Sam should really pay more attention to people's reactions. More specifically, what they did when something scared them.
In the time he had been with Bucky as his partner on missions (and roommate) he noticed that the man had some funny attitudes. Like checking under the bed when they were staying in a hotel when they had missions abroad (Sam still teases him about looking like a six year old checking for monsters).
Or also the way he talks to animals, especially cats; Bucky goes crazy when he sees a cat walking quietly down the street, when it happens, he immediately carries it and starts cooing at it (That actually seemed cute to him, but Bucky wasn't need to know that).
But one thing he never expected was that the man, a ex-assassin and capable of taking you out with a simple straw, would be easy to scare.
He still remembers how Bucky jumped off the couch the first time they saw "The Ring" movie. He also threw a big handful of popcorn at the TV, which Sam had to clean up afterwards, but he didn't really take too much notice of it at the time, he was too busy laughing at Bucky.
There was also the time AJ showed him his surprise clown toy in the box. The kid had winded it up and subtly left it in front of the supersoldier. Sam was across the room at the time, trying not to laugh at the sight of Bucky's furrowed brow, who was looking at the box curiously. AJ had hidden behind the couch, where Cass was waiting for him. Sam didn't think his little prank would work, but he still stood ready to comfort the kids when they saw that little clown wasn't going to scare Bucky.
But then the music stopped playing and the little doll shot out of the box. It was a surprise to see Bucky scream and slap the toy hard enough to send it into the wall.
AJ and Cass let out loud guffaws, playing down the importance of whether or not their toy was broken. Sam laughed too, ignoring Bucky's annoyed look and soothing him with halting words when he realized he broke the toy. That day AJ got a new toy and Sam new material to embarrass Bucky in the not so distant future.
With those and many more experiences (Bucky being scared by thunder and the sound of the toaster) was that he came to the conclusion that Barnes was someone really easy to scare.
So he decided to play a little joke on him.
One that of course didn't turn out the way he expected.
It was early in the morning. He and Bucky were visiting his sister's house after a long mission that had sent them to France for two weeks. It was nice to be home, and for that very reason, Sam decided it was the perfect time to be able to scare Bucky.
He woke up early, as usual. He took his morning run and when he returned he hid behind the kitchen door.
Sarah walked in just then and gave him a confused look. He just brought a finger to his lips and silently uttered Bucky's name. Sarah rolled her eyes, mumbling something about having four children instead of two.
Sam would have come out to defend himself if the sound of Bucky's voice approaching the kitchen saying good morning hadn't reached his ears. The small second he saw the figure of the man in the door frame was when he decided to leap forward, screaming as if he were a beast.
Bucky let out a somewhat high-pitched scream.
Sam was about to laugh. But then a fist landed on his left cheek. The blow wasn't hard enough to send him to the ground but it was enough to knock him back a few steps.
"What the hell, man!" Sam exclaimed, one hand rubbing the affected cheek, trying to ease the pain.
"What did you think was going to happen, that I was just going to scream without defending myself!" Barnes replied, walking over to the cooler and ignoring as Sarah writhed on the floor laughing.
"But it wasn't for you to hit me!" He shouted back, shooting a menacing glare at his sister "And we're not on a battlefield! You don't need to be alert!"
Bucky let out a snort and closed the cooler. Sam noticed how the man now had a small bag full of ice in his hands. The brunette reached over and pushed Sam's hand away from his cheek with a small slap.
"You're living with a man who went from battle to battle without a break for decades," he said calmly, taking Sam by the chin to get a better look at the bruise he had caused. He took a few seconds to get a good look into Bucky's blue eyes until he saw Bucky grimace a little guiltily then push the ice pack against his left cheek "Be thankful I didn't hit you with the Vibranium arm."
"You guys really are idiots" Sarah said in the middle of a laugh as she wiped a tear from her eye.
Sam stuck her tongue out childishly at her sister and settled the ice pack on her cheek. And now that he thought better of it, he didn't know how he hadn't noticed that Bucky reacted violently to scares. He'd thrown popcorn, slapped the clown in the box and the toaster, and even picked up a spatula as a weapon when a thunderclap scared him.
I had hoped that after that incident he would stop trying to scare Bucky. But he was Sam Wilson, and to his chagrin he forgot that little detail most of the time.
The next time his face suffered the consequences of his idiocy was during a mission.
They were both on a rooftop. The mission was simple, wait for the drug dealer to come out of the building and capture him. The thing was, the damn man wouldn't come out of the building.
They were waiting for more than four hours on the rooftop, guarding the back door of the building. It was already past two in the morning and Sam noticed how Bucky was starting to nod off in his place (he remembered how the guy had told him he hadn't been able to sleep for four days in a row, apparently the sleep was kicking in). He told him he could sleep leaning against him and wake him up when his goal was within reach, Barnes tried to deny his tiredness but finally managed to convince him.
That's how he ended up acting as a pillow for a one hundred and seven year old man.
More than half an hour had passed and there was still no sign of the drug dealer. Sam let out a sigh and took a big sip from his water bottle (at times like these he was grateful he had listened to Sarah). He looked down and smiled a little as he saw Bucky's face lying on his thigh, his expressions were relaxed and his lips were slightly parted, forming a small space.
Sam didn't know how long he kept his gaze fixed on Bucky, but he thought he could stay that way for the rest of the early morning. He was cute. Bucky in and of himself was already cute, too cute to actually be an existing human being (Sam didn't understand how someone like that could live in a shitty world and at the same time have a shitty attitude). Seeing how his breathing was calm and regulated, and how the constant frown was now relaxed. Bucky was indeed someone beautiful. And not to mention his lips. Those thin, slightly puffy crimson lips were something Sam constantly fixed his eyes on (Bucky wasn't need to know that too).
The sudden sound of a door opening brought Sam out of his bubble. Looking down from the rooftop he could see a group of men dressed in all black coming out escorting another one shorter than the rest with a colorful t-shirt and a briefcase in his hands. Wilson cursed under his breath. He could appreciate Bucky later (and probably think about how he felt about his partner) now they both had to kick drug dealers' asses. But first, he had to wake up the old man.
"Buck, Bucky..." he said softly giving the named a little shove, the latter stirred a little but didn't wake up. Sam let out an annoyed snort, his target was already leaving the alley so he had no choice but to start shaking Barnes violently "Bucky!"
"AH!"
And as he had to have expected. He received a slap. This time on his right cheekbone.
Sam let out a groan as Bucky instantly sat up so he could see it.
"Oh, I'm so sorry! I- Oh, it's you, so I don't mind" he muttered that last as his eyes recognized him in the darkness.
Sam managed to hear him clearly and raised both arms in the air, totally indignant, and letting it show as his cheek took on a deep red. Bucky rolled his eyes and just as he had done days before at Sarah's house, he grabbed Sam by the chin to check how bad the damage had been.
Apparently not that bad as he ended up giving him a friendly pat on the same cheek. Sam winced (he didn't know if from pain or because Bucky pulled away from him) as he watched Barnes lean over to look down the alley.
"We'd better hurry, they're getting away" the man reported, backing up a few steps to prepare to jump off the roof "Sorry about the slap by the way...and thanks for waking me up in time" he added with a grin.
Sam reciprocated with another smile and moved into the same position as Bucky. They both jumped seconds later from the rooftop, straight to take down the group of men.
Come to think of it. Bucky reacted with different violent moves. First a punch and then a slap, though both for the purpose of "defending" himself. Sam was able to confirm that only a week later on another mission.
This time they had to take down a terrorist group that was holding captive in a warehouse several people who had been missing for days. It should be specified that the one shot down ended up being Sam.
Both he and Bucky had decided to split up. Barnes remained at a high point in the warehouse, keeping his attention on the hostages while Wilson circled the place to locate the nearest exits and armed persons nearby. It was enough to go around a few times before he was able to form the complete plan in his head.
Now all that remained was to go to Bucky and report back, maybe perfect it. On several occasions the man detected some mistakes and these were quickly changed by both of them. Sam smiled, Bucky could deny it all he wanted but it was thanks to him that they succeeded in their missions. Bucky apart from being cute was intelligent and observant.
Sam shook his head, he really needed to stop thinking so much about his friend, maybe he would take Sarah's advice about taking a few days off to clear his feelings. With agility he entered through one of the open windows of the warehouse behind Bucky's position.
Sam had to walk a few aisles until he found his partner's back at the end of one. He smiled tenderly at the sight of the star garter the supersoldier wore to hold back his hair, when he bought them he did it just to annoy him but he didn't think the man would ever wear them. He walked slowly so as not to alert anyone else until he arrived right behind Bucky.
He glanced over his shoulder, giving the hostages a quick once-over before addressing Bucky in a whisper.
"Hey, Buck."
Maybe sneaking up behind him wasn't such a good idea.
Maybe he should start trying to dodge Barnes' punches.
In a second, Bucky grabbed him by the shoulders, holding the straps that kept his wings attached and Redwing on his back, he was flipped over and his whole body crashed violently on the ground. And when he least expected it, he was now underneath a Bucky with his metal fist raised and ready to attack.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy man, it's just me" he said.
Bucky instantly lowered his fist and instead gave him a little smack on the forehead (as if knocking him down hadn't been enough). And without getting off on top of Sam he crossed his arms and shot him an angry glare.
"Don't scare me like that" he scolded in a low voice "Let alone on a mission, what kind of idiot would think of sneaking up behind a reformed ex-assassin when he's on alert?"
"Well, me" Sam replied with a grin, though he immediately wiped it off when he saw Bucky's shit-eating grin "No, wait, I'm not an idiot."
"Too late, you already confirmed it" Barnes laughed, giving him a little shove in the chest.
Sam, unable to help himself, let out a laugh; bringing his hands, unconsciously, to Bucky's thighs, which were on either side of his waist. He could feel Bucky take a deep breath and they both paused for a moment so they could look into each other's eyes.
God. Sam could look into those eyes for the rest of his life if given the chance.
Then one of the hostages let out a scream at an unspoken threat from one of the captors (at least that's what Sam assumed). They both snapped back to reality almost instantly. Bucky stood up, awkwardly slipping a lock of hair behind his ear, though the next second he brought it back to the front. Sam guessed it was to try to hide the growing blush that adorned his neck and face.
Sam carefully stood up as well. He glanced out of the corner of his eye at Bucky for a few seconds before clearing his throat and turning to the man so he could explain the plan in detail.
That wasn't the only time he'd made the mistake of approaching from behind.
A couple of days later when they were both on the dock in front of Sarah's house. Bucky was leaning on the railing looking out to sea while Sam slowly took off his shoes so as not to create any more noise.
Since the last mission he had made it a point not to take any more surprise hits. From now on he would dodge them the right way. And that challenge begins with the first test. Scare Bucky, wait for the blow, and dodge it the same way he did with the guys he fought every day.
Sarah had told him that idea was one of the worst ideas he'd ever come up with in his life.
"Don't be an idiot and just try not to scare James," she had said.
But Sam wanted to prove himself. And for that he had to carry out his plan. When he saw that Bucky was standing distracted on the dock, he saw it as a perfect opportunity.
He approached from behind, careful not to make any of the boards squeak. He waited a couple of seconds to make sure Bucky hadn't noticed his presence and the next moment he hugged the man around the waist.
Bucky's reaction was immediate. First he let out a cry of surprise and immediately pulled away. Sam saw the first blow coming and managed to parry it easily with the palm of his hand before it touched his face. He smiled proudly.
"HA! You miss-"
In Sam's defense. He never saw the second blow from the other arm coming.
He let out a groan of pain and shot a withering glare at Bucky, who had brought a hand to his mouth when he saw it was him.
"Sorry... reflexes" he muttered under his breath. And like the previous times, he took Sam's chin and checked the bruise. Sam guessed this one look bad from the grimace he saw Bucky put on. He didn't want to imagine what his face looked like right now, the bruise he earned the first time he scared Bucky still hadn't finished healing, and now he had a new one on the other cheek.
"Yeah, I noticed" he replied sarcastically, Bucky let out an annoyed snort.
"You need to stop scaring me, you're doing it on purpose" Bucky said, now dragging Sam inside the house, probably to put another ice pack on his face.
"It's not my fault, you're the one who keeps throwing punches at anything that moves."
"At least I don't scare people knowing they react violently."
"Look, let violence aside, you should have listened yourself" laughed Sam as he walked into the kitchen and watched Bucky head for the fridge.
"Shut up" he heard him mutter, pulling out the ice pack and placing it gently on Sam's bruise.
"Thanks" Wilson said with a warm smile, placing his hand on Bucky's. The latter smiled too, without removing his hand.
"Sorry" he blurted out suddenly.
"For what?"
"For reacting like that, the one who always ends up getting hurt is you."
"Bucky..." began Sam, unable to help but let out a small laugh "Don't worry about it, I know it's not your fault."
The brunette smiled. And Sam was glad to know that he was the cause of that smile, however small it was. He loved Bucky's little smiles, unlike others, these were always soft, calm and above all beautiful.
Neither of them had removed their hand from the ice pack, something they probably should do as the cold was starting to burn their skin, but he didn't want to take his eyes off Bucky.
"If you both kept this up, anyone would think your a married couple."
Both Bucky and Sam took a few steps away at the sound of Sarah's voice. The woman was watching them with a raised eyebrow from the door frame, one hand on her hip and glancing between the two of them.
"The neighbors already do and even the kids, I have to say I'm starting to believe it too" she was telling them as she opened one of the cabinets and pulled out a bowl and box of Cass's favorite cereal.
"Ok, Sarah, let's not go so fast" Sam began with a nervous edge to his voice that he hoped Barnes hadn't noticed "We're just friends."
"Yeah, to be called husbands Sam should take me on a date at least"
"Yeah and...what?" he asked, turning his full attention back to Bucky. The man seemed to be holding back a smile as a heavy blush began to make its presence known on his face and neck "You want me to... take you on a date?"
"I mean... I wouldn't mind" he replied, this time unable to hide the small smile Sam so adored.
Then one of the kids called Bucky over to help them peel off two Legos that AJ said were "impossible to separate." Bucky let out a small laugh and before leaving the kitchen gave Sam a kiss on his almost healthy cheek.
Sam didn't even realize how long he was paralyzed in that same spot, with the ice pack pressed against his bruise. Sarah's laughter brought him back, and that's when his brain replayed the scene in his head and his heart started beating a mile a minute.
Unable to help himself, he smiled big, ignoring how his sister called him an idiot again (though he supposed it was because he was leaving the ice pressed into his skin for too long, that would leave another wound).
Maybe Bucky's violent reactions and Sam's idiocy had served a purpose after all.