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notfivefives · 2 years

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BTHB: Part 4

The fourth fill for my @badthingshappenbingo card continued from the original request from @ladylienda. Here there be angst!

Title: Have I Done No Hurt

Square Filled: Kind Restraints

Characters: ARC Trooper Fives, Captain Rex, Vokara Che

Word Count: 3,700

Summary: Fives is bound, mentally and physically, and Rex begins to see how high the deck is stacked.

Chapter: 2/4

Warnings: Restrained/Loss of Autonomy, Forced Medical Treatment, Forced Medication

Read below the cut or on AO3.

My BTHB Card

The journey from the Halls of Healing was all quick steps and hushed words between Rex and Skywalker. They went over the same few points over and over, confirming what they knew and realizing how little that meant.

We’re chasing our tails, Rex thought as they came to a halt in front of the council’s chambers. As they awaited the masters’ arrival, any sense of proactivity their brisk pace had afforded them faded. Rex watched Skywalker. Brows furrowed, arms crossed, jaw set. Rex knew all too well the tightly-wound contemplation that inevitably snapped into rash action, and - if they were lucky - ended with an unlikely victory.

But this wasn’t a battlefield.

“Sir?”

“Yeah, Rex?”

“Permission to return to the Halls of Healing, sir?” There was no need for him to stay while the council conferred with one another. Maybe it was selfish, but it was also tactically sound. “We don’t know that this isn’t a Separatist plot. And with what happened with Tup…”

He let his words hang in the air between them. Whatever doubt Skywalker had for Fives’ claims, and whatever enmity Fives had incurred by accusing the Chancellor of something horrible, it had all fallen away when the blaster bolt had struck Fives.

I can’t protect FIves from here, he thought. I don’t think I can protect him at all. Guilt stung him more intensely when the thought that Fives would never in a hundred years blame him for it.

Master Windu, Master Ti, and Master Yoda approached from the opposite end of the hallway. Rex’s eyes flickered over them, then returned to Skywalker, whose deliberation was blessedly brief.

“Granted,” he said.

Rex nodded in gratitude. Skywalker shifted his weight from one foot to the other, then inclined his chin.

“I’ll square this with the council, Rex,” he said. Rex wondered if those words were more for him or for Skywalker himself. There was a flash in his eyes, something Rex tried to put his faith in. “I won’t lose Fives, too.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Skywalker nodded, gave him a little smile. His words were a vow at best, and a promise of belligerence at worst. Skywalker turned to meet the masters; Rex hoped care for Fives would temper his appeal to the council.

As he left, Rex felt it. There was a rift between them. It wasn’t observable, and it was something he scarcely acknowledged; he couldn’t explain it, not even to himself, but Rex felt it growing day after day. Skywalker hadn’t been the same since Commander Tano left. And perhaps something had shifted between him and Senator Amidala as well. After comm sessions with her, Skywalker would be possessed of a desperation that had never been present before. Rex set it aside with all of his other hazy twilight worries that he couldn’t name or define.

He began to retrace his steps to the Halls of Healing and check over the comm messages he’d received. The messages from Kix weren’t a surprise, but the message from Commander Doom was. (Rex had forgotten the depleted 125th had also returned to Coruscant.) There were questions he couldn’t answer, and questions he wouldn’t answer. Not until he was sure he could do so in privacy, not until he knew what to say. And even if he did, if Fives was right, would he be spreading that information like an infection?

This goes the whole way to the top.

The Halls of Healing had become busier since he’d left. Not by any means bustling but certainly more awake. He received polite nods and curious looks. He found his way back to where he’d left Fives. But instead of Fives, he found an unfamiliar healer treating a youngling’s knee. He tried to ignore the wave of heat that swept over him. He knew he was in the right place. There was a reasonable explanation. They probably moved him. But where? What if the guard had taken him? What if Fives had slipped away on the table the youngling was now perched atop? That wasn’t a death befitting a soldier, and...

“Captain?”

Healer Che regarded him, her hands clasped in front of her, her expression even.

“Yes, sir?” Rex said. He straightened, and hoped that would make up for the expectant dread in his eyes.

“We moved him to a more private room,” she said. “Somewhere we can continue to treat him, and he can start to recuperate.”

Rex was thankful she answered his most urgent question, but the word private tugged at something in him. Privacy wasn’t something he or his men were accustomed to. His mind cycled through other words. Confined. Contained. Locked away. He glanced away from Che. Perhaps the thought was unworthy of him. He set aside the mistrustful semantics and met Che’s eyes.

“He’s safe,” she said. Her voice wasn’t soft. Not exactly, but it was concise and quiet, and Rex took heart in that. “I’ll take you to him.”

Rex kept pace with Che’s unhurried steps, but with each footfall, the sense that he was too late grew.

He followed her to a room in a quiet corner of a quiet hallway to a low-lit room where a privacy curtain was drawn. Che sidestepped the curtain and slipped by, barely jostling the fabric. Rex did the same, and on the other side, found Idan fastening a restraint around Fives’ left ankle. Contrition edged into the focus on his face when he glanced up as Rex made his way to the bedside.

“A regrettable necessity, I'm afraid,” Che said as she followed Rex’s eye line. “They’ll come off as soon as he’s lucid.”

Rex felt numb as he nodded and rested his hands on the bed rails. He was nothing if not practical. He knew the restraints were there for a good reason. This wasn’t even the first time in the same ten-day he’d seen a brother in this state, but seeing Fives there, unable to move, much less defend himself, set Rex’s teeth on edge. As Idan pulled a strap over Fives’ chest, he glanced at Rex, then away, his gaze there and gone like a fish disappearing beneath a rock. Rex knew he hadn’t imagined the contrition and unease he saw there. He pulled in a protracted breath, held it in his lungs and his belly, then released it.

Idan checked his handiwork, then stepped back before picking up a datapad and handing it to Che, who accepted it in both hands.

“His blood work,” Idan said as he pointed at the screen, his expression somewhere between concerned and intrigued. Che hummed as she manipulated the display, her features unreadable.

“Did…did you find anything? In his blood?” He feared the answer as much as he needed it. Just the same, he begrudged himself the quaver in his voice. If either of the healers had noticed, they showed no sign of it.

“We did,” she said with a slow, considered nod.

Idan excused himself to other duties and Rex waited for Che to continue. She set the pad on a nearby stand and, from the side of the bed opposite Rex, regarded Fives for a long moment.

“There were traces of a sedative, but there was something else too. I’m not certain how one chemical affected the other, and the other drug we found in his system is unfamiliar to me. But I recognize enough of the components and their effects that I feel confident enough to offer treatment. As close as I can tell, whatever he was given impaired his cognitive function and amplified his fight or flight response. It’s incredibly long-acting, and…” Che trailed off. Her lekku twitched and something, not anger, not quite, shadowed her features. “And it’s cruel.”

Rex’s fingers tightened around the bedrail. Whatever had leached into Fives’ veins had robbed him of his intellect and stoked his instincts into actions he couldn’t control. Che’s findings went a long way toward explaining Fives’ actions, but Rex had another thought.

“What about…” he tapped his index finger on his right temple.

“I can feel an absence there. Scans show that a procedure was done and that he’s healing without difficulty, but I can’t entirely rule out whether or not it’s had an effect on his behavior. At least, not yet, but whatever is in his bloodstream likely accounts for it.”

Rex made a thoughtful sound as he watched the peaceful rise and fall of Fives’ chest.

“I’m going to bring him out of this sleep,” Che said. It sounded like an apology. “I’d keep him under if I could, but it wouldn’t be the most effective way of monitoring improvements. Or any declines. The best we can do for him is to keep him as calm and as comfortable as we can.”

Che rested her fingertips on either side of Fives’ head, not quite touching his temples. Her eyes slid most of the way closed and her lips moved.

—

Something was calling him away from the mercy of nothingness.

“Fives?”

There was a disconnect between the sound and its relevance; the impulse to respond was fleeting. Fives’ mouth was hideously dry; he tried to swallow - there was no saliva in his mouth to truly accomplish this - and felt the pressure beneath his nose, something in his nose.

He tried to raise a hand to his face, but something around his wrist stopped him well short An unlovely sound came out of his throat as his eyes struggled open and he tried to lift himself, but met with the same result at his chest and feet. He felt the pinch of an IV catheter in the crook of his arm and the adhesive tug of the tape that was keeping it there. Beeping sounded to his left in time with his escalating heartbeat.

There was a person on each side of him, and the realization he was outnumbered as well as restrained scratched like static over his senses.

“You’re in the Halls of Healing in the Jedi Temple.”

Fives’ gaze found its way to the speaker as he continued to struggle. He blinked heavily as he looked at his captor and things became a little more focused. Blue Twi’lek woman. Stern voice, kind eyes. The healer.

“Try to be calm.” Her voice, or something that went deeper, made him want to do just that. To be calm. He wanted to be calm. So calm. But his world was unfocused and his head was spinning and he was tied down and he had to move, he had to…

“Can you tell me how you’re feeling?”

Something glib but incoherent flared and extinguished in his mind.

“Lemme go.”

To his disgust, the words came out plaintive and edgeless.

“Hey, Fives.”

That was Rex! Fives’ attention listed to the other side of the bed where his captain stood.

“Rex,” he said. He panted and blinked, trying to clear his mind. Focus, you asshole! “You need to listen. I need to-”

“No, Fives, you don’t.” Rex’s voice was grave, but there was so much worry in his eyes that Fives felt deeply and utterly sorry he was the cause. “You need to trust me. Can you do that?”

Of course he could trust Rex, couldn’t he? He’d come to him because he trusted him. Fives lifted his head off the pillow and his head spun as he looked down at himself, seeing the points at which he was bound to the bed he was propped up on. Someone had changed him into a medical gown; the burgeoning ache in his side told him he’d find dressings and bandages if he was able to see beneath. His head fell back once more, then rolled in Rex’s direction to look beyond him at the privacy curtain obscuring his view of everything beyond.

“Let me go,” Flives pleaded. He focused on each word and punctuated the phrase with a frustrated tug of his restraints. “I need to tell the Jedi!”

Rex shook his head sadly.

“I can’t do that, Fives.”

Rex sounded like he wished for all the world he could. He moved a hand toward Fives’ shoulder, but Fives shied away from the comfort he was being offered. He didn’t think he meant to. It could have been his frayed nerves. It could have been the fact that little of the contact he’d felt in the last few days had been understanding or kind. But beneath that, sour as bile, was a feeling of betrayal.

"'m not crazy."

Fives squirmed, and the heart monitor trilled faster. He was too hurt, too tired, too hot. As though the truth he was carrying was going to burn him alive from the inside out.

“I know that, Fives. I know. Once you’re well-”

“Doesn’t matter,” Fives groaned as he shook his head. It didn’t. He knew his life was over, but if he could tell someone what he knew, to get them to really hear him, at least it wouldn’t have been for nothing. “The Chancellor, the chips. We’ve gotta stop him!”

“Calm, Captain,” the admonition came from his left where the healer - he couldn’t remember her name - was looking at monitors and tapping at a datapad.

“Fives…” Rex trailed off, his brow furrowed as he frowned with all too familiar sadness and uncertainty. “Whatever’s happened, we’ll figure it out.”

“You don’t ha- have to believe me. Just listen. Please, please, just listen.”

He knew how he must look, tied down and doped out of his mind. Just like Tup.

Oh, Tup.

He felt less like the madman he’d been branded, and more like a grieving brother. And there was something else he needed someone, anyone, to know.

“The chips,” he said. He shook his head and tried to swallow away the new tightness in his throat. “It wasn’t Tup’s fault, Rex. It wasn't.”

Rex’s features grew gentler, but he remained quiet as Fives tugged pitifully at the straps and closed his eyes against the horrible, jumbled mess of his thoughts, against the memory of the Chancellor’s voice slithering rancidly in his skull.

A few words, clone. A few words and all of your brothers will do what they were designed to do at the outset. The day so much patience and planning will pay off. The day the Jedi will…

Fives’ mouth formed a silent no as he closed his eyes and choked back a sob.

“Fives,” Che said as she rematerialized to his left; he barely heard her over the rush of blood in his ears. “I want you to take a breath for me, okay? In and out.”

Haltingly, and with the aid of the oxygen, he managed it.

“That’s right,” Che soothed. “That’s good, keep that up.”

What else could he do? He couldn’t get free, could even curl in on himself. So he breathed. There was nothing and no one to bargain with, but he would have given anything for one more chance to level a blaster at Palpatine.

He wouldn’t waste it.

“We found the drug in your system. And I know it’s making things difficult for you. I'm going to give you something that should counteract it.”

He peeled his eyes open at that, and his heart stuttered when he saw the syringe in her hand.

“No,” he said. He shook his head and tried to inch backwards. “No more.”

He failed to suppress the sharp, pained sound that escaped him when he wrenched himself to the right. His body itched as sweat prickled up over his skin. Nothing budged, nothing would give way. Nothing but his limbs and his limited reserve of energy.

”Rex? Please?!”

Guilt played over Rex’s face as he looked down and away from him, but neither he nor Che were moved. Fives could only watch when Che depressed the plunger and pushed the syringe’s contents into his IV line.

That’s not fair, he thought. That’s not fucking fair! None of it was, but that was the first time those words had clawed their way so pervasively to the surface, right along all the other thoughts, feelings, and truths that had nowhere else to go. The memory of something dark and inquisitive pressing against his mind made his breath catch.

You’re clever, aren’t you? Your resourcefulness and determination are laudable, but ultimately, it is for nothing. Even if the GAR and the Jedi were to tolerate this apostasy… the Chancellor had trailed off then tutted in a mockery of sympathy before continuing. I will not let a slave with an overdeveloped sense of self destroy what is to come. You cannot stop it. You will not stop it.

A cold burn crawled into his veins. Fives cried out and gave one last hard tug at his bindings. It was useless and it hurt.

—

Rex watched as FIves faded from himself. The tempo of the heart monitor decreased, and after a few minutes, his body began to relax. His eyes were half-lidded and unseeing, and his disjointed raving faded into flinches and whimpers.

“He is going to be out of it for a while,’ Che told Rex as she checked Fives over. She didn’t seem alarmed by his state. Rex knew he shouldn’t be either, but this felt worse. “If you are staying, I can arrange to have a cot brought in for you. If you would like.”

It was not the dismissal Rex was expecting, and as he considered his response, Che disposed of her gloves and washed her hands before turning back to him.

“No, sir, a cot won’t be necessary, but I’ll trouble you for a datapad if I may.”

A smile lighted on her lips and she gave him an amenable nod.

“I don’t know what trouble Fives has found himself in, but I will help him in any way I can.”

“Thank you, sir.” That’s all Rex said, no more, no less. He stood straighter, lest he sag with relief at her words. He hoped she could feel the enormity of his gratitude that she could be - at least for now - impartial, that her duty was solely to her patient.

“Of course, Captain.”

She outfitted him with a datapad and reviewed Fives’ vitals once more. Satisfied with what she saw, she told Rex to inform her of any changes, and that she would return at regular intervals. Then she left them.

As Fives drifted, Rex skimmed the holonet, trying to glean what he could from whatever news sources had reported on Fives. Rex expected anti-clone rhetoric and irresponsible, self-serving speculation, but he found suspiciously little of anything. His finger was hovering over a link to a maybe-relavant article when his commlink chimed.

He hurriedly discarded the ‘pad and answered the call. Skywalker’s small, blue facsimile leapt into view.

“General?”

“Hey, Rex.”

Skywalker’s tone was casual, but his eyes were sharp, vexed. Rex held his breath.

“The council will speak to Fives once he’s making sense. He’s to stay in the Halls of Healing.”

“That’s great, sir,” Rex said. It truly was, but there was something in Skywalker’s demeanor that forced him to phrase it as a question.

He crossed his arms and continued.

“There’s some truth to what he was saying about biochips. Master Ti confirmed it.”

Rex’s world grinded to a halt, but he sat, and he listened as Skywalker told him what he’d learned. Biochips, viruses, behavior modification, Fives’ self-elected surgery.

“It just doesn’t make any sense, Rex. None of it.”

Rex silently agreed.

“Master Windu has ordered me to return to Kamino with Master Ti so that we can be fully briefed about the chips. Quietly.”

No doubt it was Windu’s order that rankled Skywalker. No matter how much respect Skywalker held for the man, contention had grown between them. Rex knew it was not his to regret, but he did all the same.

Skywalker nodded and his expression softened.

“How’s Fives?”

“Recovering.”

“Good, that’s good,” Skywalker said as though he were expecting no other outcome. He crossed his arms more tightly around himself and looked off to his left; his image flickered as though the machine was projecting the essence of his hesitation. Rex shifted in his seat and spared a glance at Fives. If Rex was to be ordered to Skywalker’s side, or given another duty, he’d rather get it over with.

“Sir?”

“Fives tried to save Tup, but he didn’t make it. I’m sorry, Rex.”

Rex had assumed as much, but to hear it spoken and drawn down into reality still hurt. Good-hearted, capable Tup. Brothers’ deaths were never easier despite the constancy of their nature, but Rex knew that even when this wound was no longer fresh, Tup’s absence would be felt over and over again, and not just by him. The balance the younger trooper managed to foster among the men would be gone forever.

“Thank you for telling me, sir,” Rex said with a curt, professional nod.

Skywalker looked like he wanted to say more on the subject, but Rex was thankful when he didn’t. Rex didn’t know what he would have wanted to hear, and so silence was, as it always was in those moments, preferable.

“We’re leaving right away. You’ll be under Master Windu’s command until I return.”

“Good luck, sir.”

Skywalker’s image flashed from view. Where Rex felt he was chasing his tail before, he felt like he was drowning now. What had been in Fives’ and Tup’s heads was in his and all of his men’s. The entire GAR. What else were they unaware of?

Ticking time bombs.

Fives was insensible and the outside hall was empty. Alone with his thoughts, Rex touched his head, knowing there would be nothing different there and finding no comfort in that fact. He despised himself for thinking so, but the ugly realization crept in that all of this would be easier if Fives was truly mad.

A message on his commlink announced its arrival.

“Damnit.”

Rex jerked his hand away from himself and looked at what he was being sent. The channel it originated from was encrypted. Rex’s flash of annoyance congealed into something that was mostly suspicion and bordered on alarm.

He opened it and the device displayed a still image of a stranger accompanied by the words, “Watch Out.”

#bad things happen bingo #star wars: the clone wars #kind restraints #arc trooper fives #captain rex #vokara che #lots o angst #fives is straight up not having a good time #hippa shmippa #i wonder sometimes if palpatine messed with fives’ head on top of everything else #story and angst-convenient neurology and pharmacology #Mace Windu takes thee earliest opportunity to get Skywalker off of coruscant #came to the realization that this is the first multi-chapter fic i’ve attempted in well over a decade #kind of fucking me up a bit actually #someday I’ll write one where Tup lives too

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lostgirlmuseum · 7 months

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Who the Hell is Daryl?

Summary: Bucky is in love with you, and finally finds the courage to tell you. But what happens when it sounds like someone else is already in the picture? (Miscommunication!)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x f!Avenger!Reader

Words: 2k

Warnings: Miscommunication trope! Only one small mention of “Y/N”, teensy bit of yelling, let me know if I missed anything.

A/N: Wrote this a couple days ago and put it in drafts, spontaneously posted bc I'm procrastinating on an essay. Okay I'll get back to hw now :(

Dividers: @firefly-graphics

He was going to do it. He was really going to do it.

He was finally going to ask you out.

-----

To the surprise of everyone on the team, you and Bucky had become fast pals after you joined six months ago. Something about the two of you clicked. ‘Opposites attract’ and all that, but Bucky always felt it went deeper than that.

The two of you had never argued, something he felt very proud of, considering he argued with most people. But not you. Never you.

The moment he decided that he needed to man up and ask you out wasn’t anything fancy. You were sparring with Wanda across the gym, and he was simply watching you work in tandem. He watched the entire 15 minute session, and didn’t take his eyes off you, even as you approached him.

“Buck, I’m out of water, can I take a sip of yours?”

He nodded, “Sure, Doll,” and tossed you his bottle.

You shot him a charming smile and opened the cap, and not-so-gracefully chugged half the bottle. You wiped your upper lip and handed it back to him.

“Thanks, Jamie,” you breathily said, and jogged back to the arena.

His head was completely empty except for a single thought, tumbling through his desert mind like a tumbleweed.

I’m going to marry her someday.

He shocked himself with the thought, he wasn’t sure where it had come from. But he couldn’t help the grin that snuck its way onto his lips as he realized he didn’t disagree with the thought.

Of course before marriage is dating. One step at a time Buck.

After his realization, he had spent the next three days planning the perfect way to ask you out. He went through an entire list of ideas, but none of them seemed good enough for you. He wanted it to be perfect. But as the clock ticked on and he started running out of paper, he realized it was best to just be honest about his feelings.

You had just gotten back from a solo mission, and Bucky was hanging out in your room as you showered.

He was blushing like an idiot and fidgeting like crazy on your bed as he waited for you to hurry up. It was surprising he had so much self control as to not blurt it out while you were showering.

“Oh, Bucky,” you called from the bathroom, the sound of the water pausing.

“What’s up?”

“Could you set an alarm on my phone for 7:30 A.M. tomorrow before I forget? I think I left it on the side table.”

“You got it, Doll.”

“You’re the best! I’m almost done, I’ll be out in like two minutes,” you called, and soon after the sound of rushing water resumed.

Bucky grabbed your phone and typed in the passcode, his heart fluttering a little as he thought about how you trusted him enough to know it.

But the flutter stopped almost as quickly as it started, the moment your phone turned on and resumed on your text string with someone. He would’ve ignored it, but a red heart at the top of the screen caught his eye.

Who the hell is “Daryl,” and why does he have a heart emoji next to his name?

Bucky couldn’t help himself as his eyes flitted over your last texts.

Daryl ❤️ I’m back in town, lemme know when you’re around

You About to leave for a quick mission, but I’ll be back tmw evening. I miss you sm :( how about we meet up Monday morning at 8 at Bernie’s cafe?

Daryl ❤️ Lets do it. And I miss you too, can’t wait to see your beautiful face!! I love you, be careful

You Love you too, and Im always careful 😘

Bucky felt sick to his stomach. You had never mentioned a brother named Daryl, or any other kind of family member. And you’d told him about all your closest friends, and none of them were named Daryl. How did Bucky not know you had a boyfriend?

Bucky fought the urge to scroll up, and quickly tapped out of the app, and set the alarm you asked him to set.

So you were meeting this “Daryl” tomorrow morning?

Bucky heard the water stop, and the sound of the shower curtain shuffling.

Shit. You were getting out. Fuck, he wasn’t ready to face you.

You’d never mentioned you were in a relationship before. He would remember. How long have you been dating? And more importantly, why did you keep this from him? Did you feel like you couldn’t trust him? Maybe you weren’t as close friends as he’d thought.

“Which movie did you want to watch tonight?” You asked, peeking out of the door with a turquoise towel wrapped around you.

“Um, I’m actually really tired, suddenly. I think I’m going to go to bed.” Bucky stuttered, avoiding your gaze as he quickly stood up.

“Oh, okay,” you responded, disappointment and concern lacing your voice. “Everything okay?”

“Everything is fine. Glad you got back safe. Good night.”

With that, Bucky ducked out of your room and practically ran back to his.

Bucky tossed and turned, and once he got over his embarrassment, he settled into a familiar depressive feeling. Of course you didn’t like him back. What the fuck was he thinking? He’s—well, he’s Bucky. Broken, only destined to ever be your friend. How could he be foolish enough to think you would love him like he loves you. At about hour 4, the heartbreak started turning into betrayal. Betrayal that you kept this from him. And soon enough, that betrayal festered into a kind of resentment, something he’d never felt for you before.

He didn’t get much sleep that night.

Bucky checked the clock for the 20th time in the past 5 minutes. 7:45 A.M. You were probably about to leave. Bucky felt his heart clench. He was usually up by 7, and eating breakfast in the common area by 7:30. He sat at the barstool, dragging his spoon around his now soggy Coco Puffs, waiting for you to appear. Why he felt the need to torture himself, he didn’t know.

Finally, he heard your steps coming down the hall.

And there you appeared, wearing the most beautiful sundress he had ever seen. It was lavender, and had small white flowers adorning the skirt, and it fell just above your knees.

Bucky took you in, and his momentary adoration turned back to his heartbreak. You were dressed up as if you were going on a date. There was no chance this wasn’t your boyfriend.

“Good morning Bucky, did you sleep okay last night?”

“Yes.” He lied. Maybe you would tell him the truth if he asked. Yes it would hurt hearing the truth from your mouth, but he wanted to give you a chance to tell him your secret. “Where are you headed?”

“To meet a friend,” you nodded smoothly.

Maybe Bucky was crazy. Maybe he was overthinking all of this. Maybe Daryl really was just a friend.

“Which friend?”

“Penny.”

So you were just flat out lying to him now. Bucky nodded and waited for you to leave before moping back to his room. He wanted to cry. And he did for a minute, or two, but his tears turned from sad to angry when he remembered you were now lying. You never lied to Bucky, and Bucky never lied to you. At least, he thought that was how it was. He clenched his fists, mad at you for betraying him, but more mad at himself for believing he could ever have you.

He didn’t move from his bed.

“Bucky?” Your voice emerged after three knocks to his door.

He couldn’t get himself to respond.

The door slowly creaked open, a stream of light flooding his dark room.

“Hey Buck. You okay? You seemed a little off this morning.”

“Fine.” He mumbled, not turning over in bed to face you.

A pause.

“Jamie, what’s wrong?” You asked, closing the door behind you and flicking on the light.

“Don’t call me that.”

“What?” You asked, slightly taken aback. You thought he loved your affectionate nickname for him.

“I don’t want you to call me ‘Jamie’ anymore.”

“Okay…”

He felt the bed dip as you sat next to him.

“Bucky,” you whispered, “please talk to me.”

He sat up and gave you a pointed look. Was he being immature? Yes. But what could he do, he just discovered that his best friend has been lying to him, and doesn’t love him.

“Where were you?” He asked.

You furrowed your brows a moment, trying to piece together where he was going with this.

“I was at Bernie’s with Penny.”

“Don’t lie to me.” He sneered.

Your eyes widened at his bite.

“I’m not lying? Bucky, what is going on?”

“What’s going on is that you’ve been keeping the fact that you have a boyfriend from me. Why don’t you want to tell me?”

“A boyfriend?” You blinked. “I don’t have a boyfriend,”

“Why won’t you be honest with me?” He yelled, and you scooted back.

“I am!”

“Then who is Daryl?”

“What?”

“I saw your texts last night, when you asked me to set your alarm.” Bucky looked down at his lap, ashamed.

“Bucky,” you sighed, and a look of understanding crossed your face. A moment later you held out your phone to him.

“What?” He asked, dumbly looking at your outstretched hand. The screen was on your text string with Daryl.

“Call the number.” You simply said.

“What?” He repeated.

“Take my phone, and call the number.”

Confused and suspicious, Bucky grabbed your phone and hesitated over the call icon.

“Go ahead,” you urged.

He pressed the button.

Ring.

Ri—

“Hey!” A familiar feminine voice rang through the speaker. “What’s up hon?”

“Hello?” Bucky said, looking from the phone to you to the phone.

“Uh, hi? Is that Bucky?”

“P—Penny?” He sputtered.

“Hey Bucky! What’s up, is everything okay? I thought Y/N was calling.”

“Hey Pen,” you interjected, “Everything’s fine, I’ll call you back in a bit, kay’?”

“Sure thing, bye, love ya,” Penny added, and hung up.

Bucky stared at the now blank phone, baffled.

“I don’t understand.”

“Bucky,” you sighed, and tilted his chin to look at you. “I don’t have a boyfriend. Penny is in my contacts as “Daryl” because it’s my funny little nickname for her. My Dad has had a best friend since grade school named Daryl, and they don’t see each other often, but when they do it’s like nothing has changed. They get along like no time has passed. I call Penny “my Daryl” because I know that even if we don’t talk for years, we are so close that I know we would be the exact same.”

Bucky sat quietly for a moment, simply taking in your story. He felt really stupid.

“I’m sorry,” he started, “I shouldn’t have yelled at you. I’m sorry I called you a liar.” He struggled to meet your gaze, ashamed of what he did.

“Jamie—can I call you Jamie now?”

He nodded sheepishly.

“Jamie, I forgive you. But I wish you had just talked to me about it, and asked me. We are usually so good about being open with each other. What happened?” You asked, wide eyes looking into his.

“I know, I’m sorry. I flipped out, I guess I was just shocked, because I was going to—” he licked his lips, “well, I was…”

“You can tell me, Bucky. Honesty, remember?” You soothed, placing your hand on his leg.

He gulped.

“I was going to ask you to be with me.”

You tilted your head, not quite understanding.

“Like, I was gonna ask if you’d let me be your boyfriend.” He mumbled. “So when I saw that you were texting and saying ‘I love you’ to some guy, I guess I was just blindsided.”

“James,” you smiled, moving yourself to sit on his lap. You brought your forehead against his. “You silly, jealous man.” You gently stroked his cheek with your right hand. “You want to be my boyfriend?"

"It sounds so juvenile, I don't know, I just want you to be mine, and for you to call me 'yours,'" he mumbled.

"I accept," you giggled, and watched his glittering eyes shoot to yours.

He had started to say something, but he stopped when you brought your soft lips to his.

“I'm so happy,” he whispered between kisses.

Suffice it to say, Bucky completed step one of the path to marrying you.

A/N: Tysm for reading! If you liked it, please feel free to let me know!

Also I'm sorry if the ending sucks, I wrote this in a couple hours and Idk why I'm so bad at endings gahh

Here's my Masterlist if you'd like to read more!

#bucky x reader #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky fic #bucky barnes x reader #bucky x y/n #bucky angst #bucky fanfic #bucky fluff #bucky x you #bucky barnes x you #bucky fanfiction #bucky barnes fluff #bucky x female reader #Bucky miscommunication #Bucky barnes miscommunication #jealous!Bucky #avenger!reader #bucky x avenger!reader

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