Saving Bucky (Bucky Barnes x Reader)

Chapter 42 - The Soldier

That shiver is back. And the warm arms you had fallen asleep in are nowhere to be found.

Cracking one eye in the dark, it takes a moment for you to realize that the dull headache you've become accustomed to over the past two weeks or so is nearly gone. A pleasant, numb sensation back at the forefront. It settles your nerves, and helps you acclimate quickly to your surroundings.

You're in bed. And the soft snores from beside you indicate you're not alone.

Lifting your head and glancing to the left, James is fast asleep on his side facing you. Nothing but the corner of the sheet draped over his waist covers his sculpted body. The rest of that sheet is tucked in securely around you. A soft smile graces your lips, as even with your dose of medication that tiny bubble of warmth is still present deep within your chest.

James is still here.

You watch him in the quiet, his chest rising and falling evenly with each breath. But it's the glint of his arm in the moonlight that catches your attention. You've never taken the time to really look at it before. Not this closely. But it's badly damaged. Covered in scrapes and dents. Scorch marks and exposed wiring has clearly been cut and field-soldered just to keep the pieces together. It's in bad shape. But the arm isn't nearly as bad as the raised skin around his shoulder at the joint where flesh meets metal. Angry, inflamed skin bulges where scar tissue meets steel. And there are places where white-striped flesh pulls in ribbons, peeling away from the joint. You wonder briefly if it's painful. Or if the damage is so extensive all feeling has simply ceased to exist.

Gently, you reach out and let your fingers ghost along that seam of reddened flesh, the pads of your fingertips barely touching as you trace the rivers and streams of scars that cascade across his otherwise flawless complexion.

Your gaze flits from that ravaged skin to the peaceful expression on his face - one you've never seen on him before. Gone are the creases in his brow and the tension in his jaw. In some ways he looks...younger. Years younger. You wonder how old he considers himself. When he looks in the mirror, does he see a man of 28? Or a monolith of 99?

A small gust makes its way through the missing pane in the window, sending a chilly breeze across your shoulders and knocking loose a strand of James' brown hair. It falls into his face and each breath he takes causes it to stir, tickling the bridge of his nose. You're worried it will wake him.

As gently as you can, you brush that single strand of hair away. But the moment your hand touches his cheek his eyes snap open. A metal hand grabs your wrist with bone-crushing strength. His eyes lock onto yours but they're dark, and they don't recognize you.

You don't even have time to scream before you're being thrown across the room. On instinct, you curl into a tight ball as you careen straight through the unfinished wall between the bedroom and bathroom. You hit hard, and your breath is torn savagely from your lungs as the wall crumbles, insulation filling the air. Petrified, you lay on the ground frozen in fear, bare and exposed, struggling to breathe as pain wracks your body.

"Y/n?!"

James' sluggish, sleep-addled shout is frightened. Scared. Something you've never heard in his voice before. But as his shadow approaches you curl up tighter, turning away.

"Oh fucking hell...Jesus Christ," James says, panicked as he drops to his knees at your side, gently brushing the dust and insulation from your bare arms and legs. On instinct you flinch each time his hands touch your body. "No, no, no," he mutters as he looks you over, desperately searching for any trace of severe damage.

He must not find any, because a moment later he lifts you gently from the ground, bits of wood and foam falling from your hair. You cry out, the pressure of his metal arm beneath you sending spasms of pain through your side into your back. Quickly he carries you into the bedroom and lays you down on the bed, backing away quickly, eyes wide and frightened.