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That’s it. You thought. I officially hate this mission. A simple mission to the outskirts of Narvik, Norway for information hidden in an abandoned Hydra facility, turned into an ambush. Bucky and you stood back to back, sweaty, dirty, both of your guns were out of bullets a while ago so you both were gripping knives. To top it all off, you were currently surrounded by twenty hydra agents, with your comms down. Your last check in location wasn’t too far off from where you currently were but it would take Steve and Natasha a while to navigate the mountains to even reach the facility in the quinjet. You thought this would be one easy mission with the super soldier who was constantly in your daydreams. You were very wrong.
One of the hydra goons took a step forward, towards you, and with quick precision you launched your last knife, which landed with a slick thudinto the man’s throat. “Fuck, that was my last knife. Any ideas on escaping yet, Buck?” you groaned, raising your fists and hoping one of the idiots in front of you decided not to lounge for you now that you didn’t have a weapon.
“I’m starting to think I’m gonna have to teach you how to stop losing weapons, doll,” Bucky teased, despite only having one knife left. Another one of the men lounged for you but made the mistake of being in Bucky’s eyesight. His last knife found a place in the man’s throat, who then proceeded to cough up blood on you as he went down.
“Bleh gross,” you complained lightly, but the situation of now both of you being weaponless and surrounded by hydra agents was starting to set in. “Remember that one day in training when it was us versus Steve and Natasha and Scott? Wanna use that tactic?”
You heard Bucky chuckle behind you, “Where was that idea twenty minutes ago?”
“Better late than never,” you mumbled. Another agent lunged, apparently, they thought going after two Avengers one by one was a fantastic idea. This time you side stepped, tripping the agent, who hit their head on the concrete below. Suddenly getting the idea one at a time wasn’t a good idea, the rest of the agents jumped towards the two of you. Bucky was managing to toss most of them off, at least you think so, and you were throwing punches to anyone who jumped too close.
Your arm was suddenly grabbed by someone who was most definitely stronger than you. Rather than pull, they pushed, the unexpected move tripping you only slightly, but it opened a window for the several agents surrounding you to grab at you. A swift kick to the back of your legs brought you to your knees, hard against the concrete, as two more agents grabbed your arms, securing you in place with cuffs. The sudden movements were making you lightheaded as you thrashed to get away but a gun cocking and a cold press of metal against your temple made you freeze. You finally noticed Bucky had taken down just about all the agents that had attacked him, then after knocking the last one near him out, he turned on his heel, no doubt about to help you. He stopped dead in his tracks, paralyzed by the sight in front of him, you, perfectly still, with a gun pressed against your head.
“Ah, that’s very good Soldat, I’m glad to see you still haven’t lost any of your abilities.” The man who held the gun to your head spoke in a faint Russian accent, making a chill go up your spine.
Bucky practically growled, his eyes were cold, emotionless, as he stared the man down. “Let her go. Now.”
The man laughed, the vibrations from his chest pushed the gun further into your temple, making a soft whimper escape your lips. Bucky’s eyes shot to you, your eyes were closed so you couldn’t see the pure fear in his eyes. “Aw, does somebody have a crush?” The man pushed the gun deeper against you, another faint whine escaping you, causing Bucky to practically growl. “Well look at that. У актива есть слабость в конце концов.” The sudden Russian threw you off, but as you opened your eyes, now locked onto Bucky, you felt a strange sense of peace. You wouldn’t let these monsters take him back, he didn’t deserve that.
“Might as well kill me,” you turned your head slightly, surprising the man. “I’d rather die than let you have your grimy hands on him.” He slapped you with the blunt end of the gun, the sharp hot pain radiated across your temple, causing you to groan softly, but it turned into a chuckle. You looked the man straight in the eyes, ignoring the blood now dripping from your head. “If you touch me again, I'll break your fucking neck.” You growled softly.
A sick smile lit up the man’s face, “Oh yeah little one? And how do you suppose you do that?”
It was your turn to grin, “You talk too much, and you don’t pay attention to the hands,” you had been subtly picking the handcuffs they placed on you, which now dropped to the floor. You pushed your elbow up, while kicking your leg out, effectively pushing the gun away from your head, and knocking one of the agents behind you onto his face. Bucky, bless his soul, caught the hint, pounced on the man with the gun. He stole the gun, breaking the man’s wrist with a sickening crack. It didn’t take you to long to knock the rest of the agents out. A loud bang against the metal door that trapped you hear caught both of your attention, both of you holding knives, Bucky aiming the gun to the door. It was knocked down, navy blue and silver stepping into the room. Both of you lowered your weapons, “Oh thank fuck its only you Stevie,” you muttered, sheathing your knife and placing a hand against the wound on your head making you hiss as Steve walked in wearing the stealth suit.
Now relatively safe, and ignoring the added presence of his best friend, Bucky turned his attention to you. He swatted your hand away from the wound, grimacing slightly, “Not sure if that was incredibly brave or incredibly stupid. Could have gotten yourself killed, doll.” He gently put pressure on the wound, making you whine. “Fuck, it might need stitches.”
“You’re best friends with the self-sacrificing idiot standing at the door, I doubt this is the worst you’ve seen, Buck.” You mused. “Besides, it was that guys fault for not paying attention to the first rule of magic, always watch the hands.” You did a little jazz hands motion, causing him to chuckle, making you smile faintly.
With Steve watching both of your sixes, Bucky helped you back to the quinjet. Nothing was broken, and although the cut on your head probably needed stitches, it wasn’t too bad. You were sure though that Bucky Barnes, former Winter Soldier, was mother henning you. He sat beside you quietly on the quinjet, cleaning the cut. “It definitely needs stitches, doll. Do you trust me to do them?” he was gently pressing a piece of medical gauze to try to stop the bleeding.
“I trust you with my life, Bucky,” you replied, locking eyes with the super soldier. You both blushed, looking away from each other as Bucky coughed faintly, hiding a small smile as he grabbed the sutures. Neither of you saw Steve and Natasha give each other knowing looks as they watched you two.
“If it hurts too much let me know,” he said softly, you nodded, already gripping his metal arm. If he minded, he didn’t say anything. He stitched up the cut quickly, making sure he wasn’t hurting you. To your own credit, you only winced a few times.
“Bucky?” you asked softly once he was done, biting your lip.
“Yeah, doll?”
“What did that man say? When he was speaking in Russian? I only caught two of the words.” At the mention of Russian, Nat leaned in faintly, wanting to see this scene unfold, wishing she had popcorn. “Aктив… that’s what he called you, as if it was a name. and then слабость. But I don’t know what either of those words mean.”
Bucky sighed softly, throwing away the gauze as he bandaged your cut to hold the stitches together. “Asset… that’s what they called me, even back when I was under their control. And слабость means weakness. He was saying that I had a weakness.” He finished cleaning up, sitting beside you now.
“But why would they think you have a weakness, Bucky? You’re the strongest person I know, and not just physically.” You teased the last part, but confusion was evident on your face. You didn’t notice that now Steve was now invested in this soap opera happening in front of him.
Bucky wringed his hands faintly, nervous. “He was saying you’re my weakness, doll. And well you are. Fuck, seeing that gun against your head didn’t just make me freeze, it petrified me, doll. That if I made the wrong move, you would be taken from me. He was right, I have feelings for you, more than I should.” He confessed softly. Your eyes went wide, realization that the super soldier you were harboring a crush on for months actually liked you back.
Your grin lit up your face, blush turning your cheeks a darker shade, “You know, I don’t think that’s a weakness. Love is a strength. It’s what makes us different from them. We don’t trade lives, remember?”
He chuckled faintly, chancing a look your way, his heart melting at your smile. “God, now you’re quoting Steve? What happened to no trading lives when you told that guy off? That you’d rather die than let Hydra take me again?”
“I meant it. I would gladly die protecting you, from Hydra, from the world, anything.” You whispered softly, staring at your hands. “I care about you more than I think I should.”
An awkward silence fell in the quinjet, both of you two were too flustered to speak, and Steve and Nat were just enjoying the show, not daring to break the moment.
“I’m sorry that was out of line-“ You started.
“Go out with me-“ both of you spoke at the same time, blurting out your thoughts. Both of your eyes went wide, you out of pure shock and him out of pure embarrassment that he let his thoughts slip. Deciding he had already thrown himself off the deep end, he rolled with it. “Please, doll, go out with me?”
“Like a date?” you whispered softly, the reality of the question slowly sinking in.
He chuckled, “Yes, y/n, like a date.”
You blinked a few times before a bright smile lit up your face, hurting your cheeks. “I’d love to,”
“Fucking finally,” Natasha mumbled, heading to the pilot’s seat, Steve handing her a twenty-dollar bill. Both you and Bucky looked at them in confusion, Steve groaning softly.
“We made bets to see when one of you would ask the other out.” He clarified, causing you to blush and Bucky to groan. “Nat won by a few stupid days, Tony’s gonna be pissed, he lost too.”
“You made bets?! And you knew we both liked each other?” You frowned, leaning towards Bucky as he laughed.
“You’re both obvious, plus the fossils tell each other everything,” Natasha called out from the pilot’s seat.
Bucky turned to you, “Well at least it’s out now.” He kissed your head, brushing faintly on the bandage. “Besides, I’m going to take you on the date of your life.” He promised softly, both of you grinning at each other. It was clear to everyone else that you two that you were both idiots in love, but they had a feeling you two would figure it out pretty soon.