Fragile - A Bucky Barnes Story

Lucky, I need another favor.

Clutching a cup of coffee between my chilly hands, I stared out into the distance as the sunlight broke past the trees past my field. It cast a golden glow across the rows of rich lavender bushes nestled in neat rows down the flatlands of 10 acres. I inhaled the calming scent of English Lavender mixed with coffee as I brought the rim of the mug up to my lips.

It's been a peaceful eight months since the last time I had to delve deep into the mind of Bucky Barnes.

After I woke up several hours later, Bucky was gone.

I never got to tell him I fell in love with him too.

I stayed for weeks, waiting for him to return back to his life, to his friends but he never did. Steve had offered me a life there as the in house psychiatrist so I could be there when Bucky came back but I had politely declined, I couldn't stand being in a place that reminded me so much of those cobalt blue eyes.

So I returned home. To an empty house and an overgrown lavender field.

It took several weeks of intense hard labor to take my frustrations out on the field and eventually it came back to life. In the absence of something to keep my mind busy and memories at bay, I got a dog.

A mixed breed pit bull with gold eyes, he had the same look in his beautiful eyes as Bucky did the first time I saw him so of course, being one for a pretty face and a charity case, I brought him home.

I reach down and lay my head against the wide head of the tawny colored canine and give him a little pet as a sigh falls from my lips.

"I guess we should try and sleep at some point today, huh Hap?" I murmur as my eyes slowly slide away from the field to land on his big golden eyes staring at me sleepily. "You know you didn't have to stay up with me?"

He looked up at me like he thought I was crazy, which in reality wasn't too far from the truth. I spoke to the dog like he was human all the time, but he was the only constant company I've had in months.

I think back to the almost year worth of memories I'd made with the Avengers and people I had called friends. I hadn't heard a word from most of them since I left. Occasionally Sam calls for a few minutes at a time to ask me how I am but it always ends with me making an excuse to end the call.

The last time Sam called, he gave me a reason for everyone's absence in my life. Steve had been off looking for Bucky, Bruce who I'd hardly seen had been on some remote island trying to fix himself and Hulk, Natasha had went to Russia, Tony went into hiding in his workshop, Wanda still didn't like me and Scott who I met like, three times had quit to spend time with his kid.

Sam had been helping his sister back home and still volunteering with Veterans, but he was losing touch with everyone, so he tried to make our bond stronger by showing how we were in a similar situation.

But it wasn't similar.

He didn't have the love of his life confess his love before ditching him when he blacked out and went into a coma. He didn't wait around and ignored everyone else, pacing the floor so much it wore it down, praying to God that if he had one more chance to say all the words he needed to say, that he'd never use his gift again.

No, so I ended the call with another fake excuse, again.

I took a deep breath and stood from the white rocking chair and made my way back inside the house with soft padding of paws following closely behind me. I left the door open while the screen door closed and went to the kitchen to pour out the rest of my coffee down the deep porcelain sink.

I stood there for a few minutes, gaze locked on the caramel looking liquid as it dripped down the drain, no thoughts, only sadness running through my veins.

At some point, I'd have to give up the hope for better. Just be happy with my dog and beautiful home, but it felt empty.

I felt empty.

I was just about to head towards my bedroom when the phone started ringing.

"The hell is calling at six am, normal people sleep at this time," I grumbled as I made my way over to the opposite counter, avoiding furry legs that stretched out in front of me as Hap passed out on the cool tile floor. I take the phone from beside the coffee pot and push the accept button, holding it to my ear, I grumble again. "Hello?"

"Lucky?" a voice calls out, but I recognize it immediately. "I need another favor."