One-Shot Fanfic Imagines

45th (BUCKY BARNES)

Summary: Bucky Barnes, lonely and in desperate want of connection, took on a walk from the comfort of his apartment. On his way home, he rescues a furry companion. Unbeknownst to him, there was so much in store for him upon his ally's arrival.

Warnings: Nudity...other than that, pretty much nothing.

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He took a deep breath and sighed. The days were pretty much the same as they were before. Dull and slow. Had he been younger and if times were the same as the 40s, he would have spent the night on exhibits and dances--probably with a pretty dame by his side and Steve. Well, skinny Steve.

But everything wasn't the same anymore. Steve wasn't there like before, and though his world was tedious as tedious could possibly be; the rest went by impossibly fast. He was afraid. The constant fear that he wouldn't be able to catch up ate him up from time to time. He couldn't help it.

When days went by with him hanging on to those thoughts, he often took a walk. Maybe in the park, or visit the zoo. Exhibits in the contemporary time were different. A whole lot different. Much to his dismay how there were still no flying cars no matter how advanced the technology was these days, there were a few good things he deemed astounding. And he'd be a liar if he wouldn't say he doesn't miss the regular dances. Everything made him miss the simpler things.

Bucky took a cut to the next block. The streets quiet as the darkness reigned the façade of buildings and concrete walkways, faint yellow light limned the dark in a comforting juxtaposition. Each gust of the wind was chilly, a reminder of the inevitable winter season in just a few more nights. The sky was without constellations of stars that night, sending a slight heaviness unto his chest. He liked stars. And the moon. They soothed his raging thoughts and anxiety about how people could easily come and go--and then they'd never look back. But the former was different, they came and went each night. But even how cloudy the sky was, they were always there. Waiting to shine down and through the jet black tapestry of the heavens.

Maybe he should call Sam. They could hang out this weekend. Or perhaps go to that Chinese place he'd been pining on for weeks now. Or maybe he could simply--

Through his hazy thoughts, a low whimper of what sounded like a troubled animal roused. His steps halted along the cold asphalt, brows knitted tight; forming a v in between. He flung his head from side to side, to the lowest corners--because who in their right mind would like to see a horrific creature flying above their heads in the deepest time of the night. But it didn't sound like that creature, no. It sounded small, sharp and almost high-pitched. It sounded like a cat.

His heart beat fast. A cat. A smile crept its way to his lips at the thought. He loved cats.

Pspspsps, turning to where the sound came from, Bucky called. When there was no response from anything, he called again, this time louder. The animal's cry reverberated closer, as if it was already drawn to his soft voice. "It's fine," he coaxed if only to relieve the anxious cat, "you can come out now."

He knelt on one knee before the large garbage dump at the mouth of the narrow alleyway. The animal whimpered again, closer than it was seconds ago. Bucky repeated the sound, until a shining white fur came out from the shadows, with a pair of cerulean orbs darted straight to his. The animal's small head hung low, its meager body sashaying towards him. It was, indeed, a cat. And it was beautiful.

The cat meowed, tone higher and clearer now, sounding less distressed. A warmth spread like wildfire through his chest, and stoked even warmer when the cat reached out one of its hind legs and perched it on his bent knee. The other raised up to grasp one of his vibranium fingers. It looked like the animal was entranced by what it saw. But Bucky was more enthralled by it.