Daylight

RJ had been on the library with Dr. Samson for exactly 50 minutes, ever since they walked into the room Bucky had been sitting on the living room couch, legs bouncing as he tried to listen to any yell, struggle or abnormality that would come from a 16 years old that had killed more than a dozen people.  Steve was by the kitchen making lunch, like nothing was happening. 

“How can you be so calm?” 

“RJ agreed with this and I don’t think he would do anything against his will.” 

“But what if-” 

They heard the lock of the library turning and soon Dr. Samson and RJ’s steps were reverberating on the room, making their way towards the living room. RJ had his hands on his pockets, head high and his usual cocky attitude, walking like nothing in the world could ever bother him. Dr. Samson followed close behind, shoulders relax and a small smile on his face. 

“What is for lunch?” RJ said and sat beside Bucky. 

“Chili, hope you like it.” Steve said, but his eyes were looking towards Dr. Samson. 

“Well, I think that the session went well. RJ and I have a lot to talk about and I’m really excited for our next meeting.” Dr. Samson said looking at Bucky and Steve. Bucky couldn’t help but want more, wanted to know what they talked about and how he could help the kid that was apparently only wanting to lunch. “I think that next week I can give you both a feedback, but until then… I have another appointment in 30 minutes.” 

Steve followed the doctor to the door, leaving Bucky and RJ alone. 

“Shouldn’t everything I say to him be a secret?” RJ asked Bucky. 

“Well, he won’t tell us anything you tell him, only give us an overall look of the things we can help you with.” 

RJ looked at his hands and nodded. 

“RJ, I did a lot of things that I’m not proud of. People say to me that it’s not my fault, that I wasn’t in a position to choose what I did, but it doesn’t change the fact that it was my hands who did that things. So, I had to learn how to accept it and move on.” 

“That’s why you take lost causes in your home now?” 

Steve had come back into the kitchen and already felt the tension in the air. He looked at Bucky asking him with his eyes what he could do to try and make it better. 

“First, I don’t think you are a lost cause and yeah, I think I can try and make up for the things that I did-”

“Nice to know I’m helping to ease your conscious.” 

“RJ, this is not what this is about-” Bucky tried. 

“Don’t worry, Mr. Barnes, I’m not mad for you using me for you personal gain, you’re not the first one to do it.” 

“Oh, oh.” Steve interfered once he saw Bucky’s mouth opening without any sound coming out and the dumb expression on his face. “RJ, you know this is nothing like it so don’t try to twist it.” 

The kid just rolled his eyes and huffed. Steve waited a moment and hoped that everyone had calmed down a little to serve lunch. They ate in silence, Bucky would occasionally look at RJ and lower his eyes, clearly upset about what the boy thought of him. 

Once they were done, Steve asked RJ if he could wash the dishes, the kid complied with a blank expression. 

There was a tension in the air and when RJ walked out of the kitchen, Steve could see a smirk on his face. He had won the first round, he managed to destabilize Bucky and bring a wall on their relationship. 

Steve could see why Bucky decided to bring RJ in and give the boy another chance, the kid was everything Bucky once was. As soon as Bucky remembered who he was, he had gone away and vanished without a trace, even though he remembered Steve and knew he could help. If Zemo didn’t frame him, Steve would probably never had found him again and life would still be getting in between. That’s just who Bucky was, whenever he was in need for help, he would shut down and bring a edge between them. 

It took a long time for Bucky to start accepting help from others, but even now he would rather work alone and in the shadows, “bothering” his friends was the last thing he wanted, even if said friends would do anything for him. 

Steve may not know RJ, but he knows Bucky. He knows what to do when Bucky is having one of his bad days, that’s why he knew exactly what needed to be done next. 

“Ok, that’s enough. RJ come here!” It was almost 9 p.m now and the boy had spend the whole day on his bedroom, Steve and Bucky hadn’t heard a world from him ever since the mess that happened on lunch. 

Bucky was reading a book by the couch and looked over it as Steve stood up next by the stairs, waiting until RJ came out and met them.

Then, Bucky and the boy were sitting side by side on the couch, with Steve sitting on the armchair in front of it.  

“RJ, talk to us. What is bothering you?” Steve asked him, looking straight into the kid’s piercing blue eyes. 

“I already talked with the doc about it.” RJ said with the same bored expression of always. 

“Yeah, but you did not talk to us.” Steve said. 

Bucky took a deep breath and nodded when RJ looked at him. 

“I’m sick of talking.”  

“Well, what would make you feel better?” Bucky asked him. 

RJ was taken aback, his eyes widened and he looked at Bucky’s face for any sign that he was lying, that he was pulling a prank and soon would laugh and say “just kidding”. Bucky knew this expression really well, he used to do it whenever Steve said something that Hydra would never allow, this was the face of hoping things were actually better and fearing that everything being told was just a lie. 

“What?” Came out of the kid’s mouth as a whisper. 

“Would you like some video games? Maybe a cell phone or even, I don’t know, to be anywhere else.” Steve said, ignoring Bucky’s face at the suggestion of taking RJ from them.

“I… I don’t understand.” 

“We both understand that you’ve been through a lot and we told you we would help you, so we are by your side for whatever.” Steve said with his usual reassuring smile. 

“Even if it’s something we don’t like or don’t agree.” Bucky added. 

“Mr. Colt told me he would help me as well. Gave a place to stay and introduced me to people that could help me as well.” RJ threw himself back on the couch, crossed his arms and looked dead serious at Bucky’s. “And look where we ended up.” 

“RJ,  I know words don’t mean anything to you right now, but we really want to help and I also know that we are asking for too much when we ask you to trust us, but you can believe us when we say that we are not Colt.” Bucky said hoping his words would transmit all the honesty in him. 

“You are just being nice so I don’t kill you.” RJ rolled his eyes and threw himself back on the couch. 

Bucky actually laughed at that. 

“Kid, you couldn’t kill me even if you tried.” He said. 

“Bucky, please do not dare him.” Steve said, clearly bothered by the twist of events. 

“I’ve had plenty of chances on the last few weeks.” 

“And why didn’t you do it?” Bucky asked looking into his eyes, the laughter had gone but he still raised his eyebrows and had a smirk on his face when he asked it directly at the kid. 

RJ looked down as if he was searching for the answer himself. It was true, Bucky and Steve had opened their guards, they even slept with their bedroom’s door open. Guns, knifes and even a sword was at reach and RJ would have no trouble at all using them, just like he could had went way at any moment, opened the door and vanish into the world without giving them a second thought. 

“Maybe I want to stay and see how long until you both give up on me.” RJ said and not even for a moment the words felt true, the supersoldiers could see right through his thought act. 

 “Yeah, right.” It had escaped Steve’s lips before he could stop himself. 

The mood in the room was lighter and the words were considered some kind of a joke between them. Bucky couldn’t help but smile a little. Apparently the conversation was over and they decided to leave it like that before RJ could say something that wouldn’t be able to take back or be faced as joke. This whole situation was paper thin, keep pushing was probably not the best approach. 

“What do you say about watching a movie?” Steve offered, after a few minutes of silence. 

“Can I pick?”  RJ asked. 

“Of course.” 

Bucky did popcorn and they settled to watch an action movie on Netflix, Steve stunned by the amount of blood and curse words on a movie about robbery. 

“Not even the movies about the war had this much blood.” Steve stated when the fake blood splashed on the street. 

“Maybe if it did you wouldn’t had gone.” RJ said as if it was clear that the war propaganda wouldn’t let it show the reality. 

“That’s a good point.” Bucky said. 

It all looked so normal that send shivers down Bucky’s spine. Therapy taught him to accept the small moments of victories like this one, when we could sat back and laugh at Steve’s face when the man on the screen cursed and RJ looked pleased at the fact that he could shock the former Captain America with his movie choice, but something told him that was a storm coming. 

As if the world was telling him he was right, his phone lit up and buzzed, indicating that an unknown number was calling him. His heart pounded on his chest, knowing that his time to rest was over and he couldn’t stay inside and play house forever. Grabbing the phone, he excused himself and accept the call. 

A client was sure HYDRA had been following him and was about to strike, finish him and make him suffer for betraying its ideals and beliefs. This client, different from Terry, wasn’t stupid. He was careful and followed all Bucky’s recommendations, so if he was saying that HYDRA was following him, he was probably right. With a sigh, Bucky told him to stay on his place and that he would be as soon as possible.

He turned off the phone and made his way back to the living on room and sat on the couch, the movie was about to end and he could use these few minutes to put together a plan. 

“One of your clients?” Steve asked, movie long forgotten. 

“Yeah. gonna head to Massachusetts in a few. He says Hydra is coming for him, usual stuff.” 

Steve nodded. 

“RJ, I was thinking you could come with me.” Bucky just said, in his mind it was a good idea. 

RJ was clearly surprised by the offer and almost jumped off the couch at the second his brain understood what Bucky was offering, but it was nothing compared to Steve’s reaction. He was eating a popcorn and almost choked on it, he looked at Bucky like he had just kicked him in the lungs or went insane. 

“Are you serious?” RJ and Steve said in unison, with pretty differents intonations. 

“Yeah, RJ is a pretty good fighter, has amazing skills and is completely healed from his wound. Why not?” 

“Why not? Buck!” Steve almost jumped off the couch to face Bucky, “We could’ve talked about it first! You can’t just take him to a mission that you don’t even know what to expect. This could be a trap to take RJ’s back to Hydra, this could be a trap to you!” 

“I’m really into it.” The boy interrupted Steve’s speech with his carefree attitude, ignoring Steve’s rage. “You don’t trust me, Steve?” His tone was taunting, daring Steve to speak.
Now Steve was on the verge of pulling his hair off. “I trust you! I don’t trust them!” 

“Steve, you are overreacting. It’s a simple check out mission and I trust RJ to be able to handle himself on the field.” 

“Nice, now I’m the bad guy.” 

Steve shook his head in disbelief and made his way out of the room. The end credits were the only thing making some sound in the room as Bucky watched the stairs Steve had walked up with hard footsteps. 

“So, what are we up against?” RJ asked apparently unbothered by the whole situation.

Bucky sighed and let him know everything important to the mission. 

They were packed and ready to go in a few minutes, RJ had picked his sword, a riffle and a bunch of knives from Bucky’s collection.  During the whole time, Steve was in the bedroom and didn’t come out until they were about to get into the car and leave the house. 

Bucky was opening the driver’s door as RJ made himself comfortable on the passenger seat when he noticed Steve looking at him from the doorway. Their eyes locked for a moment and Steve told him “be careful” as he always did. Bucky nodded and drove out of the house and into the road. 

It was already after midnight and the traffic was pretty low, nice enough for them to relax a little. Bucky hated to fight with Steve and hated even more to leave for a mission in not so good terms with him, he was distract and it was even worse for him. If something happened to him or RJ it would weight on Steve’s conscious, he had to be extra careful right now. 

RJ put the radio on and was changing stations unbothered by his bad mood. 

“Are you really funcional for this mission?” 

“We are people, RJ. We don’t talk about ourselves as in funcional or not funcional.” Bucky said and the kid rolled his eyes. 

“You know what I’m talking about.” 

“I don’t like fighting with Steve, but sometimes it happens. I won’t let that get in between the mission, if you are wondering.” 

“I was not, but it’s good to know.” 

RJ turned his head and stared out of the window as a song Bucky never heard filled the car. The windows were rolled down and the wind was cold and messing with their hairs but they couldn’t care less, the open road brought a freedom they didn’t feel in a long time. 

“He is not wrong, you know?” RJ pulled Bucky out of his thoughts. 

“Steve?” 

“Yeah.” The kid crossed his arms and made himself comfortable on the seat. “You shouldn’t trust in me.” 

“You never gave any of us reason for not to.”

“I literally tried to kill you.” 

“Once.” RJ let out a sigh. “You’d be surprised by the amount of humans and non-humans that tried to as well.” 

Bucky looked at RJ and laughed at the kid’s annoyed face towards him. 

“You had plenty of chances after that and still didn’t do it, so I assume you don’t really want to kill me. I actually think you like me a little.” Bucky teased him and was pleased when the boy rolled his eyes. “You’re a good kid, me and Steve are lucky to have found you that you let us in your life.” 

RJ looked out of the window, but Bucky couldn’t help but notice that he was wiping his eyes, avoiding tears to fall any further his cheeks. If Steve was there he would’ve know the right words to say and comfort the boy that was trying to hide his tears beside him, but Bucky was almost helpless when it came to it. 

They drove in silence the rest of the way, only the radio would provide some kind of sound. RJ fell asleep a few minutes after their conversation or at least pretended to. The drive wasn’t long and before the sun even raised in the sky they arrived at simple house in the middle of the woods. 

As soon as the car was parked, RJ woke up and was alert. 

“We are here.” Bucky let him know. 

They made their way into a cabin in the woods, Bucky went to talk to the guy - Seth - who spoke loud about how some car had been following him for days now as RJ looked over the perimeter. 

“Bucky.” RJ called his attention. The kid was looking over the window and into the woods, at the tree lines. “I think that’s something in there.” 

Before Bucky could analyze, two black holes in the air were made and white hands came out of it and tried to grab Seth that ducked. Bucky and RJ ran and were able to push whatever it was from the holes. In front of them, a figure that looked like a man, all white with black dots showed up. 

“Barnes, right? Weird I’ve never met you before.” The figure said. 

Bucky’s mind reminded him that in front of him was a mutant or whatever called Spot. “I guess that’s a first time for everything.” Bucky said. “His name is Spot-” 

“I know who he is.” RJ almost yelled, Glock on his hand already.  

Soon the whole place was mess. Portals shaped like black dots surrounded them and Spot moved through them, punching and hurting them all he could. Bucky could only see as a fist came towards him, way too fast him to even think. He could already taste blood on his mouth, still, he kept thinking if RJ was hurt, he would never forgive himself. 

“RJ! Get Seth to the car and out of here” He said as kept trying to shoot Spot. 

The punches kept coming in a organized order. Bucky paid close attention and before Spot could move again, he grabbed the man by waist and threw him on the ground, giving RJ and Seth enough time to run to the door. But the ground never came. Bucky and Spot walked through a portal that took them to another world, Spot’s world. 

There he was stronger, faster and Bucky was just a punching bag. 

Bucky was already lying on the floor, way too weak, needing a moment to breathe when he heard gunshots being fired. Just like him, RJ had walked into a portal and made his way into Spot’s world in way better manner them Bucky. 

He was firing and distracting Spot long enough for Bucky to catch his breath and charge his metal arm, once it was good enough to electrocute he ran and punched Spot on the face enough to bring him down.

In a few moments Spot was restrained and outside the cabin, being watched by RJ. 

It was over. 

“Can you look at him for a while?” 

RJ nodded, taking his order really serious. 

Bucky walked a few steps away and put his phone out of his pocket, dialing Steve’s phone. His partner picked up on the first ring. 

“How are you guys?” Steve asked. 

“We’ve all got some bumps and bruises, this Hydra guy, Spot, was able to get some punches in but we are fine.” 

“Glad to hear it.” The sun was already shining bright on the sky, illuminating the trees as Bucky was hearing Steve’s unsure voice on the phone. 

“Steve- I’m sorry.” Bucky decided to be the first one to break. In the end everything had went well, RJ had really came through, probably saved his life and now the kid had a stupid grin on his face. 

“Just come back home, please.” Steve begged. “I’m gonna ask Fury to bring a team to take care of Spot.” 

“Thank you.” 

“I’m sorry too, by the way.”

Bucky ended the call and watched as RJ looked at him with a smile on his face. Even if his face was swollen and beaten, the soldier laughed at the kid’s happiness. 

“In case I didn’t say it before… Thank you.” 

“Maybe I like you a little bit.”

“Maybe.” Bucky smiled. 

“Just maybe.” RJ repeated.