Warnings: slight smut (18+ please), swearing, violence, character death
About a week after the letter you sat on your bed pouting. Tony was throwing a pointless party in a private estate with loads of people. You had argued with the team yesterday saying you weren't going to go for everyone's safety but they all ignored you. They said you were going and that was final.
You heard a knock on the door and decided not to answer it. Not that it mattered because Bucky just strolled in anyway. He stood in front of you, arms crossed as he said, "Why haven't you started getting ready yet?".
He raised an eyebrow when you hadn't answered for a while, you sighed and said, "Bucky, I can't go. I would be endangering the lives of everyone there. It's not fair on everyone else for me to ruin their night".
He drops down on his hunches so that he was eye level with you, he takes your hands in his and speaks softly, "Its not fair on you either doll. You haven't left the compound in weeks and I know its starting to take its toll. You're so tense all the time and I know you think I don't notice when you slip off in the middle of the night to go train because you can't sleep. I'm not gonna let him do this to you. We haven't seen him since...since you got injured. You're going to the party Y/N, even if it kills me".
He beams at you and you've never been able to resist that smile so you nod your head as Bucky gets up to leave you to it. But just before his hands leave yours you get up and pull him back. Your lips meet softly at first before you both deepen the kiss. Bucky slides his hands down to your waist as yours go to his hair. You pull on the strands to tip his head back. He growls when he feels your lips kiss and nip at his throat.
He picks you up and you automatically wrap your legs around his waist. He backs up onto the bed, him falling on top of you and your legs stay wrapped around him. You buck your hips rubbing against the bulge that was there. He gasps in your mouth as your tongue explores his.
He breaks away to lift your top and throw it away. He groans at the sight of you not wearing a bra. He's staring at you intensely when he murmurs, "If we carry on I won't be able to stop".
You bite your lip in the way that drives him crazy, watch him close his eyes before you say, "why would I want you to stop?".
You run your hands up under his shirt feeling the rumble of his voice as he says, "with all the things I want to do with you doll, we'd be late for the party".
You drag your nails softly down his chiselled chest and stomach causing him to involuntarily move his hips. You remove your hands from his shirt and bring them behind his neck to bring him closer to you. His arms come either side of you making you feel safe inside his arms. You bring your lips to his ear as you whisper, "then you better be quick Sergeant". His eyes snap to look at you at the use of the term, the intense gaze was full of lust and the moment you giggled Bucky lost all resolve.
You were ready before Bucky. You hadn't lost your smile since he left your room. You told him that you weren't dressing up for the party, in fact you were going in your fighting gear but he didn't seem to mind whether that was because of the sex or that he was happy you were going it worked for you.
Nat was appalled by the way you were dressed going to the party since Tony had made it a black-tie event. She complained about it the entire time we were in the car on the way to Tony's private estate. It was just you, Nat and Wanda in the car. Nat couldn't be bothered to wait for the boys who were taking too long.
When you got there the party was in full swing. The house was huge but you didn't expect anything different from Tony. When you arrived you were offered champagne, which you refused. Nat threw her hands up and declared you a lost caused. You smirked as she said she was going to look for something stronger. You told Wanda to go look after her as she gave you an apologetic look. You could see the internal war inside Wanda, not wanting to leave you but wanting to make sure Nat didn't get completely wasted in the first hour. You reassured her that you'd be fine, and that Bucky would be here soon. She wrapped an arm around your waist and gave it a squeeze before going off to find Nat.
You surveyed the room, it could only be described as a hall that a royal family would use to host a ball. You were conscious of people staring at you because of the way you were dressed but you didn't care too much. Though you knew you'd feel better with Bucky by your side. While you were waiting for him you made a note of the exits. Obviously the way we came in but there were two doors on either end of the back wall of the hall that opened up to the massive garden outside.
You were about to turn your gaze away from the garden when everyone started gathering to look out to the garden. You were confused and very tense until you saw it land. The Quinjet in the middle of the lawn opened up for the boys to step out. You couldn't see them all but you saw Tony at the front soaking up the attention. You rolled your eyes as you continued to look around the crowds of people dancing, drinking, and eating.
You noticed the crowd parting to let the guys through and that's when you spotted Bucky. Not in a tux as you had originally thought but also in fighting gear, just like you. You felt tears spring to your eyes but you quickly blinked them back as his gaze found yours.
He approached you, his eyes never leaving yours, with a massive grin on his face. You were shaking your head as he wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you close. He looked down at you as he said, "I wanted us to match", and that was the only explanation he provided.
You leaned up on your tip toes and gave him a gentle kiss and said, "you're amazing, you know that?", Bucky leans down and kisses you again but this time more deeply.
You pull away slightly breathless and he says, "if I am amazing its because you make me that way. You bring out the best in me Y/N and for that I'll never be able to repay you".
You smile at him as you say, "you repay me every day by loving me".
He pulls you tighter to him as he whispers fiercely, "and I do. I love you more than I can ever explain". He looks at you with such love that you can't stop a tear from slipping out and he wipes it away with his thumb. Just then a slow song comes on and we watch a few couples go up to dance. Bucky steps away from you and offers you his arm with a dashing smile. You give him a smile right back as you take it and he leads you to the edge of all the dancing. He places his hands on your waist, bring you close, as you interlock your fingers around his neck. You just stare at each other for a while, swaying. You then slide your hands down to rest open palmed on his chest. Bucky pulls you even closer, kissing your forehead. You close your eyes and soak in the feel and smell of him, wishing more than anything that you could freeze time and live in this moment forever.
Then a scream smashed through the moment of forever. Screams intensify as everyone starts running. Bucky holds you firmer so as not to lose you in the crowd as you both start looking around the room. As about half the crowd has left you see a man lying on the floor, dead, a knife sticking out from his neck. Blood staining the white marble floor.
Once everyone had left, you saw two more bodies in the same way. It was you, Bucky, Steve, Nat, Wanda, Sam, and Tony left in the hall. Julian stepped from around the wall of the main entrance and you could see Ayo and Cayman by the garden doors along with five other assassins of the sun just as the Emperor said. You could feel everyone sliding closer to you, you were half expecting them to form a circle around you.
Julian hadn't looked away from you since he stepped out from behind the wall, "So, this is the family you traded us in for. I have to say, I'm not all that impressed". Nobody says anything, their glares just intensify and if you weren't in such a sticky situation you would have laughed.
He carries on, "Not in a playful mood tonight are you sweetheart? Well that's funny because you were all smiles in that freak's arms just a few minutes ago". It takes everything in you to stop yourself from launching yourself at him and clawing his eyes out at his comment about Bucky but you stay still, trying to keep the emotion from your face.
He turns to look at Bucky since he's not getting a rise out of you as he says, "What's your favourite thing about her? Mine is the way she moans my name as I take her-".
Bucky starts to move forward and cuts him off saying, "don't fucking talk about her like that". You and Steve restrain him as you notice Nat tried to go after him as well with Wanda and Sam holding her back. Once they calm down enough to stay still you look back up to Julian who is smirking at the reaction he got.
In a tight voice you say, "What do you want Julian?", his focus snaps back to you, he stares at you for a long time but then he throws a knife at you, which you catch but it sets off a chain reaction. Everything descends into chaos.
Ayo and Cayman throw knives at Sam and Nat which Wanda stops but she misses another that Cayman throws straight after and it hits her in the shoulder. You watch her fall as Nat goes straight for Cayman. Sam and Tony take Ayo and Steve struggles to fend off five assassins of the sun. Julian hasn't moved yet and you see Bucky struggling to choose between you and Steve as you whisper, "go help Steve, you'll both take on the assassins and win easy, then come back to help me. I can fend him off until then". Bucky gives you a worried look before running over to Steve and joining in the fray.
Julian smirks again as he starts walking towards you, "just you and me then, like the good old days". You shake your knives loose and grip them tightly. Julian takes out his long knife, the blue gem glinting under the lights.
You groan inwardly knowing he'll have the upper hand with a longer knife than you since you can't get as close to him with your knives. He jabs forward, and you jump back, he swipes down and you block with both knives. The usual dance of offense and defence between the two of you was tiring you out.
Your legs were burning, and your arms were aching. So, as he jabbed forward this time you tried to think of some other way to try and beat him. Then it came to you, what the Emperor said in his letter, that Julian is clouded by emotions, so you tried his own methods against him.
Just before he goes to lunge at you again you say, "you know he kisses better than you", his lunge falls short and you swipe at his arm, feeling the blade cut into his skin. He hisses and lurches back.
You see rage start to take over his features as you smirk. "you should hear the way he makes me moan his name", you can see him practically shaking with rage as you carry on, "and those metal fingers do things to me that you could only dream of". You had barely finished the sentence when he came at you. You could see his footwork was wrong and his balance was off and you jerked out of the way of the blade.
He left himself open and you tackled him to the ground, knocking his blade away. You manage to bring one of your knives down into his shoulder before he punches you in the face. Pain spreads across your cheekbone as you roll off him avoiding another blow. You get back to your feet and slide his blade across the floor, far out of reach.
You quickly check on the others and see Wanda helping Nat take on Cayman but Wanda is struggling, she looks pale. Tony took a blow to the head that has him on the floor struggling to get up, he didn't bring any gear tonight. Sam is struggling to keep up with Ayo on his own but you see Steve run over to help while Bucky takes on one last assassin.
You turn back in time to see Julian standing and pulling out your knife from his shoulder. He grips it in his hand, his blood dripping on the floor. He comes at you like lightening and you find your movements are slower with your head throbbing from the blow. Julian gets little cuts in everywhere, your movements becoming more and more sloppy.
You dodge his fist just to be cut deeply on your arm and hand. You hiss and involuntarily drop the knife, he lunges again making you move further away from your discarded weapon. You clutch your arm and Julian stops and stares at you, "I fucking loved you and you left! After everything I told you about my mother and after I opened up to you, you just fucking left! Without a goodbye".
You see him come for you again and you ready yourself. But before he reaches you Bucky tackles him to the ground, hard. Julian loses his grip on the knife and Bucky doesn't miss a beat. His fists are swinging before they've even hit the ground. Bucky gets three punches in before Julian manages to flip him over.
They roll on the floor a couple times when Julian comes out on top and lands a punch to Bucky. You can't just stand there and watch Bucky take him on his own so you run and dive into Julian. The two of you rolling off Bucky and across the floor. Julian gets the upper hand though and punches you in the face again. Your head snaps to the side as you start to feel his weight being lifted from you.
With your head still to the side and your vision swimming you make out Julian's hand picking up one of your knives next to you. Your eyes follow his hand as you watch the scene unfold in slow motion.
Bucky spins Julian around, his fist cocked and ready to connect with Julian's face, but as Julian spins to face Bucky he brings the knife around and punctures straight into Bucky's heart. Bucky's mouth opens but no sound comes out, his fist stops short and then grabs onto Julian's shoulder and Julian digs the knife into Bucky's chest more. Julian takes the knife out and pushes Bucky away, and you watch his body fall with a thud.
Your mouth opens in silent horror and Julian turns to you on the floor with triumph written all over his face. He takes a step towards you and goes to take another. You blink, and when you open your eyes again you see an arrow shoot through Julian's neck. You see the shock on his face as he falls to his knees and then slumps to the side and on his back.
You vaguely see other assassins of the sun come in and help the others deal with the knights of flame. You scramble over to Bucky despite the pain in your head. He's clutching the wound with his hands as his eyes locks onto yours. You put your hands on top of his applying more pressure and you feel your tears coming hot and fast. You try to speak but have to choke back a sob before you try again, "hey Bucky, I need you to keep your eyes open okay? You're gonna be fine".
You see him try to speak but blood just trickles down the side of his mouth. You cup his face with one of your hands as you say, "you're not allowed to die on me Bucky. You still have to take me to all of your favourite places and show me your favourite foods. You have to help us save the world every couple of weeks. You're not allowed to die so that we can do normal couple things like go out for dinner or star gaze on the roof or raise a family". You feel his hands interlock with your hand on top of his wound and he squeezes. "I love you Bucky. Please don't leave me. Don't make me say goodbye to another person I love". And as you feel his hand slacken in yours and watch his bright eyes go dull, Steve runs over.
He falls to his knees and starts shaking Bucky's shoulders, saying his name over and over again. Steve's tears are dripping onto Bucky's top as he continues to shake him. It takes everyone to pull Steve away and out the room, leaving you alone. You close his eyes and stroke his hair as you feel your chest getting tighter. A wail escapes from your lips as you bury your face into his chest. All you can think about is never being able to see his smile or hear his laugh. Never again will you feel his arms around you, pulling you closer. You'll never feel his lips against yours or his fingers running through your hair. You felt like your whole world was caving in and that the future you only just started to imagine died along with Bucky.