Mosaic (Bucky Barnes X OC / Winter Soldier x OC)

Chapter 21: Valeriy Ayers - Repeat (Part IV)

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It's quiet, which meant Bucky wasn't driving. Likely asleep now, so best not to disturb him.

'Can I sleep some more...?'

Blindly, I reached for my phone, half praying for it to be a couple hours to midnight. With the phone tucked under the blanket, I checked the time with a barely opened eye.

11:48.

'Twelve minutes before I have to get up.... Fuck....'

But I didn't want to get up. I just wanted to lie here in bed and maybe go back to sleep. Or not.

'Hmmm... no new messages.'

Nothing from Eve.

The pounding headache was far from pleasant. Too much to do nothing about it. I needed a bottle of water. Probably two.

'Why the fuck is my pillow wet...? Oh right. He showed up....'

Moving as smoothly as I could so not to wake Bucky, I sat up and flipped the pillow over. Silent steps were a little tricky with a foot wrapped in metal, but if I stayed on my toes, it worked well enough. Though my ankle was rather disagreeable.

'I hope I never run into him again.'

Deep down, I knew I could very well turn into a crying ball of uselessness. It wouldn't be a matter of my mind having mercy on me to escape....

It's almost a joke how my thumb navigated on its own, going through my phone to my contacts. To the one contact codenamed: Boston Cream.

I couldn't call him. I shouldn't even message him. And yet his contact information was blinding my eyes in the dim lighting of the room.

That was until I tripped over something harder than the mattress and softer than a fucking coffee table. The bedroom door on the other hand, that wasn't softer than the fucking coffee table.

Dart pew pew in drawer.

Pew pew in cabinet.

Stabby thing under mattress.

"Bucky?!"

That was definitely some sort of pew pew barrel jabbed at my stomach.

I gasped, feeling a gun barrel pressed into my stomach. Ignoring the throbbing pain in my right hand was harder than usual... with all the blood rushing down to it after whacking it on basically everything within reach.

I quickly slid the knife to the other side of the room and showed him my empty hands while trying to balance on an elbow. My left hand quickly fixed my shirt before it could slip up anymore, holding it in place. The toes of my right foot desperately clinging to a cabinet handle, pulling and pushing in directions that hopefully wouldn't open it and send my knee straight into that beautiful face.

"Not going to hurt you," I assured softly.

"Val-Valeriy?" he called out sounding so very lost.

"Yup. That's me. Val."

"I – I'm sorry."

Bucky almost violently retreated as if trying to sink into the bed frame. His foot landed against the door a little too close to my head while he tried to back up even more. His hand hid the dart gun inside his hoodie. Away from sight.

"It's okay. I tripped on you. My fault. I'm fine." Couple of bruises at most. And maybe far too much blood rushing to my head. "Mind giving me a hand? This isn't exactly comfortable...."

His flesh and blood arm reached out to me, very unsure as what to do. Until the cybernetic hand joined in, fingers lightly wrapping around my waist. He lifted me up, easing my weight off my arms.

Cautiously, I let my cramped toes rest from trying to hold me up. I didn't tip in any direction. Even when I made a slight move to the right to land in the little walkway between the bed and shelves, but he corrected it.

'Where...? Where am I going...?' I wondered, curling up into a ball as he continued to lift me into the air.

Never in my life have I ever sat down more gently than how Bucky placed me on the bed behind his head. The bed dipped under my ass at his slow pace but I didn't sink or bounce when he let go of my sides.

Almost instinctively, I wrapped my limbs around him, pausing when he froze up. Took a couple of seconds before he relaxed a tad, and I dragged my fingers over his scalp. His soft hair did wonders for frayed nerves, though not as much as how he seemed to melt at the touch now.

"...Are you hurt...?" he asked in a small voice.

"I'm fine. You?"

"Just startled...."

"Was trying not to disturb your sleep. Pretty sure I failed that?"

Mindlessly, I finger combed his hair into a cute little ponytail. My brain bumping around through the headache, trying to figure out how to word the burning question that hung between us.

"...Would you mind sharing with me as to why you're sleeping in this tiny space on the floor?"

Between the door, the bed, the built in nightstand and the built in shelf. A space far smaller than the cramped compartment in the freezer truck, minus the low ceiling. Not enough room for him to even stretch his long legs.

"Bucky?" I called out when there was no reply. "If there's too many pillows on the bed, we can remove them."

"...Safer this way."

"...Safer...."

I couldn't help myself with pulling him into a hug. Though it was mostly just his head that I clung to.

His hand came up, carefully wrapping around the ankle of my right leg that was draped over his shoulder. Just holding it in his hand. His head tilted to the side, hair tickling my thigh.

I could almost see it carved into the way Bucky tensed.

That he slept here in hopes that if someone were to enter, he'd wake before the second door opened. Just maybe the vibrations of a person moving would be enough.

That he slept here in hopes that if he had a particularly nasty nightmare, he'd wake before I got hurt. Just maybe he'd stumble before he reached me.

That he slept here in hopes that if Hydra showed up, he'd wake before they snatched him away. Just maybe he could slip into the shadows before they could even see him.

Or I was just reading into it too much and he just really disliked beds. He did sleep next to the bed at the safe house too. But his room had carpet.

"Would you be willing to try the bed while I drive?" I hedged.

Bucky merely straightened up his posture, as if he were bracing for an attack that he didn't want to react to.

'I'll take that as a I really don't want to then.'

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Author's Note:

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