"Tony, he doesn't need armor," Steve said tone warning.

"Sure he does, and thanks to Bruce's genius it's really easy to use." Tony grinned.

"I don't want to become Iron Puppy," I said.

"At least try it. Bruce and I worked hard on it." Tony whined. "Nice hickey by the way."

I blushed and covered my neck as Steve and Bruce both began to yell at him about being inappropriate. I shook my head at the ridiculous sight before me. Bruce and Steve sounded like parents lecturing their son for allowing his hormones to run wild.

"Okay, no more teasing Jay about his hickey, I can't promise I won't stare though. Jay, are you going to try this on or not?" Tony asked.

"Fine," I said rolling my eyes.

Tony grinned and Bruce gave me a polite smile. I morphed and walked over to the suit.

"Alright, stand still and it'll begin attaching itself to you," Tony instructed.

I did as tell and the armor actually started disassembling itself and reassembling itself on me. Once it was on I tried to look around but my joints felt stiff and my sight was hindered. I growled in frustration and began ripping the suit apart with my teeth.

"No!" Tony shouted.

But it was too late, in less than two minutes I had the contraption shredded. Bruce look like he was feeling a mixture of horrified and amused, Steve just looked amused and Tony looked like he might puke. I sat down and cocked my head to the side.

"No, I don't care how cute you look, you're in trouble," Tony said crossing his arms.

I tucked my ears back and lowered my head looking guilty.

"Tony, it's not his fault. He tried the suit out and didn't like it." Bruce reasoned.

"And that gives him the right to destroy all of our hard work?" Tony snapped.

"You should have know putting him in that was asking for trouble," Steve said.

I released a low whine in the back of my throat. Tony whipped around to glare at me but his face softened as he looked me over.

"Fine I shouldn't have put you in that suit, I'm sorry, now please stop looking at me like that," Tony said.

I pounced on him, licking his face as he struggled and called to the other two Avengers to help him. Once I was done I moved to sit by Steve's legs. Tony sat up wiping his face and cussing me. Steve chuckled and patted my head and Bruce tried and failed to hold back his smile.

"So, is the suit the only thing you came for?" Steve asked.

"Well, yeah. I thought it would take longer." Tony replied wistfully.

"Alright well we've got stuff to do so we'll see you later," Steve said.

"Okay, we'll leave you two to it," Tony said winking as Bruce shook his head.

"Bye guys," Bruce said pulling Tony and the decimated suit out the door.

I morphed back and wrapped y arms around Steve's waist from behind. I felt him relax slightly in my arms and I gave a soft smile.

"Can we go swimming?" I asked.

"It's too cold to swim. You'll get sick." He said.

"No, I won't. Come on. Let's go swimming. There's a lake not too far from here." I begged.

"No Jay, I'm not going to put your health at risk. You just got over being sick." He held strong.

I pouted.

"Come on, let's go for a walk." He said.

"Alright, I guess that'll do for now." I sighed.

He laughed turning and bending down to kiss me lightly. Soon we were walking through the snow laughing and joking as we made our way around the property. My hand was intertwined with his and our arms would occasionally brush as we walked closer than necessary. We stopped by the small lake and took a seat on a fallen log.

"Jay, our next mission is coming up at the beginning of February," Steve said after a long stretch of comfortable silence.

I nodded, mind drifting to Bucky. What would happen if we found him? Steve wouldn't be able to hurt him and I couldn't hurt Steve. I knew my time in rehab wasn't Bucky's fault. I knew about the winter soldier. He was as helpless in that situation as I was. He didn't have a choice. My rehabilitation was just another mission, another order. A mission he wasn't allowed to fail, an order he wasn't allowed to ignore.

"What are you thinking about?" Steve asked.

"Bucky," I stated.

"Oh, Jay I'm... I'm sorry." He said shifting closer.

"No, it's fine. What happens if we do find him?" I asked.

"I don't know." He wanted to say more but kept quiet.

"Can we unscramble his brain? Undo all of the damage that Hydra did?" I asked genuinely concerned.

"I hope so. What he's done... What he did to you isn't the Bucky I grew up with. He would have never done that. I'm not defending him but I can't let go of the hope that the old Buck is still there and there's a chance to save him." Steve explained.

"I hope so too. He isn't in control of himself. I want you to have your best friend back." I said.

"Could you ever forgive him?" He asked quietly.

"I already have. I don't know how I'd react to seeing him again though." I admitted.

"Then you're a better person than I am. I know that Hydra has brainwashed him but I'm still angry with him. After what he's done to you I don't know when I'll be able to forgive him." He sighed.

"I've been a part of hydra. I know how sick and twisted most of them are. I know the price he'll have to pay for failing his mission. I'm not a better person, I just have a better understanding." I told him.

He nodded kissing my forehead. I gave him a gentle smile as I rubbed his thigh.

"God, I love you." He said quietly.

"I know," I said looking away from him.

He turned my face back toward him and smiled at me," I know you're still not ready, I don't care, it doesn't bother me. I'm still going to tell you though."

I gave him a sad smile.

"No, don't look so guilty. You have no reason to feel that way." He said before pecking my lips.

I leaned my body heavily against his." I want to go home now. It's getting dark."

He let me ride on his back as he walked back to the house. I enjoyed the ride until he dumped me on our bed and started undressing to go to sleep. I followed in his action stripping down to my boxers and crawled under the sheets. Steve soon joined me and we curled around each other.

Soon I fell asleep to the sound of his heart beating soothingly in his chest and slept peacefully through the night. The next morning I woke up to an empty bed. Sleepy and confused I looked around and extended my hearing out but the house was empty. I carefully pushed myself up and got dressed still half asleep.

"Sir, Captain Rogers wished for me to inform you that he was called to a meeting and he'll be back soon," Jarvis said.

I nodded and made my way to the kitchen. I made a quick breakfast and sat at the table to eat. It felt strange in a house by myself and I didn't like it. I was so used to having somebody with me that I didn't know what to do with myself alone. After breakfast, I washed the dishes taking more time than I should have with each dish. I sat on the couch unsure of what to do with myself. I sighed and stretched out throwing a pillow across the room. I smirked as I heard the soft thud. I morphed and looked at the other pillows that served no other purpose than looking nice. I snorted through my nose and grabbed one with my teeth, only to shred it a second later. I was shaking the last one when Steve walked in.

"Jayson!" He shouted but was cut off when the pillow in my mouth exploded sending toughs of cotton all over him.

I dropped the fabric on the couch and gave him the most guilty look I could muster.

"Morph back now." He said through clenched teeth.

I whimpered but did as I was told.

"What were you thinking?" He shouted.

"I was bored," I stated, timidly.

"You were bored?" He sounded disbelieving.

"Yeah, I was bored," I confirmed.

"Come here." He snapped.

I walked over to him, dragging my feet like a little kid.

"If you're going to act like a dog then I'm going to treat you like one." He said grabbing the back of my neck.

I tried to pull away but his grip was too tight. He knelt down dragging me with him and pushed my face into the mess. I struggled half-heartedly but stopped and bit my lip when his hand came down hard on my backside. The stinging pain sent a tingling sensation up my spine.

"Count." He demanded.

"One." I stuttered.

The second came down harder than the first, my body jolting away from his hand.

"Two," I grunted.

"The third was softer but it still stung.

"Three."

My breath was taken away with the fourth.

"Count or I'll start over." He snapped.

"Four," I said voice cracking.

The fifth was just softer than the fourth but it still sent a sharp stinging pain through the spot he'd hit.

"Five." I finished.

"You did well." He said pulling me into his lap causing the stinging skin to burn.

I whimpered in a totally manly fashion and moved closer to him, feeling his erection press into my hip.

"Are you okay?" He asked kissing my forehead.

I nodded not trusting my voice. I was confused and turned on.

"Do you know why I punished you?" He questioned.

"Because I tore up the pillows," I whispered voice breaking. This was the reason I didn't want to speak just then. "I'm sorry Captain, I won't do it again."

"You learned your lesson then?" He stroked my hair lovingly.

"Yes, sir," I confirmed taking the hand petting me and kissing the reddened palm.

"Good boy." He praised.

"I guess I need to get this cleaned up now?" I questioned looking at the mess I'd made.

"No, you can wait until you're a little less excited." He said, smug.

"I'm not the only one with a hard on." I pouted.

"No, you're not?" He chuckled. "I love you."

"I know," I whispered nuzzling his neck.

Days passed by slowly and turned into weeks, we had four days until we went on our next mission. Steve was more tense than usual but we weren't fighting like I thought we would. Any time the tension got to be too much we sparred.

"Thank you,"He said one day as we were laying together naked after a shower.

"What for?" I asked pushing my face against his stomach as he petted my hair.

"For not making me choose." He sounded almost torn but I knew why.

I nodded not knowing what to say but he seemed content with that. Most of our days had been spent in a comfortable silence only broken to say something important or for Steve to tell me that he loved me. He took a deep breath as his fingers moved up and down my spine. We both knew something was going to go down on this mission, we just didn't know what. That was the cause of the tension. We were preparing for the worst without saying anything about it. We'd found out that Bucky was almost guaranteed to be at this base a few days before. I honestly didn't think I could go against him in battle. I'd probably have a panic attack and he'd kill me. I also knew that Steve couldn't take his life, there was too much emotion between them. I wasn't upset about it. If Steve became the bad guy I wouldn't have been able to hurt him.

"I care about you," I said and most of the tension left Steve's body as he laughed.

"I love you too." He said still laughing.