It Only Takes a Second

Harry whimpered, thrashing in his sleep. 

"No, please," he cried, curling in on himself. He gripped the sheets tighter to his body as he battled the nightmare. 

"Hey, Harry!" A voice called, hazy in his mind. Suddenly, there was the weight of a hand on Harry's arm, shaking him awake. 

Before Bucky could process what was happening, Harry had shot out of the bed like a bullet and was now cowering in the corner of the bedroom behind the coffee table. 

"Whoa there, are you okay?" Bucky asked, approaching Harry slowly as if he was approaching a wounded animal. 

"Please don't, I promise I'll do better," Harry pleaded, arms covering his head. 

"Harry, it's okay. You're okay, you didn't do anything wrong. Wake up, bud," Bucky said softly, kneeling down in front of Harry. Carefully and very gently, he grabbed Harry's hands and pulled them away from his face. 

"It's Bucky. I'm not going to hurt you," he murmured as Harry looked down quickly as the hideout behind his hands was compromised. Bucky took a finger and lifted Harry's chin so that he had to look at him.

"You with me?" Bucky asked, gazing into Harry's big green eyes.

Gulping, Harry nodded. His hair was matted to his face, damp with sweat, and he felt as though he had just run a marathon. Realizing what had happened, his face grew hot with embarrassment. 

"I'm sorry. Did I wake you? I didn't mean to. I'm sorry," Harry rapidly apologized, standing up from where he had previously been huddled in the corner. 

"Nah, I was already awake. I was passing your room on my way to the kitchen, and I heard you," Bucky replied calmly, as if this happened to him all the time. 

He had been staying the night in the next room over with Steve when the Avengers had been called out on a mission, and once Steve had left, he hadn't been able to go back to sleep. Since it was 4 in the morning, Bucky just decided to get up, eat an early breakfast and slip out before Harry woke up. 

As Harry's head grew clearer, his eyebrows furrowed. 

"Bucky, what are you doing here?" He asked. "And where's Tony?" 

Tony was normally the one that took care of him after he woke up from nightmares. He always felt bad for interrupting the man's sleep, but he gathered that the billionaire rarely slept anyways. Even still, he always felt bad about inconveniencing him. 

"Um," Bucky chuckled, biting his lip as he tried to figure out how to answer the question at hand. "I stayed the night here." 

"With Steve?" Harry asked, cocking his head slightly to the side. Bucky let out a nervous laugh. 

"I'm not going to judge you if you say yes, you know," Harry pointed out. "In fact, I'm going to judge you more if you say no." 

This time, Bucky laughed a genuine laugh. "Well, in that case, yes. Yes, I was." 

"I thought that's what was going on," Harry responded quietly, nodding to himself. 

"Well aren't you the little detective?" Bucky chuckled. 

"I always had to be aware around..." Harry trailed off, glancing up at Bucky in fear. "I'm sorry." 

Harry was mortified. He hadn't said this much to anyone in the tower, other than Tony and maybe Pepper, and now, here he was, spilling his guts to the man he had just met. The only reason he knew to trust him was because Steve trusted him. 

"Harry, it's fine. I'm not going to be mad at you for telling me anything," Bucky replied, his voice low as he tried not to thing of how bad things must have been for Harry. Steve had filled him in on a little bit of the child's backstory, but it was enough to paint a vivid picture that Bucky wished nobody would ever have to see. 

"When's Tony going to be back?" Harry asked, his voice soft again, all traces of the joking that he and Bucky had just been doing completely gone now. 

"I'm not sure, I can ask Friday to contact him for you though, if you'd like," Bucky offered, but Harry was shaking his head hurriedly. 

"It's okay, I'm okay. Don't wanna bother him," Harry bowed his head in shame. Bucky frowned, wanting so desperately to call Tony and let the kid just hear his voice, but he knew that he needed to respect Harry's wishes. If Harry didn't want him to call Tony, then he wouldn't. 

He sighed as he rose to his feet, his knees cracking at the motion. He turned to leave Harry with some privacy, but a small voice stopped him. 

"Buck-Bucky?" Harry stuttered, glancing up at the man with a tear streaked face. 

"What's up?" Bucky turned to face Harry. 

"Do you think, and you don't have to if you have other things to do, or don't want to. I don't want to be a burden but-" 

"Harry," Bucky knelt down once more. 

"Do you think you could stay with me, just until Tony gets back? Please?" His voice was just barely above a whisper, fearful for any kind of negative reaction the man next to him might have. He couldn't believe that he had even asked Bucky to stay with him- something just came over him and something told him that he could feel safe around the man.

"Of course, whatever you want," Bucky settled himself against the wall next to Harry, and the two sat in comfortable silence, enjoying the other's company. 

"Harry, you know that everyone here cares about you, right? Nobody's ever going to raise a hand against you, or hurt you in any way," Bucky spoke after a beat of silence passed. 

Wordlessly, Harry turned and gazed up at the long haired man, eyes wet with emotion. Bucky couldn't tell if the tears were remnants of the nightmare or if they had newly sprung up due to his comment. 

"Really?" Harry knew that's what everyone kept telling him, but it was usually in attempt to calm him down. Bucky didn't know anything about him, and they had just been sitting. For some reason, this felt more believable than anyone else's reassurances. 

Bucky let out a soft chuckle, "Kid, you've got the Avengers wrapped around your finger. They'd do literally anything for you. We'd do literally anything for you."

"Why?" Harry breathed, his voice choked by the lump in his throat. "You don't know me." 

"But we do, Harry. Everyone on the team has been part of a shitty life, and they've been welcomed with open arms. We may not know you yet, Harry, but trust me when I say that that's never stopped them. And as for the answer to your question, why? Because everyone here has met good people, and bad people. You, are one of the best." 

Harry pondered this for a moment, attempting to formulate a response. Instead, what came out was a question. 

"Wait, what are the Avengers?"

Bucky's mouth dropped open, partially out of shock because Harry didn't know, and partially because he couldn't realize that he had just unveiled Tony's secret. Why was Tony keeping it a secret? 

"Um, well..." 

At that moment, Friday's voice sounded from around them, and Bucky could have melted into a puddle of relief at the interruption. 

That was, until he heard the message. 

"Sergeant Barnes, your presence is being requested in the med bay. The team has returned and both Captain Rogers and Tony were injured-" 

Everything around them seemed to freeze as Harry processed the AI's words. 

Steve and Tony were hurt. 

"Oh my God," Harry whispered, chest constricting. 

"Hey, it's okay. I'm sure they're going to be fine. It's probably just a few bumps and bruises. Bruce is probably just being cautious," Bucky soothed, but his voice was shaky too. He knew that the super soldier had a high pain tolerance and healed quickly, but Tony didn't. And when Tony was hurt, just like with everything else, he went all out. 

The trip to the med bay was like a blur. Bucky wasn't sure if Harry should be coming with him, but something told him that there was not going to be any stopping the kid. 

"What happened?" Bucky asked, voice as calm as he could possibly muster, as the elevator doors opened to reveal a pacing Pepper. Natasha was sitting in a chair, holding ice to her shoulder, and both Bruce and Clint were no doubt through the doubt doors, working on Steve and Tony. 

"Harry, dear, I'm not so sure it's the best idea for you to be down here right now," Pepper walked over to them. The normally pristine woman was still wearing a pair of pajama pants and one of Tony's AC/DC t-shirts. She wasn't even wearing shoes, just house slippers. Her appearance was the only thing reminding Harry that it was still barely 5 in the morning. 

"I need to see him. I need to see if he's okay. Is he okay?" Harry asked, tears rolling down his cheeks now. 

"Oh baby," Pepper pulled him into her arms, ignoring how badly he flinched at the contact as she murmured into his dark hair. "He's okay, just a bit banged up." 

"Please let me see him," Harry sobbed into Pepper's chest. "Please." 

Pepper cradled Harry in her arms and glanced up at Bruce who was now standing in the doorway, the double doors swinging shut behind him. Despite her attempt at composure, Pepper's strong façade began to slip and tears threatened to spill down her face. 

"Bruce," Bucky choked the Avenger's name out, shaking his head. "Tell me what happened. How are they? How's Steve?"  

Bruce held up a hand to stop the soldier, giving him a gentle smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. 

"They're both fine. Tony has a mild concussion and some cracked ribs, and Steve's got a separated shoulder and sprained ankle. They'll be okay, I promise." 

He turned to where Harry was burrowed into Pepper's arms, and his chest tightened as he watched Harry stiffen and back away from where she had been comforting him. 

"You can go in and see them if you'd like, just try to keep it down as much as possible," Bruce told everyone. 

"Harry, you go in first," Pepper nodded, reassuring the quivering child in front of her. Harry glanced up at Bucky, wringing his hands as he half-expected the soldier to become angry with him. But Bucky gave Harry a thumbs up and a reassuring smile and reached out. Harry flinched away from him before he realized that Bucky had just been reaching out to open the door for him. Quickly, he ducked his head and entered the room. 

As soon as Harry disappeared into the room, Bucky looked up a Pepper who wore an amused look on her face. 

"What?" Bucky cocked his head and mashed his lips together, questioning her. Pepper just chuckled to herself before dignifying his question with an answer. 

"You and Steve, huh?" She teased, and Bucky's face momentarily turned scarlet from behind the curtain of hair that had fallen in front of his face before he quipped back. 

"Well, you're engaged to Tony Stark, so," he shrugged and they both chuckled half-heartedly. 

Everyone knew that despite how cocky they seemed, whenever a member of the team would get hurt, ranging from a paper cut to a stab wound, everyone was worried. Nobody liked to see the ones they loved hurt. 

Harry stood just on the other side of the door, listening to the playful banter between Pepper and Bucky, knowing they were both still scared out of their minds. 

"Hey kid," Steve spotted Harry lurking in the doorway. He was lying in a bed, shirt off to reveal crisp white bandages wrapped around his shoulder and midsection. His ankle was propped up on a pillow, compression wrap secured tightly around the bruised and swollen limb. 

In the bed beside him, Tony was fast asleep. A nasal cannula delivering a small, continuous hiss of oxygen to him was wrapped around his face. He too, was shirtless, and his entire midsection was wrapped in attempt to still the healing ribs. Electrodes were stuck to his chest and side, wires hanging limply from them, connecting him to a heartrate monitor that was producing a steady, low beeping. 

"Come here, you don't have to be scared. We're okay," he lowered his voice a few notches, aware of how jumpy the kid was. 

Harry took a few tentative steps towards Steve's bed. He couldn't help but glace at Tony. The way he was sleeping right now... the resemblance was too similar to seeing Sirius and Remus' bodies at the Ministry of Magic. Cold. Lifeless. 

"Hey, it's okay," Steve murmured as the kid's breath caught. He followed Harry's gaze to where he was staring at Tony. "He's okay. He's alive." 
Harry stood there, frozen, his breathing becoming audible as he watched Tony sleep. Steve knew that he only had a few moments before Harry's panic became a full blown attack. 

"Harry, look at me," Steve soothed, sitting up with a wince as his shoulder protested. When Harry continued to stand there, frozen with panic, Steve decided he knew what to do. 

His ankle screamed at him in protest as he swung his legs over the side of the bed, placing both feet on the floor. Gingerly placing a small amount of weight on his bad foot, he awkwardly hopped towards Harry. 

"Come here," Steve gently took Harry's hand and guided the terrified child over to Tony's bedside. 

"He's okay. He's alive, I promise," he took Harry's hand in his, and placed it on Tony's chest. 

The feeling of Tony's beating heart snapped Harry back to reality. He was alive, and he was okay. 

"See? We're okay," Steve pulled his hand off of Harry's and stroked a lock of Harry's hair behind his ear, revealing the lightning shaped scar. 

"They're okay," Harry whispered to himself, calming down a bit, but keeping his hand gentle pressed against Tony's chest. "They're alive. They're okay." 

Steve frowned as he hopped back over to the bed, leaving Harry to stand over Tony's sleeping form. Something deep down told him that the kid had been through more than he was letting on. He could tell that it wasn't just his relatives that tainted his past. There was something else too. 

He was making a mental note to Tony to inform him of his suspicions, when the door opened to reveal Bucky standing there. 

"Hey," he smiled sheepishly at Steve, taking a few tentative steps towards the super soldier. 

"Hey," Steve smiled back, reaching with his good arm for Bucky's hand. Warmth bloomed in his chest when Bucky took it and brought it to his lips, planting a loving kiss on his bruised knuckles. 

"You know I hate seeing you in hospital beds," Bucky sighed, sitting down on the mattress near Steve's hips. 

"I know, I'm sorry love," Steve grimaced. Suddenly, realization struck him as he glanced up to see Harry smirking at them from his place next to Tony's bedside. 

"Don't worry, he figured it out and is sworn to secrecy," Bucky grinned, glancing to Harry and then back to Steve. "Not that it's much of a secret. Pepper just told me she knows, and obviously Clint and Natasha know as well." 

"I'd be more concerned if those two didn't know," Steve chuckled. "That's kind of their jobs, figuring stuff out." 

Bucky tucked a lock of hair behind his ear, letting out a quiet bark of laughter before silence consumed the room once more. 

"I love you, Steve Rogers," Bucky blurted out suddenly. "The panic I felt today when I heard you were hurt... I realized how much I love you and how much better everything is with you. I love-" 

He was cut off by the warmth of Steve's lips on his own, the words melting away as they kissed. 

"I love you too," Steve replied, confirming in words what the kiss did without them.

"I knew it," a voice croaked from the other side of the room. Harry, Steve and Bucky all glanced at Tony to see the smirk that was blossoming across his face. "Bruce owes me ten bucks." 

Bucky threw a crude gesture up in the air, and Tony reached up to cover Harry's eyes jokingly, but everyone was smiling. 

"Sorry kid, I didn't mean to scare you," Tony turned to Harry, a sad expression on his face. "I'm okay, I promise. Bruce is just being extra cautious, making a bigger deal out of this than it really is, I swea-." 

"It's okay. I'm just glad you're okay," Harry interrupted, pausing for a moment before grabbing Tony's hand. 

Happiness filled Tony as the kid reached for his hand, grabbing it and giving it a squeeze. It was the first time he had willingly reached for them, and it felt good to know that he trusted him enough. 

Even though he and Steve were lying in hospital beds, things seemed to be looking up. 

Oh, but Tony should know better than anyone- it only takes a second for things to change.