Bucky Barnes One Shots

As Close as it Gets

You walked with Steve around the uninhabited house that you had to secure, but your mind was far away. It was going to be your first year anniversary, and so far Bucky had been a pain in the ass.

"I don't want to celebrate it," he told you that morning. "We don't need to go out and pay a hundred bucks to eat three carrots and a bowl of boiled noodles. Might as well eat banknotes."

"You okay, kid?" Steve shot you a worried side glance.

"Thinking about Bucky," you replied with a slight shake of your head.

"Ah, young love." Steve smiled, looking straight ahead.

"He doesn't want to celebrate our first anniversary. I found a really nice place, but he's stubborn," you explained and Steve stayed quiet for a moment.

"Oh," he said after a while. "It's tough for him to go out, people always stare at him."

"I know, but I thought he was better now."

"He is," Steve quickly replied. "He's a lot better and that's mostly thanks to you. You're the reason why he agreed to stay. You just need to give him time."

You took a deep breath and nodded before Clint informed you that all the other houses had been secured. The others went back to the quinjet while you searched the house with Steve.

"You've been in that house for over fifteen minutes," Bucky said through the earpiece. "What the hell are you doing?"

You snickered and rolled your eyes at his amused tone. Steve scoffed and put a hand to his ear, telling him you were almost done. You let Steve and Bucky talk and carried on with your task when the ground started to shake.

Steve said your name, the panic was evident in his voice, yet he tried to control it. You urged him to leave the house and rushed back to the front door as the house started to fall down around you. You dodged a piece of broken ceiling, but didn't see the fallen beam that knocked you down. Steve looked over his shoulder and noticed that you were not behind him. The house was gone, completely destroyed.

He ran back to find you and shouted that he needed the medical team. When he found you, you were unconscious. Your only visible injury was a large gash on your forehead, just below the hairline. Steve picked you up in his arms and was shocked at how limp your body was, he almost thought you were dead.

Time was running out, the quinjet landed on the roof of the nearest hospital. Bucky watched as doctors rushed to take care of you. Sam had to hold him back when he tried to follow the medical team. Bucky paced back and forth in front of the Emergency room's swinging doors. Steve was sitting, his face buried in his hands as he mentally relived what just happened. Bucky was tired of waiting, no one came to reassure them and it only increased his worries.

"Steve, I swear if she dies..." he trailed off.

"It's all my fault," Steve said, staring into space. "I should have protected her better."

"I should have joined her as soon as I was done. I'm her boyfriend, I should be the one protecting her."

They both continued to blame themselves before a husky voice startled them. "She needs your help, and this is not helping."

They turned around and stared at Natasha who took a step forward and leaned against the wall, her arms crossed over her chest.

"It doesn't matter whose fault it is. You both did your job. You wanna be angry at something and I get it, but this is useless."

Bucky slumped down in the seat next to Steve, the latter turned and placed a hand on his shoulder. The three of them stood there in silence until the swinging doors opened and one of the doctors walked towards them. The trio faced the doctor. The grim look on the doctor's face made Bucky's heart beat incredibly fast.