Categories > Original > Romance
70 years
(Bucky Barnes X Margo Whitty)
Summary: What is the only thing that can transcend all of time and space? It can heal wounds or make them deeper, it can be the only thing worth fighting for sometimes…
LOVE
Love
Noun
1) An intense feeling of affection
2) A person or thing that one loves
Verb
3) Feel a deep romantic or sexual attachment
Margret Annabella Whitty has loved James Buchanan Barnes ever since they were in the fifth grade. They have been best friends for longer than anyone can remember. When he asked her to be his girlfriend one summer it felt like her dreams were finally complete. Sadly it seemed their dreams of having a normal life together were placed on hold when Bucky has to enlist in the American army. 107th division that camps in England. Everything they knew destroyed when that tragic day in 1944 happens. That was the day that Hydra would take an innocent boy from Brooklyn, who had dreams like any youngster, and shatter them because they ice over his heart and turn him into a weapon. What no one, but Steve and Bucky had known was that Margo had untold and very dangerous powers of the universe. What could she say… she was the child of a dying star?
After all the things that Margo and Steve face in this future time, they go on a mission to save and bring back their friend. Margo will have to fight to prove that love can transcend through all of time and space. She will have to prove to the world and to The Winter Soldier that her love for him can bring back the man that is hidden beneath his frozen heart. Margo will do anything now to restore Bucky Barnes the man that she would give up her life and her powers for. Will 70 years apart prove that love is still the strongest and most infinite thing in the universe?
A/N: Hey Everyone! I’m Bannergirl1218 and I’m trying a new style of writing by creating a book of one-shots that are related to these two wonderful characters! I hope you guys enjoy it and if there are hints towards a black journal which there will be and you’ll see them! that will hopefully be hinting the prequel book called MARGO. Now there isn’t any real timeline as most of these are little one-shots that aren’t connected to one another except that they are moments when Bucky builds up his memory again. Some of these will contain flashbacks of the past and some of the thoughts of the different characters. I hope you guys enjoy this little book of one-shots. Thank you for being there for me and supporting me through everything guys!
Present day
Brooklyn, New York
12:30 am
She lied awake in her bed. Margret was exhausted, yet she couldn’t sleep. Steve had told her not to wait for him tonight because he needed to do something, something that would be good for both of them. She wanted to force her eyes to close and stay shut, but alas that wasn’t happening tonight. The young star had many things that rested in her mind, but there was one thought in particular that replayed like a broken record.
~Flashback~
Steve had told her that she needed to go. Her best friend and guardian had been laid in the hospital to heal and rest after the horrific battle that took place over the Patomic River. After seeing him again under the mask and war paint, she understood why he had told her to go. At first Margret was hesitant to leave Steve’s side out of fear that someone would hurt him or that she would lose him again and end up alone. She couldn’t deal with being alone again.
Sam agreed to stay with Steve until she got back. To Margo that was a relief because she had grown to like Sam, he was a friend to her now and he stayed up with her on the nights that she couldn’t sleep. She trusted him and Natasha, although her trust with Natasha had grown thin during this incident because she had almost betrayed Steve. Or maybe Margo didn’t like it that another woman besides her old friend was kissing her best friend. She was still heartbroken at the fate that Steve and Peggy’s relationship had faced, but unlike Steve she knew Peggy wasn’t gonna stay young forever. She was happy that Steve still visited Peg while she still had a little time, but the doctors weren’t sure how much longer she would actually have. None the less it had been one of the things that Steve and herself would do on a Saturday when there wasn’t a life threatening situation happening.
The day in Washington was crisp, the cherry blossoms were blooming beautifully. Margo knew that it was the beginning of the tourism season because more people flocked the streets than usual. The sidewalks were lined with tour buses and there were children walking along with their teachers. Margo rode down the avenues and streets on Steve’s Harley because he always allowed her to use it when he wasn’t around to use it towards the national air and space museum. This museum was part of the Smithsonian, the largest museum in America, and they had recently updated the Captain America exhibit thanks to Fury, Steve and the remaining howling commandoes.
One of the main reasons that Steve had told Margo to come and visit the exhibit was because of something special that he had the researchers add about her and Bucky. She had been astonished that Steve had been able to do something like that for her, but then again they had once been high authority in Shield. That had been a time when everyone had been trust worthy including Brock Rumalow. A time before it had been known that Hydra had sunk their ugly tentacles into the only place that she had called home. Hydra had taken so much from her since the war. First they took the love of her life, Bucky Barnes, and they changed him into something that he wasn’t. They almost took Steve from her and it had been lucky that he was a super soldier, able to survive normally fatal bullet wounds. Now Steve, Nat, Sam, and she were having to think about their next move because shield no longer existed. Margo knew that one day she would get her revenge, one day she would find Bucky and bring him home. Now she was on her way to see the one thing that would have to replace Bucky for a while, a memorial that honored the man that he had been, the man she knew and loved. To Margret that man was still alive and he needed help to break free.
Margo walked up the few steps that led to many glass doors. It had been obvious that security had picked up since the incident over the Patomic River. She stood in line and gently slipped off the metallic necklace that only left her neck thirteen times since she had received it from Steve. To Margo the dog tags that hung on her neck were so much more than metal. They marked her as the woman of James Buchanan Barnes, because back then Bucky didn’t ever have the money for a real ring. Bucky had promised her that if they both survived the war and went home to Brooklyn, he would make her his wife, a promise that he never got to keep. The dog tags that bore his name were a strong memory for her and they gave her hope that every time she saw the Winter Soldier, she would have a chance to see Bucky again and bring him home. Margo didn’t let anyone besides Peg or Steve touch the delicate and lightly rusted pieces of metal because she always feared that they would come to harm. They were after all, the only thing of Bucky’s she had left to cling on to. Margo was thankful when it had been her turn to walk through the metal detector because she was getting back her possessions.
After she was sure everything had been checked and she had been cleared to enter she snatched the dog tags from the bin on the conveyor belt. Margo felt at home in this museum and many times she had been very glad that the exhibit had been placed in here and not in the American History museum. She loved the air and space museum because her biological family was basically in the name and she could marvel at all of the human endeavors in flight. Margo wandered around the bottom floor looking at the Apollo rockets and a few other interesting test rockets before she walked up to an electronic map that flashed many exhibits around the museum. She quickly pressed on the one that was shaped like Steve’s shield and then watched as the display lit up showing her a quick route. She quickly took a picture of the route with her phone and then ran off in the first direction she needed to go. As Margo walked along the route she had been given she had noticed many people giving her smiles and some giving her thumbs up. She rolled her eyes knowing that in a public venue like this she was gonna be easy to spot even if she had her undercover clothes on. She ignored most of the people except a few children who wanted autographs, she always cared for children because she knew they looked up to her and the other heroes that she knew as her second family. The Avengers. She was actually surprised to see some of the youngsters wearing shirts that showed Bucky’s face on them, something they most likely got at the gift shop. She felt the strings in her heart being tug when she would hear a little boy say “I wanna be just like him mama, I wanna be like Sargent Barnes when I grow up”.
Luckily it didn’t take Margo long to find the exhibit she had been looking for. The opening of the exhibit was Steve’s Vibranium shield, the pattern she was so accustom to seeing when mentioning her best friend. She walked through a hallway that showed pictures of Steve on his missions during the war, a video or two from the days when he was dancing monkey for the army, and picture of Steve before the serum. She smiled a little in nostalgia because she remembered so well that version of him. Steve didn’t change much at heart even if he had grown stronger. She knew that they had made a bold, but perfect choice when he had been chosen as the test subject. Margo couldn’t help, but chuckle when she saw young boys and girls compare themselves to the painted silhouettes of post serum Steve knowing all too well that most of them would have very good potential someday. After seeing the hallway of war memories she was greeted with the original outfits of the howling commandoes. She laughed to herself as she realized that Steve’s original costume was the one that he stole not long ago, took the people long enough to see the naked mannequin. Her mood turned more somber as she neared the other costumes, Bucky’s being at the front. She knew very well that the uniform the mannequin wore was not the original though, she had seen him leave in that uniform for the last time in 1944. Hydra destroyed the original copy of that uniform when they took him into their clutches and broke him. She then collected herself after she had gazed at the familiar blue coat and brown pants, taking a breath she looked around until she saw a room in the back corner of the exhibit. “The Howling Commandos: Captain America’s loyal and brave team” was painted in white letters above the door. She quickly scrambled towards the room almost sensing that this was where she would find everything she wanted to know about her beloved.
The room was simple, just the way that the Howling Commandos liked their barracks. There were small exhibits for each of her old buddies that she had grown to love because of Steve and Bucky. She promised herself that she would visit those exhibits after she was done with reading and looking through Bucky’s. The first thing that she saw was the green uniform. The uniform that she had wanted to so desperately tear off of him because it showed off every inch of his perfectly built figure. The uniform that he had worn the last night that he spent in Brooklyn with her and Steve, the night she had signed up for the SSR because of Peggy. Margo placed her hand against the glass and felt a few lone tears fall to her cheeks at the memory. At the apartment she owned that was across from Steve’s, she owned a picture of them together that night. The museum had a copy of the exact picture and now she was looking straight at it. She looked down at the dog tags dangling from her neck and then placed her lips against the cool metal. “I wish you remembered me my beloved” she whispered before she moved on to the next part of his exhibit. She looked into the little screen and pulled on the headphones. There on the screen was a scratchy black and white clip of Steve, Bucky, and herself messing around at the old tavern that rested not far from the army base in Italy. She remembered watching Bucky compete against the other Howling commandos in drinking games, arm wrestles, and foolish events because they were all just boys at heart. The night always ended with Bucky and the guys singing old drinking songs like ’99 bottles of beer’ or ‘the drunken sailor’. She would belt out the chorus lines with them because they treated her and Peggy like their sisters in arms, and when the moon was high in the starry skies she would fall asleep in Bucky’s arms. Something that she hadn’t felt in over seventy years, a feeling she feared she may never get to experience again.
She then saw a heart shaped carving in the concrete wall. In the heart was a small paragraph explaining to those who were interested, about the love she and Bucky had for each other. In the end it had read “love will last until the end of the line, there will never be a love more legendary than theirs”. This had been what Steve had wanted her to see. Below the heart was a special book where couples from every place around the world, from all walks of life came and signed in dedication to them. Margret knelt to the ground because she could no longer stand. She buried her face in her hands and began to cry. For once in over seventy years she finally allowed herself to mourn. She hugged her arms into her chest and whispered “Bucky come home. Come home”. She was oblivious to the tall figure that had stood not far from her and was reading about them until she saw his shadow cast on the floor. Margo was a bit startled by the shadow and quickly wiped her eyes, feeling very embarrassed that she cried in front of so many. She turned to walk away from the person so that she could regain her bearings again, but as she looked up she saw a strangely familiar face. The man had a thickening beard growing on his squarish jaw, his hair long and grizzly. He wore beat up jeans, a reddish looking undershirt, a brown leather jacket, a dark baseball cap, boots and a pair of thick gloves. Margo moved to the side for a moment as she had quickly realized that the man had not noticed her yet and studied him trying to figure out why this stranger was familiar. Then she saw the most beautiful, yet worn and tired set of blue eyes that she had ever seen. Those eyes told her exactly who this mystery man was because she had only seen those eyes on one man. James Buchanan Barnes.
She was almost afraid to speak, but something told her she needed to. Was he still the Winter Soldier? Would he still try to kill her? Well she figured that if he was reading about them, about himself, he wouldn’t be there to kill her on sight anymore. “B-Bucky…” she spoke softly causing the man to jerk his head around to look at her. His eyes were now full for fear and confusion as he looked her up and down. Margo raised her hands up to show that she was not a threat to him, but still the man did not say a word to her. Suddenly out of nowhere he began to run away from her, but she knew when she looked into his eyes that he was conflicted very deeply. “Bucky wait!” She shouted loud enough to get his attention, but not the attention of everyone else in the room. Margo cursed herself because she couldn’t use her powers to catch up with him, which would be a breach in her true identity. She quickly sprinted after him knowing deep down that it wasn’t any use to her because he was a super soldier like Steve. She was left in another crowd of people trying to catch her breath, but sadly he had disappeared again in the huge crowd of tourist. It was like Natasha had said to describe him, he was a ghost that you only saw a few times and then he would disappear like he hadn’t even been there. “Bucky…” she croaked out looking every direction, but having no such luck to find him. She was quiet for a moment before she looked down and realized that he had left behind one of his gloves, she only hoped that it wasn’t the one covering his metallic limb or he’d never be able to get out of the museum. She took the glove and shoved it into her jeans pocket and then went back into the room that held the Howling Commandos exhibits.
Later that same day she returned to the hospital to see Steve and Sam. She was as pale as a sheet as she walked into Steve’s room. Steve was the first to notice and furrowed a brow at the look of his friend. “Powerful huh?” Steve asked trying to be a bit playful, but after Margo didn’t answer Steve grew concerned and so did Sam. “Margret what’s wrong?” Steve asked seriously as he tried to sit up and look at her. Silent tears slid down her face as she placed the glove on Steve’s table, her eyes staring off at a random object in the distance. “I saw him Steve. I saw him” She whimpered and felt Sam’s hand lightly rub circles on her lower back in comfort. “Who Margo? What happened?” Steve asked getting more worried for the girl and looking into her eyes trying to get answers. “I saw Bucky. I saw him today Steve at the exhibit… he looked so lost and afraid. He was so broken and he didn’t look like the monster that Hydra once made him. He was so alone, but when I tried to talk to him he ran from me” She cried. Sam held out his arms and took her in them as she sobbed, Steve looking at her with sorrow and concern. “Margo…I’m sure he didn’t mean to run from you… he must’ve been there for a reason…don’t worry Margo we’ll find him. I promise that we’ll bring Bucky home” Steve said after a moment sounding more confident than he actually was. “How can you promise that Steve? We may never find him again and even if we did what’s to say that we’ll ever have our Bucky Barnes back?” Margo answered though her voice was muffled by Sam’s T-shirt. “We won’t know Margo, but we gotta try right?” Steve asked giving her a small smile. Margo nodded a little and then went over and hugged her best friend. “For Bucky I’ll always try” she answered wiping away her tears.
~End of flashback~
Margo was brought out of her thoughts by a creaking sound that came from the front door. The woman was a bit afraid and she felt her heart begin to race against her rib cage. Margo grabbed her flashlight and slipped the switch blade knife that she hid beneath her pillow into the waistband of her sleep pants. She was quiet as she slowly got up from her bed and went to her door. “Are you sure that she’ll even want to see me anymore? I tried to kill her on multiple occasions and I’m almost sure that she’d hate me for that” A male voice whispered causing her to jump a little and then slide against the hallway wall. “I’m sure she will, she still loves you and she has been crying each night because she wanted to have you back home with us” she heard Steve say which made her furrow a brow as she slinked down the hallway. “Steve?” Margo whispered, but then the sounds stopped and she couldn’t hear anything. Margo rushed to the living room and quickly flicked on her flashlight waving it frantically and trying to figure out what was going on.
Suddenly she saw a glint of metal under the beam of light. She felt her heart leap as she gently let the light trail up the metal until it shined on the familiar face that she had seen once before. “AAAHHHH!!!!!” Margo screamed falling back onto her butt and scrambling to get her knife out of her waistband. She had experienced this unsavory encounter before with the winter soldier when he broke into the apartment and tried to murder her. She was shaking as she slowly got onto her haunches and held out the switch blade towards him, her face tightened and she tried not to show the absolute fear that she was feeling. The heartache was not so easy to mask though because Margo didn’t like that she couldn’t trust the man that she loved, that she had to hold a knife on him. “What do you want? If you’re here to kill me soldier that won’t happen and you know it!” she growled clenching the knife and her flashlight. “MARGO! EASY MARGO!” Steve shouted and quickly raced to turn on the lights in the room. Bucky slowly held up his hands to show her that he wasn’t trying to be a threat to her safety this time. “Huh? Steve what’s going on?” Margo asked sternly as she loosened her grip on her knife as the familiar super soldier moved out from behind the other. “He’s not here to hurt us Margo. Look at him and tell me that he wants to hurt you… he needs me. He needs YOU… please Margo look into his eyes and tell me that you saw this same man at the museum because I know you did” Steve answered frantically. Margo sighed and took the knife and threw into the wall to her left, her shoulders slumped as she studied the man before her.
There she stood looking straight at the man that she had been looking for in over seventy years. Steve noticed the silence between the two and gave a small nervous smile. “I’ll leave you two alone now huh? I’ve gotta be at the tower tomorrow because I’ve got a debriefing to go over. See ya tomorrow Margo and Buck” Steve spoke and then snuck past Bucky and then slinked down the hallway. Margo gave Steve a look that said “Really? Are you really doing this to me? Thanks a lot Rogers” as he passed her. Margo then looked back over at the silent soldier seeing sadness dust his dull, grey-blue eyes. Their eyes met for a moment and Margo felt guilt wash over her as she looked in the corner of her eye and saw the knife again, she had intended to stab the one man she loved all because she had been afraid. She carefully took a step closer to the familiar man watching as it didn’t bother him in the slightest. “I don’t expect you to remember…” she started looking at the floor now and finding that it was difficult to look at him. He stepped closer to her as well and looked at her for a moment. Bucky was still trying to think about the right thing to say to her, but it felt like the first time he told her loved her. His heart was beating at an unsteady pace which felt strange since he hadn’t felt this in so long. “T-that’s the thing… out of all the things that they forced me to forget there were two people that always came back. Steve and Margret…” He spoke softly. His voice was music to Margo’s ears and her cheeks were beginning to dust with a bright pink, but she was trying so hard to hide it. “You’re name is Margret Annabella Whitty and you’re the daughter of a dying star. You love to dance, but you hate pistachio Ice cream. When you try to sing anything, but drinking songs you sound like a cat that got run over” Bucky replied looking at her in the eyes. She looked at him in complete shock and realized something quickly. The knowledge that he spit back at her was not knowledge that anyone would’ve known by just reading the information in the museum. Only the Avengers and the real Bucky knew of her true disgust of pistachio ice cream. She gasped a little slowly took another step closer to him. “Bucky… is that really you?” She asked hesitantly. The soldier nodded slowly watching her with quizzical eyes. She ran to him and wrapped her arms around his torso hugging him tight and burying her face into the crook of his neck and sobbing. He was hesitant at first to return the affection as he was afraid of hurting her with his metal arm. Finally after a moment he pulled her closer to him and lightly laid his head on top of hers. “I missed you so much Bucky, I thought I would never be able to hug you again… I thought I lost you forever” Margo sobbed making Bucky’s heart slowly crack in two. He was quiet for a moment as he held her close to him and lightly used his human hand to run down her back. “I…I’m sorry Margo…” he croaked trying to hide the tears that were begging to break free. Margo looked up at him and gently she rested a hand on his scruffy cheek. “Don’t be James… this wasn’t your fault and you didn’t deserve this fate” she whispered staring into his eyes and lightly letting her fingers trace his skin. He seemed to lean into her touch and she could see a lone tear roll down his battered face. “I did so many terrible things Margo…things that are unspeakable and things I didn’t want to take part in. The worst part was watching the people that you cared about become afraid of you. I’m sorry for hurting you and I’m sorry for running away…I basically left you” He whispered leaning his forehead against hers. “You didn’t have a choice James, you did what they told to do because they brainwashed you. That wasn’t you and it never will be in my eyes because I know you and you are better man than that” she said sternly and placed a small kiss on his cheek. Bucky’s blue-grey eyes widened a little at the small gesture, but then his whole body relaxed because it had felt so familiar and normal for her to be doing it. He grew a tiny hint of a smile on his lips and Margo mirrored it with her own. “Bucky can I show you something?” Margo asked watching as pink dusted his cheeks. “Um…Uh sure I guess…” he trailed off trying to hide the nerves that caused his stomach to want to do flips. Margo chuckled and took his flesh hand in her own and then pulled him out onto the balcony that the apartment had.
The night air was cool, something that contrasted with the daytime. The city was illuminated with bright lights, a sight that even Bucky remembered from a time long ago. The sight of the city was something that stirred the memories from his past around a little which was why the super soldier had a face of confusion. The two stood out on the balcony letting the late night breeze brush over their shoulders and ruffle in their hair. Bucky was leaned against the black metal railing that prevented one from falling to their death almost seven stories below, his eyes were lazily scanning the night life though the rest of his face was transfixed with strain. Probably because he was trying to understand why this all was so familiar to him. Margo stood not far from him with her eyes closed as she tried hard to concentrate on what she was about to do. *Star light, Star bright, the first star that I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish that I wish tonight* Margo recited in Romanian. Bucky turned and looked at her seeing her body glow and then watching as a ball of light began to form in the palms of her hands. Soon the little ball of light came to life in her hands and she reopened her eyes. “Wanna hold her?” She asked with a warm smile on her face seeing her beloved look at her with surprise. “I guess so… I don’t want to hurt her” he said shyly holding open his two palms in the exact way that Margo had done. “Oh don’t worry you won’t, she’s like me Buck, you can’t hurt a star” Margo chuckled watching as the little creature floated onto his open palms and purred up at him like a kitten. “See she likes you” Margo giggled and then closed her eyes again and repeated her spell in Romanian before yet another little star came to life in her hands. For the first time since she had seen him again Bucky was smiling a genuine smile. She watched as he cradled the little star in his hands like it was his own daughter. “Ok Buck before we let them go we get to name them, so since you have the little girl you can name her anything that you want” Margo explained watching as Bucky began to hold his palms up towards the sky. “I think I’ll name her Margret because she’s beautiful and she looks like she could be a very strong little star” Bucky answered looking over at Margo and making her cheeks grow very pink. Bucky laughed a little waited for her to name the other star that she held in her hands. “Well this little boy will be named after my best friend, he means so much to me and I don’t ever want to lose him again. I’ll name him James, but for short he’ll be called Bucky” Margo said holding her palms up like Bucky and then together the two stars danced into the sky. They floated for a few minutes and then turned into bright comets. The two stars whizzed into the sky to join their many brothers and sisters, both ready to help brighten up the world. Bucky lightly took Margo’s hand in his own and looked over at Margo with a loving look. “Thank you” he said simply and then leaned in a placed a small kiss on her forehead. “Well I’m gonna say it because it’s the truth…I don’t know how you feel yet, but I would do anything for you because I love you Bucky” Margo replied turning to look at him and then she hugged him again. Bucky hugged her back tightly and gently nuzzled her. “I don’t know how to really say what I do remember, but I love you to Margo” He admitted feeling his heart soar into the night sky along with the two stars.
Suddenly Margo sprung up and felt extremely excited. “Bucky that’s it! Oh I know something that I have that’ll help you!” Margo shouted happily and bounced on her feet. “Wait right here I’ll be right back” she squeaked and raced back inside the apartment. Bucky sighed and watched her with a bit of a playful smile on his lips. Yea that seemed familiar to, everything about her seemed to scream at him that she was more familiar than he quite comprehended right now. Bucky took residence on the wicker couch that sat out on the balcony and waited for her to return. Everything seemed to be a bit frustrating, but yet this felt right and he was damn sure that she felt right. The soldier rested his chin on his metallic hand and then stared out at the night covered city again. He closed his eyes again for a moment and it seemed like he felt the flashes of memories trying to break through. Steve had been right all along, this was what he needed and for once in almost seventy years James Buchanan Barnes felt like he belonged.
Bucky was brought out of his thoughts again by the sudden patter of feet on the concrete floor behind him. He turned his head a little to see Margo sitting down beside him with a medium sized, black book. She looked into his eyes with a warm smile on her face and gently placed the book in his hands. “Lucky stars brought me a handsome guy like you. This is my old diary Buck, in this book are memories from our old life that start from my thirteenth birthday and the last entry is the night before you left with Steve on that train mission” Margo spoke and looked at the floor. “Thank you Margo… I didn’t know that you actually took record of those days” Bucky replied sounding a little surprised. Margo nodded a little and gently took the dog tags off from around her neck. “Ma always said that the most important events in your life should be recorded because one day they may become more important as memory. I… Uh… I think these belong to you Buck” Margo said holding out the chain with the two tags that looked like they had in the war. Bucky carefully took the tags in his flesh hand and studied them. “You kept them? My tags?” He asked looking at her with a small tear rolling down his cheek. Margo carefully wiped away the bit of water and nodded with a weak smile. “Steve gave them to me when he returned because he said that you told him to. I kept them because they gave me hope that maybe you weren’t dead or at least if you truly were I would have a piece of you to hang on to. These tags reminded me that there was still a man in there behind the winter heart. A man that I love more than every star in the universe… my fiancé” She whispered looked down again, her cheeks turning a deep crimson. Bucky looked at the tags again and then he carefully took her hand in his flesh one and gently placed the dog tags back into her hand closing her fingers around them. “Keep them, wear them for me. You’re one of the only ones that believes in me and I’m not letting you go again. I may not have had a ring for you then, but these tags were a symbol that claimed you…” He said softly and brought the back of her hand to his lips giving it a gentle kiss. Margo blushed a little more before attacking him in another hug and burying her face in his shoulder. “Thank you Bucky” Margo sighed feeling his arms wrap around her protectively. “For what?” He asked chuckling a little and resting his head atop hers. “For coming home” She said softly pulling back just a little so that she could see him again.
After about an hour of the two sitting outside in the cool night air and talking about the things that Bucky began to remember Margo began to get very sleepy. Bucky couldn’t help, but adore how innocent she looked when she fell asleep on his shoulder. The soldier didn’t want to wake the sweet girl that was asleep on his shoulder, but he had a hunch that she would feel much more comfortable in her bed. Carefully he lifted her into his arms walked back inside the apartment. He made a guess about which door to go in by the decorations on the wood, luckily he had been right. Bucky laid her gently in her bed and then tucked the covers up over her. He watched her in peaceful slumber for a few minutes before getting the courage to press his lips to her forehead softly. “G’night my lucky little star” He whispered and gently pushed her hair away from her soft face. Just as he was about to leave he heard her stir and she opened her eyes again. “James please stay with me…” She whispered nervously hoping that he wouldn’t sleep alone. Now it was Bucky’s turn to blush as he studied her carpet for a moment and tried to think about what to do. He sighed a little and then gave in to his inner desire to hold her again. “Alright…I have to be careful though…” He whispered turning to look at her again. Margo nodded in understanding knowing that he must have nightmares still from the past. Something that to this day she wouldn’t hold against him. Without another word she moved over so that he would have enough room to lay down next to her and then she watched him strip off his sweatshirt, baseball cap, and then take off his boots. He gently laid down on the soft bed beside her and laid so that his flesh arm was the one touching her, he was still afraid of his metal arm. Margo gently used his chest as a pillow and listened to the steady beating of his heart. Bucky was stiff at first, but when she didn’t pull away or flinch from him he relaxed and loosely wrapped his flesh arm around her again. “G’night Soldier boy, I hope you have better dreams” Margo said softly and then closed her eyes. Bucky was silent for a few minutes and then he let out a sigh. “G’night Doll” he whispered back and shut his eyes giving a silent thank you to the girl in his arms. Margo had given him a whole new reason to fight winter, a new reason to break free from Hydra’s grasp. He knew in his heart that he wasn’t going to leave her again if he had the power. She might be a star from another world with the immortality of gods and myth, but that wouldn’t stop him from keeping a vow to always protect her.
(Bucky Barnes X Margo Whitty)
Summary: What is the only thing that can transcend all of time and space? It can heal wounds or make them deeper, it can be the only thing worth fighting for sometimes…
LOVE
Love
Noun
1) An intense feeling of affection
2) A person or thing that one loves
Verb
3) Feel a deep romantic or sexual attachment
Margret Annabella Whitty has loved James Buchanan Barnes ever since they were in the fifth grade. They have been best friends for longer than anyone can remember. When he asked her to be his girlfriend one summer it felt like her dreams were finally complete. Sadly it seemed their dreams of having a normal life together were placed on hold when Bucky has to enlist in the American army. 107th division that camps in England. Everything they knew destroyed when that tragic day in 1944 happens. That was the day that Hydra would take an innocent boy from Brooklyn, who had dreams like any youngster, and shatter them because they ice over his heart and turn him into a weapon. What no one, but Steve and Bucky had known was that Margo had untold and very dangerous powers of the universe. What could she say… she was the child of a dying star?
After all the things that Margo and Steve face in this future time, they go on a mission to save and bring back their friend. Margo will have to fight to prove that love can transcend through all of time and space. She will have to prove to the world and to The Winter Soldier that her love for him can bring back the man that is hidden beneath his frozen heart. Margo will do anything now to restore Bucky Barnes the man that she would give up her life and her powers for. Will 70 years apart prove that love is still the strongest and most infinite thing in the universe?
A/N: Hey Everyone! I’m Bannergirl1218 and I’m trying a new style of writing by creating a book of one-shots that are related to these two wonderful characters! I hope you guys enjoy it and if there are hints towards a black journal which there will be and you’ll see them! that will hopefully be hinting the prequel book called MARGO. Now there isn’t any real timeline as most of these are little one-shots that aren’t connected to one another except that they are moments when Bucky builds up his memory again. Some of these will contain flashbacks of the past and some of the thoughts of the different characters. I hope you guys enjoy this little book of one-shots. Thank you for being there for me and supporting me through everything guys!
Present day
Brooklyn, New York
12:30 am
She lied awake in her bed. Margret was exhausted, yet she couldn’t sleep. Steve had told her not to wait for him tonight because he needed to do something, something that would be good for both of them. She wanted to force her eyes to close and stay shut, but alas that wasn’t happening tonight. The young star had many things that rested in her mind, but there was one thought in particular that replayed like a broken record.
~Flashback~
Steve had told her that she needed to go. Her best friend and guardian had been laid in the hospital to heal and rest after the horrific battle that took place over the Patomic River. After seeing him again under the mask and war paint, she understood why he had told her to go. At first Margret was hesitant to leave Steve’s side out of fear that someone would hurt him or that she would lose him again and end up alone. She couldn’t deal with being alone again.
Sam agreed to stay with Steve until she got back. To Margo that was a relief because she had grown to like Sam, he was a friend to her now and he stayed up with her on the nights that she couldn’t sleep. She trusted him and Natasha, although her trust with Natasha had grown thin during this incident because she had almost betrayed Steve. Or maybe Margo didn’t like it that another woman besides her old friend was kissing her best friend. She was still heartbroken at the fate that Steve and Peggy’s relationship had faced, but unlike Steve she knew Peggy wasn’t gonna stay young forever. She was happy that Steve still visited Peg while she still had a little time, but the doctors weren’t sure how much longer she would actually have. None the less it had been one of the things that Steve and herself would do on a Saturday when there wasn’t a life threatening situation happening.
The day in Washington was crisp, the cherry blossoms were blooming beautifully. Margo knew that it was the beginning of the tourism season because more people flocked the streets than usual. The sidewalks were lined with tour buses and there were children walking along with their teachers. Margo rode down the avenues and streets on Steve’s Harley because he always allowed her to use it when he wasn’t around to use it towards the national air and space museum. This museum was part of the Smithsonian, the largest museum in America, and they had recently updated the Captain America exhibit thanks to Fury, Steve and the remaining howling commandoes.
One of the main reasons that Steve had told Margo to come and visit the exhibit was because of something special that he had the researchers add about her and Bucky. She had been astonished that Steve had been able to do something like that for her, but then again they had once been high authority in Shield. That had been a time when everyone had been trust worthy including Brock Rumalow. A time before it had been known that Hydra had sunk their ugly tentacles into the only place that she had called home. Hydra had taken so much from her since the war. First they took the love of her life, Bucky Barnes, and they changed him into something that he wasn’t. They almost took Steve from her and it had been lucky that he was a super soldier, able to survive normally fatal bullet wounds. Now Steve, Nat, Sam, and she were having to think about their next move because shield no longer existed. Margo knew that one day she would get her revenge, one day she would find Bucky and bring him home. Now she was on her way to see the one thing that would have to replace Bucky for a while, a memorial that honored the man that he had been, the man she knew and loved. To Margret that man was still alive and he needed help to break free.
Margo walked up the few steps that led to many glass doors. It had been obvious that security had picked up since the incident over the Patomic River. She stood in line and gently slipped off the metallic necklace that only left her neck thirteen times since she had received it from Steve. To Margo the dog tags that hung on her neck were so much more than metal. They marked her as the woman of James Buchanan Barnes, because back then Bucky didn’t ever have the money for a real ring. Bucky had promised her that if they both survived the war and went home to Brooklyn, he would make her his wife, a promise that he never got to keep. The dog tags that bore his name were a strong memory for her and they gave her hope that every time she saw the Winter Soldier, she would have a chance to see Bucky again and bring him home. Margo didn’t let anyone besides Peg or Steve touch the delicate and lightly rusted pieces of metal because she always feared that they would come to harm. They were after all, the only thing of Bucky’s she had left to cling on to. Margo was thankful when it had been her turn to walk through the metal detector because she was getting back her possessions.
After she was sure everything had been checked and she had been cleared to enter she snatched the dog tags from the bin on the conveyor belt. Margo felt at home in this museum and many times she had been very glad that the exhibit had been placed in here and not in the American History museum. She loved the air and space museum because her biological family was basically in the name and she could marvel at all of the human endeavors in flight. Margo wandered around the bottom floor looking at the Apollo rockets and a few other interesting test rockets before she walked up to an electronic map that flashed many exhibits around the museum. She quickly pressed on the one that was shaped like Steve’s shield and then watched as the display lit up showing her a quick route. She quickly took a picture of the route with her phone and then ran off in the first direction she needed to go. As Margo walked along the route she had been given she had noticed many people giving her smiles and some giving her thumbs up. She rolled her eyes knowing that in a public venue like this she was gonna be easy to spot even if she had her undercover clothes on. She ignored most of the people except a few children who wanted autographs, she always cared for children because she knew they looked up to her and the other heroes that she knew as her second family. The Avengers. She was actually surprised to see some of the youngsters wearing shirts that showed Bucky’s face on them, something they most likely got at the gift shop. She felt the strings in her heart being tug when she would hear a little boy say “I wanna be just like him mama, I wanna be like Sargent Barnes when I grow up”.
Luckily it didn’t take Margo long to find the exhibit she had been looking for. The opening of the exhibit was Steve’s Vibranium shield, the pattern she was so accustom to seeing when mentioning her best friend. She walked through a hallway that showed pictures of Steve on his missions during the war, a video or two from the days when he was dancing monkey for the army, and picture of Steve before the serum. She smiled a little in nostalgia because she remembered so well that version of him. Steve didn’t change much at heart even if he had grown stronger. She knew that they had made a bold, but perfect choice when he had been chosen as the test subject. Margo couldn’t help, but chuckle when she saw young boys and girls compare themselves to the painted silhouettes of post serum Steve knowing all too well that most of them would have very good potential someday. After seeing the hallway of war memories she was greeted with the original outfits of the howling commandoes. She laughed to herself as she realized that Steve’s original costume was the one that he stole not long ago, took the people long enough to see the naked mannequin. Her mood turned more somber as she neared the other costumes, Bucky’s being at the front. She knew very well that the uniform the mannequin wore was not the original though, she had seen him leave in that uniform for the last time in 1944. Hydra destroyed the original copy of that uniform when they took him into their clutches and broke him. She then collected herself after she had gazed at the familiar blue coat and brown pants, taking a breath she looked around until she saw a room in the back corner of the exhibit. “The Howling Commandos: Captain America’s loyal and brave team” was painted in white letters above the door. She quickly scrambled towards the room almost sensing that this was where she would find everything she wanted to know about her beloved.
The room was simple, just the way that the Howling Commandos liked their barracks. There were small exhibits for each of her old buddies that she had grown to love because of Steve and Bucky. She promised herself that she would visit those exhibits after she was done with reading and looking through Bucky’s. The first thing that she saw was the green uniform. The uniform that she had wanted to so desperately tear off of him because it showed off every inch of his perfectly built figure. The uniform that he had worn the last night that he spent in Brooklyn with her and Steve, the night she had signed up for the SSR because of Peggy. Margo placed her hand against the glass and felt a few lone tears fall to her cheeks at the memory. At the apartment she owned that was across from Steve’s, she owned a picture of them together that night. The museum had a copy of the exact picture and now she was looking straight at it. She looked down at the dog tags dangling from her neck and then placed her lips against the cool metal. “I wish you remembered me my beloved” she whispered before she moved on to the next part of his exhibit. She looked into the little screen and pulled on the headphones. There on the screen was a scratchy black and white clip of Steve, Bucky, and herself messing around at the old tavern that rested not far from the army base in Italy. She remembered watching Bucky compete against the other Howling commandos in drinking games, arm wrestles, and foolish events because they were all just boys at heart. The night always ended with Bucky and the guys singing old drinking songs like ’99 bottles of beer’ or ‘the drunken sailor’. She would belt out the chorus lines with them because they treated her and Peggy like their sisters in arms, and when the moon was high in the starry skies she would fall asleep in Bucky’s arms. Something that she hadn’t felt in over seventy years, a feeling she feared she may never get to experience again.
She then saw a heart shaped carving in the concrete wall. In the heart was a small paragraph explaining to those who were interested, about the love she and Bucky had for each other. In the end it had read “love will last until the end of the line, there will never be a love more legendary than theirs”. This had been what Steve had wanted her to see. Below the heart was a special book where couples from every place around the world, from all walks of life came and signed in dedication to them. Margret knelt to the ground because she could no longer stand. She buried her face in her hands and began to cry. For once in over seventy years she finally allowed herself to mourn. She hugged her arms into her chest and whispered “Bucky come home. Come home”. She was oblivious to the tall figure that had stood not far from her and was reading about them until she saw his shadow cast on the floor. Margo was a bit startled by the shadow and quickly wiped her eyes, feeling very embarrassed that she cried in front of so many. She turned to walk away from the person so that she could regain her bearings again, but as she looked up she saw a strangely familiar face. The man had a thickening beard growing on his squarish jaw, his hair long and grizzly. He wore beat up jeans, a reddish looking undershirt, a brown leather jacket, a dark baseball cap, boots and a pair of thick gloves. Margo moved to the side for a moment as she had quickly realized that the man had not noticed her yet and studied him trying to figure out why this stranger was familiar. Then she saw the most beautiful, yet worn and tired set of blue eyes that she had ever seen. Those eyes told her exactly who this mystery man was because she had only seen those eyes on one man. James Buchanan Barnes.
She was almost afraid to speak, but something told her she needed to. Was he still the Winter Soldier? Would he still try to kill her? Well she figured that if he was reading about them, about himself, he wouldn’t be there to kill her on sight anymore. “B-Bucky…” she spoke softly causing the man to jerk his head around to look at her. His eyes were now full for fear and confusion as he looked her up and down. Margo raised her hands up to show that she was not a threat to him, but still the man did not say a word to her. Suddenly out of nowhere he began to run away from her, but she knew when she looked into his eyes that he was conflicted very deeply. “Bucky wait!” She shouted loud enough to get his attention, but not the attention of everyone else in the room. Margo cursed herself because she couldn’t use her powers to catch up with him, which would be a breach in her true identity. She quickly sprinted after him knowing deep down that it wasn’t any use to her because he was a super soldier like Steve. She was left in another crowd of people trying to catch her breath, but sadly he had disappeared again in the huge crowd of tourist. It was like Natasha had said to describe him, he was a ghost that you only saw a few times and then he would disappear like he hadn’t even been there. “Bucky…” she croaked out looking every direction, but having no such luck to find him. She was quiet for a moment before she looked down and realized that he had left behind one of his gloves, she only hoped that it wasn’t the one covering his metallic limb or he’d never be able to get out of the museum. She took the glove and shoved it into her jeans pocket and then went back into the room that held the Howling Commandos exhibits.
Later that same day she returned to the hospital to see Steve and Sam. She was as pale as a sheet as she walked into Steve’s room. Steve was the first to notice and furrowed a brow at the look of his friend. “Powerful huh?” Steve asked trying to be a bit playful, but after Margo didn’t answer Steve grew concerned and so did Sam. “Margret what’s wrong?” Steve asked seriously as he tried to sit up and look at her. Silent tears slid down her face as she placed the glove on Steve’s table, her eyes staring off at a random object in the distance. “I saw him Steve. I saw him” She whimpered and felt Sam’s hand lightly rub circles on her lower back in comfort. “Who Margo? What happened?” Steve asked getting more worried for the girl and looking into her eyes trying to get answers. “I saw Bucky. I saw him today Steve at the exhibit… he looked so lost and afraid. He was so broken and he didn’t look like the monster that Hydra once made him. He was so alone, but when I tried to talk to him he ran from me” She cried. Sam held out his arms and took her in them as she sobbed, Steve looking at her with sorrow and concern. “Margo…I’m sure he didn’t mean to run from you… he must’ve been there for a reason…don’t worry Margo we’ll find him. I promise that we’ll bring Bucky home” Steve said after a moment sounding more confident than he actually was. “How can you promise that Steve? We may never find him again and even if we did what’s to say that we’ll ever have our Bucky Barnes back?” Margo answered though her voice was muffled by Sam’s T-shirt. “We won’t know Margo, but we gotta try right?” Steve asked giving her a small smile. Margo nodded a little and then went over and hugged her best friend. “For Bucky I’ll always try” she answered wiping away her tears.
~End of flashback~
Margo was brought out of her thoughts by a creaking sound that came from the front door. The woman was a bit afraid and she felt her heart begin to race against her rib cage. Margo grabbed her flashlight and slipped the switch blade knife that she hid beneath her pillow into the waistband of her sleep pants. She was quiet as she slowly got up from her bed and went to her door. “Are you sure that she’ll even want to see me anymore? I tried to kill her on multiple occasions and I’m almost sure that she’d hate me for that” A male voice whispered causing her to jump a little and then slide against the hallway wall. “I’m sure she will, she still loves you and she has been crying each night because she wanted to have you back home with us” she heard Steve say which made her furrow a brow as she slinked down the hallway. “Steve?” Margo whispered, but then the sounds stopped and she couldn’t hear anything. Margo rushed to the living room and quickly flicked on her flashlight waving it frantically and trying to figure out what was going on.
Suddenly she saw a glint of metal under the beam of light. She felt her heart leap as she gently let the light trail up the metal until it shined on the familiar face that she had seen once before. “AAAHHHH!!!!!” Margo screamed falling back onto her butt and scrambling to get her knife out of her waistband. She had experienced this unsavory encounter before with the winter soldier when he broke into the apartment and tried to murder her. She was shaking as she slowly got onto her haunches and held out the switch blade towards him, her face tightened and she tried not to show the absolute fear that she was feeling. The heartache was not so easy to mask though because Margo didn’t like that she couldn’t trust the man that she loved, that she had to hold a knife on him. “What do you want? If you’re here to kill me soldier that won’t happen and you know it!” she growled clenching the knife and her flashlight. “MARGO! EASY MARGO!” Steve shouted and quickly raced to turn on the lights in the room. Bucky slowly held up his hands to show her that he wasn’t trying to be a threat to her safety this time. “Huh? Steve what’s going on?” Margo asked sternly as she loosened her grip on her knife as the familiar super soldier moved out from behind the other. “He’s not here to hurt us Margo. Look at him and tell me that he wants to hurt you… he needs me. He needs YOU… please Margo look into his eyes and tell me that you saw this same man at the museum because I know you did” Steve answered frantically. Margo sighed and took the knife and threw into the wall to her left, her shoulders slumped as she studied the man before her.
There she stood looking straight at the man that she had been looking for in over seventy years. Steve noticed the silence between the two and gave a small nervous smile. “I’ll leave you two alone now huh? I’ve gotta be at the tower tomorrow because I’ve got a debriefing to go over. See ya tomorrow Margo and Buck” Steve spoke and then snuck past Bucky and then slinked down the hallway. Margo gave Steve a look that said “Really? Are you really doing this to me? Thanks a lot Rogers” as he passed her. Margo then looked back over at the silent soldier seeing sadness dust his dull, grey-blue eyes. Their eyes met for a moment and Margo felt guilt wash over her as she looked in the corner of her eye and saw the knife again, she had intended to stab the one man she loved all because she had been afraid. She carefully took a step closer to the familiar man watching as it didn’t bother him in the slightest. “I don’t expect you to remember…” she started looking at the floor now and finding that it was difficult to look at him. He stepped closer to her as well and looked at her for a moment. Bucky was still trying to think about the right thing to say to her, but it felt like the first time he told her loved her. His heart was beating at an unsteady pace which felt strange since he hadn’t felt this in so long. “T-that’s the thing… out of all the things that they forced me to forget there were two people that always came back. Steve and Margret…” He spoke softly. His voice was music to Margo’s ears and her cheeks were beginning to dust with a bright pink, but she was trying so hard to hide it. “You’re name is Margret Annabella Whitty and you’re the daughter of a dying star. You love to dance, but you hate pistachio Ice cream. When you try to sing anything, but drinking songs you sound like a cat that got run over” Bucky replied looking at her in the eyes. She looked at him in complete shock and realized something quickly. The knowledge that he spit back at her was not knowledge that anyone would’ve known by just reading the information in the museum. Only the Avengers and the real Bucky knew of her true disgust of pistachio ice cream. She gasped a little slowly took another step closer to him. “Bucky… is that really you?” She asked hesitantly. The soldier nodded slowly watching her with quizzical eyes. She ran to him and wrapped her arms around his torso hugging him tight and burying her face into the crook of his neck and sobbing. He was hesitant at first to return the affection as he was afraid of hurting her with his metal arm. Finally after a moment he pulled her closer to him and lightly laid his head on top of hers. “I missed you so much Bucky, I thought I would never be able to hug you again… I thought I lost you forever” Margo sobbed making Bucky’s heart slowly crack in two. He was quiet for a moment as he held her close to him and lightly used his human hand to run down her back. “I…I’m sorry Margo…” he croaked trying to hide the tears that were begging to break free. Margo looked up at him and gently she rested a hand on his scruffy cheek. “Don’t be James… this wasn’t your fault and you didn’t deserve this fate” she whispered staring into his eyes and lightly letting her fingers trace his skin. He seemed to lean into her touch and she could see a lone tear roll down his battered face. “I did so many terrible things Margo…things that are unspeakable and things I didn’t want to take part in. The worst part was watching the people that you cared about become afraid of you. I’m sorry for hurting you and I’m sorry for running away…I basically left you” He whispered leaning his forehead against hers. “You didn’t have a choice James, you did what they told to do because they brainwashed you. That wasn’t you and it never will be in my eyes because I know you and you are better man than that” she said sternly and placed a small kiss on his cheek. Bucky’s blue-grey eyes widened a little at the small gesture, but then his whole body relaxed because it had felt so familiar and normal for her to be doing it. He grew a tiny hint of a smile on his lips and Margo mirrored it with her own. “Bucky can I show you something?” Margo asked watching as pink dusted his cheeks. “Um…Uh sure I guess…” he trailed off trying to hide the nerves that caused his stomach to want to do flips. Margo chuckled and took his flesh hand in her own and then pulled him out onto the balcony that the apartment had.
The night air was cool, something that contrasted with the daytime. The city was illuminated with bright lights, a sight that even Bucky remembered from a time long ago. The sight of the city was something that stirred the memories from his past around a little which was why the super soldier had a face of confusion. The two stood out on the balcony letting the late night breeze brush over their shoulders and ruffle in their hair. Bucky was leaned against the black metal railing that prevented one from falling to their death almost seven stories below, his eyes were lazily scanning the night life though the rest of his face was transfixed with strain. Probably because he was trying to understand why this all was so familiar to him. Margo stood not far from him with her eyes closed as she tried hard to concentrate on what she was about to do. *Star light, Star bright, the first star that I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish that I wish tonight* Margo recited in Romanian. Bucky turned and looked at her seeing her body glow and then watching as a ball of light began to form in the palms of her hands. Soon the little ball of light came to life in her hands and she reopened her eyes. “Wanna hold her?” She asked with a warm smile on her face seeing her beloved look at her with surprise. “I guess so… I don’t want to hurt her” he said shyly holding open his two palms in the exact way that Margo had done. “Oh don’t worry you won’t, she’s like me Buck, you can’t hurt a star” Margo chuckled watching as the little creature floated onto his open palms and purred up at him like a kitten. “See she likes you” Margo giggled and then closed her eyes again and repeated her spell in Romanian before yet another little star came to life in her hands. For the first time since she had seen him again Bucky was smiling a genuine smile. She watched as he cradled the little star in his hands like it was his own daughter. “Ok Buck before we let them go we get to name them, so since you have the little girl you can name her anything that you want” Margo explained watching as Bucky began to hold his palms up towards the sky. “I think I’ll name her Margret because she’s beautiful and she looks like she could be a very strong little star” Bucky answered looking over at Margo and making her cheeks grow very pink. Bucky laughed a little waited for her to name the other star that she held in her hands. “Well this little boy will be named after my best friend, he means so much to me and I don’t ever want to lose him again. I’ll name him James, but for short he’ll be called Bucky” Margo said holding her palms up like Bucky and then together the two stars danced into the sky. They floated for a few minutes and then turned into bright comets. The two stars whizzed into the sky to join their many brothers and sisters, both ready to help brighten up the world. Bucky lightly took Margo’s hand in his own and looked over at Margo with a loving look. “Thank you” he said simply and then leaned in a placed a small kiss on her forehead. “Well I’m gonna say it because it’s the truth…I don’t know how you feel yet, but I would do anything for you because I love you Bucky” Margo replied turning to look at him and then she hugged him again. Bucky hugged her back tightly and gently nuzzled her. “I don’t know how to really say what I do remember, but I love you to Margo” He admitted feeling his heart soar into the night sky along with the two stars.
Suddenly Margo sprung up and felt extremely excited. “Bucky that’s it! Oh I know something that I have that’ll help you!” Margo shouted happily and bounced on her feet. “Wait right here I’ll be right back” she squeaked and raced back inside the apartment. Bucky sighed and watched her with a bit of a playful smile on his lips. Yea that seemed familiar to, everything about her seemed to scream at him that she was more familiar than he quite comprehended right now. Bucky took residence on the wicker couch that sat out on the balcony and waited for her to return. Everything seemed to be a bit frustrating, but yet this felt right and he was damn sure that she felt right. The soldier rested his chin on his metallic hand and then stared out at the night covered city again. He closed his eyes again for a moment and it seemed like he felt the flashes of memories trying to break through. Steve had been right all along, this was what he needed and for once in almost seventy years James Buchanan Barnes felt like he belonged.
Bucky was brought out of his thoughts again by the sudden patter of feet on the concrete floor behind him. He turned his head a little to see Margo sitting down beside him with a medium sized, black book. She looked into his eyes with a warm smile on her face and gently placed the book in his hands. “Lucky stars brought me a handsome guy like you. This is my old diary Buck, in this book are memories from our old life that start from my thirteenth birthday and the last entry is the night before you left with Steve on that train mission” Margo spoke and looked at the floor. “Thank you Margo… I didn’t know that you actually took record of those days” Bucky replied sounding a little surprised. Margo nodded a little and gently took the dog tags off from around her neck. “Ma always said that the most important events in your life should be recorded because one day they may become more important as memory. I… Uh… I think these belong to you Buck” Margo said holding out the chain with the two tags that looked like they had in the war. Bucky carefully took the tags in his flesh hand and studied them. “You kept them? My tags?” He asked looking at her with a small tear rolling down his cheek. Margo carefully wiped away the bit of water and nodded with a weak smile. “Steve gave them to me when he returned because he said that you told him to. I kept them because they gave me hope that maybe you weren’t dead or at least if you truly were I would have a piece of you to hang on to. These tags reminded me that there was still a man in there behind the winter heart. A man that I love more than every star in the universe… my fiancé” She whispered looked down again, her cheeks turning a deep crimson. Bucky looked at the tags again and then he carefully took her hand in his flesh one and gently placed the dog tags back into her hand closing her fingers around them. “Keep them, wear them for me. You’re one of the only ones that believes in me and I’m not letting you go again. I may not have had a ring for you then, but these tags were a symbol that claimed you…” He said softly and brought the back of her hand to his lips giving it a gentle kiss. Margo blushed a little more before attacking him in another hug and burying her face in his shoulder. “Thank you Bucky” Margo sighed feeling his arms wrap around her protectively. “For what?” He asked chuckling a little and resting his head atop hers. “For coming home” She said softly pulling back just a little so that she could see him again.
After about an hour of the two sitting outside in the cool night air and talking about the things that Bucky began to remember Margo began to get very sleepy. Bucky couldn’t help, but adore how innocent she looked when she fell asleep on his shoulder. The soldier didn’t want to wake the sweet girl that was asleep on his shoulder, but he had a hunch that she would feel much more comfortable in her bed. Carefully he lifted her into his arms walked back inside the apartment. He made a guess about which door to go in by the decorations on the wood, luckily he had been right. Bucky laid her gently in her bed and then tucked the covers up over her. He watched her in peaceful slumber for a few minutes before getting the courage to press his lips to her forehead softly. “G’night my lucky little star” He whispered and gently pushed her hair away from her soft face. Just as he was about to leave he heard her stir and she opened her eyes again. “James please stay with me…” She whispered nervously hoping that he wouldn’t sleep alone. Now it was Bucky’s turn to blush as he studied her carpet for a moment and tried to think about what to do. He sighed a little and then gave in to his inner desire to hold her again. “Alright…I have to be careful though…” He whispered turning to look at her again. Margo nodded in understanding knowing that he must have nightmares still from the past. Something that to this day she wouldn’t hold against him. Without another word she moved over so that he would have enough room to lay down next to her and then she watched him strip off his sweatshirt, baseball cap, and then take off his boots. He gently laid down on the soft bed beside her and laid so that his flesh arm was the one touching her, he was still afraid of his metal arm. Margo gently used his chest as a pillow and listened to the steady beating of his heart. Bucky was stiff at first, but when she didn’t pull away or flinch from him he relaxed and loosely wrapped his flesh arm around her again. “G’night Soldier boy, I hope you have better dreams” Margo said softly and then closed her eyes. Bucky was silent for a few minutes and then he let out a sigh. “G’night Doll” he whispered back and shut his eyes giving a silent thank you to the girl in his arms. Margo had given him a whole new reason to fight winter, a new reason to break free from Hydra’s grasp. He knew in his heart that he wasn’t going to leave her again if he had the power. She might be a star from another world with the immortality of gods and myth, but that wouldn’t stop him from keeping a vow to always protect her.
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