Chapter Six
Steve didn't know if he was seeing things but Romanoff was definitely acting strange, or he supposed stranger around Bucky. At first he thought it was the results of seeing him naked or she was just uncertain about him after their time years back when he shot her. He saw the way she looked at him differently, as if she was taking in every detail and movement he made but more out of interest then suspicion. It worried Steve, he hoped she wasn't up to something that'll scare him away. He'd just got his best friend back and he enjoyed the moments he saw when hints of Bucky would shine through and he even found himself enjoying 'The Winter Soldiers' personality too, he was stubborn and miserable most times but he was still apart of Bucky and so he accepted him.
It had been a nearly two months since he decided to reluctantly stay and Steve had been the main person to teach him all that this new world had. After the shower incident they all decide Steve would be his guardian of sorts, until he got the hang of it himself. Teaching him to eat again was tricky, Bucky was unsure of the new look of food, whereas the soldier didn't quite get the idea that he had to chew before he swallowed or he'd choke. Something he learnt the hard way after Steve had given him a sandwich, left the room for a moment only to come back and find Hawkeye giving him the Heimlich, again the group decided if someone had to leave the room Jarvis was to watch his everyone move.
The really tricky thing was getting him back into a routine of going to the toilet.
He never though he would have to have that conversation with his best friend but some things needed to be explained.
"When you feel a tightness in your stomach, or pressure in your bladder and have the urge to release you need to get up and go to the toilet. If it's a pee you just aim and pee in the toilet and flush when done. If it's a poo, you have to sit your bare bottom on the seat and push, wipe yourself clean with the tissue and flush when done."
Steve had been embarrassed beyond belief but the conversation needed to be said, twice now Bucky had been caught sitting uncomfortably needing to use the bathroom and many times more he'd gone all over himself. Normally it would be shameful for a grown man to do this but as he had no need for bathroom breaks in years due to receiving all his nutrients through tubes he was having trouble understanding his body's needs once more. The rest of the team thankfully did their best to turn a blind eye to most of Bucky would be humiliating accidents, most times it was Romanoff and Stark who helped out. Both understanding how hard it was for Steve seeing his best friend this way more than anyone else. Natasha having seen Clint brainwashed by Loki and Stark having watched Pepper fall to what he presumed was her death.
Steve made sure to thank them profusely, he knew he had the best team mates in the world when no words where shared as they got to work cleaning together.
They stripped, cleaned and clothed Bucky, not everyone would want to do that for a guy they barely know.
"This is humiliating" was the soldier's first words after another accident in which he peed the bed.
"Humiliation is a way of life soldier, get used to it, accept it, move past it" used to her tone, the soldier merely ignored Romanoff, whereas Bucky rolled his eyes.
"You say that but it's not you pissing all over yourself like a darn kid" he snaps causing Natasha to face off to him.
"I've peed all over myself solider, I've been stripped naked, restraint to a table and sterilized and I've been trained by torture. Do you see me standing and complain about it?"
The tension in the room escalated at her words and Steve honestly worried for Bucky's safety right now, Natasha never shares.
"Well, do you!"
"NO!" Bucky and The soldier yells back in unison.
"I've been where you are, not exactly the same place but I still understand. And you know what, I didn't complain and let it get me down, I continued on and now look at me."
She gestured to herself "I'm saving lives and doing my best to wipe away the red and it feels good. So damn good."
Bucky swallowed, as he stared back at this beautiful redhead that was baring a piece of her soul to him.
"Killing was a job to me, something I'm good at but doing the right thing and helping, it's a way of life."
The soldier simply searched her eyes, recognizing that she was familiar to him, far too familiar than he liked.