STARK CONTRAST (Bucky Barnes x OC)

He was broken steel and silence - the ghost of a soldier who never really came home. She was all fire, sarcasm, and the kind of honesty that could burn through walls.

Valentina Stark didn't expect to bond with anyone at the compound - especially not with the quietest, most haunted man in the room. But Bucky Barnes sees the world in shadows, and Val doesn't know how to be anything but light. She doesn't flinch when he walks into the room. She talks to him like he's human. She makes him laugh when he least expects it.

And for the first time in a long time, he wonders if maybe - just maybe - there's something left in him worth loving.

But healing isn't loud. It's unspoken. Slow. Delicate.
And sometimes, the smallest spark is enough to start melting the winter inside.

This story does not follow the MCU timeline.
All characters belong to MARVEL.