Half-Cocked Plan

Barnes had said, "don't do anything stupid." So Sirius decided he'd take down the burglar a little unconventionally.

Pairing: Bucky & Sirius
Rating: teen
Warnings: Blood, Canon Disabled Character, Violence
Tropes: Bucky Barnes lives, Coworkers (SSR), Sirius Lives, Time Travel
Words: 1,509
Original Release Date: 20 Aug 2018
Square: O4 - "Don't do anything stupid until I get back."

Sirius hated the pistol they'd given him. It was heavy and loud and he was a horrible shot with it. But he wasn't really 'SSR Agent Black' without it. He really wanted to use his wand but he knew he couldn't. Just because Barnes and the rest of SSR knew about magic didn't mean he could go breaking the Statute of Secrecy on a whim.

On their last case, Barnes had laid out the plan to deal with the possible supernatural entity posing as a New Jersey state Senator. He would approach and ask to speak with the Senator privately about his missing wife. Unfortunately, the Senator was not pleased to see the agents investigating the missing persons case and set his bodyguards—big, hulking men with two arms each who knew how to fight hand-to-hand—on Barnes. Barnes with his one arm and bulky, plastic prosthetic that was meant for general tasks, not fighting. He'd held his own against the first all right but when the second swung hard and Barnes went down flat with one hit Sirius had rushed in, pistol in both hands and pointed at the bodyguards. They hadn't stopped and so he'd shot them. Or at them. He hit one in the neck instead of the chest (or shoulder, which is what he was actually aiming for) and the second had fled. Barnes had been covered in blood and the cleaning bill for the carpet the big man had bled out on was sent to SSR. The Senator had then barricaded himself with lawyers and the simple mission of talking to him was made infinitely harder.

Chief Thompson was brassed, to say the least, and had even told Sirius that he was tempted to take away his pistol if it wouldn't leave Barnes without backup. Sirius had really wanted to say he was better at aiming with his wand but there'd been so much innuendo in headquarters when he'd first mentioned his wand he didn't want to bring it up again.

Right now they were around the corner from some crazy wanker who was attempting to burgle some fancy weapon prototype of the inventor Howard Stark. This had apparently happened in the past but this time, Stark was in on it and the gadget was supposed to be bait. Except, somewhere wires had got crossed and the real gismo was in the warehouse.

Sirius was crouched low to the ground and Barnes was leaning over him so they could both peek around the corner as the burglar came out of the building with a rucksack on one shoulder. "Don't do anything stupid until I get back," Barnes whispered as he suddenly pulled his suit jacket and pistol holster off his shoulders. He dropped them behind Sirius and then casually strolled around the corner towards the criminal.

What the hell was he going to do? Chat up the man?

Sirius watched Barnes amble down the pavement, watching how he forced his shoulders to relax. He had manipulated his prosthetic so it was bent at the elbow and the claw was tucked into his pocket. He looked like a regular, two-armed fellow as he moved. The burglar didn't seem to notice him at first but as Barnes closed ground between them, his attention caught on him. The criminal watched him approach and called out to him. Sure enough, Barnes just walked up to the guy like he was about to chat about the weather.

Sirius knew better than to go for his pistol this time. Besides, right now, the situation didn't require it. But that could change. Finally, making a decision that wouldn't get anyone covered in blood or killed, Sirius slipped back from the corner and looked around. It was a narrow alley that was half blocked off by a large rubbish bin at the other end. He was isolated. He shifted into Padfoot and stretched his back. He licked his snout and trotted down the alley and around the half block.

* . * . *

Bucky was once again, walking into a dangerous situation with a less-than-stellar plan and minimal backup. He liked Black, he did, but he was shit for backup. That Senator's missing wife case they botched was a prime example of why the shouldn't be working together. He needed a partner who wasn't terrified of his gun and knew how to shoot it when necessary. Bucky was still a good shot with a pistol but he was also the better charmer and boxer. Of the two of them, he was better at getting information out of people just by talking. He thought if Black could use his wand, he'd be a better agent but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon unless they wanted to challenge some International law regarding the secrecy of magic.

As he approached the cat burglar, Bucky took in the details of the fella. He was wearing a well-tailored brown-striped suit but his shoes were scuffed and his belt didn't match. There was an odd orange stain on the cuff of one sleeve and on the canvas backpack he'd slung over his shoulder. Bucky made a note to not touch whatever it was. If it came from Stark's prototype it could be dangerous. He didn't think it was corrosive but that didn't discount slow-acting poison. It was a weapon, after all. Stark had failed in explaining exactly what this prototype did, though.

This whole case was on rickety legs. It had come together too quickly and Stark had seemed too willing to share such a dangerous gadget as bait. He wondered who in Stark's circle of acquaintances he'd pissed off to be targeted so often. Maybe this time it wasn't about the weapons at all. Stark slept with enough women that Bucky was sure he had cuckolded someone at least once.

The burglar spotted him then and called him over; Bucky strolled up to him. "What can I do for ya?" he asked, his best charming smile in place. It'd always worked on getting Steve and a multitude of women to do what he wanted, he figured it couldn't hurt to try it in this case.

The burglar's eyes had narrowed on Bucky's chest and right shoulder where the prosthetic was attached with two buckles that showed under his dress shirt. "What happened to you?"

"Ah, war wound. You look a little lost. Did you need directions or somethin'?"

"No. I wanted to know what agency you're with."

"What?" Bucky asked, trying to keep his cool on the outside while on the inside he was starting to berate himself for how stupid this plan had been. At this distance, Bucky could just make out the outline of a pistol holster strap underneath the man's jacket. He should have kept his own on. Dammit.

The burglar shifted, his hand slipping into his jacket, "I said, which agency are you with?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, pal," Bucky said, taking a half step back. The man pulled his firearm into view, aiming directly at Bucky's chest. Bucky raised his right arm with his palm up. "Hey, wait a minute, pal—holy shit!"

Before he could ramble out anything suitable to calm the man down an enormous black dog came charging between them. His jaws clamped on the man's wrist and Bucky would have sworn he heard bones break in that maw. The rest of the dog's massive body collided with the man and both of them went tumbling down onto the street. The gun fired and Bucky jumped back, would have obviously been too late had the bullet been heading his way. The man screamed and flailed as the dog continued to hold him down with his broken wrist, unable to move the gun up to shoot the dog or Bucky. Bucky jerked out of his stupor and pulled the backpack away from the man and knelt on his back, pulling at one of his hands to hold him steady. He looked up, back towards the corner where he'd left Black but didn't see his partner heading his way with the handcuffs. He sighed and wondered if he could use the man's jacket as a makeshift tie when the dog nosed the gun away from the man and trotted away. Not a minute later, Black came from the direction the dog had gone and helped him cuff the burglar. Bucky didn't think too much of it as they grabbed the guy's gun and the stolen prototype and frogmarched the burglar to their car to take him to SSR headquarters.

They were debriefing with Thompson and Bucky was recounting his story. "And then this giant black dog just showed up and tackled the guy. It was pretty amazing."

Black spoke up, half gesturing with his hand, "Oh yeah, thanks, that was me."

"What?" Thompson asked, blinking in confusion at Black. "You can turn into a dog? Are you serious?"

Black gave him a shit-eating grin and said, "Well, that's a funny story, you see..."

Bucky couldn't help it when he started sniggering.