CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
❝ return to reality  ❞

ALTHOUGH LUCY AND Bucky desperately wanted to stay in Brooklyn for longer, the war wasn't going to halt in regards to the happy couple. Just days after the wedding, they took a flight back to London with Steve, Howard, and Peggy, all returning to real life far too quickly.

Lucy found herself laying wide awake in their bed at the facility at three in the morning, her insomnia caused by the stress that had been plaguing her mind.

Ever since Steve began forming his team for the takedown of HYDRA, the thought of Lucy joining had been at the forefront of her mind. She had the serum and she had the training... But what she didn't have was Bucky's enthusiasm.

She had built up the courage to talk to Steve about it. He initially denied her, until she made him sit down and listen to her reasoning. In all honesty, Steve knew that she would be able to handle herself, he was just terrified of being responsible for both of his best friends' lives.

But even after Lucy got Steve to agree, she still couldn't muster up the courage to tell Bucky. She was afraid of his reaction. Afraid that her words would go in one ear and out the other.

Lucy's biggest insecurities stemmed from her falling victim to others' anger for her entire life, so of course she was afraid.

She craned her head down to smile at a sleeping Bucky. He was laying on her chest, clinging to her body tightly. Leaning down to press a kiss to his hair, Lucy ran her nails over his bare back and lightly shook him. "Bucky," she whispered.

He mumbled something into her chest and tightened his hold on her, still asleep. Lucy moved her hand from his back to his face, poking at his cheek in an attempt to wake him up. "Bucky."

That time he stirred, sucking a deep breath in as he woke up. His eyes were still closed but Lucy could see the confused crinkle of his nose. "Mm, Luce?"

"No, it's your other wife."

Bucky sleepily snorted and hugged her even tighter, burying his face back into her skin. "Funny."

He rolled over and pulled Lucy on top of him, finally opening his eyes and grinning at the sight of Lucy's face hovering right over his. He peppered a few kisses all over her face before laying one right on her lips.

It wasn't until he noticed the lack of sunlight streaming in through the windows that Bucky realized it was still nighttime. "Is something wrong?" Bucky tiredly asked her, blinking the sleep out of his eyes to make sure that she was okay.

Lucy ran her thumb over his cheek and sighed, laying the side of her head on his chest. "Can we talk?"

That woke Bucky up. He sat up, repositioning Lucy so that she was situated comfortably in his lap. He pulled the warm comforter over their bodies and asked, "What's wrong?"

Lucy hesitantly shook her head. "No, nothing is wrong, I just wanna talk about a few things."

Bucky hooked a finger under her chin, turning her head so that her gaze was on him. "Luce, it's like three in the morning right now. Somethings gotta be wrong if it's keeping you from sleeping."

She stayed silent for a moment, holding her breath anxiously. "We never really talked about what happened after we were separated in the base."

Bucky felt a wave of nausea hit him as he thought back on the repressed trauma. She was right. The only time the topic came up was when one of them woke from a nightmare. But even then, they only talked about little bits and pieces.

"I, uh, I know. I'm sorry."

Lucy frowned. "No, you don't have to apologize. I just... We're not supposed to be dealing with these things alone, we should be talking about it."

Bucky slowly nodded, breaking eye contact with her to stare down at the blankets. "I know," he acknowledged. "I think I was trying to forget... Like if we just ignored it that it would go away."

Lucy sadly smiled. "If only it were that easy."

Bucky dropped his hands to the scars on her arm and sighed. "Were you awake when they gave you the serum?"

Biting her lip, Lucy shook her head. "No. I don't know how long I was out, but I woke up after they were done... Were you?"

Bucky was more than relieved that she was unconscious, practically able to feel the searing pain piercing his entire body. "Yeah."

He didn't need to elaborate. Lucy could see the pain written all over his face. She was the one to hook two fingers under his chin this time, tilting his head up so that he could look at her. She dipped down and pressed their noses together for a moment before kissing him, her lips instantly soothing him.

He immediately pulled her body closer to his, reaching his hand up to cup her cheek and trace her jawline with the pad of his thumb. As they pulled away, Lucy cleared her throat. "I want to go on the mission with you guys tomorrow... I want to help you take down HYDRA."

Bucky's body stiffened underneath hers, but before he could respond, alarms sounded throughout the facility.

Both of their heads whipped over to the door when they heard gunshots ring out, the sound growing closer by the second. Lucy jumped off of Bucky's lap, allowing him to stand and throw on a shirt as she gathered herself.

Bucky tugged the bedside table open and dug through its contents, eventually pulling out the gun he kept in there for emergencies.

When he turned around, Lucy was standing next to the bed, loading a gun of her own. "What are you—? Where did you get that?!"

Lucy fumbled for a response. "... Not important!"

Bucky grumbled something under his breath as he made his way over to her, pressing a kiss to her forehead while holding a hand up to her. "Just stay here. Please."

"Wait—"

Before she could protest any further, he was already out of the door. Lucy huffed and bit her lip as she contemplated her next move. She counted to ten in her head before leaving her spot and cracking the door open, peeking into the hallway to see what was going on.

Gabe Jones, one of Bucky's pals from the 107th, was running down the hallway. "Gabe!" Lucy whispered. "What's going on?"

The man pulled a gun from his belt, beckoning Lucy to follow him. "Our location's been breached. They found out about our mission plans tomorrow."

Lucy joined him as he ran down the hallway. "How many of them are there?"

"I'm not sure," Gabe stressed. "All I know is that it's bad enough for Cap to call for backup."

The two met up with Dugan, who was standing at the entrance to the facility. "C'mon, Jones." He paused, staring at the gun in Lucy's hands. "You know damn well that I'd ask you to help us, but Barnes will probably kill me."

Lucy threw her arms into the air as Gabe threw her a sympathetic look. "Every. Single. Time," she emphasized, running off to search the facility for somewhere else to help.

As she turned the corner, she ran into a hard chest, her face paling when she realized that two HYDRA agents stood before her. Without another thought, Lucy swung her gun into the side of the first one's head, cringing at the crack of his jaw as he fell to the ground.

Before the next one could even pull his gun from his belt, Lucy had released the safety and fired a round of bullets into his chest. She cringed as she stepped over his body and continued her journey down the hallway, pure adrenaline powering her limbs at that point.

After seeing that the door to the rooftop was wide open, Lucy raised her gun and held it out with steady hands, tiptoeing through the door and up the staircase.

Grunting and fighting could be heard from the roof. Once Lucy reached the top of the stairs, she peeked over the ledge to observe what was happening.

Several SSR agents, including Bucky and Steve, were fending HYDRA agents off as they attempted to climb up the side of the building. Bucky was perched on the edge of the roof with his sniper, stopping each one before they could possibly reach the top.

A glint of metal in her peripheral vision caught Lucy's eye. A HYDRA agent had made it up the side of the facility and had climbed over the edge, now aiming his gun directly at Bucky.

Lucy's stomach dropped when she realized that her gun was void of all its bullets, the familiar click of an empty clip greeting her when she tried to shoot and take the agent down.

There was no time to shout and warn Bucky, as it would be too late by the time he could even turn around. With no time to think, Lucy reached to her side and pulled the knife that Howard had made her from her pocket, spinning it in her fingers once before hurling it right at the man.

His body fell to the ground as her knife pierced his back, the loud thud startling Bucky as he dropped his gun and spun around.

Bucky's eyes flickered from the body to Lucy, his eyes widening when he realized that she had just saved his life. Steve lowered his shield and stared between the two, attempting to hide his proud smile.

───

It didn't take long for the SSR to diffuse the situation with HYDRA, quickly gaining control after the surprise attack. Lucy and Bucky silently walked back to their room, the former biting her lip as the same words ran through her mind.

He's mad at me. That's why he isn't speaking, it's because he's mad at me.

As soon as she heard Bucky shut the door behind them,  she hesitantly cleared her throat and began spewing apologies, "I'm sorry, I know that you told me to stay here but—"

She was cut off by an unexpected bear hug from Bucky, his bulky arms wrapping around her body and pulling her close to his chest. "Oh," Lucy let out as she hugged him back. "You're hugging me?"

"Of course I'm hugging you, why wouldn't I be? Let me take a look at you."

Bucky shuffled them over to the bed, placing his hands on Lucy's biceps to sit her down. He knelt down in front of her and raked his eyes over her frame, satisfied when he saw that she had no lacerations littering her skin. When his eyes returned to her face, he cupped her cheek with his hand and sighed. "You're okay, right?"

Lucy slowly nodded. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Are you?"

A grin slowly grew on Bucky's face. "Thanks to you, I am. What was that?"

"Oh that little trick," Lucy said nonchalantly, raising a hand to wave him off.

"Yeah, that little trick... No wonder you want to go on missions with us."

Lucy sheepishly smiled. "Yeah, you never got to tell me what you think about that idea?"

"I think," Bucky drawled out, reaching into his bedside table. A familiar clanging sound had Lucy frowning in confusion.

Bucky pulled his dog tags out and held them over Lucy's head, lowering the chain until it was secured around her neck. "That you're going to need something to wear your ring on during missions. And when we get you these of your own, I'll wear yours"

Lucy's confusion melted as she reached up and clasped the cold metal in her hand, leaning forward to kiss Bucky. "I love you."

"I love you," Bucky responded, grabbing her left hand to place a light kiss on her ring finger. "Just promise me that you'll be careful and stick by my side during missions."

Lucy smiled. "Promise."

AUTHOR'S NOTE!

sorry for the long chapter!
i just had so much to write lol.
anyways, lucy has officially earned her spot on the howling commandos!
i wanted to focus on how lucy is so used to people being mad at her for the simplest things, which is the reason why she always second-guesses herself so much.
see you all next week!

<3 mal