Soul ties (Bucky Barnes AU)

Part 7

"You had a speech, you're speechless

Love slipped beyond your reaches"

  "Steve told me about what happened. Are you okay?"

  "Sure. Don't worry, Bruce," you said as you looked through the microscope. "We have work to do."

  "This doesn't mean we can't talk about it if you need to."

  You watched him mixing chemicals with hesitant hands. "This should work, by the way. I think I found the right..."

  "What? The right what?"

  "Shit," he muttered as foam started forming at the surface of the liquid. "We need to leave. Now, Y/n!"

  Bruce ran towards you and dragged you out of the lab, closing the fire door. You were still right in front of it when the explosion went off, deafening you for a few seconds. You looked around you, wondering why no one else was freaking out about the lab blowing up.

  "Y/n, hey, it's fine."

  You looked around you. You were hearing Bruce again, but where was he? You pulled your hair, tears running down your face and your heart beating out of your chest. Everything seemed blurry and dangerous. Why wasn't anyone scared?

  "I'll go get someone." That wasn't Bruce. Who? All you knew was it was a woman's voice.

  You fell to your knees : why didn't they hurt?

 "It's okay, I'm here. Breathe." You knew this voice. Of course you did. Why weren't you able to see whoever had spoken? Your vision was less blurry than before, but still... You couldn't think straight.

  "Here. Do you feel my hands?"

  A pressure on both your shoulders encouraged you to nod. You did feel hands on your shoulders. Looking up, you recognised his long dark hair, then the two blue orbs staring at you.

  "Breathe in, slowly. You got this."

  "Wh- what's happening?"

  "Nothing bad. Just breathe. I got you."

  Your feet left the ground as Bucky carried you somewhere. Your breathing was fast, just like his pace. You laid your hand on his chest, instantly feeling his heartbeat under your palm. It was so much slower than yours. You closed your eyes, shifting all your focus on this single heartbeat, doing your best to forget about yours.

  "Okay, I'm sitting you down right now. You can open your eyes, it's fine."

  You couldn't let go of him. You must've been grabbing his shirt really hard, because he decided to sit down next to you and keep holding you. When you opened your eyes again, you were surrounded by billions of stars. The familiar room soothed you, and so did Bucky's presence at your side. Your breathing calmed down progressively.

  "Thank you," you whispered. "What happened? The lab exploded and...nobody cared. Is everyone okay? Did Bruce get out?"

  "It was a minor lab malfunction. It was a minor explosion. No one got hurt."

  "Minor? No, it was...it was so loud." Unwelcome memories were flashing before your eyes and you shook your head to drive them away. "It was like Sokovia all over again."

  "Oh, alright... Look at me." You tilted your head up and met with his blue eyes. "You had a panic attack. It made you feel everything stronger. That happens, okay?"

  "Does it? Do you have those to?"

  He nodded with a sigh. "They're normal. After what you went through..."