Avengers Imagines

Two Kinds of Torture- Bucky Barnes Part Two

(Female Reader)

(This is a long one, lads)

A part of you was thankful that you were barreling through snowy woods at full speed, as it was keeping your body warm, but your tired legs also begged you to stop. You and James sprinted towards the closest town, and you wouldn't be surprised if your adrenaline pushed you to run the whole way without problem. Even the fear of how close HYDRA was enough to accomplish that too. In all honesty, you had ran the majority of the way already, since you'd already passed a few stray cabins. You didn't dare look over your shoulder until the sound of soldiers was lost on your ears. 

You and Bucky staggeringly ran down a tree littered hillside, snow crunching under your feet, and you threw a glance behind you. Luckily, all you saw was trees practically glowing in the moonlight. 

You grabbed James' arm, slowing you both to a stop. "Wait, James...I think... I think we're in the clear," you said through ragged breathing. Both you and James inspected your surroundings, not even uttering another word to each other, and listened closely to the silence. 

"We shouldn't be out in the open..." James muttered, and you looked over to see him staring towards the horizon. "There," he pointed, "another cabin. You see it?" You nodded in response, and his peripheral vision must have picked up on it. "We should stay there at least through the night."

The silence continued as you both started for the cabin about half a mile away. 

As the adrenaline dwindled in your body, so did the warmth. You were soon reminded that the temperature was hovering below freezing, and that you were only in your indoor tactical gear. It was better than nothing, but the cold air quickly seeped to your bones. You glanced over to James, and realized he was only in his thin jumpsuit, and had a metal limb that couldn't have been helping the situation. 

"Bucky..." he suddenly said, pulling you from your thoughts. 

"What?" you asked lightly. 

He looked over to you with blue eyes illuminated in the moonlight, and a slight smile on his face. "The name's Bucky. James, technically, but...call me Bucky." That purely human moment warmed your chest for a moment. "And thank you. For what you did for me back there," James, or Bucky, added quickly. Like he didn't realize he hadn't thanked you until the dust of the situation settled. 

"And thank you for what you did for me," you returned the smile through chattering teeth, and in the midst of crunching snow and crisp air, you felt like you made the right decision. 

With both of your body temperature's quickly falling as you were exposed to the elements, the walk to the cabin was a quick one. The wind has started to pick up, making everything feel so much worse, and you were practically curled into yourself in an attempt to hide from it. Once you reached it, you found the door locked, but desperation led to breaking the window on the front door. 

The cabin was small, cozy really. There was a small bed in front of an even smaller fireplace, a little kitchen to your left, and a bathroom across the room. From behind you, Bucky shoved a curtain through the small broken window, hoping it would stop the wind from chilling the house even more. He scanned the room just as you had, and must've spotted the firewood because he practically sprinted towards it. 

"Fire?" he asked simply, and you chuckled. 

"Excellent idea," you said and sighed in relief at even the thought of warmth. 

*

Half an hour of trying to get a fire started with numb fingers later, you and Bucky pushed the bed as close as you could to the flames, and let yourselves defrost. Staring into the fire, you noticed the silence between you two was now filled by the crackling of the fire as opposed to the crunching of snow. With a glance to Bucky sitting beside you, you realized his gaze was just as far away as yours was.