Chapter Text
Bucky wondered at what point he had started to find the heart-pounding excitement and violence of raiding… mundane. It didn’t help that the towns and villages on this section of the coast were, quite frankly, pathetic. Even their alphas were an embarrassment, most of them fleeing with the betas and omegas as soon as they sighted a longship coming into shore. Bucky couldn’t remember the last time any of them had put up any real fight, which just showed how little they really must have cared for the things they supposedly held dear.
Most of the rest of the rest of the raiding party had headed straight for the centre of the town, towards that big building most of these foreign places seemed to be built around – the one they called a ‘church’ – which to be fair was where the better quality of gold and silver- forged items tended to be found. There and in the houses and buildings immediately surrounding the church; the wealthy and powerful clustering around the nearest centre of power.
But Bucky had been on enough of these raids to learn that there was more than one centre of power in a town this size. If there was a lord, or a mayor, or whatever they called themselves, then more often than that they would hold themselves apart. A way to show off their own independence and wealth.
Which meant that while the rest of them charged off to the big obvious target and then wasted time arguing amongst themselves about who got first claim on what, Bucky slipped off to get first pick of the rest.
He crept through the dark, following the subtle signs and clues that were written in the architecture and the layout streets, which he’d learned over all his many summers of raids. It wasn’t long until he’d tracked down his prey. A large building which, unlike its’ neighbours, was constructed of stone and not wood.
The door, however, was wooden. And flimsy. It took barely a minute for him to take his axe to the hinges and shoulder it down with a great crash. He stepped inside the threshold and froze for a moment, listening intently. If there was anywhere that would have an alpha left behind to defend it, it would be here. But after a moment without a single sound to disturb the quiet, Bucky felt safe to relax.
He swapped his axe for the sack of cloth he had kept tucked into his belt as he glanced around to survey the room. It was dimly lit by a half-dozen still burning candles, a clear indication of how quickly the owner must have fled. The place was richly decorated, richly coloured woven tapestries on the walls, with finely carved wooden furniture, and what seemed like half the rest of what was in the room seemingly made of either gold, silver or decorated with jewels.
Bucky’s lips curled in a feral smile as he started to make his way around the room, experience letting him quickly judge weight against value and picking out the best ratio to take with him. It was half amusement at his own fortune and half in contempt for these strange people who seemed to hold so little of value. To truly care for something was to be prepared to fight for it; to die for it if necessary. Instead, these people took and kept and hoarded, for no reason! All for the sake of simply having it. It was all so utterly… pointless. None of them deserved to keep a gods damned thing, as far as he was concerned.
Something creaked in the next room.
The sack dropped from his hand immediately, and his axe was back in his hand so fast he wasn’t even consciously aware of moving to grasp it. Instantly his entire stance shifted, moving his weight so that he could tread silently and yet still be prepared to strike if anyone emerged from the next from. With his other hand he reached down and slipped the dagger he kept strapped to the back of his waist and pulled it free.
He kept still for a moment; ears pricked for any sound. Again, there was utter silence, so much so that a part of him questioned if perhaps it could have been a false alarm. The wind from the open door or even his own movements causing something in the house to shift, perhaps.
Then something creaked again.
He stepped towards the door to the next room as quickly as he could without making a noise and pressed himself against the wall beside the door. It hung slightly ajar in the frame and after taking another second to listen just in case the enemy was about to burst through and attack him. When there was nothing Bucky gripped his axe tight and slipped his dagger in between the door and the frame, thrusting it open and stepping through with a deafening and violent roar. His axe raised to strike and his dagger ready in the other he-
He stopped. It wasn’t just the sight before him that brought him so suddenly to a halt, it was the smell. The room was dominated by a huge bed, covered in silk sheets and furs, but what had captured his attention was the figure stretched out on top of them. The slight figure who, Bucky’s nose told him, was a terrified omega.
The boy was tiny, not just short but slender too. With pale white skin and a mess of fine blonde hair. He was completely naked and gorgeous, although he’d twisted his legs and hips to hide himself as best as he could. The reason he had to do that, Bucky realised as he recovered from his surprise and began to process what he was seeing, was because his arms were bound together above his head, and then bound again to the bed itself. His ankles were similarly tied together, and a leather strap had been tied around the lower half of his face, keeping him gagged.
There were other things he saw, as he stepped further into the room and his eyes adjusted to the dim. The omega didn’t just look slender; he was all but starved, every bone in his arms and legs clearly visible and his skin so tight around his ribs that Bucky could count them. Here and there across his limbs and torso were the dark marks of bruises, and when Bucky tilted his head a little it was clear that the ones across his hips were the mark of a hand and fingerprints.
This close he could see the omega’s eyes, a shockingly bright and piercing blue. Despite the state he was in and the way he was shaking on the bed, the omega was staring at Bucky with an unflinching focus. Bucky was abruptly aware of what he must look like to the omega; a huge hulking figure in the dark, bare-chested, and armed, half his face covered by a thick beard and the other half all but obscured by a mane of long braided hair. He had to be three times the omegas size and built like a bear in comparison.
“It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you.” Bucky tried to reassure the omega, wincing a little at how his voice came out as a low growl. He wasn’t exactly a big talker in the first place, and he was having trouble keeping down the surge of utter rage that was coursing through him. He’d thought these people were cowards, but now he knew they were monsters too. Omegas were gifts from the gods, to be cherished and protected. To see one injured and bound, so obviously being… held against his will, was setting every single alpha instinct in him into a frenzy.
Unfortunately, the sound of his voice only made the omega flinch away, Bucky realising his mistake a second later. He was an idiot. Neither of them spoke the other’s language, the omega obviously had no idea what he was saying.
He crept up beside the best, doing his best to seem as unthreatening as possible, moving slowly and slipping his axe back into its loop on his belt. With his hand freed up he reached out and grabbed a fur from the foot of the bed and pulled it up to cover the omega up to his waist, trying not to stare at how his nipples had pebbled in the cold; cute little nubs sticking up and begging for a warm mouth to cover them and-
Bucky dragged his eyes back up to meet the omegas with an incredible effort of will, just in time to catch a break in the omegas steely gaze, a flicker of... something. He shifted his gaze again, this time to the rope keeping the omega’s hands together and bound to the bed. The knot was tight, and not the kind that came loose easily. Whoever had tied this had had no intention of letting the omega slip free.
When Bucky returned his attention to the omegas face there was no flicker this time, but he was barely a foot away now, more than close enough to see that the colour in the omega’s eyes had been swallowed by the black of his pupils, blown wide. He wondered what he must smell like, hopped up on adrenaline and sweating from a night of exertion.
He pushed the overwhelming feeling of pride and possessiveness back down, ignoring the urge to crawl up onto the bed and cover the omegas body with his own, to rub his body up against the small little omega until he smelled like he belonged to Bucky. Instead, he reached down and gently tilted the omegas head forward, ignoring the way he stiffened to supress a flinch and felt around the back of the omegas head until he found the knot holding the gag in place.
Unlike the rope this one was much easier to undo and he quickly undid it and pulled the strip off and tossed it away without bothering to look and see where it landed. Now that he could see the omegas face clearly and it was stunning. As startlingly thin as the rest of him, but with beautiful cheekbones and pale red lips. As soon as his mouth was free, he sucked in a worryingly dry and rattling breath. A moment later he slammed his mouth shut again, as if embarrassed that he might have shown weakness.
“I’m going to cut you free now.” Bucky said quietly. He knew the omega wouldn’t understand him, but he felt he had to say something, and he hoped that the tone of his voice would at least convey that he wasn’t about to stab him. The omega’s eyes flickered down to Bucky’s mouth as he spoke, then back up to meet his eyes, a wary look on his face.
Bucky bit back a sigh and raised the dagger, disappointed but not surprised when the omega’s whole body froze at the sight. The look in his eyes though, that wasn’t fear there. The omega was naked and bound, being loomed over by an alpha who probably had more muscle in a single arm than he had in his whole body, and to his perception about to be stabbed or killed. But still, he didn’t look afraid.
He looked furious, and something about that interested Bucky more than anything else he had seen so far.
There was nothing else Bucky could do to help the situation, so he just got on with it. He reached out and grabbed the rope just above the omega’s bound hands, pulled it taut, and started to saw. The rope was thick and well made, but Bucky kept his weapons sharp and it wasn’t long before he had cut through. After that it only took a moment for him to slip the loose end through the knot and loosen it.
As soon as there was even the slightest give to the rope the omega started pulling and struggling until he’d pulled one wrist free. He quickly used that hand to free the other one and then began rubbing at his wrists, either because they had been held so tightly that he’d lost feeling in them or, perhaps, to try and hide the raw marks of rope burns on his skin, Bucky couldn’t tell.
He quickly leaned back from the omega, but not out of arms reach. He held the dagger up to catch the omegas attention, feeling slightly pleased at how the omega was watching him with slight confusion and wariness, but still no fear. Or fury, for that matter. He flipped the dagger around in his fingers until the was holding it by the blade and held out the handle for the omega to take.
“For your feet.” He said quietly. The omega’s eyes darted between him and the blade rapidly, as if expecting some kind of trick. Bucky sighed and then gestured with the handle towards the general area of the omega’s fur covered lower half where he thought the feet would be. “Feet.” He repeated, holding the blade out to the omega again.
The omega looked slowly between him and knife one more time, before his hand darted out with remarkable swiftness to snatch it from Bucky’s hand. It was only years of honed reflexes that let bucky loosen his grip fast enough to prevent the blade from slicing his palm open as it went.
The part of Bucky that never really stopped watching for threats was braced for what to do if the omega took a swipe at him instead, but he quickly leaned forward to slip the dagger underneath the fur. There was a moment of exertion and then the omega pulled the knife and the severed ropes back out, tossing the latter aside with as much care as Bucky had disposed of the gag.
He held onto the dagger tightly, clutching it against his chest. He turned the full force of that intense, beautiful gaze back onto Bucky, still silent, watching to see what he did next. At which point Bucky realised that he had absolutely no idea what to do next.
Realistically there were exactly two paths he could take now. He could leave the omega here or… he could take him. It wasn’t unheard of, although it was much less common amongst the Shield Clan than- than it was in other clans. Usually when someone was brought back it was for a specific reason or because like Natalia, who had all but invited herself onto the damn longship, they had come of their own free will. Taking home an omega, one who had obviously been abused and mistreated, wouldn’t be a violation of any of the clan’s rules, written or otherwise.
But how was he supposed to communicate any of that to the omega himself? How was he supposed to offer that when they didn’t speak a single word in common? When he had absolutely no idea about the omega’s life before this night? Was he a recent captive, or had this been his whole life? Kept tied up for some monster’s pleasure?
He watched as the omega openly examined him as they sat in a long moment of silence; his eyes shifting to the axe on Bucky’s belt, to his chest, to his left arm – covered as it was from wrist to shoulder in an intricate network of tattoos and markings – and then finally back up to his eyes again.
Bucky wondered what was going on inside the omega’s head. Did he like what he saw? Was he afraid, and hiding it behind the layer of stoic silence? Had he spotted the lust Bucky had been doing– was currently doing- his best to ignore? Was he disgusted by it, was he intrigued, was he-
Gods above, but what Bucky wouldn’t give right now to be able to speak a single word to the omega in front of him, even just to ask his name?
Oh, Gods, if he had a name.
Well, there was at least one thing he new how to say. He pressed a hand against his chest and spoke clearly; “Bucky.” The omega frowned a little, and seemingly unconsciously clutched the dagger a little tighter at the sound, but there was no other reaction. “Bucky.” Bucky repeated, pointing at himself. He paused a moment to give the omega time to speak, a part of him desperate to hear his own name spoken from the omega’s mouth, but there was no response.
Bucky sighed and stood up straight, there was no point in repeating himself anymore. The omega may be silent, but he certainly wasn’t stupid. If Bucky could just convince him to follow with him for a short while, then he was sure he could get him down to the longship and make his offer clear. But he wasn’t about to do that with the omega walking around naked.
It wasn’t just the fact that in this miserable country, even in the height of summer as it was now, the temperature at night was still barely above freezing. The truth was that the idea of anyone, even any of the others who he loved and trusted more than family, seeing his- this omega so exposed and vulnerable… It set Bucky’s blood on fire in a way that almost frightened him.
Maybe it was the distraction that prevented him from thinking it through when he made his next decision.
“Do you have any clothes?” He asked the omega, which was by itself harmless. But then he made the mistake of following it up by grabbing hold of his own clothes and repeating, “Clothes!”
The problems being, first; that the only clothing he had on was below his waist, and second; that the omega did not understand his language. So, from the omega’s perspective what happened was that this strange, giant alpha had suddenly grabbed at the front of his trousers and started saying something unintelligible repeatedly.
From this he drew the obvious conclusion and reacted accordingly.
He threw the knife at Bucky’s head with remarkably good aim, but little actual skill. In all likelihood it wouldn’t have done any damage even if Bucky hadn’t reflexively dodged aside as soon as the blade was in motion. Those same reflexes worked against him however, when the omega sprang off the bed in the same motion and ran for the door.
Bucky lunged forward to grab him without even thinking about it, only to freeze suddenly when he realised what he was doing and what a mistake he had made. Paralyzed by indecision, and suddenly overwhelmed by the horrible thought of what have I done what if he leaves WHAT IF I NEVER SEE HIM AGAIN-
“Wait! Please, wait,“ Bucky begun to call out, but he needn’t have bothered. Before he even reached the door to the next room the omega’s legs suddenly gave out underneath him, collapsing to the ground as a horrible, wracking cough erupted out from him. in a second he went from in motion to on his knees, curled up practically into a ball, one hand on the ground in front of him and shaking as he struggled to keep himself upright, whilst the other clutched at his throat as the coughing just got worse.
Bucky snapped into action, all worries, and second thoughts overridden by a deeper instinct - protect the omega – and he all but lunged across the bed to grab at a pitcher on the other side. He carried round to the omega as fast he could, knelt down beside him and pulled him upright, back to Bucky’s chest.
He held the pitcher up and tried to gently pour it into the omega’s mouth, hoping that liquid would do something soothe the omega’s dry and rasping throat although he was surprised when what came out was not clear water, but a dark red wine. The omega froze for a moment as he was manhandled and abruptly fed alcohol. Then, abruptly, he reached up and took the weight of the pitcher from Bucky’s hand, using both of his to tilt the pitcher back and taking great gulps with every second.
Wide-eyed, Bucky tried even harder to ignore that he was, for some reason, now even more turned on as he watched over the omega’s shoulder as he drunk what must have been half his body weight in wine. Bucky’s hands shifted without thinking to rub at the omega’s shoulders and upper arms, only now become aware of how cold he was. Bucky’s own hands felt searingly hot by comparison as he tried his best to spread that warmth across the omega’s skin and down into his bones.
As abruptly as he’d begun the omega dropped the pitcher – and, Bucky noted, not a single drop of win spilled from it as it bounced and rolled away – and turned his head to stare at Bucky. For a split-second Bucky was convinced the omega was going to attack him again, or worse, run away. Instead, he stared at bucky with the most nakedly vulnerable expression Bucky had seen this whole time.
Bucky held his gaze, doing his absolute best to convey entirely through his eyes that he hadn’t meant to frighten him, that he wasn’t going to hurt him, that he only wanted the omega to be safe and warm and happy and loved and Gods if he let Bucky take him home and give him all that he’d sacrifice an entire pig to Thor every damn month he promised-
All at once the omega’s face crumpled and suddenly turned and pushed forward, burying his face against Bucky’s chest, and pushing his skinny arms under Bucky’s, wrapping them around his back and pulling them together as hard he could manage. Bucky felt the omega begin to shake again, although this time he could feel a patch of damp on his chest and knew that the omega was sobbing as silently as he’d done almost everything else tonight.
He brought one hand up to cup the bag of the omega’s head gently, running his fingers slowly through his fine blonde hair, and gods it was softer than silk and let out a wave of scent as he did so. The smell was still tinged with the sourness of fear and exhaustion and anger, but even as he moved his hand through it, he could smell the sweeter notes underneath as they began to grow subtly stronger. It was the best thing Bucky had ever smelt, and he intended to do everything the omega would let him do, to make sure he smelt like nothing else for the rest of his life.
He slipped his other hand down and behind the omega’s knees, smoothly shifting his weight into Bucky’s arms and stood, turning to carry him back to the bed. When he put him down again and gently pried the omegas arms loose, he just stared up at Bucky with a blank expression, tear tracks running down his cheeks. Bucky had the horribly feeling that the omega was still expecting the worst and was just so exhausted as to just accept it, but there was nothing he could actually say to comfort him.
What he could do, and did, was reach out and grab the same fur he’d used to cover the omega before. He quickly wrapped it around the omega, then lifted him back into his arms as gently as possible, now safely covered and cocooned in as much warmth and security as Bucky could give him. There was another long moment as they simply stared at each other, Bucky searching the omega’s face for any kind of sign, any indication that there was something more he could do to make his intentions clearer.
The omega, he assumed, was doing the same thing. Whatever he saw, whatever he was thinking, after searching Bucky’s face he just closed his eyes and turned his face to lean against the closest part of Bucky available, burrowing his face into the side of Bucky’s next and breathing in deep. A hand worked its way out from the tight embrace of fur and reached up to bury itself in Bucky’s hair, the grip so tight as to be painful.
Bucky wouldn’t have minded if he never let go.
That seemed as though it would be as clear an answer as he could possibly get, so Bucky began to leave, making sure to jostle the omega as little as possible. He made his way out through the other room, and as he did so he spotted his abandoned sack of loot, which he had all but forgotten about in the wake of everything else that had happened.
There was barely an instants pause before he simply kept walking, out the door and into the dark. None of those trinkets mattered. After all, he was certain he had found the most valuable thing in the whole village.