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

Chapter 31: Bucky Barnes - Goldilocks (Part V)

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That was the dart revolver in her hand. The one I had tucked away in a holster from one of the boxes in the motel room. The one I shot her with.

Even twitching, her fingers easily opened up the dart chamber of the revolver. She knocked it against the stone of the couch. Wincing away from the filled darts dropping all onto her face.

"Seventy seconds. Tad slower than I hoped. But passable."

Valeriy blindly groped around until she held one of the darts to the light. "Eve told you to change out the darts, huh?"

I yanked my hand away. Expected the butt of the handle to make contact to the side of my head.

"What's in the...? What did I shoot you with?"

I quickly gathered up the darts scattered about her head. Before one could end up in her again. Took the revolver from her too.

"Hey, hey. All's good. Nothing harmful. I should have gone over some of the blends with you long before this. Sorry that I haven't."

"I... I thought it went bad. There was something growing inside. There were specks floating in the solution. I-I thought...."

"I never said they expired. Merely suggested that you should change it."

"Seriously, Eve. Stop using him to play your little games," Valeriy huffed. Her arms moving around as if searching for something.

"I'll think about it."

"And you, Bucky, don't worry about Eve so much. She wouldn't cause me permanent damage if she has a sway in events."

She believed the words she spoke. That the A.I. ghost wouldn't....

"The blends, anything clear and colorless like water is basically safe. Knock out blends. Memory blends. Sensor blends. Antidote blends. Ones with no risk of lasting damage. If anything is not okay to use, the blends turn pitch black. All of them do," Valeriy rattled off.

The darts set next to me were completely clear and colorless.

The ones I changed out had dark green flakes.

Neither had any black to them.

"The old stuff don't have speckle markings. They're not supposed to be used. But after I drank one of the more poisonous blends on accident.... Seriously, I had no idea. She kept it in our dorm fridge in an unlabelled water bottle. Either way, Amber's been coloring anything not harmless since.

"We use the colors of the liquid and speckle combinations in place of labels. Anybody handling the blends has to pass a bi weekly color test. Umm... the binder on them is.... It's somewhere...."

A heavy sigh escaped her. Her hand giving my lower back a gentle pat.

"...So... I'm kind of stuck here...? Don't have enough room to move without putting pressure on my hand and ribs...."

At that, I pulled my numb legs from under Ixie and Zephyr. They stayed asleep. I carefully tucked my arm around the metal cast hugging her ribs. Lifted her up right.

"Thanks."

An easy smile on her face. Eyes glancing about. Her attention honed in on the mathematics practice exam on the laptop. Her body following her eyes. Fingers navigating the page.

"I can't make much sense of that question," I told her.

"No shit. This is.... Wow.... This comes off like a google translate of a foreign language. What the hell, Eve?"

"I didn't translate that. Found it as is."

"But why give him this quest – wow shit, they're all just as bad. Why?"

"I ran out of practice materials to hand him. Short of creating new ones, this was my other option."

Valeriy gave a laugh. Hand holding onto mine. Fingers weaving between mine.

"Pretty sure you're ready for the final by now, Bucky."

"...Midterm...."

"...."

I wanted to shrink away from those pale eyes. Hide. Wanted to hide even more, when they widened.

I couldn't figure out why she would be excited.

Flinched when she fell against me.

Smash neck into stone edge of the couch. Target incapacitated.

I waited for the arms around my neck to tighten. They did. But not enough to strangle.

"Yay! You did it!"

"I take back the passable grade!"

"Congrats! You shot me with a dart!"

The pulse echoing in the room sped up. Coupled with the happy giggles at my ear... it wasn't fear.

"You failed spectacularly, Val."

Her arms fell around my shoulders again. Her cheek pressed against the side of my neck. Her hand rubbed soothing circles on my back.

"Eve's games aren't all pointless pranks. She was just testing my observational skills. See if I could figure out what happened and how fast it takes me. Or some shit like that."

I leaned into her hug. Lightly. Keeping the weight to myself.

"You should have figured out that he darted you with one of the older blends without any memory of what happened."

"First off, I had other priorities once I figured I was safe. Second, figured the what. Not the how. Slipped on the congratulations."

"You'd be lucky if he'll let you anywhere near a gun."

"Oh...."

Valeriy pulled away enough look at her right foot. The foot she shot at. All five toes wiggling freely.

"Awww, where'd my sixth toe go?"

"...You scared me..." I admitted. "...You weren't moving. I thought... I-I...."

"Okay. Joking aside," she said softly. Head tilting until her ear laid on my shoulder. "I'm sorry I put you through that, Bucky."

Fingers dug through my hair. Soothing away my nerves. Untying the knot that sat in my chest.

"I'm alive, Bucky. I didn't die. I'm alive."

Her arm pushed down on my shoulder. Heaving herself higher.

Our eyes level.

"Have Eve play my heartbeat for as long as you want. Whatever you need to be sure that I'm alive and well."

As gentle as she wasn't with most things She placed my hand on her collarbone. Pressed my fingers three centimeters off from her jugular.

That was until her arm slipped. Her head colliding, none too gently, with my chin.

Again.

"Ow.... I'm sorry..." said with an apologetic smile.

The bend of her index finger tucked under my chin. Lightly moved upwards. I obediently followed the movement, tilting my head back.

"You did good, Bucky."

Punctuated by a soft press of her lips to the side of my chin.

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Author's Note:

If you enjoyed this part, please consider leaving a vote. They're very much appreciated. ^^

And a big thank you to TinselA/Bunny Carrot (https://www.fanfiction.net/u/7591081/) and the Anonymous Fifth Beta for Beta-ing this chapter.