A Little Butterfly- The Other Soldier (Bucky Barnes x reader) (they/them reader)

He Can't Go Alone

Tw: bad language

I'm not sure how long I've been crying for, but I do know that James has been sitting on the floor and holding me the whole time. I take a shaky breath and lift my head away from James' chest.

"You okay?" James asks and he tucks a stray piece of hair behind my ear.

"Not really." I say, wiping my face with the back of my sleeve. "But... I'm better than I was before..."

James gives me a small smile, one that doesn't quite reach his eyes. I know he's just worried about me. I can see it in his eyes. Plus, James is always worried about me. He has been ever since I showed up at Hydra. "Thank you."

James furrows his brows, "For what?"

I smile weakly at him. "For being there for me... It's nice."

James pulls me into a hug. "Y/n I will be here for you whenever you need. Okay?" I don't say anything, but I do nod my head.

James really has always been there for me. When I first showed up at Hydra, I was worried I was gonna be alone, but James made sure that I was almost never by myself. He protected me even though it made Hydra punish him more than ever before. I take a deep breath and I smile, because right now I feel safe.

I jump when I hear the kitchen door swing open. I turn around and see Sam. He looks worried as he looks over at me and James.

"What is it Sam?" James asks, lifting me off of his lap and standing up. I quickly jump up, feeling weird sitting on the floor by myself.

"Buck, I know you probably don't want to, but we have to go stop these people. They blew up another base." James sighs and I just look between the two of them, extremely confused about what's going on.

"Sam I can't just leave right now. We don't even have any leads on how to find these people." What people? Is James leaving? I'm so confused and questions are filling my brain.

"I actually had a thought. You're not gonna like it though." James doesn't say anything, and so Sam just glances over at me before continuing. "They're all super soldiers, right? And Hydra seems to be the only people interested in super soldiers at the moment."

When Sam says Hydra, I can feel my eyebrows raise and I clench my hands into fists. "Where are you going with this Sam?"

"Buck, we both know that there's only one person who really understands how Hydra works, inside and out. He's the only one who might be able to help us." James and Sam both look over at me. It takes me a second to realize who they're talking about. When I do, my eyes grow wide and I clench my fists even tighter.

"No." I look right at Sam when I say this. I know that the chances of him listening to me are slim, but maybe James will be able to talk him into ditching the idea.

"Sam this is ridiculous! You really think we can just sit down and have a friendly little chat with him?" My head is buzzing with questions. Why does Sam think this is a good idea?

"I'll talk to him! You don't have to do any of the talking. This is our best shot to find out who is behind all this." Sam doesn't get it. I mean how could he. Sam's never even met him.

"You don't get it..." Sam and James both turn to look at me. "If you really wanted to talk to him, you shouldn't have told James."

"They're right. I'm not just gonna go talk with him. I can't do that." James and I both know that if Sam left without telling us, neither of us would have stopped him.

"Would you be willing to let me go alone?" I look at him, shock filling my eyes. Sending Sam alone would be even worse than going with. Sam'll just piss him off and cause more trouble for all of us in the long run.

"No." James turns around and looks at me.

"You're not gonna let him go or you're not gonna let him go alone?" James asks.

"We're not gonna let him go alone. He'd only get himself hurt." James and Sam both look at me, quizzical looks on their faces. "Plus, Zemo won't tell him shit without you being there."