missing pieces|| bucky barnes

five

•••

ALEXA WAS GREETED with a comfy looking james buchanan barnes on the couch, remote in his hand. his army green t-shirt and grey sweatpants fit him nicely. his hair was pulled back into a low man bun, him looking incredibly comfortable, and also slightly adorable.

"hi barnes." alexa said, bucky's eyes going from the tv to an equally comfy looking alexa. the oversized t-shirt that she stole from steve and her sweats made her look adorable, in bucky's eyes, yet he wasn't in the best mood at the moment.

"hey." he said blandly, his eyes going to the television again. taken aback, alexa furrowed her eyebrows at him.

"you alright bucky?" she asked him, walking a bit closer to him. she was concerned, he was slouched on the couch, arms crossed over his chest, his eyes dark as he stared at television. his head whipped to look at her, a face she's never seen before.

"i'm fine alexa, leave me alone." she was taken a back, her growing a bit angry. she stood her ground, stepping a bit closer again.

"we can talk-," she said, bucky narrowing his eyes as he raised his voice.

"holy shit alexandria i'm fine. stop being clingy." her eyes widened at him, a shocked expression on her face.

"god damn buck. i'm just being a concerned friend, not clingy." she turned on her heel, heading to the elevator. their eyes were locked until the door closed. she leaned against the wall, the elevator heading to the main floor. when the doors opened, she was greeted to most of the team. she stormed out, steve getting up off the couch.

"lex what's wrong?" steve asked, grabbing her arm. she twisted out of his grip, an angry look on her face.

"go deal with barnes, he's on his man period or something." she walked away from steve, him sighing. tony let out a laugh, natasha slapping his arm.

"he's having one of his bad days lex." steve said, following her to the fridge. she grabbed an orange, shutting the fridge and started to peel it.

"okay but he doesn't have to be an ass. i asked if he was okay and he called me clingy, whatever the hell that means." her angrily peeling the fruit, throwing the peels in the garbage.

"relax lex." clint walked around her to take a seat in-front of her across the island. she shook her head, popping an orange slice in her mouth.

"well first off he called me alexandria and he knows i don't like being called that! sometimes i cant stand him." steve noticed the way her jaw was clenched, she clearly woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

"you're telling me." sam mumbled, earning a look from steve.

"knowing what he's been through for the last seventy years, understand that's it's affecting him." steve argued, alexa's eyes narrowing.

"we were all tortured in our own twisted ways steve! i get you care about him, he's your best friend. if i was in your place i'd probably be doing the same but, i was just making sure he was okay but there was no need for him to snap at me." she finished, steve standing his ground.

"remember after loki's attack, and you were at your worst and you snapped at everyone, even nat and clint. yet we understood. you need to do the same for bucky. i cant always be with buck to make sure he's okay, and you're the only other person he's comfortable with opening up to at the moment,"

natasha had a wave of hurt wash over her, but she brushed it off, knowing that bucky and alexa had connected much more faster then she and bucky were.

"he doesn't just open up to anyone, yet he did with you. he trusts you lex, and you have to understand that he's gonna have days like these. please be understanding." alexa was about to open her mouth, but FRIDAY beat her too it.

"miss micheals, sergeant barnes requested you, he wants to apologize." steve sent her a small smile, alexa shaking her head.

"damn you buck." she mumbled under her breath, natasha letting out a small chuckle.

"good luck kid." tony said, making alexa spin on her heel.

"just because i'm the youngest, which technically i'm not there's peter and wanda, doesn't give you the right to call me a kid stark." she said, a smirk plastered on tony's face. alexa shook her head, her lips curving up into a small smile.

"i'll be back, hopefully." steve gave her a look of disapproval, the smile on alexa's face growing a bit. the elevator doors had closed, her heading down two floors. she didn't even step out of the elevator when bucky started talking.

"bucky, buck- for god's sake james stop talking." his mouth shut at james, him getting quite. she sat next him, facing him.

"i'm not gonna leave till you're done talking." she reassured him, thinking back to what steve had said.

"it's just.. i had my worst one last night in a while and i just thought, if i pushed everyone away, what happened in my dream wouldn't happen in real life." he said, alexa's eyes softening.

"you could have called me buck, i told you that we'll get through this together. what happened in your dream?" she asked, her attention on him. he noticed that she wasn't faking it, the way her eyes softened and the look on her face as she listened to him speak. she genuinely cared for him.

"they found the book. the book that has my trigger words. they used them on me, and made me," he stopped talking, looking down at his hands.

"kill the team. yeah i've had that dream too." bucky let out a soft laugh, making alexa's head perk up at the sound.

"looks like we aren't so different." alexa looked at him with soft eyes at the sentence, contemplating on whether to place her hand on bucky's arm as a sign of comfort. knowing he isn't big on physical contact, she did it anyway, her soft hand cautiously resting on his right forearm.

"i guess we aren't after all." his eyes were locked on her hand, her nails a pastel purple.

"i'm sorry alexa, i called you clingy, and i called you alexandria and you hate being called that and-" she squeezed his hand, him jolting softly at the action.

"james," she said softly, their eyes locked on eachother's. he noticed the dimple that formed when she gave a soft smile.

"it's okay. everything will be alright. you're gonna end up okay buck." he nodded softly, his arms slowly, yet cautiously wrapping around alexa.

she noticed that and accepted his embrace quickly, her arms wrapping around him. she felt his heart thudding against her body, bucky's eyes closed as his head was buried into the crook of her neck. he took note of her perfume, how it was sweet and fairly strong and alexa took note of how he smelled like pinewood and coffee.

"we're in this together bucky. i'll be right here for you, as long as you'll let me."