My little shadow (Bucky Barnes)

31

When my eyes meet his the world stops, my legs are the only ones moving. Even without the metal arm J catches me when I throw myself at him. I hug him and bury my face in the crook of his neck.

"Love å aldri la meg gå uten deg," Promise to never let me go without you, he whispers.

"Du måtte gå," You were supposed to go.

"Jeg har savnet deg så mye," I missed you so much, he whispers in my ear.

"Du mer," You more.

I don't know how long we held each other, but we were interrupted by Steve coughing. J lets me fall to the ground and I turn to him. A knowing look goes from Steve to J, but J quickly averts it.

"Are you okay?" he asks worriedly.

"Yeah, give me a high five," and I raise both hands.

He looks at me with a mixture of amusement and annoyance, because he only has one hand. "Very funny," he laughs falsely, "I'll remember this and one day it will all pay off,"

I smile and give him a friendly fist bump in the chest.

Steve clears his throat again and I return to the present.

"What do you want to do to us?" I ask almost defiantly.

"We want to put you to sleep, at least for now," says a girl's voice. I don't recognize her. "I'm Shuri," she says, offering me her hand with a smile.

I don't shake it, but J behind me does.

I look at Shuri very carefully and try to analyze her. She's still a little girl. I don't like children.

"And for how long?" asks J.

"As little as possible. As soon as we find a cure we'll thaw you out,"

"And how can we trust you,"

"I trust..." Steve begins.

"I'll guarantee it," says a man's voice. The black cat, or rather the black panther.

I jump. "What the fuck is going on here?" Why doesn't he try to kill us?

"I admit I was wrong. You two were victims of Hydra too. And I don't want to hunt victims,"

"I almost killed you,"

"You defended yourself, and I understand that,"

The room falls silent.

He's right. He's a good man. I tried to kill him, but it was in defense. But that doesn't lessen my guilt, in fact it amplifies it, because the Black Panther is good.

But there's something that doesn't convince me. I don't want to go back to the ice.

"I don't want to do this," I whisper. He's probably thought I'm spoiled lately, but I have this instinct that tells me to go to a remote place and live alone, just me and J. No one to disturb our peace. Peace. This is what I search for, but never find. I need a break. A lifelong break, away from all this.

"Everything will be okay," he says and hugs me.

But this time I trust.