True North [Stucky Fanfiction - IN PROGRESS]

07 - Time for a Lullaby

Natasha pulls up her tank top slightly, fury boiling in her eyes. She motions to a puckered pink scar on her abdomen. "He shot straight through me to hit the nuclear engineer I was safeguarding in Odessa. He was the one responsible for my training in the Red Room. I watched him murder a twelve-year-old girl for nothing after she twisted her ankle dancing. He's Hydra's prize pet; he wouldn't have just woken up. Someone had to be there to do it."

"Does he seem like a threat? Look at him!" Steve exclaims, gesturing over to Bucky. In the same moment, his heart skips a beat as he realizes he's gesturing to empty air. The bowl of crackers is still sitting on the counter, abandoned.

Natasha sucks in a breath. "J.A.R.V.I.S., lock down every room with a weapon in it."

"All done, Miss Romanoff. Is there anything else I can do?"

"Not at the moment." Natasha cocks her head up at Steve, a look of both defiance and desperation glimmering in her eyes. "Why don't you go sing the Winter Soldier a lullaby, hm? He might listen to you better than he'll listen to me, but if you die, I'm gonna say I told you so."

Steve breathes out a laugh. "I'll try not to, then."

"Good." Natasha looks down at her feet in what Steve can only describe at the first time he's seen her show weakness. She's scared. "Cause if you die, Rogers, Thor and I will beat your ass, you hear me?"

She's breaking down from the inside out. Steve nods gently. "I hear you, Nat."

Her jaw trembles, but she doesn't comment on the nickname. Steve knows that Clint used to call her that, but she looks so lonely that he can't help thinking she needs a bit of comfort in times like these. She looks at him for a moment longer, hesitating, before finally retreating to the elevator. Steve watches her back until she steps in and the doors slide close silently.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., where's Bucky?"

The disembodied voice seems to hold an ounce of empathy as it responds. "Down the hall to your left, the last doorway on your right, Mister Rogers."

"Mister Rogers? You're bound and determined to make me feel old." Steve starts down the hallway slowly, debating with himself if he should get his shield first. He hasn't picked it up in eight months, hasn't even touched the uniform. He decides against it. "Despite what the calendar says, the time I spent in the freezer doesn't count, so I'm only 25."

"What would you have me call you?" J.A.R.V.I.S. responds cordially.

"Steve is fine."

"Very well."

Steve wets his lips and continues down the hall, eyeing the closed door that Bucky is supposedly behind. What is he supposed to say, when Bucky reacted to him so nervously before? Steve knows he must be confused because he's hearing different things from the two remaining Avengers.

He doesn't have to think about it for long because soon enough, he's standing in front of the door, hand raised to knock.

He does.

There's no answer.

He tilts his head closer to the door and relaxes the defensive stance he hadn't even realized he had dropped into. There's not even the rustle of fabric on the other side. Briefly, he wonders if J.A.R.V.I.S. made a mistake. Regardless, he twists the doorknob and opens the door gently, eyes flicking around the darkened space.

It's a storage room. He almost leaves, a quiet sigh of frustration escaping his lips before he spots a human-like figure in the corner of the room. They're sitting on a chair, legs draw up to their chest. As his eyes adjust to the dim lighting, Steve notices skin-tight fabric poking out around the ankle of a pair of sweatpants; it's definitely Bucky.