Elevated

Bucky didn’t let her go until she was sitting in one of the weird, comfortable seats on the jet. Even then he crouched at her knees and held her hand with his left while he wiped at her tears with his right.

Natasha sat in what must have been the pilots chair until Steve and Clint jogged up the ramp and shut it behind them. Steve looked at her, then Bucky’s back, and went to sit with Natasha saying, “Tony’s staying to clean up. He’ll meet us at the tower.”

Clint sat in the seat beside her and patted her leg gently, “You alright?”

“Yes,” Nora answered, because she didn’t think anything was broken. Then, “No. That was way scarier than the Hulk.” Bucky’s metal fingers flexed against hers and he frowned deeply.

“What did they want?” Clint asked, shooting a wary look towards Bucky.

“Oh my god, it was so dumb.” Her voice shook. She really couldn’t believe that a misunderstanding had resulted in her being kidnapped, “They thought I was Darcy. They wanted me to open an Einstein-Rosen bridge like that’s something Darcy can do!” She could feel the tears starting up again and leaking down her cheeks, “They must’ve got mixed up when we went for dinner the other day.”

Clint’s mouth fell open in surprise, “Shit.” He managed, then squeezed her leg.

Bucky reached up to wipe at her tears again. He made an upset noise.

Now that she was safe, the panic and fear settled into her in a clump. She started to cry for real, folding in her seat to press her face into Bucky’s neck. He held her hand and stroked her hair and let her sob into him for the second time. Clint didn’t run away like Tony had, he rubbed her back instead.

When they got to the tower she wasn’t quite cried out, but she was close. Bucky picked her up and packed her to the elevator and Steve followed at his heels. She was sure when they got to the eightieth floor he would let her go again. She could hear the way his heartbeat sped up, felt his hand flex against her leg, but he didn’t.

He walked her the whole way in and sat, still as marble with Steve hovering at his shoulder, while the doctors cleaned the cut on her hand and the burn on her arm. They helped her change into a fresh STARK sweatsuit (she still thought it was dumb but she was a little glad because she wore the first one all the time), and ran her through half a dozen scans. She was glad to be still a little numb because her burn didn’t hurt yet. The doctors shot Bucky nervous looks the entire time and she was sure that if she flinched, he would have picked her up and made a break for the elevator.

“Can I go?” She asked the doctor when her arm was bandaged, and her hand was stitched.

The doctor shot a nervous glance at Bucky in the corner. Nora couldn’t blame him. He looked downright scary still in his jacket with the knives, a glower on his face, “You need to be on high-flow oxygen.”

“Can I take a can with me? FRIDAY will monitor me if I don’t leave the tower, right?” Nora thought it was extremely obvious that Bucky wouldn’t be leaving her by herself, and Steve wouldn’t be leaving him, and nobody on the eightieth floor was happy about it. She wasn’t dying, she could sit with an oxygen tank and feel sad somewhere else, and take both men with her.

The doctor seemed to get it, “Yes. Alright.” He didn’t seem overly pleased, but he fetched a portable oxygen tank and spent a few minutes showing her how to adjust the flow.

“I can walk this time,” she told Bucky when he rocked to his feet and approached her, “You can carry this though,” she gestured to the tank. His frown stuck fast but he picked it up and didn’t reach for her. Nora wondered for a second if she’d made an error. She was reminded suddenly of the way he’d looked after denting the table at the Spruce, though he really didn’t look the same at all. She pushed to her feet and looped her arm through his, “We can go to your place, right? I just assumed you wouldn’t mind.” Gently she steered him towards the door, glancing once at the relieved expression on Steve’s face as he followed.

“Yes.” Bucky answered after a long minute when they were already halfway down the hall. He seemed to relax a fraction when they stepped onto the elevator.

“Did anyone find my phone?” She asked, mostly to Steve.

“No,” he looked apologetic, “Tony couldn’t track it, so they must’ve tossed it.”

“Oh well,” She fidgeted as she watched the elevator numbers count up. She felt fragile, like she might burst into tears again, “Do you have Clint’s number?” She asked Bucky. He nodded, reaching his empty hand to stroke his thumb over hers. Some of the panic ebbed and the doors slid open, “Cool. I’ll text Clint and get him to tell Darcy where to drop Luna.”

“I’ve got Darcy’s number,” Steve said as he followed them down the hall and into Bucky’s apartment.

Nora let herself be led to the couch. Bucky crouched beside her for a second, watching as she wiggled into a comfortable spot and started fiddling with the dial on the tank. She thought it was pretty weird that Steve had Darcy’s number, “Yeah, but Clint’s been a good friend and it’ll give him a chance to talk to Darcy. He’s got such a giant crush on her and no idea what to do about it.”

Bucky nodded in apparent approval. He slid the phone from his pocket and handed it to her before straightening up and wandering down the hall. Nora held the oxygen mask to her face with one hand and started typing a message to Clint with the other. Steve crossed the living room and flopped into an armchair. He looked tired and stressed.

“Are you really alright?” He asked. He kept his voice very low and Nora thought that he didn’t want Bucky to hear.

“I dunno,” Nora answered, “I think so. It was pretty scary, but I knew you guys would come get me.” She sent the text and tossed the phone onto the coffee table, “I wish I waited like five more minutes before I blew up the lab though.”

Steve looked surprised, “You did that?”

“Yeah,” Nora answered.

Bucky emerged from the hallway in a t-shirt, knives presumably stored somewhere safe, the blanket from his bed slung over one arm. He stretched it across her, tucking it neatly between her and the back of the couch, then lifted her feet to sit under them.

“I’m not a very good actress, the goon that was watching me definitely knew I wasn’t getting anywhere and he’d threatened to kill me.” Bucky made a growling noise that Nora might’ve been frightened by if it wasn’t on her behalf, “I figured if I blew up the lab it would make a pretty good smoke signal.” She reached for Bucky’s hand where it rested on her thigh, “It wasn’t my best plan. Lots of problems. Natasha was like, right there too.”

“How’d you do it?” Steve asked, looking interested.

Nora shrugged awkwardly, then tugged the blanket a little higher. She was horrifically tired, “The building must’ve done some kind of chemical processing? There was a bunch of stuff just sitting there. Nobody makes it through a science doctorate without learning at least a little bit of explosive chemistry.” She closed her eyes, “Thanks for coming to get me so fast.”

Nora fell asleep. Bucky held her legs on his lap and watched her. He was still furious at the bruise on her face and the burn on her arm and the cut on her hand. But he’d managed not to kill anyone. At least not on purpose.

Steve seemed disinclined to leave. He sat and looked upset and watched Bucky. Bucky knew it must still be there, the anger, branded somewhere on his body for his friend to see. Steve must’ve thought he was still likely to snap. He didn’t know how best to explain himself. That he was dangerous, yes, but not to Nora.

“D’you remember Rich?” he tried. It came out like sandpaper, low so he wouldn’t wake her.

Steve frowned at him. His eyebrows crashed together and he thought for a long time before saying, “Richie Waller. He broke my collarbone.”

“I broke his.” It felt strange, airing a secret that had lasted most of a century.

“Why?” Steve asked immediately. It was obvious to Bucky that he didn’t see the connection. Not the way Bucky wanted him to.

“I was mad.” He stroked his hand over Nora’s leg, felt the warmth of her against him, “He scared Becca. Hurt you.” He wanted Steve to remember the other times. When the other stupid kids in their neighbourhood got it in their heads to bother Steve. When they took it a little too far and Bucky stepped in, knowing Steve hated it and throwing punches anyways. They’d both been that way. Fiercely protective and willing to start a fight to protect their family. Just that way back then Bucky had been bigger. Not serum-strong but strong enough.

If Steve understood what Bucky was trying to tell him, there was no way to tell. He decided it didn’t matter. Steve sat and watched Bucky for a long time, and Bucky watched Nora. Eventually, Steve pushed himself to his feet and made for the door.

He felt awful. It hurt to see the bruise on Nora’s face and know he had been far too late to do anything about it. He knew, logically, that he couldn’t have stopped it from happening, but he felt like he should have anyways. What the fuck was the point in being afraid to touch her with his left hand if he couldn’t at least use it to keep her safe?

Someone banged on the door. Definitely not Steve, and he made an annoyed growl as Nora blinked awake and shifted, “Did Sam learn how to knock?” She mumbled.

He froze halfway off the couch. Was Nora still mad at Sam? It had been well over a week since he’d interrupted them the second time. Bucky must’ve kissed her a dozen times since, though not quite with the same intensity. It had startled him a little, how quickly the need to have all of her burned through him. He wanted to be careful with her, gentle the way she thought he was, so he’d walked it back. Tried to keep a lid on the overwhelming urge to carry her back to his apartment any time her lips were on his.

His heart beat hard. Did Nora want him to kiss her that way again? He opened his mouth, sure he could find the words to ask, but whoever it was knocked again. Nora poked him with her foot, “Bucky?”

He shook his head and managed to stand up and cross the room to the door. He thought it might be Darcy, she seemed like the kind of person to bang on a door, and then felt like he’d been dropped in an ice bath instead.

Tony Stark didn’t come to his apartment. Tony Stark barely managed to be in a room with him at all.

Bucky couldn’t blame him. It still shocked him that the man agreed to have him in the tower. It was why he’d spent so long never making it past the elevator door on the ninety-first floor. He’d done something unforgivable and Tony didn’t need his presence any more than was required by their working together. Tony surveyed him, frowning. It occurred to Bucky, suddenly, that he’d never managed it before. It bubbled up almost without his meaning it to, “I’m sorry.”

If he’d punched him, Bucky thought Tony would be less surprised. It seemed to catch him all over in a strange way, his body coiling tense like he wanted to throw a punch. And then it was gone. He nodded once, jerkily, then stepped around Bucky into the apartment.

“Silver?” he barked.

“Oh no,” Nora said, voice muffled under the mask on her face, “Don’t let him in Bucky, he’s gonna lecture me about my phone.”

Tone strode across the room and flopped into the same armchair Steve had, surveying her closely, “Relax, Silver. I’ll get you a new phone.”

“Nice,” Nora answered.

“What the fuck are you doing getting into weird cabs in the middle of the night?”

“What?” she squawked, yanking at the oxygen mask and immediately carrying on with outrage, “Firstly, it was like four-thirty, it wasn’t even dark yet. Secondly, it was literally the same as every other cab on the street! How was I supposed to know it was some,” she waved her bandaged hand, “goon!”

“You can’t tell an AIM fanatic from a cab driver?” Tony asked with disdain.

“It’s New York!” Nora cried like it was an answer to Tony’s equally ridiculous question, “Have you ever even ridden in a cab?”

Bucky watched them argue from the kitchen. They had a strange relationship, one where they definitely liked each other but pretended adamantly not to. He was glad for Tony and the life he’d shocked back into Nora. They could’ve been in the lab like any other day, bickering the way they always did.

He also kind of wished Tony would fuck off so he could ask Nora about the kiss.