Heart of Winter | Bucky Barnes x OC

❝𝑯𝒆'𝒔 𝒂 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒏. 𝑺𝒉𝒆'𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒙𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒘 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒕.❞

After the fall of HYDRA, Bucky Barnes is a man untethered -haunted, hunted, and held together by the thinnest thread of will. When he's brought to the Avengers compound to heal, he expects clinical detachment and judgment. What he finds instead is Lily Bloom, a sweet, stubborn doctor with warm eyes, floral dresses, and a quiet determination to see the person behind the weapon. Lily thought she left SHIELD behind for good. But when she's asked to help rehabilitate the infamous Winter Soldier, she agrees on her terms: no lab coats, no walls and no treating him like a project.

As trauma surfaces and trust slowly blooms, the lines between healer and patient begin to blur. But the past isn't done with any of them and when the ghosts come calling, they might be the only thing keeping each other from falling apart again.

A slowburn of found peace, small kindnesses, emotional intimacy, and dancing in the shadows.