Love Blooms: Love Series 2 (demon!Bucky and pre-serum!Steve omegaverse au)

2

DRENCHED IN BLOOD, Mia sat upon her throne while a slew of corpses littered the steps beneath her feet. All the older, future Mia could do was smile, showing her red-stained teeth that were sharp enough to make the vampires in 30 Days of Night jealous. It had the opposite effect on Steve as he gazed upon his grown daughter in horror.

How could he have failed her so much?

Was this who she was destined to be? With her large, black horns prominent on her head surrounded by effortless curls that cascaded down her scaly back. How her claws were filed to an even more dangerous point. And even though she wasn't born with hooves, there they were now.

All he could do was watch in horror as she ripped a hand off of one of the dead bodies around her and started picking at it. When she brought a piece of skin or a knuckle up to her lips to devour it, Steve had to turn away, disgusted by the display.

Stomach roiling, it took everything in Steve to not vomit. He'd like to say that it took everything in him to not scream about what an abomination she was, but that wasn't true. He loved her. Loved her from the moment he found out that he was pregnant and he would continue loving her no matter what she ended up as. He just couldn't help himse–

BANG!

At the sudden loud noise, Steve startled awake. In the bassinet beside the bed, Mia was crying out, and he immediately lifted her into his arms. Not knowing what could have caused the sound, he headed for the door. His apartment was quiet, sleepy. He wished he could say the same about next do–

BANG!

BANG!

Steve's breath hitched as he realized that it was coming from the closet. The one that connected his apartment with the Sousas'. Heart racing, he held Mia tighter to his chest and entered the living room where Bucky had been camping out for the past week. The bedding was ruffled, but the alpha was nowhere in sight.

Fear was threatening to strangle him as the thumping from the closet door continued along with Mia's shrill cries. He tried to soothe the newborn with everything he had, but being so tightly coiled in his own emotions, he wasn't doing a good job. And even though he had been upset with Bucky staying on the couch, he desperately wanted him to be there to protect them like a good alpha would do.

A final BANG! and the closet door swung open. Shielding himself and Mia, he stayed close to the living room entryway. Clearly on the wrong side of things since the rooms with locks were across the hall. For a moment, he thought about running for his bedroom, but then a hulking man was stalking down the hall.

Vaguely, Steve recognized the brunet. He was a receptionist at Bucky's firm. The beta that had given Steve a hard time. The man that Natasha had put in his place. Mr. Rockwell or Mr. Rummy, something like that.

Steve was frozen in place, staring at the man with wide eyes and fear emanated from him, nearly choking Steve and making Mia cry so hard that no sound was leaving her tiny body. The beta gave him a wicked grin.

Run! Steve's mind commanded. His legs refused to listen.

The man extended his hand towards Steve and Mia, but before he could touch them, he was tackled to the ground. The two men wrangled along the floor. The beta was strong, but Bucky was stronger. Of course, he was. He was a King of the Underworld. Getting the ultimate upper hand, Bucky ripped the receptionist's throat out and spit the chunk onto the floor beside him.

Staring at the piece of flesh and puddle of blood in front of him in horror, Steve couldn't think of anything but his nightmare. Of how Mia was going to be just like her alpha father. That she was one day going to have blood dripping down her chin and staining her teeth. This was what he had done to her. This was what he wanted to protect her from but couldn't.

"Stevie?"

Blinking away the images from his imagination and the visions of the future, Steve looked up at Bucky. The alpha had wiped the beta's blood from his face but his teeth – sharper than they usually were – were stained red. Cautiously, the alpha was standing in front of him, reaching out as though to comfort him.

"Stevie?" Bucky repeated.

Shaking, Steve couldn't do anything but cry. Holding his baby, he nosed at her thin, dark hair, Steve breathed in her baby scent to try and calm himself down. But he couldn't. He couldn't because someone broke into his home. Someone that knew his baby's alpha father. Someone who was a part of the group who worshiped his baby's alpha father.

What if Bucky hadn't gotten there in time? What would that monster have done if he had reached them? Would he have taken Mia? Would he have killed her?

Once more, Bucky repeated, "Stevie?"

"I –"

Sobs wracking through him, Steve's knees buckled. It was a good thing that Bucky was there to catch him when he fell. Not trying to take Mia from Steve's arms, Bucky held the omega tight to himself so he could lead him into the living room. Easing the sobbing blond onto the sofa, Bucky said, "I'll be right back."

Before the alpha could leave though, both men noticed that Steve's hand was white-knuckling in the fabric of Bucky's shirt. Carefully, Bucky unwound the artist's fingers, then brought them up to his mouth so he could tenderly kiss them.

"It's alright, Stevie. You're okay. You both are."

The only thing that Steve could do was continue to cry. Hiccupping as he did so as he rocked him and his daughter in hopes of soothing himself and her. Bucky left the room and the floor creaked as he entered 12A through the closet.

The party had seemingly ended and soon there were multiple footsteps entering his apartment. Steve's skin prickled at the thought of them entering his home without so much as a knock. It was as though they owned it and him. And he hated it. He hated it, hated it, hated it!

Once the man's body was dragged out of his apartment, Steve stepped over the still-wet blood so he could reach his bedroom. From there, he focused on Mia. Her skin was breaking out in blood-red scaly patches the longer she cried, and Steve couldn't help but let out a tiny sound of distress at seeing the skin she must've inherited from Bucky.

"You're alright," Steve sniffled, "Papa's here. You're alright."

From the doorway, Bucky softly knocked on the open door. "I think you should stay at my house."

"In Hell?"

Biting back his grin, Bucky shook his head, "Above the firm."

Lifting a calmer Mia into his arms, Steve glanced around the room. It didn't feel like his anymore. None of this apartment did. All that effort to make it home ultimately meant nothing.

"Okay," Steve agreed. Crossing the room to Bucky, "Let's go home."