“I blame you. It’s your fault,” Sam whined.
“Was not,” Bucky retorted.
“Was too,” Sam said childishly.
“Was not!” Bucky loudly.
“Was too!” Sam yelled.
Bucky glared before stumbling slightly. He blinked his eyes and ignored Sam’s glares. He didn’t have the energy to argue with him anymore.
“You should really watch where you’re going,” Bucky said quietly. “You might trip.”
“You’re the one who tripped me, asshole,” Sam said as he flipped off Bucky and got off the grass.
“Did I? Clearly you don’t have the coordination and skills that you think you do, Captain Clumsy,” Bucky said.
“Excuse me ‘Mr. I Tripped Over A Squirrel’ yesterday,” Sam argued.
“That squirrel got in my way. He deserved me tripping over him,” Bucky mumbled before rubbing his eyes. His vision blurred again and he breathed in slowly. Clearly Sam had noticed because when he opened his eyes again, Sam was staring back at him with a concerned expression.
“Have you been sleeping okay?” Sam asked gently.
Bucky nodded. He has been sleeping relatively okay lately, which probably should have warned him that he was getting sick. He rarely ever sleeps well. The first few days in Delacroix he slept fine, but he started not sleeping great afterwards. Even after him and Sam got a house that one of the aunties gave them after passing away, he still slept badly. Except when he was with Sam. Sam was the often cause of his problems, but he was the solution to them too.
Him and Sam would occasionally sleep in the same bed, but they had separate rooms still. Bucky was worried about hurting Sam in his sleep, and Sam felt the need to steal all the blankets. So until someone brought more blankets into the bedroom and until he himself stopped waking up tangled in his own covers, they had separate sleeping arrangements.
Bucky rested his head on the tree, earning a look from Sam. He sighed.
“What?” Bucky asked quietly, too damn tired to even say it louder.
“Are you sure you’ve been sleeping okay, Freaky Magoo?” Sam asked calmly. He wasn’t mad at Bucky, not even a little. He’s not used to people not being mad at him.
“Steve wants to come down to visit,” Bucky said. Changing the subject was something he was an expert at. “He still hasn’t seen the house yet.”
“Yeah, I know. I talked to him yesterday and mentioned it to you,” Sam said with a slightly worried expression. “Why don’t you take a power nap or something inside? You look awful.”
“Wow,” Bucky said flatly. “Offensive.”
“It’s the truth though,” Sam said seriously. “You don’t look good. Like…really. Maybe the heats getting to you. Go inside, get some water.”
“I’m fine. I wanna finish this,” Bucky said as he grabbed another block of concrete.
“Buck-” Sam started with a worried tone. He actually sounded worried and concerned.
“I need to finish the fire pit,” Bucky interrupted quietly. Sam stayed quiet and Bucky noticed Sam watching him. “I need to.”
“Okay, we’ll finish it,” Sam said slowly. “Let me help. I am the muscle out of the two of us after all.”
“Not really,” Bucky mumbled.
——
Bucky sighed and wiped his arm over his face. He felt like he was burning up and freezing at the same time. He had a slight shake in his body and was hoping Sam wouldn’t notice. Thankfully Sam was busy putting wood in the new fire pit to notice right now.
“I think we did a good job. Well, me mostly, since I did most of the work,” Sam joked. “I did like 95% at least.”
“I’m sorry,” Bucky said before stiffening. Sam stopped and turned to him.
“Sorry for what? Are you okay?” Sam asked calmly. “You look like you’re burning up.”
“I feel hot and freezing at the same time,” Bucky mumbled before he stumbled again. He rubbed his eyes as his vision blurred.
“Woah, hey, what’s wrong?” Sam asked quickly.
“I think I’m sick,” Bucky said quietly as he stared at the ground. “I’m sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing?” Sam asked gently as he put his wrist to Bucky’s forehead. “You’re burning up. Come on inside.”
Sam practically dragged Bucky inside the house and walked into the kitchen to grab water.
“Bucky, why are you apologizing?” Sam asked again as he came into the living room with a glass of water. “There’s nothing wrong with being sick.”
“Bad,” Bucky mumbled miserably before tripping and falling on the floor.
Nothing says badass assassin like knocking yourself unconscious.
——
Bucky woke up slowly. His eyes didn’t open just yet, but he felt better. Not 100%, but better than before. His body was cooled off more and he felt blankets on top of him. When he finally worked up the courage to open his eyes, he realized he was in his room.
“Hey,” a voice said from next to him, causing Bucky to turn and smile when he saw Sam.
“Hey,” Bucky said quietly.
“You okay?” Sam asked with a worried tone.
“You look goofy when you’re blurry,” Bucky said, causing Sam to snort.
“You look goofy when you collapse and knock yourself out when you hit the floor,” Sam said. “How do you feel?”
“Comfortable,” Bucky said before going to sit up but realizing one of his wrists was handcuffed to the bed. “Uh…buy me dinner first.”
“You…you woke up before this and put those on yourself,” Sam said hesitantly. “Said something about it being protocol…and…and you apologized again.”
Bucky nodded slowly.
“I didn’t know you kept handcuffs in your nightstand,” Sam said.
Bucky nodded again and stared up at the cuffs. He sighed and turned towards Sam.
“Stark made them after I asked him. They’re super soldier proof. I keep them just in case. Can you uncuff me?” Bucky asked hesitantly. Sam immediately nodded and grabbed the handcuff keys.
“I didn’t want to unlock you until you woke up. I didn’t know if you were dissociating or in a flashback or something, so I figured I’d just wait it out,” Sam said as he unlocked the cuffs.
“Hydra had me handcuffed to a bed whenever I wasn’t in cryofreeze,” Bucky explained.
Sam nodded.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were sick?” Sam asked gently. “I would have held back with the insults.”
“Not supposed to tell anyone I’m sick, not how I was trained,” Bucky mumbled. Sam sighed. “‘m sorry.”
“It’s okay. Really. You’re…it’s gonna take you a long time to recover from Hydra. Nothing to apologize for. Just…for future reference, if you could at least try to tell me when you’re sick, I’d appreciate it,” Sam said. “Okay?”
“I’m sick,” Bucky said. Sam snickered and nodded.
“Yeah, yeah, you are,” Sam said with a smile.
“How do you think I got sick?” Bucky asked.
“Probably from AJ or Cass since they were sick. It’s crazy. Kids get sick and are fine in a few days. And they have the audacity to pass it to us and we’re down for weeks,” Sam said with an eye roll. Bucky smiled slightly. “So not fair.”
Bucky smiled and Sam handed him a water bottle. He took a few sips and sighed.
“Get some rest, Cyborg, you need it,” Sam said.
“You’re bossy,” Bucky mumbled before closing his eyes.
“And you’re sick,” Sam retorted. “So, rest up. Captain’s orders.”
Sam got up from the chair and expected a come back or something. He turned to Bucky and smiled when he saw the man asleep and breathing evenly.
“Goodnight, old man,” Sam said quietly.