Summary: A year after the civil war, the Avengers are still divided with friendships broken and loyalties torn when they are sent to find a powerful young woman whose life has been destroyed by HYDRA. While Bucky seeks redemption, Martine seeks to get revenge on the people who murdered her grandmother. Co – Written with WalkingPotterGirl14. Bucky/OC, Wanda/OC, Clint/Natasha and Steve/Sharon. Rated M.
Divided We Fall
Chapter 10
"Is it that bad?" Bucky asked quietly. Martine nodded, remembering how Robert, Edward, Monica, and Lucy had humiliated her, and ruined her dream of becoming an artist.
She had graduated but missed out on the internship. They hadn't given it to her after what had happened. The woman had deemed her an unlikely candidate after what had happened. She'd felt so ashamed and upset.
Her dreams were in shreds after that, and she had started working at the Crescent Bar to keep busy and to earn money, so it wouldn't fall completely on Adrian and Gran.
Her funeral was in two days, after two months of keeping her grandmother preserved. Martine felt her eyes burn with tears, as she remembered the funeral arrangements.
Catholic funeral. Agatha had been deeply religious and went to church regularly and on every Sunday.
She missed her.
Martine wipes the tears from her eyes and looks at Bucky. "I'll tell you one day. Just not right now, okay?"
He nods his head before he suddenly felt her lay her head on his shoulder. "How come you feel so comfortable around me?" he asks her. He was confused. Everything was confusing.
She takes his hand again. The metal one. "James, I've seen some bad shit. I saw my grandmother dead. And I know you're scary. I do. You can be completely scary. You could threaten and try to kill me, but I won't ever be afraid of you the way others are. You're different and I like different. It doesn't matter what's happened in the past."
And with that she was silent, the two of them looking out towards the lake.
Yeah, she would make some guy happy one day, whether she wanted to admit it or not.
"I, uh..." He clears his throat and looks at her. "I remember you said you liked to paint...wouldn't mind watching one day."
Martine smiled then at him softly, and kissed his cheek, her dark blue eyes shining in the sunlight. She held his hand, and he held it back tightly.
They just sat together in a peaceful silence.
Dinner that night was quiet. Bucky saw Martine was cooking some kind of pasta, and he looked at it curiously as he entered the kitchen.
"What's that smell?" he asked curiously, inhaling the aroma that was all around the room. Martine smiled.
"Chicken Voodoo Rigatoni, and for dessert, its Beignets," Martine told him. She offered him a spoon to try the pasta and he cautiously had a bite. Once he got a taste, he almost groaned.
Fuck, it tasted so good.
"Damn...this food is good, doll," Bucky groaned. Martine laughed as he saw she had an old cooking book on the side.
'Laveau Family Recipes Book.'
It looked old but very well cared for. He could see different handwriting on it that had been written by different people.
"That's been with my family for years. My grandmother loved cooking from it." She looks over at Bucky and bites her lip before grabbing his hand. "Come here. I need you to do something."
His brow furrows. "I don't know how to cook."
"Doesn't matter. I just want you to keep stirring the pasta until I can get another ingredient. Stay right there." She hands him the spoon and moves away. Bucky sighs and starts to stir, shaking his head.
If there was a way to fuck up food without even trying, this would be it. And he would somehow do it.
But somehow he had zoned out while stirring, looking down at the pasta and chicken swishing around. It wasn't until he heard something like a shutter go off that he turned to see what Martine was doing.
She had her phone up with a silly little grin. She took a picture.
"What the-"
"I'm sending that to Steve," she chuckles, already getting a message ready. Cap had given her his number a few days prior due to the fact they needed to stay in contact, but she loved sending random pictures of Bucky. Steve always found them funny.
Bucky races over. "Give me that!"
"Nah," she snickers. "There, sent. The Winter Soldier cooking pasta. Beautiful." She heads towards the food again, and Bucky growls in his throat.
"I'll get you back for that," he taunts.
Martine rolls her eyes. "I'm sure you will, Bucky. Come here. Try a bit more of this."
Bucky glared at her in playful annoyance but came over and tried a bit more of the pasta. He groaned in longing at the taste as he put his spoon in the sink, and helped her serve it up.
They headed into the living room where Salem was tucking into his own meal of raw chicken. Most were the fatty parts and some extra pieces that Martine had given him.
She put on the news and saw that crime had risen ever since the Superhero Registration Act had been enforced. Bucky saw Audrey Eastman on the news, along with her daughter, Monica Eastman.
She reminded Bucky of the Barbie dolls that Rebecca would play with as a young girl. A pang went through him, as he thought of her, their parents and his two brothers.
They were long dead, along with Steve's two sisters.
Martine looks at him, seeing the sad look in his eyes. She always found it actually kind of amusing when he was sad. He just looked like a puppy that got kicked out in the rain.
"Bucky? What's wrong?"
He shakes his head and looks up at her. "Just thinking about my family...from before the war and everything. I remember them...and now they're all gone."
Martine looks at him softly before taking his hand. She had been doing that a lot lately.
"Well wherever they are they're happy you're still here and kicking ass, despite what's happened." She squeezes his hand and pulls away. "Besides, I'm happy your family isn't around for all this. HYDRA would probably track them down too."
He looks at her quietly before chuckling a bit. "My mother would've liked you." She raises an eyebrow, a question in her eyes. "She loved women who could cook. As long as you could cook you were good in her eyes."
Martine snorts. "Well, I am a good cook," she teases. "But I'd rather judge someone on their character, not their cooking." She looks back at the TV and sighs. "This stupid law is degrading our society. More crime has happened now."
Bucky looks at her quietly before shrugging his shoulders. "It's bullshit. I know. But there's nothing we can do about it now." She looks over at him and sighs.
"I feel like it's pointless. If we're using our abilities for good, then what's the point of signing something to confirm it and for the government to control it? I hate it," she mutters.
After that she lets out a deep sigh and then eats her food, shaking her head. Conversation over, time to chill. She didn't want to talk about something that was going to make her angry.
Apparently he didn't mind either, because he stayed silent as well.
Groaning woke her up later on.
Martine could hear it through the walls, echoing around the room. She slowly rose and grabbed her gun, just in case, because this was a bit of a shady neighbourhood, and though she had powers, a gun appealed more to her.
She senses it coming from Bucky's room and opens the door, but didn't find anyone. Instead all she saw was Bucky, thrashing around in his bed. She lowers her gun and then walks to the bed, crawling onto it.
"Bucky? Bucky, hey, wake up," she whispers.
Her hand goes to his arm, shaking him, and instantly his metal hand comes up and clamps around her neck. Her hands go to his own, trying to pry it off, but his grip was tight. This wasn't Bucky.
"B...Bucky!" she chokes, looking into his eyes. They looked dead. Emotionless. "Bucky, p-please!" If anything his grip tightens. "James!"
That seemed to wake him up, and he instantly lets her go, backing up against the headboard of his bed. Martine coughs and shakes her head, gasping for air, before looking back at Bucky.
He looked horrified.
"Buc-"
"I nearly killed you," he whispers, backing away. "I was choking you."
"Ja-"
He shakes his head and then stands, practically running out of the room. A moment later she heard the front door close. She curses and stands, grabbing her coat.
"Son of a bitch, Bucky," she mutters before heading towards the door. As she walks Martine gets a look at herself in the mirror, and cringes at her throat. Marks were there that we're sure to form bruises the next day.
She shakes her head and runs outside, trying to see where Bucky had gone. But he was nowhere to be seen. Damn assassin.
"Shit." She suddenly closes her eyes, remembering something Wanda had told her, and broke into his mind. She saw a lake, some trees, a few ducks sleeping. The lake at the park. That's where he was.
She runs towards the park, heading towards the lake, and sure enough he was there, head in his hands.
"You didn't have to run," she starts, causing him to look up. He turns away, standing up, as if to leave. "Jesus, Bucky, stop running away!"
"Only damn choice I have," he snaps at her before suddenly marching towards her clothes body. "You're my fucking problem. I nearly choked you to death and you're here right now! What kind of sane person does that?!"
"I guess I'm insane then," she says calmly. "And how the hell am I the problem, asshat?"
"You have people who care about you!" he snaps. "You have a brother, friends, family who still care and love you. You can't be around someone like me when I nearly killed you, Martine! I have no one, and I don't need anyone. I don't need you!"
He turns away, sitting back down, and Martine stares at him in shock. She wasn't expecting him to say that. And it stung a lot. But she wasn't backing down that easily.
"You have Steve," she says quietly. "He cared about you so much, Bucky. And people do care about you. And you may think I'm crazy, but I care about you too. More than you know." He looks over at her as she comes forward. "What was the nightmare about?"
She knew.
"How…"
"I can sense your stress, and you only feel this much when it's flashbacks. What was it?"
He looks away before his hands turn into fists. "It was a family...a whole family I killed. Innocent people to get to someone else. I don't care how much you say I'm not a monster. I know I am."
Martine looks at him softly before grabbing his hand; bringing his fingers out of his fist. He looks up at her through his messy hair. "Come on. Let's go back."
"Wh-"
"Come on." She pulls him up to stand, and then the two head back, quiet. He couldn't believe she had nothing to say about that. She was as quiet as a cat.
They head into her apartment and then she brings him to his room, before sitting him back down on his bed. Martine shakes her head at his sweat-drenched shirt.
"This isn't gonna do any good. You'll be uncomfortable. Can I?" Her hands rest at the hem of his shirt, and he nods, letting her take it off, too weak to fight for once. After that she brings the blanket up around his chest, and then brushes away his hair from his forehead.
Martine smiles at him softly, one that confused him to the peaks of the earth. He had nearly killed her and now she was smiling. She was right. She was insane.
The woman leans in and kisses his forehead, soft and tender, before pulling back so that their eyes were connected, heads close together. Her hands cupped his face, almost in a sweet hold.
Had he ever been treated like this? He couldn't remember.
"Je na'i pas peur de toi," she whispers to him, her French accent causing him to relax. "Je ne te laisse pas. Vous n'êtes pas un monstre." She kisses his cheek and then strokes the area, softly. "Vous êtes un homme intelligent, fort, et balafré, mais une éntonnate un. Et nous, nous battons ensamble."
She was done after that; and he knew he had to ask. "What did you say?"
She smiles. "I said I'm not afraid of you. I'm not leaving you. You're not a monster. Not anymore." She brushes his hair away again, him not even noticing it fell into his line of sight. "I said you're a smart, strong and scarred man, but an amazing one as well. And we fight together."
He stares at her, in shock of her words. She takes his hand and then looks at him with another soft smile.
"Bucky, you're my friend. At least I think you are," she chuckles before continuing. "I'm not going to abandon you because you made a mistake you couldn't control. That's not who I am. Those memories will get the best of you sometimes. It's just nature. But we worked through it, and you will continue to do that. You're strong, and smart, and more people need to see that like I do. Yes, you've done bad things. Yes, I'm crazy to be staying in the same place with an ex-assassin who worked for HYDRA, but I'm not leaving your side. I kinda can't. So you're stuck with me."
He doesn't say anything, just looks down at her hand holding his. She rolls her eyes and then stands.
"Get some sleep, Bucky. I'll see you in the morning."
"Wait."
She turns as he shifts himself, as if afraid to ask something. She rubs the back of his neck before looking at her.
"The nightmares might slow...if uh..."
He couldn't get the words out, being a fucking brainwashed chicken, but she seemed to understand. Probably read his mind. Sneaky girl.
She comes over to the bed, lays him down, and then snuggled up to his side. He didn't know why he just invited her into his bed. There was no guarantee that she was going to hold off the bad nightmares to something more bearable. But he had to try.
"Go to sleep, Bucky," she says softly. "I'll be here."
Bucky nodded. He started to try and relax, so he laid down on the bed, and she wrapped her arms around him.
He leaned into her and let out a soft growl of comfort. Martine held onto him and hummed softly. Bucky wasn't sure why, but he felt safe, safer than he had in years, as he nuzzled her hair. Martine stroked his cheek gently, soothing him as he started falling asleep.
"Sleep, Jamie. I'm here," she promised soothingly. Bucky felt his eyes close, as he started falling into a dreamless sleep.
Martine watched him sleep as Salem jumped onto the bed. He made himself comfortable, before falling asleep as well. She held him tightly.
She was going to help Bucky. One way or another.
The next morning Martine woke up to see that Bucky was still fast asleep. Her was holding onto her tightly, his metal hand in her hand, while his flesh hand was holding her body.
She smiled and leaned into him tightly, hearing the steady rhythm of a heartbeat beat gently in his chest.
His face was peaceful and didn't look tormented. She gently brushed some hair from his face.
This time he only twitched a bit in his sleep, before settling back into the sheets. That was good. Touch wasn't starting to affect him as much. She lets her hand rest there, watching him.
When Martine was younger, and she still thought love was a real thing, she would read countless romance books, trying to see the world through the ones of people who were loved. She would always read about the peacefulness of waking up next to someone you care about, the happiness you feel.
Up until this point, she thought it was just bullshit. She had never experienced anything close to that with the shit she had been through, no boyfriends ever. She didn't even think it was possible to feel peaceful anymore.
But here she was, stroking Bucky's face in silence, feeling the most peaceful she ever had in a real long time. And she got it now, the peacefulness that everyone talked about.
She looked at him quietly, noting how much younger he looked in his sleep. God, he was so handsome. She knew he didn't think it with his metal arm, but he was just a perfect specimen to her. His whole entire body was just carved from the fucking Gods.
His chest was so toned and ripped, one she could easily run her hands down if she wanted to. And his face was always so serious, but when he smiled it felt like everything was happy and she was happy and the whole damn world was happy even though they were far from happy.
God, what the hell was going on with her?
She was acting like some love sick school girl. She was twenty-two years old for crying out loud, and swooning over Bucky, who probably didn't even see her in a romantic light.
Not that Martine blamed him.
'She's such a cold bitch,' Robert had said on the DVD of when he had touched her. He'd called her an icy cunt, and that had humiliated Martine deeply.
Not to mention hurt her.
She was desperate for none of the team or her family to see that video. Adrian and Jax would go berserk, beating the shit out of him, and Beatrice and Jeannette would probably use their voodoo dolls on him, like the crazy people they were.
Martine smiled, breaking out of her memories, as she saw Bucky stir slightly. So she gently got up and went to collect the morning paper. Once the object was in her hand she saw today's headline.
'WAS THE REGISTRATION ACT WORTH CAUSING PAIN TO OUR SUPERHEROES?!'
'A year after the Sokovian Accords, people of New York and America are wondering whether or not it was right for the Government to be in control of the Avengers, and any superheroes who defend people.
According to some people, they believe the city was safer when the Avengers were in charge, like the mysterious superhero of New Orleans in the French Quarter who killed a man linked to several HYDRA operatives.'
Martine smiles a bit. So she was considered a superhero for killing a man? She didn't know if that was so super, but maybe it was worth it if she could protect others from what HYDRA did. She places the paper in between her arm and body and then makes two cups, one of coffee and the other of tea.
After a few minutes she heads back into the bedroom to find Bucky leaning up, looking outside. Salem was perched on the balcony, looking out into the world.
"Morning," she says softly, coming over to him. She hands him the cup of coffee which he takes gratefully, drinking from the mug. He pulls back after a moment, looking away. "What's wrong?"
"I really am...sorry for what happened," he says quietly, looking at her with almost sorrow in his eyes. "You shouldn't have had to gone through that. I can see the bruises."
"Easily coverable," she says quietly. "And I told you you're not scaring me off. I'm staying here with you." She brushes away his hair, looking into his grey eyes again, before sighing. "I guess we better get ready to go."
She stands and brings Salem back in, before heading into her closet to pick something out. Bucky was still sitting on the bed, looking like he was thinking hard.
"How come you treat me so good?" he asks her after a moment, causing her to turn. "I've done nothing but hurt you. I hurt your wrist and I nearly strangled you to death. How are you still being so nice to me?"
She bites her lip before shrugging. "I guess I'm just a nice person. I knew it wasn't you doing that, Bucky. That's your other you, and you know that too."
Some fluff before the angst arrives. Enjoy and review :)