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.
AN: I'm sorry for the delay in updating Divided We Fall, my laptop got ruined after water spilt on it but I have a new one luckily now, and I can update regularly.
Divided We Fall, and Soldiers And Spies will be updated on Saturdays.
Divided We Fall
Chapter 14
Martine nodded, knowing that Wanda was concerned, and turned on the CNBC news. They saw Christine Everhart on the news with a grave look.
"Today we received information that Agatha Laveau performed Voodoo magic, and taught her two grandchildren how to use it. We can also confirm that Martine Laveau was the one who murdered a HYDRA agent by the name of Ivan Golovanov," Christine said calmly as everyone stared in anger.
Martine felt pissed off.
Her mother was trying to tarnish her grandmother's reputation. Carla, who had always hated her grandmother.
"I can also confirm that Agatha maintained custody of her two grandchildren, even though Carla Townsend applied for custody," Christine said gravely.
Martine snapped.
"That fucking lying, two faced bitch!" Martine screamed enraged, as she glared at the TV screen with blazing dark blue eyes.
Bucky held her hand tightly while Wanda rubbed her back. Adrian came in, and his face was dark with anger.
Yeah, her brother was pissed off.
"Did you hear that shit?" he snaps, coming over to the TV. "I can't believe she would do that! Why is she trying to ruin all of us?" Martine could see the TV start to shake.
"Calm down. We don't want to have to pay for all this."
"I'm not going to-" He turns on Martine, and saw Bucky glaring at him, murderously. "Calm down, man. Not gonna touch your girl."
They weren't together, at least to Martine they weren't. They hadn't even kissed at all. But Bucky protected her like she was his property. So when someone was a threat to her, he'd hurt them. It was weird. And she didn't mind it all that much sometimes.
"I think we should just let them say it," Martina admits, her head sinking. "What's the point? They aren't going to stop."
"So you're just going to let them say bad shit about you?" Adrian asks incredulously. "You're just giving up?"
"What choice do we have, brother?" she growls before standing. "They are reporters. They will come up with the most ridiculous stories as long as they get views. I don't care. I'm too tired and too scared to do anything. I want to, but I can't. We can't just kill her and make it all go away."
She sits down and runs a hand through her hair. Soon enough she'd be turning grey.
"I just wish that it could all be simpler." She looks at Bucky. "And everything could be the way it was but...I don't think that's gonna happen."
Wanda sighs before looking down at her. "Well, besides the bitchy news reporter, I wanted to tell you that you and Bucky can head home."
Her brow raises. "I thought they were keeping him here?"
"We see how he acts with you and he's stable as long as you're okay. Personally, I just think he's very protective of you. I want you two to go home and rest. You both need it. Badly. If you want I can get Fury to get a transfer and get you guys-"
"No." This was Bucky's voice this time. "We'll take my bike." It had been there ever since before the accident.
Martine nodded as she saw Adrian storm out of the room, clearly upset with what was going on. She felt her heart sink. Adrian was mad at her.
She was a coward for not standing up for her grandmama. She ran a hand through her blonde bangs and followed after Bucky. He was waiting beside the motorcycle.
"Adrian hates me," she said quietly, a sad and bitter smile on her face as she got on the back of his motorcycle. She wrapped her arms around his waist.
"He doesn't hate you, doll," Bucky said firmly. She sighs and lets him drive. After a drive, they parked outside the apartment and headed inside, where Salem raced over to greet the two of them.
And he had a friend.
A beautiful tortoise shell tabby cat that was purring softly.
"Aw, look at you," she whispers, coming over. She pets the animal, seeing it was a girl. "Looks like you got a girlfriend." She sits down at the couch and the two cats come over. Bucky comes over as well, and sits across.
He looked tired as hell.
"Back home," she says softly, reaching for his hand. The two cats curl into them both. Bucky sighs and then pets one of them, the other snuggled up against his metal arm.
He looked lost as well.
"Bucky," she says softly. He doesn't reply. "James?"
He looks over at her and then bites his lip. "Sorry for...acting the way I have. Just...there's a part of me that's not all...there."
She leans forward and kisses his forehead, before smiling down at him. "I told you. It doesn't matter to me. I'm here to recover with you, right?"
"I should have been there to protect you. I should have killed that fucker," he snarls.
Martine could see the wild side of him coming back. "No. Bucky, no one could predict what happened. It's not your fault, okay? It's not. We all should have kept our eyes out, including me."
He looks away before she bites her lip. Then she smiles.
"You know what? How about we go out? Like that first day we met for real? We can go see a movie or something. We both deserve a little bit of rest." He looks down at the cats before nodding.
"Okay...what should we name the other cat?" She laughs. From movies to cats in two seconds flat.
"Hmm...I don't know...what do you think?" She asks him.
"That's why I'm asking you. I have no clue," he chuckles a bit, and for a moment she saw old Bucky, the smile she loved. They'd figure this name out, as long as she got to see that smile.
What had happened was awful, to everyone, but they just needed to move on. And they would together.
"Selene," Martine decided. Bucky smirked then as they both stood up. They petted them both before they headed outside again, and decided to go for a ride.
She wrapped her arms around Bucky's chest as they drove into the park, and sat down for a while.
There weren't a lot of people around. So they both laid down next to each other, and heard people closing up for the night.
It was peaceful.
Bucky closed his eyes as he savoured the peace that the park offered him. He felt Martine hold his hand tightly.
God, what was this woman doing to him?
He had never known real love, at least from what he could remember. Sure, his parents loved him, the fragments of memories he could get but, he never felt the intense care he did for Martine.
She was just on a whole other level.
Right now she had her head on his chest, her knees tucked into her side, and she had one of her hands in his and the other resting. He had both arms around her.
"Bucky?" She asks quietly.
"Yeah?"
"Do you ever think people like us could ever...you know, 'settle down?'"
The question had come off guard. He hadn't even thought about it. "Settle down? What do you mean by that?"
"You know...settle down. Like have kids, get married, life peacefully...I feel like after what happened it would only cause more pain. I always dreamed of settling down, but after what happened, and the amount of pain I caused...I don't think I should even try."
Bucky shakes his head. "Don't say that. You'll find someone one day. You will. And they're not gonna care about the risks. They'll love you...no matter what."
"I don't want to risk it," she says softly, looking up at him. Her eyes looked so innocent. "I don't want to hurt anyone else."
He brings his free hand up and brushes away her hair. "That's the price of being an Avenger, doll," he says quietly.
Martine nodded sadly and leaned into him. Her held her tightly and ran his hands through her soft, silky beautiful long blonde hair that just barely touched her waist.
God, she was so beautiful.
She was wearing a pair of black skinny jeans, a pair of black low heeled suede boots, and a grey t-shirt that had a spider web on it. It was so simple yet she looked pretty. Said girl curled into him.
Her blonde hair fanned out against his black long sleeved t-shirt, making her hair appear silver as the moon started to come out then. Out of impulse, he kissed her hair, waiting for her reaction.
She didn't seem to mind.
"Martine?" Bucky asked quietly, causing her to look up at him curiously.
"Yes, Jamie?" Martine asked quietly.
"Will you come with me to the Smithsonian Museum on Thursday?" he asked quietly.
Martine felt a lump in her throat. She cupped his stubbly right cheek tenderly in her hand.
"I'd be honoured, James."
He manages a quiet smile before looking away. Was it a date? Jesus, he didn't know. But he knew why he wanted to go, and it wasn't just to be with her.
"I gotta see something," he says quietly. "I saw it when I first got out of those HYDRA stuff." Her brow furrows.
"What is it?"
"It was the Captain America exhibit. It's still there. And it had something on me...I just wanted to see it again, see if any other memories come back, you know?"
She nods. "That's smart. It might be good." She smiles at him and then takes his hand. "And there's plenty of other stuff there too. I've been to the Smithsonian. It's so much fun. Well, at least as a kid it was. Every museum is really interesting."
He chuckles at her enthusiasm. "We can see any one you want to."
She rolls her eyes. "It's a museum, we'll look. But I actually wouldn't mind seeing the exhibit. I've never been to it." She looks down at his metal hand and chuckles softly. "Guess they're missing a part of history because of this arm, huh?"
He snorts, though it sounded bitter. "I'm happy with kids not knowing about the arm. Better for them to think I didn't turn into some assassin," he mutters.
"I think it would be good," she says softly. He looks at her like she was crazy. "Look, we both know what happened wasn't good, but you came back from it, sorta in a way, and that can be a good message to kid. No matter how bad the situation, anyone can come out of it and be a hero. Just like you."
"I'm barely a hero."
"You're a hero to me," she says softly. "And you can be to others too."
"I'd like to try...try and be a good man," Bucky said quietly. They both stood up and brushed the grass off their clothes before driving back to the apartment.
Martine began cooking dinner for them both while Bucky fed the cats. She was making crawfish with jalapeño cornbread and for dessert, they had beignets.
Bucky felt his stomach growl in hunger as he watched Martine finish the last of the dinner, before letting it all sit.
"There...all done," Martine said softly. She glances over at him and saw Bucky looking at her, with his dark grey eyes that looked like icy glaciers.
He was really handsome.
She nods at the table. "Let's eat." He nods and sits across from her easily, eating the food, while the cats had their own. Every once and a while they would look up and smile at each other, but it would quickly be diverted back to the food.
They knew things were different now, whatever was going on. How they were going to deal with it, neither knew. But they'd figure it out together.
When Thursday came around, Bucky was waiting anxiously for Martine. He didn't know why, but he was just nervous and sweaty even if they were just going to a damn museum. Freaking woman was making his head spin.
He looks at himself in the mirror. Nothing amazing. Just a long sleeve t-shirt that was black with a leather coat and his jeans. Same shoes. It wasn't bad.
Ugh, he needed to stop stressing out.
"Almost ready, doll?" He calls out.
"Yeah, I'm ready," Martine called out. He watched as she came down wearing a nice grey patterned skirt, grey tights, dark green high heels and a cut out dark burgundy sweater with a beautiful necklace.
He was actually taking her to dinner and had asked for help from the rest of the teams as she walked over to him, she'd gone shopping with the girls, Jeannette and Beatrice.
Bucky thought she looked beautiful. Her long blonde hair was framing her heart-shaped face, and she wore very light make up but had on black eyeliner.
"You look beautiful, Martine," he said quietly, but with a shy tone to his voice that caused her to look at him.
"Thank you, James."
He smiles a bit before holding out an arm. "Let's head out."
She smiles and nods, taking his arm, and the two head downstairs to get to the front of the apartment, before heading towards the bike. He feels her wrap her arms around him, and then he takes off towards DC.
Once they get there, they park the bike in a garage and then he helps her off, heading towards the Smithsonian. He knew that the exhibit was in the American History museum, and she was holding his hand, heading in with him.
Since admission was free, they headed inside and looked around before heading towards the Captain America section. He stilled and looked at the old picture of him.
Martine looks up at his sudden stop and then looks at the picture. "Oh. That's you?" she asks softly.
"Was," he mumbles.
She squeezes his hand and looks at him. "You looked handsome even then," she says quietly, smiling up at him. "But I like the longer hair a bit better. Just don't let it get out of control."
He rolls his eyes before reading the rest of the exhibit, before he and Martine kept moving. The exhibit didn't do that much, but it did stir a few memories. One of him and Steve as teenagers, and then one when he was a little boy.
All of his family was gone now except for Steve. All of them gone.
Shit.
He shakes his head, getting the thoughts out of his head before he lost his damn mind, and then looks down at Martine. She had a smile and was talking about an exhibit. God, she looked so happy and pretty and he really didn't deserve the caring attitude she gave him.
So he actually moves his arm and the wraps it around her waist. She smiles at the sudden movement and then leans into him. Everything felt so peaceful.
As she went into another museum and was looking over and exhibit of an airplane from World War Two (she had expressed interest before they even came to the museum) Bucky could see a couple guys staring at her ass as she bent over.
He feels blind rage nearly take over him until Martine grabs his hand, squeezing it softly. "Did you ever fly in one of these?" He was still staring at them, and she followed his gaze until it landed on the men.
She raises her brow.
"Hey, what the heck do you people want?" she asks.
"Oh, sweetie. That ass is just fire. That's what I want."
Bucky nearly jumped ship there, but she holds him back and then looks at them. "I bet your ass is jealous of the amount of shit that just came out of it."
"Oh, a smart bitch, huh?"
"Yeah, smart. I wasn't a mistake. I'm pretty sure your birth certificate was an apology from the condom factory," she says snidely.
The man glares at her. "You better watch what you say!"
"You know, I could eat a whole bowl of alphabet soup and shit out a smarter statement than that. Look, I'm not in the mood, dickwads. You come near us again, we won't be as forgiving."
The guys snort, but at seeing Bucky glaring like he was a raging bull seeing red, they moved away. Once they were gone, Bucky raises an eyebrow.
"Alphabet soup?"
She laughs and shrugs. "I don't need people shitting on my fun. I have always had the best insults."
He chuckles and then takes her hand again, heading towards the rest of the exhibit. They talk for a bit, small and big things. It was easy talking to him, like talking to a best friend.
A few moments he would place his hand on her back, hold her hand tightly. They went out to the cafeteria and got food for lunch, and then afterwards went to another museum, looking around with awed eyes.
Every exhibit she looked at just made her smile more, and Bucky finally felt like he did something good for the first time in a long time. Martine and he went into a theatre to see a historical film and she laid her head on his shoulder, and he wrapped an arm around her.
Afterwards when they came out of museum it was dinner time, and she was leaning against him now, smiling and laughing. "Guess we should head home," she says quietly.
"Nah, I got other plans."
Her brow furrows. "Huh? I thought-"
"Shh." She rolls her eyes as he takes her hand and brings her towards the downtown area, quiet and silent, until they stopped in front of some sort of restaurant that looked a bit fancy. It was on the lake, looking out at the sunset. "We're eating here."
"Bucky, this place probably costs so much. Why spend all this?"
"I've had money stacked up for a while after what happened...and I wanted to. For you," he says, and his voice was mumbled. She smiles at him and then takes his hand, heading into the restaurant.
"Well then thank you," she chuckles softly. Bucky smiles as he sees the person at the counter waiting. The man smiles.
"Reservation?"
"Stark, for two." Martine's brow furrows, but before she could ask questions, the man nods and brings them towards a table for two lit by candlelight that was right near the window. Perfect view.
Once the man left and they sat down, Martine raises an eyebrow. "Stark? Pretty sure he's with Pepper."
And for the first time ever, she sees Bucky blush.
"I didn't know the area but Stark did...helped me pick it out, made the reservation. But I'm paying." She chuckles and shakes her head.
"I'll take it. As long as Tony doesn't pop up out of nowhere," she snickers before looking at the menu. "Jesus, this place is expensive."
"Doesn't matter. Told you, I'm paying."
She sighs and looks at him. "It's still expensive," 'she says quietly. "You don't have to spend all this on me."
"I told you." He reaches over and grabs her hand. "You're worth it. You've been nothing but nice to me and cared for me through all this shit. You deserve this."
She smiles a bit and blushes softly. At that moment, the waiter comes over.
"Do you want any drinks?"
"One glass of wine," Martine states.
"Me too."
"Coming up."
The waiter leaves, and the two sit in silence for a bit, looking at the menus to see what to get, but they would talk every now and then to see what was good. Bucky couldn't decide, though Martine did. Typical man couldn't decide.
When the waiter comes back, Bucky is still looking at the menu. "Have you figured out what you wanted?" she asks him.
Bucky shakes his head before rolling his eyes. "Too many things. Just get me the same as she gets."
The waiter laughs as Martine rolls her eyes. "Alright miss. What do you wish to eat for dinner tonight?" The waiter asks with a smile.
AN: Enjoy and review :)