PSYCHE | AVENGERS

Innocent Man

We were about to land, and for some reason I had a really bad feeling. I was looking at Steve who was piloting the plane. He was tense, more than usual. I didn't need to read his mind to know what he was thinking. We both knew, just like us, Tony wasn't going to stop.

Remember what I said about Steve and Tony being so similar they didn't even notice? This right here spoke for itself. They both believed they were doing the right thing and were both going to stop until they accomplished what they had in mind. No matter the casualties, because after all, to them, it's casual damage that justifies the greater good. Both would die and kill if it meant protecting the people they loved. Unfortunately for everyone at the moment, that was exactly what they were both doing. Protecting the people they loved in the way they knew how.

"You okay there, doll?" Bucky asked, making me shift my gaze from Steve to him.

There was that word again. 'Doll'. At first I thought it was a slip, now I wasn't so sure.

My cheeks grew hot as I looked at his blue eyes.

"You called me that earlier." I recalled. "Why?"

"Don't try to change the subject." He said with a witty smile.

It hit me.

Was I dreaming, or was Bucky Barnes finally showing me his true colors?

From Steve told me from the 40s, Bucky used to be a lady's man. A playful, loyal, funny, lady's man. A part of me couldn't help but feel happy that he was starting to let his walls down around me. It felt nice.

"Isn't that what you just did right there?" I asked smiling back at him as I slightly rose an eyebrow.

"Touché." He said as he let out a soft chuckle.

He stayed quiet a couple seconds, contemplating what to say next. Dare I say, not reading his mind right then and there was one of the hardest things I had to do.

"'Doll' is just something that men used to call women back in the day. I always quite liked it." He said with a reminiscing smile, as if he was thinking about the good old days. "Do you not like it?" He asked cautiously as he looked at me.

I stared at him for a few seconds, you know, to cause the drama effect.

"I like it." I admitted, relieving him. "It's not so common nowadays."

He smiled appreciatively at me.

More silence came upon us. I knew this meant it was now my turn to be honest.

"I was thinking about Steve and Tony."

"What about them?" Bucky asked me.

"They're so much alike, but no one ever pays enough attention to see it." I explain.

"Really?" Bucky asked, not convinced. "The guy who gathered a team to catch us, mainly me, and him?" He asked as he pointed at Steve. "I don't buy it."

"Believe it or not, I have a beautiful friendship with both." I said smiling proudly, until I thought better about what I had just said. "At least I had..." I sighed sadly. "Hopefully one day you'll see it."

"From what I saw today, don't count on it, doll." He said apologetically.

"That's what I'm afraid of." I said sadly before looking back at Steve.

All I wanted was to stop Zemo and prove Tony that we were right, and Bucky was not the bad guy. Easy enough, right?

Once we landed, the three of us took the opportunity to get as much armed as we could. We didn't know what we were going to face, we just knew it wasn't going to be easy.