Fragile - A Bucky Barnes Story

I'll come back

"They were working on it, Hydra was after Loki, maybe they had back up files that they got out before we busted them," Natasha pursed her lips and crossed her arms over her chest. "What's the plan now, Cap."

"Suit up, meet back here," he called out his orders, I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out, I glanced over at Bucky, who shook his head and placed his hand in mine.

"Steve," he called out, looking over at his friend before he ran off.

"Yeah?" he turned back, half way down the hallway.

"What about Lucky?" he pulled me closer, nervousness causing a knot to form in his throat.

"Hide," he called out, it was the only option he saw.

I glanced down at my feet, tears threatening to spill over the lids of my eyes as the realization of a battle about to happen. Bucky's hand slid under my chin and forced me to look up into his brilliant blue eyes.

"Hey," he said softly. "I've got you. You know how to shoot, right?"

"Yeah," I nod quickly. "Grew up in the south, remember."

He smirked, pressing his lips to my forehead before he started pulling me down the hallway to the armory. He foregoes changing into any suit, he pulled on a tactical vest that he ripped the arm off of on his metal side and started stuffing ammo anywhere he could. He strapped me down with a bullet proof vest, holsters on my hips, holsters on my thighs and plenty of ammo jammed into a pocket on the belt around my waist.

"I have a strong feeling that Steve's going into this head first, so as soon as the flood gates open, you shoot anyone that comes within fifteen feet of you," he was tightening all the straps, his face was etched with worry and his voice was wavering a bit. He showed me how to use the larger rifles with the automatic triggers.

"Hey, I'll be just fine," I tried to reassure him. He leaned back and closed his eyes as my hand slid up his cheek, caressing his jaw. "You will be right there, you won't let anything happen to me, I know it."

"You listen to everything I say," he questioned, almost begging me to promise him that I wouldn't breathe without his direction.

"I promise," I responded. I grabbed the assault rifle from him and slid the strap around my shoulder. I pulled him down to press my lips to his, making sure to memorize the feeling of his plump lips caressing mine and the way he inhaled through his nose sharply the instant our lips parted.

We turned towards the door and silently made our way out of the armory and back down to the control room. Nearly everyone was there and ready. Steve, Natasha and Tony even the new recruits Pete and Bobbi.

Steve went through his plan, using those that could fly to create a blockade and push back the soldiers to the hill below the compound, while Bobbi and Pete kept the boaters from flooding the grounds. Steve, Natasha, Bucky and I were meant to hit hard from the front entrance and create division and disorientation.

It probably would have worked.

If they hadn't had fighter jets.

When I woke, my head felt heavier than it ever has before and it jostled roughly, which sent pain shooting through my skull. At first, I thought I passed out again using my powers but as my brain fog began to lift, I realized I hadn't used any powers. My eyes shot open and all I could see was the blur of the ground racing past my view from over someone's back, not just someone's but Bucky's as I noticed his bubble butt.

I let out a groan and tried to lift my head, but it just exploded with more pain.

"The fuck," I groaned again. "Bucky?"

He was breathing heavily and running at top speed, everything was blurring as I lifted my head just slightly to see trees, or what I assume were trees, whip by. I weakly reached out and began tapping Bucky's back, but it took him a few minutes to acknowledge it and slow to a stop.

"Are you okay, look at me," he sat me down against a tree trunk and grasped my face in his hands. He studied my head for a few minutes before a sigh left his lips. "It's superficial but you probably have a concussion."

"What happened?" I whisper, reaching up to the pivotal point of pain, Bucky snatched my hand away when I let out a hiss. I stared at my hand that he had grasped in his, tinted red with my blood.

"Missiles, collapsed the whole damn building," he glanced back to check our surroundings before he turned back to me, adjusting his legs to kneel on the ground in front of me.

"How am I in one piece?" I thought out loud, glancing around my body to assess the damage. Though covered in dirt, grime, soot and debris my body seems perfectly fine besides my head.

Bucky let out a sigh as his hands slid over my bent legs, subconsciously needing to touch me. "It happened fast but when the bombs started to drop, Tony blasted the floor and Steve ripped off the door to the control room and threw it at me, I grabbed you and we jumped down the hole and I covered you with the door as the explosions hit over us."

"What about them? Did they get out? What about Hap? Bucky there were kids in there!" I struggled to push myself from the ground, ignoring the soaring pain in my head and my legs that felt like lead but moved like jelly. Bucky was quick to grab me and force me back down on the ground.

"I know, Lucille. I know there were kids, but I don't know what happened because you are my priority," Bucky grabbed my face again with his flesh hand while his metal hand tightened its grip on my hip to keep me down.

A sob rippled up my throat and burst out at his words. I tried to look through blurry tear-filled eyes out at the sky, but I couldn't see anything but the treetops and bits of blue sky. "Oh Buck," I collapse against him, digging my nails into his shoulder blades as my arms wrap around him in a vise grip. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me into his lap as he falls back on his bottom. His legs fan out as I spread out, crying ugly tears for the unknown fates of my friends.

Until we heard footsteps.

Bucky tightened his grip on me, and his body went rigid. His head lifted from my neck. "Close your eyes, dove," he whispered in my ear as he let go of me and slid out of my arms. I pulled my legs forward and hugged my knees to my chest. I could hear cries of pain, shouts of anger, Bucky's feral growls of panic and murderous intentions, gunshots that tightened my chest. And then it went silent. "Just a few more minutes, okay?"

"Okay," I whimpered, against the skin that tasted of burnt hairs on my arms.

It wasn't too long before I could hear Bucky's footsteps coming closer, I waited until his hands, one warm and one cold, grasped my forearms and pulled them away from my face, my head lifted, and my eyes opened to take in the way he looked. He was bloody but I wasn't sure if it was his blood, mine or whoever it was that attacked us and he had black soot on half his face, ripped clothes and a busted lip. He looked absolutely stunning.

"Lucky," he touched my face with the back of his hand. "Keep your eyes on me, baby. I'm going to lift you up and take you away from here, we have to get away."

"What about the others?" My dry and sore throat made my voice sound like a toad's croak, but I ignored it, snuggling up in his arms for his warmth and calm. He picked me up and held me tight to his chest. I dug my face into his dirty henley and inhaled deeply, getting the faint smell of his musk along with smoke and copper from blood.

"I'll come back," he promised before he took off running in an unknown direction. 

AN:

I wrote something similar on my other story that is active, but I am incredibly sorry that I haven't posted anything in so long, I haven't had the motivation to write given how my personal life has been and I hope you guys are patient with me. I love you all and I appreciate you for reading these little stories that fly through my noggin.