Twinkle, Twinkle Little Red Star - A Compilation

Just One Bite - Part Two

Originally requested from Tumblr.

Warning: Misinformation. Fictional, fruit information.

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When Bucky found her, he initially thought it was already too late. She was stiff and still and did not stir when he gently brushed her hair away from her face.

"Please wake up," he said, hoping those three words were enough to let those eyes open for him.

They tried to find a cure but they knew HYDRA's researches were out of their reach. Still, it was worth a try.

Steve walked in to the tent and gave Bucky a pat on his shoulder.

"Some of our men found Dr. Zola escaping in Schmidt's car. They weren't able to capture him but, they found a briefcase."

"What's a briefcase gonna do? She's dying, Steve," he huffed in frustration.

"And that briefcase's got his researches, Bucky," Steve said. "It might lead us to their next plan or cure (Y/n). If we're lucky, it might just have both."

Bucky considered it and clung on to the hope that there might be a possibility to save her. Whatever this poison was, it was impressive but deadly. After Steve left him to be alone, Bucky cupped her cheek.

"Stay with me, alright?"

He leaned in to kiss her, a thousand thoughts running in his mind but along with those thoughts came worries. What if she didn't feel the same? She was different and though he did not have the time to get to know her, he desperately wanted to have that shot before death completely wraps its arms around her. There was a war to win and a chance to know more about her and maybe fall in love with what he'll find.

He was close to kissing her lips when he pulled away and looked down at himself, ashamed and guilty that he did not even drop by or say goodbye.

Once he left the tent, some of Howling Commandos were sitting on their beds in the medic tent, getting treated while scanning at the papers that almost covered them.

"This one's page one, and that one's page three," Gabriel Jones said. "Anyone here who understands gibberish? This guy's got the worst handwriting ever."

"I found something! It looks like they're going across Europe!"

"What have you guys found so far?" Bucky asked.

"Nothing so far, sarge. These are all just plans. Some are experiments and locations but no cure. We also found a paper about (Y/n) but you might not like what it says."

"May I see?"

Jim Morita handed the paper to him and saw a picture of her.

He was right all along.

She was a German spy who had been working for HYDRA for three years as Zola's assistant and Schmidt's best undercover agent but according to Zola's notes on her paper, she had not been following orders the way they wanted recently. He wrote that she had become stubborn and refused to complete tasks that involved innocent lives and that he had been told by Schmidt to "put her down" two weeks ago but what really surprised him was Zola's plan for her. He intended to use her as the first subject for a series of experiments that will make her stronger, faster, and more obedient. He wanted to rid her of emotions and turn her into a lethal weapon and it was supposed to start at the month of December.

The very first Winter Soldier.

However, Zola's plans had failed after she went missing. He wrote that he created a poison that reversed the amygladin in the apple's seed into its skin which will slowly kill the victim once ingested but due to the reverse, there could be other effects on the victim if the white part of the apple was eaten.

Bucky did not waste time to linger and read the other papers. He went outside to find Peggy and grabbed her shoulder immediately.

"Where's the apple?"

"What apple?"

"The one (Y/n) ate. It says here that there could be other effects. It could cure her."

"Sergeant Barnes, we don't know what kind of effects there will be. It might even give her a quicker death. We don't know."

"We have to try," he said desperately and Peggy sighed and pulled out the fruit from her pocket. She had not disposed of it yet, thinking that it could be useful in the future to track down HYDRA but she had not expected the supposed cure to be in the same place with the poison.

Bucky thanked her and took the apple with him as he ran back to (Y/n).

He wasn't going to let her slip away from him again.

He sliced the apple in half and cut it in smaller pieces, carefully removing the skin and putting it aside to burn later. Steve and Peggy joined him as well, sitting from the other side of the bed with their hands held together quietly away from his gaze. They prayed and hoped as hard as he did but they were also ready to be disappointed.

Bucky slipped a tiny slice of the apple back in (Y/n)'s mouth. This time, her heart would only beat once every three seconds and while they waited, hope diminished fast until after one minute, a light shade of red had spread back on her cheeks and a pink tint returned on her lips. The three of them did not see this until she slowly moved her fingers and reached for Bucky's hand as best as she could.

Once he felt her hand, he looked up and saw her open her eyes.

When he was a child, his mother once read to him the story of Snow White and only now did he understand the joy the Prince felt when she finally woke up.

"Hello, Bucky," she said. "Still want to buy me a drink?"

Overjoyed and teary-eyed, he replied: "You're worth more than a drink. You're worth winning this war."

And with that, they shared their first kiss together and many more followed after.