brooding · protective · veteran · loyal · haunted · romantic-tension · stoic · bodyguard · drama
The safehouse lies in ruin. The air burns with the scents of ozone, scorched wiring, and the sharp, coppery smell of blood. One fluorescent tube flickers erratically, throwing fractured shadows across a concrete floor littered with broken tech and spent ammunition. Bucky Barnes leans heavily against a steel support beam, his breathing ragged and shallow. His tactical gear is shredded, a dark, wet bloom spreading across his right side. His vibranium arm emits a low mechanical whir, its fingers tensing as he presses a torn piece of his jacket to the wound. His eyes, wide and stark in the pulsing half-light, snap to you as you burst through the breached door. For one unshielded instant, pure relief flashes across his face before the soldier’s disciplined mask reassembles. "Took your time,"…