~Marvel One Shots~

The Hydra Runaway | Steve Rogers & Bucky Barnes

A/N: This one shot was requested by cheesecakegodd on Wattpad. Thank you for the request!!! I changed it a little bit so I hope that's okay with you. ♥️

Summary: Reader ran away from Hydra and was 'adopted' into the avenger tower by Steve, getting a close father-daughter relationship with Bucky.

Pairing: None.
Warning: None.

~~~

Steve had been patrolling the streets for a few hours now, his eyes scanning the city thoroughly in the hope he would find the Hydra scientists who were said to be moving location. Lately he and the team had received some anonymous tips about the Hydra organization in New York sneakily planning to overthrow the Avengers Tower soon and now they were on the move, the Avengers could try to intercept them before it was too late.

He didn't find what he was looking for though and right when he wanted to report back to base, he found a young girl, probably around 18 years old, slouched against a wet and cold wall in a dark alley. Her long black hair covered her scarred and tired face and an empty whiskey bottle laid weakly in her hand.

She looked absolutely hammered from where he was standing....

'Poor girl', he thought as he approached her, kneeling down beside her to check her pulse. To her surprise she didn't fight him off, too drunk for that, and he noticed her heartbeat was weak, slowed down. 'She must be hypothermic.' He carefully picked the girl up when she still didn't make a move, noticing multiple scars on her wrists and in her neck. Scars he recognised Bucky having too....

A Hydra Runaway.... she probably escaped when they started to switch locations.

Steve sighed, feeling bad for the girl as he decided to bring her back to the tower with him. Of course the team wouldn't be happy, but he couldn't leave a minor out drunk and all alone. She probably didn't have any parents either and Hydra was after her too.

She wasn't safe so Steve didn't have much choice besides bringing her with him.

Driving home, the unconscious girl laying in the passenger seat, he eventually parked and picked her up to bring her inside.

"Who's that?" Bucky watched him come in with the black-haired girl.

"A girl I found out drunk on the streets." He laid her down by the warm fireplace and covered her in blankets to keep her temperature up. "She's from Hydra, a runaway for sure, I couldn't leave her there."

"What if she's a spy?" Tony crossed his arms as he walked in, sipping his drink and watching the young girl sleep away her intoxication.

"Stark, she's a minor, she's drunk and she's most likely hyperthermic. What did you expect me to do? Leave her for death? Once Hydra finds out she's gone, they will hunt her down." Steve defended himself and sat beside the girl, stroking her hair back to soothe her.

"A reason why you shouldn't have brought her here. I'm not against helping her, but now we have to be extra careful about what we say around the tower. We have no idea if she's still in contact with them."

"She isn't." Bucky suddenly spoke up, pointing at the deep cut in her neck. "She cut out the chip, they can't track her down anymore and looking at the cut it's already a few days old so she's been on the run for a while now. If she hasn't been caught yet that means they have no clue where she is and so she's safe here."

Stark slowly nodded. "Fine, but if something goes wrong, she's your responsibility and you have to deal with it."

"We will." Steve and Bucky both nodded.

~~~

For a few days it went well. Y/N didn't feel very at home yet, she didn't talk that much because of it either, but she appreciated the food and the shelter she was offered with whole her heart nonetheless and she did get closer to Bucky in her time there. She felt like someone finally understood her because he had been through the same thing she had gone through and so he didn't judge her which made her feel loved and comfortable.

However.... She knew Hydra would no matter what find her eventually and she was scared it would happen sooner or later.

The nightmares haunted her, ate her up alive, and tonight was the same as every other night.

She went paranoid because of them.

She didn't want the Avengers to die because of her, she didn't want Bucky to die. He felt like family and she wanted to protect him as much as she could so in her mind unfortunately leaving was the only option.

Around 2 AM, she packed the little stuff she was given into a small backpack she found in her closet and sneaked out of her bedroom and to the elevator soundlessly. Well, that was what she thought she was, though one person in particular had already heard her and was waiting for her in front of the elevator.

"Where are you going?" He cleared his throat and watched the young girl cover her mouth.

"Shit." She cursed under her breath and stayed quiet.

"Again, where are you heading to, hun?" He repeated his question and pushed himself away from the elevator and towards her.

"I just wanted some fresh air." She lied quickly and felt ashamed, like a daughter would feel when her father caught her sneaking out to have fun, however, for her this wasn't for fun.

"With all your stuff?" He pointed down at her backpack. "I know you're leaving for good, Y/N, don't lie to me. I also know that you're having severe nightmares."

"I'm fine." She lied again and avoided eye contact with him.

"You're not." He lifted her chin so she would look at him and he gently took her backpack from her hands. "I know what you're dreaming about, I have those nightmares too, but that's not a reason to leave. You're safe here. I know you are. I promise."

"This isn't about me."

"You're scared I'll get hurt?"

The girl slowly nodded and he sighed, pulling her into a tight embrace to stroke her hair.

"I won't get hurt, I'm still alive, aren't I? And I've been living here for a while now. Trust me, we're safer here together like a family than split up and alone."

"You promise....?"

"I promise kiddo. We'll protect you, and I know you'll help protect us too." He smiled and kissed her forehead. "Now go back to bed and drink some hot milk before you sleep, it'll help you. We'll talk about your nightmares tomorrow morning to help you deal with them."