Bucky and Ray settled into a routine. Torres visited once a week with supplies, and he was the extent of their contact with the outside world. Bucky didn't mind, loner that he was, but Ray hadn't been out since she'd nearly been blown to bits at the warehouse. She had gotten restless after three days.
Bucky tried sparring with her, but his superior strength would frustrate her. After accidentally freezing his muscles during one particularly enraging match, Ray started to tap out before she got too irritated, knowing extreme emotions could set her off.
Bucky recalled that Natasha had done ballet as part of her Red Room training, and it had helped her to improve in her fighting, so he suggested Ray try dancing as a form of training. She told him she didn't know how, aside from the partnered dances he'd taught her from the 40s, so they'd watched some musicals. When she'd tried to copy some of the choreography, she'd found it easy to follow. Bucky had exclaimed, "Muscle memory," since she picked it up as naturally as she had cooking, and he swore to her it had to be a connection to her time before Hydra. While she wasn't convinced, she'd begged for something that played music so she could find more songs and experiment with this newfound skill. Torres brought her one of his old iPods with headphones and a speaker and loaded up with songs from every decade and genre he could think of. Since then, Bucky would often find her dancing through the safe house, blissfully unaware of anything around her. He enjoyed seeing Ray's personality - carefree, bold, quick witted... and sexy as hell.
On this day, their 15th day in the safe house, Ray was cooking dinner, completely lost in Michael Jackson's "The Way You Make Me Feel". The catchy tune had her swirling her hips, tossing her hair, prancing through the kitchen without a care in the world.
Bucky walked out of the bedroom to the sound of the modern tune. While it wasn't a song he would've picked, he was thoroughly enjoying watching Ray, her body gracefully moving to the music. A sly grin cracked his face as he leaned against the door frame and watched her, his eyes moving down her body. So damn sexy.
He had no idea how to dance to this kind of tune, but he wasn't going to let that stop him from getting a dance with his girl. Bucky walked to the kitchen and came up right behind Ray, wrapping his arms around her small waist. She grinned, looking over her shoulder at him with a smile. She turned in his arms, wrapping hers around his neck, and laughed as he dipped her back, planting a kiss on her neck, her collarbone...her scar. She stiffened.
When he pulled her back up, she put her hand on her heart, her face blushing, embarrassed.
"You okay?" Bucky noticed she'd drawn into herself.
"Mmm. Just... sometimes I forget about it..." She tapped above her heart. "It's not...it's..."
"It's part of you-" kiss "-and you-" kiss "-are-" kiss "-beautiful." Kiss. "Every part of you."
"Keep doing that and I might believe you some day."
"You don't need to tell me twice."
Almost three weeks of ignorance. Ignorance is bliss...but the truth can drown you.
~<>~
Ray launched herself off the bed with a shriek, chest heaving, grasping at her chest. Oh my God.
"What happened?" Bucky was crawling out of bed, clambering over it to get to her.
"I - I - oh God."
"Breathe."
"Oh God!"
"Ray, look at me."
YOU ARE READING
Death Where is Your Sting? - B. Barnes
Fanfiction"You told me you would help me." "That was a long time ago." "So is that a no? Because I could really use a hand right now. Or a suture kit." In which Bucky Barnes is reunited with someone he thought long dead and is asked to help her remember. Thei...
