Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier One Shots

Into The Ice

The sound of your footsteps against the glossy flooring, echoed off the walls around you. The space you were entering, with Steve Rogers to your left, was large and spacious. And yet, somehow the soft soles of your shoes seemed to be the loudest sound, within a lab full of machines and equipment.

The tall ceiling that towered above you was clear, windows lining the way and guiding the floor with fresh light. Just like the walls that encompassed you in this wide and overwhelming room, lending light to see more of the tools and gadgets that you had no knowledge of. Everything looked like it belonged in the pages of a science fiction comic book. The glowing buttons and visuals that looked more advanced than anything you had seen in Tony Stark's own lab. It was overwhelming, as it felt like you were stepping into an alternate reality, and maybe you were. Wakanda was unlike any place on Earth. It was unlike any other place you had ever seen in the world before. It was unlike anything the most creative crevices of your mind could concoct. It was beautiful and advanced and oothed with it's rich culture and shone brightly with it's wonderful people. It was all staggering and intimidating, but as you rounded a slight corner, a single sight calmed your anxious heartbeat. And for the first time since you landed in this impressive and stunning country, you could breathe again.

He was clothed in white; almost matching the soft glow of the lab around him. But there was something about seeing such a simple color against Bucky Barnes's skin, that caused warmth to ensue inside of your pounding chest, and a soft smile to touch your lips. The color softened him. And even as you looked at the way the last of his left shoulder was bandaged, due to the missing extremity, seeing him clothed in such a bright color and lacking a piece of metal attached to him, made of nightmares and pain, you looked at his face and for a split second it was as though Bucky had been left untouched by the suffering. It wasn't that a change of clothes simply erased the torturous decades of being used by Hydra's hand, but as he sat on top of that cot, with the bright glow of sunlight shinning from the ceiling above, you saw a man in healing. And the kind of beauty in a sight like that, made tears collect in the corners of your eyes. 

"Are you sure about this?" Steve spoke first, and his smooth voice rang out gently in the vast lab. It touched the air tenderly as his calming tone washed over the room like a gentle wave. And stepping forward towards Bucky, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his dark khaki pants, he watched his friend's head turn to look at him.

You could see the confliction on his face as he shook his head faintly at Steve's question. The pain in his eyes screaming out all of the lost words and all of the swirling thoughts that were trapped inside of his mind. 

His eyes were calm, the blue glistening like the reflection of the sun on the top of the water. It was a softer blue, instead of the raging storm that once ensued inside his beautiful orbs. The storm had finally settled and passed, returning the rightful shinning baby blues that make your hand flick away the first fallen tear from your eyes. 

"I can't trust my own mind," And as his voice entered the space, and your ears for the first time in what felt like an eternity, you felt as though you crumbled to pieces right then and there. For you felt your chest heave at the unmistakable pain that saturated his voice and soaked into each of his softly spoken words. It was as though someone reached their hand straight into you, and clutched your barely beating heart and ripped it out. For his pain was yours, and having to stand and watch the way this painful decision affected him, made your heart ache in ways that made it impossible to breathe. "so, until they figure out how to get this stuff out of my head, then I think going back under is the best thing."

"For everybody."

And with those last two words, Bucky's eyes met yours. They switched their focus from Steve to you swiftly; with an ease that made it seem that he hadn't been looking anywhere else to begin with. But you could feel the difference, for the way his blue fell upon you, was like being trapped beneath a crashing wave. One that you fought beneath for a second as the burning in your desperate lungs only grew, but after a moment, you surrendered. You let go, and let his gaze wash over you and drag you beneath it's surface. Drowning in the beauty of his eyes that you had been deprived of for too long. You were out of air, but with Bucky, you didn't even care.

The room was far from silent, as machines beeped in different octaves in the background, but to you, it was as though you stood with Bucky in a room that was completely cut off from the outside world. For all you could hear was your heart thundering in your ears, and as you stared deeply into his eyes, everything around you in the bright and futuristically looking room disappeared. All that mattered was you and him, that's all that had ever really mattered. 

The soft crinkle of paper sounded as Bucky slid off the cot, and stood up steadily on his feet. His height causing his shadow to cast over you, shielding you in a shade that felt like his arms had wrapped themselves around you. His blue eyes had yet to move, barely even blink as the intensity of this single moment grew as his feet began to move forward. Leading him towards you, slowly almost hesitant in his movements, but as you watched the space remaining between you gradually shrink, your body ached for him to finish the journey to where you stood. Your eyes burned with the tears that hadn't stopped rolling down your face, and your heart ached with a pain that made it hard to think straight. But as his feet finally found the small inch in front of your own, you took the next step. And closing the last of the space remaining, you wrapped your arms around the muscular man, and held to him with a strength you hadn't even known you possessed.  

His warm tan skin smelled of soap. Clean, crisp, but it couldn't wash away the underlying rich scent that had always been a layer to his skin. The scent that you remembered breathing in in the late hours of the night, the comforting scent that would wash over you as his arms encompassed you. His long hair brushed against your cheek as you hugged him close, and the faintly damp deep brown strands tickled your neck but you didn't care. Your left hand had already entwined its fingers into the deep locks, not yanking, but definitely grounding yourself in the soft sensation of his beautiful hair. And the matching deep toned stubble scraped against your neck, as Bucky tightened his arm around your waist, but it didn't bother you. In fact, if anything, it made this moment more real. For the feeling that soared over your flesh, reminded you that this wasn't just a dream. That you were indeed here... in the presence of the man you loved... finally. 

His warm lips felt like a hot brand as they pressed to the side of your temple, leaving the tenderest of featherlike kisses to your skin. And even as you felt his head lift and look off to the right slightly, you didn't dare release him from your iron like grip. You kept your arms wrapped around him, and your eyes shut with the tears that continued to flow down onto the thin fabric of his tank top. Your cheek that burned from the acid like heat of your salty hears, cooled the moment it rested against the metal that climbed up his shoulder.

"Take care of her for me," His voice was soft, gentle, but ached with a strong sense of urgency in the tender tone of his words. And they made your heart feel as though it had swelled and burst all in just a matter of seconds, as you clung to him harder than before. 

"I promise." You could hear the firmness in Steve's voice, and you knew that he was never one to break a promise. It wasn't in his nature, it wasn't in his soul. 

You knew you had to let him go, release your tight grasp from around his body. But it felt like your heart was attached to him, and any small movement to move away from him, only ripped it from your chest at a slow and torturous pace. But somehow, you managed to pull your body from his just enough that he grabbed your hand in his. And your eyes fluttered shut once again as Bucky brought his forehead down to rest against your own. 

The very tip of his nose brushed against your own, and you could feel his deep but somehow steady breaths as they fanned softly over your lips. Every sense you had was heightened, and everything in this moment felt richer, deeper and more real than the next. And as Bucky spoke up in the silence that swirled around the two of you, his words left you breathless and deeper in love than you were before. 

"You're what I'm coming back to."

A/N: Here we go!! My first Bucky Barnes/Winter Solider One Shot is up!! I hope that you all enjoyed this!! I love Bucky Barnes; I think that he's a rich and deep and troubled and vulnerable character, which is probably my favorite type of character to write. And as I've been writing my Steve Rogers/Captain  America One Shots and rewatching the movies more times than probably healthy, I began to really feel the inspiration to write a one shot book for him. I will say, as it took me some time to get this one written like I wanted, that I think Bucky is the most challenging character I've written for before. But I like the challenge, I like the exploration of his character and I enjoy diving deeper into writing for him, even if I find my self stumped at times. But I hope you all enjoyed this first one and the beautiful GIF of him at the top!! I can't wait to see where Bucky Barnes takes me as I continue to write these!!💙