One-shots/Short Stories

Bucky Barnes

A/N: AU where Civil War doesn't happen, and Bucky barely remembers Steve.

Needing Help
Walking around the Smithsonian in the Captain America section, he read the glass plaque of James Buchanan Barnes. While reading it, another person stood beside him, reading it as well.
   "A wonderful man, he is." the person spoke up. It was a woman. And she was talking about him. "The only Howling Commando to sacrifice his life during a mission. And it just so happened to be Captain America's best friend." Bucky said nothing, trying to focus on the words on the glass. "But then the news broadcast recently was about a certain Winter Soldier, only to find out that this man here is the assassin."
   "How do you feel about that?" Bucky risked to ask her, trying to cover his face more with his hat subtly. "Finding out that a 'hero' is some feared assassin?"
   "Honesty? I feel sad." she admitted. He stared ahead in surprise. "Information on SHIELD and HYDRA leaked on the Internet, revealing what they did to him. It's disgusting and horrible what they did to him. Cutting his arm? Wiping him? Putting him in cryo? It's barbaric." She shook her head sadly with a sigh. "If I were to meet Bucky, I would hug him and take him in - maybe even help him remember his past."
   "You'd do that?"
   "Of course." Her hands flew to her neck where dog tags rested around her neck. "My grandfather went in the war alongside the Howling Commandos, helping until HYDRA was supposedly defeated. He wasn't anyone popular, just a soldier who volunteered to help Captain America and his friends."
   "Don't you fear him? The Winter Soldier?" Why he continued talking to her, he had no idea.
   "At first, but then when you think about it, he's just a victim in all of this." They stayed silent again, both deep in thought. "So, can I hug you now?"
   "Excuse me?" Bucky stared at her bewildered. She finally turned to him, showing her brown doe eyes. Bucky stared into them, entranced. They shone with innocence and sincerity it made him freeze for a bit.
   "I know you're the Winter Soldier." she told him quietly. "That's why I came here."
   "How -?" No one ever found the Winter Soldier while he was blending in.
   "The way you stood in front of this more than usual, you hiding your face and your hands tucked in your pockets. Not once did you take them out to scratch an itch or anything. Also because I saw your face when you thought no one was looking." She stepped closer to him, eyebrows raised. "So can I do what I said before? Hug you?"
   "Um. . ." Bucky blinked. "Yes?" As soon as he answered, she had her arms wrapped around his waist, burying her face in his chest. Bucky froze, hands hovering above her unsure. He made eye contact with a little girl who was watching the whole thing, the little girl motioning to him to hug the woman back. Slowly and carefully, Bucky hugged her back. It's been a long time since he was shown care and warmth. He knew he wasn't going to get it from any other person with him being wanted, so he hugged her close to him, burying his face in her brown hair.
   "Is the keeping me in and helping me remember still in?" Bucky asked her shyly. She pulled away, beaming up at him.
   "Thought you'd never ask, James Buchanan Barnes."

***

Two years later. . .
"Steve, we searched for this guy for two years and we've never got anything. Not even a slip up." Sam told the patriot. "Why now is he showing himself?"
   The Avengers were in the conference room at the Avengers base, watching the news. It was from Germany, in Berlin. There was a murder of a senate that had no evidence of the killer, as if a ghost came and went. It made the people believe it was the Winter Soldier back again; doing his mission then disappearing like a ghost when finished. That, and because there was a blurry security footage that showed a metal arm just before it disappeared. Like a ghost.
   "Why would he slip up?" Wanda mused. "Why show himself now?"
   "What has he been doing the past two years? Surely he didn't go back to HYDRA, right?" Sam asked unsure. "I mean, I thought you got to him on the Hellicarrier."
   "I thought so too." Steve murmured.
   "So what are we going to do?" Natasha asked them all. "The whole world is after him now. Killing that senate gave him a death wish."
   "We find him before the world does." Steve told them.
   "But how?" Vision asked him. "He is like a ghost. He can't be found unless he wants to."
   "That's the thing, he wants to be found."