Red, White & Blue | Bucky x Reader

Chapter Twenty-One

When we arrive, its dark outside, and Stark uses the advantage to land the plane in a field. We ready ours weapons and gather around Steve for him to explain his plan.

"Falsworth, Dugan, Dernier, and Morita, you'll take the left side," he says. "Jones, Barnes, Y/l/n, and I will take the right. Once inside, set the charges. We'll meet in the treeline before we detonate the bombs."

Nodding in agreement, we exit the plane and make our way through the nearby forest. Nearing the base, half of the team goes left as our half stays to the right, spreading out and using the trees as cover for our approach.

Rounding a tree, a soldier suddenly appears in front of me. Startled by my presence, it takes him a second to raise his gun, but I'm faster. I raise my gun and shoot him three times in the chest, he collapses to the ground.

"Y/n," Bucky whispers urgently as he rushes to my side. "Y/n, what happened?"

I don't move, still staring at the fallen soldier as blood pools from his chest. The gun drops from my hand.

"Y/n?" Bucky prompts again, softly this time.

"I... I killed him," I say, barely a whisper.

"She's in shock," Bucky says to the other two. "I don't think she should keep going."

"I'll take her back to the plane," Jones offers. "You two stick to the plan."

Steve nods in agreement and Bucky gently brushes my arm with his hand before following Steve through the trees. I can't tear my eyes away from the man I shot, wondering if he had a family. Slowly, Jones places his hand on my shoulder and my body tenses, but I let him guide me back to the plane, my feet moving on their own.

It takes a few hours before the others return, and when they do, Bucky comes to sit next to me on the bench, putting an arm around my waist.

"Hey," he murmurs," are you okay?"

I keep my eyes on the floor, still processing the event. "I killed someone."

"I know..." he replies. "But if you didn't, he would've killed you."

"And that makes it okay?" I ask, finally turning to him as tears begin to fall from my eyes.

Bucky thinks for a moment before responding. "No. It's never okay, taking a life. It's a burden we'll have to carry with us. But sometimes, there just isn't another option."

I lean into him and rest my head on his shoulder, considering his words as I grieve for the man I killed.

A few weeks after our first HYDRA mission, the Commandos are beginning to get a bit antsy, eager to get back into the fight. I, on the other hand, have used the time to consider my reservations about shooting people. While I still strongly believe in my oath to do no harm, Bucky's right, sometimes there just isn't another option. I decide that if I must shoot someone, I'll shoot to wound, unless my life, or the life of someone I care about, is at risk.

After a couple more days, we finally get our next mission, and the team gears up.

I lay on my stomach up on the hill with Bucky at my side, the foliage hiding us from prying eyes. In our hands, we each hold a sniper rifle, watching through the scopes. Down below, Steve walks along the remains of the HYDRA base we just destroyed.

"Now remember," Bucky whispers to me, "if you need to shoot, breathe out before squeezing the trigger."

I quickly nod in response, and we continue to watch Steve. As we do, a HYDRA soldier appears among the rubble, aiming his gun at Steve, but I fire first, shooting the enemy in the head, and just like that, I took another life to save a life.

Steve looks at the fallen soldier, astonished that he didn't see him first, and turns toward the trees where Bucky and I are hiding, saluting in thanks.

Steve leads us through the snow-covered forest toward the next HYDRA base, the wind whistling in my ears as it passes, and our footfall softly crunches in the fresh snow. Up ahead, Steve motions for the group to stop, and he looks around the forest.

Suddenly, I hear it, the fait sound of leaves rustling above me head. The sound is so quiet that I'm surprised that I heard it at all. I whistle lowly to Steve, getting his attention. When he turns to face me, I flick my eyes upward, into the trees above. Steve throws his shield like a frisbee, knocking the HYDRA soldier from his hiding place. He hits the ground, hard.

"Good eye, Y/l/n," Dugan approves as he walks by, and I smile at the compliment. Bucky catches up with me and I see that he is beaming with pride.

The rest of our mission goes off without a hitch. When we reach the base, we are welcomed with gunfire, as expected. Fighting our way through, we make our way into the main manufacturing room and set the charges for the explosives we carry. After exiting the factory, we meet the others in the treeline before Dernier presses the detonator, blowing up the factory and destroying the HYDRA base.

The HYDRA base explodes from within, and the building comes crumbling down around us as we sprint towards the exit. However, I feel a sharp pain in my side and the next thing I know, I'm on the ground.

I fade in and out of consciousness, barely aware of the two men dragging me out of the rubble and into the back of our jeep.

"What happened?" Bucky demands as he climbs in after me.

"One of the charges went off a little early," Falsworth explains. "Y/l/n got thrown with the debris."

Bucky curses, but Steve takes charge. "Morita make sure she's stable, we need to get back to the Allied camp."

I'm vaguely aware of the hands checking my wounds as the jeep lurches forward.

"How is she?" Bucky asks.

"I've stopped the bleeding," Morita reports, "but she's fading, we need to get her to the hospital."

"Steve, you need to drive faster!" Bucky orders.

"I'm driving as fast as I can!" Steve barks back.

"Come on, Y/n," Bucky begs, "stay with me."