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Bucky looked...bad. His face was a mess of deep abrasions, blood and grit. How the hell was he even sitting upright with wounds like that?

“You doing OK Buck?” Steve asked, moving one hand off the steering wheel to gently grip the back of the other alphas neck. He applied light pressure, kneading muscles as Bucky allowed his head to drop forward languidly.

I fidgeted a little, uncomfortable with the weird vibes the two were giving off. The moment I moved, Steve’s gaze jumped to me, his lips pulling back in a faint snarl as the car drew to a halt.

I plastered myself against the passenger side window and bared my throat. Steve scent was giving off a startling sense of protection, anger, distrust..

“Don’t try anything,” he warned through gritted teeth.

Jesus, what did he think I was going to do? Then again, I guess I had nearly killed them both...twice.

“Wasn’t going to,” I said, raising both hands in a gesture of peace. I was shaking pretty badly. Steve took notice and, thank fuck, something in his expression softened. He nodded once and pulled back onto the road.

I didn’t move from my position against the window, but I did allow my body to relax a little. After a while, when nothing bad happened, exhaustion began to take hold. I could feel my eyelids drooping and eventually, I stopped trying to fight the need to sleep and managed to drift off.

I woke up to the feeling of someone gently shaking me awake. I was foggy and disoriented, so when I opened my eyes and saw Steve looming over me I outright bellowed in the alphas face. Steve didn’t so much as flinch, his stupidly handsome face morphing into a frown as he removed my seatbelt and hooked an arm around my waist.

“What are you doin’?” I asked, my words a little slurred as I tried to push him away.

“We’re here. Come on.”

“Where’s here?” I asked, unresisting as he lifted me over the gear stick and pulled me out of the drivers-side door. Were we in their settlement already? They said they were only a day away, but that was before the fight.

“Place is called Latern Valley,” the alpha said, gesturing to a brightly lit building in the middle of a small, quiet town. “We’ll rest up here tonight and arrive home mid morning tomorrow.”

I noticed Bucky wasn’t with us. Must have gone on ahead, I reasoned, impressed he was able to walk without assistance. I startled a little when Steve took his jacket out of the car and draped it over my shoulders, effectively covering me in his scent. “I don’t want any trouble in there,” he warned, winding up the tether that connected us and taking a firm hold of my wrist. “Keep your head down and your mouth closed.”

“Got it,” I said, unresisting as I was dragged forward. Steve’s grip was firm, yet despite the anger I could sense from him he wasn’t unnecessarily rough.

He didn’t pause when we entered the inn, pulling me up a short case of stairs and stepping uninvited into a compact room with one bed and a large bath. Bucky was already stripping when we entered. He looked back at us momentarily before lowering himself gingerly into the tub.

“That feel good?” Steve asked, his tone kind.

“Yeah,” Bucky said with a tired sigh. He looked over at me, his gaze accessing. “What about you, are you OK?

“Oh sure, I’m just swell,” I sniped, unable to look at the damage on his face and body. Except, was I going crazy or did they look a little less severe?

Even so, he still looked pretty gnarly. I tried to push aside the nagging voice in my brain telling me it was my fault. I refused to feel guilty after they kidnapped me and refused to let me go. It was self defence, damn it.

Bucky shrugged, plunging beneath the water and spilling suds over the sides of the tub. Steve signed and client yes his jaw, but he didn’t scold the other man for making a mess.

“So, what happens now?” I asked. If they were going to beat the shit out of me I wanted to get it over with. I was tired, cranky and feeling hella stressed.

“We’re getting cleaned up and then you’re going to be be quiet and go to sleep,” Steve said, his tone bordering on impervious as he used his grip on my arm to push me onto the thin mattress. “I don’t want to hear another word from you.”

“Good luck with that,” I sniped, honestly unable to help myself. Despite my sass, I didn't resist as I was pressed flat against the bed. “So why the stopover?” I asked, genuinely intrigued.

Steve looked over at Bucky, frowning with his signature sourpuss expression. “I don’t want our people to worry.”

Bucky sat up in the tub and leaned back with a satisfied sigh. “They’ve seen worse Steve.”

Tony looked between them, too tired to point out that a night was hardly going to make that much of a difference.

Pretty soon I could feel myself start to drift off again. I didn’t try to fight it and snoozed lightly as the two alphas moved quietly around the room.

”Take the bed,” Steve ordered, sitting down with his back against the door. “I’ll keep watch.”

”No arguments from me,” Bucky said, yawning widely as he sat down on the mattress, sufficiently jostling me enough that I growled groggily.

”Cute,” Bucky said, getting on the bed and bullying me over until I was practically pressed against the wall. “Hope you’re a hugger,” the alpha said brightly as he wrapped his non-metal arm around my waist.

I would have panicked if I didn’t know just how badly the other man must have been hurting. I released a low, threatening growl and allowed myself to pass out.