A Mission

"Any way you could take care of that, Sarge?"

The earpiece crackled slightly, but filtered out the fighting so the words remained clear. Bucky glowered down at the fight below him. He was becoming more and more aware of a sharp rock pressing into his quads but he pushed past the discomfort and tilted his head to bring the scene into focus through his scope. Black Widow and Hawkeye, as they insisted on being called during missions, were twirling and making quite a mess of the opposition, so it took several moments before he understood what the archer had been referencing. The dust around the pair was kicking up in small fast puffs. A machine gun.

"Give me a second." He barely huffed the words, focused more on following the trajectory and sound of the bullets. It didn't take long, his super soldier hearing, while not quite as good as Steve's, thanks to Hydra not believing in earbuds to protect the asset's ears, was sufficient even over the good two hundred yards he had between him and the group of fighters. He inhaled, held, squeezed, exhaled, and relaxed. The loud crack from his gun was followed with silence from the gunman who had held the machine gun. His body now draped elegantly across his stationary weapon. Bucky smirked through his scope.

His smirk turned to gratitude for Stark as he realized that he'd hardly heard the pop of his own weapon in his ear. After Bucky had realized his hearing in his left ear was damaged Stark had quickly developed a pair of earbuds for the sniper to wear during missions. The one in his left ear was equipped with a microphone and speaker, his com unit. Both earbuds were unique from the rest of the team though. They filtered out loud sounds, Stark had said something about certain decibel ranges, so the sound of his weapon was muted the instant it went off, along with the sound of any other weapon within range, but still allowed Bucky the advantage of his super soldier hearing to protect himself while he was prone and focused. Small sounds-leaves crunching, rocks shifting- were still very audible, and it kept Bucky from having to shift his head back and forth looking for danger, it also kept him from needing the recovery time after missions to regain his hearing. He was able to focus so much more on the mission in front of him and he was glad for it. Though he wondered if Stark had grown weary of his constant thank you's.

It had been over 2 years since he had found Steve and started coming back to himself. He knew he still warred with himself and the Winter Soldier programming, but he had been cleared for missions with the team over six months ago. He was not an official Avenger, Tony had insisted he stayed anonymous to give them an "ace in the hole" during missions. And Bucky had to admit it had worked. The first several missions he had gone on had surprised the Hydra forces they went up against. No one expected the crack of a sniper rifle from a hill, or a building, he was able to save more people than he expected with his more than exceptional skills. But Bucky was never comfortable separating himself completely from the Winter Soldier. It was something he knew Steve wasn't comfortable with, but Bucky was grateful for the programming during and after missions that allowed himself to separate his emotions from his conscience. He had always hated the guilt that came from taking down people, even enemies, without an actual chance to put up a fight. And the programming allowed the guilt to be washed away. That was the only part of the programming that still affected him, and he was hesitant to fight back against it.

He continued taking out Nat and Clint's opponents from afar, after the most recent wave of attackers had died down he noticed Clint looking up at the hill opposite himself. He chuckled, Clint, Sam, and Rhodey were the only members of the team who were never able to tell where he was camped on the hill. Though Bucky was certain that Stark relied heavily on the AI within his suit to actually find him, rather than sound and trajectory like Nat and Steve did.

"Thanks for the help, Sarge, you're definitely worth having around." Clint waved slightly up at the hill he was looking at.

Bucky laughed. "Don't give me away like that, you don't want someone coming after me."

Clint scratched the back of his head. "I don't even know where you are, just up there somewhere."

Bucky chuckled as Nat's voice came over the coms. "That's not even where he's at so don't worry, he's just pulling your leg."

"Guilty as charged, Widow. I'm at your six, Hawk, wave all you like in that direction." He panned his scope as he spoke, ensuring no one was actually on the opposite hill to wave at.

Steve's voice was strained as he joined the conversation. "I always liked having Bucky on my six, best backup a person could have. I'm actually gonna need you, Buck, you available to cover me?"

Bucky panned over the valley below him, Steve was the only one who didn't use his code name,Sergeant, during missions, but that was the way Bucky remembered it from the war, it was always just Bucky. He smirked as Stark came over the coms.

"Captain, come on, it's been long enough you should be used to not using his name during missions. What happens if someone hacks our coms and figures out who he is?"

Bucky rolled his eyes as his scope passed over the storage building Nat and Clint were fighting by and trained his sights on the large four story factory he knew Steve was currently fighting in. "Which floor are you on, Captain?" He emphasized the codename for Stark's benefit, sure by now that his earbuds did not filter out sarcasm.

"Fourth, southwest corner. And if our coms got hacked, Stark, I would just be disappointed in your technology."

Stark huffed but didn't reply.

Bucky grunted, with a flick of a finger he turned on the heat sensor in his scope, but still couldn't pick out Steve's image. "I'm not able to help from here, Steve, even with my scope I can't see through the walls. Give me a bit." He quickly brought his knees up, pulling himself into a crouch. He felt his quad resist, and knew he'd have some bruises from the rocks underneath him. He ignored it as he got a quick scan of the area, ensuring no one was sneaking around on him. He took off to the left, his gun up against his cheek still so he could keep his sights trained on the building. It was a few agonizing minutes before he finally was far enough along the ridge to get a view of the southwest corner. He was still too far away for the heat sensor to be useful, but the end of the building Steve was fighting on seemed to be just one big room. Good, he'd only need to go through one wall. Accuracy was everything when backing up Steve.

Bucky cleared the area with his gaze before dropping into a sprawl again. He knew his aim was good enough without the regular sniper position, but it felt good to use it. It reminded him that he was just Bucky, the army sniper now.

The buildings clustered below them were wrapped in the usually quiet valley. Bucky's ridge extended in a wide circle around them, dropping off about three quarters of the way, incomplete because of the single dirt road that passed through the hills. Bucky understood why Hydra had set up a base here. It was easily defendable. It had taken a couple of hours for the team to take out the groups of soldiers on the ridge that were supposed to be defending the valley. Now that Bucky was the only person up there, the stronghold fell pretty easy. While backing up the rest of the team it was also his job to keep an eye on the top of the hills and the dirt road, warning the team if anyone was coming from either.

Bucky focused his sights on the fight on the fourth floor. Steve had five Hydra agents swarming him, the window was large enough that he could see the fight, but not enough that he could actually pick out a target, his heat sensor still useless from this distance. Bucky grumbled, but got back up off the ground. He needed to be closer. He started down the hillside, quickly, still focused on his scope.

Suddenly another sharp crack in the woods caught his attention. Steve's voice came through the coms. "Did you miss, Buck?" His tone was teasing, but it put Bucky on edge.

"That wasn't me, Steve." He scanned the ridge around him, starting left and moving right. Another crack echoed and he managed to catch the flash of the muzzle through his scope. "Dammit." He realized they weren't aiming at Steve as the Ironman suit caught his eye. Stark had taken off from the ground and was circling above Clint and Nat's fight. "Stark, you need to fly higher."

He was impressed when Stark didn't complain or question, just pushed his suit higher with a flash from his blasters.

"What's wrong, Buck?"

"Fuck." Bucky swore as he realized he couldn't drop to the ground and take out the gunman, the trees were too dense, and the angle was wrong. Another crack and flash told him he needed to figure something out soon. "Stark, south hillside, I can't get a good look at him. We must have missed him in our sweep."

The Ironman suit quickly leveled out and started in that direction. "Wow, Cap, so everyone else gets a lecture on manners when they swear, but if it's the Sergeant who cares, right?"

Bucky was too tense to engage in the banter as he heard the crack again. "Stark, god damn it, don't fly in a straight line, he's aiming at you."

"I can't even see him yet, Sarge, how was I supposed to know. Jarvis, find him."

A sudden grunt in his coms brought Bucky's attention back to the fight on the fourth floor. Steve had been joined by more agents, Bucky lost count through the window. His descent from the hillside finally brought him close enough that his heat sensors kicked in, his scope changing from clear to colored. Bucky had spent time training with Steve and the others with his scope, so that in these situations he could pick out their heat signatures from the agents, and now he was glad for the skill. But there was so much movement he couldn't get a clear shot.

He hoped Stark was taking care of the gunman in the hills, because he couldn't, not with Steve in this much trouble.

"Steve, drop." Bucky saw the heat signature that was Steve drop down out of sight and Bucky squeezed the trigger. Another heat signature dropped and Steve's came back into sight. They got into a quick rhythm: Steve dropped, Bucky squeezed. Slowly the numbers decreased, but not enough, considering how many shots Bucky was taking. He was on his third magazine, there was no reason for there to still be this many agents.

Steve seemed to agree. "Where are they all coming from?" He growled as he kicked an agent hard, Bucky pulled away from the scope to watch the poor guy hit the window and then the ground.

Stark was the one who answered. "Jarvis analyzed the building, apparently there's a network of structures underneath the building you're in, Cap, don't know what's down there, except apparently a whole lot of agents."

Bucky made a decision. "Hold it down, Steve, I'm coming in to join you. Widow, Hawkeye, can you find the door on the main floor where they're coming from?"

"Already on it, Sarge." Nat's confident voice was winded, he saw them head toward the building.

He quickly stood and disassembled his rifle. It was one he had designed himself, and Stark built, with some modifications. It could go from a sniper rifle to a very high powered assault rifle with only a few adjustments. He folded the bipod in and clicked them into the spaces on his hand guard where they were out of his way. His metal hand unscrewed the hot muzzle, the heat barely registering through the metal plates, and he slipped it into the heat resistant pouch on his hip, his hand might be able to resist the heat but his leg certainly couldn't, so the pouch was a thoughtful additional by Stark to his outfit. He removed the smaller wider muzzle and rescrewed it. He left the scope on, but shortened it with a quick twist. He slipped the magazine of ammo out of the gun, and switched it with a different one. Different focus, different weapon completely. He had to say he was proud of the way the new weapon had turned out. He trotted down the hill quickly. Once he was clear of the trees he burst into a run.

He felt a little dramatic when, instead of running around to the door, he simply shot out a first floor window and rolled through it, it was something Steve would do, not him. But the feeling quickly disappeared when he heard the sound of a wall crashing. He found the stairwell quickly, slipping the gun onto his back before dispatching the few agents left there with a knife from his belt. He only slowed as he reached the fourth floor.

"Sarge, did you take a look at the road before you left your post?" Stark's voice didn't sound worried, but the words were worrying themselves.

"Of course I did, it was clear." Bucky nearly growled. He needed to get to Steve, there were way too many agents for him to take on himself.

"It's not anymore. We're gonna need firepower. I'm pretty sure that's a tank."

Bucky swore again. "I can't do anything about it from here. Isn't that suit supposed to be a tank by itself?"

"It might also have a small army. I can't do it all myself."

Bucky burst through the fourth floor door. He found himself in a small room. There was a very obvious dent in the opposite wall about the size of a man.

"I need Bucky's back up, Stark, figure it out."

Bucky dispatched a few agents who had been backed into his room. He pulled his gun back into his arms, bracing it on his shoulder as he kicked the door that was now hanging on just one hinge. Steve was surrounded by agents, at least three dozen vied for his attention in the fight, he was slowly backing into a corner even as he used his shield to fight back. Most of the agents were having to forego use of their guns because of the close quarter combat, but a few were up against the wall taking shots at the super soldier. So far Steve seemed unharmed, but the glimpses that Bucky caught of his face told him Steve was tired.

Bucky took some quick shots to get rid of the agents on the wall. He moved to the window to assess the situation outside. Stark was right, it was a tank, a small one, probably only room for one agent inside, but definitely a tank. Stark was focusing so much on not getting shot that he couldn't focus on taking it out of commission.

"Nat, Clint, status?" He forgot to use codenames, he knew the Avengers were a capable team, but his default was protective. His troop was in trouble, and he was the ace in the hole, he was supposed to be able to help.

"There's a network of tunnels for sure, there seem to be a lot of rooms down here, not sure exactly how spread out stuff is down here, but there's also a lot of machines. I'm not sure what it is, Stark and Bruce will want to analyze it."

Bucky grunted. "Focus on the tunnels, try to keep anyone else down there, we're a little too busy up here." He was getting pissed at the amount of agents swarming his boyfriend. He leveled his weapon at the opposite wall. "Steve, on the floor and stay there."

Steve dropped into the corner, pulling his shield and tucking behind it. Bucky flipped a switch on his rifle, another modification he had Stark add, and the weapon became fully automatic. He held the trigger down, emptying the magazine and dropping almost half the agents. He switched the magazine again, but before he could empty it Steve was standing.

"I said down, Rogers, I'm not done with these guys yet." He ground out the words through a clenched jaw, realizing that more agents were coming through the door on his right.

Steve dropped reluctantly. "Don't use all your ammo, Buck, we've got to clear the tunnels too."

"I have seven more magazines. Shut up and sit tight." The agents were swarming him now, and his rifle was too big to do much if they got any closer. By the time his weapon became useless he was down to five or six Hydra men. In one quick move he stowed his rifle on his back and pulled double handguns from his thighs. He dodged one agent, shot another in the knees, wrapped his fingers around the strap of a third, still holding his gun, but more focused on using the man as a shield. A couple shots later and he was down to one, but the guy was quick, grabbing weapons from downed agents as he circled and dodged Bucky's own attacks. Suddenly the guy stiffened then dropped.

Steve grinned at Bucky. "Looked like you could use the backup."

Bucky straightened out of his defensive stance. "Thanks, you okay?"

Steve sighed. "Tired, might have a sprained wrist, just another day on the job."

Bucky reached for him and Steve willingly gave his wrist over. Bucky remembered the first time he had tried to check on Steve during a mission. It had taken a lot of coaxing and swears before he had finally relented. Bucky was glad it wasn't so difficult anymore.

He muted his com as he examined Steve. He saw Steve do the same. He raised an eyebrow. Steve smiled at him. "Thanks for the backup, Buck, it was dicey for a minute there." He winced as Bucky flexed the joint.

"You know I always have your six, Steve. Sorry it took me so long to get here." Bucky pulled some rolled cloth out of yet another pocket. He began to wrap the wrist when Steve pulled it away.

"I can't be effective with a wrapped wrist, stop being dramatic."

Bucky glared and grabbed his forearm, pulling it back. "You're not gonna engage them again without me, together we'll be more effective, with or without a wrapped wrist, and I'd prefer you not get even more injured." It only took a minute before his quick first aid was complete. But Bucky didn't let his wrist go. He simply tugged it closer. Steve came into his arms willingly, but with a sigh.

"Buck, we've got to clear the rest of the area."

"I know, I just got worried about you, are you sure you're okay?"

"Buck, I'm fine, when I know you're at my six I don't worry about much." Steve smiled and kissed his cheek lightly. "I promise I'm good, you had my back like you always do."

Bucky tried to relax, Steve was alright, it was okay. He rested his forehead lightly on Steve's chest, reveling in his warmth and strength. Steve's hand rested lightly on the back of his neck, he kissed him on the top of the head, and Bucky realized he needed a little more than that to calm his nerves. He looked up and captured Steve's mouth. It wasn't for long, but it was enough.

He stepped away, stroking Steve's face lightly. He smiled gently. "Thanks, Steve, sorry, this mission just got on my nerves, I can't believe I missed that sniper on the hillside during my sweep…"

Before Steve could reply Bucky reached up and unmuted his com. "Status report, please."

"Well, there's still a tank in the front yard, honey, but what should I make for dinner?"

"I don't have time for sarcasm, Stark." Bucky growled and moved to the window.

"Where do you want me, Sargeant?" The whisper didn't come from his coms. The back of Bucky's neck prickled and he turned to grin at Steve. The thing he loved about Steve not using his codename, was that he used it in other situations, when it came from Steve it was a bit too much of a turn-on for a combat situation. And Steve tended to use that to his advantage.

"Cover my six while I take care of a tank?"

Steve winked at him and reactivated his com link. "Roger that, Buck, I'll cover the stairwell."

Bucky took a breath, trying to get back in mission mode. Steve knew how to distract him, but sometimes it wasn't the best idea. He turned back to find Steve fully in mission mode, he was checking the Hydra agents who were down, seeing if there were any that were still breathing, Bucky assumed it was for intelligent reasons.

He turned his attention to the tank outside. Hawkeye had joined Stark, taking out the small army one by one.

Bucky began to reset his rifle to sniper mode, taking it off automatic and switching ammo while he did so. He scoped toward the tank, looking for any signs of weakness. There were a couple of panels, but this wasn't the WWII tanks he was used to.

"Steve, ya busy?"

"What's up?" Steve appeared at his shoulder, following his focus to the tank.

Apparently the tank noticed. The gun took aim and started shooting at the building. The wall fifty feet away blew free. Steve jumped to cover Bucky from the debris with his shield.

Bucky took a couple shots, his rifle not even audible over the boom of the tank. Nothing seemed to make a difference. Bucky focused on the area right around the gun, if he could take out the firepower it wouldn't matter if the tank was still operational. A couple shots later it seemed that wasn't a good idea either. He glanced at Steve who was now covered in dirt, a couple scratches on his forehead and cheek. Bucky was sure he looked much the same.

"I can't find a weakness, there's too many panels and I've never seen a tank like this."

"Did you try the weapon controls?"

Bucky glowered. "I'm 95, not stupid." He turned back, continuing to take shots, but none of them seemed to help.

He could hear the irritation in Steve's reply. "Why do you think I have experience with this? You're the one who spent 70 years with Hydra."

Bucky went still. That was true. Though his memories weren't all there, he was sure the Winter Soldier had spent time in one of these, surely he had. He closed his eyes, tuning out the sound of the second story wall blowing out as he sought out the programming for the first time ever.

Bucky turned back to Steve. "You're right, but it was the Winter Soldier. I can take it out, but I need to access those skills in a different way than I ever have. You might need to pull me out."

Steve's concern covered his face. "Don't, there's gotta be a different way. Stark, has Jarvis analyzed it?"

"I've already tried all his ideas. The panels are apparently several inches thick. Even my beams aren't getting through."

Bucky nodded. "Okay, Steve, watch me, don't let me hurt anyone besides Hydra." He didn't listen for Steve's reply. He closed his eyes, relaxing every wall he had built around the programming. And suddenly he was gone.

Steve's eyes widened at the change in Bucky. His shoulders came up, his feet shifted until he was in a completely different position, his rifle at a different angle, his hand slid up the barrel for a different grip on the weapon. Steve's glance went from the door back to Bucky repeatedly. It took several moments for the Winter Soldier to finally take a shot. Steve glanced out the window. A panel had blown free.

"How-" Stark was interrupted by several more bursts from Bucky's rifle. Steve realized he was taking out more than just the tank. Every agent outside began to go down, every shot was a direct kill shot.

"Stark, Hawkeye, retreat. I don't know if he can tell who's who."

"Damn, I don't know if that was a good idea, Cap, I didn't even realize he could actually submerse himself in the programming…." Hawkeye sounded winded, but uninjured.

"I didn't know either. I knew he struggled to keep them seperate, but willingly embrace it?" Steve watched Bucky's face. His eyes had gone from blue grey, to steel.

"I'm gonna join Natasha. All the agents below are subdued or eliminated. She's working on cracking the security code for the computer, the tank is the only defence left, and if Sergeant has it, I'll be more useful down there."

"I guess I'll join him if the soldier boy has it under control." Stark dropped from the sky and landed near the doorway Hawkeye had disappeared into. "Let me know if he needs help coming out of it."

Steve watched Bucky's focus. It was completely centered on the tank outside now. All the other men were on the ground, harmless now. Suddenly the soldier stood. Steve reached out to grab him, but was interrupted by another blast from the tank. Suddenly Bucky's eyes were on him. "The mission can only be completed by entering the tank. It was designed to be unbreachable from the outside. The mission will be completed shortly."

Steve grabbed him. "Bucky, come back to me. It's okay, we can take care of it now."

The soldier pushed him back, though Steve recognized that it was far gentler than other times the Winter Soldier had pushed him. "The mission will be completed."

Steve watched helplessly while Bucky walked toward the blown out wall, he glanced down at the ground, nodded, then stepped out. Steve lunged, but didn't get there in time to stop him. He watched Bucky land, hard, without rolling against the impact. That wasn't something Bucky would ever do. His movements were always graceful and careful. Apparently the Winter Soldier didn't care.

Steve ran toward the stairwell, lunging over bodies that had been left from the earlier fight, desperate to get outside before something bad happened.

Bucky was working on getting another panel free by the time he got out to him. He ran toward the tank, keeping his shield up in case it decided to fire. He passed the first panel Bucky had shot out. Stark was right, that had to be at least three inches thick. How would Bucky manage to get in?

Bucky had his weapon strapped to his back, one of his large knives was working on another panel, Bucky's metal arm whirring mechanically as he forced the knife through the thick metal. He twisted and the panel came flying off. Steve ducked behind the shield as it flew toward him. He stopped behind Bucky, watching as the soldier worked some of the wires free from the tank. Apparently the agent in the tank had decided firing was useless, because it had gone quiet. Bucky's fingers were nearly flying as he cut, stripped, and crossed several wires. Steve wanted to ask what he was doing, but didn't want to attract the wrong attention from the Winter Soldier. Suddenly the gun dropped to a neutral position, pointing quietly at the ground. Bucky huffed, seemingly pleased. He moved quickly to another panel and the process repeated, the knife twisted the panel free, and his fingers worked to reroute the wires inside. A minute later the tank hatch creaked open, whirring gently. Bucky immediately stowed the knife again, but instead of reaching for the rifle he plucked a handgun from his back holster. He stood over the entrance and fired one shot.

Steve raced up the tank side to reach him, but Bucky dropped into the tank before he got there. Steve followed him down. Bucky had taken the driver's seat, holstering his weapon and pushing aside the downed agent, but instead of using the controls or dismantling wires, he reached with his metal hand, finding a panel underneath the switch board. He drew his fist back and crushed the inside of the panel. He proceeded to do the same with the control panel. When he finished there was nothing left, and the once weaponized and deadly piece of machinery was completely useless.

Bucky turned to Steve. He didn't meet his eyes, instead his gaze rested somewhere over Steve's left shoulder. "Mission complete. Tank dismantled." He stood blankly for several minutes.

Steve finally moved toward him in the cramped space. "Bucky?"

The Winter Soldier snapped back to attention. "Ready to comply."

Steve winced. "Soldier, retreat to safety." Steve hated talking to the Winter Soldier, but he didn't know if he could pull Bucky out of it inside the tank.

The soldier nodded. He followed Steve as they climbed out and dropped to the ground, again Bucky didn't care about the impact of the drop. He walked over to the doorway, inspected the inside of the building and entered.

Steve followed to find the Winter Soldier standing at attention at the bottom of the stairs. He slowly approached him, reaching up to mute his coms. "Hey, Buck, it's Steve, you did it, the tank is done, you can come back to me now."

He saw the soldier's eyes flicker. They stopped on Steve and his breathing became erratic. "Bucky, breath, come back to me." Steve got close enough to reach out and touch his arm. When there was no reaction he moved his hand up to his shoulder. "You did it, good job, now come back."

It took another few minutes of coaxing, Steve brushed Bucky's face with his fingers, his other hand gripping his metal hand in case Bucky did react. Slowly Bucky's breathing settled, until suddenly he went limp. Steve quickly caught him in his arms and laid him back on the stairs. When Bucky opened his eyes seconds later they were clear, back to their grey blue color.

"Steve?"

"Buck, hey, welcome back. You okay? How you feeling?" Steve reached over and muted Bucky's coms. He knew Stark hated it when they went dark, but Steve needed a few minutes to get Bucky back.

Bucky gulped in breaths of air, his chest heaving. "What happened? Is everything okay?"

Steve nodded, still caressing his face gently. "Yeah, we're all good, you did a good job, Buck, the tank is definitely out of commission."

Bucky nodded, laying his head back. "Good. God that was rough. How long have I been out?"

Steve gripped the side of Bucky's jaw, trying to calm his own racing heart. "Twenty minutes maybe. You dismantled the tank, came in here and it took you a few minutes to snap out of it."

Bucky licked his lips. "Good, anybody get hurt, besides the bad guys?"

"You might have, you dropped from the fourth floor, the landing looked rough."

Bucky chuckled without humor, nodding. "That explains it. My back feels like it's on fire."

Steve nodded. "Let's get you to the jet, you've done enough today." He reached up to bring his coms back online. "Team, Buck's back, I'm gonna get him to the quinjet. How's things down there?"

It was Nat's voice that replied. "Everything's clear, we contacted Fury, he'll be in with a team to scout things out, we've got intel off their computer we can analyze back at the compound. We'll meet you at the transport."

Steve nodded, standing up and offering a hand to Bucky. Bucky took it and pulled himself to his feet. He suddenly stopped and then reached up, pulling Steve down to him. Their lips met, and Steve sighed into it.

"Thank you, Steve, I love you."

"I love you too, Buck. I know that was hard. I'm proud of you for pulling through it." He reached up, knocking Bucky lightly on the jaw with his fist. "Next time let's think of a different plan. I'm not a huge fan of you ducking into the program like that."

Bucky smirked. "I didn't even know I could, you just mentioned I was the only one who'd seen one of those tanks before, programming or not. So I went for it. Kind of a stupid thing to do, I guess."

Steve chuckled, throwing his arm over Bucky's shoulders as they headed toward the door and a hot shower. "Damn right it was, you're supposed to let me do the stupid stuff."

Bucky laughed, his laugh only grew when Stark's voice came over the coms.

"Language, Cap!"

Steve winced, he'd forgotten he'd turned his coms back on.

Bucky laughed and bumped him gently. "Yeah, old man, what has the world come too?"

Steve glowered and pulled Bucky in for another kiss.