Doll. // Bucky Barnes X OC

THIRTY-THREE

"He made you fucking watch?" Wanda asked, taking a sip from her cosmopolitan.

"Bucky did what?" Pepper gaped, looking over at Melany.

"I didn't come out with you guys so you can judge my sex life, okay?" Melany giggled, taking a sip from her martini.

"How is it though, with a super soldier?" Pepper asked.

The two of them were slowly growing closer given how Tony was slowly taking Melany in like one of his kids – kind of like how Peter is his, but not really. Bruce appreciates it and likes that its more than just himself looking out for his daughter.

"How do you think it is?" Nat chimed in, shooting a wink to Melany.

Melany rolled her eyes, downing the rest of her drink before making her way to the bar for another drink.

-

It's been two months since that night. The girls were as thick as thieves when it came to the wedding planning. Wanda was still hounding Melany with questions, but the more they got done early, the less they would have to do later. Melany didn't mind helping Wanda, but with Bucky going on missions, she got less and less time alone with him.

Bucky started going on missions after New Years', he was super excited about feeling like the team finally trusted him; although, he did have to keep reassuring Melany that he would be careful and come back to her. She knows he knows what he's doing, but that doesn't mean he still won't get hurt, even with others covering him. He's mainly been going on missions where there's possible HYDRA activity. Fury wanted to make sure the organization stays weak, so they can't infiltrate SHIELD, again.

Bucky was currently of on a mission with Steve, Nat and Sam. They were somewhere in Germany and been gone for a few weeks; it was only supposed to be a few days. Melany tries not to listen too much during the mission briefings, even if her fiancée is going. She knows that if she knows too much, she'll be too paranoid to stay in the compound where she's safe. She'll want to go with, and she doesn't have the proper training. Nobody had ever mentioned to her about going on missions, nor did she really want to. She's proud she's able to support them the best she can.

Melany was sat in the lab, working on some upgrades to one of Tony's suits. She was spacing out as she blankly stared at the screen. She was mindlessly chewing on the tip of a pen.

She heard some commotion coming from the hallway which pulled her out of her trance. She stood up, walking out into the hallway. That's when she saw him, and her stomach felt like it was tied in a knot.

It was Steve, Nat and Sam, all pushing a shirtless Bucky toward the lab on a gurney, basically covered in blood. Melany held the door open as they shoved through, Bruce following quickly behind.

"W-What happened?" Melany stammered, quickly rushing to his side.

He was sweaty and holding a patch of gauze to his stomach. "Hey, doll." He gave her a small smile as he winced.

"We got stuck, HYDRA knew we were there. We had to get them off our trail, and then...  we were ambushed. Couldn't get a signal out for help." Steve said, looking down at his best friend, basically bleeding out.

"But how did this happen?" Melany said, getting angry. She pointed down at Bucky, who Bruce was running IVs and medications through.

"I understand you're upset, but we did everything we could." Sam tried to intervene, which only earned a glare from Melany. "We got overpowered and we couldn't shake them, Bucky took the most of it. Got shot."

"I know you're worried, but I need you all to leave. Let me work." Bruce rushed out. "I need to get this bullet out, so he can actually heal. Now, go!" He spat when nobody moved.