Work Text
Sending one particular hard blow towards the unknown man, you hurled him flying backward alongside Steve who was in full Captain America mode. The man tumbled on the asphalt before regaining his composure and slowly standing from his kneeled position on the hard ground. His head was tilted down, his long hair covering his facial features and you followed his gaze towards the mask that had fallen from his face during his tumbling. Your heartbeat quickened as he lifted his gaze to yours, revealing his face. Your stomach dropped and tears stung your eyes as you stared into the familiar blue eyes of the man you once loved."B-Bucky?" Your heart clenched as you stood with your guard down in front of the one you had once loved so dearly. Your thoughts drifted to the day you found out he was dead. Your beloved had died. You had fallen to the ground, your body convulsing from your neverending sobs. They racked your body and tears landed on the hardwood floor, soaking it to the core. You remember what you were wearing, how you styled your hair, what the weather was outside, and even your first thought before your doorbell rang. How were you supposed to know that what you wanted for dinner wasn't important at the time? Bucky's next words were ones dripping with venom, hitting you like a freight train with broken brakes. "Who the hell is Bucky?" Your already numb expression dropped and a tear slipped past your eyelid, sliding across your skin smoothly before ending up in the crevass on the left side of your nose. You swallowed thickly and endeavored to ignore the growing lump in your throat and the quivering of your lip as you thought of what to say next."Y-" You cleared your throat and swiped at the fresh tears that flowed across your flushed skin. "You're Bucky... A-and you were my finacé b-before you d-died." You managed to squeeze out, stuttering your syllables as your vision clouded with tears. You exhaled shakily and wiped more of your tears quickly.Steve stood off to the side, somewhat giving you and Bucky privacy but prepared with his shield out and in a ready stance in case Bucky attacked. He watched silently as you cried softly while speaking with the supposed enemy in hushed tones.Bucky's stone-cold expression softened and he took a step forward, urging you to continue. He felt something pulling at his heart when he neared you and saw the tears that continued to spill. His lips parted as if he wanted to speak but nothing came out. Normally he wasn't fully in control of his actions, but at that moment he knew he had been set free, if only for a few mere moments. "Fiancé..." He repeating slowly as if the word was foreign to him. He glanced up at you and you nodded."Yes! Seventy plus years ago we were engaged. We were going to get married in the forest near a small cottage. But then..." You trailed off and looked away, trying to ignore the fact that you were crying in front of your enemy. You were never supposed to show emotion in combat but you weren't in combat. Everything around you was seemingly paused as your eyes tore away from the pavement and back to Bucky who had come a few feet closer to you."What's your name?" He wanted to reach out, to trigger an emotion to come bubbling up. He wanted déjà vu. Maybe he would remember you if he heard your name and maybe he could fix things between you both. He followed your gaze as it traveled down to your hand as you involuntarily played with the engagement ring you had kept on your finger the entire time.You lifted your gaze to his familiar eyes and held in the third wave of tears that threatened to spill over. "(Y-Y/N) (Y/L/N)."He clenched his jaw as he thought about the name. He thought and he thought hard, wanting only to remember you. He faintly recognized the name but nothing else was connected to it. He sighed and shook his head, knowing there were no ways out of this unless he up and left. "I don't remember." He spoke softly as he gave you a sympathetic look.You swallowed and nodded, offering a comforting smile as you hesitantly lifted a hand to rest on the shoulder of his metal arm. If you ever had the chance, you would ask if how he got it. But the probability was very slim. "That's okay. If you give me the chance, we can fix this. Even if you don't remember, I'll get us back to where we were before. I promise.""Look, I don't know you. Just because we were something before doesn't mean we still are. I'm not the same guy anymore. I will never be that guy again." He plucked your hand from his prosthetic and glared at you. He turned around and was about to walk off when your fingers latched onto his metal wrist and held him back."Wait!" You sighed released his wrist as he stared you down, annoyed and wondering why you held him back. You pulled a locket out from underneath your suit and opened it, turning it towards him to reveal the small, dull picture that had been so delicately placed inside the locket. It was a picture of Bucky kissing your cheek and you wearing a silly grin. "You gave this to me before you left for war and made me promise to never take it off. I never took it off. If you need a reason to stay, to try to get back what we had before, this is your reason."Just then, a group of Bucky's men pulled up in large trucks with machine guns and grenades, ready to destroy. You sighed and prepared for the attack as Steve came up from behind you. He ran in front of you to fight off the men, giving you a chance to escape but you weren't leaving Bucky. Bucky ran over to the trucks and took a machine gun from one of the soldiers. He turned around and had it aimed directly at you. He saw the expression on your face and it was as if everything around him had slowed down. Something clicked inside him and he knew what he had to do. He lowered the gun and sprinted as quickly as he could towards you. Once he made it to you, he turned around and aimed his machine gun at the soldiers and began firing, hitting each man perfectly.You stood gaping at him as he shot his own men, standing right beside you. He took one glance at you and reached over, tucking the locket back into its designated spot underneath your suit before giving you a stern look. "Go. Get help." He didn't have to tell you twice. Within a second you were sprinting away, heading for one of the Avenger's locations before speaking into the mic."We need backup ASAP." You exhaled deeply before continuing. "Send everyone. And whatever happens, do not hurt Bucky."Tony's voice was first to reply. "Copy that. Wait, Bucky?""Long-haired soldier, metal arm, hard to miss. I believe he's on our side now." Your heartbeat sped up as you found your discarded weapon and whipped around to help the others."Got it. You heard her everyone!" You opened the door to your bedroom and almost jumped out of your skin. Bucky was seated on your bed with a small smirk plastered across his face. You yelped and he chuckled softly before standing up and making his way over to you. It had been a few weeks since the mission and you and Bucky had been becoming closer than ever. He had somehow lost connection with the HYDRA agents that brainwashed him and you couldn't be happier. He was warming up to you and it'd only be a matter of time before you were the way you were before."What are you doing in here?" You questioned as you tossed your bag onto the floor and met him halfway, wrapping your arms around his neck as you always did when you came home. He wasn't one for physical touch, but with you, he was okay with it. He actually enjoyed it when you hugged him or pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek in gratitude.He sighed when you both pulled away and stared into your gorgeous (eye color) irises. "I wanted to tell you something.""Okay." You smiled and pulled him over to sit with you on the bed, facing one another. "What's up?" You patted his knee, encouraging him to speak and he smiled in thanks."I think it's working." You furrowed your brow at his vague sentence and gestured for him to continue. He inhaled deeply, unmistakably grappling to say what he wanted to say but continued anyway. "Us.""Us..?" You asked in question and he nodded his head, chuckling softly at your confusion."Yes. I feel... A connection with you. It's working." He enunciated his last two words and your eyes widened in recognition, the lightbulb going off in your head. You nodded and a grin found its way onto your face."That's really good, Buck because I never stopped loving you." You smiled and leaned into him, resting your head on his shoulder as happiness bubbled up inside you. Butterflies swilred around your stomach, their wings brushing up against the lining of your stomach causing you to practically explode with giddiness. It had only been a few weeks and you were making so much progress."I... I love you too." He said it with hesitance but he didn't regret it because it was the truth, no matter what your reaction would be. Luckily, you had a better reaction to it than he expected. You practically ripped your head off his metal shoulder with wide eyes before an ear-splitting grin formed onto your face and you threw your arms around the super soldier.Once you pulled away, you slowly leaned in and pressed your lips to his. It was only a peck, but to him, it meant the world. "Thank you.""For what?" He smiled as his heart fluttered and he could still feel your lips on his. It was the best feeling in the world."For giving me a chance."