Chapter 5
Bucky was lounging on the couch, his nose buried in a book. He was so focused on the story he didn’t hear Sam come in. Sam dropped his tactical bag and pulled off his newly designed Captain America jacket with a sigh. He started taking the weapons out of their holsters, watching as Bucky kept his attention on his book.
“What are you reading now?” He asked, double-checking the safety on one of the guns.
Bucky held up the book. “ Prince Caspian ,” he said, flicking the page.
“You’re really enjoying Narnia, huh?” Sam asked, pulling off his bullet-proof vest.
“Actually, yeah. I mean, growing up, you couldn’t not know Tolkien and Lewis in our house. My sister was obsessed. She had a copy of The Pilgrim’s Regress that was barely holding onto the spine. And Ma used to read us The Hobbit as a bedtime story.”
“You know, they turned that book into a movie trilogy. Shuri make you watch it yet?”
“No, but I’ve heard the movies are good.”
“What? She hasn’t made you watch them yet? Okay, clear your Tuesday plans.”
“But I already-”
“You and I are going to have a movie marathon, and you’re going to love it.”
Bucky smiled at him. “All right. It’ll be fun.”
“Awesome! Alright, I’m gonna go shower. Chinese or pizza for dinner?”
“What tv show do you have picked out for tonight?” Bucky asked when they settled onto the couch with their containers of Chinese takeout.
“I thought we could watch a few episodes of Chopped,” Sam suggested.
“Sounds fun,” Bucky said, crossing his legs.
Sam groaned and nudged him to the side. “Move your fuckin’ legs, Barnes.”
Bucky laughed and shifted so he didn’t take up the entire couch. “You know, I’ve been meaning to ask you about that.”
“About what? My need for personal space?”
“No. Why you continue to call me Barnes. You can call me Bucky, Sam.”
“I’m not calling you Bucky. It’s a stupid nickname, and it’s from a past-you that isn’t who current-you is.”
Bucky turned to look at Sam. “So you’re going to stick to calling me Barnes?”
“Well, no. Not if I find a nickname that fits you better.” He offered Bucky a soft smile.
“So, Mr. Wilson,” Fury said, shuffling some papers on his desk. “You know Mr. Barnes. Is he ready to join you in the field?”
“You know, I think he might be. I know if you ask him, he’ll say he is, because that’s just who he is. But I honestly believe he’s ready.”
Fury nodded. “Good. Now, get out of my office and send him in here.”
Sam pushed up from the chair and stepped out of Fury’s office. “You’re up, Barnes.”
Bucky stood up. “Good news?”
“Kind of,” Sam said. “Just get in there before he starts yelling at you to hurry your ass up.”
“We have a mission for you two,” Maria said. “It should be an easy in and out. We just need you to gather intel from an old HYDRA base. From what we have now, it looks deserted, but we can’t know for sure.”
“What kind of intel?” Sam asked, flicking through the mission file. “What are we trying to gain from an abandoned base?”
“We think there might be information hidden on the current leaders. Where their safehouses are, what they’re planning, et cetera.”
“Got it,” Sam said, passing the folder to Bucky. “We’ll go suit up.”
As the two walked towards the quinjet, Sam noticed Bucky was keeping his eyes on the ground.
“You alright, man?”
“Hmm? Yeah, I’m fine. Just… It’s my first time going back to a HYDRA base since I’ve been cleared. What if I’m not really free of the programming? What if there’s still some there?”
“Barnes,” Sam said, stopping and turning towards him. “Do you know how hard Shuri worked to check and triple-check that all that shit was out of your system? I promise you, you’ll be fine. Those words are just that, words. They can’t hurt you anymore.”
Bucky took a deep breath. “Okay. I’m okay. Let’s go.”
The mission didn’t go quite as smoothly as planned. Apparently the base was not abandoned like SHIELD thought. Sam and Bucky fought through the agents, but ultimately had to pull back. Only they didn’t pull back in time. Sam took a brutal hit, knocking him unconscious.
Sam woke up to blinding white lights and machines beeping. He slowly opened his eyes and quickly realized he was in a hospital bed. And he wasn’t alone in the room. Looking to his right, he saw Bucky slumped in the uncomfortable visitor’s chair, asleep. His hair was in greasy curtains around his face and there was a large bandage across his forehead.
Sam shifted in the bed so he could reach Bucky. He flicked his face. “Hey, asshole.”
Bucky slowly opened his eyes, blinking in the harsh light of the room. “Hey, you’re awake,” he said, smiling at Sam.
“How long have you been here?” Sam asked, looking at Bucky. He’d changed out of his mission suit, opting instead for jeans and a sweatshirt. One of Sam’s sweatshirts.
He looked at his watch. “Almost 71 hours.”
“Did you go home at all?” Sam asked him, sitting up in the hospital bed.
“I didn’t want you to be alone when you woke up,” Bucky said, like it answered Sam’s question.
Sam shook his head, trying not to smile. “You’re an idiot, Barnes, you know that?” In the back of his mind, a voice said But he’s your idiot . Sam pushed that voice away, ignoring it the best he could. He wasn’t going to think about what it meant. He and Barnes were just friends.