Let Me Love You

Reliving

Bucky's POV

I wake up around 3 in the morning to Kate screaming and tossing around in her sleep. My bedroom door swings open and Steve runs in with a worried look on his face.

"Kate!" I shake her, trying to wake her up. "Kate, wake up!" I raise my voice.

Her eyes flutter open and she sits up, breathing heavily.

"What happened?" Steve asks, crouching beside her. "I heard you screaming, I thought Bucky might've-"

"It was just a nightmare." She cuts him off. "Bucky would never hurt me."

I glare at Steve for even suggesting that possibility but he seems to be ignoring my presence.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Steve asks, placing his hand on top of Kate's.

"Not really." She admits. "I just want to go back to sleep, if I can." She says, laying back down with her body pressed against mine. I wrap an arm around her and shoot Steve a glare.

"Okay.. Well if you need me you know where I am." He forces a smile before walking out of the room.

Kate turns to face me and props herself up on her elbow. "What's wrong?" She asks, noticing the look on my face.

"He was clearly trying to pull something on you." I explain.

She giggles. "Don't be jealous."

"I'm not.." I lie, she raises an eyebrow at me. "Okay maybe I am a little bit. But can you blame me? He's tall, muscular, and beyond gorgeous. Plus, have you seen his ass?"

She cracks up at my last comment. "You're also tall and muscular and beyond gorgeous." She kisses my nose. "Plus, have you seen your thighs? Thicccc."

I smile at her and pull her on top of me before placing a kiss on her lips. "So, do you want to talk about the nightmare."

"Yeah." She says. "But.. Can we go for a walk?"

"At 3 o'clock in the morning?!" I ask, furrowing my eyebrows. She pokes her bottom lip out and bats her eyelashes. "Alright, let's go." I sigh, giving in to her puppy dog eyes and she cheers.

She slips on a pair of jeans and sneakers as I just put on my shoes before we head to the elevator and out of the tower. She slips her hand into mine and I intertwined our fingers as we walk the lively streets of New York City.

***

"So you really were a part of HYDRA your whole life?" I ask, she nods.

"I had no idea. If Tony hadn't saved me when I escaped, I'd probably be a weapon of mass destruction.. Or dead.." She begins to cry. "They've been controlling me my whole life, Bucky. What if they still are and this is all just a part of their plan?"

"Shh, hey, it's okay. They'll never hurt you again, I'll make sure of it." I hold her as we stand in the middle of the sidewalk.

"I'm scared, Buck. I feel like I don't even know who I am anymore." She sobs into my shirt.

"You're Katelyn Valentine. A strong, independent, beautiful business woman. You got yourself to where you are today all on your own. You put in the work and the effort and turned out to be one of the best people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting." I assure her. "Nothing that happened in the past will change that. I'll remind you of it every day if you need me to."

I kiss her forehead and comfort her as best as I can. Helping her through this reminds me of when I was in a similar state. HYDRA had used me as a weapon, wiped my memory countless times, froze me for years, and put me through years of painful tests and training.

I notice the sun beginning to rise and lead Kate to a small, secluded park along the river to watch the sun rise. We sit in the grass, her between my legs and leaning against my chest with my arms around her.

"Can you believe that I've never watched the sun rise?" She asks, turning her head to face me.

"Neither have I." I chuckle. The sun shines brightly on our faces and I lean in to kiss her. In this moment, all of my doubts and worries disappear. It's just me, Kate, and the sunrise.

Steve's POV

"Good morning." Natasha smiles as I walk into the kitchen.

"Morning. Smells good in here." I yawn, still waking up.

"Thanks." Tony smiles, flipping some pancakes. He's cooking? He never cooks. Except for that one time when... Oh.. It's because Kate is here.

"Where's Sharon?" Clint asks, sipping his chocolate milk.

"Gone." I say simply. "I never really liked her that much." I tell them but they seem to have already known that.

"What about Pepper?" He asks Tony.

"She should be down any second." He says, placing the plates of food on the table. Just as he said, the elevator dings a few moments later and Pepper joins us at the table.

"Where's Bucky?" I ask, also wondering where Kate is.

"They weren't upstairs." Pepper shrugs.

As if on cue, the elevator dings again and Bucky walks into the kitchen with Kate on his back. "Hey guys." She smiles and Bucky sets her down.

"Where'd you two go?" Bruce asks.

"I couldn't sleep so Bucky and I went for a walk and watched the sun rise." She smiles at him.

"That is so cute!" Natasha smiles.

"I made breakfast if you guys are hungry." Tony speaks up, sitting beside Pepper.

"Oh gosh yes, I'm starving!" Kate says, sitting in the open seat across from me while Bucky sits beside her.

Throughout breakfast I see them whispering to eachother and laughing quietly. I can't help but feel a wave of jealously wash over me. Bucky knows that I like her, what is he doing?

Once they're done, Bucky takes both of their dishes and washes them as Kate sits on the countertop to wait for him.

"They seem awfully close." Clint says, gesturing towards the two of them.

"I'll say." I scoff.

"When did that happen?" Tony asks.

"Who cares? They're so cute together." Natasha points, biting into her pancake.