Notes:

Chapter inspired by Vices and Virtues by Dropkick Murphys

So, I totally was planning on writing a chapter for Equilibrium, but I got a comment on the last chapter of this story that totally set by plot bunny hopping, and I wrote this chapter and the next one, which I'll post in a few days, in about two hours. Then I was totally lazy all weekend (okay I was reading other fan fiction and got distracted) and didn't get around to typing this one up until today. So, thank you to justduck82 for shooting my bunny in the ass. He's so hopped up he doesn't know what to do with himself. While I didn't really take any of your suggestions (not that they weren't great) these next two chapters are totally thanks to you.

Everything Has Changed

Chapter 6: Vices and Virtues

Bucky climbed high into the branches of the sycamore tree, his rifle across his back as he situated himself in the tree. He watched as Steve and Darcy left for town, the soldier pulled the rifle around, bracing himself against the trunk, sighting the fence that separated their property from the road, and waiting. He didn't like being left behind, his job was to protect Darcy, and he couldn't do that when he was stuck at the house.

He could feel himself slipping into the mindset that Hydra had programed into him, cold and calculating. Mission, keep Darcy Lewis out of Hydra's hands. Mission compromised. Bucky shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs of programming out of his mind. It was easy with Steve and Darcy in the house, they both made him feel warm from their very presence. Without them, he felt adrift, and his conditioning crept in.

He readjusted the rifle against his shoulder and focused on his breathing. Holding the images of Darcy holding the gun, his hand pressed to her back as she fought her body to even out her breath, slowing her heartrate. This was army training, he'd been a sniper long before he was Hydra's weapon. He watched the gate and let out a long slow breath. Steve would keep Darcy safe. All he needed to do was keep watch until they returned.

Darcy fiddled with the silver rings around the third finger on her left hand, twisting them with her thumb. "I think he's avoiding me," she watched Steve out of the corner of her eye. "He's been jumpy and the only touch I'm getting is when he adjusts my shooting stance."

Steve sighed, the stupid jerk was dragging his feet about talking to the poor girl, and he was mucking things up in the process. "He's worried," Steve gripped the steering wheel, pulling the truck over to the side of the road and killing the engine. "Hydra messed a lot of stuff up in his head, and he's still sorting stuff out." He took Darcy's hand between his, "He's not avoiding you, he's putting off looking too closely at his own feelings about what sex and intimacy means to him now."

"It's not me?" she asked, letting Steve pull her against him.

"No, doll," he rested his arm across her shoulders, rubbing his hand along her arm. "He's been exploring what he wants." This really wasn't his place to be telling her, Bucky needed to, but he clearly wasn't. "Look, you told me about how excited he got when you two were putting on a show for Hydra."

"And he's worried I'll freak out about the games he wants to play," she leaned back into Steve, the cabin of the truck was starting to get hot, but being close to him made them both feel better, she could feel him relaxing just by her shoulders burrowing under his. "That's stupid."

"That's what I told him," Steve agreed, glad they were on the same page. "He feels like Hydra crossed some wires when they programed him. And he's a little scared to explore what that means."

"So," Darcy played with Steve's fingers, twisting his ring around his finger. "We need a plan."

"We do," he took a deep breath, her lavender scent permeating the truck. "You smell good."

"Do you and I need to have a talk about kinds and safe words, too?" She asked as Steve nuzzled her neck.

"I like taking orders, but no bondage," he told her, pulling her around and into his lap. "And right now, I'm really hoping you'll let me kiss you."

"You're in luck, Captain," she settled herself astride his lap, wiggling her hips until he groaned and gripped her waist, holding her in place. "I like giving orders."

"No orders to Bucky," Steve let his head fall back against the seat. "He won't listen, and if he does, we might have bigger problems."

"It might trigger is programing," she concluded. "Will it bother him if I give you orders?" she nipped at his chin, running her hands up under his loose t-shirt, his hard muscles just starting to get a sheen of sweat in the hot car, god she needed this.

"Don't know," his voice was tight and dark, waiting for her to tell him to kiss her. "We'll just have to test it out."

"So what's the plan?" Darcy could feel how much he wanted her, drawing it out a little longer, pushing her hips subtlety down onto him and licking the salt along his Adam's apple.

"Gotta make it too hard for him to say no, but he's gotta be the one to let it go forward, don't push too hard," Steve said, his hands flexing on her hips. "But stay in control, he wants to hold you down, but he's afraid to, he wants you to struggle with him, but he's scared of what that means. Gotta give him something safe to do with his hands."

"I can work with that," she nipped on last time and sat back on her heels. "You can kiss me now, Steve."

"If we're talking about kinks, Darce, I need direct orders," he flexed his fingers. "You want my rules, there they are."

"Safe words," Darcy asked. "Not that we'll need them here in the car, in broad daylight, I don't care how many cars aren't driving by."

"Agreed," Steve laughed. "We'll stick with colors, it'll make things easier when you go over all of this with Bucky."

"Green, yellow, red?" Darcy watched Steve's eyes as they traveled down her body, she could feel sweat pooling at the base of her spine. He just nodded. "Kiss me." He ran his hands up into her hair and pulled her down to him, crushing their lips together, sliding them against each other. "Last question," Darcy said against Steve's lips. "Are you planning on joining in with my seduction of your best friend?"

"Darcy," he pulled her fully against him, she could feel the strain of his jeans hard against her. "You got me all worked up talking about Bucky's kinks, you tell me."

"I withdraw the question," she bit down on his bottom lip, moaning as he thrust up against her. "Now, I'm going to need those nice big hands of yours on my girls."

"Over or under?"

"Under."

"If we get caught, I'm telling them you seduced me," his warm hands slip up under her tank top, pushing her bra out of the way, cupping their heavy weight.

"I'll take that risk," she arched into his hands, pushing her hips fully down onto his.

Steve stopped their heavy petting before clothes came off, not willing to have sex with her the first time in the front seat of a truck. The drive into down with the windows down helped them both cool off. Darcy took Steve's hands as he helped her down from the truck, and he didn't blush when she slid her hand into the back pocket of his jeans. Progress was being made.

Darcy wandered up and down the aisles of the town general store, while Steve stocked up on ammunition, explaining to the clerk that his brother was teaching his wife how to shoot.

"Not doing it yourself," the clerk asked, looking Steve up and down. "You look like military to me."

Steve scratched the back of his neck and blushed. "Yes, sir," he said, watching Darcy out of the corner of his eye, a shopping basket tucked into her elbow, she hummed to herself as she ticked things off her shopping list. "Buck's got the crack shot, though, I was logistics."

"You the folks that moved into the old Denton Farm?" the clerk asked, pulling boxes of ammo out and laying them on the counter.

"Yes, sir," Steve checked each both, satisfied with what he found. "Darcy, that's my wife," Steve pointed her out as she disappeared down another aisle. "She thought getting out of the city would do my brother some good." The clerk nodded. "The names Steve, by the way," he gave the clerk's hand a good shake. "Steve Andrews." Darcy's hands slipped around his waist and he tucked her under his arm. "And this is Mrs. Andrews." She held out her hand and the clerk touched her finger tips.

"Mike Durban," Mike gave them both a friendly smile and took the basket from Darcy. "It's always good to meet nice people like you all."

"Thank you, Mr. Durban," Darcy said, returning the man's warm smile.

"Mike, please," he rang up their total and helped them set up a store account. "Makes it easy of folks, not having to worry about things."

"Thank you, Mike," Darcy reached for the bags, but Steve was quicker.

Mike caught her hand as she went to follow Steve out of the store. "It's good of you to help him with his brother," he walked around the counter, leaning heavily on a cane. "Coming out of the service can be hard on a man," he pulled up the leg of his jeans, revealing a hard plastic prosthetic. "'Specially those of us come out a little broken."

"Thank you for your service, Mike," Darcy patted the clerk's arm, his emotions bubbling down her finger tips.

"You're good people, Mrs. Andrews."

"Just Darcy, Mike," she flashed him a bright smile. "My friends call me Darcy." She left the general store feeling light and a little less isolated.

Steve helped her back into the truck, letting his hands linger around her hips as she bent back down and placed a kiss against his lips. "We should get back before our idiot friend falls out of that damned tree he's put himself in."

"He doesn't like it when we leave," Darcy strapped herself in and kicked her heels up on the dash board.

"Bucky doesn't like it when you leave," Steve pulled the truck out of the small parking lot, kicking up dirt and dust as he pulled out on to the main road. "He's going to be pissed, I told him we were picking up a few things and we'd be right back."

"You realize that if he falls asleep in that tree, we're just going to have to leave him there," she looked at the clock on the dash board, they'd been gone for more than two hours.

"Yeah," Steve blushed, remembering why they were so late.

"You quit that, mister," she poked his shoulder. "You are not allowed to blush, that's an order." Darcy smiled as she watched Steve roll his eyes and try and control his face.

"Evil minx," Steve smiled, pulling the truck through the fence and back onto their property. He looked up into the old sycamore and saw the glint off of Bucky's metal hand flash in the sunlight. Bucky was going to read him the riot act for keeping their girl out longer than strictly necessary.

Bucky dropped down from the lowest branch of the tree, his rifle strapped to his back. He stalked towards the truck, his eyes locked on Darcy as he pulled the door open, hauling her into a deep kiss. She wrapped her legs around his waist and let him carry her out of the car. He ran his hands down her back, holding her to him by her butt before placing her gently on her feet. "All bits accounted for, Sergeant," she said, letting him take possession of her lips again before handing her the rifle and hauling Steve to the house. "I'll just sit out here with the crazy big gun while you two have your talk then," Darcy mumbled and swung the strap over her shoulder and looked up at the low branch of the sycamore. That fucker had to be fifteen feet up. Stupid super soldiers who jumped out of trees with loaded guns.

Bucky pulled Steve all the way into the kitchen, his face set in a cold mask. "What the hell took you so long to pick up a dozen things on a fucking shopping list?" He backed Steve against the counter. "We're supposed to be keeping her safe, Steven Grant, making out in an unprotected car is not keeping her safe."

"You saw that," the Captain leaned back against the counter, looking his friend up and down. Bucky's body was so tense it was practically vibrating. "Is this worried or jealous, because you know I'll keep that girl safe."

"You were less than half a mile down the road, punk," Bucky's shoulders sagged. "I know you'll keep her safe." Steve lifted his friends chin and placed a gentle kiss against his lips. "I'll go apologies to Darcy for scaring her."

Steve caught Bucky's hand before he could go. "You didn't scare her, jerk," Steve said, pulling his friend back towards him. "She gets it," he pulled Bucky into a longer kiss, biting gently at his lips until the other man relaxed. "You may not have wanted to leave her with that sniper rifle, thought. That thing does scare her."

"Probably not," Bucky chuckled and ran his hands over his shorn hair. "But it was either leave it with her or run the risk of hitting you with it."

"Good call," Steve scratched the back of his neck. "We good here?"

"Yeah," Bucky smiled and walked towards the screen door. "I should probably work with Darcy on using the scope anyhow, since it's all assembled and everything."

"Instead," the Captain pushed away from the kitchen counter. "How about we all sit on the couch and watch a movie?"

"I'll go get our girl." Steve watched as his friend carefully lifted the gun from Darcy's shoulders and put his arm around her. Darcy beamed.

Notes:

Please feed the author, leave the bunny alone, he's still coming down.