Erotylos: love stones prompt list

Drosolithos

A/N: Bucky is there to take care of you, in his special way, when you faint due to exhaustion following a mission. Just try to ignore the fact that he got you in that weakened state on purpose.

— PAIRING: dark!Bucky x female!Reader
— PROMPT: Drosolithos - fainting due to weakness, or exhaustion
— WORDCOUNT: 1.8k

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Bucky liked to test her limits, and she could appreciate it sometimes — could talk herself into thinking he only did it because he wanted the best for her — but she couldn't appreciate it when he did it in a mission. They'd been staking out an abandoned warehouse for days, and he wasn't very gentle about taking turns.

"You can last a couple more hours, can't you, doll?"

"I'm about to fall asleep flat on my face, Sarge."

"Consider it payback for yesterday," he chuckled, turning over in his cot.

"I only overslept for 15 minutes," the girl grumbled, but he'd stopped listening.

By the time they finished their mission, they'd overextended their rations, and Bucky didn't trust the scraps that were left.

"Better not eat that," he muttered as he threw a half eaten packet of biscuits away. "You might get food poisoning."

"They were only a little stale," she whined, watching them fall 3 floors.

But at least they could go back to base that day. Bucky was kind enough to pack up their equipment, then they were off, walking silently through the night to the other end of town where a car was parked for them.

"Don't go so fast, Sarge..."

"Can't keep up?" he grinned over his shoulder.

"Just so tired," she complained.

"We're almost there, stop whining."

"But Saaarge..."

"Just a little more."

Ten minutes later and half way to their destination, her vision started going white. Her legs collapsed from under her, and Bucky only realised what happened when he heard her hit the ground. She didn't catch him curse, didn't feel him drop everything and come over, but she felt it when he raised her head and tapped her cheek, trying to rouse her from the plain and soothing dark she had sunk into.

"Wake up, wake up, come on you can't do this here, doll," the man hissed, frightening her with an angry tone but tempering it with a hint of worry. "We'll take you someplace nice, alright? Just wake up, sweetheart."

The girl groaned and moved her head, letting him know she was, at least, alive. Next thing she knew, he'd thrown her over one shoulder and picked their gear up with the other, and through the dark and empty night he rushed them to a nearby building.

It didn't take him long to pick the lock. A sweep of the entrance seemed unnecessary, because the owners didn't even have a basic alarm set up. It was a little café arranged in a retro style, with old couches, wooden tables, worn lamps and broken typewriters set around for decoration. Keeping the lights off, he carried the girl inside and laid her down on a sofa — she seemed to have woken up a bit, but was still disoriented. By the time he'd scouted the place, just to make sure it was safe, she'd managed to sit up by herself.

"Feeling better?" Bucky asked, crouching down before her. Her face was hidden in her palms until he took one and held it in his, getting a feel of how cold and clammy it was. "Pushed you a bit too hard, I guess."