a_musingly | [closed to disassembling] - I Thought You Were Dead

Entry tags:

[closed to disassembling] - I Thought You Were Dead

Bad luck always comes in threes.

Steve had never been the superstitious sort before (he was Catholic). First there had been an accident with Banner that had lead to a last minute switch-up in assigned team members for this mission. Then there had been an accident in an Stark Industries owned factory that left Stark worried, twitchy and furious. Not a good state of mind to be doing a mission with.

The third of course was the attack that had brought down the quinjet over the thickly grown jungles Steve was currently hiking alone through right now, having been forced (for once it was not his idea to jump out of a plane without a parachute) to hastily exit the plane while it was on fire. He'd been separated from the rest of the team in the explosion; he hoped they were alright...no, he KNOWS they are all fine. Now it was only a matter of getting back to civilization and getting in back in touch with the rest of the Avengers. Any civilization, he wasn't picky at this point.

He didn't know that by the time he made his way out of the bush into civilization, more than a week would have passed.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh he knew that Steve and a few of the others had warned Tony off of getting too close to his arm, but there were little attempts all the same. He never said anything about them because all it really required was to shift the plates of his arm, a threat that he could make noise or do immediate damage that seemed to keep Tony from pulling a screwdriver on him. "Do you and the others still have bets going on how long it takes him to have a meltdown about it?" He knew the others had a good chuckle over Tony's fascination and it was probably some personal affront that he refused to let his arm get updated. "I'm heavier than a parachute, you realize. And I would be certain to land on you."

He went silent at the idea of working with the other Avengers without Steve, but a mission was a mission. It required that he do things that he didn't enjoy sometimes. "I could," he said grudgingly. "The mission objective will always be the most important thing to me, and no one, not even the Avengers will stand in the way of reaching it." He slid so easily into Soldier mode.

He shifted his flesh arm out from under his cheek and curled it back to grasp onto Steve's back. He hadn't thought much about the agents whose name's had stuck in his head or come back to him now that he wasn't getting blanked anymore. There were names and there were faces, though some didn't match up together. "What's left of SHIELD probably rounded up most of them," he murmured softly. "Contingency plan states that exposed agents are eliminated or smuggled from the country and replaced with others."

Steve raised one eyebrow. "Of course. Do you want in on it? Person with the closest date and time slot takes the entire pot." A bit of harmless fun that no doubt Tony knew about and probably part of the reason he kept poking at Bucky. Another part was probably just Tony being stubbornness regarding technology; the more he can't touch a piece of tech the more he wants it. He smiled, amused at the mental image of Bucky clinging to his back as they made free fall; he made a mental note to see if he could sketch out a comic or something similar later. "Some things are worth the extra weight and risk."

Steve frowned when he heard the Soldier respond. "We always try to assign something suitable to that person's skillsets." And he'll make doubly sure whoever is assigned to Bucky is someone who won't grate on Bucky so much. "You know that some times there's no other option but to abort the mission right, no matter the objective. Like last week." He had to make that clear; the Avengers were not Hydra where the Mission was always first.

He allowed the hand to press him back down against Bucky's warm back. "I know." He murmured back. "Natasha and Clint work with Coulson on that occasionally to find the ones that still alive and in hiding. It's just...I was thinking of closure for you. So that it's not always hanging over your head."

"No, I have nothing to bet," he said with a slight shrug of his shoulders, just enough that Steve would feel it where his friend was laying over him. "Besides, its my arm that he's so focused on anyway, and I can't be unbiased about that," he added. If he thought that his date was coming up, he might decide to bait Stark more to move things along in his favour, so it was best that he didn't know the dates involved or be too close to those kinds of antics. "You're just biased towards me, that's all. You like it when I'm laying on you after all."

He knew that missions were sometimes aborted, but from what he could remember, those moments were rare for him. His missions had always been planned well and he was good at doing them, so he wasn't certain he would need to abort one. He had only been involved in aborted missions where he had personally malfunctioned. "I'll do my best not to let that scenario come into play. If it is a mission designed for me, I should be able to complete it in the allotted time frame. That's... how it's always been." He turned his head to look at Steve. "These missions aren't any different... right? We want them completed?"

He blinked a little at the word closure because he had never thought of it. He was not vengeful, so the idea of hunting down those who he remembered and who had programmed or associated with him hadn't entirely been his focus. Steve had become his focus. "I... I've never thought about it like that." Of course he knew Hydra would go for him if opportunity presented itself, but beyond that, he hadn't considered it much.

"No one is completely unbiased. It's just a bit of fun anyway. The Howling Commandos used to do this sort of thing too...we bet on everything...what's for supper tomorrow, who's the next person that's going to catch a squirrel to supplement our rations...things like that." He huffed a soft laugh at the accusation of bias towards Bucky, not even bothering to deny it. That was true and all of their friends knew it. "Of course I am. And you're far biased towards me as well, if we're measuring it by how much each of us likes cuddle up."

Steve bit his lip, thinking about how he could explain it. "Yes, we do want mission completed. Very much. That's why they're called missions after all. But you have to take into account the cost, and it's not only monetary cost. For example...if mission completion has a high chance of causing the deaths of surrounding civilians that unexpectedly showed up on site? Then you evaluate again on the field. Or mission control will evaluate again. WE want to avoid civilian casualties." They always try to plan out for no civilian casualties but humans were contrary beings and often insist on going where they shouldn't be.

He'd been surprised that Bucky hadn't tried to go after Hydra more, instead only taking down the ones who attacked him, and attacked Bucky. It wasn't until later that he understood why. "Think about it? You can do as little or as much as you want. It's your choice. Just thought if you could have closure over this, other things might get easier for you." This too had been one of Sam's suggestions, one that Steve found easiest to talk about.

He lifted his head from his arm at the story about the Commandos, people that he recognized when he saw pictures of them but nothing solid of that point in time coming to him. He wondered if he participated in bets back then, and he ached to know, ached to remember what that was like. He was used to war now, so he thought he had probably been used to it back then, but he still craved to know. "Did I... Was I... involved in those bets?" He didn't hide the pained longing in his voice because he knew that Steve wouldn't mock or pity him for him. "Was I... really part of that team? Like really part of it, not... as I am now?"

He really didn't think that cuddling up to one another was that odd, but he had noticed that few others did it. Not like him and Steve anyway. "I'm not giving up cuddling and laying on you," he said with distinct dignity.

It seemed that missions were still very different, though he hadn't been on an Avengers-type mission without Steve. It was easy to fall back into the attitude of 'no witnesses'. However, he had never involved civilians unless it had been part of the mission objective itself. That was, perhaps, what made him so good at slipping through history unseen. "I won't involve civilians and I will still complete the mission objective."

He supposed that taking a more active role in killing off those he knew were part of Hydra might allow him to integrate more. He also knew that there was very little that could touch him while he was with Steve, that his disappearance would immediately alert the man that something was wrong. "I want... things to be easier."

Steve wrapped his arm more firmly Bucky's shoulders in an attempt to be comforting and pressed closer with his upper body. "You STARTED several of them. And in trying to win the bets, almost caused Colonel Philips to have a apoplexy several times." His tone was fond and he began to kneed the back of Bucky's neck gently. "Of course you were part of the team. A vital part. It...it wasn't the same after you...fell. The army higher ups tried to assign someone to replace you but we would have none of it." He still missed the Howling Commandos sometimes though it comforted him that they had all led full, rich lives after the war. He had the Avengers now of course, but they weren't the same (and he didn't expect them to be the same).

He let out an amused snort. "And I wouldn't expect you to." Even if it wasn't 'normal', Steve liked the closeness too much to give it up now, no matter what anyone else said. And Bucky hardly cared what other people thought.

Maybe they'd been doing it the wrong way all this time. They'd been trying to integrate Bucky into the team through the normal non-work activities like meals and movies but Bucky had saw them as events to be endured rather than to be enjoyed. Steve had to admit that Bucky might never be comfortable in social settings again but he'd settle for a civil working relationship between Bucky and the rest of the Avengers for now. The rest could come later. Steve nodded. "I'll have you added formally to the rosters. And...you said earlier that you weren't really part of the Avengers right now. But that's yours too, right now, if you want it."

Steve had a feeling that he was articulating the opposite point Sam wanted him to make. His hand slowed in its kneading motions. "It's not revenge you know. Just...I want you to feel safe. And know that they're the past and can't hurt you any more. That I'm here now this time, when I wasn't before. Alright?"

There was a part of him that found it all the more infuriating that Steve knew with such certainty his antics and was so animated talking about it, but he couldn't draw up a single memory of that time. It was Steve's physical presence that kept him from trying to escape his own lame frustrations. "I don't... remember," he murmured softly, his tone pained from his attempt even as he bowed his head to the feel of Steve's fingers against his neck. "You... potentially jeopardized a mission success with your team because you wouldn't allow another member to be added?" He sounded disapproving, yet the undertone was clear pleasure that he had made such an impression that his spot on that team had been left vacant.

He didn't consider himself part of anything, least of all the Avengers; he had heard himself called Steve's sidekick as a teasing jest once when he hadn't supposed to have been in earshot. He didn't care what he was called between the members and he knew from listening to the communications that everyone teased everyone else at least a little, so it was no slight to him to find himself relegated to lurking in Steve's considerable shadow. Like the Widow, he worked best in the shadows. They were a team and worked well together, somehow integrating so many skill sets and personalities into one place.

"Is an offering of the Avengers something you can give? I thought it came from higher up," he replied as he went back to cushioning his cheek on his flesh forearm, his metal fingers rubbing back and forth against Steve's back. "Am I even to be trusted with missions on my own or with a small group?"

Considering he couldn't remember his past, he knew that someday it would come back to hurt him. "I feel safe with you," he replied, his body relaxing all the more under Steve's as if to show that. "Do you want to kill them for me or with me?"

Sometimes he was torn as to what to do when Bucky asked about their shared past. He never minds sharing his memories with Bucky when his friend clearly wanted to know but Bucky was almost always clearly frustrated that he couldn't remember himself. He only brought it up as a form of comfort, not as a source of pain for Bucky. "I know and I'm sorry." He murmured, wishing there was something he could do other than continue to provide comforting physical touches. "Jeopardized nothing. The man they wanted to send was clearly there because he had connections and not because of any actual skills he had. He also said some things about Gabe, Jim and Peggy that doesn't bear repeating. And we weren't about to just let anyone take your spot. An addition I'll accept maybe, but not as a replacement for you."

Most of Steve's nicknames came from Tony, who thought up new ones on the fly and just as easily discarded old ones. With the way Bucky usually lurked around him the term sidekick had been bound to come up at least once. Surprisingly when it did come up, it wasn't Tony who came up with it. He'd only smiled at the teasing and said nothing, knowing that it as his friends' way of attempting to draw Bucky into the fold.

"What higher ups? We have a charter we all agreed to and signed but otherwise we're a private organization." It was technically vigilantism but Steve would not have the Avengers be underneath any organization ever again, not even the new SHIELD under Coulson. "As to what missions...both I think, though solo missions are rare."

"I'm honoured. And I feel safe with you as well." Steve relaxed his body once more as well, laying his head back down against Bucky's shoulder, though there was a light frown on his face at Bucky's question. "...Both." People would be surprised to hear Captain America say say this but some things were unforgivable and there wasn't much he wouldn't do to keep Bucky safe.

There was nothing for Steve to apologize when it came to the fact that his mind was not healed enough to produce memories for him of such times. He knew there was a chance that they would never come back, that they had all been lost forever and he was stuck like this for the rest of his life. He nodded a little, able to place the faces of the people that Steve mentioned because of the research he had done, and he knew that having mixed group of ethnicity was rare back then, especially a woman. "Peggy was your dame," he asked softly. He had seen the way she had stumbled over Steve's name, trying for formality and failing. She had clearly thought highly of Steve.

He wasn't certain that he could adhere to a charter, let alone what name to actually sign, since he still had trouble thinking of something as a set word or words. While everyone tended to call him by his name or his codename, it really only felt right when Steve called him by a name, the warmth of familiarity easing him most of the time.

"I thought Fury was still involved slightly," he said, though he supposed being a dead guy - join the club - made it so that the man had no associations anymore. "I'll earn my place on the team before I sign anything," he added grudgingly because he had to feel like he had earned his right to be there, not just have it handed to him because he associated with Steve. He wanted it on his own merit and without a shadow of a doubt inside himself that he had done what was necessary to earn the title.

He hummed softly at answer, having expected it. Steve was very protective of him. "I would hunt them down with you," he murmured softly.

Steve apologizes because he doesn't know how it feels, to have giant holes in your memories. Because there is nothing he could do to fix it. Words were a cold comfort for what Bucky must be feeling. "No she wasn't. We kiss exactly once right before I piloted those Hydra planes in to the ice but there wasn't any time for anything else to happen." Steve had looked sometimes and sometimes he thought she'd been looking back but there had been a war going on and they were both far too busy, regardless of what other people thought and gossiped behind their backs both before and after he fell. He sighed. There was always a bit of regret and might-have-been whenever he thought of Peggy. But all that paled when he could feel Bucky warm and alive close to him. "She had a good life after I was gone." Hydra might have started started it's stranglehold over SHIELD while Peggy was there but it didn't negate all the good Peggy had done.

"Fury's still technically dead. And doing spy work for Coulson's SHIELD, or something like it. He sometimes drops info off for us occasionally, usually through Natasha. He's not really involved at all." Steve said lazily. "Alright...if you feel that way." How one got membership in the Avengers wasn't really laid out in the charter. Sam being an Avenger was simply an unspoken agreement by all of them though Sam had agreed to sign the charter in the end, even if he acted mostly as an auxiliary member. The process would probably be similar with Bucky, just drawn out longer.

"I don't ever want you to face them alone." If he was ever accused of being overprotective, doesn't have have reasons to be?

"Given how your face lights up around me sleeping comfortably, I suspect a single kiss is actually a big deal," he replied with a hint of his old dryness in his voice. He knew very little about Peggy Carter, but he knew a lot about Steve Rogers even if he had little in the way of memories to back up his impressions. He suspected that there were moments of regret that such things had ended with one kiss? He didn't know; he couldn't even remember being in a relationship before, but it seemed 'right' to tease Steve about them all the same. "I suppose it's your time to have a good life now so she won't be sad that she missed her opportunity with you."

Yes well, he was technically dead too, and here he was laying half-under Steve and comfortable and no longer exactly working as a spy or an assassin. "Maybe people were technically dead and that fact is untrue." Distantly, he wondered what his signature looked like because he certainly didn't remember what it was now. It was little details like that which frustrated him because to sign a name one had to acknowledge a name in the first place.

"They might be people that you know," he said softly. "People who worked with you at SHIELD before it fell. Are you alright with that?"

"It's not like it was my first kiss, Bucky." Steve replied, rolling his eyes exasperatedly. "And before you ask, I have kissed other people after I was unfrozen. I'm ninety-six, not dead." It was little things like this, the attempt at teasing, that gave Steve hope that some day, that Bucky's previous more carefree personality isn't entirely gone. He made a light humming sound. "Is this where you threaten to kill me again if I don't live a happy life?" He still remembered Bucky's earlier threat for him to be happy or be dead quite vividly.

"I was technically dead too. Then they found out differently." Apparently the legal paperwork to reverse that had been stuff of legends. He remembered signing paperwork after paperwork for hours. If nothing else, Coulson and Fury had made sure that had gone through properly untouched by Hydra, or so he'd been reassured.

"The made the choice to work with Hydra, to be Nazis, they can deal with the consequences." Steve answered, voice hard. He hasn't changed his mind about bullies at all, and that was what Hydra were, the worse type of bullies.

"Who was your first kiss then?" He had read about how firsts in such matters were important, though he was very aware that Steve wasn't dead. He could feel the heat and pressure produced from the body laying over his own, which indicated that his friend was very much alive and no doubt prepared to kiss again someone who was deserving. "I don't need to make a threat again since you already remember it the first time I made it, but it still holds truth." He would stand by that threat too.

Well, it didn't seem prudent to find out about him, since it would be difficult to explain where he had been the last seventy years and too many questions about his activities. He suspected that for now he was going to have to stay dead and it was not something that bothered him much. Hi attachment to the current world was Steve and while probably unhealthy, he didn't mind.

He hummed softly in reply to Steve's hard tone. "I will think of a list of names that I remember or look at some faces to see if I recognize anyone worth hunting."

"One of the chorus girls I worked with when they had me selling war bonds on tour." Steve forehead furrowed as he tried to remember. He hasn't thought about that for a long time. "Her name was Sally and she had brown hair and blue eyes." He'd learned a lot about women during that tour, though it didn't make talking to women any less awkward for him, seventy years later and that still hasn't changed. "Maybe I should say something similar to you too. I don't want to be the only one happy. Be happy or....hmmmm" He trailed off as he thought about what kind of threat he could make and came up with blank.

Tony's cadre of lawyers were working on...something for Bucky, just in case. There wasn't any urgency in it since Steve knew it wasn't something that concerned Bucky very much. It was easy to disappear if you were dead. He only hoped that by now Bucky won't leave him behind if Bucky made that choice.

He'd been especially disappointed by the Strike team he'd been working with right before SHIELD's fall. He'd worked well with them, liked most of them, and every single one of them had turned out to be part of HYDRA, though he knew it made sense from a tactical sense in Hydra's viewpoint. "I'll ask Coulson to drop something off for you...I know they've been tracking some."

Ah, he didn't know who that was, but he remembered the song and dance routine about the war bonds and had watched it all the way through. He had enjoyed it, given that he had seen so very few movies to begin with. He could also see Steve getting kissed rather than initiating really. "Was she good at kissing?" He waited in silence for the threat for him to come down the line, but it appeared that Steve couldn't come up with one. He raised an eyebrow as he turned his head to regard his friend. "You aren't very good at threatening people."

If Steve wanted to hunt with him, then they would do just fine as a team on their own. It seemed rare that they took on missions of their own, just the two of them. "There were scientists and doctors," he murmured softly, eyes flicking to Steve. "And technicians for my arm. Most will have left the country by now."

If asked, he still remembered how to do the entire thing from start to finish, having done it so many times in the tour, even if it wasn't something he enjoyed. Being a costumed dancing monkey wasn't what he wanted to do with a strong and healthy body when there was a war going on. "In hindsight, I suppose. I didn't have much to compare it to back then. I guess you could say she was experienced. Why so interested in my kissing history?" He met Bucky's eyes with an amused look. "No, I leave that to you. People say I'm good at motivating them. So how about this. Be happy or I won't be."

Missions with just the two of them didn't happen very often. While their skills were complimentary, usually a mission required a broader skill set than just what the two of them offered on their own. He clenched one fist tightly before releasing it slowly, lips flattening into tight line. "We'll track them down. All of them."

"I don't remember my own kissing history, so it seems worthwhile to look into yours," he replied and glanced aside to the wall of their little fort. He couldn't remember all the young women he had flirted with, been gentlemanly to, kissing on hands, cheek or lips here and there. "Besides, you must appeal to many people who would want to kiss you. I just thought... you might have done more of that now," he murmured with a shrug of his shoulders. It was clear that Steve still kept to himself.

He frowned at the idea of Steve not being happy if he wasn't, and it was probably the worst threat to be leveled at him. He wanted Steve happy after all, and it seemed unfortunate that the man would choose such a stipulation. "...I want you happy," he murmured almost sulkily.

He nodded his head in agreement; he was very good at tracking and reading the signs. He had been updated on some hacking skills as well, though it might not be enough with how things were currently. "Yes, just you and I. We'll make them pay."

"There's nothing interesting in my kissing history. Well...there was one time I kissed Natasha and apparently it was so bad she asked me if it was my first kiss since the 1940s." Steve answered dryly, wondering how did they get from his current living arrangements to his kissing history. He supposed Bucky didn't remember his own and between them Bucky had a much more varied kissing history than he did (before the war started that is). "I've been busy so no." Or rather, there wasn't anyone who really interested him in that way for long. Sharon Carter had been a possibility once, but her deception in playing his neighbour as part of her duties to SHIELD turned him off of anything romantic in that direction.

Steve didn't see it as a threat, since there was no way to enforce it. Hence, it was a motivation. "And I want the same for you. Fair's fair." It was also the truth too; he can't be happy if Bucky wasn't.

If he asked Tony would be happy doing to all the hacking, or tell JARVIS to do it. But this was for Bucky so he'd like them do the work they can in tracking themselves before asking the others for help. More meaningful that way. "It's date." He distractedly murmured, thinking about mission pre-planning as he laid his head down back onto Bucky's shoulder.

He could see such a response coming from the Widow who spent most time learning many skills to allow her to survive. Her womanly assets were something to master and be very certain about after all. "I hope you defended yourself against her. If she smells weakness, she'll go for your blood," he replied albeit a bit dryly. He appreciated her skills and they worked well together, but they tended to not have much to do with one another when it came to joking or banter. "I think you're using busy as an excuse. It doesn't take much time to kiss someone."

He still rested his cheek on his arm and smoothed his fingers in little circles against the small of Steve's back. "I am content," he said simply, as if that were a concept he could understand.

He huffed softly at Steve's choice of words thought took no offense to it. He was not dating material as far as he could tell. "Don't let your friends hear you say that or you'll never hear the end of it about liking men and such."

"Despite her code name, she doesn't really eat men for breakfast. I'm sure you know that. Besides, it was for a mission." Steve shook his head, half amused, half exasperated. "And I gave her the same answer I gave you. Not dead and not my first kiss since the forties." He had a deep respect and appreciation for skills, both on and off the battlefield, but preferred it if they were not used on him. "And I prefer to kiss someone I actually have feelings for. That, does take time."

He sighed at the feeling of fingers rubbing against his back. "Good. I'm glad."

"Hmmm?" Steve was startled out of his thoughts at the comment. "No they wouldn't. Why would they? It's not like being gay is illegal nowadays. Besides, Tony's made it clear he's tried everything at least once and no one but the rabid paparazzi gives him grief over it." Steve wouldn't stand for anything other than teasing over something liked this.

"No, she saves the tasty ones for dessert," he replied coolly, as close to a joke about one of their fellows as possible. He didn't think that she was going to get a different answer, given that Steve was obviously one who was put into position to defend the lack of partner on the arm or to lavish attention on. Now it seemed that Steve was intent on lavishing that sort of care and attention on him, which he didn't mind as long as it kept his friend happy. If it didn't, he'd chase Steve off to go and find someone to care about and settle with. "Well who do you have feelings for?"

He tilted his head and peered at Steve, suddenly uncertain. It seemed surprising for some reason that men were not prosecuted for enjoying the company of other men in such a way, though he couldn't think of why that would be. "Yes well... Stark would try everyone if he thought he could get away with it," he replied tartly and nestled his chin down into his curled metal elbow. "That also might not hold true for you. You aren't Stark."

"You'll have to tell her that yourself, she'll be amused by it I'm sure." Steve said dryly, thinking it probably wasn't the first time she's heard a joke to that effect about her code name. Natasha had tried her best to set him up with various people, it wasn't her fault he had been stubbornly resisting her efforts. He still would be if she persisted. Nowadays occasionally she'll catch her give him this particular look he doesn't quite understand, then glance at Bucky and back again to him. "You. And my other friends of course." He answered Bucky's question succinctly. Steve had been entirely truthful when he had said he was busy. There were missions to do, culture and history to catch up to, and Bucky himself.

He reached up to brush his hand over Bucky's hair reassuringly. That had been one of the changes he'd been glad to see. He had never agreed with laws against homosexuality; so long as no harm was done, it shouldn't matter who a person loved, no matter the gender. "No, I'm not Tony and I don't want to be either. It's not illegal and so long as everyone involved gives consent and is happy, I don't think I'll care much about the opinion of other people on my my love life."

"I'd prefer to keep out of her range. I doubt she's entirely forgiven me for eliminating her chances for a bathing suit and a tank top," he replied with a shrug. He knew that she cared very little for such things, but scars caused questions to be asked and when one was undercover, it was hard to explain bullet holes sometimes. Or so he had heard. Something twigged in the statement that caused his head to jerk up again. "You have feelings for me and we're going on a date to kill people? Your romance skills are as good as mine," he said dryly. Actually, they were probably still much, much better than his which were lost and gone.

His eyes still fluttered when Steve played with his hair, having gotten very used to enjoying that. It was perhaps one of the many reasons he had failed to cut it since he had gained his freedom. "You apparently don't have a love life unless the Widow is still conspiring to set you up with someone. Is she?"

"I doubt she cares and there's makeup for all sorts of things these days." Steve answered, his voice distracted has he scratched Bucky's scalp gently. "It's not like I've gone on a date before...the ones you tried to set up for me before the war doesn't count." His fingers paused for a moment as he thought about it some more. "Actually by that reasoning I've gone on dates with all of the Avengers if you count missions as date material."

"Thankfully no. All she does is give me this look lately that I don't understand and she's not explaining." Steve shook his head, tone puzzled. He would have asked if Bucky had caught any of those looks but Bucky and Natasha generally give each other a healthy amount of space in between. Steve doesn't quite understand the reason why for that either; they worked well together during missions, far better than say Tony and Bucky together but apart from that there was next to nothing.

His eyes blinked slowly at the knowledge that he had tried to play match-maker in the past, though the idea fit with what he had seen of that smiling face on the videos. It seemed to him that the Bucky of the past would have done many things in order to help benefit Steve, and while he was still like that here and now, it was darker, colder and with only objective persistence. "I... used to do that, did I?" He mulled that over for a moment. "So you're in a multi-person relationship now? Do you cuddle with them like you cuddle with me?"

He pondered the idea of 'a look' and thought back to the interactions between Steve and Natasha lately. He had caught the tail end of something, though he had no idea what that was. He was going to have to keep a closer eye on her to determine if the look was some kind of threat or even what it was. "I can try to get the information out of her, if you like?"

[closed to disassembling] - I Thought You Were Dead

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject