Short Stories and Oneshots

It All Started At the Leaky

Author: beatlechicksteph 

Platform: Fanfiction.net

Type: Harry Potter x Marvel

On the run after the events of Winter Soldier, Bucky finds himself in a strange bar, where he meets a very beautiful and generous woman.

Pairing: Bucky x Hermione

~

Bucky Barnes looked around the alley to make sure he wasn't followed. He had been on the run for a while, and he was sure that everyone had given up trying to find him, but he didn't want to take any chances. He would not go back in the tube. He would not be used as a killing machine anymore. That life was over. Living on the run wasn't any life to be had, either, but it was a hell of an improvement over being used to murder people.

He had been moving through Europe ever since he left DC a year ago. He was tempted to contact Steve and tell him he was okay, that his mind was his own, at least for now, but he didn't want to risk anything. Steve was working for SHIELD, and Bucky was a wanted murderer. Steve was too damn pure to just let a wanted murderer go uncaught. No, calling Steve was a bad idea.

Somehow Bucky had found himself in London. For a while he had stuck to low-key towns and cities, not any major metropolitan locations. People would first look for him there. Now, after a year, he decided he could get lost in a crowd. And he needed somewhere where he wouldn't stick out too much. He had thought about Russia, since he was fluent, thank you Hydra, but he opted to go to London. He would be able to fit in, and he spoke the language. But even though he was certain he could blend, that didn't end his paranoia. Hence the ducking down alleys and constantly looking over his shoulder. Bucky wasn't stupid.

He found a bar at the other end of the alley, and he said a little prayer that maybe they would have lodging. He really needed a bed to sleep in for a couple nights. He was tired of sleeping in the woods or on rooftops.

He pushed open the door to the bar, and the white haired bar tender looked up from what he was doing. In fact, everyone in the bar stopped what they were doing to watch him enter the bar. So much for anonymity. He pulled his ball cap down a little further over his eyes and approached the bar. He sat down on the stool, and set his bag down by his feet. Tilting his head down at the bar, he tried to hide his face as much as possible.

"What can I get you?" the bartender asked.

"Whatever you have on tap is fine," Bucky answered, not looking up from the bar top.

"That's not very specific," the bartender stated. "We have lots on tap."

"Whatever is good," Bucky said. "I don't care."

He cringed at how rude it came out, but he really just wanted the bartender to get his drink and leave him be. He didn't like all this attention that he was getting. He was already feeling the urge to run, his leg bouncing up and down on the bar at the bottom of the barstool. A minute later, his drink was being slid in front of him and a price was being spoken to him, and then he realized while he had cash, he hadn't had a chance to change it over to British pounds yet. He started stammering, trying to come up with an excuse to the bartender, when he heard money slide across the bar top from his right. He looked over and saw a pretty woman perched on the stool next to his handing the bartender some money.

"Here, Tom," she said. "I'll cover him tonight. Whatever he needs."

The bartender grunted, took the money and then walked away.

"You didn't need to do that," Bucky said, quietly, turning his attention back to the bar top and his drink. "I have money."

"Well, looking at your condition, I assumed you have just arrived into town, and that maybe you haven't had a chance to change your money over just yet. But if I'm mistaken, feel free to pay me back," the woman said.