The Collection- Bucky Barnes

Off the Clock- vii

Her wrists are killing her. You know, and so are her ankles. And the back of her head. That's all she really feels before the world comes back into focus. It's fuzzy at first, tinged by receding darkness. It prickles back second by second until it's all back. Clear as day.

Y/N remembers very little. A weird day, a pull in her chest. Losing Will. Will!

Where is Will?

She looks around. Still in the house. Upstairs, Bucky's room. The curtains are drawn shut, though she can tell it's dark outside. She can't budge the washcloth stuffed into her mouth. Can't pull apart the zip ties that bind her wrists and ankles to the chair.

Holy fuck.

Maureen.

She doesn't register the woman at first. Barely notices her sitting at the foot of the bed. Is she...? God, she is. She's wearing one of Bucky's shirts. Reveling in it.

Maureen notices she's awake and grins. She gets up from the bed and plucks the washcloth from Y/N's mouth. "About time you woke up."

"Where the fuck is Will?"

She stiffens when Maureen runs her fingers through her hair. "He's in his room. Fast asleep. He won't be waking up anytime soon."

"Are you out of your damn mind, Maureen?" Y/N hisses. She jerks her head away from the woman's hand. "You can't break in here and tell Will you're his mother before tying me to a chair!"

"Sure I can. I just did."

"When Bucky gets back-."

"He won't be back for a few days. You and I both know that, don't we honey?"

Y/N frowns. How could she know that? It's not as if it's common knowledge that Bucky was gone on a weeklong mission. She stares at Maureen.

"You've been watching us." She breathes. Jesus, hell. Maureen nods slowly. "How did you get in the house? The alarm-."

The alarm should've gone off. Even if someone tried to open a window or a door that was locked, the alarm would sound. And yet, there was Maureen. In the house. Unhinged and in the house.

"All I did was knock on the front door. Will recognized me, you know. From his school, just that one time." She smiles, almost like it's a fond memory. Like she actually cares about him. Y/N knows that's a lie.

She closes her eyes. Will. Sweet, trusting Will. She can just see him recognizing Maureen as a woman who gave him a funny toy at school one day. Opening the door for her. Letting her in. He didn't know better.

"So, what's your plan here, Maureen?" Y/N sighs. "You told Will the big bad secret. You tied me to a fucking chair. Where are you going from here?"

Maureen sits down in front of her. Fiddles with the zip ties at her ankles. Hums something quietly. When she looks back up at Y/N, her smile is funny. "Originally, I had planned to just kill you here. Give Bucky a little time to mourn you and then the three of us could be a family again."

She's insane, Y/N tells herself. Maureen is insane and she and Will are in danger.

"You don't care about Will." Y/N states plainly. She'd be miserable. Even if she did have Bucky, there would be Will. Always in her way.

"Which is why I altered the plan." Maureen rolls her eyes. Something-someone moves downstairs. Maureen glances at the door and looks back to Y/N. "You see, I can never really have Bucky so long as you and Will are in the picture. He can't be all mine if I have to share him."