AN: Just an idea I have for Steve finding Bucky during CA:CW this is going to be a one-shot unless you want more!
SORT OF SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN ANT-MAN.
...oOo...
Every morning he walked farther and farther from the Potomac River. Walking gave him no relief from the thoughts that filled his mind, walking could only provide distance from his problems. At first he would twirl a knife between his steel fingers to keep his thoughts at bay, but the motion became sluggish as the days went on. And an unfamiliar ache developed in his limb. Now he can't lift his arm without the electric current ripping his pain started after he fought the man on the he wasn't just a man. Steve, he thought, The man's name is Steve.
Whenever he thought of Steve he got angry, he didn't understand who Steve was. But he knew he was important. Why if they were trying to help make him kill someone he cared about? It made him mistrustful and the unfamiliar emotions came washing through. anger, guilt, confusion, and longing.
He never felt so miserable, it was so much easier to be hollow. But he didn't want to go back. So he was forced to walk.
The Soldier was limping down a mud soaked road, rain dripping in his hair, down the shaft of his nose. When the rain hit his arm it sizzled, shorting out like painful bee stings.
He had no choice, he had to fix it.
Three hours later he found a auto shop, he didn't expect anyone inside to understand the mechanics of the arm, he just knew there would be something sharp inside.
He waited perked next to a car waiting for the workers to go.
As the day went he observed each worker carefully, one man was in overalls and had large dark hands, despite his size he tinkered tedious movements. He also had a limp,along with a us military shirt. He suspected he was sent home because of his bump leg.
Another worker caught his eye, simply because she was a woman. Her long dark hair was swooped up in an intricate updo. she wore jeans and a white shirt. Nothing fancy, but her clothes were covered in grease as she worked. She was a bit more difficult to read than her coworker, she seemed out of place in the male dominated work place.
As the day turned into mid afternoon all the workers left, ending their shift, but she stayed. replacing bits, and making new parts. The more he watched the more he was confused, why was she staying.
Occasionally she would walk into a room, coming back with papers for customers to sign. Then it hit him, she was the boss.
If she planned on staying he could be in trouble, he needed to move, and put distance between him and Steve.
"Are you sure, he was here? This seems like another bust to me." He knew that voice, it was the man who had the wings
"Three people saw him, this is the only town for miles." Steve was next to him the two walking towards the auto shop. Panic rose in his chest, how did they find him? He never tipped them off before.
"Let me handle this pretty boy, we don't want the word out that two Avengers are in town." Steve nods and waits by the side of the building, he is exactly fifteen feet from him.
"Excuse me miss?"
She turns her head towards him, wiping her hands on a dirty towel and pushing her bangs back.
"Yes, sir how can I help you?" He noticed man took of his glasses part of his signature look.
"Have you by chance seen this man?" He holds a photo which he assumed was of himself.
"No, I haven't,excuse me for my forwardness but who are you?"
"I could tell you, but have to promise not to freak out." He was flirting with her, He felt a hot hand clamp his gut, it was a new emotion to him jealousy?
"Oh, I promise pinky swear." She smiled easily back at him
"Sam Wilson, also known as…"
"The Falcon, yes I do live on earth." She teased him, "So what brings you to Central Port Mr. Wilson?"
"Me and my friend are looking for this man who we assume is in this town." She chewed she lip ducking under a hood of a raised car.
"Is he dangerous?" She asked, "Should I be concerned? We all know the people you deal with."
"That is a tricky question to answer, he is not on a mad rampage, he is trying to run, we just want to help him he is an old friend who is a little confused."
"But he is a criminal."
Sam nods
"I am sorry, I haven't seen him if he is here ask around this is a really small town so he is sure to show up some time."
He hands her a card
"If you see him please call as soon as possible, we just want to help."
"Of course, and Mr. Wilson?" He turns around
"Yes?"
"Thank you."
"You are quite welcome...:"
"Lacey, Lacey Peterson."
"It was lovely meeting you Lacey have a good day." He waves to her and walks back to the captain, who he forgot was even there in the first place.
"So?" Steve asks, "No one has seen him yet, but the owner made it seem like it was a really tight nit community so word will travel fast."
"Good." Steve said, "Lets try main street next I assume most of the community is there on a Saturday afternoon."
"Good thinking Cap'" The two walk towards there car.
It wasn't until they left he let out a long awaited breath. He was trapped, he could escape, but with his arm The Soldier thought he couldn't move far or he could wait until dark, remove the arm and then escape.
A car would be ideal but difficult to manage if he successfully removes his arm.
Bucky looks at his metal arm, bile raises to his mouth at how disgusting it was. How many lives did he take with it? What kind of monster was he?
An emotion that was known as guilt was tripping up again he hated guilt the most. It lasted longer than anger.
guilt never went away, it was like a nagging force that eats at him and makes good men go insane, it was so much easier to just be mad. But he was mad at himself, so he felt guilty. It was a double standard.
Night fell and he was feeling fatigue, when ever he felt tired before they would put him on ice, it was dreamless rest and the last time he slept The Soldier had his first dream. He fell of a train. Screaming for Steve, landing in snow, with every limb broken. He remembers the white snow red with his blood, and chunks of his missing arm. It was horrible, so he didn't dream.
Applying pressure to his arm, the jolting of pain kept him awake as he saw Lacey close the shop and walk to her car, she got closer and closer until he realized. The car he was leaning against...was hers.
He breathed heavy, thinking of his choices, he could run, but she would see him and the glint of his arm would instantly make her recognize him or he could knock her out. But leaving her passed out on the ground seemed wrong...no, it was didn't knock out innocent women.
Before he could come up with a third idea she let out a gasp and dropped her purse, several things rolling out of it. A lipstick, car keys, and her cell phone. she was completely defenseless.
He realized that was something the old him would have thought of, instead guilt repaired making him wish he didn't scare her.
"Your him." she breathed, "Please don't hurt me." She whispered
The idea offended him, why would he do that? He instead met her eyes they were green. He thought hard about it, she was the first pair of green eyes he ever saw.
"I won't hurt you." he said
"Then what do you want? Why are you running you have some people who are trying to help you."
"Because I am afraid of them." She looked so taken back, like the idea of him fearing something was crazy. Just then his arm sparked, the loose wire making a grinding sound.
"Your arm!" she looks at it, "Oh my god, your arm is beautiful." the Soldier sucks in his breath and she blushes. He liked it when she did that, she looked pretty.
"I mean, It is impressive I have never seen a prosthetic like it before."
"It's ugly, it reminds me of what I have done." she frowns at the answer
"Well, removing it is not going to get rid of the guilt." The answer surprised him, why would she know it was guilt that made him so miserable.
"Guilt doesn't stay in your body, it rots in your heart. You can only fix guilt by doing good. And getting help from the Avengers? It is the highest form of good you can get." She chews her lip
"But it looks like something is wrong with your arm, I could take a look if you want."
"You would do that?" He said suspiciously
She nods, "As a former electrical engineer I am really interested in the mechanics behind that."
He remembers engineers fixing his arm before, it made him relax knowing she was more than a mechanic.
"Come on." She holds a hand out to him, "I promise I just want to fix your arm, you can't think straight with that sort of problem."
He offers his flesh hand and she lifts him up, using her car for support. He lets go of her hand the second he is on his feet.
The two enter in the shop and she pull out a chair, she then pulls out a light a number of tools.
"Sit, and place your arm here." She moves a rolling table between the two of them. He places his arm like Lacey asked but he felt a wave of suspicion run through him. Why would She do this?
"Relax, I am not going to call The Falcon." She said, "Unless you give me reason to."
Lacey places the goggles on her face, he didn't like how they concealed her eyes. You could read people through their eyes.
"Can you feel with this arm?" she asked, "You can't with most prosthetic's, but this is really high tech."
"Yes, but not as well a the other." She nods and faintly traces his thumb, the feeling wasn't rough like he was use to. It was a caress, and nothing like he has ever felt before. His heart rate picked up as she carefully trailed her fingers up his arm and bicep.
"Huh, they made you an artificial nervous system." she traced his scar, from flesh to arm
"Sorry, this is awkward, but does it feel like the touch is going from one place to another?"
She continued the motion so he could see her point, but all he was focusing on was her fingers touching his real skin, unlike his arm he could feel the heat radiate from them. It made the caress feel from fingers sliding over metal to the hairs rising on his shoulders. He felt pure electricity. He bit the inside of his cheek.
"I can't feel the heat from your fingers unless they are on my shoulder." He says quietly.
"Okay, so I know it's fake now." She removes her fingers and he felt a little disappointed
"Your arm is made out of a metal, I didn't even know existed." She fishes into her tool box and pulls out a sliver tool.
"But thankfully I have this." She hold her trinket, "It is made out of the strongest metal on earth. I got it from a friend from a friend I can use it to remove your plates and find out what the problem is."
She starts to screw off the main section, the screw driver made the process more unpleasant, but sure enough soon the whole top half of his limb was removed.
The inner workings glowed a vivid blue.
"This is arch reactor technology!" she squeals, he doesn't know what that is and she cracks her neck as she explained
"The stuff that powers Stark Industries."
The name sounded familiar but he had no idea why.
"It is a good thing I know about it." She removes a circular disk, "It's an easy fix your ach reactor has been cracked, along with your metal plated dented. I can fix the glass, and then use the torch and bend them back into shape.
Lacey begins by pulling a scalpel and removing the glass
"I hope you don't mind I disabled your nervous system so this wont hurt." He didn't even notice, "Is that okay?" He nods, "You're a man of few words." she comments
He shrugs instead of responding, he was too focused on watching her work.
"I am Lacey by the way, I didn't get your name." She pulls out a sheet of glass and draws a perfect circle. after completing her task she looks up at him
"I..My name…" He thought about it, Steve said his name was James Buchanan Barnes. His only memory of Steve was him holding his hand out screaming Bucky. But that was his name for him, "James." He said, "My name is James."
"Well you seem really unsure of that." She teases placing the arch reactor back in his arm she takes sections of his metal arm and applies heat to the bent sections
"I don't really remember my name, it's just what he told me" He said
"Who?" she asked, engaging him in the conversation
"The man on the bridge, Steve."
Lacey sets her blow torch down and flips the plate over, a lone red star painted on it.
"Steve Rogers?" She squeaked
James nods, not following her
"Your the Winter Soldier." she whispers, "You're like 97 years old."
James felt her panic and clenches in his seat unable to do anything with his arm.
"I won't hurt you." He insists, "I want to stop hurting people...I feel the guilt and I want it to stop." He was near tears and she remained silent.
"Well, it won't ever go away, a grown man like you with all those lives you took. You should know that."
"I never felt it until now…" He trails off, "I just didn't feel they wouldn't let me and if they knew I did they wiped me, and I stared over."
"Wiped you?" she asked
"My memories."
Her eyes softened and she picked up the blowtorch again
"I am going to make you a deal." she says,"I will fix your arms and let you stay in the garage tonight If you're gone by morning, I would offer you a place to stay but you happen to be a felon and that will only encourage you to run away." Taking her screwdriver she placed on the first plate screwing it on again, he felt a dull pain. Lacey turned on his nervous system. "But if you ever clear your name and you need a friend I will let you crash on my couch. I really hope you stop running because from what I know from 8th grade history class you and Captain America where best friends and he just wants to help his friend."
"But he wants Bucky,not James." He said
"Yes, but you're still Bucky somehow." Lacey screwed on the last plate and she pulled back. "How is that?"
James dropped his mouth, for the first time in weeks he didn't feel any pain at all.
"I take that as a success!" she smiles at him, "Well, I am glad to have been of service." She starts to place the tools back, wiping each one like she always did. once she was done with her routine she pulled a blanket and a pillow out
"You can sleep wherever you feel comfortable, I always open up the shop so If you're not gone by then I will kick you out." She said teasingly, "Take care of yourself James." She started to walk past him towards the door when she stopped wrapping him in a hug. He didn't know where the place his arms, hers were wrapped around his shoulders and he couldn't copy finally placed his flesh arm under her back and metal arm gently under her shoulder blades.
She smelled like oil and roses it was an odd smell but it wasn't unpleasant to him it just smelled like Lacey. She cupped his head before giving him a quick peck to the cheek, almost lingering, he wished she did…
"Sorry, You don't seem like a hugger but I can't imagine living through that without love." She was blushing and playing with the scuff mark on her black boot.
"That was the first hug I ever had." He said quietly
She looks up in shock, her green eyes wider than ever
"Are you serious? You never think of thing like that when you read about a ghost assassin online…" She mutters, he winces at the word assassin.
She hugs him again, although much quicker, she attempts to pull away but he finds himself holding on to her forearms
"There" She said, "Now you have had two hugs." She didn't seem scared that he was holding on to she pushes a lock of his brown shaggy hair out of his face.
"Your eyes are blue." She comments
"Yours are green." He whispers leaning in closer her breath was on his cheeks and he could count every one of her eye lashes, if Lacey where to look up their lips would touch. she sucks in her breath and kisses him.
Fire erupts in his stomach at the feeling it was warm and she wrapped her fingers in his hair the feeling made him want to bring hr closer. He felt a new emotion, lust and he felt it for Lacey. She raked her tongue across his teeth and he opened his mouth wider tasting her. Kissing Lacey was familiar and new, It was like fire and ice. It made the guilt and loneliness go away. She pulled away first raggedly breathing as he kissed her cheek like she did earlier. soon he discovered the spot under her ear which made her moan. James liked the sound it made the fire grow and he could only think of Lacey, for the first time in a long time his mind was clear of all thoughts but one. Lacey and it felt divine.
"James." she breathed, "We can't do this." The words ripped through him like a bullet and he pulled away hurt and confused. The familiar emotions setting through again.
She cups his face and smiles, "I never thought I would give a 97 year old his first kiss, but based off of that I would say you were popular with the ladies back then."
He shrugs, there moment diminished he was closing off.
"James, I can't do this not because of who you are but because I actually hope you the best."
"What do you mean?" he asked
"I mean you need to focus on who you were, and not on a mechanic you met on a rainy night." she said softly, "But the good news is when you know if you are Bucky Barnes or James Buchanan Barnes you can tell me all about it."
She pulls away the space filling between them like harsh wind.
"It was nice meeting you, you're not bad for a felon you know...but then again I always had a type."
He knew the old him would have a witty comeback, he felt desperate to say something to her as she walked out of the shop.
"Your pretty." He says lamely, biting his cheek in the process
She spins around with a huge grin on her face, "And you're not too bad yourself James, I feel like I will see you again some day."
...oOo…
It was after Lacey stood in her apartment, she realized she made out with a felon.
Well that's what it seemed like, but he didn't hurt her, he didn't want to hurt anyone.
Lacey thought about a bunch of negative outcomes of this situation. The Falcon could find out she didn't contact him after making direct contact with the soldier… Literally. Or maybe someone, like Jared would come into work early… So many things could go wrong in the next 8 hours.
She made her mind quickly, he would spend the night at her place, then she would get him a ride to Virginia. Lacey would call The Falcon and give him a new lead but make it challenging so Bucky could get a head start. She wouldn't be betraying him right? Steve Rogers wanted to help his friend...He is freaking Captain America! So of course she was doing the right thing.
The drive to the shop was quick, but she noticed the front door was wide open, no it was off the hinges! She ran inside not thinking of who, or what was awaiting her.
"No, I am not calling them or Tony." Steve Rodgers voice rings out in clarity and she nearly gasps
"This would have been easier a week ago." He comments
"What do we do?" he asks
"I know a guy" he finishes, "Miss. Peterson you can come out."
she walks into the main hall of the shop, there was James breathing hard with his arm trapped in a drill saw.
"Oh my god." she said
"We had a feeling a few states back that he was trying to remove the arm, he was staying in auto shops or what not. So we booby trapped your saw, hope you don't mind." She felt a range of emotions, it was obvious that they had no idea she fixed his arm she looked at James and he slightly shook his head.
No, he wanted her to keep her mouth shut. It seemed a lot worse because Captain America was in the same room as her and he was practically a saint.
"No, of course I don't mind, but i'm charging you for the door." she jokes
The Captain smiles at her, "Don't worry about it, we are going to get him out of your hair."
"You may want to go home Lacey." Sam says gently, "He had an episode, it's common for PTSD." So he had a nightmare, guilt ripped her as he pictured him waking up alone and delirious.
"Okay" she said, looking at James her voice became soft, like she spoke to him after they kissed, "Just don't fight them okay, he is one of the good guys." Lacey gave them each a tight smile and walked to her truck. Unsure if she would ever see him again.
AN: Okay so that was way more than I originally thought it would be! It was nice to take a break from The Siren, but if you re a really big fan of Bucky then go check it out! I am planning on updating tomorrow.