Sleepless nights turn into late mornings
“You’re late. Why are you late? Did the world end or something?” Sam asked Steve, who came jogging up to him.
“It didn’t end because I saved it, duh. And are we gonna run or chat?” Steve quipped back before taking off, leaving a swearing Sam behind him.
~
“You need a medic?” Steve joked, looking at Sam, who plopped himself down on the grass, resting his back against a tree. He was panting like a dog.
“I need a new set of lungs.” Sam deadpanned, “Dude, I never ran that fast and still, you were faster.” But before Steve could quip something back, Sam followed with, “But only by a little. I just had a late start.”
“Sure, Wilson. Keep telling yourself that.” Steve grinned, extending an arm and pulling Sam up.
“You know, you seem chipper today. Even more so than usual.” Sam noticed.
“Well, I guess I’m just well rested.” Steve answered with a shrug of his shoulders.
Sam’s eyebrows rose, “Really? You’re well rested?”
“Yes. What’s so weird about that?”
“Dude, I’ve known you for a while now, and first thing I remember you telling me was that you thought your matrass was a marshmallow and you’d sink right through it. Second, you haven’t slept without nightmares since you came back. So, you gonna tell me what happened or-?”
“I-, well-“ Steve stuttered, trying to find the right words without admitting too much to his friend.
“I slept with Bucky.”
Oh yeah, that definitely came out wrong.
“You slept with Bucky?!” Sam almost yelled, his eyes comically wide and smirking a very annoying smile, Steve thought.
“No! Well, yes. Wait! Let me explain.” Steve hurriedly said.
Sam gestured for Steve to go on, looking very pleased with himself.
“Well, short story is, we fell asleep on the couch, woke up, watched movies for about eight hours, passed out again, and then I was here.”
Sam just stared at Steve with that smile on his face that told Steve Sam didn’t believe a word of what he just said.
“So, you just slept with the guy, and now you’re all smiles.”
“Oh, shut up.” Steve slapped Sam on the shoulder. Thankfully Sam dropped the subject.
After sitting on the grass and cooling down a little, Steve stood up, pulling Sam to his feet again and said smirking, “Thanks for the run. If that’s what you wanna call running.”
Sam scoffed, “That’s how it is?”
“Oh, yeah. That’s how it is.” Steve smirked back.
“Okay. Well, anytime you wanna stop by the VA or just hang out, just text me.” Sam said, already turning to leave, “And tell Bucky I said hi!” Sam shouted while giggling.
“Goodbye Sam!” Steve shouted back in mock-annoyance.
~
Steve unlocked his door and walked directly into the kitchen, immediately noticing the smell of eggs and slightly burnt bacon.
“Hey, you’re up. How are you?” Steve asked me as he moved behind me, probably to grab something to drink since I heard the water running.
“Yeah, I’m good. You know, when you weren’t there when I woke up I had such a bad déjà vu to all of the one night stands I’ve had. Damn.” I joked. I turned around just in time to catch Steve blushing and turning away to inspect the food I was currently burning.
Steve decided to ignore my statement and answered with, “I was on a run with Sam. He says hi by the way. Also, I’m assuming you cooked for the both of us, and I’m hungry, so thanks.” Steve grinned while quickly snatching away the plate I had just filled up for myself.
“Hey!” I exclaimed laughing.
~
“Are you sure you don’t have better stuff to do than hang out with me?” I asked for about the fourth time. I had been at Steve’s for at least a day and I felt kinda like an intruder and didn’t want to bother him.
“I told ya, Buck, I got nothing better to do today. Nothing that tops hanging out with you.” Steve stated before looking away just a fraction of a second too late for me not to catch the slight blush his cheeks showed.
I smiled, “Thanks, Steve.”
“Talking about better things to do, how’s work?” Steve asked.
“Work’s good. Tony’s a great boss, though compared to him I’m not as dedicated to my job as I feel I need to be.”
“Don’t worry about that. Tony can be a little too dedicated. Did you know that I had to carry him out of his lab once? I don’t think his legs would’ve worked if he tried. JARVIS told me he’d been there for at least three days with less than a few hours’ sleep and I hope at least one sandwich. That man brings the word ‘workaholic’ to a whole new level.”
“Yeah, I get that. I always have to coax him into taking a break, but thankfully he almost always gives in after some badgering.”
“Really?” Steve asked, “He must really like you then because I’d never gotten him to do that without having to carry him out of his nest he calls a workplace.”
I laughed, “Talking about work, you wanna talk about yours?”
I immediately noticed the change in Steve’s facial expression. What was happy and open tightened and his smile faltered, his lips now a thin line. I already hated myself for bringing it up.
“You don’t have to.” I quickly followed.
“It’s okay. Might as well.” Steve almost sighed, “My old boss, Director Fury, called me, asking about my return.”
What a stupid name, Fury. Makes him sound like he’s angry all the time. Not a great vibe for a director.
“So,” Steve continued, “I told him that I got out for a good reason and I wasn’t planning on going back. Let’s just say he didn’t wanna accept that he’d lost his best Captain and the call ended in us both raising our voices.”
I frowned, Steve never told me why he’d gotten out in the first place, except for the ominous ‘they weren’t who I thought they were’.
“So what now? You think he’ll leave you alone?” I asked.
“I don’t think so. He’ll probably try again in a few days.” Steve tiredly ran a hand through his hair. His hair just sprung back into its original shape.
“Can I ask why you really left the army?” I asked softly.
Steve hummed, “The people I worked for, including Fury, they gave out the orders. And that was fine. It was what I signed up for. I was a soldier, so I followed them. But after a while I started noticing that I wasn’t as willing to follow those orders anymore. They weren’t right anymore. I joined the army to do good. To serve my country and help people. At first that’s exactly what I did. I could go to bed at night knowing I left the world a better place than I had found it that morning. But skip forward a few years and I couldn’t say the same anymore.” Steve shrugged, “When I closed my eyes, all I could see were innocent civilians gunned down by us, caught in the crossfire of a war that wasn’t theirs to die for. I didn’t agree with my superiors’ orders anymore, so I quit. And now they want me back to fight their wars again, and I don’t think that I can.”
“Then you say no. You can, Steve. Stand up for yourself like you did for me the first night we met.” I told Steve, my hand on his arm to kinda, I don’t know, comfort him?
Steve looked me in the eye and smiled weakly, his hand moved to mine and he squeezed it, “I will.”