𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚜 - 𝚋𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚢 𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚜

devotion

exile(ft. Bon Iver) - Taylor Swift

June 2017

Bucky looked into group of Avengers, seeing all familiar faces. Before him stood Sam, Bruce, Natasha, Tony, and Peter. he furrowed his eyebrows at the sight of the kid.

"You think it's a good idea getting him involved?" Bucky whispered quietly to Tony, who just nodded his head. Letting it go, Bucky just huffed. "You guys cannot tell Steve about this, or anyone for that matter." Tony spoke firmly. They all nodded along.

"Are you sure you all want to be involved?" Everyone nodded, looking sure of themselves. Bucky felt uncomfortable with all eyes on him, burying his hands in pockets and feeling squirmy in his shoes. Tony quickly picked up on it and came to his rescue.

"So I have put together everything we know, and all of you are familiar with the case?" Tony handed a thick file to everyone with the words Operation Sleeping Beauty on the front. Bucky just rolled his eyes.

"Not all of us are obsessed with the hot blondes of history, metal man." Nat sat down and crossed her legs. Tony scoffed at her before pulling up a digital hologram whiteboard thing that Bucky definitely did not understand. Pictures of HYDRA agents and different articles were everywhere, looking like a crime scene board you see in a murder mystery movie. Tony Stark was the most eccentric person he had ever met.

"The theatricals were really necessary?" Sam quirked an eyebrow at the board.

"Yes." Tony looked dead serious. "Anyways, basic rundown. Night of the awards show, December of 1947. Dead center of glamorous Manhattan." Tony pulled up a map of the venue he went to so many years before. "Carrie won an award for her song, got upset for people criticizing her publicly, went to hide in a suite upstairs, Dick found her, and he tried to comfort her. Now here we enter Winter Soldier." Tony zoomed in on the layout of the suite with characters that were supposed to be them on the screen. Cara looked gorgeous, Dick had XX for eyes, and Bucky had an ugly looking face with a horrible man bun. Bucky rolled his eyes.

"You are such a child." Tony just smirked, continuing his presentation.

"Moving on. Here is where Soldier peeks through the door, shoots Dick, and runs off." Tony moved his character across the blueprint. "Carrie screams, people go running downstairs. Bucky runs through the streets until he hears her call his name. He looked back to find that she was in the windowframe, looking down at the man who she thought was dead. Bucky doesn't shoot her, so his backup shot her. The experimental bullet had a secret serum that hit her in the shoulder. She moved last minute, the bullet missing her heart by a few inches. She senses something wrong and calls her personal friend, Howard Stark." The group of people had confused and shocked expressions at the complicated story. 

"He tells her to leave before authorities get there, and they both book it to his lab. At the lab, they do different experiments to find out that the serum had somehow frozen her DNA. With no idea what it meant, Carrie leaves the stardom to live quietly, trying to find any effects. After about 10 years, she still looked the exact same. They ran more tests and eventually came to the conclusion that she is a walking immortality spell. Cool, huh?" Nobody agreed with him. The girl got a life sentence to something she did not want.

"Tough crowd. Anyway, a photo was leaked in 1989 of a person in a bar or club of some sort, with er in the background looking as beautiful as she did fifty years ago." Bucky glared at Tony, making the man roll his eyes. "When the photo was leaked, Carrie went to my dad to have her put to rest somewhere peaceful. The only problem is that we have no idea where that is. It was something of sentimental value to her, and HorseBuck over here's memories are like a scratched up record."

"So were on a wild goose chase?" Sam eyed Tony, who just nodded.

"We need to pick him apart till we find an answer." Tony pointed to Bucky, who took a deep breath and tried to smooth out his breathing. Big memories were already crowding his head, giving him a migraine. But even then, he was willing to be in pain for however long it took to find his girl.

August 1943

Cara drifted in and out of sleep, waking up to the smallest noises. It had been storming heavily for four days straight, and she had barely slept. Finally giving up, she peeled her quilt back, setting her feet down on the cool wood panels. The straps of her white satin slip gown fell, but Cara didn't care enough to fix it. Running a hand through her hair, she walked into the dark kitchen to read 4:40 on the clock. She had tossed and turned for six hours. It's a good thing she didn't have to work later today.

Pulling out the teapot and a bag of lavender tea, she moved sluggishly to start the pot. Her eyes were heavy, her face pale and sickly. She was convinced that she was coming down with a cold of some sort. The apartment was quiet and dark, with the exception of the small light next to her. She didn't like it. It never felt homely with nobody there. Even Darla was out with Winter celebrating her engagement since they have both been so busy. It was only Cara and the rain. Wrapping her arms around herself, she felt hot tears stream down her cheeks. Quiet sobs escaped through her mouth as her hair circled her face and she curled in on herself. She didn't know why she was crying, but it felt necessary and the tears would not stop. Blood rushed to her face and she didn't even move to wipe her eyes. Turning the burner off and pouring a cup of tea, she sniffled before breaking down and slowly sinking to the floor. Tea forgotten.

The sound of the lock turning made her move her head to the side. She assumed Darla came home early, and she didn't want to deal with explaining anything at the moment. She tried to be quiet, soft sniffles coming every so often and hoping Darla wouldn't see her.

"Cara?" Her heart jumped for a second, her head whipping up to find a messy looking Bucky standing with a duffelbag and a concerned look on his face and rain drizzled over everything. Dropping the bag, he kneeled in front of her, pushing her hair out of her face. He smelled like firewood and whiskey. Just his scent made her tears stream freely, overwhelmed to see him. She didn't waste another second before jumping forward and burying her face into his shoulder, pulling him as close as she could without hurting him. Bucky immediately pulled her close, using one hand to run his fingers through her hair, the other rubbing her back.

"I'm here, doll. It's ok." Cara choked even harder on her sobs, practically lying into him on the kitchen floor. Bucky just sat there with her until her tears slowed and the only sound that came out of her mouth were small hiccups from crying too much.

"Please tell me this isn't a dream." Cara whispered into his shirt, making him smile slightly.

"I'm here, sugar. Really here. I wanted to surprise you." Bucky kissed her forehead, still holding her close. Slowly pulling her head back, Cara took the time to observe him, Bucky doing the same to her. His hair was slightly longer and messy, stibble coming in on his cheeks. He looked tired. He had faint circles under his eyes and his eyebrows were furrowed, his forehead creasing slightly. He still looked gorgeous to her.

Bucky picked up on her normally tan skin being rather pale, and she seemed thinner, as if she hadn't been eating properly. He pulled her in for a soft kiss, kissing her face all over, making her giggle slightly.

"I missed you so much, I don't think you understand." Bucky whispered, resting her forehead on hers. Cara's bloodshot eyes felt watery once again.

"I missed you so fucking much." Bucky helped her to her feet, leading her to the bedroom to lie down on her side of the bed. Bucky changed into his black sweater and pajama pants quietly, both sitting in a comfortable silence. Cara watched him with an unreadable expression. Minutes passed by fast and ticked slowly at the same time and Cara fell into the state between being awake and being asleep. Bucky pulled the covers back and immediately pulled her on top of him, engulfing her in his intoxicating scent.

For the first time in weeks, Cara slept through the night peacefully, knowing that the love of her life was in her arms once again.