Stucky One Shots

Distrustful-Steve, Post Winter Soldier-Bucky

Steve runs around Central Park, his blonde hair flopping over his forehead and his strides even. He'd been running for about an hour straight in the bright, hot sunlight, but wasn't ready to head home quite yet. He was trying to calm himself down and figured that Bucky would need to do the same.

Steve got bad panic attacks and had anxiety from when Bucky- Winter Soldier mode, that is- beat him. He couldn't shake the fact that his best friend who always promised to protect him hurt him so. He told himself forcefully that it wasn't Bucky's fault, it was Hydra, but translation was lost between his heart and his mind. He hadn't told Bucky this either; if Bucky ever reverted back to Winter Soldier mode, Steve just would pretend to be okay, force himself to make it through but always dissapeared when Bucky was back to normal, he usually went up to the roof. Bucky never mentioned it if he did find out the reason why.

Earlier on that day, Bucky had had a drawback to being the Winter Soldier, and his metal hand had closed around Steve's throat. The blonde's eyes widened and he completely froze, trying to take a breath. Eventually Bucky let go and Steve was out of there quickly.

Steve wipes his forehead and swallows, panting a little as he goes. He figured he should probably stop sometime soon. He sees the brunette walking towards him and he sighs a little to himself, swallowing. He goes and fetches his water bottle, then sits under the shade of a spruce tree. Bucky approaches him quietly, he sits beside him.

"Hey." He says quietly and Steve glances at him, he takes a sip of his water before answering.

"Hey." He replies, looking back down at his lap. He felt awful, Bucky didn't deserve this, but he honestly didn't know what to do about it.

"You okay?" Bucky asks, still in a quiet voice, which let Steve know that he was trying to keep calm and that he felt bad. Steve nods a little.

"Sorry." He sighs, leaning against the tree. Bucky nods and puts his hands in his lap.

"Are you ever gonna tell me why?" He asks, looking up at him. Steve keeps his gaze downcast and shakes his head slowly. Bucky sighs impatiently through his nose and folds his arms, trying to keep his cool. This is not the first time he's asked.

"Okay. I'm heading home, alright?" He informs him quietly, Steve nods. The brunette gently kisses his forehead before getting up and wandering off. Steve watches him go and swallows, clenching his right hand into a fist and quickly releasing it, doing this a couple times. It's what he did when he was stressed.

Eventually he himself gets up and heads home, to find the Winter Soldier waiting for him. Bucky had been having more of these happenings lately, and nobody knew why.

Steve sees him standing there and he swallows audibly, clenching his fist. He forces himself to remain calm.

"Bucky, it's me, remember?" He says evenly, watching him warily. The brunette doesn't react, just stares at him. He pounces at him and Steve goes to fight back but has a flashback hit him.

"You! Are! My! Mission!" Bucky yelled, his fist connecting with Steve's face between each word. Steve could taste the tang of his blood in his mouth, his eye was aching and swollen shut, and his head jerked back with each hit. He stared up with his good eye at his best friend, who had been the one always to pull him back out of a fist fight, usually ones he lost. He couldn't afford to lose this one, against his best friend.

Earlier on, Steve had been just about to put the final chip into place. He heard the shot from the bullet and felt fear rise up moments before the bullet found its target in his back, shooting all the way through out his stomach. He heard himself gasp, his eyes widen as the pain kicked in. He couldn't believe that his best friend, his Bucky, did that.

"Steve? Steve!" Bucky exclaims, he'd literally just snapped out of being the Winter Soldier. The blonde was curled up against the couch, a trembling mess. Bucky puts his hands on his shoulders and shakes him gently, Steve buries his face into his arms. He was still halfway in the flashback.

"Don't." Steve whispers shakily, curling up and trembling. Bucky slowly pulls back.

"I won't hurt you, Steve." He whispers almost incredulously, sitting back on his heels. The blonde sniffles and Bucky freezes, thinking, was Steve actually crying? He watches him worriedly and the blonde slowly sits up, Bucky goes to put a hand on his shoulder and Steve flinches away. Bucky feels as if he was punched in the gut, he lowers his arm.

Steve hides his face out of shame, he could feel Bucky's eyes watching him. He rubs his face, which was wet from his tears, and his cheeks burn from embarrassment. Bucky again gently lays a hand on his shoulder and Steve wipes his eyes. He breaks down, his head falling onto Bucky's shoulder. Bucky freezes, not sure what to do, he feels Steve wrap his arms around him.
"I'm sorry, Bucky." Steve whispers, hiding his face. Bucky gently hugs him back and makes sure to be careful and have slow movements. He hugs the blonde and slowly rubs his back, Steve cries and Bucky does his best to comfort him.

"What's going on, Stevie?" Bucky asks softly. The blonde buries his head down farther and practically tries to dissapear.

"I get panic attacks and flashbacks and I have anxiety and I should have told you sooner but this all happened after the Winter Soldier incident and I'm so sorry." Steve whimpers, hugging him just a bit tighter. Bucky sighs and closes his eyes; of course that was the reason, and he never knew.

"You never told me. Why?" Bucky asks, Steve shakes his head, he was no longer trembling. The brunette sighs a little. After a while Steve falls asleep, still in his arms. Bucky holds him close, but gently, he never wanted to hurt him.

Steve wakes to find himself in bed and no sign of the brunette. He rubs his eyes and sits up, looking around.

"Bucky?" He calls out, however softly, and the brunette pokes his head around the corner. He smiles softly at the blonde and walks in.

"Morning, Stevie." He says quietly, sitting on the edge of the bed. The blonde sits up, blushing a little, remembering last night clearly.

"I'm sorry." They both say at the same time. Bucky smiles and shakes his head a little.

"You should have told me sooner." He sighs to Steve, who looks down and nods.

"Yeah." He agrees, sighing. Bucky rubs the back of his neck.

"So if I try to get a hold on this Winter Soldier thing, you'll trust me not to hurt you?" Bucky says, Steve nods shyly. The brunette nods and kisses his forehead.

"I love you, you know." Steve says quietly, looking up into Bucky's blue-green eyes. Bucky smiles and ruffles his hair.

"I love you too, Stevie." He replies, smiling softly at him. The blonde blushes and nods.

It took so long; probably half a year? But the blonde eventually healed, and he asked Bucky to marry him. Of course, the brunette agreed and the pair got married. There were still flashbacks, still Winter Soldier incidents, but they tackled them together, as a team. They lived good lives; adopted two kids, Lily and Evette, and lived long lives.