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Bingo Square Fill: Robot AU - cold heart, warmer kiss
Sam was always a fighter, but maybe he’s worn out from fighting too much. Sam was a little sick of seeing dead bodies and firing bullets and hiding behind barriers. He stumbled into the safehouse, with his head pounding and leg throbbing with a nasty bruise.
He puts the canned food on the table and groans. Ever since the damn robots invaded, life has been different.
“Sarah, I’m home!” he called out and stumbled his way into the living room. The safehouse was far away from the main city. It was by the ocean. He crashed on the couch and drained out all his water from his flask and started wiping off the ash and mud on his legs and arms with an old rag.
The windows were boarded up with wood, sunlight barely peeking through. Sam would love a warm shower but they had to preserve the water.
“I’m here,” she said hurriedly. He heard something fall - and another voice coming from the bathroom. “Stay here, okay? I’ll fix up your wounds later…” he heard her say. Sarah stepped out of the bathroom, slightly distressed.
“You okay?” he asked her, sticking his head out to see what was happening in the hallway “something wrong?”
“Nothing,” she replied - she stopped “what happened to your leg?”
“Ah,” he looked down, “do we have ice? It’s just a bruise, I’ll be fine.”
Sam had lost so much. The children were escorted – forced – to get into one of the robot bases to be raised and educated. Sarah hasn’t seen her children for three months. Sam watched Riley fall from the sky in a brutal explosion. There was no body to bury but his own.
Sam sunk into himself, Sam bottled up his feelings until he couldn’t feel anymore. He needed to keep him and his sister alive. That’s all that mattered now. His friend Steve was shot by a nasty droid a few weeks back, but he’s in hiding. Somewhere.
Sarah tossed him an icepack and he put it on his leg. He noticed something move in the bathroom. “Sarah, is there someone here?”
“No,” she lied.
Sam always knew when someone was lying. He sighed and turned to face her. “Sarah.” he said sternly “is there someone here?”
“Yes,” she blurted frantically “but I had no choice – he was bleeding and wounded, I - I saw his ID. I think he was one of the victims that Ultron and Hydra wanted–”
“Let me see him...” Sam sighed and got up, slightly limping to the bathroom. He would have protested to Sarah that the person she let in could have been a spy but the Wilsons never back down from helping anybody. A blessing and a curse.
There was a man, curled up and bleeding. Not severely but bleeding through his bandages that Sarah most likely put on him. He had brown long hair with striking blue eyes. His face was sullen, bitter and immeasurably sad.
Sam’s presence startled him. “You okay?” he asked.
“I’m sorry,” was the first words to come out of his mouth.
“Don’t be,” he sighed “what’s your name?”
“Bucky,” the man croaked out, “my name is Bucky.” his eyes were glued to the floor. Sam approached him and stuck out his hand.
“Well, Bucky, welcome to our home...I’m Sam.”
Bucky’s face curled up into a smile “well aren’t you the most beautiful thing I’ve seen?” He takes his hand gently.
Sam scoffed lightly and helped him up “I think you might have a concussion,” he smiled and helped him to the lounge. They helped each other with their wounds. Sam gives him a granola bar and he chews it with a blank face.
“So, what brought you down here to Delacroix?” Sam asked.
“I had to run,” Bucky replied, swallowing heavily “I had to run for my life. I - I had to watch people die...I was getting paid. At first. Hydra decided they could use my services as a soldier – so, here I am.”
“I get that,” Sam said sympathetically. “I also lost a lot of people and a bit of myself too. So, you’re safe here.”
Bucky looked up at him and smiled lightly. His hoodie was stained with bits of blood, his dog tags hung loosely over his neck and his eyes were looking straight at him.
“Thank you,” he said slowly and his eyes flickered to Sam every now and then “uh, tell me about you…”
“Well, what do you want to know?” Sam leaned back against the lounge.
Bucky chewed on his lips and looked at his eyes “who were you - before the botaclypse?”
“Botaclypse? I haven’t heard that one before,” he scoffed playfully “I just called it the droid invasion…”
Bucky grinned and Sam swore his eyes flickered to his lips. Sam took a deep breath “well - before this whole shitshow, I was in the Air Force…” he swallowed and looked up at him. “I had a partner named Riley. He was - everything, I guess. Him and I stuck together during the Air Force days.”
Bucky saw the hint of sadness in his eyes, yet the fondness on his tongue as he said Riley’s name. Sam zoned out for a while, in silence. He sighed and turned to him “Riley and I were going to get married. Then he died - and I felt like - I felt like I could never find anyone after that, you know?”
“I get that,” Bucky says empathetically. “Hydra just used me for my strength and strategy. I lost a few good friends myself and I felt like I had no purpose working for them, you know?”
“Were you captured?” Sam asked slowly yet carefully.
Bucky shifts himself around the lounge lightly. “Kind of - I, yeah,” he sighed “I got captured. Knocked out cold. Don’t know where my family is…”
“Oh shit,” Sam said “I’m sorry.”
“It's okay,” he sighed and ran a hand over his bandages and looked up to Sam’s warm eyes. “I’m okay now - now that I’m with you.”
Sam couldn’t help but smile at his words.
***
Bucky was getting used to Sam and his sister. He was gathering canned foods from the store, he was on high alert. He was putting it in his bag hurriedly. He eyed Sam from across the broken supermarket. There were knocked over shelves and bits of raided food with rats crawling in the shadows.
Sam was holding a gun close to his chest as he eyed the windows. “Let’s go, Bucky,” he said as he walked over “you good?”
Bucky slung his backpack over his shoulders “yeah...Let’s go, the droids are spread out and searching for prey.” Sam was glad he had a buddy to go along with when looking for food or helping out people in the streets.
There were bits of broken glass they’d had to walk over. They smelled smoke in the distance. Cars with people who try to escape certain borders would be set on fire. He cocked his gun and turned around to see Bucky. It was a comfort to see his face, his smile.
“Have you ever got hit by a car?” Bucky asked as they began walking by the water. He shuffled around his pockets and pulled out a granola bar he stole. Sam blinked at his question.
“What?”
“I mean, the Car Period. You know?”
Sam frowned “oh, when the droids took over the cars? Sarah and I just hid in our house for a few days.”
“I remember watching it on the TV in the base,” he said with a smile “it was kind of - fucked up.”
Sam sighed “so, apart from being captured and shit, what did they make you do?”
Bucky shuffled quietly against the sand. “Well, I trained the droids. I killed a few - er, people.”
“Shit,” Sam mumbled “are you...okay?”
“I guess,” Bucky shrugged, “I’m just waiting for this shitshow to end, you know?”
“Yeah, I understand what you mean. So, what shall we do when this is over?” their footsteps and boots were heavy on the golden sand.
“We?” he asked. He hopes Sam doesn't notice the slight blush on his cheeks.
“Yeah,” Sam smiled as if it was obvious “I wanna spend more time with you. You know? Get out there, have a normal life.”
Bucky’s heart soared at the thought of having a normal life with Sam. It was thrilling, exciting and it made him all giddy on the inside. “We can try find a house,” Bucky suggested slowly “I think that’d be nice–”
Sam pulled him by the arm and closer to the water. The smell of salt, the cool waves brushed against their boots. “Look at the water,” Sam said softly, “it’s the only good thing left in the world.”
“What do you mean?”
“All these trees, buildings and places are almost gone. Some of our most iconic statues and landmarks are destroyed. The ocean is untouched. I think I find that beautiful,”
Bucky turned to look at Sam and smiled “you’re more beautiful.”
“Wow,” Sam chuckled. He patted him on the back. “C’mon, we’re gonna be late for dinner.”
***
It’s no secret that Bucky grew fond of the Wilsons. He was clearing out the mess in his little room. It was basically the closet but it was better than nothing. He could hear Sam sing a tune as he cooked up some eggs on a pan. He smiled to himself. Sam was so cute without even trying.
He cleared out the bits of rubbish in a box as he walked into the kitchen and dumped it in the bin. “Morning, Samuel,” he greeted with a warm smile. He turned to Sarah, who was sitting on the lounge and pinning things on a map “Morning Sarah.”
“You’re in a good mood,” Sam teased with a smile that made Bucky’s heart dance in his chest.
“Well, I’m glad I have you guys,” he smiled. This was the thing about the Wilsons that he was really fond of - it was so domestic and normal. Even with the whole world going down in flames and taken down by droid armies - Sam was the thing that has made him smile. In a very long time.
Sam yawned and stretched with a smile as he served the fried eggs on plates. Bucky had to wear multiple layers of clothing, just in case he was ever on the run. Bucky grew to love Sam’s smile. His little chuckle and beaming grin upon his lips never failed to make him feel whole.
“We should scout out the area,” Bucky suggested as he dug into his plate of food “y’know...look for spare parts, maybe fix that droid of yours.”
“Redwing?” Sam chuckled “nah, man - Redwing’s been out since the droid invasion. It’ll take too long.”
“No it won’t,” Bucky replied and turned to look at him “I know how much Redwing means to you. We can fix it.”
“Well get dressed,” Sam smiled, “I got something to show you.”
The armour was heavy, solid. Sam looked good in his armour though, it was well-fitting and Bucky could see the empty placement where the wings would be. He remembered the conversation he and Sam had a few days ago about his old suit. Bucky’s armour was mostly leather, though, dark and grey tones. They stole it from a nearby shed.
They had to steal a lot of things to be kept alive. Bucky noticed Sam was a stronger fighter, a good person at heart.
The sun was out and shining, but there was still a thick haze of smoke coming from the distance. Their footsteps were heavy against the docks. He could feel that Sam was tense about something.
“Everything okay?” Bucky asked.
“Yeah,” Sam sighed, “just...didn’t sleep well.”
“Nightmares?”
Bucky kept his eyes on the path ahead of them. There was a firm beat of silence before he turned to his companion. “Wanna talk about it?” Bucky suggested. Sam shrugged.
“It’s fine,” he replied finally. Was it really? The whole world has fallen into a void of chaos and flames, and more and more towns are being destroyed. More people are getting hurt, which means Sam and his friends, family and home were one of the next targets. These droids walk around in a heavy hive-mind with brute force and no heart. These droids walk around with a purpose to kill and destroy.
Bucky stopped in his tracks, up ahead there was a small patch of grass with a yellow flower in the centre. It’s been a while since any of them has seen a good amount of greenery in their life. Most of the trees were stumps, most of the forests were burned and raided.
The flower reminded him of Sam; as cheesy as that sounded. It was the only bright thing in Bucky’s shitty world right now. Sam was the only thing worth having and that was enough to get Bucky out of bed, Sam’s devotion and laughter was the thing that helped him ease out throughout the day…
He notices the slight change in tone. “Sam,” Bucky said, “uh - if you ever need to talk. I’m here.”
“I know,” Sam turned and smiled at him. Bucky loved it when Sam smiled at him. “I’m glad I’m not gathering technology and food alone, y’know? I’m glad I met you.”
“I’m glad I met you t–”
Bucky wasn’t able to finish his sentence. There was a loud BANG and an explosion nearby that caused the earth to rumble and shake. There was a nearby building that came crumbling down - so they ran.
They kept on running until their feet were sore, their vision was clouded with dark, thick smoke. They heard a thumping, heavy noise made from metal approaching. The droids have arrived at Delacroix, and they’re just here to make chaos.
The droids were coloured grey and red, a glowing, frightening red as blood emitted from their eyes as their boots emitted fire as they levitated in the air.
Bucky looked back to see how fast they were coming after them.
He frowned and placed a firm hand on Sam’s chest to stop them from running. They weren’t coming after them, specifically.
“What are they going after?” Sam huffed.
Bucky frowned. His heart sank. He watched as the droids tore through daycares, schools and suburban houses as they stood far away, unable to do anything.
“Children.” his voice broke “but there’s none left–”
“Are they bulletproof?” Sam asked, determined to save whoever was left.
Bucky stiffened “we can’t take a dozen of ‘em, Sam.”
You can’t take a dozen of them Sam. I can’t let you be hurt. He tightened his grip on his weapon “we just have to run,” he pleaded with Sam. But he knew he was too late, Sam was a fighter. As sick of fighting he might be - he was still going to fight and never give up.
“Fight with me,” Sam pleaded. His brown eyes were so soft, so warm.
Bucky hesitated for a moment, then turned to the mass of gathering dust clouds in the air. “Okay,” he nodded, “I’ll fight with you.” I’ll fight for you.
They ran in the building and saw the struggling, screaming children. It clicked. This was an orphanage. Why hadn’t they noticed this before? Sam and Bucky were surrounded by a thick amount of smoke, they grabbed a few kids and managed to get a few out of the building as they heard heavy footsteps of droids on the floor above them. The children’s screams were drowning out any other noise.
Bucky’s heart sank. They could be turned into another version of him - or worse. He felt Sam’s arm and pulled him closer to a smaller group of kids. Sam was willing to fight a battle, but Bucky was willing to win a war for him.
The heavy smoke and fire were daunting.
Then, Sam screamed. A droid had broken through the floor and grabbed Sam by the throat. Bucky saw red and ran straight to the droid, kicking it restlessly until it turned its attention to him. It tilted its head.
Oh no, Bucky swallowed and put himself in front of Sam. It recognises me. He balled up his fist and the droid turned to Sam and back to Bucky. The droid was much taller than them. It’s cold, red eyes stared at them down as its hand opened up and hot fire came from it.
The two of them ran. The building was collapsing and the children were running as fast as they could. The droid blasted at them.
Bucky held onto Sam as long as he could - until they fell. They kept on falling for a while. A huge, gaping hole was in the middle of the building. they crashed through rocks and wood until they fell into a big, enormous pit of death.
They landed with a heavy thump that echoed. Everything went dark and cold.
Bucky woke up later than Sam.
Everything was dark, smokey. He could smell the fire in the air.
That was terrifying. He scrambled on his feet to find Sam.
“Sam!” he screamed but the fall was so long, so deep. His voice hurt but it didn’t matter. His voice echoed in this dark, broken pit. The ground he was standing on was made of metal. It was breaking beneath his feet. The rumbling and chaos of the droids has caused an unstable environment.
He heard a cough and he scrambled towards it. “Sam!” he cried out.
“Bucky,” Sam called back. He was stuck under rubble and bits of metal. He had fallen deeper into this pit. Bucky clawed his way over and placed a hand on Sam’s chest. He groaned as he struggled to get him out.
“Sam,” he winced “I’m getting you out of here.”
Sam huffed “it’s no use.”
“Bullshit,” he grunted. They could smell each other’s sweat. Bruises, blood and burns covered their bodies. The armour felt suffocating. “I’m getting you out.”
“You have to leave,” Sam urged him, “you have to leave now.”
Even in the darkness, there was a faint peak of light - shining onto them like a spotlight. He groaned as he got the first bit of debris off Sam’s legs. The metal bars were heavy, and they burned as the fire spread quickly. He can’t let Sam die.
There was blood on the side of Sam’s pretty face and it hurt so bad to see it.
Bucky groaned and he placed a hand on Sam’s forearm and looked him in the eye. “We’re gonna make it,” he smiled softly - his head was dizzy from the fall - “we’re gonna get home to Sarah,” his voice choked up. He swallowed thickly as he felt a warm blood pool on Sam’s side. Glass was cutting into his skin. He took off his first layer of clothing - his jacket which was underneath his armour and tied securely around Sam’s wounded arm.
Sam winced in pain. “We’re gonna get home to Sarah,” he smiled faintly “I’m not leaving. Not without you –” their eyes met and his heart stopped.
“We’re gonna get outta here and watch those weird 80s movies you like so much, we’re gonna get outta here and - and travel the world and escape from this shithole. We’ll see your nephews and we’re–” he swallowed back tears as Sam struggled to breathe. His voice broke as Sam’s firm grip tightened around him.
“Bucky,” Sam sighed. “Just go. Leave me here.” His voice sounded so strained and hurt. He guided his hand to Bucky’s face and cupped it gently. “Just go.”
“I can’t leave you here! Who will protect Sarah?” he urged.
“You will,” Sam said softly “you have to go. The fire is spreading. The children are safe.”
“But you’re not safe,” he spat out, holding Sam’s hand close to his chest “I’m not leaving here until we both make it out alive.”
“You know the thing I was gonna show you?” Sam perked up, shifting so he was slightly more comfortable. The weight of the metal debris was holding him down.
“Yeah?” Bucky’s voice was so soft, so quiet.
“I found a boat,” Sam grinned. “A boat that looked like my ma and pa’s. I was gonna test and see if we could get out on the waters.”
Bucky choked at his words. “We have to go,” he urged as he went to move the pieces of metal. Sam put a firm hand on his arm. His heart was pounding in his chest. He turned to look at Sam’s face. His eyes and smile were still prominent and wonderful as ever.
“We have to go,” he repeated.
Sam laid a soft hand on Bucky’s neck and pulled him closer.
He kissed him. His lips were soft Barnes tasted like salt, cherry wine and he felt the heat of his skin. Sam was smiling and he pulled him closer. He winced and he pulled away.
“If you’re not gonna leave without me - then stay.” Sam mumbled and brought him closer. “Just stay.”
“What about Sarah?”
Sam sighed “she’s smart enough to survive.”
“You’re seriously giving up?” Bucky said and lied down next to him. His eyes were red, but soft.
Sam scoffed “if you haven’t seen my current condition - I can’t move my legs.”
Bucky held Sam close and kissed him again, “God, Sam, you never go down without a fight. Please, hold on.”
His lover had a small smile plastered across his face. “Maybe I’m tired of fighting,” Sam huffed out “maybe I don’t want to fight anymore.”
“Then I’ll fight for you,” he said softly and held his hand tightly.
Sam groaned. The pain was unbearable. Bucky’s touch and voice soothed him. He shuffled closer and stared up into the dark, gloomy sky. Will they die here? Together? In a mess of chaos and bloodshed.
It was worth it, it was worth it if it meant Sam could die in peace. Their hands were linked, it was warm. They gripped on each other’s hands. Bucky could feel Sam’s body shake. He was getting weaker and weaker.
“Sam,” he choked “I - I want to try to get you out. I don’t want to lie here and turn around and see that you’re dead.”
Sam grunted. More blood stained the makeshift bandage. He turned to meet those pretty blue eyes. A light smile appeared on his face. “It was nice meeting you.”
“Don’t say that,” he cried and he got to his feet and started to heave the metal off Sam’s legs. “I can get you out–” he swallowed “I promise, sweetheart. I promise.”
Two Months Later
The droids have left Earth. Bucky poured a hot mug of coffee for him and Sarah as the silence grew. He still remembers the day Sam was injured and broken under all that rubble.
“You alright?” Sam’s voice said as he groggily came out of the bedroom.
Bucky smiled and turned to him “yeah, I’m glad you're here.”
“Still can’t believe you carried me home on your back.”
“Like Sam and Frodo,” Bucky gave him a teasing grin. He brought Sam closer and gave him a soft kiss. He was glad they made it out alive. He was glad they could live in peace.