Little Secrets, Little Bucky

Shit Hits The Fan

Bucky woke up big the next morning, flushing red as he realized that he had been clinging to Sam all night. He carefully extracted himself from the bed and went to shower, getting dressed in the clothes Y/n kept around for him. He came out to see that Sam had woken up and was on the phone with someone in the living room. Bucky went into the dresser, grabbing one of Y/n's hoodies to pull over his head. As the familiar scent surrounded him, he felt much calmer than before.

Y/n had said that she'd be back in the morning so he found comfort in the fact that she would be returning soon. As it turned out, he missed her while he was big almost as much as he missed her while he was little. He gravitated towards the woman, getting more and more drawn in the longer he spent around her. Not only was she the best caregiver he could have possibly hoped for, she was also his best friend. He'd been worried when they had started this whole thing that she wouldn't be able to view him as anything more than a helpless child, but she didn't treat him any differently when he was big than she did before. She still trusted him with her life on missions and watched scary movies with him on the weekends. He had come to realize that big or little, he liked being around her more than anyone else.

Sam and Bucky finally got word that the jet was coming back during the late afternoon. They hurried over to SHIELD headquarters, excited to reunite with their missing teammates. Bucky was a little bugged that they were late, but as long as Y/n was back he supposed it didn't matter all that much. Maybe he could even use it as an excuse to get extra dessert next time he was little.

Bucky saw Steve walking up the runway, god he looked like shit. His face was all busted up and he was limping, although it seemed more like his side was hurt than his leg. Sam went running up to his partner to check him over but Bucky just stood there, frozen. Where was Y/n? Shouldn't she be next to Steve?

He finally snapped out of it and went to check on Steve. Once he was satisfied that the other man wasn't in critical condition he started looking around. "Steve, where's Y/n?" He asked frantically, "Is she still on the jet?" Steve gave him a pained look but didn't speak, tears welling up in his eyes. "Steve?"

"I'm so sorry, Buck," he whispered, "They have her. I tried to protect her, but she forced me to go back."

Bucky just stood there, blankly staring ahead for a moment, before running into the storage room near the hanger. Steve and Sam followed after him, opening the door to see Bucky shoving several weapons into a standard issue duffle bag.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked, "None of that is yours."

"I'm going after her, we don't have any time to waste." Bucky responded, grabbing a med pack from the shelf and adding it to his bag before zipping it up. "My spare suit is still on the jet right?"

"Yeah, but don't you think we need a plan first?" Sam said as he and Steve followed Bucky to the jet. "We shouldn't just go running in on impulse!"

Bucky stopped readying the jet to look at Sam. "That's what she would do," he said in a pained voice. "That's what she would do if it was any one of us."

Sam and Steve looked at each other, realizing that Bucky was right. Y/n wouldn't wait for a plan or permission, she'd just do whatever it took to get them home safe. Steve sat down in the pilot's seat, preparing for takeoff while Sam and Bucky went to suit up.

When the jet landed near the Hydra base the three decided to split up, knowing it would increase their chances of finding Y/n as fast as possible. Most of the guards had either fled or already been handled by Y/n and Steve on their recon mission, so there weren't too many people to fight off.

Bucky rounded a corner into a room and felt his heart drop. "Bucky?" Y/n was there, tied to a chair in the middle of the room.

"Are you alright?" Bucky asked frantically as he ran over, checking her for any severe injuries.