Chapter 15

The next few days were...awkward for Bucky and Lizzy. As much as they claimed that it was just one night, it was hard to forget something like that when the person who made you feel better than ever before is sitting across the room from you. Lizzy distracted herself by throwing herself even more into training, her goal was to be as good a fighter as Natasha, and she really needed to focus. She didn't end up calling Matt back, she couldn't lead him on when she knew she would never feel for him what she felt that night with Bucky.

Bucky was, well, Bucky. He called the intern from the labs again, she came to visit him in his room and Bucky tried to recreate that night with her. He wasn't terribly successful. Bucky was so distracted that eventually Steve and Sam physically restrained him until he told them what was going on.

"Look Buck, you're going to get yourself or someone else hurt on a mission if you keep acting the way you're acting, you need to tell me what's wrong or I'm going to recommend to Fury and Tony that you should be benched."

"He's right Barnes," Sam said, "ignoring whatever is eating you up isn't healthy. Is this about Lizzy?" Bucky said no a little too quickly. "For an ex-assassin/spy you sure are a terrible liar. What happened?"

"We slept together," Bucky mumbled.

"I'm sorry I think I need to get my hearing checked, did you just say you slept together?!"

"Yes Sam, are you happy?!"

"Bucky why didn't you tell me?" Steve looked hurt.

"I don't know what to do ok? It was the best night of my life and then we talked and she said it was amazing but we're so different and I'm not ready for a relationship so we agreed that it was a one-time thing and to never speak of it again but it's eating me up because I can't get her out of my head-"

"Woah Barnes, take a breath. Look we already knew you were in love with her" Sam held up his hand when Bucky started to protest, "and now you tell me you guys hooked up and she felt the same and you're not going after her because you're afraid?"

"I didn't say I was afraid."

"I think that's exactly what you said Buck, you're afraid to commit."

"A man who's afraid to commit, how cliché," Nat had snuck up on them somehow.

Bucky jumped, "how much did you hear?"

"Pretty much all of it."

"And?"

"And you're an idiot Barnes, you're head over heels, you know she likes you back, you have this passionate night together and you're letting it slip away."

"So what," Bucky asked, "I should just ask her to ride happily ever after into the sunset with me? If things don't work out it'll hurt the team, it'll make things complicated."

"Things are already complicated Barnes, you two are already compromised," she rebutted.

"You have a chance to be happy Buck, I mean really happy, not this jumping from girl to girl thing you've been doing hoping to distract yourself from your pain. She could be it for you," Steve pleaded, "don't let her get away without even trying."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Bucky said and then he turned and walked away. Steve, Nat and Sam sighed, they tried.