Note: Just a little rant… WHY DO SO MANY CHARACTERS HAVE THE SAME FIRST INITIAL? JUST… UGH! SO CONFUSING!

"Keeping Still"

Was this the 'guy' the man with wings meant? (Sam Wilson. His name was Sam Wilson. The Asset… Bucky had to remember this. Just like the other one was Steve Rogers, the one he knew. He knew him. So he had to remember him until… until he remembered him.)

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Lang," Steve Rogers said, shaking the stranger's hand.

"Please, call me Scott," he said, and he glanced at the Asset… at Bucky. (Because that was his name, according to Steve Rogers. Steve.) "This is my patient?"

"Better you than Stark," Steve said, and… Bucky knew that name was supposed to mean something to him, but he didn't know what.

"I'm flattered," Scott Lang said, and he ducked his head. "Here." He dropped a bag on the floor, startling Bucky. He couldn't really jump with his arm trapped like this, but he definitely skittered.

"Calm down, Bucky," Steve said.

"Sorry about that," Scott said, looking at Steve. "Uh, I'll get you to wear this." He handed over some kind of equipment. "So I can talk to you, in case I need either of you to do something on the outside while I work from the inside."

"Can't wait to see this," Steve said. "The incredible shrinking man, huh?"

"I prefer Ant-Man. It's snappier."

He stripped off his outer clothes while Steve put on whatever the equipment was, Sam helping him. Bucky wanted to watch them all, be aware of his surroundings, but once his attention was on Scott it stayed there. The man stopped at his underwear, and Bucky's mouth felt less dry as he took in all the smooth-looking skin he could see. It was… a reaction he couldn't understand. Something he was trying to remember, even though he'd never met this man before in his life. They still hadn't been introduced, and some small voice inside of him said a sly 'We'll have to change that, won't we?'.

"Take a Polaroid," Sam said, and Bucky nearly jumped again as his concentration was broken. "It'll last longer."

"He's not checking me out," Scott said, pulling on a grey-ish suit, skin tight. "He's nervous about this. Can't you see the way he's trembling?" Whatever the costume was, he dressed quickly, and Bucky felt a flash of anger when the helmet went on last of all, blocking the view. He growled, something outside of his control, and the helmet came off. Scott moved a few steps closer.

"Scott," Steve said. "Don't—"

"This is just protection," Scott told Bucky. "I won't hurt you. Just keep still, and I'll make this as quick and painless as possible." He strapped the helmet on, and Bucky missed whatever he said next. Since Steve replied, it probably wasn't meant for Bucky anyway, and he had more things to worry about. A whole other layer of worry, in fact, and he yelped when HIS SOULMATE disappeared before his very eyes.

"Where is he?" he barked.

"Relax, Bucky!" Steve said. "He's just shrunk down, that's all. He's called Ant-Man for a reason. He's gonna go inside your arm and fix it so we can free you, okay? Make sure that HYDRA didn't leave any nasty surprises."

"W-what if he gets hurt?" Bucky said, staring uncertainly. He noticed a tiny movement, and realised that Scott was somehow flying towards Bucky's arm. "There might be something inside—"

"He's a highly competent, experienced engineer," Sam said. "And he ain't new to the superhero game. You've got nothing to worry about."

"But—"

"And he hasn't met his soulmate yet, so he won't die."

Had Bucky said anything to him? He'd forgotten all about soulmateship, but now it was flooding back to him, the words on his inner thigh that he'd noticed only the other week, before he got trapped in here trying to find shelter from a storm. To be on the safe side, he kept perfectly still and silent, breathing as quietly as he could and not daring to even so much as twitch his fingers. It was fairly quiet inside his arm, so he could only rely on Steve's assurances and updates to know what was going on.

He had no idea how long it took before his felt the connection to his arm anew. He still refused to move it until Scott was clear, and the proud look on Steve's face made him feel warm inside for reasons he couldn't explain. When his soulmate sprang back to full-size, Bucky tested his arm, and sighed heavily in relief when he felt that it was his own again. He could move anywhere he wanted, and right now he knew exactly where he wanted to go.

Sure, Scott stiffened when Bucky hauled him in for a kiss – probably the shock – but he didn't shove Bucky back. Instead, they were separated when Steve tried to pull him away, and Bucky damn near lashed out at him. He kept hold of Scott with one hand, and refused to break eye contact with the curly-haired man.

"Hope ya don't mind me thankin' you like that," Bucky said. Something familiar and right sat inside him, and he was bowled over with relief again when Scott's eyes widened and his lips parted.

"Oh," he said.

"Bucky, Scott has a daughter, so I'm pretty sure he's straight," Steve said, still tugging on Bucky's shoulder.

"N-no, y'know I'm pretty sure my soulmate could convince me otherwise," Scott said, looking dazed. Steve immediately let go of Bucky, who stepped closer to Scott. His soulmate didn't back off, so Bucky figured he wasn't too out of line.

"Well, I didn't see that coming," Sam said.

"You have a daughter," Bucky said, ignoring the other men in the room and focussing only on Scott. "Are you married?"

"Not anymore," Scott said. "We married for her sake… her mom's marrying her soulmate soon, he's a cop… kind of awkward since I was in jail, but that's another story. Uh. Wow." Bucky realised that one of Scott's hands was covering his, and the other scratched the back of his head. "You're Bucky Barnes, and you're my soulmate. I never saw this coming. Wow. Um…"

"If you don't want me around, I can go," Bucky offered.

"No!" Scott grabbed his upper arms. "No. Don't do that."

There were a few seconds of silence. Then Steve cleared his throat.

"We'll, uh, we'll give you a minute," he said. "C'mon, Sam."

Once they were alone, Bucky had to hold himself back from doing everything he wanted to do, which was a hell of a lot. It mainly involved touching his soulmate, every inch of him, to see whether he was real. Bucky knew he was real, of course, but to see if he was real. Real-real. It was so hard to know anymore, and if he was gonna be sure about anything it had to be his soulmate.

"It's okay," Scott said, and he touched Bucky's cheek.

"Don't know what to do," Bucky whispered. "Dunno if I ever did. I can't remember it."

"You're not alone. You have me."

Bucky's hands shook as he tried not to touch. "Don't want you t' feel… obligated or nothin'."

"Hey, my soulmate would never be an obligation," Scott said, scowling. "And you are not an obligation to anyone. Do you think Steve believes that?" Bucky lowered his head, pressing into Scott's hand to maintain some contact. "Hey, wanna see my soulmark?"

It would show Bucky that this was real-real, so he nodded. It didn't make sense for Scott to hesitate, not when he'd offered, and he would've had to change back into his normal clothes anyway. But there was some pink on Scott's cheeks when he tugged at the side of his underwear, and Bucky saw the mark on his hip. He couldn't help smiling when he saw that it was his writing, or at least what he was pretty sure his writing looked like.

"S'it yours?"

"Yeah," Bucky said. He traced the letters of his flippant, flirtatious remark with his metal fingers, and revelled in the shiver along his spine.

"Can I see mine?"

That was a reasonable request; yet Bucky was sure his cheeks turned bright red when he remembered where his soulmark was, and what it would mean. He stepped back quickly, and knocked into some machinery. He steadied it with unsteady hands, heart pounding wildly and head spinning as he tried to work out how to break the news.

"Uh…"

"You do have a mark, don't you?" Scott said. Bucky noticed his confused look out of the corner of his eye.

"Y-yeah."

"But you won't show me?"

Bucky glanced around the room, and he knew they were alone, but this was extremely embarrassing. It never would've been heard of in his day, he was sure. He'd never thought about other guys in that way, and Scott had a daughter. And Christ, what if Bucky scared her? But no, they wouldn't meet, not when Scott found out how they'd have to… be to bond. He probably wouldn't wanna bond at all, knowing how messed up Bucky's head was, all the people he killed as the Winter Soldier.

"Bucky? I can call you Bucky, right?"

Bucky nodded. "Sorry. It's just… awkward place. It's, um…" He briefly met Scott's gaze, then looked at the floor again. "Leg. Upper leg. Inside. H-here." He gestured discreetly, before locking his fingers together and fidgeting as he waited for some kind of reply or rejection.

"…Okay, so I guess that kiss should've told me something," Scott said after an infinite pause. "Think I should tell you that, yeah, I did time, but I don't have… that kind of experience."

"S'all… academic, anyway," Bucky said. "Not like you'd wanna bond with me or—"

"Where'd you get that idea?" he asked. "I'm not married anymore. My little girl will love you, by the way. She'll go crazy over your arm. But of course I'd want to bond with you. You're my soulmate, Bucky. What did you think that meant?" Bucky shrugged. "If you don't have any objections…"

"N-none."

"Then I don't see what the problem is."

Bucky could see plenty of problems. Wasn't this Scott guy supposed to be smart?

"Look," Scott continued. "We'll take it slow. Maybe ease up on the surprise kisses, `cause that scared the hell out of me for a second there. Now I know the reason… well, I'm flattered." His grin was infectious, and Bucky felt his lips tug up at the corners. "Just don't expect too much too soon. We're both new to this; there's no need to rush… that aspect of it."

"Okay," Bucky said quietly, relieved and terrified all at once. He couldn't… he wouldn't screw this up.

I can't wait for 'Ant-Man' to come out on DVD so I can get better at writing Scott Lang. Since this was from Bucky's confused point-of-view it was hard to do anything much in the way of analysing people with any accuracy. Had to rely on dialogue. I hope it didn't suck too much.

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