Damaged

Stark and Banner

"Nat, can I get you anything?" I shook my head at Bucky, his hand moving up to my cheek, my eyes closing at his touch. They'd had to take a blood sample, and I was pretty sure I'd bruised Bucky's hand with how hard I'd held onto him "Natalie. I'm worried about you, you haven't stopped shaking..." He sat down next to me, and I immediately leaned against him, my hands trembling in my lap. They'd left an IV port attached to my right hand, and I fidgeted with it for a moment before Bucky stopped me.

"I hate this..." I mumbled under my breath as his fingers softly ran through my hair, my head resting against his chest, my body finally calming enough that I wasn't shaking "Bucky, I... I don't know if I can do this..."

"Nat..."

"I know they're helping me, trying to help me, but... I don't know if I'm worth all this." My free hand motioned towards the lab where Banner and Stark were talking to each other, and Bucky gently took my outstretched hand, pulling it back and holding it against his chest. I noticed that he too, had a bandage on his arm, where they must have drawn his blood to compare it to mine...

"Don't you dare say that... don't you dare. Natalie... look at me." I glanced up at him, into his piercing blue eyes that were filled with worry. He shook his head at me, pulling me into his lap so I could be closer to him "I felt drawn to you even before I knew your story..." he was cut off when Stark walked around the corner, and he had a huge grin on his face when he saw how we were sitting.

"Hey you two, get a room!" He laughed out loud, walking closer to the bench, and Bucky moved me so I was sitting next to him, but he still held tightly to my hand "Nat. We're ready to talk to you about what we've learned." I took a deep breath and slowly stood up, stumbling forward a bit, my body still a bit weak from the stress of everything that I'd gone through today, and I quickly felt Bucky's arm grabbing onto mine, supporting me as he was suddenly standing in front of me.

"As I was saying earlier..." Bucky was whispering in my ear as we walked down the hallway to the door of the lab, and his breath was warm against my neck "I care about you, a lot, and I'm going to do whatever I can to make you believe that you're worth the trouble..."
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Bucky hadn't let go of my hand the entire time that Stark and Banner spoke to us. But at least now we had some preliminary answers right? Apparently, whatever serum they'd tried to use on me had been a rushed formula... things were left out, or added, and that's why it hadn't worked on me at first, why it had been a very delayed effect "You're lucky it wasn't much worse." Banner had said that to me, as he hooked up an IV line to my hand, to give me something that he said would calm down the effect of being so cold all the time.
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"Nat?" Bucky gently shook me awake from the couch, where I had collapsed as soon as we got back to the apartment "Sorry... you were gasping for breath, Stark told me to watch..." He hesitated, his hand moving up to my face, my eyes were glowing a bright blue color but they closed as his thumb ran softly along my chin "... He said what they gave you could potentially have some pretty bad side effects..." I sighed, stretching my arms in front of my body as I struggled to sit myself up, grumbling under my breath at how sore I still was.

"Have you slept at all tonight Bucky?" I rubbed my tired eyes, the couch sinking with his weight as he sat down next to me and wrapped his metal arm around my shoulder, pulling me as close to him as he could.

"I was too worried about you Nat. I can't stand the thought of something bad happening to you, when I'm right here..." Bucky turned so we were facing each other, his warm fingers delicately tracing the outlines of the tattoos on my right arm, stopping when they got to my scar "Forgive me but..." Suddenly, his lips were crashing against mine, it was quick, over before I could properly react, and as he pulled away, he muttered another apology under his breath before he stood up from the couch and walked around the corner into the kitchen. My hands trembled in my lap as I replayed the moment in my mind, as I tried to understand the emotions he'd triggered in me. I'd never felt anything like this, ever. I had just accepted before meeting him... that I would never be able to be with someone... to kiss someone...

"God damnit James." I muttered under my breath, my head resting in my hands, my chest tightening, my entire body felt like it wanted to be cold, but whatever it was that they'd given me, was working, to an extent. My body just felt sort of, numb, physically. I felt tears forming in my eyes, slipping through my fingers and falling against the carpet, my senses making them sound like heavy bolts being dropped on a tile floor. I jumped when I heard Bucky walk back into the room, his heart was racing and the closer he got to me, the louder it sounded...

"I'm sorry, but I've been thinking about doing that since I first saw you when Steve brought you to the apartment..." He knelt on the floor in front of me, carefully pulling my hands away from my face "I'd like to try again, if that's alright with you..." I bit my lip, looking down at him, studying the way his eyes were concentrated on me, and I finally gave him a slight nod, his entire body seeming to relax as he sat down next to me again, his hands slowing moving towards my face, his fingers delicately tracing the outline of my lips, causing a shiver to travel over my entire body. Bucky's lips met mine again, and this time he lingered for a minute before pulling away, and then kissing me again, and I could tell that he was smiling when my hands moved behind his neck, my fingers delving into his hair as I tried to get even closer to him.

"There's someone coming up the stairs..." I was out of breath as I slowly pulled away from him, my heart pounding in my chest as my hands came to rest against his shoulders. I didn't want this moment to end...