Freaky Friday (Bruce x Reader)
“Wait, don’t-“
Bucky picked up the cup on the kitchen countertop and chugged it and then gave you a quick kiss.
“Whoops” he said sarcastically. “I didn’t realize that was your drink. It tasted weird anyway.” Bucky had a bit of a bad habit of stealing unattended drinks in the kitchen after training. Loki, who was staring at the the thief with an indignant look, was the latest victim of Bucky’s post-workout, dehydration induced kleptomania.
“You shouldn’t of drank that,” Loki smirked, “It wasn’t for you.”
“Well you shouldn’t of taken my workout pants last week and changed them all to short shorts,” Bucky replied, bringing out one of the many pranks Loki had played on him. Loki’s mere presence spurred a constant prank war in the tower, but they were all harmless. To be fair, that latest assault on Bucky’s wardrobe had been one of your favorite pranks, and Bucky definitely realized it after finding your eyes fixed on his thighs one too many times.
“That was one of the potions I was currently working on.”
“Is he going to be okay? Please tell me it isn’t poisonous.”
“He’ll be fine, but since he touched you first after stealing my cup,” Loki shot a glare at your boyfriend, “you’ll both be feeling the affects any minute now. It was watered down so it’ll wear off before the day’s over.”
“Wait, me too? I didn’t do anything.” You squeaked.
Loki just shrugged and gave a half-assed goodbye wave before disappearing.
You looked at Bucky in a panic, but he reassured you with Loki’s promise that whatever it was would wear off. Everything suddenly felt too warm and your head spun. When you got your bearings, you happened to glance at the mirror and realized something different about your appearance.
You looked like Bucky. You turned toward where your boyfriend once stood, but you were standing there. Wait, that isn’t right. I can’t be looking down at myself. You thought.
“What the?” Bucky, who was in your body, yelled out. His eyes widened as he curiously studied you. “Did we switch bodies?”
“I think so.” You sputtered. Then you let out a breath of relief, “This doesn’t seem like the worst side affect of a potion. It’s probably better than food poisoning.”
Bucky giggled. He slapped a hand over his mouth in shock. “Did that sound come from me? I didn’t even mean to laugh like that.”
You felt an unexpected surge of warmth in your chest and you literally could not stop your mouth from forming a smile. “I think our bodies are still emotionally reacting like we haven’t switched minds.”
Bucky rose an eyebrow, but he didn’t have a better explanation so he accepted that answer. You ate breakfast together, and it wasn’t too unusual.
“You really do hate oatmeal...” Bucky commented after straining to swallow a spoonful.
“And you’re freakin starving!” You added jokingly.
You continued playing around until it was time for a team meeting with Director Fury. He still didn’t trust Bucky, and, although you’d informed the whole Avengers team of what happened, you didn’t want him to know the situation. The Avengers usually tried to keep SHIELD away from as much information that wasn’t directly related to missions as possible. Clint, Natasha, and Steve were pretty open, but they were the only ones who actually worked for SHIELD, and that was only when they were on SHIELD missions. The Avengers owned themselves courtesy of some funding from Tony.
“And make sure to watch the briefing video once you’re back at the tower. I have other appointments, so I’ll be leaving, but there is sensitive footage that’s essential to the mission in there.”
Everyone rolled their eyes at Fury’s parting words. He ended almost every meeting like that, and usually the videos were just footage of a HYDRA base and it’s history. It helped with taking them down, but ‘essential’ was overkill.
But of course, Steve insisted on watching it before the movie everyone had planned on watching together. There was a collective groan as he put the disc in, with a tiny smile of satisfaction at doing it himself, but he claimed it was less than fifteen minutes and everyone would forget if they didn’t do it know. It was true, but it didn’t stop everyone from making childish pouty faces at him.
It was the usual - grainy security footage of a room full of HYDRA agents, information about their goals, and photos of the main targets. Then, there was a scene where an agent was mumbling to a newer agent. It probably wasn’t important to the mission, just filler for the text above, because you could barely make out the words with Bucky’s super senses so no one else but Steve would even be able to hear it.
Suddenly, you felt something snap. You jolted up. You could feel your mind grow clouded. Everything was getting darker. You focused on Steve, and Steve alone. “Captain America” You snarled and lunged toward the man.
Bucky immediately jumped after you, but quickly realized how weak you were compared to his enhanced body. Tony called the suit and between him, Steve, Clint, and Natasha, you were securely pinned to the floor and then locked in a secure room.
When Bucky had first moved in, it was the panic room. They had two, one that was mainly for Bruce and one mainly for him. Occasionally, others had to use them due to mind control or other typical ‘safety hazards’ from the job. He’d used it often while Steve and Tony worked together to train the rest of the trigger words out of his system. It had been a long process of essentially ‘unbrainwashing’ him and even today, he could still feel something when he heard trigger words. He was just able to mentally overcome them.
You hadn’t been trained to do that. His body was just reacting to the words because of all the physical torture HYDRA had used to infuse those demands to his being. You were banging against the walls of the room and scheming for a path to escape. You were raving mad and had a murderous look in your eyes.
It was clear you were after Steve.
With you contained, the team could relax a bit. They tried speaking to you through the microphone Steve used to coax Bucky out of his trances, but none of you had the same connection that Bucky and Steve had and it wasn’t working.
Bucky tried. He talked to you gently, reminding you of your life at the tower and your time with him. He went into details about dates you went on and things you’d said.
“...Bucky?” It was really soft, but you called his name. He recognized the look of clarity in your face. You seemed horrified. Then, you started sobbing. You fell to your knees. Bucky’s heart squeezed in his chest. He knew that by fighting HYDRA’s conditioning, you were reliving the torture he had experienced. He remembered the first time he relapsed and the awful process it took to come back. He desperately wanted to go in and comfort you. Your body immediately reacted to seeing your boyfriend’s crying face, and Bucky started crying as well.
Then your head snapped back up. The blank look was back. You weren’t even close to being out of the woods yet. He talked through the microphone for hours. He knew that you could hear him, somewhere deep down. That you were fighting to break free. Eventually, with a gasp, your mind was flooded with a feeling of freedom. You were in control again, and you sunk to the floor in relief. As soon as you regained yourself, you felt an overwhelming warmth.
When you looked down, you recognized your own body. You sat down and cradled your knees to your chest. Tears rapidly dropped down your cheeks. That was the most awful thing you’d ever experienced. You couldn’t even image Bucky having to fight that every day. That thought made you feel more terrible and the tears became sobs.
You took a deep breath and realized there was urgent knocking at the door of the safe room.
With a jolt, you realized that you hadn’t released Bucky. Quickly, you typed in the code to unlock the door. You tried to wipe the tears from your face, but hearing the door open and thinking about how you’d trapped your boyfriend in the room was too much to handle. You trembled and another round of tears broke loose.
“Are you alright? Can I touch you?” Your boyfriend approached cautiously with his arms toward you. The hesitancy in his voice made you cry harder and he jumped back, but you nodded and gave him a hug. You cried into his shoulder until the full breakdown melted into hiccups and then a sense of calm.
“I’m sorry.” He whispered in your ear when you had finished. “I’m sorry for drinking the potion. I’m sorry for not being able to help. I’m sorry that you had to go through that.”
“It’s not you fault.” You responded, pulling back to show him your eyes, to show that you truly believed what you were saying. Your eyes crinkled a bit as you smiled and added, “The drink thievery is on you, but you didn’t know it was a potion. You couldn’t of known what would happen. Please don’t mess with Loki’s things again though.”
“I promise I won’t.” He murmured sincerely.
“That was awful. You suffered so much...it’s...” your voice trembled and hitched.
“Don’t start crying again for me doll. That’s all in the past. Right now, I’ve got you. I’ve got a family. I’m happy.” He rubbed your back in a relaxing way and you leaned into the touch.
“I’m happy too!” You muttered. “I’d be happier if I could take a nap though.”
Bucky chuckled and picked you up to walk you to bed. “I think I’ll join you.”