behind blue eyes [bucky barnes]

twentyone

"'Cause there's no nicer witch than you."

Song: Witchcraft by Frank Sinatra

. . . . .

"If I ever see this Grant fucking Ward, I will tear him limb by limb - and that is a fucking promise."

That was what Bucky had growled after pounding his metal fist on Maria's bedroom door so much that he broke it off the hinges. She knew he had been serious - his eyes harboring a storm that told her he truly would rip him to shreds if given the opportunity to. As Maria continued dicing up onions for the meal she was working on, they kept playing in her mind.

Since that day, things had been much lighter between the two. Bucky had held her, consoling his soulmate after confessing her traumatic past. When she had tried to convince him that her past was why he should hate her, Bucky had no part of that. He spent the rest of that day assuring her that he would never, or could never, hate her. If he was to harbor hatred in his heart for his soulmate, then she would have to harbor that same feeling due to his own past transgressions. His words had been sincere, making Maria cry even more. Because the way that she viewed herself wasn't the way he saw her. How that was possible - she had no idea. But it brought a level of comfort to her that she never knew was possible.

With that being said... Maria was beginning to think that something was wrong.

Bucky hadn't made a move on her since the night of their date. That had been in June, and it was now the end of November. Five months of nothing - not even a kiss on the cheek. The most contact she had was when he had cradled her in his arms as she cried over her past.

Maybe it was the "I have seen you puke and it was unattractive" thing.

Maybe he had been lying and it was the "I now know your deepest, darkest secret, and that was a turn off" thing.

Either way, frustrated was not nearly a strong enough word for how Maria felt.

Now she was cooking with him - something that Bucky had expressed he missed from his youth. The majority of the team was gone on a mission, leaving the tower free from prying eyes and ears. It wasn't as though there was anything to look for. All the two had been doing was watching movies and working out. Maria was still not cleared to do full on training, so the most she could do was run or lift weights. That didn't mean that she hadn't been able to convince Bucky to sneak her into the shooting range to spend a few hours with a gun and a couple dozen targets. Even still - that was the most exciting thing that had happened.

"Onions ready," asked Bucky as he continued stirring the other cooking vegetables. "If we don't get them in now, they won't be cooked down enough."

"I'm supposed to be the one giving orders," giggled Maria, walking over and dumping the last of the diced vegetables into the pan. Bucky just rolled his eyes and snickered.