The Mimic

183

It was a fight for the history books.

Two armies fighting to the death. Gritty, visceral, rough. Hand-to-hand combat, magic, bullets, and so much more. The skies were full of people and aliens, leading to many bodies, whether it be alien or human, dropping lifelessly to the ground on top of someone else.

The fight wasn't pleasant. It wasn't fun. It wasn't a place that should be dreamt of visiting. It wasn't a fight that should be dreamt of joining. Dead bodies littered the floor amongst the rubble, alien and human. People were being trampled to death by oblivious fighters, impaled by dangerous pieces of rubble, and left to bleed out with the knowledge that they'd never see their family again. Everyone was prepared to die during the fight, but that didn't make the actual death any easier. Yes, they were surrounded by their army, but they died alone.

It didn't even feel like they were on Earth anymore. The battlefield was all anyone could see. No greenery, no blue skies, just pure destruction. The sky was a mixture of purples and greys, plagued by the smoke and soot. The sun had been completely covered by dark, angry clouds, casting a dim light across the whole battlefield. It didn't feel like daytime at all.

Y/n had managed to give Steve his earpiece back after Shuri passed her a new one, but she almost wished that she'd just gone without it. The channel was full of yelling and people begging for help, begging for their lives, and nobody could do anything about it. She just had to push forward and fight. One final mission.

Fighting aliens wasn't really something that she wanted to be doing. Her entire body was exhausted, beaten, and bruised, y/n didn't think she had any energy left in her. But she had no choice. She had no choice but to fight for the final time, even with a shoulder that she had to keep popping back into place, and a broken cheekbone, and whatever of the hundreds of other injuries she'd sustained.

*****

"You're nasty! Did your parents not teach you simple politeness? If you want my attention, you don't need to grab the back of my vest." Y/n huffed, currently being yanked backwards by one of Thanos' many aliens. She teleported out of its grasp, reappearing on the alien's shoulders as she used one of her many daggers to slice its throat. It was a quick death, but still disgusting. Blue goop spurted out and all over y/n's hands as it fell forwards, allowing y/n to land smoothly on her feet.

She grimaced at the disgustingly warm goop that coated her palms, cursing quietly to herself as she wiped them on her mission suit. It definitely wasn't ideal, but her mission suit was already dirty, so adding a little more wouldn't hurt. "Am I the only one that thinks these things are disgusting? I'm going to need to take at least twenty showers to get all of this shit off." Y/n complained into her earpiece, blasting a few aliens with her energy orbs. She listened to Sam's laugh over the earpiece, but just as she opened her mouth to talk again, someone in the distance caught her eye.

Tears of joy formed in a matter of seconds, her chest tightening as her body screamed at her to run toward them. A fond smile appeared on her face, completely fixated on the person. It felt as if her whole world had paused, like everything else had fallen out of focus. Even Sam's voice in her ear had disappeared. It was just them.

It was just Bucky.

He was stood off in the distance, far enough to not be able to hear his voice, but close enough to still be able to make out all of his features. Bucky's head was tilted to the side as he looked at y/n, not breaking eye contact for a second. She looked so happy to see him, and all he wanted to do was hold her close. Bucky had no idea that he'd been gone for five years, none of them did, but that didn't change the fact that he wanted y/n in his arms.

As soon as Bucky begun to open his arms for a hug, y/n broke out into a full on sprint toward him. Her body definitely wasn't in a fit state to run, but the adrenaline that coursed through her veins at the sight of Bucky was enough to fuel a nuclear power plant. She ran as fast as her legs could take her, laughing happily at the utter joy of it all.

Bucky was there. He was right there.

Bucky laughed as y/n crashed into him. The utter force of it had completely knocked the wind out of him, but he didn't care. It was y/n. He wrapped his arms around her, lifting her off of her feet for a few moments so he could spin her in a circle. "Hi, Doll." Bucky hummed with a warm grin, pressing kisses to the top of her head. One hand rested on the back of y/n's head, holding her as close as possible whilst the other ran up and down her back.

"Hi..." Y/n murmured, her voice completely muffled by the fact that she'd buried her face into his chest. She didn't want to move away, not even to look him in the eyes. She was a mess, completely taken over by relief and tears. Y/n didn't care if he stunk of sweat, or if she was squeezing him far too tight, it was Bucky. She was in Bucky's arms, and that was the only place where she could feel completely safe.

Her emotions had completely taken over, her whole body heaving with every sob. It had been five long years without him. Five long years of thinking about him every day. Five long years of wanting to hear his voice again, and he was finally back. He was stood right in front of her, rubbing her back and stinking of dirt and sweat. It was perfect - well, maybe not the sweat part, but that didn't matter. She was back in his arms.

Bucky smiled as y/n sobbed into his chest. He pressed his face against the top of her head, savouring the sweet moment for as long as he possibly could. He was confused, extremely confused. He thought that he'd only been gone for a few moments, but here y/n was, sobbing like they'd been apart for years. There was no point in questioning it, though. Bucky would hug y/n whenever she wanted, even if it felt as if she was going to break his ribs with how hard she was squeezing.

By the time Bucky managed to pry y/n off of him, the chest area of his mission suit was damp. He smiled, cupping y/n's face as he gently wiped her tears away with his thumbs. He tried to be as careful as possible, noting how beaten and bruised her face was. God, she'd been through a lot - that was obvious by her current physical state, but just by looking into her eyes he could tell that there was a lot going on in her head too. But, before he could even say a word, y/n begun to ramble.

She rambled on and on and on, completely overcome with relief and excitement at the fact that Bucky was right in front of her. There was so much she wanted to tell him, and it all just seemed to spill out at once. A long ramble with barely any breaths in between, and she went into detail about everything. She was talking far too fast to understand, but Bucky still hummed and nodded, looking invested in every word that came out of her mouth. It was sweet, really sweet. But the nicest thing to happen was when Bucky finally cut her off.

He cut her off with a kiss.

It was a quick kiss, but one that caused y/n to completely melt into Bucky's hold. He was the one to pull away first, a fond smile appearing on his face as he noticed how flustered y/n was. She'd been completely caught off guard. It was cute.

"I'm so excited for you to tell me all about it, but right now I think we're a bit busy, don't you?" He teased, earning a laugh from y/n. The pair nodded at the same time, a proud smile plastered across Bucky's face as he littered y/n's face with loving kisses. "Once this is all over, you can tell me everything. Okay?"

"Okay." Y/n grinned.