❝Just know that from this point on, whatever happens, I'll be with you. I'm not gonna leave your side until you tell me to.❞
. . .in which she helps him find his way back to himself.
[BOOK ONE]
[Highest ranking: #1 in MCU/fanfiction as of 5/26/18]
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ONE WEEK LATER: SEPTEMBER 23, 2014
★ ★ ★
Bucky sat on the porch steps outside of Sam's house, the sounds of birds chirping and cars passing by driving him into insanity. It had been a week since he had seen the picture of Marlena—the one that had brought his world crashing down—but he felt as if he had just seen it. That's how fresh the pain was, how much it still hurt him. It angered him even more that the world around him went on.
People still strolled down the sidewalk, laughing and talking away. The birds still flew from tree to tree, singing songs that made Bucky want to rip his hair out. How could the rest of the world be the same without Marlena when he felt as if his whole world was turned upside down?
The voices of a woman and her son caught Bucky's attention and he tore his gaze away from the ground, his eyes as blue as the sky landing on the two as the walked along the sidewalk. The boy was trailing behind the mother and every once in a while she would stop and turn around to check on him. As a car came, she held out her hand and he took it, just in time for her to pull him to her left so that she was on the side of the sidewalk facing the street.
That was love. Bucky had not realized that the smallest of gestures could be out of love until he met Marlena, but now, he understood. The mother and her son were strangers to him, but he was reminded of two very important people in his life as he watched them walk hand in hand—Miranda and Mason.
He stood up quickly, running a hand through his hair. He still hadn't told them. He wasn't sure why; maybe it was because he was too blinded by his rage to think about anything other than killing every last soldier of Hydra. Or maybe it was because he felt overwhelmed with grief at the same time; Marlena was dead because of him. She was killed to send a message—a message meant for him.
As realization struck Bucky, he hurried back into the house to fetch Sam's house phone. It was only now that he wished he hadn't destroyed Sam's computer, despite the heart-wrenching picture that had been displayed on the screen. Now he needed that picture, he needed that picture in order to locate the ones that took his Marlena away from him. According to the word document, the inscriptions on the wall would tell him exactly where they were located, and Bucky had a very strong feeling about what those inscriptions could be.
He dialed the number that Maria Hill had given them in case they needed to contact her, and he waited about three rings before the sound of her voice echoed inside his head.
He took a deep breath and ran a hand over his face, unsure of how he was supposed to go about the situation. He didn't want to see the picture; seeing Marlena in such a lifeless state as that was the last thing that he wanted to see, but if he wanted to find these people and make them pay for what they did he had no choice but to look at it.
"Maria," Bucky spoke, his voice sounding seemingly broken. "I need you to do something for me, please."
"Bucky?" It had been a week since she had heard from any one of them, and the fact that she was only hearing from Bucky made her feel worse in regards to the situation involving Marlena. She was sure he hated her for not trying harder, and thinking about it only made her want to hang up the phone. She didn't, though.
