Dog Tags (3)
Summary: Bucky Barnes x fe!Reader -> When a mission goes wrong, Bucky gets his Dog Tags back.
Disclaimer: This is part three for one and two. Mentions of serious injuries, blood and being hospitalised. Angst, bit of fluff here and there, hurt/comfort, Bucky stays by reader's side. Sam giving Bucky his own reality check, platonic!Wanda, swearing. Left kinda open ended in case I decide to write part four? Not Proof Read.
Bucky stared down at the dog tags in his hands, his thumb rubbing back and forth over the blood stained letters. He had to take a deep breath before the tears started flowing again.
You were meant to be on a simple recon mission. You’d done them a thousand times. Maybe you’d come back with a bruise or two, but you still came back.
This time, his phone had rung throughout his room just as the clock turned 4:00 am. An agent had found the tags on her person. They knew they weren’t hers, but they were definitely someone’s.
Bucky had gotten to the hospital in under an hour. You’d still been in surgery by the time he arrived, but the nurses had brought out your personal belongings in a large plastic bag.
Your clothes; blood stained to hell. Your Shield issued weapons were empty of bullets. Whatever had happened, you’d emptied your clip, plus your three backups. Your knife lay at the bottom of the bag, stained with blood, too.
Bucky couldn’t work out if it was yours or someone else's. But he did know one thing for certain. The blood that lay splattered over his tags, as he pulled the chain from the bag, was yours. You never wore them outside of your uniform. You kept them close to your chest. It couldn’t be anyone else's.
Bucky had left a message at Hill’s desk, as well with Sam explaining what had happened. What he knew, at least. Hill was sending someone to the mission base to find out more.
“Mr Barnes?”
Bucky took in a deep breath as he stood up, clasping the tags in his palm. Maybe if he squeezed tightly enough, he’d be able to feel you.
“Yes.”
“Your wife is now out of surgery. We’ll be keeping her under observation for the foreseeable, but once she’s situated in a room, you’ll be able to sit with her.” The Doctor told him.
Bucky just nodded. “Do you know what happened?”
“I know it’s not common, but I’ll bring you her more detailed medical chart.” They told him. “There was too much extensive damage to talk about off the top of my head.”
Those words hit Bucky in the chest, harder than anything else had ever done.
“But she’ll-” Bucky couldn’t bring himself to talk.
The Doctor just nodded. “She’s going to need a lot of physical therapy. Thankfully nothing broke within her legs, but the damage to her muscles will make her training a lot harder than it should be for a while.”
Bucky nodded.
“But she’ll be okay.”
“Thank you.”
The Doctor nodded. “Thank you for the tags.”
Bucky was a little confused as he followed the doctor’s finger, pointing to his hand. The dog tags? Why was she thanking him for the dog tags?
“If your wife hadn’t been wearing them, we wouldn’t have known who to contact.”
Wife.
Bucky felt himself chuckle inside. If you were awake and could hear the doctor now, you’d have probably made some disgusted eye roll and comment over being even associated with him.
“Oh, yeah.”
The Doctor smiled. “I’ll come and get you when she’s ready.”
“Thank you.”
She just nodded with another soft smile before walking away. Twenty minutes later, he was being walked down the hallway where he stood outside of your room for ten minutes before opening up the door.
You had at least a dozen wires hooked up to you, aside from the standard hospital gear. Bucky just stared at the monitor for a while, watching your heartbeat print onto paper.
Eventually, he sat in the chair beside your bed and looked at you. In that moment, he’d give anything to have you yell at him. Cuss him out, threaten him, roll your eyes…anything.
“They…” Bucky cleared his throat, looking down at the tags in his hand. “They told me you should still be able to hear me…and that talking helps. I know you’re probably mad it’s me who’s here, but you can’t blame me for this one, doll.”
A weak chuckle escaped Bucky’s lips as he looked from his hand and to your sleeping frame. “They think we’re married, by the way. Mostly because of the dog tags they found on you. I’ve…I’ve got em’ right here. They’re safe. You’re safe, doll. Just…just kinda need you to wake up soon. Maybe tell me to piss off. Not that I’d leave you anyway, but that’s kinda our thing, right? Fighting?”
Bucky went silent for a while as he looked at you.
“I need you to fight me, sweetheart.” Bucky told you. “So you’ve gotta mend and pull through all of this. Whatever happened out there in the field…that’s not the end of your story. It can’t be. I won’t let it.”
Bucky could hear your voice in his head. “You’d don’t have a choice in it, Barnes.”.
Bucky told you a few more things, like how he’d called both Hill and Sam. He told you that he’d text Wanda, “She’ll get it once she lands. I’m sure she’ll be flying through that window soon.”
But, eventually, he stopped talking. He just let the sound of your steady heart fill the room. It was proof you were still alive. You were still here.
On the days where Bucky couldn’t sit with you, Wanda took his place. Or Kate. Or Sam. On the odd occasion, Joaquin sat with you. Bucky had walked in on plenty of PowerPoint presentations of how his suit was better than Sam’s old one.
But when he did sit with you, his mind would wander to memories of you and him. Like the training room when he’d told you he knew you had his dog tags, or when he’d helped you when you got hurt a few months back.
But one stuck out to him in particular. Plenty stuck out to him as time ticked by, but he was reminded of this one as he looked at the side table beside your bed. Your knife lay on top, still in its protective covering.
Less than three weeks before you’d landed in hospital, Bucky had been training with you.
The main noises being made were grunts. As you hit his chest, as he knocked your legs down, as you twisted his arm, as he flipped you onto the mat, as you kicked his legs from beneath him, as you both rolled across the mats before you landed on top, trapping him in place.
“Give in yet?”
“Do you?”
You were about to question what he meant, but then you felt it. Cold and sharp; he had your knife, again. But this time, it was pointed against your side.
“What?” You hesitated for a second and looked away. Bucky took his opportunity.
In two simple moves, you were on your back staring up at him with your own knife gently pressed against your skin.
“Give in.”
You groaned and rolled your eyes at his glowing smirk. “Yes. Fine. Now get off me.”
Bucky chuckled and stood up, lowering his hand down to help you up. At first, you swatted it away. But he held it out again, “Come on.”
Reluctantly, you accepted it and he helped you stand. “You’re focusing too much. Too in your head. You need to relax.”
Bucky flipped the knife over in his hand so he was pinching the sharp blade. He handed it over to you and you swiped it up. “Thanks.” Your voice grunted a little before you placed your knife back in its place.
“You know, if you wanted to, you could train with me more often.” Bucky offered as he walked away. “I know you and I are…whatever we are. But I have training that isn’t exactly found in a Shield manual.”
“I’m fine.” You said, avoiding looking at him as he stood with his back to you. You had stared at him in this fashion one too many times. It was only a short time before someone caught you doing so. Even worse if it was Bucky.
“It’s not an issue. Hell, we don’t have to even talk-”
“I said I’m fine.” You didn’t mean to raise your voice when you spoke to him. You regretted it instantly. You sighed. “Look, I know you mean well. And, thank you. But I’m okay.”
Bucky watched you, over his shoulder. You walked away from the mats, grabbed your water bottle and sat down on one of the opposite benches.
“What is it?”
“What?”
“Do you have a problem with me or something?”
You sighed. “Bucky.”
“I get you and I don’t exactly get along-”
“I don’t have a problem with you,” you cut him off. “I just-”
You gave a short sigh. There were so many reasons why it wouldn’t work if he was the one to train you. He wouldn’t know it, but you’d become more distracted by him. And for some reason it was written into the heavens that if you and Bucky spent more than ten minutes alone together, things in the air started to get…close. Too close.
But the main thing was your undisclosed feelings for the super annoying, massive pain in your ass, super soldier. The longer you spent around him, so close to him, the harder they were getting to manage.
It was only a matter of time before he figured out the truth.
“I just don’t think it’s a good idea. Can we just leave it at that? Please?”
Bucky watched you for a moment before nodding. “Okay. Forget I ever mentioned it.”
You just nodded.
Later that evening, Bucky had been with Wanda. And he’d been avoiding the topic of you ever since he walked through the front door.
“Did something happen between you two?” Wanda just flat out asked him.
“No. Nothing happened.”
“You’re sulking, so I know something happened.”
Bucky shrugged. “She just doesn’t want my help. I’ve tried being nice. But she’s just so…her. It’s annoying.”
Wanda nodded. “Yeah, I’m gonna need more information than just…you not handling your school boy crush very well.”
“I don’t-” Bucky shut his mouth as he whipped his head around to look at Wanda. “I don’t like her like that.”
“Doesn’t like who?” Sam asked as he walked through the door.
“Bucky. Not liking Y/n.”
Sam just barked a laugh as he opened up the fridge and put his groceries away. “Ha! That’s a bullshit lie if I’ve ever heard one.”
“What-”
“Bucky,” Sam was practically laughing. “You’ve had a crush on her for god knows how long. I don’t know what twisted bullshit you both have going on that prevents you from talking like normal human beings, but even I know you saying you don’t like Y/n is nothing but a complete and utter bullshit lie.”
Bucky looked at Wanda for backup but she seemed to be on Sam’s side.
“You know, maybe if you…I don’t know…talked to her rather than fight her-”
“She fights me!”
Sam just looked at him. “You fight each other.”
“Maybe you should just try and talk to her,” Wanda told him. “Might just clear a few things up.”
Sam sat down on the arm of the chair. “You’ve had feelings for her for a long time, Buck. Maybe it’s time you did something about it.”
Bucky just sighed.
“How long have you guys been married?”
Bucky hadn’t noticed the nurse walk inside to your hospital room, at first. “Sorry?”
“I’m sorry to ask,” she apologised as she changed out your IV and drew some blood. “It’s just…I’ve seen a lot of couples pass through these doors and I’m yet to see ones with a connection like yours.”
Bucky sat up. The nurse could read the confusion on his face from a mile away.
She just stepped to the side and pointed at the print of the heart rate.
“See these spikes here?”
Bucky nodded.
“These are from when you’ve been with her. It’s good they’re going up. It means she’s recognising her surroundings. At the very least, the people in it. You’re healing for her.”
Bucky just looked at your still sleeping frame. He was helping you heal?
He was helping you heal?
He was helping you heal?
He was helping you heal?
The nurse smiled again. “How long have you two been married?”
“Not long,” Bucky answered. “But we’ve…we’ve known each other for years.”
The nurse smiled. “Who made the first move?”
Bucky thought for a moment. “She did. She saved my life.”
And you had.
You’d been one of the new agents placed with the team. In the middle of a forest, Bucky had noticed every tripwire save for one. As something came flying over head, you’d swiped his legs from underneath him and pinned him down.
“You’re welcome,” you whispered.
That had been the first time Bucky had met you. It had also been the first time he’d looked you in the eyes. He could have happily drowned there and then. Which scared him. More than he knew what to deal with.
“And now you’re here saving hers,” the nurse smiled. “I’ll be back in about an hour. Is there anything I can get you? Blankets, pillows?”
Bucky shook his head. “No, I’m okay. Thank you.”
“She’ll be okay, Mr Barnes.”
Bucky just nodded and watched as the nurse left. As he turned his head, that was when he noticed your chart. They still kept you as Y/n Barnes. Nobody, including Bucky, had bothered to correct them. If anything, it meant Bucky still learnt about your injuries and your healing process.
It also meant he got access to stay with you for as long as he wanted. Which, if he didn’t have to work and if Sam didn’t come and drag him outside every few hours, he’d stay the whole time.
It was a month or so more before you finally woke up.
When Bucky had gotten a text from Joaquin telling him to get to the hospital quickly, he’d dropped what he was doing and came running down the hallway of the hospital ten minutes later.
“What’s happening?”
“I-I don’t know.” Joaquin told him. “I was just holding her hand and she moved. Like, she squeezed my hand.”
“What?” Bucky moved past Joaquin and to your side, leaning his hand on the side headboard.
“Y/n? Hey, doll? Can you hear me?”
Bucky held your hand in his. Nothing happened. “I know you don’t like me all that much, but if you can hear me, can you try and squeeze my hand?”
Again, nothing.
Bucky looked at Joaquin.
“I didn’t dream it.”
Bucky looked back at you. For a split second, he pushed some of your hair from your face. “Doll, if you’re awake, please. I just need you to squeeze my hand.”
Again, nothing.
Until there was something.
“Go and get a nurse.”
“On it!” Joaquin practically flew out of the room.
It all happened in a matter of seconds. Joaquin had been talking to you, telling you that you were gonna be okay. Then you heard Bucky’s voice which was quickly followed by a rough hand gently holding onto yours.
And when you finally opened your eyes, you saw him. Standing beside your bed, holding your hand, looking like the world had finally started moving again.
It was a few hours before you came around properly. And when you did, it felt a lot less hectic. Everything was peaceful and quiet. You had time to look around. There was a steady beeping somewhere.
A heart monitor.
You had different wires and tubes sticking out of you. The lights weren’t as bright as they’d been when you’d first woken up.
But the thing that caught your eye the most was the sleeping frame of Bucky, hunched over your bed. Then you felt it. His hand, still in yours.
You tried to squeeze his hand but eventually it hurt a little less and he stirred awake before shooting up.
“Hey, you’re awake. How are you feeling?”
“How long have I been out?”
Bucky answered you honestly. “Almost two months. The damage was extensive. Can you remember anything?”
You just nodded. “I think I blacked out after the building collapsed because I don’t remember anything after that.”
Bucky stood and pressed a button on the headboard of your bed before sitting beside you, clasping your hand in his. If it had been any other time, you would have taken your hand right back.
But in that moment you needed comfort. You needed to feel safe.
You felt safe with Bucky.
But then you gasped. “Shit.”
“What? Are you hurt? What is it?”
You sat up and touched your chest and neck. “Your- your tags. I-”
Bucky just pulled the chain from his shirt. “There’s right here.”
You visibly relaxed but then you tensed as you watched Bucky remove them. “What are you doing?”
A small chuckle left him, “Just stay still, would you?”
“It’s not like I can exactly run away right now.”
Bucky smiled to himself before lifting the chain up and over your head. “There.”
You looked at him, wondering what he meant by all of it. “They’re your tags, Bucky.”
“Maybe,” he shrugged. “But I know they’re safe with you. They always looked better on you, anyway.”
Once Bucky knew you were okay, he’d wiped the rest of the tags clean. He’d been waiting to lay them back on you. He didn’t want to do it while you were sleeping. He needed you to fight him first.
He needed proof you were alive.
That was when the door opened and a nurse walked inside. “You’re awake! I must say, you nearly gave me and your husband a fright earlier. The doctor hadn’t predicted that you would wake up this early.”
You looked at Bucky and whispered, “Husband?”
“Just go with it,” he whispered back.
It wasn’t until an hour or so, when both the Doctor and nurse had left, that you spoke to Bucky again.
“You wanna tell me why we’re married?”
“They found my tags with you. They called me and…”
“You never corrected them?” You’d asked that question a lot calmer than Bucky had been expecting.
“It meant I got to stay with you longer. And that they’d tell me what was going on.”
“You didn’t need to do that, Bucky.”
Bucky was honest with you. “I’m glad they called me first.”
You hand clutched the tags dangling from your neck. “They really thought you were my husband?”
Bucky chuckled. “If anything, the tags made sure you came home.”
In the silence as you and Bucky looked at each other, you felt the coolness of the metal in your palm. His tags had brought you home. His tags had brought him to you. His dog tags made sure you weren’t alone. And something told you Bucky had the same idea.
Which was only confirmed when he attended almost every physio appointment with you.
“How’s she doing, doc?”
The physio smiled as they held their arms up, in case you fell. “She’s doing great.”
“She’s tired and pissed off.” You answered truthfully.
“If it makes you feel any better, I brought your favourite snacks from that store you and Kate found.”
Your hand gripped the two parallel bars as you slowly walked from one side to the other. “How the hell do you know about that store?”
“I asked Kate. She told me.”
As the phyio’s pager went off, Bucky offered to take over for a few minutes to help you. And, considering the medical staff still believed you and Bucky to be married, you’d both decided to just keep the act up.
So, slowly walking beside you in case you fell, Bucky helped you turn around and walk back down the parallel bars.
“How’ve you been feeling?”
“You mean other than tired and pissed off?”
“Yeah.”
“Sore,” you admitted. “Bored. I can’t wait to get back home.”
If Bucky was being honest, he would say the same thing. Even if you did spend more time fighting each other, he missed it. He missed you.
“Neither can I.” The honesty slipped out from Bucky before he could think about any awkward consequences.
You paused and looked at him. “What?” Your voice was a little softer than usual.
“What?” Bucky shrugged. He’d said it. There was no taking it back. “It’s boring without you. I get we might fight the whole time, but without you I’ve got no one to keep my ego in check.”
Bucky earned a laugh from you as you looked away to keep walking. And he laughed, too.
You had to admit. Laughing with Bucky rather than groaning was a nice change.
And it only got easier from there on out. Your groans had turned to laughter, your scowls had turned to smiles and the roll of your eyes had turned to tears of laughter.
And slowly, the same things happened for Bucky, too.
Eventually, the ten minute window you and Bucky spent together turned into twenty, then forty and before either of you knew it, hours had passed.
You were both together and, surprisingly, still alive.
Part Four