This is my first Bucky and Wanda fanfiction, so please support it. This is going to be from Wanda's POV for the first chapter, but it might change to Bucky at some point. SLOW BUILDING ROMANCE!
Wanda POV
As soon as I first saw him, I knew that he was troubled. It took me only a few days to realise just how troubled he really was. Steve and Sam came into the airport in a small yellow car. I immediately noticed the presence of someone else in the vehicle, his energy not known to me. My powers couldn't help but reach out from my body and touch the edges of the man's mind, just enough so that he wouldn't know. But I felt nothing. It was as if the only thing his mind had was buried in the very centre. I wasn't going to intrude on that.
He stepped out of the car, staying on the side away from the rest of us as we introduced Scott to Steve. Sam was already acquainted with Scott, an interaction that Clint often teased Sam about whenever he was at the tower. I always missed him when he was away with his family, but I knew how much he loved them all. She came to visit us at the tower once or twice, having tea with us all. We all felt like a family then.
I immediately knew it was Bucky Barnes, Steve's childhood friend and a man known as the Winter Soldier. I had read about him in the papers and Clint told me the truth about what had been going on, having been informed by Steve. Barnes looked like he was protecting himself from the rest of us. He seemed to mainly have his eyes on Steve, but I noticed them flick around to whoever moved. The first thing I noticed was not his metal arm oddly enough. You'd think it would distract anyone who looked at him immediately, but his eyes seemed to pull me in immediately. Dark and swarming with something that I couldn't quite see. He had a past, probably darker than Steve's, but I doubted that it was darker than mine. My family were killed, I was experimented on and I had lost my brother.
I quickly shoved the thought of my brother to the back of my mind, knowing that I couldn't get emotion before we went into battle. It would distract me and my powers were 'unpredictable' according to everyone else it seemed. I looked at him more, noticing the small amount of stubble forming on his face, probably from the lack of a constant home. He was wearing a dark, red shirt that covered up the sleeve of his arm, not showing off the metal appendage he had. I felt a little sorry for him.
I shifted my weight from one foot to the other and his eyes immediately snapped to me, alert of every single movement in front of him and probably behind him too. It made me nervous to be under his intense gaze, so I blinked to look at Steve, hoping that he would soon move his eyes off of me. I saw his head turn to look around the building, seeing if there were any threats. I doubted that he was protecting us, only looking out for Steve.
During the battle, I only caught sight of him once when he was fighting T'Challa. I saw him throw his hand forward to choke the soldier and quickly used my powers to grab hold of his arm, pushing him forcefully away from Barnes. The soldier's eyes briefly connected with mine, no smile, no nodd, no wave of gratitude, just a look. A look that I couldn't decipher, but I guessed that he was saying that he was grateful. Maybe he was annoyed, pissed off that I believed he couldn't fight his own battles. Realising I was standing in the same spot still, I shook my mind back to myself and went on to fight another opponent.
They caught us. It was inevitable really. I couldn't taken them all down, they all realised it, but I didn't want to cause them the pain of flashbacks. I might've caused them to do something stupid or reckless and, in reality, I didn't want any of them to be killed.
The Raft reminded me of HYDRA, the cells, the handcuffs, the grey walls. Everything. As soon as we were brought down to our cells, a collar was placed around my neck. The guard who attached it told me not to speak or there would be consequences. I didn't realise how severe those consequences were. I was about to tell him where he could stick his consequences, but before I could finish the first word, an agonising shock went off in my collar, hearing the others shout out in protest in the background. It caused me so much pain that I ended up passing out. I learned not to talk after that.
I couldn't talk to the others, but at least I could hear them, the plastic between the cell bars allowing sound through them. They often told me that it would be okay when I hung me head, realising that if I cried I would set off the collar again, another thing that I picked up on the first day after waking up from my unconscious state. The lump in my throat was constant and caused me so much pain, because crying seemed like the only thing that could release it...but I couldn't.
I was sitting in my cell in the Raft. It had been a week since we had been captured when Rogers came to rescue us. "Steve?" I mouthed at him, unable to speak. I wasn't allowed to speak whilst wearing the shock collar. I learned that within the first few seconds of putting it on. The soldier in question was at my cell entrance, unlocking my cell door with a key he must've found.
"Wanda..." he said, taking in my appearance. I could see his eyes scan my face quickly, his expression saddening when he saw the bags under my eyes that I knew were noticeable. "People know about the bad treatment you've had and we're getting you out of here. You're free." As soon as Steve said those last two words, a sob escaped my lips, setting off the collar again. The pain ripped through me, my head screaming from the stabbing shots hitting me again and again.
"SOMEONE DEACTIVATE THIS GOD DAMN COLLAR!" I heard Steve shout as I was electrocuted again, the collar causing my whole body to shake in his arms. I fell unconscious.
I woke feeling like someone had driven a car across the back of my head, but I felt a sense of comfort coming from the room. I opened my eyes, my lids feeling heavy, and realised that I was in my room. I was home. As I sat up, I felt the tight knots in my neck spread down my back before I was still again. "You shouldn't be moving." a familiar voice sounded from the other side of the room. I decided not to move my head as I realised that I was safe if he was here and I didn't want any more pain.
My hand went up to the front of my neck, gently touching the marks that the shock collar had left on my skin. It was painful, but bearable. Nothing that wouldn't heal. "I can do what I want, Bird Boy." My voice sounded embarrassingly weak and I cleared my throat, suddenly feeling the need to drink some water. The playful jabs could come after I drank. I saw a glass on the desk and lifted my hand to coax it over to me, but I didn't have enough energy, feeling powerless and empty inside. Clint quickly stood up and ran to fetch the water, carefully bringing it over so that he didn't spill any.
"You shouldn't be using your powers yet. You're not strong enough." He brought the glass over to me and cautiously gave it to me when I extended my hand. I scowled at him slightly when I realised he was wondering whether I would have the energy to hold the glass. Just to disprove his point, I held it tightly, the cold feeling making me relax, and brought it up to my chapped lips, almost moaning at the sensation of water running down my throat for what felt like the first time in years.
I gulped down the water, not caring that I drank a whole pint in one sitting. Clint was greedier when it came to eating and drinking anyway, so I doubted that he minded. I finished the last drop and let the rim of the glass pull away from my lips, gasping in a large breath of air. As I exhaled, I gave the empty glass back to Clint and crossed my legs underneath me on the bed, feeling newly refreshed. "So what happened?" I asked, my voice sounding stronger, as I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear.
"The video of you being tortured went public." he said, coming over to sit next to me on the bed. "Steve infiltrated the prison with some of the other government members after finding out that Ross and his team had been mistreating us in the prison. We were lifted of our crimes, which is a nice, and the accords have been scraped." I felt a wave of relief rush over me as I realised that it wasn't all for nothing. "Bucky has been stationed here too by the way." The mention of the Winter Soldier staying here made my ears perk up, the sound of him staying with us not making me entirely comfortable. What would happen if he were to turn HYDRA again and kill everyone?
"Don't look at me like that." Clint said, scowling playfully. "He's getting fixed up. His brain is being sorted out while he's here and because of that he's getting a floor to himself, only becoming neighbours with you and the other Avengers when his mind is fixed. So you don't have to worry, okay?" he asked and I nodded, understanding that Clint wouldn't say I was safe without meaning it.
"What about everyone else? What about Rhodey?" I asked, suddenly realising that he was shot down during the battle. I saw Clint's face stiffen at the mention of his name and his eyes darted down to the duvet sheets.
"He has paralysis from the waist down." he said, voice raw and deep with emotion. I had become friends with all the Avengers whilst I had been at the tower, forming bonds with all of them, including Rhodey. "He's getting help though. Tony says that he should be able to walk with the help of his machines by the end of the year." he said, sounding a little bright about the topic. Only a little though.
"Do you really think it was worth it? Rhodey got injured after all." I said and Clint shrugged, something that he did a lot. I realised that Laura must've made a lot of decisions in their life, Clint not being able to make a single one of his own at the tower...unless it concerned food.
"I have no idea. It got the accords abolished, but at a cost. I really can't tell." he said and then raised his eyebrows, his mind switching to something else. "Anyway, would you like me to bring you some food?"
My stomach grumbled at the world and I smiled at him sheepishly. He chuckled and added "I'll take that as a yes."
"I'll get it myself." I insisted, placing a hand on his arm as I unfolded my legs and went to stand. I managed to make it all the way to the kitchen door before I fell. Clint was following me, but didn't get there in time to catch me. However, someone else got there first. I felt a warm hand dart out around my stomach and a cold one go straight to my back. I closed my eyes, suddenly feeling very weak. I didn't tell Clint on the way, not wanting to bother him by asking to get food for me, but I was still feeling very tired and weak. My legs were like jelly and my muscles were more sore than they'd ever felt before, the electric shocks causing them to tense a lot.
"Whoa." the person who's arms were around me said and my tired eyes fluttered, realising that I had never heard the voice before. The person was male, definitely male, his voice gave it away. There was a certain delicate touch that men had when touching me, acting as if I were a delicate piece of glass that would break any second, but that isn't what it felt like. The hands were rough and firmly pressed against my stomach and back, stopping my body from falling to the floor. I let my body completely fall into his hand, knowing that the man was strong enough to hold my weight. I felt completely hopeless and somewhat embarrassed that I couldn't hold my own body weight up.
I was carried over to somewhere, my hand reaching out to touch the one supporting my stomach. I felt the arm tense up and immediately took my hand away, not wanting to aggravate the person that I knew as the Winter Soldier. One hand cold and one hand warm - not hard to guess who was carrying me. I felt a pair of two warm hands come to my left hand side and guide me over to a chair that I could see. Once I was stationed at the seat, the two people looked at me, a worried expression on Clint's face and a straight one on Barnes'. I questioned in my mind whether Barnes even had any emotion left in him after HYDRA experimented on him. That's what Clint said had happened. He was born when Steve was, grew up with him and then HYDRA experimented on him. I didn't know the details very well, but I knew that he had killed people for HYDRA. So had I.
"Are you okay?" Clint asked, gingerly touching the side of my face as my heart went back to it's normal rate after nearly collapsing.
"Fine." I managed to say and looked around the room, scanning it for food. My stomach grumbled again and I groaned, desperately needing something to eat. "I'm going to die if I don't eat, Clint. I am not joking." I said, quite angrily. I could feel my powers begin to spark inside me again, but made sure that they didn't overpower me.
Clint nodded and looked around the room, searching through a cupboard as he tried to find something. There was a bowl of fruit on the table that looked so tempting to eat, but I knew that I would feel sick if I ate something like an apple of a banana. I needed something like pasta. I didn't tell Clint, knowing that he would already be searching for something like that. My eyes went from the fruit bowl and flicked up to Bucky. He was staring. Really obviously staring. He titled his head, almost analysing me, trying to find out who I was and what threat I posed. I looked at his arm, noticing that it had changed from the last time I saw him. It no longer had the red star on it and the design of the plates had changed, but it was similar to the one he had before.
"Bucky?" Clint called, head deep in the cupboard he was searching through. I saw a brief emotion flicker past his eyes, but didn't have enough energy to catch what it was. When people had strong emotions, I could sometimes feel it. I felt a shiver pass through me at the brief interaction with his emotions, but didn't have enough energy to attach onto it and identify it. I saw him twitch at the nickname Clint gave him, but he relaxed after and dragged his eyes to look at Clint, probably not wanting me to see his weaknesses. "Do you mind getting a pan of water heated up? I need to make the girl some pasta and I don't want it to take longer than it should."
Bucky continued to look at Clint, considering the order in his head, before he flicked his eyes over to me again. How could I understand his emotions but not understand him? I felt what he felt...but he didn't make any sense. "Sure." his deep voice replied and I tried not to flinch at the low tone. I felt like he was about to flip out and suddenly attack me, his HYDRA senses treating me as a threat, but he didn't. He stayed calm the entire time, even though his body was tense. He grabbed a pan from a cupboard, filled it up with water and placed it on the stove, turning the flame on.
"Think I'm not capable?" I questioned to Clint, phrasing it like a joke, but Bucky didn't seem to take it that way.
"You almost collapsed." he said with a serious tone, his eyes looking deadly as they gazed into mine. My face fell slightly and he seemed to notice, something that I didn't expect. It was the first sign of emotion that I'd seen him show and I was intrigued by it. His face was blanked, but soon he frowned and shook his head a little, looking regretful by talking to me so harshly. "Sorry." he apologised and dipped his head to look at the floor. His scruffy hair fell over the sides of his face and I wanted to grab a hairband to tie it up with, something that would show off his face more. He seemed closed off from everyone, not acting quite in sync with everyone else. Perhaps this is what Roger's was like when he first arrived in the 21st century? A man out of time...
"You have no idea how to talk to women, do you?" Clint said, scoffing as he climbed out of the cupboards, a bag of pasta in his hand. I was so hungry that I was tempted to eat it raw.
"You should be asking Rogers that question." Barnes replied, smirking slightly, most likely a memory of their childhood replaying in his head. A smile. I could live with that. I hadn't seen him laugh yet, but then again, I had only been in his presence for a mere five minutes, excluding the time of the battle when we didn't even look at each other apart from once.
"Not that he's hooked up with Carter now." Bucky had a bewildered look on his face, the name ringing a bell in his head, but the bell was knocking against the sides of his brain, confusing him.
"Sharon, right?" I asked, hoping to bring some clarification to Bucky. I knew that she was the niece of Peggy Carter, someone who was friends with him back in the war zone. I didn't want him to be muddled. I saw Bucky's jaw tighten at the mention of Sharon's name. What was going on with this man?
"Yeah, she's nice. I trained her actually, so I know her pretty well. They are good match." I looked intently at Bucky and studied him, not that he knew. I rested my elbow on the surface of the island table and placed my chin in my palm, feeling the weight of my heavy head against it. I could now feel the energy coming off of him and recognised it. Protectiveness. The same protectiveness that Pietro had for me. In Bucky's eyes, Sharon was a threat. Well...in Bucky's eyes, everyone must've been a threat. His fists were clenched and his jaw was tight, a feeling of anger and sadness radiating off of him. In fact, a range of emotions were pulsing off of him, none of them positive. His eyes caught with mine, giving nothing away of what he was feeling. He hardly moved, only to go from one location to another, but when he was stationary, he was practically a statue, his eyes being the only thing that were moving around the room.
In a split second, Bucky blinked and walked out of the room at a steady pace, not showing that he was feeling all of those emotions that were heavily weighing on his taut, muscly shoulders. Nobody knew about how he was feeling apart from me...that was the curse of getting powers. I could tell what everyone in the whole world was feeling. I felt so invasive, but I couldn't help it, people's feelings so powerful that they washed over me. Bucky obviously felt very guarded over Steve, his relationship with the man being the only one he had to remind him of his whole childhood. It was too much sometimes. Some days my guard would be down and I could hear what everyone was thinking.
One time, I walked into the kitchen and they were all in there, bustling around, the Avengers team simply trying to organise breakfast. Their thoughts were swimming through my brain and even when I put my hands over my ears, I couldn't get them out. I ran out of the room, out of the building and towards the woods, the others close on my trail, but sensibly keeping their distance. I waited until I was deep in the woods to let myself go and scream, the red energy freeing from my fingertips as the pain pushed against my head, begging to get out. That's how I dealed with it a couple of months ago, but another one hasn't happened since then. That was the only time. I knocked all of the Avengers off of their feet and destroyed quite a few forest trees, but they weren't angry about it. They were concerned, but in a caring way. My powers were out of control and I hated hearing people's thoughts sometimes. Obviously, I could control it usually, but that one time in the kitchen where everyone's thoughts were invading my head...I never wanted to do that again.
"He does that." Clint replied simply, casually looking at the doorway that Bucky exited, and poured the pasta into the boiling pan of water, much to my delight. Even though I was excited about eating, I couldn't help but think back to Bucky. He knew nothing about me, yet I already found out about his strong defensive nature over Steve. That was the problem with the power - you felt close, yet so far away from people. I hated it. I hated what HYDRA did to me. How was I supposed to gain his trust? It worried me, but before I knew it, a large bowl of pasta was placed in front of me and the thoughts were eradicated from my mind, the feeling of warm food inside me making me smile and forget my worries. And forget everyone else's worries too.
So I hope you liked the first chapter. This is one of many to come. I just knocked this one up tonight as a fan requested I write one. Please review, follow and favourite. Didn't double check this, so if there are any errors, please point them out. Thank you muchly :)