Bucky watched his blonde lovers warily. He'd been concerned about Steve's anger at Chris since Tony had informed them of her trip out of the compound. He understood it – he really did. But pissing off their lovely little FBI agent to get across that he was head over ass in love with her, and terrified something would happen to her, probably hadn't been the best idea. He'd tried telling Steve that on the way home…

Where had his romantic little punk gone? This was new for Steve. He knew Steve was crazy about Chris, they both were. Like Steve, he wanted to understand what was in her head when she left the safety of the compound while they were on the other side of the planet. But Bucky hadn't seen this more dominant side of Steve before. And he'd enjoy exploring that at some future point.

Now here they were in Steve's apartment and instead of indulging in some I'm-so-happy-to-see-you-after-a-month sex, his best friend had just put her right over his knee and had given her a pretty thorough spanking. Bucky was torn between making sure she was okay, because she'd be feeling that, and asking her if he could kiss it and make it better.

As it was he was all kinds of hard watching the slender beauty, on her knees next to Steve on the couch, her hand down the front of his friend's jeans. Bucky could see the smooth lips of her pussy glistening from where he sprawled next to them and it made his mouth water. He was sorting through a lot of bad ideas on how he could get in on things. Hopefully without her getting pissed at him.

"Go and lie down on your bed," Chris ordered Steve, her voice husky in a way that was new. She'd pulled Steve out now, those long slim fingers curled around his friend's cock, her hand working him in smooth strokes that made his own member rock hard.

As if Bucky wasn't hard enough already.

"Or you could go down to the floor," Steve countered, trying to stare her down.

Or you could shut the hell up. Bucky shook his head at Steve, the movement drawing Chris's attention. She shot him a quick glance, before returning her attention to Steve.

Bucky smirked. He had an idea of where everything might be headed. If there was something in it for him, hell yes, he'd be her accomplice.

Chris glanced back over her shoulder at her backside in a way that was just too cute, looking back to Steve with a pout. "My ass really stings," Chris told him with a curious mixture of pitiful and sultry. "Do you really want me to sit on the floor now?"

Smart girl.

Bucky watched some of that anger fade from Steve's face. Once the punk got over being pissed off he was going to be beside himself with guilt over her backside, Bucky called it.

Steve rose from the couch, pulling off his t-shirt as he did and dazzling both of them with that rippling display of muscle. His jeans were open and hung low on his hips, showing off his perfect form.

"You coming?" he shot at Bucky as he made his way to his bedroom as Chris wanted.

I sure hope so. Bucky rose from the couch, eying Chris as she started to follow him. She pulled off the top she wore, flung off the lacy, cream-colored bra.

She held her wrists up and together meaningfully as he stared at her.

Bucky smirked, knowing exactly what she wanted, and he was more than happy to help her if meant he got to have sex with one of them soon.

Steve had it coming.

Steve had indeed stretched out in the dead center of his bed, nude now, his gaze roaming over Chris's lush form. Ah, but there was a little bit of guilt now in his gaze since she'd planted that idea. Steve watched her climb up from the foot of the bed and up his body, grabbing his head in her hands and kissing him as if her life depended on it.

Steve's hands slid gently up her hips to her back, prompting her to pull them off her body. He let her. Chris pressed his wrists to the bed on either side of his head as if she could hold him there. All the while she devastated him with kisses that had Bucky a little jealous. Bucky loved how she kissed with her entire being. It was so good right now Steve didn't even seem aware that Bucky was even in the room.

It was almost too easy.

The cuffs were stronger than the ones Bucky had. They'd been used on Bucky himself when they'd captured him in Romania, the first time they'd encountered the Black Panther. Steve was a sap who kept everything for nostalgia, and Bucky had been pleasantly surprised when he'd discovered that Steve still had them in one of his bedside tables. It turned him on to think that Steve had maybe hoped to use them on him again.

It turned him on even more to realize that they'd been designed to hold him even with his enhanced metal arm. If they'd been designed to contain him, they should be able to hold Steve.

They had to have felt the bed dip under his weight. Almost immediately Chris ran a hand back down to Steve's swollen cock. It was all the distraction Bucky needed.

Steve actually tensed, considered fighting him, just before Bucky fastened the second side around his left wrist. Then Steve glared at him.

"Changing sides?" Steve wanted to know, eying Bucky as he pulled off his sweatshirt.

Bucky smirked at him, shaking his head. "You've had your say and you delivered your lesson. I didn't interfere. I'd say it's her turn now."

"And what about what you planned to say to her?" Steve taunted him, jerking the bed as he tested out the bonds.

Bucky nodded, pulling off his jeans. He had gone commando and Steve's gaze going directly to his cock had him grinning.

"You're right," Bucky told him, climbing back on the bed to where Chris straddled Steve's hips.

His little beauty folded her arms across her chest, staring him down. Bucky wasn't worried. Chris seemed better at reading emotions by the day, even his darker ones. She had to know how excited he was in that moment.

"Chris, I have to admit I was worried when I'd heard you left the compound," Bucky said carefully, trying not to smile. "Can you not do that again?"

Chris nodded, her face still a complete mask of calm. "I'll take that under advisement."

Bucky loved to play though it wasn't something he ever threw out there because it was new to Chris and Steve didn't want to make her uncomfortable. Normally. Steve was good about letting him know when it was just the two of them and he wanted Bucky to be rough with him. And Chris? Bucky always assumed if she wanted to play, she'd let him know. Neither he or Steve wanted to push that if she didn't want it.

He grinned as his gaze raked over Steve, his hands secured to his own bed, his face and chest flushed in anger, lust… Kind of felt like Chris was wanting to play just now.

"Now, is it my turn?" Chris asked them.

Bucky nodded, Steve's gaze was fixed on her, but a lot of the ire had faded.

"What the hell, Steve?" she asked, irritation in her tone. "You really think this was the best way to handle our situation?"

"You all but dared me." Steve blew out an exhale. "Look, I lost my temper. I'm sorry."

The impatience in his voice didn't ring that true. Chris exchanged a look with Bucky.

"You don't sound sorry," Chris pointed out.

Steve smirked at her then. "While these can probably hold me," he shook his wrists, "I somewhat doubt the bed can."

"I can handle you, punk," Bucky told him, enjoying watching lust blending with anger in his face. Steve liked when Bucky handled him.

"That's good," Chris said. "I doubt I can move as fast as normal right now. If I have to scramble off the bed, it could add to my injury."

That took a lot of the fight out of Steve. "You're never going to let me live this down, are you?"

Oh, he was still angry but just now seeing the consequences ahead of him.

"That depends," Chris said simply, planting her hands on his chest and leaning over him.

"On what?"

"If I get what I want," Chris told him easily.

"What do you want?" Steve's voice took on a huskier tone.

"I want my freedom," Chris whispered.

Steve's gaze met Bucky's and he recognized the concern he read there.

"You have it within this compound," Steve said tightly, turning his attention back to her. "But you can't leave the compound right now. We'll get you anything you want but it's you can't leave. Not right now. That's all I want you to understand. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"And…"

"And?" Steve prompted.

Bucky waited for Steve's anger to return but it didn't. The flush over his face and chest darkened, spreading out over his shoulders even.

Pulling back, Chris pulled up and lined Steve up with her entrance. His cock was so swollen and red that it almost hurt Bucky to look at it. He licked his lips as he watched it slide into Chris's slender body, filling her up in a way that had her smiling.

Chris began riding him as Bucky watched, stretching out beside Steve. The blond man surprised him, stretching his head up to claim his mouth for a kiss. Steve was giving as good as he got, taking Bucky's breath away in his desire. Oh yeah, Steve was all about this now and Bucky had several bad ideas on how to help Chris get what she wanted from him.

Bucky decided not to try and touch Chris, as badly as he wanted to. Not until she told him she wanted that. He wasn't stupid.

They both enjoyed Chris working him over, riding Steve's cock just how she wanted to. Her hands slid all over her body. Her small nipples were diamond hard and one slender hand went gliding down to her clit, stroking it in a rhythm that had her gasping soon, riding Steve harder and faster. Chris was so beautiful when she came and they both watched mesmerized as she found her release, bringing her hips to a stop after long moments, and struggling to catch her breath while she still straddled Steve.

When she climbed off Steve, leaving that huge, swollen cock unfulfilled, he groaned.

"What do you want now, doll?" Bucky asked her.

Chris climbed off the bed, Steve winced to see the apple red of her ass. She turned, gloriously naked at the foot of the bed, defiant as her gaze met his, then Steve's.

"I just took what I wanted," Chris told them, "the same as Steve did."

Steve swallowed hard as he listened while Bucky's heart fluttered in his chest.

"Yeah, going shopping after that was on me. Bad call. I'll give you that," Chris said calmly. "But you should have told me yourselves that I was restricted to the grounds. Agent Coulson was cool about it but yeah, it was a little embarrassing and that pissed me off. That's why I grabbed a car and went. I lost my temper too."

Chris's gaze shifted to Bucky and back, but she wasn't done, and he just knew he wasn't going to like what she'd say next.

"My freedom is the latest thing I've lost," Chris reminded them. "And it's the thing I value most. I'm not blaming you for the fact that I lost my place at the bureau and ended up stuck here. I did that myself. But I need you to understand that my life shifted in a huge way and I'm still reeling from the changes. This entire relationship is a big change to navigate. I'm not good at being in a relationship with one person and there are two of you, and you're enhanced, and I just…"

Bucky gazed at Steve, willing him to say something to fix this. Anything.

"I understand where you're coming from, I do. But this isn't going to work out if you're going to go all Captain America and spank my ass when you think I need a lesson about something. I'm not going to live my life worried about my actions and how they might upset you or put you in danger out in the field. That's not fair to me. I do care about both of you very much, I do, and I get that you care about me. I don't understand why exactly… I told you, I'm not good at relationships. Maybe it's just me but it doesn't seem like this is how it's supposed to go. There's supposed to be respect for each other, I thought. Setting some boundaries. Something…"

She turned and headed out of the bedroom, grabbing Steve's robe from the back of the door as she went. Bucky leaped off the bed after her, leaving Steve where he was because so far nothing he'd said made this any better.

"Doll, let's talk about this," Bucky pleaded with her, following her around the living room as she gathered her clothes. Her jeans were ruined so she slipped on the robe. "I'm sorry. Steve's sorry. He's gonna be real sorry tomorrow, I promise you. You're right. He shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't have let him. We…"

Chris tied the robe around herself calmly and Bucky swallowed hard.

"We've lost things too," Bucky tried to get her to meet his gaze as he spoke.

Chris stopped at that and sighed. "I know and nothing that happens to me can even compare to that."

When she found her shoes, she headed straight for the door.

"Neither of us want to lose you. That's where this came from, Chris. Please…"

Steve called to her from the bedroom as she slid on her shoes, but Bucky knew she had no intention of going back in there. Her eyes were shiny with tears and her hand shook as she smoothed her hair back behind one ear.

"I need some time to think about this," Chris whispered.

Bucky pushed the door of Steve's apartment closed above her head, pressing his metal arm to keep it there. "Chris, we're both crazy about you. We l—"

"Don't!" Chris cut him off. "Not right now."

"Please," Bucky pleaded with her, gazing deeply into her eyes.

"If you care so much, let me go," Chris told him. "Let me sort this out on my own."

Bucky just went to smooth over her hair with his flesh hand. She deflected him. It was as unexpected as being bitten by a butterfly.

"Let me go."

Bucky's sigh was a sad whisper in the apartment before he stepped away from the door. His heart was shredding in his chest as he watched their girl walk out of their apartment.

Just then Sam walked up behind the hall behind her, taking in first Chris in an oversized robe and shoes as she slammed into her apartment. Sam glanced back to see Bucky nude in Steve's doorway. For once, Steve's bratty sidekick was silent.

Could this have gone any worse?

Chris swore off relationships after that and meant it this time.

The first thing she did was enact privacy protocols. Then she contacted Pepper, telling her she'd be working from her apartment for the next couple of days which stretched into two weeks. She'd been grateful that no one had to witness how gingerly she had to sit for the first few days after Steve's little lesson.

She had messages from Steve and Bucky each day, but she only got on her phone long enough to make sure she hadn't heard from Aunt Jenny. She wasn't even reading the rest of her messages from the two super soldiers, Darcy, and Nat. Tony and Pepper sent messages through the network to make sure she got them and no one else tried to get in touch with her physically.

Chris was desperately hoping for a mission soon because she knew she wouldn't be able to leave her apartment without having to deal with Bucky or Steve without one. It was one thing to be restricted to the compound. Being stuck in her apartment was a whole other level of hell but she needed the time.

By the end of the third week, someone did show up. Chris didn't even look up at the sound of the firm knock. After five minutes, she thought whoever it was had gone away.

The door opened and in walked Tony Stark, smiling. Chris was working at the desk in the living room. She blew out an exhale as he headed in her direction.

This should be interesting.

"Welfare check," Tony said cautiously. "As I understand it, the only people who've exited this apartment in three weeks is hospitality. I'm just here to make sure you're okay."

Chris just nodded.

"Come over here and talk to me, kid," Tony bid her motioning toward her couch. "I am your boss."

Chris didn't see a way out. He was her boss, so she rose from the desk and followed him. Tony sat on her couch and she took one of the chairs. Tony watched her so closely as she sat down.

"You've lost some weight, Chris." Tony' tone was disapproving. "You're what? Normally 110 soaking wet? You think this is a good idea?"

Chris sat back in the chair and shook her head. "With all respect, you're my boss. I'll talk to you about the job. But my weight doesn't fall into that category."

"It does if you make yourself sick and can't do the job," Tony argued.

His expression was a full-on concern and as she felt him out, it was the primary emotion too. There was some impatience but mostly concern.

"What can I do for you, Tony?" Chris asked politely.

"Tell me what's going on with you," he said simply. "No one has seen you since the team got back from the last mission. What happened?"

Chris struggled for something to say. Tony, to his credit, was patient. Waited her out.

"I really don't want to talk about it," Chris said finally.

"I'm not the only one worried about you," Tony said gently. "I don't know what happened but…"

"I had a disagreement with someone," Chris admitted. "You probably already know exactly what happened anyway, don't you?"

"Let's see," Tony said, stroking his goatee and feigning a thoughtful look. "You and Steve got into a fight that ended in your strutting up the hall in Steve's bathrobe with Barnes bare-ass naked in Steve's doorway. Sam won the bet by the way. Nat and Darcy aren't speaking to the two senior citizens and neither is Jane Foster."

Chris buried her face in her hands. Jesus, it was worse than she thought. Did everyone know everything now?

"What I really want to know is did one of you really cuff Rogers to his bed?" Tony asked with glee in his voice.

Chris had to laugh at that.

"Was it you?" Tony tried to meet her gaze.

Chris did look up, chuckling. "I'm taking that one to my grave."

"You're no fun," Tony told her, still laughing with her. Finally, he was able to school his features into something like serious. "Seriously, Chris. It's been brought to my attention that a lot of this is my fault and –"

"How is any of this your fault?"

"I told them on that last mission about your adventure to the mall," Tony told her. "And I don't know if it helps or not, but I'm really sorry."

Things were in a state indeed if Tony Stark, the Tony Stark, was telling her he was sorry.

"They actually blamed you?" Chris wanted to know.

"The senior citizens? No. Nat did," Tony explained. "She's been even worse to them. It's been a mess."

"Are they okay?" Chris asked, not ready to feel guilty per see. She wanted time, deserved time to think about everything. That didn't mean she wanted them tobe miserable. That wasn't going to make her feel any better.

"They finally made up," Tony told her. "The first week or so they weren't speaking to each other. Then they got into a fight sparring and beat the shit out of each other. I really wish I'd seen that coming like Nat and Sam did. Can you imagine the pay-per-view audience we would have gotten? Captain America vs. The Winter Soldier."

Chris snickered at that. "I can imagine."

"All of us miss you," Tony told her. "Most especially them and –"

"But this is actually great, Tony," she cut him off. "If they are back together, maybe it's best that I stay out of the picture. Let them be happy together."

"What?" Tony stared at her like she was mad.

"Remember the last time you came to talk to me about the two of them being upset? My beliefs really haven't changed since then. I think it would be best if they moved on. Without me."

"I don't think that's what they want, kid," Tony replied. "They are both pretty down right now."

"And this is the part where you tell me I need to fix this because otherwise their heads aren't in the game and that endangers the missions and…"

"No. I could, but I'm not," Tony told her.

"I know you know what was going on, Tony. How was a three-person relationship going to work? It was doomed from the start. I'm not like them. I don't belong with them. It shouldn't take a lot longer for them to figure that out."

"I don't know Barnes as well. But if you think that about Steve, then you didn't get to know him."

"What do you mean?"

"It obvious, kid," Tony explained. "This is the second time you've backed away from them and this time is much worse than the one before. If they were so happy without you, why is that?"

Chris's mind scrambled for an answer.

"Look, if you really believe that they are better off without you and you want out, I'll understand," Tony continued. "I can arrange a transfer to another facility for you. Hopefully, in a few months, you'll be right back at the bureau. How about that?"

Why did the thought of leaving the compound, leaving them behind, feel so wrong to even think about?

"But don't drag this out," Tony bid her. "It's not fair to anyone, including you. I want you happy and eating again."

Chris nodded. "I'll reach a decision then. Soon."

"That's all I can ask." Tony rose from her couch. "Do you need anything at all? Upgrades? Office stuff? A pound cake?"

Chris laughed. "I'm okay. Thank you. Your generosity has already been simply amazing. I appreciate you."

Tony smiled, showed himself out. Chris followed him to the door and was about to shut it when a large hand gently pressed against it.

Chris's heart began to beat madly in her chest as she looked up into Steve's bright blue eyes.

"Hi, Steve."

His gaze moved over her and back up to her face. "Chris, sweetheart, please can I talk to you?"