment. "James Bucannon Barnes. My friends call me Bucky." I snicker at the name. "Bucannon? What are you, a 100 years old?" 

"Yes." He answers with such intensity that I don't even think to question it. I know what Hydra is capable of. "Oh. I'm sorry." He shakes his head. "Your name." It's not a question, but a demand. Maybe I shouldn't hand over that information, but it's been so long since I've introduced myself or heard my name that I can't help myself. "(Y/n) (L/n). I don't know what my friends call me. I'm not a 100 years old though." He shakes his head again, but with humor this time. "You can laugh, I'm hilarious, 'Bucky.'" I mock. Now he frowns. "We're not friends."

~~~~~

"You know, Barnes. I bet we could build a pretty decent raft with the stuff around this place. We can't stay here forever." Though we had found springs of fresh water, were able to fish and forage, and could find shelter in small caves, I didn't want to spend the rest of my life here. I want more from the life I was dealt. "And go where? We don't even know what direction land is in, and we would lose the vital resources we have. We'd likely end up lost at sea, and die of thirst."

"Then stay here. I'll go without you. You guys want me dead anyway." I insist stubbornly. "That's not- I don't want you to die, (L/n). We're not your precious Hydra. We want to put a stop to your massacre." He spits. "At any means necessary, even killing me?" I ask for confirmation, but I know the answer. "I won't let you condemn yourself to death." He insists. I'm shocked at his phrasing. Maybe it's just him remembering himself in my place, but it's the most care someone has shown me in a long time. "Okay, Barnes." If he's shocked by my easy compliance, he doesn't show it. I drop the issue, even after a month of being stuck here.