Life with Steve is more than Bucky could have ever wanted. He gets his own bedroom right next to Steve’s and he’s allowed to sleep in all he wants. He can eat as much as he wants to and take the longest baths he can stand and if he’s ever feeling lonely or sad, Steve is willing to offer him hugs around the clock.
They work on his memory and talk about what he went through with Hydra and Steve is excited to introduce himself to Bucky again. Bucky remembers fragments now as he and Steve talk through it. He remembers being a kid in New York and he remembers befriending Steve in the first place and he remembers going to war.
He remembers fragments of Natalia, too. He’s come to the conclusion that the dreams he’d had weren’t imaginary and were instead actual memories of her. He remembers helping her escape the KGB and he remembers kissing her.
One particularly bad evening, he remembers his fall from the cliff and he realizes that he now knows how he lost his arm.
A week or so after having settled in with Steve, he’s still thinking about Natalia. Steve sits down next to him gently on the couch that afternoon and looks at him and says, “what’s up?” Bucky looks over and lets out a breath.
“The girl who brought me here,” he admits for the first time. “I really liked her. And she wouldn’t even tell me goodbye.” Steve makes a face.
“I’m sorry, Buck,” he says. This is another new name, a nickname. Bucky likes when Steve uses it.
“Do you know where she might have gone?” Bucky asks, looking over. “Did she say anything?” Steve shakes his head.
“She seemed pretty anxious to leave, so I just handed her the check and showed her out,” Steve says. “If I’d known she meant something to you, I would have gotten a number out of her at least.”
“She was great,” Bucky says sadly. “She was beautiful. She was… She saved me, Steve.”
“I know,” Steve says and he offers up a small smile. “I’m grateful to her, too.”
“I’m more than just grateful,” Bucky sighs. “I loved her. I didn’t want to say goodbye.”
Steve hugs him, which Bucky greatly appreciates, and he promises they’ll start looking.
“After all,” Steve says and he gives Bucky a characteristic grin. “I found you. Finding anyone else will be a piece of cake.”
YOU ARE READING
Haunted By Him
FanfictionAn Anastasia Winter Widow AU "If you want to pass yourself off as Bucky, you gotta be a little more friendly," she accuses. "Oh no," the Soldier grumbles. "Don't tell me this Barnes guy is some sort of cheerful do-gooder." Natalia shrugs, shifting h...
