[1] hostility ▷ bucky barnes [✔]

[9] ▷ pieces

AFTER trekking back from her heroic outburst at the convenience store, she opened the door to the warehouse, and a strong feeling of being alone overwhelmed her. She walked further in, taking a strap of the backpack off her shoulder, letting it hang loosely off the other one.

She was silent, and her memory flew back to what the man,— that oh, so mysterious man,— had taught her many, many years ago.

"Breathe," He would say, his eyes settled on the wall parallel to him. She could never remember him looking directly at her, he would stare far off into space, like he was dead. She did as she was told, her eyes closing as she inhaled and exhaled slowly. "Now listen," He says, and she does as he told her to do. She listened hard and calmly, her breathing now a silhouette in her mind.

She heard car honks, screeching tires, angry yelling, and shattering glass. She yelled out in frustration after focusing too hard. "I can't do it!" She yelped, and he placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her 6 year old form. "Yes you can, Artemis. If you put your mind to it, you can do anything." He reassured, giving her a pat on the shoulder before taking his place in front of the sofa once more.

"Try it again, only this time, focus on the peculiar things." She narrowed her eyes up at him. "What's that mean?" He chuckles, his distant eyes crinkling in humor. She smiled along with him. "Listen for the breathing, and once you get that close, dig down deeper and listen to their heartbeat." He says, and her small shoulders slump. "But it's so hard." She whines, and he shakes his head.

"If I can do it, you can too. You better get this down pat, because tomorrow, I'm putting you in a blindfold and you'll have to find your way all the way across the apartment without looking." He sends her a wink and she sighs, closing her eyes and doing just as he had told her to do.

"Listen for my breathing," He says, his voice calm and smooth, feeling like velvet in her ears. Each sound wave began to hit her ears, and she heard it. She heard his breathing, and her mind grasped it like it was the last cookie on the plate. "Good, Arty. Now dig deeper, listen to my heart." His words helped her through it, and once she heard that first heartbeat, that heartbeat that said that she could do anything, she would always remember him, even if there wasn't a name to the face.

She listened long and hard, retrying in disbelief when there wasn't a heartbeat, not even a mile away. "Shit!" She cursed aloud, grabbing the backpack and running out of the door as fast as she could. She ran, the gravel hitting her boots at an angle to make her ears want to burst. Everything wanted her head to implode, she wanted to know where he was, if he was safe, why the fuck he left, or if he even left willingly.

All she thought of was the worst, and after she ran until she couldn't anymore, she fell to her knees and screamed. She listened vaguely, her cries taking over anything she had in her body. She didn't even hear the boots coming up behind her.

"Arty," She heard, and her breath hitched. She turned around, seeing his tall, built form standing in the middle of the road, looking down at her crouched position. She sniffled, turning her head and quickly wiping the sweat, dirt and tears from her cheeks. "There you are," She said, sounding as if she were a disappointed mother, wondering where her child was since the mashed potatoes were getting colder and colder by the second.

He opened his arms cockily with a smile. "Here I am." He says, and watches as she begins to walk by him. He quickly grabs her wrist, and she stops abruptly, rolling her eyes and looking at him with raised eyebrows. "What?" She snaps, and he doesn't hesitate to pull her into his chest. She was immediately caught off guard, stammering into his chest with a 'umph.'

He puts his hand on the back of her head, his fingers tangling themselves in her brown hair, and she felt as if she would melt in his embrace. "I know you didn't get much sleep at all, doll. So when we get back to the haven, you take a good, long nap, okay?" She could feel his voice in her lungs. He was her cigarette smoke; each draw of breath that came from him benefitting her in how she copes. He was her rock that held her down to planet earth. She inhaled his scent, but her nose scrunched up and she smiled. "Fine, but only if you take a bath or something." He chuckles, letting go of her head, but keeping his hands on the small of her back.

He used his thumb to slowly and sweetly wipe the tear from the corner of her eye, and she smiled. "Deal." He said, and cupped her cheek. She subconsciously leaned into him, her small hand covering his own. She quickly regained herself, knowing that this place, right here and right now, wasn't the time to be catching anymore feelings for James Barnes than what she already had.

She quickly pulled his hand away, her fingers lingering on his own for just a split second, before she began to walk ahead of him. Being her happy, spunky self, a smile quickly replaced the one full of awkwardness with one full of competitiveness. "The last one back to the safe haven's a rotten egg." She says, and Bucky chuckles and begins to jog to catch up with her.

"At least give me a 3 minute head start. You're smaller than me, I have more muscle to carry. It's only fair." He says with a smile and a shrug. She rolls her eyes. "Please," She says with a smirk, flipping her hair off of her shoulder and setting her stance to run. "Even if I did give you a head start, I would still win." She gave him a wink, and took off running, laughing when she left him in literal dust.

She only wished that it wasn't a sign.

(a/n: i apologize bc my writing is getting shittier and shittier but aye, it is what it is. thanks for reading, though.

I LOVE YOU GUYS A LOT!
~KatXoXo