Author's Notes: No beta this chapter, guys, sorry! Please forgive any lingering typos XD I gave it an extra editing to make up for it, but you really can't beat a second pair of eyes.

Also, for those of you that don't know, I DO have a tumblr (joliemariella) where I occasionally post sneak peeks, and stucky stuff, and the fanart I'm working on atm!

Make sure to drop a review if you enjoyed, they always make my day and help me keep writing!

Chapter Eleven:
Play On

When Bucky returned to his quarters, he closed the door quietly behind him. The man took a few steps into the room proper, only to pause and look around him, feeling strangely lost; as though he were meant to be anywhere but there at that moment in time.

Exhausted, but completely wired at the same time, the former soldier scrubbed his face with his good hand and sighed. His body longed for sleep, but his thoughts were far too turbulent to begin to allow him to rest.

Turning, he went to his gun case and pulled it open, examining the contents with an expression of dissatisfaction. For the first time, the thought of sitting down and meticulously cleaning his weapons put him on edge rather than offering him the meditative calm it normally did. Growling quietly to himself, the man shut it with a snap and turned to his bed.

At a loss, and feeling vaguely overwhelmed, Bucky sat on the edge of the mattress, elbows on knees, and fingers loosely interlaced. After a moment he glanced at his nightstand, then reached over and dragged the drawer open to pull out a pair of headphones.

They had been a christmas gift from Natasha a few months prior in an attempt to get him to listen to more modern music. Normally, drowning out the world was the last thing Bucky wanted to do. He had only just recently regained a full depth of feeling and awareness, and the idea of relinquishing that was frightening to the man.

Right now, though, removing himself from the distractions of the world sounded like pure bliss.

Fetching out his phone, he linked it to the headphones and dragged them over his ears. After locating the little used music app Nat had set up for him, Bucky chose a random playlist on what seemed to be the 'recommended' section.

A slow song began, and Bucky lay back on the bed, head hitting the pillow with a quiet 'whumph'. It wasn't anything he recognized, but it seemed pleasant enough, so he let it play as he reached up and pressed the little button that activated the headphones' noise cancellation function. Everything went muffled, leaving the former soldier alone with the strange song. He never realized just how many sounds he could make out from within his room until they were suddenly all gone. Normally, the lack of sensory input would have unnerved him, but for the moment, there was nothing he wanted more.

Maybe, if he concentrated very hard, he could absorb the quiet into his bones and calm the torrent of emotion that roiled within him every time he saw Steve lately.

Steve.

Bucky's heart skipped a beat and he closed his eyes, trying to push all thoughts of his best friend from his mind. All he needed was a little peace. Just a moment when he wasn't haunted by the feel of his arms wrapped around the other man, or the warmth of his body, or the way his smile tied his stomach in knots…

The song changed, and for the space of three minutes and twenty-four seconds, Bucky actually succeeded in his mission.

At three minutes and twenty-five seconds, though, the opening chords of a familiar song brought his friend right back to mind for some reason. He couldn't immediately place the tune, and the title 'Such Great Heights' didn't ring a bell. Neither did the band name, Iron & Wine.

Bands had such odd names these days.

As soon as the words began, though, Bucky was able to recall exactly where and when he had heard it.

I am thinking it's a sign

That the freckles in our eyes

Are mirror images and when

We kiss they're perfectly aligned…

He'd been sitting on a bench sipping coffee in the middle of Central Park with Steve when he'd first heard the song. It had been the bridal march (groom's march?) for the wedding they had witnessed together.

Absently, Bucky wondered what song the happy couple had had their first dance to.

The thought immediately led his traitorous heart to memories of the first, and only, dance he'd had with Steve. He wished now that he'd had the presence of mind to ask Vision what the song was. It had been light and flowing, with a perfect beat for a waltz. All he could really remember, though, was the way Steve had smiled at him. Their fingers had intertwined as they moved in unison across the floor, uncertain at first, but with increasing grace for every turn they took around the room.

Bucky groaned and covered his face with his hands as the song played on, his heart picking up a frantic tempo once more.

And true, it may seem like a stretch,

But it's thoughts like this that catch

My troubled head when you're away

When I am missing you to death

And oh was he missing Steve, the man reluctantly admitted. He dropped his hands onto his stomach with a pained sigh when he realized his ploy to think of anything but his friend had failed miserably.

It didn't matter that he'd seen him only minutes ago; he wanted more. He always did. It was a craving he'd developed almost immediately upon meeting Steve as a boy a literal lifetime ago. They'd been inseparable from the word go, neither of them without the other when it was possible to be together.

Even before the serum, Steve had an irresistible pull to him, like a star drawing planets into its orbit and holding them close. Doctor Erskine had seen it immediately. Peggy, Colonel Phillips, Howard, and the Howling Commandos had soon followed...Bucky had been only the first of many to be drawn to the light of Steve's convictions, to be held by his devotion, and willingly bound by his selfless kindness.

They'd been through hell together, and there was no one else in all the world Bucky wanted by his side for the rest of his days but Steve Rogers. There had never been anyone else. Never could be.

He wondered to himself just how long he had been in love with his best friend, and the thought drove a lance through his heart. It was followed by a moment of panic as a thought so carefully skirted for so many years finally broke free.

He was in love with Steve.

Of course, he thought, resigned Of course I'm in love with Steve.

A little shudder ran the length of his frame, and Bucky laughed weakly as he rolled onto his side and curled in on himself. Music still played quietly from his headphones, though he barely heard it now. The change in position brought Bucky's chin to his chest, and his nose filled with Steve's scent when he buried it in the other man's hoodie.

A best friend wouldn't do that. A best friend wouldn't intimately recall the warmth and texture of their friend's skin, or the weight of them as they fell asleep in their arms. They definitely wouldn't suffer a rush of arousal at the memory of hands lingering intimately on hips, or wonder just what it would feel like to kiss Steve Rogers.

"Oh god," Bucky groaned as he rolled onto his back and threw his right arm over his eyes "I am so fucked."

"You're up early."

Wanda looked up from the cup of coffee she had been adding copious amounts of sugar and flavored creamer to and saw Natasha enter the kitchen through the far door. Her expression was friendly, but there was a tightness to her eyes that told the witch she had news.

"I like the mornings. Nice and quiet," the younger woman said with a faint smile as she finished stirring her coffee, set aside her spoon, and brought the mug to her lips. She took an appreciative sip before asking, "What have you found?"

An amused expression flitted across the spy's features when she realized the other woman had her number and said, "More Hydra news, finally. Might actually be something worth looking into now that they're starting to crawl out of their holes."

Wanda lifted a brow and took another drink of her coffee. Hydra had been on the move again for weeks, but what pieces of intel the Avengers had managed to get their hands on had resulted in the breaking up of only small cells of the organization with the assistance of the ATCU. They were moving with a purpose, though, and it had them all on edge.

"I already called in Vision, Scott, and Wilson," Natasha said, tapping the counter idly with her fingers. "I need to go find Steve, will you drag Barnes out of whatever hidey-hole he's occupying today?"

The witch snorted lightly, but nodded as the other woman went in search of their leader.

Wanda cast her mental net out across the compound, brushing, feather light, across the many minds within. To her surprise, she found Bucky's unique mental signature in his room. Glancing behind her at the clock on the stove, the bold green digits told her that it was just after seven.

Bucky was not only one of the lightest sleepers on the team, but he tended to sleep the least as well. To find him still doing so at this hour was...unusual.

Vaguely concerned, Wanda headed off towards the dorms, coffee still in hand. Natasha had already headed down this way, she could tell, though she wouldn't find Steve in his room.

Reaching Bucky's quarters, the young woman reached out and knocked lightly on the door. When no answer came, she tried again, louder this time.

"Barnes?" she called, frowning.

Once again, she reached out with her powers, this time focused solely on the mind she knew was on the other side of the door. She always had to be careful when it came to Bucky Barnes and her telepathy. The vast majority of humans, even 'enhanced' ones such as the Captain and Banner, were generally oblivious to her touch so long as she wasn't too heavy handed. Barnes, though...Barnes could always tell the moment she touched his mind with any sort of intent. She could get away simple things like gauging his mood or locating him, but any more than that was difficult.

She had tried, when Steve and Sam had first dragged the Winter Soldier back to the compound that cold, dark night all those months ago. He'd been almost catatonic, responding only to the Captain's gentle voice, and even then, there had been a brief moment of violence when he seemed to forget where he was, and who he was with.

She had reached out to the stranger with her power, thinking that maybe she could communicate more clearly with thoughts than the others were managing with words.

His mind had been a dark void at first, which had been strange, verging on frightening for the telepath. Never had she felt such a thing within a person. What was worse, though, was when she realized that she wasn't alone in the darkness. Something circled her, furious, seething, agonized. Then, for the first time, she had been ejected from a mind by the sheer force of his rage and pain, as though he had gathered all his worst memories and cast them at her like a wave, driving her out of his head.

She'd blacked out, then, and though she didn't remember anything after, the others had told Wanda that she'd screamed and thrashed until they'd had to carry her bodily back to her room where it had taken several minutes for the witch to come back to herself.

It'd taken her a week to work up the nerve to try it again.

His reaction had been less violent this time, but she had still been jettisoned from his headspace as surely as though he had bodily thrown her from him. A silent cacophony of 'GET OUT' echoing in her ears for hours after.

These days, if she dared try, she only came up against a cold, impenetrable steel wall that wrapped protectively around his thoughts. Wanda didn't know if it was whatever strain of the super soldier serum Hydra had fed Bucky, or something else that allowed him to counter her so effectively. Her strongest theory, though, was that years of having his mind manipulated by torture and brainwashing had made him hyper-sensitive to invasive presences once he'd managed to break free of them.

Whatever the case, she brushed cautiously over his sleeping mind now, and a few chords of an unfamiliar song echoed from his dreams and into her thoughts. Curious, she pressed the palm of her hand to the cool surface of the door, and closed her eyes. She applied a little more of her power, spreading herself across the surface of his thoughts rather than trying to break through.

The music hummed soothingly beneath her, and with just a little more pressure, she was able to catch glimpses of memories and unconscious thoughts that flared, then gently faded again like fireflies in the twilight of his dreams. Unsurprisingly, Steve featured in most of them, making the woman on the opposite side of the door smile.

Something shifted then, and she could feel his defenses begin to engage, so she immediately disconnected. Wanda took a moment to catch her breath, then knocked again. While his dreams were deep and pleasant, there really was no reason for him to not be able to hear-

She paused, and suddenly the music made sense.

After a moment's further hesitation, she reached down, and twisted the knob of the man's bedroom door. Finding it unlocked, she pushed it gently, powers at the ready to deflect any sudden projectiles that might be flung her way at her intrusion.

When nothing did, though, she poked her head through, and blinked at what she found there.

Bucky lay, curled up on his bed, legs tangled in the blankets as though he'd tried to cover himself without lifting them and crawling under. His dark hair was a tousled halo around his head, crowned by the pair of sound negating headphones Natasha had gifted him for Christmas. He had apparently drifted off listening to the music that now echoed in his dreams, clad in a blue hoodie Wanda recognized but couldn't recall ever seeing the man wear before.

She stepped into the room proper, and was about to give him a gentle shake when she thought better of it. Bucky was notorious for not liking others in his personal space, and this was her first time ever seeing him in such a vulnerable state. Who knew how he would react to being woken suddenly.

After taking a moment to have another sip of coffee and consider her options, Wanda came up with a plan. First, though, she reached into her back pocket and pulled out her phone. Knowing full well she might regret it later, the witch smiled slyly and snapped a photo of the sleeping man.

That done, she backed carefully out of the room, gently shifting one half of Bucky's headphones off his ear with her telekinesis and closing the door with utmost caution. Before knocking again, she looked down at the picture she'd taken, then opened up her text app and fired off a message with the photo attached.

Her mischief managed, Wanda turned back to the door and gave a loud knock, and felt Bucky's sleeping mind snap into sharp focus.

A moment later, the door opened a crack, and the former soldier squinted at her wordlessly, his frown the only question she would get.

"Meeting in the kitchen," she told him with a smile. "Natasha finally has some intel on Hydra's latest movements, I think."

Bucky grunted and rubbed absently at one of his eyes with the heel of his palm. To the witch's surprise, he opened the door a little wider and plucked the cup of coffee directly from her hand. Before she could get a word out, he took a sip, only to choke and look as though he were about to spit the mouthful directly back into her cup.

"Don't you dare!" she snapped and snatched her mug back as the man forced himself to swallow.

"That," he said when his mouth was empty, a grimace of disgust on his face, "is a crime against coffee."

"Then come get your own and quit drinking mine," she said with a sniff, then turned on heel and strode back down the hall without another word.

"There you are," Natasha huffed when she finally found Steve. It had taken her longer than she'd anticipated, making her wish that she'd stopped to ask Wanda to pinpoint him for her before she'd run off.

His bedroom, the gym, his office...all common haunts for the man had been bare of the first Avenger, until she'd finally thought to check the pool in the basement of the main compound.

"Good morning to you too," Steve said with a snort of amusement as he climbed out of the pool, water cascading impressively down his muscular figure.

Long since inured to such displays, Natasha got right to business "We've got a mission," she began while the man grabbed up his towel and began drying off when it became apparent he'd be cutting his swim short that morning.

The woman was interrupted by a beep from her phone. Curious, and assuming the message had something to do with the upcoming meeting, Natasha opened the text log from Wanda. The content was so thoroughly different from what she'd anticipated, though, that the spy made a little strangled sound that was an odd mix of surprise and delight.

Within the message was a picture of Bucky Barnes sleeping, and looking positively angelic in a blue hoodie. Under it, was the message: 'So, do I get an award or something for catching the Winter Soldier sleeping?'.

"Natasha?" Steve asked, concerned by the strange noise she'd made. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah," the spy replied after clearing her throat as she struggled not to laugh. "I was just thinking we need to promote Wanda."

Steve's face screwed up in confusion at her odd statement. "We don't really have any sort of hierarchy to be handing out promotions like that..." he pointed out, then asked, "Just what did she do?"

"The impossible," the spy answered with a sly grin as she turned her phone so Steve could see Wanda's text.

The super-soldier looped his towel over his shoulders and leaned in for a better look.

"Who-" he began, then snapped his mouth shut. Natasha watched, fascinated, as a crimson blush crept across her friend's cheeks before he finally managed to stammer, "S-she shouldn't be in there."

"I told her to go get him for the meeting. Looks like he couldn't hear her knocking through his headphones," she mused, keen green eyes taking in all the little details as she turned the phone back towards her. Noticing the way Steve shifted position so he could continue looking, she arched a brow at him and asked, "Want me to forward it to you?"

"What?" he asked, blush deepening. Hoping to hide himself from her knowing gaze, the man dragged his towel up over his head and proceeded to focus far too hard on drying his hair, a muffled 'No' the only answer the spy received.

Natasha just snorted and said "Well, get dressed and meet us in the kitchen ASAP, we've gotta debrief before we head out."

"Yes ma'am," the super-soldier said from under his towel as the spy strolled out, already texting someone.

A few minutes later, when he'd showered and dressed, he checked his phone and found a text from Natasha. When he opened it, the picture of Bucky stared back at him, making Steve swallow hard and absently drag his hand down the line of his jaw, as though to rub the color out of his face.

Under the picture, Natasha had included the message: 'Don't worry, I told Wanda not to send the pic to anyone else. Barnes' secret cute-side is safe with us. I'd hate to lose half our team to the world's best assassin if he found out this picture existed anyways.'

Steve rolled his eyes expressively, only to look back down immediately when his phone buzzed and another text from Nat arrived.

'Isn't that your hoodie?'

Steve's attempts at relieving his blush failed spectacularly just as a third and final text arrived.

'You two are so cute.'

Author's Note: Thanks again for reading, and please consider taking just a few moments to drop a review! They mean so much to me!