Stone Cold
"Jamie!" Amy gasped, clutching his back as she bounced on his lap, her nails digging into his bare back. Bucky groaned like a caveman, pulling her hair roughly, causing to her cry out in ecstasy. Bucky attached his lips to the side of her neck, stiffening as pure pleasure shook his whole body. Amy came down from her high, rolling off his lap and collapsing on the bed. "God, I love you," she panted.
"I love you too," Bucky replied breathlessly. He kissed her again and lay next to her. Amy turned on her side and snuggled close to him. "What do you want to do today?"
"It's New Year's Eve. Let's go dancing."
Bucky chuckled. "You always want to go dancing. We went dancing for Christmas."
"So? It's the start of a new year. We should welcome it to a bang!"
"If you want to, we'll go. We'll take the group. Steve will probably stand in the corner, staring at Peggy. Howard and Peggy will argue about something. As for everybody else, free booze always gets them out."
"True," Amy chuckled. "So, it sounds like a plan."
That evening, Amy stood in their hotel room, putting earrings in her ear. She wore a robe that was a Christmas present. Her blonde hair was curled, and swept to her left shoulder, giving Bucky a lovely view of the side of her neck. He wore his military-issued suit. As he watched her get ready, his stomach turned. The box in his pocket weighed a ton and made him sick to his stomach as doubts clouded his head. He had the ring for years, his mom promising him that she could have their family ring when he got older. But the moment that Amelia captured his heart, he knew that the ring was hers.
Marriage to him was sacred. Yes, he's been with plenty of girls, but none of them seemed right. But Amy was his best friend, his confidence, his heart...She was his soulmate. She was his every thought day and night. He couldn't sleep without her. She was his whole world. He remembered when he asked Steve for his permission.
They were at a bar taking a load off after a mission. Bucky remembered the mission like it happened yesterday, remembering as he watched his girlfriend run into the concentration camp, burned it to the ground, and came back out seconds later with a group of Jewish civilians. In her arms was an infant as she helped a woman walk out as well. His heart was beating wildly in his chest for two reasons. One, only seconds ago, the building she ran into blew up and she didn't come out. Two, she stared at the bundle in her eyes with adoration and with such ease. In his mind, he could see her laying in a bed, a ring on her finger, and holding a small baby that had her blonde hair and his blue eyes. Ever since then, he had fleeting moments where he could see their future together. They would get a house in the country like she always wanted, or somewhere in the city. Probably somewhere close to Steve. He imagined having some animals, working on cars, or boxing or whatever. He pictured her round with a child, a sense of pride, adoration, and love in his eyes that made his heart hurt. He pictured her, laying in their bed, her blonde hair braided and sweaty as she held their newborn child to her chest and looked at him with so much love that he melted on the ground.
He wanted that future. He wanted that with her. And almost losing her made him realize that he wanted it sounder rather than later. He wanted it so badly that he ached. That's why he decided to bring it up to Steve when he was relaxed. "Hey...I need to ask you something," he told his other best friend.
"Yeah?" Steve asked, looking at his compass, not being attention really as he stared at a map as well.
"Yeah...So, you know me and Amy are going pretty steady. I love her...so much, Steve."
"Uh-huh?"
"And I respect her...I would never force her to do anything. I would never hurt her or leave her. I would rather die. And I know you worry about her, but you don't need to anymore, because I can take care of her. I don't know when this war will be over, or when we'll be free, or if I will survive this or not, but I'll be damned if I didn't try."
"Try what?" Steve asked, catching the word 'survive'."
Bucky took a deep breath. "I know that your father is gone, and so is your mother, so I'm asking you as her brother and as my best friend. I want your permission to marry Amy and if she knew I was asking you she'll skin us both alive, but I was raised right and-"Bucky was assaulted by Steve's hug, his new strength still surprising him. "Watch it, punk! So that's a yes?"
"Are you kidding me?! Of course, it's a yes! Oh, man! She's gonna be so happy! Congratulations!" Steve grinned, nearly bouncing in happiness. This war was long and hard and dark, but this was so beautiful and bright.
"So, you're really okay with this?" Bucky asked, smiling and feeling relieved.
"Of course! You're my best friend. I know I wasn't happy about you and my sister before, but you make her so happy. You respect her decisions. You two are perfect for each other! I'm so happy for you two! When are you gonna ask her?"
"I don't know, but soon. I've been thinking about it for a while, but I became concrete about it when I saw her run out of that burning building with a baby in her arms. I just pictured us together married and with a baby."
Steve nodded, smiling so widely. "You should do it soon."
"Even if we do get engaged, we'll probably wait to get married until after the war is over. I would hate-"
"I get it," Steve nodded, sobering up. He didn't want Bucky to leave Amy alone and pregnant if he died. He didn't know about his sister's love life, but he knew that Bucky repeatedly saw the physician for rubbers, and his sister went monthly for check-ups to prevent any type of pregnancy. "But you won't. I won't let you. Let me know when you do."
"Of course."
Bucky wanted their moment to be special. He's been carrying the ring in his pocket for a long time. "What are you staring at?"
He looked up from his daydream, staring at her as she grabbed her stockings and began to roll them up her legs. He melted. "You are so beautiful."
Amy looked down, blushing as she finished one stocking and rolled the other one up. She clipped them in place, and slipped on her heels. "Thank You, Seargent."
"Your welcome Lieutenant," he saluted.
She smiled wider, grabbed her red dress, and stepped into it. It was floor length, blood red with cap sleeves and lace over the bodice. "Zip me up?"
Bucky stepped closer to her, zipping the dress up and kissing the side of her neck that was exposed, causing her to shiver. "If you keep that up, we're gonna be late."
"It'll be worth it..." he mumbled, his hand hiking up the heavy material of her dress.
"This dress cost me two paychecks, so we're going dancing and it's New Year, and I can tell that we're gonna have a good year. That will be worth a whole lot more. Then we can come back here, and you can peel this dress off me."
"Promise?" he asked, spinning her around.
Amy nodded, winding her arms around his neck, her fingers in the short hair on the back of his head. "Promise."
The club they had chosen was very nice, courtesy of Howard. He wore a tailor-made suit, while Steve also wore his military-issued suit, the same as Bucky.
Bucky, Steve, and Amy stood in a small group at the bar as Amy drank dark red wine. "Do you want to go outside and see the fireworks?" Bucky asked her.
"Sure," Amy said, setting her nearly empty glass down. Behind her back, Bucky sent Steve a wink and Steve grinned. He knew what he was about to do.
"What's the secret between you two?" Howard asked, coming behind him. Over the months, Howard became kinda like a brother to Steve as well.
"Bucky is asking Amy to marry him tonight."
"Really?! Well, hot damn! I'm gonna buy the most expensive bottle of champagne! We need something to celebrate!"
"Excuse me...Captain, a word?" Peggy asked, coming into the crowded nightclub, still dressed in her work clothes.
"Hi," Steve smiled. "A little underdressed?"
"We found Zola...I thought you would want to know. If you want to catch him, you need to leave now."
"But-" Steve started to say, seeing his sister. Sighing, he got up and went into Captain mode. This would be a big move against Hydra. Capture Zola, and they had a bigger chance of winning..."Howard, Peggy, round up everybody. We leave in an hour."
"Yes, Captain," Howard sighed, finishing his scotch. Steve headed outside, where Bucky was reaching inside his coat. "Hey...Hate to break this up, but we gotta move. They found Zola. We need to leave now if we want to catch him."
Amy sighed. "At least we got a few good dances in, right?" she asked, smiling.
Bucky tried to hide his crestfallen face and nodded. "You in that dress was worth it."
"I gotta go get changed. Are we leaving from the airfield?"
Steve nodded. "Wheel's up in an hour."
"I'll meet you guys there."
Bucky and Steve watched her leave. "Sorry, man. But-"
"I know...I understand," Bucky nodded. "Let's go."
Amy shivered through her leather outfit. "I hate the cold."
"I could always warm you up later," Bucky grinned.
"Nice try, Sergeant Barnes," Amy said, smirking. She stepped up to the zipline, tugging on it. "Seem's secure."
Bucky looked at the rope. "Remember when I made you ride the Cyclone at Coney Island?" he asked Steve.
He nodded. "Yeah, I and I threw up?"
"This isn’t payback, is it?"
Steve grinned. "Now why would I do that?"
Gabe took off the headphones, looking up at the three leaders. "We were right. Dr. Zola’s on the train. Hydra dispatcher gave him permission to open up the throttle. Wherever he’s going, they must need him bad."
Steve put on his helmet. "Let’s get going because they’re moving like the devil," Falsworth said.
"We only got about a 10-second window. You miss that window, we’re bugs on a windshield," Steve informed them, hooking up his T-bar. He went first, followed
"Mind the gap," Falsworth reminded them.
"Better get moving, bugs!" Dum Dum warned.
"Maintenant! (Now!)" Jaque said in French. Steve went first, followed by Amy, then Bucky, and then Gabe. They landed on the top of the train. Amy dug her boots in tight as she hung on for dear life. She carefully stepped towards the other three as they made their way down the ladder and into the train car.
It was too silent as they walked through the car. Bucky walked right behind Amy, gun at the ready as Steve walked away. The door suddenly closed, separating Steve from Amy and Bucky. "No!" Amy cried out but stopped when she saw a Hydra agent come and began to shoot at them. Bucky began firing, stopping her to grab for cover. Amy grabbed her gun, filled it with blue energy, and fired back. Bucky kept jumping out and trying to shoot at the thing. "We need to take him down!" Amy called out, ducking to protect herself from bullets.
"I know that, sweetheart!" Bucky shouted back. "Shit!"
"What's wrong?"
"Gotta switch," he muttered, switching to his handgun. He fired a couple more shots. Amy pulled him back.
"Wait..."
Bucky nodded and waited until he was closer. Amy fired more shots in between Bucky changing his clips, but he finally ran out of bullets. Bucky clicked his empty clip, but it was useless. Amy fired a couple more shots as she heard the door open. Turning and ducking she saw Steve was able to blast the door open and toss Bucky his gun. Bucky stood and fired as Steve charged, and knocked the man out with the shield.
"I had him on the ropes," Bucky sighed.
"I know you did," Steve replied.
In their short moment of peace, they didn't see another trooper reappear with a blaster made from the tesseract. "Get down!" Steve shouted.
Amy barely had time to brace herself before she was flung back near the side of the train, and a loud explosion echoed in her ears, deafening her. She instinctively opened her mouth to equalize the pressure, her hands covering her ears as her ears violently popped. Getting up to her knees, she looked up to see her brother down, struggling to get up. Bucky grabbed Steve's shield, using it as protection as he tried to shoot the trooper. Her heart stopped when she watched a blue energy blast hit the love of her life right in the middle of Steve's shield, blasting him from the train. "NO!" she shouted, scrambling to get up to the hole Steve was already there, tossing his helmet off by the time she could get up. She ran as fast as she could to the opening, as Steve inched his way over to Bucky, who was hanging on the side of the train by the rail.
"James-JAMIE!" she shouted, unable to hear her own voice due to the ringing. She saw Steve reach out a hand as tears filled her eyes. She saw his blue eyes meet hers with fear, devastation, heartbreak, and even worse, so much love that it made her want to collapse. He said something to her as he slipped. She would forever be grateful that she couldn't hear his screams as he plummeted down, or hear her own screams as she screamed. "No! NO!"
Steve looked at where his best friend just was only a moment ago, his own heart breaking as he heard his sister's blood-curdling awful scream. It was a mix between a sob and a scream. A blue energy blast erupted through the train, stopping the car. Steve held on as it lurched to a stop, slowly climbing back in to see his sister, sitting on her knees, as she harshly sobbed and screamed. His heart broke. Her eyes were dull, her hair was lifeless, and she was pale. She looked up at him, still in shock as she gasped at her own tears. They would never be the same again.