BLUE [BUCKY BARNES]

I KNEW IT

Elizabeth sat beside Bucky on the couch with Alpine in her lap. The small apartment was quiet except for the occasional sound of pencil on paper coming from Bucky. He sat beside her with an empty notebook open in his lap as he wrote down whatever memories his mind showed him.

"Another memory?" Elizabeth asked him softly as she lifted her head off his shoulder. She stopped her movements on Alpine's soft fur and turned her attention to the person beside her.

Bucky sat still, the only movement in his whole body coming from his right hand which continued to frantically write in the small notebook. "It's Steve," he told her quietly with his eyes still on the paper. "His mother's name was Sarah." Bucky always told her whatever he remembered. Just in case he forgot about it, Elizabeth knew enough for the both of them.

He continued to talk to her about what he remembered while writing it all down. Everything from the last day he had spent with Steve to the colour of his sisters dress when he last saw her. All the while Elizabeth listened in silence, watching how his emotions changed with every word he spoke.

Once he was done and had closed the book in his lap, Elizabeth brought a hand up to cup the side of his face. She turned his head to the side for him to look at her. Bucky smiled at her softly and kissed the inside of her hand lightly.

"You know," she began carefully, already knowing that he wasn't going to be particularly fond of what she was going to bring up. "Maybe you should come back with me, to New York."

He sighed heavily before his eyes dropped to his metal hand with a shake of his head. "You know I can't," he said once he brought his eyes back up to her face. Every time they had this conversation it always went the same way, not matter how many times she tried.

"Why not?" Elizabeth asked sadly as she held his face in her hands. "You can come back with me and we'll clear your name," she pleaded with a convincing smile. "I'll admit the U.S. government is not on our side, or any government to be frank," she said with a grimace as she recalled the Sokovia Accords. Which if everything had gone as planned, would have been signed yesterday.

Bucky didn't say anything, just watched her face closely as she spoke. "But you won't only have me fighting for you," she informed him. "And then once everything is cleared up, we can find a home. A proper one," she added when she saw him open his mouth to object that he already had one.

"We'll find a nice house," Elizabeth said as he brought up his flesh hand to put over hers that still rested on the side of his face. "It'll be nice and comfy with enough room that even Alpine can have her own room." At her words, both of them looked between them to the cat that rested on their tangled legs.

"And we'd finally get a tv," she continued while she tried to catch his eyes that still remained on the cat's white fur. "You wouldn't have to look over your shoulder all the time, we'd finally be able to stop hiding." Elizabeth brought his face up to look at her sadly.

She didn't know how badly he wanted it. How badly he just wanted to be able to have that life with her. To be able to wake up in the morning without having to worry if she had to leave that day. But he was just so scared that he wouldn't be able to give her that life, not with a person with his past.

Looking up at her bright eyes, he took his left hand brushed a stray piece of hair away from her face. The metal leaving a cold sensation on her face. "All I need is you," he told her honestly, knowing that even if he forgot everything about himself, he'd always know he'd need nothing more than the person in front of him.

"I still think you should come back with me," she tried once more as Bucky's hand traced small circles on her cheeks. "You can't stay here forever, you can't hide from the world."