Brought Us Together

Chapter 4

"I'm hungry." His words hung in the air before a small chuckle escaped your lips, your body shaking a little. His arms tighten around you, making you yelp in surprise.

"Bucky!" His hands dig into your sides, tickling you as you squirmed around, laughing, but his arms were wrapped tightly for you to escape. "I'll make sandwiches for you if you stop!" He immediately stopped and stayed still while you caught your breath.

His eyes examined your figure as he tried to shake you out of his mind, not helping the situation at all. Your body was shaking against his and he could only wrap his arms around you, trying to forget the building love towards you. His eye trailed your figure, rising and falling with each breath. His breath hitched in his throat when you turned to face him, his arms still around you.

"Seriously? You just wanted sandwiches? You could've just asked," you mumbled, rolling your eyes playfully, a smile on your face. Bucky smirked and unwrapped his arms from around you, letting you get up. "I'll go and start making some." You walked to the door and put your hand to the knob to open it. Before you could, you spoke to FRIDAY. "FRIDAY, where's Nat at?"

"She is in the kitchen, making a smoothie for herself. Do you wish to call her to you?"

"No," you said quickly, not wanting her to find you just yet. "Don't call her here." Bucky snorted from his spot on the bed, making you shake your head at him. You opened the door in a swift movement and started for the kitchen.

"Hey, [Y/N/N]," Steve greeted you with a smirk. "Out of hiding, I see."

"Out of ice I see," you retorted, feeling like teasing the super-soldier. Steve quirked an eyebrow, not being used to you teasing him much. You smiled sweetly at him before responding respectfully. "Bucky's hungry and wanted the sandwiches I make." Steve glanced at you before clearing his throat.

"You and Buck, huh?" Your face contorted into confusion.

"What do you mean?" You asked, genuinely confused about what he meant. He shook his head, looking down, muttering under his breath.

"Nothing," he said softly, looking up at you. You hummed, still thinking about what he meant as you two approached the kitchen.

The kitchen was deserted when you got there, you could feel something wrong. Your eyes darted around the kitchen, only seeing the blender and half a glass of smoothie. The smoothie was Natasha's as it was the same each time. Your ears perked up, trying to find a source of noise, but it was unusually quiet. Your heart started to pound in your ears, making it hard to detect any noise. The hair on your neck stood up while a cold shiver travelled your body. A gut-wrenching sensation came upon you when Steve grabbed your forearm, making you look at him.

His face showed no emotion, blank as a sheet. His jaw was clenched as his eyes looked around carefully, scanning the room. His eyes searched everything, from the floor to the ceiling. You waited for him to look at you so you could try to decipher his feelings. His eyes spoke to you more than his words, so you waited silently. His gaze finally fell upon you and you looked into his eyes.

His eyes were filled with guilt, hiding pain and regret behind them. You knew the pain was coming from losing the team members from the Compound. The regret of not being here when their teammates needed them was understandable as well. The one thing that he shouldn't feel was guilt. Some instinct told you that he couldn't have stopped what happened.

If those who took your friends could come into the secured building, Steve wouldn't be able to see it. You wouldn't have either.

"FRIDAY? What happened here?" Your voice was stronger than you felt.

"Building security protocols failing." The voice was staticky and a loud buzzing came with each word. You opened your mouth but ended up closing it as a high pitched audio feedback made you and Steve put your hands over your ears. Bucky came with his hands placed over his ears as he shouted over the noise.

"What the hell happened?" You looked at him as your head started to pound and felt the headache coming. His face was filled with concern towards you as the feedback died out. You made sure to smile at him, trying to lie about your well-being. You couldn't have him caring for you right now since your friends were nowhere to be found.

"Your ear's bleeding," Steve pointed out, making Bucky's concern bounce back up. He stepped in front of you and wiped the blood off. "We need to find a doctor."

Steve grabbed your forearm again and started to pull you. Another hand grabbed your other arm, pulling you back. You turned your head to face Bucky. His eyes weren't looking at Steve but right behind him where a man with a red diary stood. Steve froze when the man came into view. You squinted and saw the red star outlined in black. You held back a gasp as you made the connection.

Hydra.

Bucky's grip tightened as Steve let you go. You stepped back, bumping into Bucky's chest. The man smiled wickedly after looking at you and Bucky. You felt Bucky tense behind you and you tore your eyes away from the man to look at the man behind you. His eyes were flaming, fixed on the man, glaring at him. You cupped his cheek and made him look at you. His eyes softened as they looked into yours. You tried to give him a sense of hope which he gladly accepted but didn't believe. It was a false sense of hope in which you were trying to give yourself something to do.

You tried to keep yourself composed as Steve's voice diverted yours and Bucky's attention.

"What did you do?" The man grinned wickedly, cocking his head to the side a little.