James Buchanan Barnes did not see this coming. He had everything he ever wanted, the amazing best friend, a steady job with good pay, a drop-dead hot girlfriend, and a place he could call home.
He was in a steady relationship with Natasha Romanoff, another Avenger who worked together with him. Hell, they weren't just dating, they were engaged. Bucky sure didn't understand why this had to happen, but in that moment when he laid his eyes on you, his perfect life didn't seem as perfect as it should have.
-
The first colours Bucky could see were red and yellow. When he opened his eyes for the first time, he saw his father's red shirt, and his mother's yellow one. They were two of his soulmates that he would meet, people who genuinely cared about him. As he grew up, his parents explained the concept of soulmates to him, telling him that one day, there would be a special person who would make him see a colour, someone that he would fall in love with for the rest of his life.
When Bucky met Steve, he realized exactly how soulmates worked. Staring into Steve's blue eyes, the young child couldn't help but break into a grin. If this was what finding a soulmate was like, he couldn't wait to find 'the one'.
It wasn't much longer after Bucky met Steve, that he lost a colour. He was casually walking down a street, spending time with Steve, a girl on each arm. One minute he was staring at her red lipstick, and the next he was staring at a dull grey. "Hey, since when did you put on that grey lipstick, Jess?" Bucky cocked an eyebrow, coming to a halt.
"I don't know what you mean, Buck. I've been wearing red all day."
He shot Steve a look, and took off right away. Dad. Bucky thought, he wasn't ready to lose someone so important to him, and he needed to get home as fast as possible. "Mother, I'm home, is everything okay?" His mother was sitting on the couch, tears dripping from her eyes. "I'm sorry, Buck. He's gone. I can't see his colour anymore." With that, Bucky curled up in his mother's arms, the two of them sobbing until no more tears would come out.
-
"Nat, stop playing with me like that, damnit!" Bucky laughed, picking her up by the waist and spinning his fiance around. She snuggled into his embrace, giving him an equally excited grin. "We're going to get married in a few months, Nat. Aren't you excited?" He sighed into her hair, chuckling. He didn't see her gaze change, from one of happiness to one of worry. "Of course, Buck."
The first time Bucky met Natasha, he saw pink. It's her, he thought. Even though his memory was fuzzy from all the procedures Hydra had carried out on him, he knew she was one of his many soulmates. It'd been so many years at that point, and Bucky didn't even realise what he was missing until he met her.
Keeping their relationship a secret from Hydra, and from her superior's at Red Room, the two had whispered promises of love for a lifetime, running away from everything to get to where they wanted to be, away from all the fighting and in each other's arms. Eventually, they'd been found out, and Hydra sent Bucky away from her, and wiped him again.
All he was left with was a bitter taste in his mouth every time he saw the colour pink, and hazy memories of a beautiful girl with red hair.
Back in present day, Bucky was more than ecstatic to find Natasha again, and rekindle their lost love. Steve was more than happy for his best friend, and was helping with the wedding planning. He shed a tear when Bucky proposed to Natasha, having helped pick out the ring himself. Unfortunately, he was tasked with breaking the two up in the midst of their happy state. "Sorry, Buck. We're going to have a meeting in five minutes, Fury wants to introduce to a new kid coming to the team." Escaping his grip like the super spy she was, Natasha scurried off to the meeting room, Bucky and Steve trailing behind her.
"Just in time, Captain, Barnes." Fury began, "Well, I have a new recruit I'd like to introduce to you all today. She's an elemental, she can manipulate the elements to her advantage. I thought there was no better bunch of misfits for her to join than you lot." That was your cue to come in, and you sighed deeply. "I'd better not regret this."
When you stepped into the room, there were gasps from many of the seated heroes. "You.. I can see green!" Wanda exclaimed, rushing over to hug you tightly. "Please, tell me you can see it too, the colour change." Clasping your hands, the teenager's eyes shined with hope. "I came to this tower seeing grey, yellow and black, and now I see a whole rainbow in front of me. Wow, this is pretty damn shocking."
You were practically bombarded by a whole spectrum of colour. It took you some time to figure out who made you see which colour, but you figured it out eventually. Wanda made you see red, Steve made you see yellow, Tony made you see purple, and Bucky made you see blue.
And you never thought you'd come to love that colour so much.
When Bucky laid his eyes on you, he realised he could see a new colour. Silver, the colour of his metal arm. He was able to see the gleam reflecting back at him instead of just white and grey and understand what Natasha said every time she told him his metal arm was beautiful. In awe, Bucky picked you up in a crushing hug and whispered into your ear, a soft 'thank you'.
-
Bucky hung his head, reaching up to smooth his hair back. "Something wrong, Buck?" Steve clapped his best friend on the shoulder, and Bucky sighed. "It's Nat, I thought she was the one for me, Steve. But she's been everything but close to me the past few weeks, and I'm here wondering what she's thinking." The blonde super soldier pondered for a moment, before responding, "Well, what do you feel when you look at (Y/N)?"
His head shooting up, Bucky glowered at his friend. "What the hell, Steve. I'm talking to you about Nat, and you're bringing up (Y/N)?" Shaking his head, Steve stood up. "I see the way you look at her, Buck. That's more than enough to make me question if you really love Nat." Growling, Bucky grabbed Steve by the collar. "Don't you dare question her, Steve. I love Nat in ways you wouldn't understand." Tugging himself out of Bucky's grip, Steve sighed. "I'm not saying you don't love her, Buck."
"I'm asking you if you know what kind of love you feel for Nat."
-
"Bucky, can we talk for a bit?" Natasha rubs one of her forearms with a free hand, clearly nervous. "Is something wrong? I've never, ever seen you nervous, Nat." His eyes full of worry, the super soldier rests a hand on her shoulder. "Yeah, and it's very, very wrong."
"Bucky, I'm not in love with you anymore."
It takes some time for the words to register in his mind, and his jaw drops. "I don't get it, what do you mean?" Groaning, Natasha tells him the absolute truth. In the time he had spent chasing Steve, she spent her time with Bruce Banner. It was crushing to her when Bruce left them and disappeared, and she thought she wouldn't find love again. When Bucky came back into her life, she was more than happy, and thought that he was her 'one' and was returning back to her again.
When Bruce decided to make the bold move to come back to the tower, Natasha realised just how wrong she had been about everything. It was too late at the time, Bucky and her were already engaged, and that they weren't meant for each other. She'd mustered up the courage to finally tell him how she felt, and had hoped he would understand.
"I'm sorry, Nat. I need time to think about this. I know where you're coming from, go talk to Steve and tell him to call it off. I hope for the best for you and Banner, but don't expect me to be too chatty for some time." Nodding, Natasha left Bucky to his thoughts and went to find Steve.
"What am I gonna do now?"
