You twirl through the air, narrowly dodging a stream of bullets as you break through the enemy ranks. Quickly you find yourself alone in hostile territory as reinforcements arrive between you and the rest of your team. You barely notice though, your mind is focused on finding the hostages.
"(Y/n), fall back!" Bucky's voice is in your ear, "You have no back up."
"Hostages are in sight," You reply, "I'm moving in."
You hear him growl lowly in your ear but you don't back down. Your hands clench around your guns as you attack, weaving in and out to avoid the bullets aimed in your direction. Out of your peripheral vision you see Bucky and Sam break through the throng of fighting to back you up, and in your relief to see them you're too slow and a bullet catches you in the stomach. Your suit is bulletproof, but it still feels like getting hit by a sledgehammer and you land hard on your back. Bucky and Sam make short order of the remaining men before Bucky falls to the ground beside you while Sam goes to the hostages.
"(Y/n)," His voice is panicked and you can feel his hands fluttering over your injury. He pulls your mask off and you open your eyes and let out a pained groan. "Oh thank god, are you okay? Can you get up?"
"Think so," Your voice sounds small and winded, but Bucky's able to help you to your feet.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Bucky hisses as you fall heavily into one of the seats, Sam stands next to him arms crossed.
"I had eyes on the hostages, I had it under control," You say defensively.
"When things go sideways like that you got to wait for backup, running in there half cocked like that you'll end up dead."
"Well I didn't," You snap, "So let it go."
Bucky gives you one last look before he disappears to the cockpit.
"Maybe I should copilot," Sam says, "You rest up."
You frown as he also disappears, leaving you alone to seethe. Either of them would have done the same thing in your position, risking themselves to save innocent lives. But you did it, and all of a sudden it's a huge deal. Combining that with the embarrassment of your little slip up and the fact that it felt like you had been punched in the gut by the Hulk, you were in a pretty foul mood at this point.
Bucky's still not feeling very talkative but he helps you up to your room where you peel off your suit to check the damage. It looks like someone smeared a handful of blueberries across your stomach and you grimace as your fingers brush over the sensitive flesh. In the bathroom you use an ace bandage to wrap your midsection and pop a couple of aspirin. You slip into a pair of sweatpants and a loose t-shirt and head downstairs to the kitchen for some tea.
You're immediately assaulted with the smell of garlic and you're not surprised to find Vision standing at the stove with a container of minced garlic in one hand and a spoon in the other.
He turns as you approach and you slip the garlic from his hand, "Maybe that's enough of that. You trying to fight off vampires or something?"
"Too much?" He sighs, "Wanda has been mentioning this meal her mother used to make, I'm attempting to recreate it for her."
"Here," You grab a spoon and take a sip of the stew. Behind the overwhelming garlic, the flavors are balanced and surprisingly delicious. Not all of Vision's cooking had been edible up to this point. "Oh Vis, this is actually pretty good. Maybe just up some of the other spices and let it simmer for awhile and I think it'll be perfect."
"Thank you (Y/n)," He starts chopping up some fresh parsley while you put on the kettle. You take a seat while you wait to try and quell the dull ache radiating through your body.
"I heard you were injured," Vision says quietly while he cuts, "It looks like it's painful."
"It doesn't feel great," The corner of your mouth twitches in irritation, Sam and his loud mouth had apparently already spread the news.
"You seem...annoyed."
"It's just the guys, I'm fine, alive, everything worked out, but they're acting like I launched a suicide mission."
'They were angry at you." It's not a question and you nod. "I've noticed that when people care deeply about others it makes them vulnerable and that can be hard to accept. So sometimes when they feel scared they react with anger instead to protect themselves. Put yourself in Bucky's shoes, for example. How would you have reacted had he been injured."
"I know Vis," You sigh, "I just don't like being treated like I'm weak."
"You are anything but," Vision smiles and takes the kettle from the stove and begins to make your tea.
"Thanks Vis," You take the mug, "I'm going to head back up, I'm exhausted."
"Of course. Here take this," He ladles some of the stew into a bowl and holds it out, "I'd feel better if I knew you had something to eat."
"Thank you."
You hadn't been hungry but by the time you got up to your room the smell had enticed you and you quickly devour it. The warmth feels good in your stomach, and you lay down, your cup of tea on the table beside you.
It's dark when you wake up, the pain in your stomach bordering on agonizing. You push your cold tea out of the way to see the time. 2 AM. Great.
You pull yourself into a sitting position and swallow a couple more aspirin dry. You look at the tea again; maybe another hot drink would help dull the pain. You navigate the kitchen using only the gentle moonlight cascading in through the open windows. As you feel around the cupboard for your favorite mug a cool breeze comes in through the open windows, and you shiver. You fill the mug up with milk and pop it in the microwave, humming quietly to yourself as you search for the cocoa-Sam never puts it back in the same spot-as your hand wraps around the container you suddenly feel someone behind you. The container tumbles to the ground as you whirl around eyes wide and heart pounding.
"Bucky," You breath, squinting in the dim light, "You scared me." He doesn't respond and you take a step forward to get a better look at him; that's when you realize how pale his skin looks and the thin layer of sweat that covers it, making him look ill. "Bucky are you okay?" His eyes are hidden beneath the shadow of his hair, and you take another step forward, wrapping your hand around his wrist. Fear floods your system as you feel his body tremble violently. After what feels like an eternity, but could only have been a handful of seconds he slowly lifts his head and meets your eyes and the pain reflected in his clear blue eyes almost knocks the wind out of you.
"I don't think they're ever going to stop," His teeth clench like they want to take back the words as soon as they were spoken. You knew Bucky had struggled with nightmares, particularly before Shuri had removed the brainwashing from his mind in Wakanda. Steve had broken down and told you about it one night after you had shown up at Bucky's door frantic after hearing his screams. He had never come to you after one before; preferring instead to struggle through them alone or if they were really bad-like tonight-he would hesitantly make his way to Steve's room to pass out on his couch. You weren't Steve though-you didn't have any silly anecdotes from a shared pass to reach your friend-and you really had no idea what you could do. "You were dead." The words are barely a whisper, and for a moment you weren't sure what he had said. Then the words hit you. Slowly you release his wrist and wrap your arms around his neck, standing up on your tiptoes to reach. Your stomach screams at the action, but you ignore the pain.
"I'm here," You whisper just loud enough to be heard and his arms snake themselves around your waist. His eyes are only half open when you look up at him, and he leans forward, his lips clumsily falling on yours while your eyes widen in shock. Too soon he pulls away, and you have to stop yourself from pulling him back and crushing your lips back to his. But you couldn't do that-looking at him you can tell he's dead on his feet. He probably wouldn't even remember the kiss in the morning. But you would; your brain had already memorized the feeling of Bucky barnes warm, slightly chapped lips on yours. "Come on, I'll walk you to your room."
Bucky's out almost as soon as his head hits the pillow, but you still gently tuck the blankets around him. You brush a lock of hair from his forehead and brush your lips against the corner of his before you shut off the light and close the door quietly behind you.
You head back to bed yourself, your hot cocoa long since forgotten, with your head buzzing and your lips tingling.