The Engineer (Bucky Barnes x OC)

Chapter 18

Author's Note: I am not giving this chapter a name or GIF to make sure people understand that the contents of this chapter are beyond serious and are very, very real for many, many people.

That night

Bucky and I were moved to an isolated hut across from a pristine lake. The water glittered as the sun sunk down into the red and orange horizon line. I took out my vial of sleeping draught and entered the hut.

It was made mostly of twigs and such, with smooth wood for flooring that was covered with animal skin. Bucky and I both had our own separate pillows and blankets, though the hut was only big enough to give us about a foot of space apart from each other.

"Are you ready?" I asked Bucky, who had been getting dressed as I waited outside.

"Yes," he replied, smiling up at me and preparing his draught. He slipped under his blanket, looking lost in thought.

"Is everything okay?" I questioned, sitting down beside him and stroking his hairline. He grinned up at me.

"Yeah. Yeah, it's fine," he said softly. He opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again.

After a moment of thought, he closed his mouth yet again.

"Is there something you wanted to say?" I asked smugly.

Bucky turned a light shade of pink as he chuckled. "N-no. It's fine."

I smiled down at him, kissing his forehead before scootching over to my own bed and drowning the draught.

~

Blue.

That was all I could see.

Blue, stretching as far as I could see.

Was I in the ocean?

I checked my surroundings.

I was in a confined space, like the cabin of an aircraft- there were many buttons and levers, and some pedals by my feet.

Wait.

This was the cabin of an aircraft.

I glanced in front of myself again.

Blue still stretched out across the pale sky, but white tufts were starting to come into view.

I was flying.

I sat back, grateful for the beautiful view. The white clouds stretched out, like long, thin lines of white on the baby blue sky. Somehow, to my left, there was a perfect sunset. I found my best friend and her wife sitting there in front of it, though I wasn't sure how I knew that it was them. They appeared as only little specks on the ground.

I grabbed what I hoped would steer the plane and began to make my way towards them.

Now, I could see them- happy, laughing, seeming like they were enjoying themselves.

Just as Bryce and Natasha stood up, the sky turned dark.

Natasha fell over, the ends of her hair turning white as Bryce disintegrated right before my eyes. Natasha simply disappeared as people began to march over where they'd just been, holding up large signs with crossed-out pride flags and signs with homophobic slurs written largely for all to see. They held torches and pitchforks, and as they grew closer to the area beneath my now-frozen aircraft, I could hear them screaming, "gay is a sin! Gay is a sin!"

I felt tears spring to my eyes. It hurt. It always did. I could never let it get the best of me, I could never let it define me, but the crowds kept coming. They grew larger and larger, waving their wicked blades through the air and screaming that I should be illegal. And all I could do was watch.

I was hopelessly outnumbered by them. There were so many- so very many-

I felt the liquid pouring from my eyes, and I didn't bother with stopping it. I cried there, wishing it would all stop, that they would all turn and go the other way.

But that was the last thing on their agenda. They circled my aircraft, which was now frozen in midair, and began chanting at me.

"Sin! Sin! Sin!" they screamed at me, making me feel more inferior than ever before. Who was I to still be there? They were right.

An explosion went off from behind me.

I wanted to turn and see what was going on, but I didn't. I couldn't. My eyes were trained on the crowds in front of me, which were slowly growing, bigger and bigger.

I heard bullets firing, hitting the sides of the aircraft.

Wicked laughter.

Suddenly, the world was spinning, and out of the blue, I was on the ground, being carried roughly by these horrible people.

They shoved and pushed me, making me want to go hide in a corner.

The world around me evaporated, and I landed on my back in the middle of a school hallway, now surrounded by teenagers who were relentlessly shouting homophobic slurs in my face and laughing, pointing their stupid fingers and me and shooting them vertically. They kicked me like I was a soccer ball and pulled me to my feet only to punch me in the face and knock me down again.

Another change and the world evaporated. Now I was weakly laying in the middle of a street, sitting on a chair and watching a speaker at a podium.

"On this day, I declare homosexuality illegal. All homosexuals will be shipped off to an isolated island prison," they announced.

The place filled with cheers and laughs, people hugged each other and rejoiced as I sat there in disbelief. They were disposing of me as though I were a nasty pest.

I watched as couples kissed and smiled and laughed in happiness, wondering how they could be so excited at the coming of my misfortune. I was illegal. I was a born criminal. Nobody wanted me and the world hated me, but what did that matter to them?

I sunk into my chair a little too deep, and I fell right through the cushion, landing on a rickety bench in what appeared to be a courtroom. A judge sat in front of me, and there were no attorneys beside me to defend me.

"Guilty with a death sentence," the Judge condemned.

Clapping once again rose around the room, and two people grabbed my wrists, handcuffed me, and dragged my feeble figure out of the room for everyone to see.

I felt something clamp over my throat.