Invisible, Not Invincible

Chapter 32: No More Hiding

"I know you might not trust me anymore, hell, sometimes I don't even trust me."

I said, looking down at my hands.

"But I want you to know, I am not Hydra. I have Hydra in my blood, but I also have the blood of my mother. And she was the most kind and gentle person."

I looked up at Bucky.

"Why did you tell me all of this? Why?" He said,

"I would have never known, you could have never told me. So, why did you?"

I nodded,

"I could have. Maybe I should have, I've done exactly that with a lot of people."

I sighed.

"But not to you."

I picked at the skin around my fingers,

"I've spent my entire life hiding. Even before I got my powers, and every second after. I was made into a monster. I was like the monster in a child's closet, but instead of children, I scared adults. My name instilled paranoia, and terror, you'd be dead before you even saw me. I hid parts of myself, parts that reminded my father of my mother, just to avoid angering him. On the run with my mother, we hid. My entire existence, I've hid."

I looked up at him,

"I can't hide from you... not anymore."

Bucky seemed surprised by this. Honestly, so was I. The sudden bravery caught both of us off guard.

And the surprises continued.

Bucky slowly reached over and grabbed my hand. Then he gently put his metal hand on my cheek, leaning in and putting his forehead against mine.

"I never want you to hide from me." He leaned in and softly kissed my lips.

"Thank you. Thank you for telling me. Thank you for freeing me. Thank you for everything you've done, from the moment you helped Steve, and everything after."

A smile crept onto my face, I put my small hand over his large metal one, leaning into his touch.

That familiar feeling spread through me. It was the same feeling I had when I talked to my mom. Feeling joy, safety, and happiness.

I didn't know if this feeling was ever possible to feel again.

The weight of my past, of all of the things I've done. Bucky was the only person who could understand any of it.

Him touching me. The warmth of his hand in mine, the weight of it. The feeling of his pulse, the blood running through his veins. The feeling of his breath fanning across my face as we just stayed in silence.

This was real. It felt like a puzzle piece falling into place. Like all of the broken pieces of myself were no longer scattered across the floor. Like his broken pieces fit with mine.

We can never undo the things we've done, but we can live so that tomorrow, we are better than we were today. All of the brokenness inside of us, all of the darkness and bitterness we have both been drowning in, was like we were both finally coming up for air.

And the air, never tasted so sweet.

The End.

Authors Notes: 

I didn't plan to end it here, I had no plan for the ending. But this seemed like the right place. I hope you all enjoyed it. Read my other works if you did, and more stories to come. Thank you all for all of the support. My life has been a mess for the past few months, a fire in my apartment displaced me. I lost my job, used all of my savings to keep a roof over my family's heads, and got my heart broken. But all of the support from this story, made me resume writing. And it let me escape for a few hours every week, so thank you, truly.