Flowers in the Darkest Parts: Bucky Barnes X OC

Fate

Daylight comes fast for me. I'm relieved I've actually slept through the night. I guess I was more tired than I thought.

I stretch and sit up in bed, blinking the sleep from my eyes. I'm alone. Bucky must have snuck out after I drifted to sleep.

It's so quiet. It's peaceful. My mind wanders to him. His touch made me feel something, made me feel like I was a person again. And it felt so good. I want to feel it again. I need to feel it again. I need to see him.

I climb out of bed and walk to the door. I freeze when I hear glass shatter from the other side of the wall. My ears strain to listen. The calmness I felt minutes before is now long gone. My senses now fire on all cylinders.

Suddenly there's commotion coming from the other side of the wall where Bucky's room is. It sounds like something is being thrown up against the wall. I furrow my brow in confusion. What is going on?

I hear another crash of glass. Something's not right. I rip my door open and run to Bucky's. The door handle won't move, his door is locked. I press my ear against it, listening intensely. There's rummaging and I hear grunting and loud slamming of furniture.

"Bucky?" I yell, hoping he can hear me. The commotion continues through the door and he doesn't answer.

I step back and slam my foot against the door handle, it shifts. I do it again and it loosens a bit more. One last time, I step back and slam my foot against it, breaking open the door. It swings open and I step inside. I see Bucky and another man taking swings at each other, both equally blocking each other's blows.

Bucky breaks away from the man's grasp and throws a solid punch to his face with his metal arm, the man stumbles back and Bucky comes at him again. Another blow lands and the man is knocked back even more, slamming up against the wall. The view of the man's face becomes clear to me now.

My blood runs ice cold. My whole body goes completely numb and I immediately want to be sick. Bile rises in my throat and I fight the urge to throw up. To my horror, the man Bucky is fighting with is Rumlow.

How did he find me? How is he here? Why is he here?

But I already know the answer, he's here for me.

All I can do is watch from the doorway. My body cannot move. It refuses. Every muscle has gone rigid with fear.

Bucky moves towards Rumlow, cocking his arm back to throw another punch at him. For just a split second, Bucky notices me and hesitates. Rumlow acts on his hesitation, flinging his arm forward and plunging a knife straight into Bucky's chest.

Bucky lets out a pained groan. His blue shirt immediately starts to turn dark red at the spot of the knife. He stumbles back, his face stuck in a grimace.

"No!" I scream, still cemented to my spot.

Bucky falls backward, landing hard on the floor. He's gasping for air, his breathing sporadic and labored. He grabs the knife with his metal arm and with a painful grunt, he dislodges the knife from his chest. Blood quickly spreads across the front of his shirt and starts to pool on the floor around him.

Rumlow turns to me, a wicked smile across his lips. He wipes the blood from his broken nose and cracks it back into place with his fingers. He takes a few steps toward me. "You thought you could escape us? You thought you could escape HYDRA?" He continues to move towards me like a serpent. "Well, you thought wrong, my dear." He grits his teeth as he speaks, each word agonizing to my ears.

I beg my legs to move, to do anything. My mind and heart are racing, but my limbs are completely numb. Bucky tries to get up from the floor and lets out a painful yell as he drops back down.

"Get out of here, Rose!" Bucky grunts in pain. He presses his hand to the stab wound on his chest and winces.

I watch in horror as my own body betrays me and lets Rumlow walk right up to me. I start to tremble, my legs giving out and dropping me to my knees. I can't control myself. I'm losing it.

Rumlow pulls out another knife from his leg pocket and twirls it in his hand. "You made this way too easy. I thought I would have gotten a little bit more of a challenge with you two." He's standing right in front of me now. "I'm actually a little disappointed."

I glance over to Bucky, he's still trying to get up from the ground, but every attempt is met with him yelling in pain. There's more blood pooling around him, too much blood. Our eyes meet and I can tell he's fading.

My stomach drops. I never should have been here. Bucky never should have been involved in this. This is all my fault. I'm not worth this. He doesn't deserve to die.

I lock my eyes on Rumlow's now, arms shaking in complete terror as he towers over me. He holds the knife up to my throat and slowly presses it into my skin. His eyes are wild, hungry for blood. He smiles his evil smile, one that I've seen so many times before.

"And now it's your turn to die."