Daylight

It took Bucky a long time to come in terms with who he was and what he had done. His entire life was a mess, always finding a new low to put himself. His childhood, the army, the fall, HYDRA, Thanos. Wakanda was the place he had gone to put himself back together in every possible way, but his peace and quiet were finished when he received his new arm and went to fight Thanos. Now the big evil was done, Thanos had been defeated and it was time for him to step up and try to rewrite his wrongs. 

Steve had decided to retire, let go of the shield and pass it to Sam.  Steve had done what he had to do in the future, had been Captain America, and had fought aliens, humans, Nazis and Thanos. Steve saved the planet and freedom more times than anyone else and now it was time for him to rest, live the life he always wanted once the war was over.  

Unlike Steve, for Bucky the past was in the past, he couldn’t go back - and to be honest, he didn’t really wanted to.  Bucky had done so much wrong to the world, hurted it so bad that he needed to do something to even his conscious, even if for a while. For every wrong he did, he must do two goods. This was his new life motto. 

That is how he decided to begin the “second chance program”. Through the program, he helped criminals that wanted to leave the life and set up them with new identities. A fresh start, a place to begin again and try to be better. On the paper, it was simple, in reality, not so much.

One of the resettled clients had called him and said the he had contacted one of his ex-girlfriends that still works for Hydra. The sigh Bucky let out when the man told him that was almost inhuman, he could not believe someone had been so stupid to this point. Steve, who was lying beside him on the bed, rolled his eyes and smirked a little, letting him go and get ready to meet Terry and make sure the stupid was fine.

Three hours on a motorcycle later, Bucky was long gone from Brooklyn and the apartment he shared with Steve, sitting with Terry's dead body on a dinner, facing a kid dressed just as he did on the Captain America comics a lifetime ago.

“Hello Mr. Barnes. I’m a huge fan.” The kid had shot him right on the heart, causing him to fall off the chair and on the floor, gasping for air. He would be dead if not for the Kevlar Shuri had made for him. “To be honest, I didn’t think I’d meet you so soon.”

The boy kept talking as he was grabbing a sword and promising Bucky that he would be clean, but was interrupted by a coffee pot being thrown on his head. Time enough for him to look at the waitress that had done it and Bucky to fight back.

“I don’t know who you are, kid.” Bucky said as he grabbed the boy and threw him on the ground. “But no one else dies here.” They rolled out and before they hit the ground, they were back fighting.

Bucky tried to get some punches in, but the boy was fast, had studied his moves, and knew exactly what he was going to do next.

“You left yourself open on the left. You always do that.” The boy had said after Bucky finally hit a punch on his cheeks, making him bleed.

“Is that right?”

“Yeah.” The boy said and threw a smoke bomb at him; it would blind him if he wasn’t Bucky Barnes. He had heard the boy coming from behind, the sword cutting the wind, so he put his metal arm up as a shield. The sword cut through the vibranium and burying itself on his arm.

“Where the hell did you get vibranium?” The sword that kept going deeper and was pushed out in a single movement that took Bucky aback. Electrical waves came out of the arm, giving Bucky an idea.

“See, Mr. Barnes? It’s like I promised. Nice and clean-” The boy said getting ready for his final blow.

Bucky didn’t let him finish, deflecting the sword and grabbing the boy from behind by his metal arm, directing the waves that were coming out of it to the kid’s neck. He yelled in pain as the arm electrocuted him. When Bucky let him go, he fell unconscious on the floor in front of him.

It took a moment for Bucky to put himself together, his normal hand brushed through his face as he advised the damage and thought about what he would do with the unconscious kid in front of him. Now, with time, he could see that the boy did look like him, the hair and the clothes. Everything about him screamed Bucky Barnes, the one from the war, the boy who inspired people.

            After a few minutes, he got his keys, cuffed the kid and put him behind his motorcycle, deciding that he would take the boy home with him and Steve. Steve would know what to do, would help him as he always did.

            Halfway through the trip back, Bucky heard moans coming from the kid. Taking his eyes off the road for a moment he looked as the kid was coming back to himself.

            “Welcome back to the land of the conscious, don’t worry you’re strapped in really tight. You only fall if I do.”

            “What is this? Where are you taking me?” Bucky couldn’t help but notice the hint of fear on the boy’s voice. That was a good start.

            “Somewhere safe.”

“You know I’m going to kill you on the first chance that I get, right?” The fear was out of the boy’s voice and sass was all over it now.

“I know you’ll try.” Bucky took his eyes off the road again for a moment, hoping the kid realize that he could play the same game. “What’s your name?”

He waited for an answer that never came.

“Well, whoever you are, your handler’s going to be disappointed. Kid like you, skills like yours… They don’t put you on the field unless you can handle yourself up close.” Bucky hoped that he would break down some of the boy’s walls and at least find a way to approach him, show him that he understood. “They started you with a knife, right? Guns give you distance, sure, but a firefight can always go south. Or in your case… your rifle can be too wide.”

“My rifle works just fine. I had you pinned down.” The boy spoke almost offended.

“And yet. Here we are.”

“Where are you taking me?” The boy said and again, there was the hint of fear in it.

“Like I said-“

“There is nowhere “safe”, Mr. Barnes. Not from us.”

“Now who’s using canned lines?”

After that the kid said the words that only confirmed that he was only a pawn in Hydra’s game. “For every one of us you strike down, two more-“

“Yeah, I’ve been hearing that same snake manifesto since before your parent were born. It was garbage then and it’s garbage now.” It had shut the boy down. “How about this? You don’t have to tell me who you are. You don’t have to tell me why you’re wearing a suit that looks like my old one, you don’t even have to tell me how long you’ve been with Hydra. But considering you’re not going anywhere and we’ve got a hell of a ride ahead of us… There is one thing I want know. You answer that for me… I’ll shut up.”

There was a moment of silence before the kid said “what?”

“Do you like killing?”

Bucky sensed as the kid stiffen and he could almost hear as the thoughts ran the boy’s mind.

“I’m good at it.”

Bucky sighed.

“Trust me, kid. Just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean you have to do it.”

“It does if you want to be great.”

Silence fell upon them and Bucky kept his promise, eyes focused on the road in front of him as the words rang down his head. He just needed to get to Steve and they would find a way to help this kid together. This boy was still a kid, didn’t look a day older than 16, but his eyes were darker and worn out, letting whoever looked into them know that he had a tough beginning. Hydra had taken advanced of that and twisted him into this. A murder. Maybe he could-

Bucky was taken out of his thoughts by a scrape sound on the asphalt in front of them. A man dressed in a white suit was setting up nails on the road.

“Oh crap!” He hit the brakes as hard as he could, trying to stabilized the motorcycle and avoid them both from falling. “Lean right! Lean-“But it was too late.

The motorcycle was upside down, sending they both flying on road, beside red and chrome, broken glass. Bucky used his already broken arm to break his fall, damaging it even more. Now it was just a piece of metal hanging lose as Bucky tried to get some air into his lungs.

“Come on, now. Surely this ain’t you first motor incident. I know you’re not down for the count. Gimme something here, Buck.” The voice was coming from behind him, mocking him, calling him a name only Steve could.

“Who the hell are you?” Before Bucky could think in defending himself, a nunchaku hit him in the face, making him dizzy. Blood was spitting out of his mouth, as the man wasn’t stopping.

“Doesn’t matter. The more relevant point-“The blows kept coming. “Is that you ain’t who you used to be.”

The man only stopped when Bucky was moaning on the floor, barely able to put himself on his own feet. His head felt like it was going to explode at any moment; the whole world was spinning around. From afar he could hear muffled voices, like they were talking from underwater.

“This is the opposite of clean, boy.” That was the man’s voice. Bucky could still recognize it.

“I’m…Sorry, sir. I thought—“ Bucky thought he had heard a hint of fear on the boy’s voice when he was asking Bucky where they were going, but now he could see that it was nothing compared to what the kid’s voice sounded like now. He was completely terrified, trying to make himself small and submissive to avoid the punishment that was coming. Bucky knew that pretty well.

“No, you didn’t. And clearly, neither did I. You’re no different than the rest. Just another waste” That had hit Bucky even harder. When he was the Winter Soldier, he was the best, the praise and the power that came with it made him feel was good. He had to admit that. Whenever a mission went well he would have his pride, would be praised by those monsters. He lived for these moments like a good-trained puppy that only wanted to please his owner and lived for the crumbs that he was given to.

“Please, sir. I-I can do better. I can be better, when we return home-“

“You misunderstand why I followed you signal, boy.”

The voices were now clear and Bucky thanked whoever God that was that he was already coming back to himself. If he was right, the next moves were not going to be pretty.

“This was your last test. You failed. There is no returned.” Yeah. The kid was about to be executed, shot down like a rabid dog that could not be saved if Bucky didn’t step up and did something. Grabbing the gun on his leg, Bucky got up.

“You’re not really a “positive reinforcement” kind of guy, huh?” Bucky made sure to aim the gun between the man’s eyes. The kid was in between them, right in the line of fire, he would need to think fast-

“Perhaps I was wrong. Perhaps you do still have worth.” Before Bucky could even pull the trigger, the man took a gun out of his pocked and without even blinking, he shot. The shot was steady, without remorse.

It was like Bucky was seeing everything in slow motion and couldn’t do anything about it. He watched as the bullet crossed the kid’s chest, penetrating the little boy's chest and coming out of it and finished its course by bringing a burn of pain towards his own tight. By the time the kid body hit the ground, Bucky was already blinded by rage.

He ran towards the man on a white suit, punched and threw remains of his motorcycle at him, making him yell in pain. Bucky threw him on the ground and punched, and punched and punched until he tired himself out. His arm was burning, his body begging him to stop. Now, the man face was almost unrecognizable. Good.

“Don’t stop… Kill him... He’ll get away.” The kid’s chest was covered in blood, but apparently, the bullet had hit his shoulder. Still, a human could only lose a certain amount of blood and this boy was pretty close to hit his limit.

“Don’t worry about him anymore. He’s not going anywhere.” Bucky crawled towards the kid, applying pressure on the wound and trying to stop the bleeding the best he could. The kid was sweating and white as a sheet already.

Thankfully, the communication was still working and he could ask for help.

“Sam? Gonna need an evac favor. Got a… gunshot victim. We need discreet attention. Fast.” Bucky said, not taking his eyes off the boy for even a second.

“All right, I’ve got your coordinates. I’ll be there in ten.” Ever since he got the shield, Sam was working close to Nick Fury, Maria Hill and Sharon Carter trying to rebuilt S.H.I.E.L.D., they had been acting mostly on the US, gathering threats, fighting Hydra and anyone who tried to take someone’s else freedom. They were a hell of a team.

Coming back to his reality, Bucky was still applying pressure on the boy’s wound the best he could with only one arm, feeling as the kid’s chest got up and down.

“RJ… I’m RJ… Mr. Barnes.” RJ’s voice was quiet; this all had clearly taken a toll on him. His eyes were dazed and Bucky realized that they finally had met his age.

“Nice to meet you, RJ.” The sun was finally raising on the horizon and illuminating them. “You can call me Bucky.”

Sam was true to his word, 20 minutes later they were flying above the scene, leaving behind a trace of blood and fire coming from his motorcycle. He had let Sam carry RJ to the jet and patch his wound the best he could.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but you look like shit.” Sam said after he put the boy on the improvised hospital bed inside the plane. Bucky chuckled.

“I had a tough night.”

“Clearly.” There was a moment of silence between them, Sam was looking good, his new uniform was blue and white with stripes and a star on the center. The shield fit perfectly on his back, as if it was made for him.

“You on the other hand are looking better than ever.”

“What can I say? Blue is my color.”

Bucky threw his head back, closing his eyes and trying to make sense of the roller coaster that he had been the whole night. Cuddling in bed with Steve seemed like a lifetime ago, everything had gone so wrong after that.

“So, the kid has a history or…?”

“His name is RJ and he was Hydra, that’s all I know.”

“Hydra?” Sam was taken aback by it and couldn’t hide his surprise.

 “Yeah. He tried to kill me, but the night had some others surprises for us.”

“Bucky-“

“I know what you are going to say. But Sam, this kid- He is not bad, he just need a chance, okay? He can be good.“

“Just promise me you won’t lose yourself trying to save someone that may not want to save.”

Bucky looked into Sam’s eyes.

“I have to try.”

Sam nodded and at the final flights moments, Sam decided that he would take the man on the white suit to S.H.I.E.L.D. and Bucky would take RJ home.

“Say hi to Steve for me.” Sam said before Bucky made out of the plane carrying RJ home. Steve was already waiting for him at the front door.

“Really? This is your careful?”

“Shit happens.” Bucky leaned down to kiss Steve, but the former Captain dismissed him.

“You are a shower away from kissing me, Barnes.”

Bucky smiled the best he could and put RJ on the couch.

“What happened to him?” Steve said as he hovered the bloody boy on his couch.

“GSW to the shoulder. Through and through. Sam and I patched the best we could on the plane, but I think he might need a real doctor.”

Steve was already crouched beside the kid, analyzing the damage. “Clean yourself up as I see what I can do for him.”

Bucky nodded but stood on place watching as Steve took off the gauze that was protecting the wound and seeing the damage. The blood flow had slowed down a little, but Steve still flinched when he saw it the red liquid oozing down the shoulder.

Steve got up in a jump and announced that he was going to get the First Aid kit. In a few seconds, he was back into the room, holding Shuri’s nanites with him. Shuri had created it to speed the healing and patching wounds.

Carefully, Steve applied it on the boy’s wound and Bucky saw as RJ’s face curled in pain. For his own surprise, Bucky had to hold himself back from telling Steve to stop, to leave the kid and not bring him any more pain. But by the time Steve was done, RJ’s face was peaceful, almost like he was resting.

 “I think it’s safe to say that he’ll be fine.” Steve looked at Bucky who was still on the same spot. “I’m gonna put him on the spare bedroom and then grab your backup arm. This one is far from savable.”

Bucky nodded and finally forced his legs to move towards the bathroom. He took his clothes off and disconnected his arm, disposing it on the corner of the bathroom. He felt so relieved when the hot water washed away the blood and dirty off his skin, hoping it was enough to easy his conscious as well. His wounds were almost healed, only the shot on the tight still bled a little. By the time he was done, he was almost brand new.

He came into the room he shared with Steve, put on a white tank top and some sweatpants. If someone told his 20 years old version that one day he would had an almost simple and normal life with Steve he would have laughed. Now, this place in Brooklyn was home, this was his safe place.

He found Steve on the kitchen counter holding his backup arm and ready to put it in place. Shuri had made it simple enough for them to put, Bucky could probably do it by himself, but he loved the fact that Steve was there to help him. Only a push in the right place and the blonde was done, giving Bucky a cup of tea.

“Are you okay?” After all those years, Steve could see right through him.

“He’s a kid, Steve. Hydra- The man shot him right through like he was nothing, like he wasn’t even there.”

Steve’s hands were on his shoulder, grounding him and assuring that he was there.

“We will do better. We will be better for him.”

Bucky nodded and closed his eyes when Steve’s lips met his.

“So…” Steve said with a smirk. “We have a kid now?”

Bucky almost laughed.

“I think we have a kid now.”