Hell's Angel [Bucky Barnes]

25 - Reconciliation

25 – Reconciliation

James and I don't find Tessa, but we find ourselves a room to share. In the process of finding our room, James told anyone that he could find that we were looking for Tessa.

I've got my eyes closed, head in James' lap. He's combing through my hair. My body twitches. He's singing something in Russian, a lullaby maybe. It's soothing me. The pain in my head is dulling, but I still feel pretty shaken. Wanda Maximoff is a force to be reckoned with.

"Any better?" asks James.

"Very little." I open my eyes. He's watching me. I reach up, rubbing my fingers against his stubble. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Being my conscience. Or trying to be when I should've been." I smile. "Saving my life. You know, all that jazz."

"Well, you're welcome." He pulls my hand off his face, cradling it gently with his metal one.

"You miss it?"

"Miss what?"

I nod towards his metal limb. "Your old one."

"Course I miss it. It was mine. Now I've got this thing." He scowls. "I'm trying to see if I can find some tech that can disguise it so it looks normal again."

"Is there such a thing?"

"That's what I'll have to look into, provided I don't die before then."

I sit up slowly, looking at him. "Why would you think you'd die before then?"

"It's only a matter of time before we have to run again. We can run all our lives, but something'll catch us in the end."

"I don't believe that. We'll stop running soon. We just need to hang on longer. We can't back off now, a lot's at stake."

"Tell me about it. I knew I was risking a lot back in the forties, but now..."

"You were an army man," I remember.

"I was. It was what got me pulled into this mess, by being captured. Feels like the war never stopped, you know?"

"I don't," I say quietly.

"I wanted it to stop, Vick. The war. The emotion."

My brows scrunch in intent. I think back to my past encounters with James, the times I tried to kill him. How once...no, I think twice...he wanted me to do it. Kill him. The thought sends a chill through me. "What kept you going?"

"Mostly Steve, but I was beginning to think even he wasn't going to be enough." He looks at me wearily. "And then you came along."

"What did I do?"

"You...saved me. Pulled me back from the ledge without realizing it."

I snort. "How could I have done that when I tried to kill you?"

"Because I saw the change in you. I knew you weren't Hell's Angel when you attacked me. You were someone else, not who you are now. You gave me reason to fight."

"Well, I guess the 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger' quote really fits, doesn't it?" I tease.

"Yeah, it does."