Mosaic (Bucky Barnes X OC / Winter Soldier x OC)

Chapter 33: Valeriy Ayers - Shorts (Part IV)

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"...." He dropped the bag to pick up the scalpel.

"Bucky?! What are you - oh shit!"

And he sliced right through the mess of glue, blood, fur and fingers. Two smooth swipes that were a tad too blurry from how fast he moved. With the twitchy ass cybernetic.

When he moved his fingers away from the squirrel, a drop of blood landed on the makeshift table. Exactly what I wanted to avoid.

At least the squirrel was fine, minus the original wound.

A heavy sigh escaped me as I grabbed onto his hand. Kept the cold metal cast over his sleeve as my fingers slid over his skin. They kept away from the unconscious squirrel cradled on his palm and the little chunks missing on his thumb and forefinger. Lopped it right off.

"What the hell did you do to yourself? You...."

Reminding him of the order I gave him weeks ago was probably going do the opposite of what I wanted. More than likely make all this worse and start some vicious cycle. A real bloody cycle.

Then again, I had to really stare to find the tiniest cuts... which wasn't even bleeding anymore....

"I.... It'll heal," he said, pulling his hand away. His eyes focused on the flying squirrel. "I only wanted to help him. I never meant for all this to happen...."

"It's fine, Bucky. In the end, the little guy got help. That's all that matters."

An almost stiff silence settled between us. As stiff as Bucky's posture. Muscles completely tensed. Eyes practically willed for the squirrel to heal as fast as him or wake... or something. Not all too sure what he wanted.

With my left hand, slow as can be, I reached for the squirrel, cupping the fingers for him to roll the unconscious fluff ball to me. "Why don't you go clean up and get the PRO juice off? And I'll figure out a way to keep this little guy from irritating his wound, 'kay?"

A sharp intake of air passed up his nose. He hesitated to transfer the squirrel over. Or maybe he didn't trust the little roll not to kill the squirrel.

"...Okay" He so very carefully tipped the squirrel to roll as slow as possible onto my hand.

When he eyed me like I might trip and fall onto the squirrel, I beamed him the best reassuring smile I could. I hope.

Bucky shuffled in place, his hand clenched a few times. Almost rhythmically. Knuckles went white at the force used. Hesitation so clear in the space between us.

In a blink, that's all it took, his arm wrapped around me. Light enough not to make my ribs grumble but a little heavier than usual. Almost a squeeze.

His head leaned against mine. A little nudge. Not long enough for me to react before his head turned. His soft lips just barely grazed the edge of my ear.

'Uhhhhhhhhhh....'

"Thank you," whispered right into my ear.

'Uhhhhhhhhhh....'

"- ooo? Hellooo? Earth to Valeriy Ayers. Hellooo? Hellooo? Testing. Testing. Hellooo? Hellooo?"

"What?" I snapped.

"You've been staring at the squirrel as if he has the answers to the universe."

"See the shape of this blood thingy? It's in the shape of a three leafed clover, and that means - I don't know. It doesn't even look like a clover...."

"If you're going to spoil Mr. Barnes, bring the squirrel to the Game Floor. I'll use the nanites to keep him from chewing at his wing, and I just told him he has to find squirrel food. Now you don't even have to mention control radius for the nanites."

"Thanks, Eve."

Wisps of bots flowed up from between the expensive custom floor tiles and weaved into a fluffy pillow.

'Bucky's going to freak out when he sees this.... He's going to be so freaked out.'

"I'll bring him down. No risk of him falling or being fallen on."

"You the best."

"Damn right, I the best."

'...I want sleep.'

"Val?"

'Whoa, what the -? When did he get here?'

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," Bucky said in a small voice.

Blue eyes fell from mine to stare at his fingers picking at the white pith of a PRO he'd peeled. Five slices in hand. The first piece he always ate.

"Nah. It's fine. I must be microsleeping again.... Ahhhh."

A smile crinkled the corners of his eyes, and he placed a slice of PRO between my teeth. Another slice already poised to be eaten as per our morning routine.

"What are your plans today?" he asked, peeling another perfect spiral.

"I need your help with a few security things, and my brother brought up that you need to be able to leave this mountain through the tunnels."

Bucky shook his head, his hands going to his ears. "Y-you can't do that. I can't be able to come here on my own. If-if... if Hydra.... I can't be able to find my way.... Not here. This is where you're safe. I can't. You can't tell me how."

"Hey, hey. We talked about all of that. The leaving and coming formulas are different. You won't be able to bring Hydra to this spot. But if anything happens to me, you need to be able to leave Soteria. You can't live off of the plants growing in the basement. I can barely live off of that. And I don't see you hunting."

"...And if I leave on my own... thinking I have to return to Hydra?"

My heart twisted at his cracked voice. The thought terrified him. He told me before. Told me he counted on me to stop this.

"...Eve?" I started.

"You called?" said with all the mocking sass she held.

"Bucky and I have a deal that we'd tell each other if we leave the other... for extended periods of time. Neither of us is allowed in the garage if we're running away. Use the Game Floor to stop us."

"This shall be fun."

"And if I'm kidnapping her," Bucky added, practically blurting it all out in a second.

"That about covers all the scenarios, yeah?" I asked, half massaging his bicep. "Best that you have a safe way to leave if... you need to get me to help or if I dropped dead. I can't drive as a ghost. 'Kay?"

His forehead touched mine. His eyes fell shut. His hair dripped water everywhere, smelling of a new combination of shampoo and conditioner. Something fruity and minty.

I reached up, fingers brushing across his cheek. The short stumble scratched at my skin. His hand moved to mine, fingers tangling with mine.

With a deep breath, he gave a quiet, "Okay."

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Author's Note:

If you enjoyed this part, please consider leaving a vote. They're very much appreciated. ^^

And a big thank you to TinselA/Bunny Carrot (https://www.fanfiction.net/u/7591081/) and the Anonymous Fifth Beta for Beta-ing this chapter.