That's classified
“No, Tony. He said it wasn’t necessary.” Steve rolled his eyes again, for the third time in this conversation.
“But I want to be under protection with you guys! We could have an awesome sleepover.”
You could practically hear Tony pouting.
“Sorry, Tones. Fury already has someone watching you and I don’t think he wants you here.” I said into the phone.
“Damn right I don’t.” Fury grumbled, walking into the room, “Remember what happened last time we let you in on a mission?”
Tony sighed, “Fine! You’re always ruining all the fun, Nick. Now, toodles boys. Keep me updated, I’ve got a robot that needs to learn the ABC’s.” And with that, he hung up the phone.
I turned to Fury-, Nick, eh. Whatever, “What happened last time?”
“That’s classified.” He just answered shortly.
~
“So,” Steve started when we all sat down, “care to explain?”
“Hydra has been on our radar for years now. They are involved in just about everything illegal in this world. SHIELD has been trying to take their organization down ever since we learned about them. But Hydra is smart. They’re well-trained and they’re very dangerous. Every time we got close, in any way, they managed to be one step ahead of us. It’s been over a year since we’ve had a real lead, which is where you come in. As soon as Johann Schmidt returned to the US we were informed, but we didn’t know why he’d returned. Given he’s the one that stole the money and made it look like it was you, we now know what he’s planning.” Fury paused. I guessed it was for dramatic effect. He seemed like the kinda guy who’d pause for dramatic effect.
“He wants to take back Hydra by reaping war in the organization itself. He’s pitting everyone who works for them against each other and you are one of the people Schmidt thought could help him reach his goal.” Fury pointed at me.
“So you’re saying that I was literally at the wrong place, wrong time? And now I’m involved in some kind of war between criminals and the government. For Christ sake!”
“What are you gonna do about it and how is Bucky getting out of this situation unharmed?” Steve asked.
“I can’t tell you the extent of our mission. It’s classified. What I can tell you is that within a week you’ll be going home.”
~
The safe-house was pretty crowded, what with a bunch of agents and the two of us, but I guess that’s kinda the idea of a safe-house. It’s supposed to not attract any unwanted attention and that’ll be a lot harder in a mansion. Though probably more comfortable too.
“You can take the bed. I’ll set up camp in the living room.”
“There are already three guys sleeping out there. This bed is enormous and we’ll both fit. Undress and get in the bed.” I ordered, hiding my smile because yeah, I realized just as well as Steve what my words sounded like.
Steve’s cheeks quickly turned pink and he started dressing down to his boxers and t-shirt before climbing into the bed next to me, still keeping a safe distance.
I wanted to snicker at it. He was truly adorable when he was all gentleman-like.
“Night, Steve.”
“Good night, Buck.”
~
“I don-“
“Please-“
“No, no…”
“Stop- “
I woke up, breathing heavily, sweat soaked and eyes wide in terror. The room was dark and I jumped up out of the bed, putting my back to a wall and trying to see where Hydra was hiding.
I knew they were.
I heard movements. The sheets rustling. A clicking noise.
I blinked at the sudden flash of the lights being turned on.
I was looking at Steve.
“Buck?”
His words didn’t register in my panic-riddled brain. I barely heard him nor did I care about what he was saying. I stalked over to him in three big paces and started checking him over, looking for any signs of the torture that I’d just seen. Heard. Dreamt.
There was no blood, no bruises, no bones sticking out, no cuts, no bullet holes. He seemed fine.
I only noticed his arm had moved when his palm softly touched my shoulder, making my attention snap back to his face.
“Buck. I’m okay. I’m fine, I promise.”
After checking him over once more I felt the tension draining from my body, leaving me tired but not nearly tired enough to fall back asleep.
“Come on, sit with me.” Steve said, “Wanna talk about it?”
I stared blankly ahead and shook my head, “It was just Hydra. I’m fine.”
“You don’t have to say you’re fine. You don’t have to be fine right now. You’re under a lot of stress and this isn’t a situation most people deal with the way you do. It’s okay to not be okay.” Steve whispered.
I moved my eyes to his face and studied his blue eyes, noticing a little green in them. An imperfection, maybe. But they were perfect anyway.
“How can I be okay?” My voice croaked.
“We will be. Just another week. Seven days and this’ll be all over. We’ll be back to our normal lives. We can forget everything that has happened.” Steve told me, scooting a little closer to me so our arms and legs were touching.
“What if I don’t wanna forget?” I asked carefully, thinking back to our kiss, but also to everything good that had come from this whole nightmare. I felt like we’d gotten to know each other a lot better these last few days. The sleepless nights spent talking to each other. The waking up to someone who understood you not wanting to talk about what haunted you at night. The company of someone. The support.
“That’s okay.” Steve hummed, “Just sleep now. We’ll talk later.”
I hummed. Maybe that was a good idea.
When I buried myself back under the covers, I noticed Steve hadn’t moved back that much. His warmth still a comforting presence next to me.
The need for comfort was greater than perhaps smart thinking was, so I carefully felt around the bed until I found Steve’s hand and linked our fingers together. Steve squeezed my fingers in return and sighed, “Sleep tight, Buck.”