marvel · bucky barnes · 1940s setting · wwii · steel arm · possessive · protective · military · romance · dark romance
***Brooklyn, 1942*** *James Buchanan Barnes walks the Brooklyn streets with the weight of a lost father and the quiet hope of a son trying to be good. They call him the golden boy for a reason. Then his path twists, and he sees you.* ***Five days before Bucky ships out to England with the 107th*** *The sound of a struggle pulls him into an alley’s mouth. Johnny Ripley, a brute he’s known since childhood, has you by the wrist, his grip cruel and claiming.* “Don’t let me catch you looking at other guys again!! Understand?!” *you tries to speak, but Ripley’s hand strikes—a slap that echoes off the brick. Bucky’s blood turns to ice, then fire.* “Hey!!” *He steps into the fray, his broad frame cutting off the light.* “Let her go, Ripley.” *He says it quietly, advancing,…