Mark On My Heart ~ (Y/N x Bucky Barnes) BOOK 2

*Your POV*

You step back even further as Bucky says those words. You know he's gone back into his 'Winter Soldier' mode, and there's no telling what the voice is about to command him to do.

"Get rid of them. Starting with her."

The voice blares out and your stomach drops. You continue stepping back, darting your eyes back and forth between Bucky's body and his face, as his eye contact never leaves yours.

You're practically on the other side of the room from him, and you eventually feel the wall behind you, meaning you can't back up any further.

"Bucky. It's me." You tell him as he walks slowly towards you. "It's (Y/N). You know me. You love me."

Bucky continues taking steps towards you, until he's feet away from you. You finally look into his, usually, piercing blue eyes, but now they are almost fully dark, which makes you struggle to find the man that you know and love behind them.

"Don't do this. Come back to me." You beg and plead but you know it's too late. Bucky's metal arm shoots up and grips your throat, slowly getting tighter and tighter as he holds you against the wall.

Instinctively, you grip your hands around his cold arm and try to force him off as you struggle for air. He slams you against the wall again in an attempt to stop your struggling.

Suddenly, you hear footsteps running down the hallway as you start to feel more and more lightheaded. You squeeze your eyelids shut and use your last ounce of energy to try and push his bare chest away from you.

Out of nowhere, the bedroom door flies open and the light from the hallway brightens the room. You see Tony standing in the doorway with the hand part of his suit on, and his arm up, ready to fire towards Bucky. Steve, shield in hand, and Wanda are standing next to him. Bucky turns around and drops you to the floor to focus on the other threat.

You fall to the ground with a thud and immediately clutch your throat, coughing and trying to get your breath back.

"Tony, don't!" You shout between coughs and the little breath you have. Luckily, Steve seems to have the same thought as you, and hits Tony's arm down with his shield. Instead, Steve reluctantly hurls his shield at his best friend, which Bucky catches before it hits him.

"That's it." You hear Tony say and he raises his hand again to fire at Bucky. Bucky instinctively lifts Steve's shield up as protection, and Tony's blast ricochets back to him.

Steve, Tony, and Wanda all move out of the way to avoid the shot, and Bucky quickly turns around, back towards you. You flinch, and bring your knees up to your chest for protection, but Bucky doesn't go for you. He goes for the big floor-to-ceiling windows next to you.

Charging towards them and using Steve's shield as a barrier, he smashes the windows, falls down onto the grass two-stories below him, and expertly tucks and rolls when he hits the ground, leaving Steve's shield on the dewy grass.

You sit up and look out the window frame, and see Bucky running away into the forest, followed by Tony, Steve, and Wanda rushing over to look too.

Once he's out of sight and lost among the trees, Steve kneels down in front of you and examines you, still struggling for air and grasping your throat.

"Hey, hey, slow down." Steve tells you calmly, watching your panicked breathing. He reaches to place his hand on your leg, but you unintentionally flinch at his touch, which thankfully, he seems to understand. "Deep breaths, okay? Breathe with me." He tells you and demonstrates slow breathing. It takes you a few moments to calm down and copy his actions.

"T-thank you." You tell him shakily, still a bit rattled but feeling more comfortable. He sees your panic easing, and realises it's okay for him to touch you again.

"You don't need to thank me. Are you okay?" Steve says, lifting your chin gently with his pointer finger to inspect the bruises on your neck. He also notices some cuts on your face, arms and legs from the smashed window. "You've still got pieces of glass in these wounds. We need to go to the medical room."

"I'll get Bruce. Wanda, find the others and see if they have any information yet." Tony says to the room in his serious work tone of voice, before he and Wanda rush off. 

You knew in these moments he tended to seperate his care and love for you, and focus on making sure you and everyone else was safe first, before transitioning back into the overprotective older brother, which you knew would come later.

"Stev-" You try to say but it only comes out as a croak.

"Hey, save your breath. Let's get you downstairs first to recover and then we'll talk." Steve replies and all you can muster is a sad nod. He slips one arm under your knees, and the other around your back and lifts you up in his arms with ease.

He takes you out of the room, in the elevator, and walks you down the hallway and into the medical room before placing you down on a hospital bed in one of the rooms.

"Well, is he gone?" Bruce asks Tony, who now has his full suit on but his face flap up, as they walk into the room together. You can tell Tony was just filling Bruce in on what happened.

"Sam and Thor are doing a search from the air, Nat and Peter are searching the premises, and Clint, Wanda, and Vis are trying to decode the voice. Nothing so far. Barnes and whoever that voice was, are gone." Tony says and you feel your whole body deflate. You also see Steve take a deep, anxious breath.

"We'll find them." Steve replies calmly. "But we need to get the glass out of (Y/N)'s wounds before they get worse."

"Right. I'll get the tools." Bruce replies and rushes out of the room to get his medical equipment.

"I'm going back out to help Sam, Thor, and the others. I'll be back (Y/N)...stay with her, Cap." Tony says before heading back out of the room, and Steve nods once in response.

Bruce enters the room again, this time with a box of gloves and a pair of tweezers, as well as a light on his head.

"This is not going to feel good." Bruce tells you sympathetically, and Steve takes your hand in response.

Bruce puts on some gloves, turns his head torch on, and sits on his wheely-stool so he can be extra still when removing the glass.

He starts with the pieces in your legs, slowly removing them and scanning your face after each one is out for signs of pain.

Each piece he removes, you silently wince at, and squeeze Steve's hand for support, which he gladly responds to by squeezing back.

Bruce then moves on to your arms, and then the few pieces on your face before stitching up the bad ones, and protecting the rest with bandages and medical tape.

"Okay, all done. You did really well. I'm just going to get you some painkillers." Bruce tells you before setting down his medical supplies and walking out.

There's a few seconds of silence before you decide to speak up, finally feeling some of your energy coming back.

"Steve?" You ask.

"Yeah, (Y/N/N)?" Steve responds, sitting down and looking at you.

"What the fuck just happened?"