A/N: I probably be in a marvel phase for a while.
Soulmate AU
Bucky Barnes has only one thing in mind, and it is what fuels him forward, makes him get up and fight. It's the name written on his left forearm, a name he has come to know better than his, a name that acts as the catalyst for his dreams of better days.
Bucky Barnes trails his fingertips over the letters etched on his skin countless times. He daydreams about her, meeting her, loving her, holding her. She is what makes him move when all he wants to do is curl up into a fetal position and wither away into obliviousness.
Bucky Barnes knows that he has to go back home, that she will be waiting for him back in the place he grew up in. He knows he has to survive this terrible war, that he has to be better, because she's waiting for him. Bucky lives for her, breathes for the sole purpose of one day setting his eyes on her, tolerates everything because it'll all lead him straight into her arms.
Bucky Barnes sometimes cradles his own arm in his sleep, pretending it's her. He figures that if her name is close to his heart, she'll be safe. He smiles when he thinks of her seeing his name on her skin. 'James Buchanan Barnes.' He hopes that his name holds the same meaning that hers to him.
Bucky Barnes knows that he loves her, even if he hasn't set eyes on her yet. He knows that every fiber of his being is screaming out for her, wishing safety upon her, praying to God that she is happy, even if he's not there to witness every good moment in her life.
Bucky Barnes has never told anyone her name. It's his secret and he doesn't want anyone else to play a part in their meeting. He knows they will one day come together and no one will have to be involved in order for things to happen. Steve tries to coax it out of him, but Bucky puts his foot down and punk decides to back off. He knows better.
Soulmates are sacred. They are solely yours from the moment you are born until your dying breath. He likes the idea of her being only his to know, to love. Yes, other people have seen her and maybe she turns a few heads when she enters a room, but Bucky feels honored to be the one she will love unconditionally for her whole life.
He grabs on to hopes of going home to see her when he's captured, experimented on. The pain is almost unbearable as it sears hot through him, penetrating every nerve and he can't tell left from right, but he knows that if he gets through this, he'll be able to see her. She is the goal, and he just has to keep running.
Bucky doesn't know how much time goes on before Steve is rescuing him from the torture. Steve is now bigger, taller, and Bucky can't believe it but it seems right. They make it out of it alive and even though Steve insists that he should go back to Brooklyn, Bucky refuses and fights besides his best friend.
Through it all, through all the missions and the slaughter, through the pain that comes with every loss of life, Bucky grits his teeth and perseveres. She is there and sometime she swears that he can feel her presence around him. But then reality sets in and Bucky knows it's all in his mind.
When he falls off the train, reaching out to grab at Steve's hand, her name echoes in his thoughts.
He lies in the pristinely white snow and somewhere across it, he can see her name. Initially, he thinks he is just seeing it on the snow, his mind is trying to find a way to cope with all of the pain coursing through him. But the snow is turning a deep shade of red and Bucky realizes he can't move his left arm. It's too far away from him and he can't move his fingers.
He screams, but it's useless and his consciousness is swallowed up by an abysmal darkness that he will not wake up from in a long time.
"Y/N!" a voice calls out. You turn your head and your eyes meet Sam Wilson's, prompting a wide grin from you.
"Sam!"
You hug each other, embracing tightly before you're pulling away and Sam is introducing you to the handsome blond man he's having lunch with.
"Nice to meet you, miss," he says, with an air of politeness that is rare to see nowadays.
"Likewise," you answer.
Sam invites you to sit down with him and that is how you become friends with none other than Captain America himself.
Being a history buff, you eventually grow close enough to wheedle stories from him and listen, enraptured, to every word that he says. People usually annoy him, make Steve uncomfortable, but there's something about you that makes it easy for him. You're a calming presence to him and he's reminded of the way he felt whenever he was around Bucky.
He tells you about his childhood and when the time comes for him to relay the story of his best friend, James Buchanan Barnes, you freeze.
If Steve isn't lying, James Barnes died when he fell off a train in the war, as the Howling Commandos went after Hydra.
But James Buchanan Barnes is also the name that is engraved on your skin. James Buchanan Barnes is the man chosen for you. James Buchanan Barnes is the one you're meant to love.
Steve furrows his brow and the corners of his lips tilt down. He asks you what's wrong, but you only smile and shake your head. You're not ready to tell him.
Your lives intermingle and eventually, he's introducing you to one of his closest friends, Natasha Romanoff. She smirks as she hears your name and a memory flits through her thoughts.
