❝Just know that from this point on, whatever happens, I'll be with you. I'm not gonna leave your side until you tell me to.❞
. . .in which she helps him find his way back to himself.
[BOOK ONE]
[Highest ranking: #1 in MCU/fanfiction as of 5/26/18]
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★ ★ ★
The sun had disappeared from the once-blue sky long ago, permitting the dark gray storm clouds to make their appearance. Marlena looked up at the darkened sky and let out an annoyed sigh. She never did mind storms—she loved them, actually—but had she known there was a possibility of it storming before she got home, she would have taken her car or at least wore a hooded jacket.
As she continued walking, though, she couldn't bring herself to further worry about the situation in the sky or the lack of head covering. All she could think about was the man who trailed closely behind her and Hallie, his head low and his hands still shoved into his jacket pockets. It was still hard for her to grasp the fact that Bucky Barnes was alive when he should very well be dead. Even if he had survived the fall he would be in his nineties, and this man looked to be in his late twenties.
She didn't doubt that this man was Bucky, though. He looked far too much like the James Buchanan Barnes she grew up learning about from her grandfathers, not to mention, there was just something inside her that told her she needed to trust that he was the man he said he was sure he was. She still wasn't sure how him being here was possible, but she was more than determined to find out.
Hallie glanced back at Bucky with a skeptical look on her face before turning her attention away. The moment she laid on eyes on him back at the museum she had picked up a rather bad vibe. There was something so familiar about him, something so sinister about him that she just didn't like, hated even. She couldn't exactly put her finger on what it was, but whatever she was feeling she knew it wasn't anything good, and she knew that he wasn't anything good. What made matters worse was that her best friend—one of the people she cared most about in this world—had befriended him and was now bringing him to her house. She knew she couldn't tell Marlena what to do, but she knew she could try and talk some sense into her.
"Y'know, it's really strange to bring a guy home from the Smithsonian," Hallie chuckled dryly, "Especially for you, little miss never-gonna-date-again."
Marlena gave her friend a dirty look, and Bucky looked up from the sidewalk at the sound of her words. He felt the same way about her as she felt about him, despite the sinister aspect of it. There was just something about her that he didn't like; he couldn't determine whether or not it was her attitude or the way she carried herself. Either way, he didn't like her and couldn't care less about whether or not she liked him. It was a mutual dislike between the two of them, and they hadn't even known each other an hour.
"It's not like that, Hallie," Marlena assured her friend as she approached her home.
Hallie scoffed and pulled Marlena back by the wrist before she could head up her porch steps. She turned to look at Bucky with a fake smile on her face. "Could you give us a moment, please?" She didn't give the super-soldier the chance to respond before she yanked Marlena away; he just watched from the sidewalk with furrowed eyebrows, his dislike towards the blonde girl only growing stronger.
