We'll Meet Again...I Know When || Bucky Barnes x Reader

12 || Strained Reunion

When you first thought you heard footsteps, you stopped to listen to the soft pattern leading down the hall, however you initially concluded them to belong to Bucky who had left for the market earlier this morning. His return brought a smile to your face, that was until you didn't immediately hear his voice to follow.

Bucky and you have a rule. Any time someone returns to the apartment after going out alone, they must announce themselves upon arrival. This had been agreed on from the beginning to help ease each other's worries given the whole 'spies on the run' thing. A quick 'I'm home' is all it takes, yet you hear nothing other than those lone footsteps barely creaking against the old floorboards; it's a surprise you hear them at all, honestly.

Hurrying to pull a shirt over your head which is damp from your recent shower, you grab a knife from the cabinet, thank yourself for previously hiding various weapons around the apartment in the first place, then sneak out of the bathroom towards the direction of the intruder.

While you may not have anywhere near the experience of agents like Clint or Natasha, you still went through loads of defense training at SHIELD. Add that to all those times you watched Peggy deliver a sharp left hook into someone's nose and you'd say you have enough experience to make a simple robber regret their life choices, but if this is someone from HYDRA or another evil-doing organization looking to take back the Winter Soldier, you may be in for a bit of a struggle...

Holding the knife in an iron grip, you raise it ever so slightly in full preparation to fight whoever's there, dangerous HYDRA assassin or not. It's only when rounding the corner and setting eyes on the true culprit that you freeze, your heart leaping into your throat only to settle with a chill down your spine. A sound must've also left your lips despite how unintentional, alerting the man to your presence which gives him an equal startle he's admittedly a bit better at hiding at first.

It's only when turning around to actually set eyes on you that shock surfaces across his face in the form of furrowed eyebrows,"...(Y/n)? What are you...?"

You'd honestly be much more willing to take on HYDRA agents now. At this point, you'd even take your own parents and the task of awkwardly explaining to them what you're doing in some dirty old apartment in Romania, not in Costa Rica as you promised. Either option would be better than having to explain the same to Steven Rogers.

He stands mere feet away from you, Bucky's journal in hand yet mostly forgotten as he stares at you. You can practically see the wheels turning inside his head, trying to make sense of your completely random and unexpected presences here of all places.

Steve hasn't talked to you for over a year. Back then, you informed everyone about a personal solo mission somewhere and for some reason; both were completely confidential. Only Natasha was allowed to know the details, not that she ever let them slip...So, what are the chances that you happen to cross his path in Romania now? What are the chances that immediately after fighting HYDRA together, you practically disappeared off grid only to be found here...in the exact same place Bucky, the Winter Soldier you both had fought, has been tracked down to?

"...Have you been here this whole time?"

"Steve, I can explain," you immediately raise your hands, letting the knife fall to your feet and clank against the floor. He doesn't even follow the weapon, his eyes too fixated on you as they narrow.

"It better be a good story then," his voice is harsh, hissed as a clear show that he's officially connected the dots without need for your 'explanation'. He takes a step towards you, leaving Bucky's notebook on the table," he lives here, right? You've been living here with him this entire time - over the last two years - yet you never once reached out to me? Never once told me? You knew I was looking for him. You knew I was worried about him, but said nothing?!"