BATTLE BORN ; Bucky Barnes

eighteen ;

Scout found an empty room to get ready in, she felt her chest constricting. She was going to war with the only person that she let herself trust. Natasha had sided with Stark, and now she was alone. Sure, Clint was also on Strike Team Delta, but Natasha and Scout had shared life experience, they were both held in captivity and made into a weapon, and they both forged their own escapes. Then there was the matter of Stark. She liked Tony, even considered him a friend, she tried to stick up for him whenever she could, she almost agreed with him, they needed Government cooperation, they needed to work with the 117 countries, but she couldn't let him persecute Barnes for something he hadn't done. Scout didn't know Rhodey or Vision that well, in fact, she'd met Rhodey a total of once, at a Gala held by Stark Industries, and she had been in hiding with her James when Vision was -- born? Could she use the word born? Or would 'created' fit better? Either way, she didn't know the other two, but she didn't want to fight them. Then there was the kid. She'd got a coded message from Natasha with the words QUEENS and SPIDER. From there she'd been able to figure out exactly what Tony had planned. He was going to bring a KID into the fight. A mere 15 or 16-year-old child into this war that he had no part in. Then there were the people she was going to have to fight to protect. Captain America, Steve, he didn't trust her after what happened in New York, but she couldn't blame him, luckily their time working together when they were wanted by SHIELD was enough to make him forgive and trust her again. Sam, she'd fallen right in with Sam straight away and no matter how much their views differed, Scout didn't want him to get hurt. Wanda, another that she had only just met, but she looked young too, she couldn't have been older than her late teens or early twenties, and by the sounds of her files, she had shared life experience with Nat and Scout. Clint, her twin, her second best friend, she could not, and would not, see him hurt. Audrey, Audrey made Scout no better than Tony. She'd brought a 16-year-old girl into this war. The only difference was that Audrey had looked death in the face and gave him the bird. Audrey was tough, and she wouldn't be dying. That left one member of the team that she didn't even want to think about. James, her James. He had been through hell and back and now he had to fight for his freedom again. Even if they weren't on speaking terms, she would still put her life down to protect his, it was no longer a case of repaying Steve, it was no longer a debt she owed, it was her own decision, fuelled by her own emotions, and it felt real. It was not what she had been told to do, it was not an order, it was a choice she made with her own free will, and if there was only one who had to die, it would be her. Scout had accepted the fact that she would die for anyone, regardless of which side they stood on. Her almost-sister, her twin, her adopted superhero child, her friends, her James, none of them would be hurt today. The panic had truly set in once Scout had realised all of this. Her chest tightened and her breathing was a struggle. She took a large stride and punched the rough concrete wall, over and over, until the blood started to flow from her knuckles. Then she realised that it was a bad idea to punch a wall so she sat down on a bench in the empty room, her civilian clothes half off and her fireproof suit half on. Scout put her head in her hands and heaved a sob her spine curled over, crying because oh dear god it hurt, everything had come crashing down on her and the weight of it hurt. Her salty tears stung on the raw skin of her knuckles, then the door opened again, initially, she thought it was Audrey, as she was supposed to get changed after Scout, but the heavy footsteps proved her wrong.
"Brighton." It was Bucky.
"Why are you here?" She said, holding back sobs. He had been nothing but cold to her after all she had done for him.
"I hurt you." He completely ignored her, pulling out antiseptic and gauze. He didn't mean physically, although she still had the brusies on her cheekbones and her spine from the fight at the Compound while he was in Winter Solider mode. He crouched down in front of her, pulling her hands away from her eyes and inspecting them. He began wiping the blood away and cleaning her knuckles with the antiseptic, it stung like a bitch, but she kept the pain in. They sat there in the dark and silence, each putting aside their short term hate for the other, just to make sure they were okay. He held her small hands in his large ones and began thinking about how small she really was. With her powers, she seemed larger than life, she was always there, protecting him, a loud presence that he could never get away from, but in the dark and silence of the room, she was so small, her hands could probably fit in his twice over, and they were still bleeding, he began wrapping the gauze around her hands, and she thought about how big he really was, he always seemed small unless he was fighting, he was always quiet and little and you never noticed he was there, but now, she saw how he was really a lot bigger than her, no matter how much she tried to hide it. He finished her first hand and she let it drop limply to her side and he began bandaging her second hand, wrapping the gauze gently, but firmly. Tears were still rolling down her cheeks, but they were silent now. Silent like the two of them. She looked up at him, staring him down, and noticing for the first time the tiniest of scars that ran along his face, she took a small cloth from next to her and wiped his face, slowly and carefully, revealing the small amount of stubble and lots of cuts and scratches. But it was that one scar that completely entranced her. His eyes had flecks of grey in them and that one tiny scar, she wondered about its story, how it had got there. Meanwhile, he was looking at her, staring her down. He noticed her facial structure, in pictures he'd seen she used to have blonde hair and chubby cheeks, but now she was just a jawline and high cheekbones, and her hair was a deep brown colour. They sat there for what seemed like forever, staring at each other, studying each other, neither making a move to be closer, but neither moving away either. Their intense stare off was interrupted by Audrey flicking the lights on and looking at them from the doorway. They both turned their heads but didn't move away.
"I could really do with getting changed you know." She said, breaking the silent tension.
"I'll finish getting ready, Barnes, if you would be so kind to give us ladies some privacy?" Scout asked, hoping that Audrey wouldn't question the tear tracks on her cheeks and the bandages on her hands.

;

He had walked away, and now she felt even worse than before. She needed to apologise, she'd been too hard on him, she'd been too wrapped up thinking about how much he must hate her to realise that all her thoughts were about herself. Every time she'd put off telling him, she'd been ashamed of herself, and everything she had done.
"James!" She called after him, jogging to catch up.
"You can call me Bucky, you know that." He snapped. She sighed.
"I need to apologise, for not telling you sooner. I- I was ashamed of who I am, what I've done. I thought you'd hate me and never trust me again."
"You knew, you knew!" He yelled at her. "From the first day in Manchester you knew!" Scout tensed up, she knew that she deserved it.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She said, biting back tears. She didn't want to lose him. He was even closer to her than Natasha was. It hit her like a truck. They were going to be fighting. Possibly to the death, and she loved him. Scout Brighton was in love with James, her James. Scout looked at him, linking her arms around his neck, and pulling him down to kiss, their lips touched for a moment, and then they pulled away, they looked at each other, and he wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her up and placing her back down on a crate, so their heights were levelled, and then pulled her close again to kiss her again, her arms that were wound around his neck moved up and tugged on his hair, Scout loved his long hair, she loved how she could run her fingers through it and tug it a little. He pulled her closer by the waist, leaning into the kiss, it was every unspoken word, I love you, I hate you, be careful, don't die. Everything.

"Oh come ON!" Audrey's voice sounded frustrated. "Can you guys keep it in your pants."
"Scout-" Bucky began to say, as Scout broke away, red spreading across her face.
"Not now, we're needed." She walked away, her stomach churning, how was she supposed to fight now that her brain was pre-occupied. When had it happened? When had she fallen for him? Was it in Manchester, when they spent their days together? Was it in Ukraine, when she saw his face over hers after she'd been shot? On the train to Romania, as he explained everything to her? She shook her head, ridding herself of the thoughts. She needed to be Tempest. She needed to get rid of all her emotions and be clear of everything so she calmed her breathing and relaxed her shoulders. All emotion left her. Tempest was back.