Winter's Revenge [winter soldier//Bucky Barnes AU]

Chapter Seventeen

*Bucky's POV*

A little while later, we were descending from the sky to a safe base Fury had found. We were preparing the injured agents to be moved, readying them for transport from the plane to the base.

Me, Steve, Tony and Bruce were in charge of moving the critical patients, including the woman who's skull had just been attached to her spine. It was quite the stressful job.

I tied the monitor and IV to each of the patient's beds, making it easy to roll them and all the things keeping them alive right off of the plane. Bruce was gathering his notes and information on each patient, having them verify it was true, and Tony and Sarah were securing the people to their beds and making sure they were aware of where we were taking them.

The plane slowly landed, skidding across the runway in southern North Dakota. It came to a stop and we worked quickly, wheeling the patients carefully down the ramp and into the building. We got all the critically injured patients into the hospital ward of the base and attached all their equipment to a power source.

Once all the patients were in safe hands, Fury steered the plane into the bunker, and we all walked back into the base, where we were greeted by an employee.

"Welcome to base seventy two, one of the last S.H.I.E.L.D. bases that still has faith in S.H.I.E.L.D." The girl said. She gestured for us to follow her, and we walked quickly to keep up with her fast pace. Her heels were as tall as sky scrapers, and I couldn't for the life of me understand why girls liked wearing them. It just made it harder to run.

She showed us around the base, from the main lobby, to the research room, to the computer room, to the living quarters. There was a huge amount of space considering no one on Earth, except those of us that were here, even knew of the place.

It was a little after midnight by now, so when we stopped by the living quarters the tour ended. The lady assigned us all specific rooms, me and Sarah obviously sharing, and we immediately retired to our rooms. I haven't slept in days and it was starting to affect me.

I shut the door to the room, Sarah collapsing on the bed. I smiled at her childish sigh.

"Tired?" I teased, earning another exaggerated sigh. I smiled and flopped down on the bed playfully.

"We saved a lot of people today." Sarah said, turning and looking at me, and I nodded.

"We did. It felt...right. Good, even." I replied. She smiled widely at me.

"I've never had any experience with anything medical, and today we had to give over one hundred people medical attention. And you know what? We didn't lose a single one. That's pretty fucking amazing." Sarah said, her eyes full of pride, happiness and wonder. I wish I could have captured how they looked in a picture.

"It is. I've never done anything except kill people for the last seventy years, so saving them? That's unheard of for me." I replied, my voice low and broken, although I wished it hadn't been. I'm sick of feeling weak, helpless; we live in a constantly changing world, where the moment you're weak will be the moment you die.

"Bucky, look at me." She demanded, grabbing my chin and forcing me to look at her. "That woman in the hallway. Her skull wasn't even attached to her spine. She was a quarter of a millimeter away from being paralyzed, and you saved her life. I certainly had no clue that she was so badly injured, but you recognized it. You knew. And you also knew that we had to get Banner, or she wouldn't make it. You did everything right in that situation. So when you start talking about how you're a monster, I can't bear to hear the fact that you really have no clue how amazing you are."

I looked at her, my eyes wide, as a tear slid down her cheek. I never wanted to make her cry. I don't ever want to hurt her. But I did without realizing.

I quickly pulled her close to me, squeezing her against my chest. She wrapped her small arms around my muscular waist, bringing me closer. She nudged her head into my neck.

"I'm so sorry, Sarah. I didn't want to make you cry!" I told her, my eyes threatening to release a tear.

Another sign of weakness.

She pulled her head out of the crook of my neck, frowning. I wiped a tear off of her cheek.

"Bucky, I just want you to realize that you aren't a monster. You are James Buchanan Barnes, an amazing soldier, best friend to Captain America, and an absolutely wonderful, beautiful person overall. What happened was out of your control." She whispered, running her hand down my cheek. The tears in my eyes were building up. "I just want you to be okay again."

I closed my eyes briefly, hugging her tighter. I never wanted to let her go; especially not after last time.

"I'm okay as long as you are here." I told her softly, and she leaned up, kissing me quickly and teasingly before pulling away.

"I'll always be here, Buck. I promise you that."

I smiled, giving her another peck on the lips before standing to go to the bathroom and taking off my uniform. I laid it in the utility sink, beginning to scrub it clean, and I turned on the shower.

The water was hot in my face, almost to the point of scalding, but it felt good. It felt like a fresh start, a new view on life.

I washed my body, getting the blood and dirt off of me, until the water ran clear under my feet instead of a gross brown color.

Once I got out of the shower there was a pile of new clothes sitting on the counter, probably from Sarah. Lying there in the pile was underwear, a white tank top, and a pair of sweatpants that were really soft.

When I put everything on, I was a lot more comfortable. I hadn't been in soft, comfortable clothes in weeks, maybe months. It's hard to tell how fast time passes nowadays.

Once I finished changing, I left the bathroom as Sarah went in. I did the same thing she did for me and picked out some clothes for her to wear; a pair of leggings, a long t-shirt and a crew neck sweatshirt that was a light blue color. I put them on the counter in the bathroom, staying silent so she wouldn't notice me.

I walked over to the queen sized bed and peeled back the thick comforter, already excited for sleep. But I didn't lay down yet, instead waiting for Sarah.

Once she came out of the bathroom, her eyes would barely stay open just on the way to the bed. She slid in next to me, wearing the outfit I picked out for her, and we pulled the comforters up to our necks. I held my arm out to her and she took it. I pulled her closer to me, engulfing her small but strong frame in my arms. She dug in closer to me, our hearts beating at the same exact time.

"We're safe." She breathed, and I closed my eyes.

"We're safe."

--

All I want

Is to wake up

With you next to me

And to not know

Where your body ends

And mine begins.

--

A.N.

SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG

I have had SO much to do omg. We had boot camp at practice today (where we train like the army nonstop for two hours with only two five-minute breaks) and I was so unmotivated to do ANYTHING.

Anyway please leave a comment! I want to wake up to them, because I love them reading them so much!

-Jordan💕

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