The Spark

I walked into the library on my floor, quickly checking that Bucky wasn’t hiding in there. When he wasn’t, I smile to myself and walk through the main aisle, running a hand over the spines, breathing in the smell of leather and paper, sighing as I relax.

Relaxed, I slide my phone out of my pocket, opening the photo app and flicking through the photos that I had already taken throughout my time here.

The first one I looked at was the most recent picture I had taken, which was of Thor and Clint, smiles bursting on their face as they raised the glasses of Asgardian alcohol spiked beers. The next one was of Tony and Steve, Tony grinning cheekily while Steve was more restrained. Then it was the sneaky pic that I had taken of Steve, who was halfway through flipping a pancake, his hand in his hair.

The next two were of Vision and Beeper, and I smiled fondly. Then, the last series of photo were of Bucky eating the pile of pancakes, and my favourite one of all was of Bucky’s open, childlike expression as he first saw the stack of pancakes. I sigh as I look at the picture, chuckling as I imagined him like that again.

I snuck into (Y/N)’s library, the soft light glinting off my arm as I closed the door quietly. Through the bookshelves I could see (Y/N)’s back, hunched over something in her hand. Her hair was loose, as was the black pyjama shirt and red mid-thigh pyjama shorts.

Stealthily, I walk up behind her, and before I can say anything, I see that she is looking though photos on her phone. The first one was of the God and Barton, then one of Stevie and Tony, then an individual one of a happy Steve, flipping pancakes.

Smiling, I pay attention to the rest of the photos that she’s flicking through. I see one of the Android and another of a little box like robot. Then, the next photos take me by surprise, and I nearly let out a noise, but I control myself.

The photo’s were of me. (Y/N) was spending longer on these one. Three of them were of me eating the pancakes, and the last one was focused on my face, and it wasn’t guarded like it usually was when I glanced at myself in the mirror, my face was open and it struck me that it looked like child like glee as I looked down at the pancakes.

Smirking as I hear (Y/N)’s beautiful voice chuckle, I walk closer to her, my chest nearly touching her back as I lean over her shoulder, my lips nearly brushing her ear.
“I didn’t know that you took pictures of me?” I whisper in a husky voice, chuckling as (Y/N) jumps, whirling around and whacking me playfully on the chest.

“Bucky!” she shouts, trying vainly to keep an angry expression on her face, which I grin at. She slowly gives in, smiling as she looks down at her phone, her cheeks flushing.

“Why are you blushing?” I ask bluntly, and her head snaps up, her eyes sparkling with happiness.

“Oh, um, I didn’t really expect you to see them I guess” She shrugs. Then her mouth quirks up at the corner in a smile.

“But you did like those pancakes though” She points out, showing me the photos of my expression as I ate the pancakes she had made me. Slowly, I get an idea, feeling my old self push through the tough Winter Soldier exterior that had been forced onto me.

“I sure did Doll, I liked them a lot” I smile, but my eyebrows furrow as I see (Y/N) stiffen, her eye twitching slightly as she shudders.

Oh God, Bucky saw my stalker photos. That thought rushes through my mind as I whirl around, my hand instinctively whacking Bucky’s chest in retaliation.

“Bucky!” I try to frown at him, try to stay angry at him for scaring me, but he has this stupid grin on his face that just is infectious, making me smile back at him, rolling my eyes at him. And the longer I look at that smile, I can’t help but blush, looking down.

“Why are you blushing?” My head snaps up at his bluntness, blushing even more.

“Oh, um, I didn’t really expect you to see them I guess” I shrug my shoulders, my hand gesturing at my phone. But then a thought makes me smile.

“But you did like those pancakes though” I point out Bucky’s facial expression, and I see Bucky’s face grow a smile.

“I sure did Doll, I liked them a lot” I freeze at his words, my body stiffening involuntarily at the word ‘Doll”. Images are flashing behind my eyelids, flashes of being pushed against the wall, a hand groping at my breasts, leering faces crowding around me, the word Doll echoing around my head.

I stumble against the wall, my eyes squeezed shut, tears dripping down my cheeks, those moments repeating behind my eyelids. I curl up into myself, shudders running through my body.

I flinch when I feel hesitant fingertips touch my arms. I squirm as I feel warm arms wrap around me, cradling me to a solid chest. I cry out, my eyelids refusing to open, the images flashing in my head as the room gets colder, cooling my flushed cheeks, freezing the tears on my cheeks. Then I become aware of someone whispering soothing sounds in my ear, the arms cradling me, rocking me back and forth gently in an effort to calm me down.

“Hey there, it’s alright, I’m here, I’m here, it’s going to be alright” The words get clearer, the husky voice belonging to someone, that in your subconscious you knew was someone familiar, someone friendly.

“(Y/N)? (Y/N)?” I say frantically as (Y/N) squeezes her eyes shut, stumbling against the wall and sliding down onto her heels. I crouch beside her, anxiously watching her as I see tears fall down her cheeks, my heart breaking at the small sounds she was making.

“(Y/N), sweetheart, please talk to me” I beg, not getting a response. Hesitantly, I reach out to her, my fingertips brushing her arm, gauging her reaction, frowning as she flinches away from me. Taking a leap, I settle behind her and wrap my arms around her, pressing her sob body against my chest. I lower my mouth next to her ear, murmuring soothing sounds and words into her ear.

“Hey there, it’s alright, I’m here, I’m here, it’s going to be alright” I say louder as I feel the temperature in the room drop, getting cold enough to freeze the tears on her face.

Sighing softly, I use my flesh hand to brush away the tears on her face. I gasp slightly as she pushes against my hand, her eyes flickering as she struggles to open her eyes.

“Sweetheart, I’m going to pick you up now, okay?” I ask quietly, and I sigh in relief when she nods. In a quick movement, I scoop her into my arms and quickly carry her to her room, nudging the door open with my foot.

I take a moment to look around her room, at how she had made it hers just by a few items of clothes and things scattered around the room. I stand still for a few more moments but prompted into action when (Y/N) whimpers. Gently, I walk over to her bed and set her down on the edge, tucking her under the covers. Satisfied, I turn to leave but she grabs my hand. I turn back around to see her eyes wide, her (Y/E/C) irises focused on mine.

“Please don’t leave me alone” She whimpers, and I nod, and she quiets. Smoothly, I crawl on to the bed behind her, content with just sitting there, not touching her even if I desperately wanted to. The urge to pull her to my chest, to run my fingers through her hair, to feel her body relax into me was overwhelming, but I didn’t know how she would react, if she actually did like me.

But there was no need to worry, as after two seconds she rolled over and cuddled into my chest, her cheek resting over my heart, which started to beat faster as her hand clenches in my shirt. Hesitantly, I curl my metal hand around her, my cool metal fingers wrapping over her shoulder, my thumb making reassuring circles into her skin.

“Sshh” I soothe as she starts to whimper, burrowing deeper against me.

“Go to sleep sweetheart.” I feel her nod against my chest, and when I feel her go limp against me, I know that she has fallen asleep.

………………………….

I slowly crawl my way back to consciousness, sleepily opening my eyes to see my bedroom, and I can feel my legs contacting my bed covers. And then I become aware that the surface that my cheek is resting on is moving, as If it was breathing. And when I try to pull away, I notice that there is something solid and cool is wrapped my back and shoulder.

I start to breathe heavily but a metal thumb rubs circles into my skin.

“(Y/N), I know you’re awake” Admits a gruff voice, and I know who that voice belongs to.

“Bucky?”

“Hey sweetheart” Bucky chuckles, moving his arm away as a few way for me to move. I take a few seconds, resting on his chest when I realise what I’m doing.

“Shit!” I jump out of his arms and out of the bed, falling backwards onto my butt in my attempt to put space between us.

“I’m so sorry Bucky, I swear I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you!” I blurt out, looking up as Bucky relaxes back into the pillows, folding his arms behind his head as he grins at me, his eyes gleaming in a way that I had never seen before.

“Don’t worry about it Doll” We both freeze, his smile falling from his face as he studies my face anxiously. I twitch, breathing in a deep, shuddering gasp but then I shake my head, giving him a weak smile.

“It’s okay Buck” I pause. “I like it when you say it”

I can feel my cheeks flush as it takes Bucky a second to realize what I had said, then a smile appears on his flush lips. Then he chuckles, and I mock frown at him.

“What?” He smirks at me.

“You looked so cute when you sleep. You snore too” I gape at him.

“I don’t snore!”

“Don’t worry! It’s a cute snore” He chortles, slipping out of bed with ease as he walks over to me, offering me his metal hand to help me up. I grab his hand, and with a tug, he pulls me up onto my feet. And me being me, I slip on my own floor and fall against his chest, a squeak coming from my chest as his hands wrap around my waist to keep me upright.

“Um thanks Bucky” I cough, but Bucky just moves his arms up my body and around my back, his nose buried in my hair. I let him keep me to his chest, until I realise that he’s sobbing.

“Bucky, it’s okay” I say slowly, rubbing my hand between his shoulder blades, my breath blowing his hair in and out with each inhale. After a few seconds, he pulls away, discreetly rubbing his tears away.

“Sorry (Y/N), it’s just that I haven’t hugged someone for at least 70 years, and, um “ he trails off, his hand subconsciously going to rub at the back of his neck. I raise my eyebrows playfully, and he chuckles nervously, looking back up at me.

“I haven’t crushed on anyone either, during that time.”

My insides jump at the words, a thought flickering across my mind. Does he mean me? But then another thought jumps through my mind. Why would he like me, when he could like anyone else who’s better than me?

“Oh, you have a crush?” I ask nonchalantly, taking a step back from Bucky. Bucky sighs, staring into my eyes.

“I have a crush. She is beautiful, every little thing that she does and is makes her beautiful. Her beautiful eyes, her jawline, her body. And the way she looks down when she’s anxious, and how she withdraws herself from people except when she’s with me, it’s gorgeous” I open my mouth to say something but he closes the distance between us, his finger silencing my lips as he continues talking.

“How she made me pancakes in the middle of the night, how she loves to read and smell the scent of books. How she makes me feel almost human when she attempted to shake my metal hand the first day we met.” Bucky’s finger trails over my cheekbone, brushing a stray hair behind my ear. I look up into Bucky’s eyes, blushing at the look he gives me.

“(Y/N), I don’t know how, but I’ve fallen for you” I creep my hand up onto his chest, toying at the thin material.

“Doll, you make me feel human” Bucky says, begging for me to understand, and I do. I smile up at him, repeating his gesture by running my fingers through his hair, pushing it behind his ear.

Then, at almost the same time, we both start to lean closer to each other. I glance down from his eyes to his lush lips, then back up again. He smirks at that, running a hand through my hair as presses his lips to mine.

It’s like there’s fireworks going off, his soft lips moving with mine as his tongue slowly runs over my bottom lip, asking entrance to my mouth. When I let him, his hands wander to my hips and he guides me backwards, pushing me down as the back of my knees hit the end of the bed. I moan quietly into his mouth as he settles his thigh between my legs, the fingertips on his metal hand toying with the edge of my shirt.

Bucky pulls back, leaning his body on his elbow as he hovers over me, a cheesy grin on his face.

“Doll, would you like to go out on a date with me?” He asks nervously, looking down at me.

Grinning, I nod quickly, pecking him on the lips and chuckling as he growls playfully, his long hair falling onto my face and tickling my cheek.

“You know, we should probably go down to breakfast” I pout, laughing as he shakes his head, rolling us over so I’m on top of him, my thigh between his legs.
“I’m sure they can deal without us. I mean, I don’t normally attend those breakfast things anyway” Bucky shrugs, chuckling as I cross my arms over his chest, leaning on my arms as I look into his eyes.

“Buck, they are gonna wonder where I am. Then Nat’s going to walk in here, see me kissing you” Bucky’s face looks confused until I lean down to kiss him, and he moans, his thigh shifting between my legs, his hands coming up to wind in my hair. I pull away for air, rolling off him and jumping off the bed.

“Come on Mr Barnes, my special pancakes await you in the kitchen” I laugh as he sighs theatrically, sliding off the bed then wrapping me in his arms, dipping me with one hand supporting me on the small of my back and his metal hand sliding down my thigh, hoisting it up onto his waist. I squeal, my arms flying around his neck.

“Bucky, I assure you, I really want to make these pancakes. And since I don’t want anyone to have a heart attack, let’s keep the PDA to the minimum. Alright?” My eyebrows quirk up in a question.

“Oh alright then” He sighs good naturedly, giving me one quick kiss before letting me stand upright again. Walking towards the door, I turn back to him with a smile, and hold my hand out to him. Smiling, he grabs my hand with his metal one, and we walk out of my room.