Hi! This is the first fanfic that I've ever uploaded, so I'm very anxious to see what you guys think, honestly I've been longing to write a Bucky x O.C. fanfic so here is the first chapter. I have a general sense of where I want to take this story, but I'm new to this and still trying to work out the kinks of my O.C. and the plot so please be patient with me!
Asgard was always somewhat of a distant memory for Lara. She hadn't seen her family since she was barely a teenager. To most Midgardians, that would mean decades. But for Lara, time was measured in their lifetimes. She was among the selected few Asgardians chosen to keep the peace in other realms, although it was a secretive organisation that Odin himself instated. Posted here since the 18th century, this coup eventually disintegrated for fear of exposing the remaining realms, but Lara never left. She instead grew accustomed to this world, allowing herself to become anchored to it. But the hold that possessed her with such intensity was precipitated during the Second World War, when she ran into a certain soldier.
These memories were far more vivid, often playing on repeat in Lara's dreams. She spent years trying to move on, push away the crippling thoughts, the nightmarish reality. He's gone, he's gone, he's never coming back. Hard to comprehend how she felt on discovering that James Buchanan Barnes was alive all the while.
Tuesday morning's scorching sun did little to stir Lara from her sleep, despite the open blinds which welcomed the beams of light into the bedroom, as they drew nearer across the parquet floorboard. She had training the night before and simply collapsed into a slumber, exhausted, distracted, as she often preferred to be before she slept. Yet the loud rapping noise against her front door was enough to get the woman on her feet, and she caught a glimpse at her watch. 7:03 am. Like clockwork, she thought. Her hair was undoubtedly a mess and she had morning breath, so she didn't even attempt to hide her drowsiness as she spoke from behind the mahogany entrance. "Look, I don't care much for your scout biscuity things, so please stop ringing my doorbell every fortnight."
"It's me," said a deep, familiar voice, and she paused for a moment's hesitation. Suddenly, Lara almost yanked the door's handle off completely. He stood in front of her, the features of his face hardened, his expression sombre. "Steve?"
"Hi Lara."
Wordlessly, she let him inside, and she waited for him to speak as he followed her into the hallway. She was first to break the silence. "So are you gonna tell me what's wrong?"
"You're not gonna believe what I have to tell you."
"Are you kidding me? Last time you told me the Avengers took in a girl who can warp reality, and her twin was a speedster. What makes you think I'm gonna stop -"
"Bucky's alive," Steve interjected, his gaze unmoving from Lara's, who was convinced that she was delusional and her mind was playing tricks on her.
"You're lying, that's… That's ridiculous." she replied coolly, and he couldn't deny the edge in her voice. "Why would you say or even think that, Steve? Why?" The words sounding accusing, yet he was prepared for this.
"Hydra found him after the fall in 1945. They turned him into a something else, a weapon."
"But how- He'd have to be about a hundred years old?!" Lara's calm demeanour was gone, overwhelmed with confusion and disbelief, her voice trembling with the weight of Steve's truth.
"And I'm 97, Lara."
But then the realisation dawned on her. She knew that the Avengers were involved with a super soldier like Steve, how the news said he was a deadly assassin, roaming free because attempting to capture him was like chasing a ghost. But Lara was unaware that she already knew his face. "He's the Winter Soldier." The fact was hardly a murmur, but Steve heard well enough in the deafening silence. Her hazel eyes narrowed, focused on the Avenger now.
"So when were you ever planning on sharing that information with me, Steve? When the rest of the world already knew?!" Her hands were shaking at her sides, fury was boiling in her blood. She was too lost in thought to notice how long the soldier stood silently, until he spoke again.
"He's not the same person we knew. His mind is unstable, he didn't even remember me until two years ago."
"Two years?" Lara echoed, unblinking, overwhelmed with disbelief. "You knew Bucky was out there for two years and yet you couldn't have even…" She turned away from him, running one hand through her short onyx hair while the other was over her mouth.
"How could you let me spend all that time believing he was dead? How?"
"Because I wasn't sure if it was him anymore. I had to know for certain that he could come back from this before I put you through any of it. I am sorry but you have to understand that, Lara." He looked at her with such a genuine sincerity that her rage almost wavered.
"You should have told me before, Steve. You don't get to protect me or make these decisions." There was a pause, and he watched her as she looked into space, contemplating, comprehending. Then she turned to him as she spoke. "Where is Bucky now?"