Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier Imagines

I'll always be here.

You throw a towel into your workout bag, along with a water bottle, wraps, boxing gloves, and an extensive set of practice knives.

Knives were kinda your thing.

You zip it closed, and exit your room, walking down the hall towards the gym. You walk in to find Bucky attacking a punching bag, a murderous look on his face.

You can't help but notice the dark stubble that lines his jaw, and the dark shadows underneath his vibrant blue eyes. Those amazing eyes, so full of pain and suffering.

Even after he'd been rescued from HYDRA he still looked so broken, so beaten down. You're meant to be an agent, a soldier.

But seeing Bucky like this, pure pain and suffering, could break anyone.

You drop your bag on the benches that line one side of the room, and start stretching. You've never been terribly flexible, but you knew the importance of warming up properly. Grabbing your set of practice knives, you stroll over the targets, looking at Bucky out of the corner of your eye. You start with one of your smaller knives, throwing it deftly at the target, where it landed right in the middle of the heart*. You throw a few more, then an idea flashes through your head. Smiling wickedly, you pick out the smallest of your knives, deftly positioning them between your fingers. You look at Bucky out of the corner of your eye, who seems to have stopped trying to destroy the punching bag. Looking back to the target in front of you, you take one knife in your (left/right) hand, and take a deep breath. Eyes on the target, you throw the first knife. While the first is in the air, you're already taking the second, and preparing to throw. By the time the first knife has hit the target, the second is in the air and the third is in your hand.

Bucky's definitely watching you now.

You throw the final knife, and turn to look at Bucky. He cautiously steps out from behind the punching bag to look at your target. When he sees it, a faint smile pulls at his lips.

In typical Y/N fashion, you'd written a message on a target using knives.

A message that said: U OK?

He turns back to the punching bag, but you keep looking at him.

"So?" you ask, now twiddling another knife around your fingers. He pauses mid-punch, and his shoulder tense slightly. You don't say anything, not wanting to scare him off.

"I think I've been better", Bucky mumbles, barely audible.

"What do you mean?" you ask gently, taking a few steps towards him.

"I-I don't remember", he says quietly, his hands falling to his sides. You just wait for him to continue. He clears his throat.

"I don't remember if I used to be better or not". You take a few more steps, and you're standing right beside him. You lift your hand to put on his arm, but think better of it, and take his hand. He immediately tenses at the contact, but he holds on.

"You'll remember one day Buck, you will", you encourage, gently squeezing his hand.

"Everything comes back one day. Everything". He opens his mouth to respond, but quickly closes it.

"I know that you think it'll never come back. But trust me. It does". Silent tears slip down his cheeks, and he bows his head, his hair shrouding his face.

"I'll always be here, Bucky. Because I understand", you whisper, giving his hand one last squeeze. You take a few steps back from him.

"I'll always be here".

*I'm using the person-shaped targets for this, fyi

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Enjoy! Only short, but I hope it's good :)