Avengers Imagines

Soulmate AU -- Bucky Barnes

Warnings: hints of violence, a little sad for a bit 

Description: when you're asleep, you see the world through your soulmate's eyes

Word count: 2087

Cold. That's how you feel as you see yourself walking through the woods in the middle of who-knows where. It's the middle of the day but it's dead silent other than the birds in the trees. Your thick, heavy boots leave footprints in the snow, but that doesn't seem to matter. You feel as though no one will ever see them after you leave this place.

You're painfully aware of your surroundings as you trudge on through the thick snow; the slightest snap of a twig makes you stop moving altogether, only carrying on when you're sure no one is around. Somehow, even though you're unsure of what is about to happen, you don't want to do it. Just once, you want to resist, to fight back. Your bare hand reaches for your other arm, body tensing angrily when it hits cold metal. They did this and you can't even fight back.

Subconsciously, this feels like a dream. Maybe it is a dream. These can't really be your feet walking up the mountainside, expertly locating a small entrance in the rock that leads to a much bigger cave. How would you know that it's even there? But still, you press on, this "dream" feeling more real than anything you've ever experienced.

Silently, you take different tunnels, navigating the cave like you've lived here your entire life. Your steps don't make a sound and your heartbeat is calm, even when you reach into your weapon belt and pull out a gun, you don't so much as flinch even though you wish you would. You notice boxes and crates strewn carelessly on the floor, all of them bearing the name S.H.I.E.L.D. Before you can attempt to make a connection, you're drawn to a series of voices further in the cave.

As if they have a life of their own, your feet move towards the sound, stalking the owners like an animal after its prey. It's then that you feel sick to your stomach. You know without seeing the two men that they're your target.

Finally, you step out of the shadows, watching emotionlessly as the mouths of the two men gape open in shock and fear. You want to run, you want to forget you were ever here.

"B-But, you were a myth," one of the men breathes out but you don't react.

Your arm rises against your will, the gun feeling like a feather in your skilled hand. Put it down! You want to scream, but your thoughts seem too far away. With a single shot that pulses through your whole arm, chilling you to the bone, the man falls to the floor: dead.

"HYDRA must be pleased with your success," the second man says, seemingly unfazed by his now-dead companion. That name-- HYDRA-- makes you shiver in disgust and for the second time, you raise the gun. "The Winter Soldier, who knew?"

You release the trigger and the words die on the man's lips. You don't even blink, turning around to exit the way you came. Two men murdered, all in a days work.

Gasping for air, you shoot straight up in bed. A dream, it had all been a dream; though, your body would say otherwise as you shiver uncontrollably, still frozen from the snow-covered mountainside. You attempt to pull all of your blankets around you, wrapping up like a burrito in the comfort of your bed. Despite the warmth slowly defrosting your limbs, you can't help but shake uncontrollably.

The dreams come and go in waves. Some weeks, they happen every night, each one resulting in a murderous bloodbath. And then other weeks, blissful, sleep-filled weeks, you don't dream at all. You're not sure what scares you more: the nights where you watch your soulmate kill innocent people like they mean nothing, like they are nothing, or the nights where your dreams are simply black-- void of any trace of your soulmate, meaning that he/she did not even see the light of day.