Complicated Love (Bucky Barnes x Reader)

Chapter 8: Files

I hear the morning horn ring throughout the base and I roll on my uncomfortable bed, groaning slightly, not wanting to get up. I slowly crawl out of bed and get ready for the day. Today is the day that Project Rebirth will go into effect. Steve will be put into a tube and hopefully the experiment will be successful. I wish I could call Peggy, asking for an update about Steve, but it's probably 1 am in New York.

I put my hair into braids and brush my teeth. I put on my uniform, a long sleeve shirt with some work pants, and lace my boots up.

The day was full of worry. I had no idea what was going on in New York. Whether the serum worked and Steve is now a super soldier, or Steve is burnt to a crisp. Oh my god, what if Steve is burnt to a crisp, that would be all my fault.

I am currently at my desk, trying to piece together a map of all of our hypothetical and confirmed Hydra base locations, when one of the Colonel's assistants walked in. "Agent L/n, Colonel Zang needs you. He says it's urgent," she says. That's never a good sign.

I hurry my way to his tent, and when I walk in, I see him on the phone and he doesn't look happy. "I'll talk to you when I get an update," he says, and slams the phone down. "We are going to send some of our men out to the Hydra base you were researching. The one in Azzano."

"What? Why? I thought we were going to wait until we gained more information about their radiation," I ask.

"The Rebirth Project went well," he says, and I smile, knowing nothing tragic happened to Steve. "But the last bottle of our serum was stolen, and guess what the man's last words were once he was caught?... 'Hail Hydra'."

"Okay, but we don't know what we're walking into," I say, knowing Hydra is more dangerous than he realizes.

"We don't have any of the super soldier serum left. We are going to have to take Mr. Rogers blood and see if we can replicate it because Hydra tried to steal it. If we don't do something now, they will just walk all over us, don't you agree?" he says aggressively, his mind already made up.

"Yes, but-" I say, but he interrupts me before I could say that we don't know what we are going up against.

"Then it's settled. Take these files, we are sending you with part of the 107th," he says, and I sigh. Bucky is going to be pulled into this. "I want you to figure out each person's assignment by tomorrow morning. That's an order."

"Yes sir," I say, grabbing the files and heading back to the research building, deciding to work there. I sat down at my desk, flipping through the files. Bucky's roster comes up and I sigh, I can't bring him out there.

Speaking of the devil. "Agent," Bucky says, making me look up from my papers, and I quickly closed my file, making sure he does not see the content. He sits in front of me, having his regular smirk on his face. Let's just say he likes sneaking around, but right now, I'm not in the mood.

"Sergeant," I say, leaning back in my chair.

His smirks drops as he notices my demeanor as he asks, "what's wrong?"

"Look, I'm just not in the mood for this," I say. "I'm going to go to my tent." I quickly get up out of my seat, grabbing my files and walking straight out of the building. I can't look at Bucky while trying to figure out where to put him on the mission that is doomed from the start.

I sat down on my bed, spreading out the files on my sheets trying to concentrate on all the assignments. Suddenly the door flies open revealing Bucky, and he closes quickly. "What the hell are you doing here? You're going to get caught," I say, eyes widening.

"I don't really care about that. By the way, I think Dum Dum saw me," he says, and I sigh. He walks over to my bed, sitting down, and I close my files pushing them away from him. "What's in the files?"

"That's classified," I say, which technically it is.

"I don't care, it's obviously bothering you. Plus, we promised to be honest with each other. What's going on?" he asks, rubbing my shoulders to try and ease me.

"The Colonel is sending me and the 107th, including you, to a Hydra base to infiltrate it. But, we are very uninformed of the contents of the base, other than the general map of it. The entire mission is basically asking to send out hundreds of condolence letters," I say, grabbing the file, flipping through it as Bucky looks over my shoulder. "It's the most idiotic thing ever."

"It's just a base," Bucky says, like it's the easiest thing in the world.

"The only way we can locate these bases is through their extreme radiation. It is off the charts of dangerous territory. We do not even know if it is safe being around it. The base could be an entire bomb and we would not know it. We might as well just come in with only pocket knives. And the worst part is I have to assign what everyone has to do."

"I can help you. You're not the only one who has been observing everyone in training," Bucky says, giving me a comforting smile. "So, you're going to have to explain... um well everything."

For the next three hours we try to figure out where everyone will be located, how we will approach the building, and how we will travel to Austria. I was flipping through the files, making sure we didn't miss anything while I was sitting in between Bucky's legs, his arms around me.

It was nice being in his arms again, as if everything is normal. No sneaking around, no looking over our shoulders. I missed it, I missed him. "So I think we got it. We'll meet with Colonel Phillips who is operating the mission, and make our way to Austria," I say, closing the file, walking it over to my dresser and laying it down on it.

"Finally. I understand why you were stressed about that," Bucky sighs, throwing his hands behind his head. I go right back into my position in between his legs.

"It's all part of the job," I say, leaning into his touch.

"I don't know how you do it," Bucky says. "Everything out here is so tense, and you do it everyday."

"You get used to it. But usually it's not that bad. I do mostly this, research and the behind the scenes work while the men while they get all the credit. This war has given me the opportunity to step up and take charge," I say.

"Let's forget the war right now," Bucky says, turning me around on his lap. "We finally have some alone time. It's me and you."

"As you would say," I say, and start to make my voice deep, mimicking his deep voice. "I'm with you till the end of the line."

We both start snickering and he says, "You think that's funny. I thought that was sweet."

"It is very sweet, and cheesy," I say, still giggling. "I love you."

"I love you more," Bucky says, pulling me close and kisses me softly.