Luminous//bucky barnes

one//carmen

Most other 20 year olds live on their own because they're in college, they have a well-paying job, or they really hate their parents. But as for me, I'm not any of those types of people. I live on my own to protect my mother. I live on my own because of mi don, my gift. It's more of a curse, really. See, not long before my father died, my family and I were driving on a desolate road as a shortcut to get to a party, when suddenly, miles away, there was an explosion that literally flung us off the road. I'd never been sure, but I think what happened was some weird radioactive waves affected me and made me different. Ever since then, I had been able to control light.

It happened when I was 15, and for a while, I didn't even know about it. But one day in my geometry class, I was tapping my fingers on my desk, one of my worst habits, all of the lights in the ceiling of the room just... exploded. And even then, I didn't truly know until I had gone home that afternoon to test it out on my lightbulb. Needless to say, my life was never really the same after that. Somehow, maybe with the help of God, I managed to keep my secret under wraps from everybody at school, but once I graduated, things started getting weird. One trip to the doctor's office to get a blood test (insisted by my mother, who didn't know at the time,) and all of a sudden strange people started lurking around my house, stalking me, and even harassing me on the streets. It was then I told my mama what had happened to me. Soon after, I left home to keep her safe.

At first, living alone was scary. I didn't know anybody, I was all the way across the country from my closest family member, and I was living in a small apartment all by myself. That's when I decided to get my dog, Ginger; Ging for short. Ging made me feel safer at home, but inevitably, I still had to go outside every once in a while to buy food. In fact, food was the only thing I ever left the apartment to get. Of course, I obviously had to have a job in order to pay for my reclusive lifestyle. Before the incident, I had planed on becoming a nurse; good pay, a job is always guaranteed, and it had been my dream since I was a little girl. But as I got older I realized a fundamental truth about life- dreams seldom come true. So instead I got a job at the uppity clothing shop two streets away from me. The pay was big enough for me to survive on a weekly basis, seeing as all I had to pay for was an apartment and food (I didn't own a car, it would be completely useless for me, and I got an employee discount at the store for all of my clothes.) I realized during my first month alone that the one job wasn't enough to pay for a phone, water, or electric bill either, so I picked up another job on the side where I waited tables at an expensive restaurant near where the clothing store was. I had figured out earlier that if you get jobs at expensive places, you often get a better pay. You know how in school, you only have time for two out of three things- a social life, good grades, and sleep? Well, that was the position my jobs put me in, only instead of good grades, it was being in shape. Lucky for me, I had made the executive decision long before to quit trying to be friends with everyone and get as far as I could in life with no distractions. The only semi-interactive thing I do is swim for an indoor club team. I suppose it's good to be healthy and occasionally talk to people, but it's all I'm willing to do at this point.

Any adult you meet will most likely tell you this about growing up- "It's not that bad." But that's not true. It is bad. I just think that they've been grown up so long, they forget how awful it actually is. Take it from a girl who was forced to grow up all too quickly because of a freak accident and a government experiment gone wrong.

And as for the people following me thing? Yeah, that never stops. I'll be walking home at night after my shift ends and I get one of two things: Some gross guy catcalling me (because that definitely makes a girl want to go out with you!), or a creepier guy following me to try and take advantage of my powers. It's why I always have 911 on speed dial.

But who wants to hear about my troubled life, right? You all came here for a story. Mine- well, my most recent one- happened after S.H I.E.L.D. was corrupted by H.Y.D.R.A. and all of the Avengers went into hiding, or something like that. You know how people started saying that after that, the Winter Soldier had escaped and was roaming the streets? (Yeah, well, they weren't kidding. I know that now.) I've always been a person who doesn't take risks, so I believed them.  Tonight as I was walking back home, though, thats when my beliefs were confirmed- at least, that's what I'm telling myself. I was leaving the restaurant and, of course, some creep had the audacity to call out to me saying, "Hey babe! Looking for a good time?" I ignored him of course, I kept telling myself if you don't pay him attention, he'll leave you alone eventually. Only the sick bastard wouldn't back off. Instead, he got closer to me, about five steps behind me to be exact, and he kept harassing me. "Hey, darling, didn't you hear me talking to you? Answer me!" He yelled, before grabbing me all of a sudden and shoving me against a wall. His face was uncomfortably close to mine, and I craned my neck in a different direction to try and put space between us. That's when I saw him for the first time... in person, that is. He had appeared out of thin air, it had seemed, and he grabbed the man's jacket to rip him way from me. The creep turned to him, and looked like he was about to strike, but the other guy beat him to the punch- literally. He hit the guy about five of six times before throwing him against a wall, then turning to me. My breath hitched in my throat, for a moment I was terrified because I didn't know what his intentions were.

"Are you alright?" He asked. It caught me off guard.

"Huh?" I questioned, not sure if I heard right the first time.

"I wanted to make sure you were alright," he clarified. I nodded, thankful but weary of his intentions. He hesitated before turning around and going off in the opposite direction.

"Wait!" I called out in confusion. "Thank you!" I figured I would not be able to get him to stop, so I just thanked him and hoped he heard me. After the events of tonight I just wanted to go home and sleep. I had swam for roughly two hours non-stop before getting to work, one hour ago, and I hadn't had any time to rest before that. I know swimming doesn't seem that physically taxing, but I promise you it is. It's not like running or playing soccer or football or something. You're pulling your entire bodyweight back and forth and back and forth and your feet can't touch the ground (1. because that would be an instant dequalification and 2. how would you even touch the bottom of a pool in a practice or meet? The water's pretty deep and you're supposed to be able to breathe while you swim). And with all of the flip turns and accidentally swallowing half the pool because sometimes breathing gets very, very tricky, you feel extremely worn out and tired after you get out of the pool.

And your legs feel like jelly, too, which is fun.

But anyways, back to my apartment I headed, with Ginger being the only thing on my mind. (She hadn't been outside in three hours, poor baby was suffering). I turned the corner which my apartment was on and at the end of the block, saw a quick shimmer of something metallic hide behind a building. That's strange, I thought, What could that possibly have been? But I decided to pay it no mind and just get back to Ging. I entered the building and walked up three flights of stairs to my door before opening it and being cheerfully greeted by her jumping on me and licking my face. "Hey Ging! Hiya! Hello puppy!" I called to her in a voice that a mother would use with her newborn child. I poured her a bowl of food and set it down on the floor to let her eat before walking to the couch and turning on the T.V.

"...and an experiment from the corporation HYDRA, whom most know as the Winter Soldier, was reported by many after the attacks, we are told he was out to do away with our country's beloved Captain America. He is reported as a tall, white male, possibly in his 20's and/or 30's, with long dark hair and, interestingly enough, a metal arm. If you have any information regarding this man, please contact authorities."

After that I tuned the man out as a thought occurred to me. The man who saved me was tall and had long dark hair. And, when i turned the corner, I spotted a glimpse of something shiny that could've resembled an arm if I considered it. That couldn't have been him... could it?