The Hurt And The Healing: Bucky X OC

Chapter Fifteen: I've Got Friends In Weird Places

As he knocked on their door, Bucky was unsure as to how to answer the many questions that Mara and Nonna would have about his injuries. But their questions would still be easier than the cops, and he hoped that Nonna would shield him from the majority of Mara's distrust.

The door opened slightly to reveal Mara wielding a bat and glaring at Bucky.

"What do you want?" She asked, blocking Bucky from entering the apartment.

"I need your help, Mara," he said quietly.

"Help with what?" She demanded. Bucky unzipped his jacket. The spots of red on his shirt showed where the glass had dug into his skin.

"I cut myself," he said simply.

"Clearly," she replied, staring at the many red splotches on his chest. "Fine," she sighed and stepped aside. "Come in."

He followed her into the apartment and sat down at the kitchen table while she quickly washed her hands and gathered her supplies.

"Where's Nonna?" He asked.

"She went to St. Martin's for a vigil. They're praying for the people in the Flag Smashers attack," Mara answered as she scrubbed her hands.

"You didn't join her?"

"I stopped going to church a long time ago," Mara replied. She walked over to the table and set down her red tool box.

"You're going to need to take your jacket and shirt off," she told him as she took out tweezers, a pair of gloves, alcohol swabs, and bandages. Bucky just stared at her. "Well you don't expect me to go poking into you through two layers of fabric, do you?"

Bucky tried to get out of his jacket without using his right arm, but just managed to work it off of his left shoulder slightly. Mara chuckled and shook her head. "Do you need a little help?" she asked teasingly. He grimaced and nodded. Mara gently slid the jacket off of his shoulders and inhaled sharply when she realized that the red blotches weren't just on his chest, but also his right arm, shoulder, and back.

"Dio mio Bucky, what happened to you?"

"I fell through a window," he answered. Technically I was pushed, he thought to himself, but that resulted in me falling.

"Must have been a pretty big window," Mara said. "I'm not sure how to get your shirt off without you moving your arm and digging the glass into you even more."

"You can cut it off if that helps," Bucky replied. "It's not anything special."

Mara pursed her lips and nodded. She took a small pair of scissors from the toolbox and looked at him. "So... I'll just start cutting then." Bucky nodded and she gingerly started cutting at the neckline. She was close to him, careful to not poke him with the scissors. He could feel her breath on his skin as she gently guided the scissors down his shirt and then at the seams of his right sleeve. She removed the pieces of blood stained fabric and rocked back, taking in the bloody and scarred sight before her. "This isn't your first time falling through a window, is it?" she asked quietly.

"No." He answered. She looked at him and, realizing that he was not going to say more than that, snapped on her gloves.

"Okay, this is definitely going to sting," she said, holding one of the alcohol swabs. She patted at his skin, removing most of the blood and clearing her field. WIth each blot of the cloth she revealed more and more scars, some from bullets, some from knives, most of them so overlapped that the weapon made them remained a mystery. A few tatters of the shirt remained on his torso, including his left sleeve which was mercifully covering his metal arm.