Chapter 11:

Location: Tony's Lab, Avengers Compound

Tony was facing Rhodes on his large, bed-like couch. He was digging his palms into his thighs nervously as he tried to investigate Rhodes' comment without giving too much away.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Tony shrugged, "Everyone knows what happened with me and Rogers. He wouldn't sign the accords, he was defiant of all of us and got you shot out of the sky-"

"No, no. That's not what I'm talking about." interrupted Rhodey, " C'mon Tony….I saw the signs."

Continuing to play dumb, Tony was extra dramatic and even laughed bitterly and rolled his eyes, "Rhodey, what signs? I'm lost."

With a head tilt and a straight face, Rhodey said, "You had feelings for him, didn't you? Am I right?"

Tony's face washed over with devastation. His eyes threatened to water as he realized he was going to have to relive the horror of another person discovering this. Natasha knowing was more than enough, even if she wasn't around anymore.

His sadness turned to anger. "The fuck did you just say?" spat Tony.

Rhodes shook his head, "You heard me. I saw how you looked at him. I hadn't seen you look at someone like that since Jessica Bernstein in college, and well, Pepper...Also I know how you acted when Jessica broke your heart. It's been kind of like you are….17 year old, heart broken Tony again."

Tony looked at him like he was still denying everything he was saying.

Shifting a little closer to him, Rhodes said, "I won't say anything to Pepper. I promise. I just want to help you get past it….just like we did back in college."

With a sigh, Tony's body slumped forward. He was staring at his lap, willing the tears not to come. He could NOT give himself over to his emotions.

A tear fell down his cheek, then another.

"Aw Tony…" Rhodes said softly.

"Okay. Okay…" he sniffed, "You got me."

"I wasn't trying to make you admit I'm right. It's all okay, man."

Tony felt so relieved by that and it showed on his face.

"Besides, I know so much about you already. You've done way weirder things than fall for a 100 year old super soldier." said Rhodes, smiling slightly.

Tony squinted at him, stifling a chuckle that he couldn't help but let go.

Rhodes laughed too, shaking his head.

When their smiles faded, Tony ran a hand through his hair, "How did you figure it out? No one else knows, right?"

"No. And I pretty much figured it out way back before you broke up with Pepper the last time."

"What? When?"

"Well, we had gone out drinking in the city. It was late, remember? You called a car service and when you got in you gave the driver Steve's address right in front of me. Then you just said goodbye to me through the open window, took off. You didn't even realize I heard you. You were really drunk."

Tony flinched as he recalled showing up at Steve's apartment and making love to him.

"Good thing I stopped drinking." he sighed.

"Good thing Happy had stepped away before I put you in the car." said Rhodes.

"You sure Natasha didn't tell you?" squinted Tony.

"Natasha? Tony. even when she was around she never told me anything. How does she know?"

"Her and….him were so close. She also was trained in noticing every detail of fucking EVERYTHING. It's so annoying." sighed Tony.

"I kinda miss her too. Haven't gotten to speak to her since she ran off with Steve..." Rhodes said, glancing down at his hands.

"What do you mean she ran off with Steve? They're definitely together? You heard from her recently?"

Rhodes looked up at Tony, frozen.

"No. I just meant I'm just ASSUMING Nat is with Steve since….ya know we haven't heard from the two of them since Germany and they broke out of the pris..."

"No no no…you sound so sure. Have you heard from them?" asked Tony, standing.

"Well…"

"Yes?"

Rhodes sighed, "Pepper called her."

"What? How?" gasped Tony.

"She knows about your flip phone."

Tony scoffed, "Oh great, and how does she know about that? Huh?"

"She asked! I was there when you got the thing. She just called Natasha to invite her to your wedding. Pepper probably thinks she can use your event as a way to bring you guys back together to make up and be friends again or something….I'm sorry. I can't talk Pepper out of things. She's...scary. Way scary enough to handle being your wife." rambled Rhodey.

Tony crossed his arms in frustration.

There was a long pause.

"Is Nat….so Nat did say she WAS with Steve then?" Tony finally said.

"Yeah. They're freelancing."

"Good...I guess. That suits them. Are they still wanted?"

"Not necessarily. I have gotten General Ross to back off. I played the handicapped card. Got em right where I want them." said Rhodey, pointing to his robot leg braces.

Tony went to ask another question but dismissed it before he let it come out of his mouth.

"Steve's fine, Sam is with them too." said Rhodes with a knowing smile, "I think they're all pretty happy."

Tony nodded and looked down at his shoes to avoid crying again.

"Pepper and I didn't want to keep secrets, we just trying to look out for you, Tony. She didn't want to say anything in case the phone call didn't go well. I don't think they are even thinking of coming to your wedding anyway. It doesn't even matter that she called..."

He lifted his head to meet Rhodes' gaze. "Yeah? I just don't like people keeping things from me anymore. I fucking hate it. I haven't even used that phone yet."

Rhodes' brows dropped, "Not once?"

"No. I want to so much. I want to hear his voice but I am trying to get past that and move on with my fucking life." Tony sighed, "I've even thought about breaking it."

"Don't do that, Tony. We might need him for real next time there's something we can't handle. Just give it to me if you don't want-"

"I just said I thought about it, not that I was going to."

"Why haven't you tried to at least talk to him? It's been months,"

"Because I'm not…" Tony ran both hands nervously over his beard to meet in a prayer position under his chin, "I'm not ready to deal with him. I can't talk to him because I will realize I still love him, I'll try to forgive what he did to me... I'll hate myself for it….yadda yadda. He makes me weak. I need to be realistic, move on, man up, and fucking deal."

Rhodes didn't say anything. He just gave him a sympathetic look.

Tony dropped his hands to his sides with a huff, "I know….I just need time. I haven't had enough yet, that's all."

Location: Wakanda

It was dusk and the sun started to set. Bucky was herding goats back to Kaarina's and Beto's fence. His phone, which was always attached to him somewhere, began to ring. He reached into his pocket with his one arm.

"You answered." said Steve cheerily.

"Of Course I did." Bucky said, sounding a bit breathless from chasing goats for the past 20 minutes.

"Is this a bad time? I wondered if you were mad at me."

"I'm just finishing up for the day, and I could never be mad at you, Steve." scoffed Bucky, chuckling a little, "Even though you didn't say goodbye then you didn't call for a few days either…"

"Aw Buck, I'm really sorry. I left the video and I've been texting."

"You did, and that video was very thoughtful. You know I hate to text. Next time call sooner."

"I wanted to give you your space in case you were mad honestly." Steve whined.

"You know for a fact the last thing I want between us is space."

"You're absolutely right. Sorry again."

Bucky could hear the sincerity in Steve's voice and decided not to play that chord any longer.

"It's okay. If you are really sorry, you will come back right now and fuck me in the lake." joked Bucky, walking into his hut for some privacy.

That got a slightly aroused laugh out of Steve, "As much as I want to, I can't right now, however, that's why I called. I want to come back to you soon….for a month."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, absolutely. No leaving early, no worries. A whole month."

"Mhm, sounds nice….what's the catch?"

"Buck, do you have to…."

"Don't got all night. What's the catch, Rogers?" he pressed with a stern voice.

Steve huffed, "Okay, Natasha and Sam want to come stay there too. They don't have to stay in your village or anything, we just want to at least be in the same country when we take a break for that long. Does that sound alright?"

Bucky was quiet and thoughtful for a minute before speaking.

"You there?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, I just…." Bucky stammered, "Wakanda is like our place, Steve. It's our home. You want to bring the Widow here and Sam, who….isn't the biggest fan of me."

"They are excited to see how much better you are. I promise everything is fine. Natasha has made it perfectly clear she has no hard feelings against you. The guys, they see how happy you make me, they know how far you've come."

Bucky exhaled deeply as he sat at his little dining table, "You could just be buttering me up."

"No I am NOT…" Steve sighed, "Trust me? Okay? You will get to have me around for so much longer if I could just bring my team. They're also my friends. Some of my only friends left. You're not the soldier anymore. You're...their friend and leader's boyfriend now."

Bucky laughed, "Boyfriend? Get outta here with that."

"Yeah technically. S'what Sam calls you because he knows I hate it."

"Boyfriend sounds ridiculous." Bucky said with a smile in his voice.

"I know, okay?" snorted Steve, "Listen, you yourself said you didn't want me to ever put them in danger over you."

"Already throwing that in my face…"

"C'mon Buck. Be reasonable." he sighed.

He huffed and puffed dramatically but finally agreed. They set a date soon for them to come. Bucky just had to clear it with the royal family first.

A few weeks later, Bucky was lifting weights in the gym under Shuri's lab.

Steve was to show up with Sam and Natasha later that afternoon.

Shuri sauntered in, tablet in hand. When she noticed Bucky lifting weights she paused and smiled.

"Hello! How are you this morning, Bucky?"

He set down the dumbbells and nodded, "Pretty good. Is M'Baku coming today?"

"No...T'Challa will be joining us actually. He needs to train with someone strong enough, such as yourself."

Bucky met her gaze and noticed she was giving him an amused smile.

"Something wrong?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not at all... just, who braided your hair?" She giggled.

He had a half-up French braid hairdo.

Bucky rolled his eyes, "Kaarina's daughter. I told her to just keep it outta my face...I feel ridiculous..."

Bucky was already reaching up with his metal arm to unravel his hair.

"No no no. You look fine. I'm sorry for laughing." Shuri smiled, holding a hand out toward him, "Please keep them."

He smirked and grabbed a towel off the bench next to him to wipe his face.

"Isn't Captain Rogers arriving today?" She asked, looking down at her tablet.

"Yes, should be about mid-day."

"He's bringing his team along this time also, huh? Sounds fun. I can't wait to meet them."

Bucky drank some water from a nearby fountain and nodded shortly.

"You are not?" she asked, looking him over, "You are scared he won't give you all of his attention this time because his friends will be here?"

He rolled his eyes, "No...I just...didn't really have a great time with the 'team' last time we were together. I threw Natasha across a room and Sam also was blown up because of me…."

"None of that matters now." dismissed Shuri, shaking her head, "They are coming here for a vacation, Bucky. They were probably jealous Steve got to come here to freaking paradise while they had to stay in a snowy tundra waiting around for him to come back. Quit feeling sorry for yourself all of the time."

There was a pause between them. Shuri shifted her eyes to the floor when she realised how rude she could have just been with her statement. When she looked back up it wasn't anger but humor in his eyes.

"You remind me so much of my mother, Shuri. You're young but wise beyond your years. Thanks for telling me like it is, Princess." smiled Bucky.

"I told you not to call me that!" she laughed, shoving him, "SERGEANT BARNES."

"If I shove you back, will I be held in chains in the dungeon for assaulting royalty?" he teased.

Shuri acted as if she was going to hit him with her tablet. He ducked out of the way laughing and walking quickly to the other side of the gym to stretch on the yoga mats.

"We don't have a dungeon." said T'Challa suddenly from the gym door, "Although, I guess you could say this lab practically is one." He was dressed in an athletic jumpsuit.

Bucky stood, "Are you ready to get in there?"

"How much time do we have?" asked T'Challa, coming over to do his special handshake with Bucky.

"Couple hours." answered Bucky.

"Let's get to it then!" T'Challa smiled, holding his hand out to lead the way into the sparring room connected to the gym.

They walked slowly side by side and Shuri left the gym behind them.

"Thanks again for making arrangements for Steve's team." said Bucky.

Shaking his head and smiling, T'Challa said, "Not at all, not at all. You and Steve are always welcome and so are your friends, always."

"You have just done so much for us already."

T'Challa got in his fighting stance, "I know...c'mon, let's do this."

Bucky laughed, "You asked for it…"

They began to sparr and dance around the training room.

Later,

that afternoon Steve, Sam, and Natasha were flying near the Wakandan airspace.

They had to radio in their arrival to Shuri to ensure the shields would go down and allow them in.

Natasha was flying the jet with Steve at her side and Sam seated behind her. She looked over to Steve, "What was the channel I am supposed to call in?"

"Nat look out!" screamed Sam.

There was a rearview camera feed on the front of the plane showing a missile headed right toward their wings. Natasha dove the jet down to avoid it and it exploded above them.

"What the fuck? Who is that?" yelled Natasha.

Steve studied the feed from his seat, "I know that plane...where do I know that plane?"

Natasha suddenly had to dive the jet to the left to avoid another missile. "Why does it matter? We have to do something. We can't lead this guy to Wakanda!" she said.

Steve's mind was racing, "I know, I know….how about….we-"

There was a loud boom. A missile had barely brushed the back of their plane but it hit hard enough to send them spinning and falling out of control. Alarms were going off in the aircraft and the oxygen masks fell from the ceiling.

Natasha held the controls as hard as she could while Steve leaned over and pulled to help her.

They were headed straight for the mountains below. Natasha started to panic when they only slightly started to slow down but were still spinning.

They missed a top of a mountain and semi crash landed in an open field between the two of them.

Heavy breathing and the steady alarm of the jet were the only sounds to be heard.

Steve shook his head in his seat and unbuckled his belt. "Sound off." said Steve, popping his sore body back into place.

"One." said Natasha, grunting and rubbing her head.

"Two." groaned Sam, getting out of his seat and putting his gear on.

Steve got up and unbuckled Natasha. "You alright?" he asked, holding both sides of her face and examining her eyes.

"I'm very dizzy, hit my head on the windshield a little, but I'm okay." she said.

He held back her blonde bangs and saw the little cut on her forehead, "It's not that bad but you shouldn't fight. Can you walk?"

She stood, "I can walk." She shut off the alarm. They all put on their "tactical gear" as quick as lightning.

"Stay here." said Steve to Nat.

He and Sam slowly crept out of the jet to see the fighter jet parked in the distance. "Eyes up." he said to Sam, who immediately took off into the sky to find their attacker.

Steve crouched and crept through the tall blades of grass that had to be 7 feet tall.

He was searching through the thick brush when it finally came to him where he saw the jet before.

An arm suddenly came around his throat and began to choke him.

Steve struggled in alarm for a minute, then a creepy German voice said into his ear, "I told you that Hydra will eliminate you."

Steve body slammed him to the ground but he scuffled through the tall grass again in a flash.

Sam yelled into his head set, "Got eyes on him Steve!"

Steve followed the sound of the grass thrashing around and began running in that direction, but a "Oh NO WATCH OUT." erupted from Sam on the headset and Steve skid to a halt and had to roll to avoid a small explosive that detonated inches from his face.

He uncovered his face and stood, instantly running for the clearing.

When he approached the emptiest part of the field toward their wrecked jet he saw the man from one of his first missions waiting for him already, holding his hand over Natasha's mouth with a gun to her head.

She was tied up with some kind of rope and groaning angrily through his hand.

Steve slowed to a halt in front of him and held up his hands in surrender.

The ugly bald white man smiled at Steve, "Please tell your nice winged friend to join us as well."

Steve's eyes were glued to him cautiously.

"Sam?" he said loudly.

Sam flew down behind him, "What do you want?" he demanded.

The man ignored Sam, "I've been tracking you for a long time, Captain. Since you got me locked up for petty crimes." he said in a thick German accent, clutching Natasha with every other word.

"Stealing the wages of people trying to survive to fund terrorists aren't petty crimes. Why are you here if we locked you up?" asked Steve.

"Let out for...good behavior." he shrugged, "and because I blew up the prison."

"Let her go! Your problem is with him, not us" said Sam, partly to distract the German man.

"I'm not talking to you, Negro! I'm talking to the Captain!" the man yelled, pointing his gun at Sam.

"Hey!" said Steve, stepping forward, but stopping when the man cocked the gun.

"Here is how this is going to go...we-" the man stopped mid word to look down at his chest. There was blood blooming under his breast pocket on his shirt. He cursed to himself in German.

Steve and Sam could do nothing but stare as the man was seemingly shot by silent and invisible bullets 3 more times and fell to the ground.

Natasha stood there stunned, looking down at him.

"What the?" Sam said, looking behind them with his special goggles.

He noticed a heat signature of five people although they couldn't be seen with the naked eye.

Suddenly a hovercraft appeared in the sky as invisibility shields were lowered. It was gently landing down next to their crashed jet.

Standing in the front of the group in the hovercraft was Bucky, all dressed in tactical gear of his own with a sniper rifle in his hands.

T'Challa stood behind him in his full Black Panther suit, along with Okoye and two other guards.

The group came off the craft and spread out. Okoye and T'Challa went toward the enemy aircraft to check it for more agents or possible explosives. They also began extinguishing the fire from the previous explosion.

Bucky ran straight over to Steve at a full sprint. It was almost like he was the winter soldier on a mission again.

"Buck-" Steve started to say, glancing from the Hydra agent's body to Bucky's face.

He didn't speak, he just grabbed Steve by the arm and whipped him around. He was scanning him with a hand held device no bigger than a cell phone. A beam of green light trailed over Steve's body.

"What're you-"

Bucky dug into a piece of Steve's suit and held out what looked like a tiny metal bead in his bionic hand. "Got it." he said.

Steve examined it.

"Got what?" asked Sam.

"Tracker." said Bucky, crushing the tracker to dust in his hand.

Natasha groaned, "Well it's gone now. That's settled. Cool, now get me out of this."

Bucky went over to her and scanned her as well then ripped her out of her confines.

After Sam was scanned, he looked over to the dead guy lying in the grass as well. Bucky noticed and pulled a tarp out of his back pocket. He unfolded it and draped it over the Hydra agent calm as a cucumber.

The two guards were still standing on the parked hovercraft. Natasha looked around at all of the men around her, "So...what happened? How did you guys know where we were?"

Bucky shook his head, "We got an alarm that 2 aircrafts were trying to enter the airspace. We were only expecting one. When we all checked the radar, I recognized the type of craft."

His eyes met Steve's briefly. Steve saw a brief flash of annoyance and exasperation in his face.

"I see. How did you know about the tracker?" asked Sam.

"I just knew." said Bucky.

T'Challa and Okoye came back through the tall grass to join the group in the clearing and announced there was nothing more to worry about.

Natasha threw up her hand in a wave, "Great news! The bags are on the plane. Also, I think I have a concussion."

Sam came over to her and walked her to the hovercraft.

Steve shook T'Challa's hand and thanked him. "Do you think we can fix our plane?" asked Steve.

"Oh please, Captain. We can fix anything. I will send for your craft...and the agent." he replied in his thick Wakandan accent.

Steve stepped into the plane and grabbed all three of their duffle bags. Bucky had a bag, which was the smallest and obviously Natasha's. He didn't speak the whole ride back to the palace.

As soon as they got there, Natasha was taken straight to the medical center. T'Challa announced that they were all to regroup at the palace for dinner.

Everyone filed away across the royal tarmac until only the two super soldiers were left standing there.

Steve looked at Bucky and noticed he had handed off his sniper rifle to T'Challa. He picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder.

"To the village?" asked Steve.

Bucky nodded, "Let's grab the craft." The first words spoken to him directly.

"If you prefer, I can drive…"

"I got it." he insisted.

Steve decided to back off for the time being. They flew into the village. It was a lot more empty than usual.

"Where is everyone?" asked Steve as they walked down the trail toward the collection of huts.

"Festival in the market. It's like their independence day. I was going to take you."

He tried to ignore the way Bucky said "going to take you" in his statement, as if to say "I was going to but you ruined everything, Steve."

They were walking side by side. Steve stared into the side of his face but he couldn't get him to return his gaze.

When Steve noticed the bath house coming up in front of them, he paused, "So if everyone is gone, does that mean the bath house is empty?"

Bucky stopped walking and turned to him to shrug, "Possibly. Do you need a shower?"

"After all that excitement, yeah."

"Alright. I can stay and look out I suppose."

"Oh no. Believe me, you need one too pal." Joked Steve, trying a face then a small smile.

Bucky nodded without emotion, "Alright. Let me get my towels."

He started to his hut. Steve watched him closely. Why was he being so cold and serious? All attempts to lighten his mood were lost on him.

Steve went into the bath house, happy to find it completely deserted. He sat down his bag on the front bench and grabbed a pair of t-shirts and athletic pants for the both of them.

He started to run the shower in the first stall when Bucky joined him, locking the door of the bath house behind him.

Steve had already removed all his gear, so he was just in his underwear.

Bucky was facing away from him, removing his own gear.

"Need any help?" offered Steve softly.

"No I don't." he responded flatly.

"What's wrong?"

Bucky unsnapped his jacket and removed his vest and pants, "Nothin', I'm fine." He removed his metal arm and sat it next to his gear on the ground.

When he turned around in his underwear, Steve held out his arms for a hug. "Come here then." he smiled.

"You said I need a shower…" Bucky said, eyes shifting down to his feet.

"I was partly joking. Come give me a hug. I missed you and I need to thank you for saving my ass again." Steve stepped forward.

"This isn't a joke, Steve." he snapped.

Steve's smile dropped and he slowly lowered his arms. He turned off the water to the shower and faced Bucky, "Alright, what's going on with you? Tell me the truth."

Bucky sighed and rolled his eyes.

Steve tried to get him to look him in the eye, "Stoppit, Buck."

He saw the fear and the suppression of his feelings in his face.

Steve nodded and said with a concerned tone, "You had to shoot someone today, is that it?"

"Partly!" scoffed Bucky.

"Are you…wait, are you mad at me?" he asked in disbelief, searching his face.

Bucky finally met his gaze as if to confirm the truth in his statement..

Steve huffed and crossed his arms, "Real nice. Why would you be mad at ME? I'm the one who was chased across the world and shot out of the sky."

"You were careless, Rogers! You knew better, but you were fucking CARELESS."

"Careless?! Like I MEANT for this to happen? I never wanted you to hurt anyone again, Buck. You made that decision just now."

"Of Course I did! Don't you remember our training back in the war? He had a gun on you!" Bucky raised his voice a little, "I wasn't going to just shoot him in the leg. He was Hydra, he was just going to escape out of any prison we put him in. They are relentless, you know that. Cut off one head, 7 grow back." His voice echoed against the tile of the building, "You let him put a tracker on you! Argue all you want, but you did. YOU LET HIM, after you promised me everything was going to be okay and I didn't have to worry about losing you again. I almost did! And you brought Hydra so close to me, to my friends here, to our HOME. You made me do that. After what I have already been through...so yeah, I'm fucking pissed."

Steve dropped his head and his arms to his sides in defeat. He started to over analyze himself and question all of his actions as a freelancer.

"I'm not letting you go ever again, Steve." he said in a calmer tone, shaking his head, "I refuse. I will shoot a hundred more men or jump into a pit of fire if I have to. I just hate that you put me in this position...brought my biggest fear right back to my front door..."

"Buck….honestly….I should...I should have done better." admitted Steve, stepping closer to him.

Bucky stayed still, giving him a hurt look.

"You are right." Steve added.

"I know I'm right.." snarled Bucky.

Staring deep into his eyes, Steve tried to get him to soften up.

At first Bucky acted as if his smoldering look wasn't affecting him and he was too hurt and still pissed to be persuaded.

After a few more minutes of the smolder, Steve stepped even closer. "C'mere." he whispered, pulling their bodies together to give him a slow deep kiss.

Bucky kissed back, although a little rougher than usual. Their hard bodies rubbed together and arms encircled one another.

When they pulled back, Bucky admired his body. He looked up at him warningly, "Don't think you are off the hook just because I'm letting this happen."

Steve started to give him a cute bearded side smile but stopped himself and nodded.

"You know I missed you, Rogers...I'm only allowing you affection because, quite frankly, s'been a while since I've had it."

Steve kissed him once more, "Allow me to take a shower with you then."

Much to his surprise, Bucky unwrapped his arm from around his neck and stepped back, slipping his underwear off.

Immediately, Steve's eyes roamed over his body and he removed his underwear as well, reaching blindly into the shower door to turn it back on. When they were both naked, Steve stepped into the shower stall and watched after him.

With a semi aroused look, Bucky followed behind and stood under the warm water with him.

He looked over Steve's hair, noticing it looked even longer than before. His beard was neatly trimmed but also longer. Bucky could tell Natasha had been trimming it for him.

Steve got some soap and began to lather himself.

Bucky did the same and when they both went to rinse off, Steve turned him around and hugged him tightly from behind under the water.

"I'm sorry." said Steve, kissing his scarred shoulder, "I was negligent...I should have been more thorough and paid more attention. Forgive me for being so stupid...again."

His hands roamed down to grip Bucky's hips under the pounding of the running water.

Bucky's head hung low, letting his wet hair cling to his face. He stared down at the drain on the floor of the shower, still not saying anything, letting the warm water flow all over him.

"Please forgive me. You know I never want to put you through anymore stress. You know I'd do anything for you. I feel like a complete asshole." he said in a soft tone, kissing Bucky's shoulder again.

A soft chuckle vibrated through Bucky as he turned around in Steve's arms, "I will never forgive you for being stupid, Steve. It's just part of your personality, nothing to be sorry about. I have accepted that about you."

Steve rolled his eyes. Walked right into that one.

"I know how you are." Bucky said, hugging him around his torso, "You are 100% passionate about everything you do. You want to do things right, and do them right by everyone. So sometimes you miss small details, details that can get you killed. You need to realize you need to be way more secretive and undetectable than you ever used to be now you have gone rogue. You got to be non-existent, Steve. That means sometimes…..eliminating enemies. NO loose ends."

"It's not like it was for you." he replied in a soft tone, looking down at him.

Bucky's face rested against his wet chest, "You are wanted and on the run just like I was. I didn't want to kill anyone ever again, but I did. You never wanted to, but you can. Use the power you have. It's kill or be killed. You can't ask permission anymore. You aren't following anyone else's rules. Protect the good ones, but protect yourself too." He looked back up at Steve and said "I mean it."

Steve kissed the wet hair on top of his head. "Okay, Buck." he said with a serious nod.

Bucky looked down and noticed he was completely rinsed off, and a little excited.

"Are you gonna be-" Steve started to say softly.

"I'll be fine, Steve." mumbled Bucky, looking back at him.

They paused and stared at each other for a second.

Suddenly their eyes were closed, mouths were ravishing each other under the water. Bucky reached over and turned it off, but when he shifted back to face Steve, he was pushed against the wall of the shower.

He was pinned by Steve's giant hands on his hips. Their hips rocked, making their cocks rut together. Moans were passed through each other's mouths.

Bucky's arm slid around Steve's neck as he kissed back roughly.

Reluctantly, pulling Bucky's lip with his teeth, Steve pulled back to talk to him, "Mmm, Buck….let's take it to the hut."

Bucky was groaning and kept thrusting against him without thinking, "Why?"

"Someone m-might want to take a shower and we locked everyone out." smiled Steve, stepping back and unraveling his arm from around him.

They slipped out of the shower and dried off together. Bucky clicked his arm back on. Steve went to grab the clothes he got out for them but Bucky stopped him, "Don't bother. I'm just going to rip it off of you in a minute."

Steve raised his eyebrows in a challenging way and smirked. They tied their towels around their waists and grabbed Steve's bag, then almost jogged to the hut.

Luckily, the village was still just as empty as when they arrived.

Bucky barely had the door shut behind him when he felt Steve's hands pulling at his towel. He smiled and locked the door carefully, feeling the draft of his towel falling and the heat of Steve's hard cock barely touching his backside.

"Jesus." moaned Bucky when he felt him thrust a little into the crack of his ass. He was turned around and immediately leaned in to give Steve a hungry kiss.

They moved onto the bed without breaking their mouths apart.

Steve landed on his back, pulling Bucky on top of him to rub their erect dicks together and bringing moans out from both of them. He didn't mind Bucky's long wet hair was dripping all over him.

"God dammit." whispered Bucky when he felt Steve start sucking on his neck.

Steve started getting so excited and the evidence was dripping out of him and against Bucky's hip.

"I need you..." he whispered in Bucky's ear.

Bucky leaned down to suck on Steve's neck, getting a hiss and a moan in return. "I need you too..." he moaned breathily in his ear.

Steve's hand drifted down Bucky's lower back to his ass. He spread him apart slowly and rubbed a finger into the depth of him. A gasp escaped Bucky as he pulsed back and forth.

They kissed deeply and greedily. Steve let his primal needs take over and gave Bucky exactly what they both needed without holding back.

After all the excitement was over, the shower they took was completely wasted. The men were soon covered in a layer of sweat. When Steve had cleaned them up with his bath towel, he laid back down on the bed naked and catching his breath.

Bucky laid his head down on his chest, closing his eyes and put his human arm around Steve. They both sighed deeply, trying to even out their breathing.

Steve stroked Bucky's hair lovingly and looked down over his face.

"You're still not off the hook with me." mumbled Bucky.

"No?" said Steve softly, leaning down to kiss his cheek, "How many more times do I have to give it to you until I am, huh? Just give me a number."

That got him a laugh in return.

"At least 70 years worth of make up sex won't be enough, Rogers."

Shaking his head, Steve said "You're the worst."

Bucky's tablet started to make noise, making them both jump. He got out of bed to answer with voice chat.

"Bucky?" came Shuri's voice.

"Yes? How's Natasha?" he asked.

"She is not concussed, fortunately. She is getting cleaned up as we speak. You two will be joining us for dinner soon?"

He looked back at Steve for reassurance and agreed to be back at the palace soon. Immediately, Bucky turned off the tablet and began to put on underwear.

Steve huffed, "Does this mean we don't have time for another shower?"

Bucky shook his head and smiled, looking him over.

With a groan, Steve stood and started to dress as well.

After Steve was already dressed, he noticed Bucky was taking a long time buttoning up his shirt. He was cursing and muttering to himself.

"You alright?" asked Steve, tucking his thumbs into the belt loops on his jeans.

"Fine. Just so many goddamn buttons to do up that's all. I skipped one and had to start all over."

He noticed Bucky had put on his metal arm but was moving his fingers too fast and was shaking too much to get the buttons in the holes and try not to rip the shirt.

"Let me." said Steve, coming over to stand in front of him.

Bucky sighed and dropped his hands to his sides, looking up at the ceiling to avoid Steve's eyes.

"What's got you so nervous? It's just dinner." he said, buttoning him up one at a time.

"It was already going to be pretty awkward at first, but now...with the shooting and explosion and-"

"Okay. I get it. Stupid question."

"S'what you're best at." Bucky said, rolling his eyes.

When Steve finished his shirt, he crossed his arms and looked at him in the face.

He finally met his eyes, "Alright, I'm sorry. I'll try and calm down."

"It would definitely be better if you did." nodded Steve.

They stared at each other seriously and without blinking.

Steve grabbed his metal hand and gave him a crooked smile, "Sure you are good?"

"Yeah." he replied, eyes still wide and glazed.

"Need a hug or something?"

Bucky shook his head, "Just try not to get into any more trouble today."

"Can't promise anything." he smirked, leading him out of the hut.