Chapter 1: Mission Briefing

Bucky sat down beside Steve in the meeting room of Avengers Tower. The rest of the Avengers were sat around the long (much longer than necessary for twelve people) table, each with an official-looking folder sitting in front of them. Some of the group were already leafing through its contents, but Bucky left his untouched, the big black "A" on the front staring up at the tall ceiling.

"Everybody here? Good," said Rhodey, standing up. All attention turned to him. "So, as you know, Tony and I have been scoping out this particularly elusive Hydra base, narrowing down its exact location and scanning the base for unusual equipment. And we definitely found something unusual. Tony and Bruce have been analyzing the information we found, so I'll turn it over to them to explain what they've figured out."

Rhodey sat down and Tony and Bruce stood. Bruce adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat, but it was Tony who spoke first.

"What we found isn't just unusual, it's... well, the only word for it is terrifying. This group of Hydra agents have some sort of device, whether discovered or created, with extremely destructive power. I mean like tornado and hurricane at the same time type destructive."

"What does it do?" Sam asked.

"This device..." Bruce began. "Well, it has the ability to suck everything within thirty feet of it into... well, we don't know where. Itself, maybe. But this thing packs some serious punch. Anything weighing less than a ton and not strapped down would be pulled into it."

"Quite fittingly, it's called The Vortex," said Tony. "And if Hydra tries to use this thing, the results would be disastrous. A lotta people would die."

"Or worse," Bruce added.

"Worse than dying?" Clint said. "What d'you mean?"

"Like I said, we don't know what happens to whatever The Vortex sucks in. They might die, but they also might be trapped inside the device or in some sort of limbo or even transported to someplace else entirely," said Bruce. "I don't know about you, but that amount of unknown is hell of a lot more terrifying than dying."

Bucky felt a little sick to his stomach at the thought and was grateful when Steve laid a hand on his knee. He placed his own hand over Steve's and squeezed it gently as Tony went on.

"So naturally, since this thing is ridiculously dangerous and we're the Avengers, we're gonna go take it from them."

"Naturally," said Pietro, a hint of well-intentioned sarcasm in his voice. "Do we at least know how to shut this device down? In case they try to use it on us?"

Tony and Bruce exchanged an uncomfortable glance.

"Not exactly," said Bruce.

"There kinda isn't a way to shut it down."

"Excuse me?" said Steve. Bucky felt Steve's grip tighten on his knee as he tensed.

"The thing... as far as we can tell... it just sort of runs out," said Tony. "Like you turn it on and it just goes at it until it pretty much collapses on itself and shuts down."

"So it's got a time limit?" Steve clarified.

"I guess you could put it that way."

"How long does it run for?"

Tony paused, eying Steve a bit nervously. "We... don't know..."

"You don't know?" Steve repeated, his eyebrows shooting up.

Bucky knew that tone. That was a dangerous tone. He gave Steve's hand another squeeze, a warning.

"Well, it's not like we've got the damn thing here to actually study it," Tony shot back. "We've never even seen it in person. All we've got to go on is the scans Rhodey and I got from our fly over. It's a miracle we know as much as we do, Rogers, so consider us lucky."

Bucky felt Steve untense a bit.

"You're right, Stark," he said. "That wasn't fair of me. I'm sorry."

"No worries. And hey, it's your turn to talk now, mister strategy, so the floor's all yours."

Steve stood, his hand slipped from Bucky's knee and leaving it cold. He stepped around his now vacant chair and went to the screen on the wall behind him, pulling up the schematics of the Hydra base that Tony and Rhodey had gathered. Bucky turned to watch as Steve began laying out their plan of attack.

Several hours later, Bucky emerged from the bathroom in his and Steve's suite, a towel wrapped haphazardly around his hips, his wet hair tousled. Steve was sitting crossed-legged on the bed, doing one last weapons check so he wouldn't have to do it in the morning before they left. At the sight of Bucky, however, he set aside his handgun and stood up, a sly grin on his face as he hooked an arm around Bucky's bare, slightly damp waist. Bucky smirked at him, the extreme proximity forcing him to tilt his head back in order to catch Steve's eyes.

"Y'know, Stevie, you surprise me. Seventy years ago, I'd never have imagined you'd become such a slut," he teased.

Steve looked fake-offended.

"How dare you suggest such a thing? I am Captain America, the very picture of virtue and honor! I would never dream of begging a man to ravage my pure, virgin body!" he declared dramatically, his hands sliding from Bucky's lower back to his ass.

"Oh, shame on me for speaking such slander!" Bucky exclaimed, trying to echo Steve's melodrama but laughing too hard to succeed. "I ought to be spanked for my behavior, sir."

"Who's the slut now?" Steve shot back.

"I was always a slut, Rogers."

"Well, now you're my slut, Barnes."

A pleasant little chill ran up Bucky's spine as Steve murmured these words into his neck before kissing the soft skin over his pulse. Bucky placed his hands on Steve's waist, snaking them up his back as he wrapped his arms around him and pulled their bodies closer. The towel around Bucky's waist had been slowly coming loose and now fell to the floor, leaving him completely naked in Steve's embrace. Bucky's hands slipped under Steve's t-shirt, inching it up, subtly hinting at him to remove it. Steve obeyed, detaching his lips from Bucky's neck just long enough to pull the shirt over his head and toss it aside. Then he was back at it as though determined to leave his mark on Bucky, to claim him for himself. Bucky let out a little groan, melting under Steve's lips, running his fingers over the smooth, rippling muscles of Steve's back. His hands wandered down to the waistline of Steve's sweatpants, fingers slipped under the elastic, slowly pulling the pants down over the perfect curve of Steve's ass. Bucky felt Steve smile against his neck as he drew his hands gingerly over the newly exposed skin and finally Steve emerged, gazing into Bucky's eyes before dragging them both onto the bed.