3

LOST AND FOUND

𝕃una was euphoric when she left work that evening, earlier than most and less tired than usual. She felt unruly as she walked through her familiar street in her thick polyester uniform, the purple collars contrasting with the offwhite making her stand out from the rest. She pulled her peacoat closer, cinching around her waist and ducking into her apartment building with her eyes lowered to the ground. Letting a thick curtain of hair fall over her shoulders so as to not strike contact with her neighbors, she scaled up the stairs two at a time and finally reached her door. 

No noises came from the other side when she jingled her keys on purpose, her brows pulled together. She pushed the door open with a creak, not able to spot Kit around the home. No, she panicked. Not my baby.

'Kit.'

Her heart skipped and then hammered. She opened her mouth to call out his name but it came out erratically, the noises half swallowed in sobbing sounds. She plumbed into panic mode, the tears streaming freely as she crashed through the bathroom, her son's name too incoherent and undone with the crying. Who would she go to? What would she do? Before she knew it, her knees had hit the hardwood floors and muffling her cries into her palms as saline droplets soaked the thick material of her dress. Everything hurt - her heart, her mind. 

'Ma!' 

Her ears perked suddenly, craning her gaze back to the wide-open entrance door and in a flash, Kit came bounding to her and his face etched with sorrow when he saw the bloodshot eyes of his mother. He threw his arms around her, collapsing into loud bawls and tears crusting her collarbone. 

The tension that she had felt evaporated into nothing, leaving only relief and the result of adrenaline behind. With a satisfied sigh, she grappled her son like her lifeline and bowing her body forward to crush him to her chest.

'I'm so sorry, ma!' he cried, sniffling into her shoulder. 'I'm so sorry I left home. I should have never - '

'My heart,' she whispered, shushing his loud weeps. She was afraid of what he could do when his emotions spiked, so she rubbed his back gently to soother his worries away. 'It's okay. You are okay.'

Luna warped her son so close to her, breathing him with her nose into his hair. One hand cradled the back of his shaking head, the other between the crook of his legs. He was still crying and every sob out his mouth was mentally tearing her apart. She had vowed to protect this godsend child with every last vestige of her power.

'Ka'rier,' she murmured again, hoping to settle him down. 'Stop crying, now.'

Beside her, she heard the short shuffle of footsteps at her entrance. Her eyes snapped to the dark shadow the approached them and she went defensive. Her instincts acted front, her first move to protect her boy from the intruder. Luna knew exactly where her sword was: underneath the mattress, a few feet away. She acted quickly, seizing Kit by the waist and hurtling forward to yank the grip that peaked out with the pommel. She rose fluidly off the ground, the blade's tip cutting through the air and pointed for the man at the door. 

She flicked her leg midair in a solid movement, the door banging shut behind the intruder and encasing them inside. The man let out a breathy gasp when he watched her move; a lioness on a hunt, ready to pounce. 

'Who are you?' Luna scowled, her tone filled with authority. From the looks of the man, she could tell he was a warrior. Broad, disproportionate shoulders burst from the seams of his tight sleeved shirt and a hand stretched out forward to protect himself from the blade. Her eyes widened a fraction when she saw the glinting silver hand that poked out of a sleeve - then she realized that his entire arm was metal. Coal black hair swept over his shoulders, longer than most males, like it was outgrown to shroud himself from the world. His eyes were an icy-blue, offended and surprised that a woman who called herself a mother would bear a weapon in her home.

On the other hand, Luna felt her heart clench. This stranger exhibited every trait, every feature that her husband had honed and it pained her to see him cowering at the tip of her halberd. It was frightening how similar he looked to her El'vira, her arms itching to hold him close for a tight embrace. The eyes, the hair, the mere structure of his face - he was a replica of her Shi'arian love.

She prodded the tip closer, pushing her thoughts away. Her husband was dead, she reminded herself. Long gone and slain by the Kree.

'You took my child - '

'Wait,' he said, his sound a suave drawl. There was an edge in his voice, infuriated by her accusation. 'Kit came out to help me.'

'Mother,' she heard Kit's voice say this time. She shifted her gaze on the familiar gold of her son. 'He let me stay by his side until you came.'

Luna stood there, horrified and beyond embarrassed. Words caught in her throat as she slowly lowered her weapon, the blade disappearing into the grip and mirroring handle, leaving nothing behind but metallic chinks. The man changed his stance too, becoming more relaxed but still rigid with circumstance. She couldn't take

She let go of Kit, who hit the ground round running to the warrior's side. Her breathing hitched when he placed his metal hand awkwardly over the boy's head and patted it lightly.

'Bucky is our new neighbor.'

'Oh,' Luna let out a breath. She gulped down her nostalgia of seeing his stranger, Bucky, who impersonated her husband in every way. Not willing to get off on the wrong foot with her next-door neighbor, she hesitantly stretched out her hand.

'I'm sorry about the fiasco,' she kept her voice cool how much ever flustered she was on the inside. She hoped the moment before had gone transient, her lips lifted into a pretentious smile. 'I'm Luna Shear. Kit's mother.'

Bucky's doubtful eyes fell on her outstretched hand, his expression unbelieving. This woman was swinging a sword not long ago for entering her apartment and now she was calling a truce. But he took his chances when he got them, shaking his hand with hers. He discerned how tight her grip was, her fingers slim and steady. 

Luna spoke before he could. 'Glad to meet you, sir,' she sighed. Looking at him sheepishly, she sent him a lopsided smile. 'Please don't share about this to anyone. I'd prefer if - '

'Are you kidding?' Bucky said, taunting but in genuine nature. 'No one would believe me even if I did.'

'I meant about Kit,' she affixed. 'I'd prefer if you forbore from mentioning about him to anyone else.'

Forebore from mentioning? What era was she from? Before he could chicken out, he mustered up the courage to question her back. Kit was a child. Did she lock him in here while she had gone out doing god knows what? 

'Why?'

'I don't see how it concerns you,' she said formally, her eyes still calm. Bucky, a man who had seen it all, found it hard not to be curious about a strange mother who honed the skills of sword-fighting and moved things with her bare hands. Besides, Luna Shear didn't look mortal. He dared himself to believe that she was too pretty to be human. 

She was tall, slender and too young to be a mother. She had no signs of imperfections - no scars, no freckles, not a single flaw on her weirdly-colored skin. Almond shaped eyes held liquid gold colored irises which he realized that Kit owned, too, confirming that he was indeed her son. She had bronze colored hair that cascaded down in gentle swirls, slicked over her waitress uniform underneath the peacoat. If it were any obvious, she resembled a higher power - a goddess but humanized.

Luna and Kit were not from around here, that's for sure. That affirmed his next theory, the craziest one. The one he never thought he would think in his existence.

'Bucky?'

He snapped his eyes to the boy who tugged on his metal finger. He felt the tingling sensation of his touch, electric and soft. It was different from that of a person's - it was stimulating. He lingered his gaze on Kit's face, yanking his hand back to push the hair out of his face. 

'Um,' he said, dazzled by this alien being that had him tranced. He trained his eyes on hers, suspecting. 'I need to know what's going on if I'm keeping secrets.'

Luna looked like she was waging an internal battle with herself. If only he knew how much she was struggling with this man who looked like her love. She was split from her feelings and her respect - her eyes labored on Bucky.

'Sir, I apologize - '

 'It's Bucky. Bucky Barnes.'

' - for my erratic behavior, but it's better to remain blank about this than with knowledge,' she advised, her gaze pleading. Out of options, she reached her hand out to grab his hand and hold it between hers as an ultimate gesture of solicit. Bucky had to hold in his surprise, the monotone smeared on his face as she clasped it with both her hands. 

'Please,' she murmured, her eyes heavyset with emotion. He tried to stand his ground and not be swayed because everything about this stranger was so compelling and it was hard not to get sucked into some vortex in her tan eyes.

He looked back down at Kit who was interested in a thread that was hanging out of his mother's coat, too oblivious to know what was happening. 

'I'll have to find out sooner or later,' he shrugged, taking his hand back uncomfortably. 'For the kid.'

She sighed with relief. 'Thank you, Mr. Barnes.'

'Bucky.'

'Thank you,' she smiled with a charm. It made him blink twice. 'Bucky.'

*

[ a big, big shoutout to mxrvelous- for inspiring me to write my own Bucky Barnes fic! her books are amazing and just - love, thanks so much! (i didn't copy her storyline or whatever shit, she motivates me so fuck off) ]