After the events of D.C., The Winter Soldier escaped both HYDRA and SHIELD with barely his life and a mix of memories that he couldn't put back into place.
Boarding between the Winter Soldier and Bucky Barnes, he ends up in a small town that barely...
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chapter twelve Inseparable
After the bond between Ray and Bucky strengthened, they were inseparable. Or at least, they tried to be. There were still times when Cory needed Bucky's help on the fields, or Bailey needed sister time, but the two always found their way back to each other.
Eventually, Cory and Bailey knew that things had changed between the two. They saw the way Bucky looked at her and the way Ray was with him. And they thought it was a good thing. They loved it, in fact. Cory loved the fact that Ray was acting a little like her old self; happier and more carefree.
And Bucky had become his friend in the month and a half he's been on the Smith farm. Sure, they weren't best, but Cory thought of him as a friend.
So they didn't complain much when Bucky skipped a day working on the farmland with Cory, and instead tended to the animals with Ray. She started working on the farm too. With August approaching, and harvest on its way, everyone needed to pitch it.
And they all enjoyed their work. They all enjoyed the time they would spend. Sometimes after a long day, they would build a fire and sit. Bailey would sing songs and Cory would tell ghost stories. Even Sofie and Jonathon sat outside with them, not necessarily remembering and knowing what was being talked about, but enjoying the time anyway.
And sometimes Bucky and Ray sneaked away to be alone. They watched tapes in her bedroom, she would show him her favorite novels. He would read to her at night, with her lying in his arms. She loved that. She loved falling asleep to him reading.
Sometimes they would have bad nights. Where Bucky fell backwards and couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't. He'd call out the names of people Ray didn't know in her sleep; save from Steve. She would just hold him and try to soothe him the best she could.
Ray would tell him that if it looked fuzzy, if it was a bad memory, it was probably from his missions as the Winter Solider. And if it was happy, if it made him feel like he was remembering Ray, then perhaps it was real.
She gifted him a notebook to write things down. And she would help him sort through it the best he could. At first he was afraid, he didn't want her to know of the terrible things he had done. But she never shied away. She was always willing to help.
Bucky knew that he was in love with her. He knew that he never wanted to live a day without her. Without her smile and her kind words, without her teasing tone and her sarcasm. He didn't want to live without her temper and how sometimes her mind was too much for her and she blamed him for problems that weren't there.
He helped her too. He supported her when she said she may go back to therapy. She was beginning to remember things from her past, things that didn't make any sense. She used a notebook too and Bucky helped her sort through it.
The two were a mess. But they were helping each other. He was her friend. And she was his.
