A/N: Merry late Christmas! Hope everyone had a great holiday :)
I got two separate requests about another Christmas imagine! The first was by hazeleyedroleplayer to do a part two to the Steve Christmas story. The second was by BuckysGirl42 to do a BuckyxReader Christmas story where the reader was in the military and Steve brought her home for the holiday. So I decided to combine them: making this a sort of part two to the last story! Here the reader that's with Steve is called Rose, making the last chapter exist in this chapter's universe. But it's a year later and Bucky's found a boo (you!)
Thanks for reading! Love you all :)
-Winnie
Words: 2.2K
Tis the night before Christmas
And all of the Avengers team
Is happily reunited- all together at last...
Or so it may seem.
There is one soldier missing,
A girl so adored.
There's nothing in this world Sargent Barnes
Could ever want more.
Lovers since summer,
Best friends since spring.
She's the light within his night.
Her love is worth more to him than any other thing.
But she's gone far away
On a never ending mission.
Despite how hard she tries,
She knows she'll always miss him.
They both fight for their countries,
Near and far.
But it's Christmas Eve
And tonight that distance aches Bucky's heart especially hard.
For there's no one who Barnes could ever love more
A girl in green camo with a heart of gold.
Bucky's warm sunny day,
In a world that's gone cold.
Bucky Barnes had never given much thought to Christmas. Even last year, when living in Wakanda with Steve and the others, the holiday meant very little to him. Sure; he'd had a good time seeing everyone else so happy: especially his best friend who won the girl that day after a huge charade involving lots of mistletoe and tinsel. It'd been worth it though, because Stevie Boy got the girl. Now he's had her for the past year: little Rose Stark is Steve's other half. Bucky was happy for him, of course, but couldn't help but feel bad for himself as his buddy fell in love. He wanted someone in the way that Steve had Rose. And after their Wakandan Christmas celebration, Bucky found himself wishing New Year's Eve for something just as sweet as what Steve and Rose had. Whether it be love, friendship, or both. He didn't care. He just wanted someone to hold his heart.
Someone out there heard Bucky's wish. For within the next month a troop of touring American soldiers showed up on Wakandan soil. Among the brigade was Sargent Y/L/N: a bad ass American sniper and combat strategist. Her hair all pulled up under a cap and her face smudged in dirt and blood she'd been knocked to ground as she chopped her way through the jungle. Bucky had been the one to take her down. The two rolled and brawled through the mud until Steve had showed up to finish the job by tag teaming her. After being taken custody, the American troop was detained. The King couldn't risk anyone knowing where his secret compound was hidden.
Sargent Y/L/N was stubborn, strong-willed, and too smart for her own damn good. It only took two days of detainment for Bucky to realize he'd caught heart-eyes for the woman. She, on the other hand, didn't come to not-loathe Barnes until he'd been the one to offer her the chance to escape. It'd been against the will of the King and of Steve that Bucky tried to help her get away. He could've gotten them all arrested had Wanda not stopped them. At least one good thing came out of it: Bucky made a friend.
Long story short, Sargent Y/LN- more commonly known as Y/N- was in Wakanda for two months before the Wakandan government struck a deal with the UN and U.S. Government. The brigade was released and the hiding superheros were taken off the most wanted list. But when it came time to leave, Y/N hesitated. Since trying to help her escape Bucky'd been kind to her. They'd grown relatively fond of one another: trading dry insults and meaningful looks across the room where she'd been kept. They'd built a mutual respect from each other, and from that, an unbreakable bond. It kept Bucky coming to her room and keeping her company within those long winter months. They'd trained, talked, and bonded.
It came as a surprise to everyone when Y/N came back to visit Bucky on her next release from her service. And the one after that, and when she was on a layover from Guam... Actually, Y/N was showing up at the compound more than her own hometown.
Then spring came and so did the phone calls. Late night Skype sessions and letters in the mail. By the time summer came Bucky couldn't deny it any more: he'd fallen in love with this stubborn, hot-headed U.S. soldier. And Y/N? She was knee deep in desires for the former Hydra asset: more than she would've liked to admit.
Now it's Christmas. Spring and summer are but distant memories in this frigid cold. The Avenger's have been whole again for almost a full month now. While tense, it's growing more comfortable by the day. The only two who still seem to hold any animosities now are Steve and Tony, but their eternally interconnected now by their love for Rose. The sweet Stark girl has each of the men wrapped around a finger and tugs them to her bidding. Neither one can hate the other as long as Rose is happy.
That doesn't mean that everyone is happy. Bucky's gotten a taste of what it feels like to be happy. This summer, just having returned to New York, Y/N came to stay for three whole months. She'd hardly left Bucky's side the whole visit. Now she's gone again: the sniper being needed somewhere far away that Bucky's not allowed to know about.
That taste of bliss has faded from his tongue. Bucky's lonelier than he's ever been. Steve's happy with Rose. The gang is all back together. But he feels distant: separated from them all by the sadness in his heart that cries for Y/N to be here beside him. So when the Christmas tree goes up and the carols play on the radio he just locks his bedroom door and suffocates himself in beating up a punching bag.
It's finally Christmas Eve. Bucky's relieved, to say the least. The sooner this holiday is over the sooner he can forget that he had to go through it without Y/N. Their first holiday together as a couple and also their first one apart. How'd he ever survive without her? What if he has to do it again? Live in a world without Y/N? He doesn't think he'd make it out of that alive.
He'd sent her a present in the mail. He's hoping it arrives at her base before the night passes. She should at least get to open a gift while she's out there sacrificing herself for the greater good. It's nothing fancy: something small and sweet that he'd known she'd love as soon as he saw it in the shop window.
"Pass me the popcorn, would you Stevie?" Rose questions from the other side of the couch from Bucky. Steve's in between them as they all three watch a movie. Bucky's hardly paying attention though. This stupid Christmas movie is only further tainting his mood.
"Sure, babe." Steve grabs the snack bowl from the table and grants it to the Stark girl. She's cuddled up under a blanket and watching the TV lazily.
"You okay over there, Buck?" she asks between mouthfuls of treats. "You're awfully quiet tonight."
Steve shoots Rose a look like, 'Leave it alone!' but she either doesn't get the message or ignores it.
Bucky sighs. He sets his phone face-down on the arm of the couch and simply shrugs. "I'm fine." The answer lacks any real depth and leaves a sour frown on Rose's face.
"Alright..." she hums. Briefly her eyes meet with Steve's in the light of the TV screen. They try to contain their smiles as they go back to watching the Will Ferrell movie.
After the movie's finished up Bucky quickly stands to leave. He wipes his sweaty palms on his sweat pants with a grunt. "I should go, guys. t's getting sort of late. Thanks for insisting that I watch three different movies with you. That was, uh, certainly interesting." He tries not to be too annoyed that the couple kept him locked up in their apartment for the last five hours. He knows they have good intentions, even if they seem to drive him insane most of the time.
"Wait!" Rose rushes with a yelp. Steve whips his head to give her a strange look. Quickly, before Bucky can leave, Rose scrambles to her feet. She moves to stand in front of the door with a sheepish smile on her face. "Why don't we watch another?"
Bucky tries to bring himself to smile but just can't find it in him. "Sorry, kiddo. Maybe tomorrow. I just don't really feel like it tonight." He moves around her for the door while she internally panics at his premature exit. "See you two tomorrow."
Rose raises a hand. "Merry Christmas, Bucky."
He only nods-- slipping out of the apartment and into the hall. The moment he's gone Rose slams the door and turns to Steve with wide eyes. "Well?! Did she text you?!"
Steve whips out his phone. His eyes narrow as he reads over the texts on his screen. Rose visibly relaxes when she sees her boyfriend let out a relieved sigh. "It's good: we're good. Everything's in place." He grins up at Rose madly. "I'm so excited."
"I know, me too." Rose flops back onto the couch. "I wish we could see his face. He's going to actually smile! Imagine that, a real smile."
"I wish we could, too. But we need to give him his space." Steve sinks down on the couch next to Rose and kisses her cheek. "I'm just glad we could give him what he really wanted this year."
Rose smiles. "If anyone deserves to get what he wants this year, it's Bucky."
The man that they speak of is halfway to his apartment door when he notices the package on the floor. Eyebrows wrinkled he inspects it closely. In his flesh hand it's ridiculously lightweight. It's wrapped in all green and the penmanship of Steve's cursive is familiar. He writes all the grocery lists, you see. This time though he says, "To Bucky."
Inside the package is a key. Nothing special about it, really, except for the fact that it already belongs to Bucky. It's the one he keeps on his key chain for his apartment sliding glass patio door. Stark offered to install something more high tech but Bucky prefers the old fashioned way.
Why the hell would Steve give him this?
Curious and skeptical, Bucky takes the odd gift and heads inside. Nothing is different about his plain living space. The curtains to the patio door are drawn closed. And when he goes to unlock it, he finds it's already been opened. It's cracked slightly-- letting in a bit of cool winter air.
Bucky pulls open the door the rest of the way to step into the late night. Snow swirls in the dark sky and paints the world white. And there, leaning out to catch a snowflake on her tongue, stands Y/N with her face pointed out towards the city. She catches the sound of his gasp and turns: grin warming up her flushed, cold face. Her cheeks blush pink as Bucky rushes up to grab her in his arms. She's laughing before she can even speak the words she'd rehearsed on the plane here: the speech she planned to give to tell him how much she'd missed him and that she'd come all this way to see him and how Steve had been good enough to get her here on Christmas Eve.
"Y/N," Bucky breathes her name. He's hugging her so hard that she can hardly breathe. But she manages a yes and he giddily lifts her off of her feet. Her laughter is like a hymn to his ears. He wants to hear it again and again on repeat: like a sinner who needs to be saved.
"I missed you, god, I missed you." Bucky's got his face nuzzled in her neck and presses her against him.
"I missed you too," she breathlessly replies. Her cold hands on his cheeks draw his face far enough away to see. She wipes off the tears that he hadn't realized were falling. "Don't cry, baby." She smiles at him softly.
"I-- I'm not," he lies with a chuckle. And before either of them can say anything more, Bucky's leaning forward to press the most loving kiss to her soft pink lips. She tastes like sunshine and peppermint. Her warm arms wrap around his neck and his palms splay across her waist to keep her cemented in place in front of him: afraid that she'll slip out from between his fingers like a dream.
Y/N slowly pulls away from the welcome home kiss smiling. "Merry Christmas, Bucky," she whispers into the December air.
Bucky's smile is the rarest, prettiest sight anyone's ever seen. "It damn sure is, baby doll."