Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Seventeen
Bucky stared sightlessly at the ceiling and took several slow, measured breaths. Steve leaned into Bucky, offering his silent support. There was no gentle way to tell Bucky about the potions forced on Harry, so he'd laid it out as succinctly as possible.
After a few minutes of silence, Bucky turned to Steve. "Does avenging pay well?" He asked in a gruff voice.
Steve couldn't guess Bucky's point, but he shrugged anyway. "I haven't had a paycheck since Shield went bust."
"Think anyone would notice if we robbed a couple of banks?"
Steve huffed and shook his head. "We kinda stand out, Buck." Steve took Bucky's hand and laced their fingers together. "What do you need money for?"
"Made a plan," Bucky said with a ghost of a smile. "We get Harry the fuck out of the UK, buy a secure compound, and bunker down; Fort Knox might be secure enough. Tell the world to go fuck itself."
With a chuckle, Steve pulled Bucky to lean against him. "Fort Knox, huh?"
"We can raise bunnies," Bucky said as he settled into Steve's embrace.
Steve arched a brow.
"Fuck like bunnies then," Bucky said with a lewd grin.
There was an undercurrent in Bucky's voice Steve couldn't identify, but it worried him. "Buck?" Steve asked with a frown.
Bucky gave him a tight smile. "Temper's hanging on by a fingernail and the coffee's not sitting well."
He knew exactly how Bucky felt, the same way Steve felt when Hermione told him. Steve reached out and tugged Bucky's belt loop until Bucky straddled him again. When Bucky tucked his head against Steve's neck, Steve wrapped one arm around him and stroked his hair with the other.
"Places like that shouldn't exist," Bucky muttered against Steve's neck. "I'm glad it's gone, but wish we could have been the ones to torch it."
Steve froze, and Bucky sat up as they both realized the same thing.
"That," Steve said, his voice halting. "That's almost exactly what Harry said about the Siberian base."
Bucky nodded. "Yeah, it is. So he does feel what's between us." He leaned into Steve again. "Do you think he realizes it?"
"I don't know," Steve said as he ran his hand up Bucky's back. "But the way he watched us on the couch last night makes me think he wants it."
"Wants us," Bucky said in a throaty voice.
Steve nodded absently as Bucky's words ran through his mind. Harry did want them, Steve finally understood, truly grasped it this time. Steve could feel most of his doubts fall away. Harry was theirs; they just needed to help him see it.
"There it is." Bucky brushed his lips over Steve's. "I started to worry someone managed to crush it."
"Crush what?" Steve asked, as he turned his attention back to Bucky.
"That determination you have deep inside, the courage you use to go after what you want." Bucky cupped his cheek and smiled.
He felt the blush bloom on his cheekbones as he leaned into Bucky's hand. "I'm in over my head," Steve said ruefully. Courage and determination had been in short supply lately.
"That's never stopped you before." Bucky shrugged and held Steve's eyes. "You need to quit thinking so much. You have good instincts, trust them."
Steve wasn't sure how to respond to that. Was it even possible to stop overthinking and still think before he spoke?
Bucky twisted to look at the clock. "It's almost time for breakfast," he said. "Give me a kiss, and we'll go see Harry."
But he knew exactly how to respond to that. Steve tangled his hand in Bucky's hair, tilted his head, and brushed his lips over Bucky's.
"That's not a kiss, Stevie," Bucky murmured against his lips.
"Not finished," Steve said as he pulled Bucky closer. He brushed his lips over Bucky's again, this time lingering to let his tongue lightly trace the full bottom lip.
"Better," Bucky said with a low hum. "But still not a kiss."
Steve pressed his lips to Bucky's and when Bucky parted his lips, Steve's tongue swept into his mouth. The wet glide of tongues was enough to make him shiver. Bucky sighed as he wrapped his arms around Steve's neck and returned the kiss. Steve kept the kiss soft and warm, and when he pulled back, Bucky's eyes met his.
"You do good work," Bucky said, voice low and husky.
Pleased with Bucky's response, Steve ran his hands over Bucky's hair. "Ready to see Harry?"
"Always." Bucky smiled as he got to his feet and held out a hand. When Steve took it, Bucky hauled him to his feet.
Steve walked into the dining room a few steps before Bucky and quickly swallowed a chuckle. For the second day straight, the table sat empty. With a faint growl, Bucky made an abrupt turn towards the kitchen. Before he could get far, Kreacher popped into the room with a sour look on his face.
"Master Harry says Mr. Bucky and Captain Savage is helping with his work?"
Bucky watched Kreacher suspiciously, but nodded. Steve still struggled to control his amusement and thought it prudent to keep his mouth shut.
"Then you be co-workers, not guests," Kreacher said with a huff. "If you is not guests, then breakfast be bacon sandwiches in Master Harry's workroom."
"Is there coffee?" A hint of a growl still laced Bucky's voice.
Kreacher nodded, and Bucky turned on his heel before heading out of the room. "Thank you," Bucky called over his shoulder.
For the first time, Kreacher shared an amused look with Steve. "Kreacher be sending in another pot soon."
"Thank you." Steve watched Kreacher for a moment and suppressed a sigh as he made his decision. It didn't matter how bad-tempered Kreacher acted, it was the right thing to do. "I appreciate the care and support you give to Bucky and I."
His eyes widening to an almost comical extent, Kreacher stared at Steve for a long moment before he tugged an ear. "There be cinnamon rolls left, Kreacher will send them," he said gruffly. Kreacher immediately popped out of the room, not giving Steve a chance to reply.
Steve huffed and shook his head as he turned towards Harry's workroom. Kreacher seemed almost as bewildered by basic courtesy as Harry sometimes did.
In the workroom, Harry sat on a stool at a huge drafting table covered with maps and a couple of his ever-present legal pads. Harry laughed softly as he passed over a cup of coffee to Bucky, who took the cup with a satisfied hum. When Harry noticed Steve, he poured another cup and set it in front of an empty stool.
With a murmured thanks, Steve took a seat. The moment he did, a heaping platter full of bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches on Kreacher's homemade bread appeared. Quickly followed by chopped melon and the promised cinnamon rolls.
Concerned about having the food around the paper maps, Steve turned to Harry and raised a questioning brow.
"It's fine," Harry said with a warm smile. "There's a repelling charm on the table. None of the food or coffee will leave a mark."
They quickly passed the platters around until everyone loaded their plate. As he worked on putting his breakfast away, Steve couldn't help watching Harry. Despite Hermione saying he'd slept poorly, Harry appeared well-rested. Only the faintest hint of dark circles under his eyes hinted at any sleep problems.
Steve also noticed how often Harry glanced at Bucky and himself. The fact Harry seemed confused made Steve's heart ache, because it seemed to prove Bucky's suspicions about Harry's experience were on the money. He decided then and there Bucky was right. They needed a plan, but Steve didn't know how to plan for that kind of mission.
He dutifully finished his second sandwich and his melon before he snagged a huge, gooey cinnamon roll. Bucky seemed to waver between more melon or the cinnamon rolls.
Harry chuckled as he banished his empty plate. "I asked Kreacher to include fruit more often." Harry gestured, and another serving of melon and a cinnamon roll floated onto Bucky's plate. "And I've charmed the plates to keep everything fresh."
He turned to Steve with a questioning look. "We're likely to be here a while," Harry said with an apologetic shrug.
"Just the melon." Steve considered the question he wanted to ask and didn't think it was insensitive. As a precaution, he nudged Bucky's foot, relieved when Bucky looked up from his plate.
"You're not keeping a snack for yourself?"
"Oh, I fully intend to eat that last cinnamon roll," Harry said with a smile. "But mornings and my stomach don't get on, and I'll need an hour or so before eating again."
Thankful he got it right, Steve smiled and nodded.
"My mom was like that," Bucky said with a wistful look. "She'd drink some kinda black tea, stronger than any coffee, but she couldn't stomach food until she'd been awake a while."
Neither one of them talked about their families often. Steve never knew his dad, and he still found it hard to talk about his mother. But Bucky's parents were alive when he fell from the train, and Steve still vividly remembered writing that letter of condolence, his first.
Steve moved his foot again, pressing it against Bucky's in silent sympathy. Steve thought it was probably good for Bucky to talk about his family, but that didn't mean it was easy. Bucky gave him a grateful look before he popped another piece of melon into his mouth.
"Alright," Bucky said after he finished his bite. "What do you need from us?"
Harry pulled a stack of files from a drawer and laid them on the table. "You can tell how little the Aurors cared by their sparse reports." With a huff, Harry quickly pulled his hair up into a bun. "While they included the spell trace reports, they didn't bother separating the kid's accidental magic from the magic used for the vandalism."
"Yeah, that's all you," Bucky said with a grin. "That stuff didn't make any sense, and we skipped it."
Steve's head still hurt just thinking about those pages. "It looked like math, but it doesn't seem to follow any rules I know."
"It wouldn't," Harry said with a laugh. "Not unless you know the magical properties of each number and how it relates to the surrounding numbers. It's a branch of magic called Arithmancy." Harry gestured at the files and pages of the numerical gibberish floated into a stack beside Harry. "I'll take care of this."
Harry hesitated, biting his lip as he glanced between Steve and Bucky.
"Just tell us what you need done," Bucky said. "And we'll tell you if we can or not."
With a rueful smile, Harry shrugged. "I told you I'd be pants at it."
"I don't think it's about being bad." Steve took a moment to think about his wording. He'd seen Harry's fierce independence first hand, and while he hoped Harry's hesitation lay in inexperience, Steve wasn't sure if Harry could work with others. "It's more you don't have experience with teamwork."
If anything, Steve's statement seemed to make Harry more hesitant. Unsure how to fix it, Steve turned to Bucky. Bucky rolled his eyes and lightly kicked Steve under the table before he turned to Harry.
"Just takes a little trust," Bucky said softly. "Do you trust Stevie and I to be honest?" There was a long pause before Bucky added, "About our abilities? Or to ask if we're lost?"
"Of course, I do." Harry's response was instant and seemed to surprise him as much as it did Steve. Harry tilted his head and stared at Bucky for a long moment. "That was sneaky."
Bucky shrugged. "But effective."
Harry huffed a laugh and pointed out a legal pad. "All the victims' addresses are there." He gestured towards a large map overlay and a handful of dry erase markers. "They need to be located on this map," Harry said as he dropped a folded map on top of the pad. "It shows all the surveillance cameras I can access through Kingsley. Those cameras will have an ID number, and that needs to be noted beside the address."
He added another map to the pile. "And that one is the Ministry of Magic's officially approved apparition points, which also need to be marked. The ones nearest the houses and the nearby cameras." Harry sighed as he dropped a third map. "And that is an unmarked map of the UK, to make the eventual results easier to see."
Steve reached for the overlay as Bucky pushed the markers closer to Steve. Steve had worried how much help he could actually offer in a magical situation, but maps and locating potential areas of interest were comfortingly familiar.
"Stevie's the best with strategy and logistics," Bucky said.
Once he organized his supplies, Steve looked up at Harry. "Any preference on which color is what?"
Harry watched him with furrowed brows for a long moment before he shook his head. "Your choice."
Steve looked back down at the maps and carefully started a color key on the blank map. Despite Steve and Bucky's explicit offer to help, Harry still seemed surprised. Steve was really beginning to dislike whoever taught Harry not to expect help.
Bucky hooked his foot behind Steve's ankle, the simple gesture more comforting than Steve would have guessed. Once Steve's shoulders unknotted, Bucky turned to Harry. "What else you got, Wildcat?"
A bit of confusion lingered as Harry gestured to the stack of files. "The Aurors did fuck all in the way of interviews. Those all need going over. Is there potentially useful information in the original complaint? What's missing? What questions need to be asked?"
Bucky nodded along. "Reading between the lines, patterns, theories, and sequence of events." With a warm smile, Bucky pulled the stack of folders over. "Got another notebook and pen?"
Steve smiled at Bucky's keen acceptance of his task. "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?" He asked, trying to match the unusual pacing.
With a pleased laugh, Bucky completed the phrase. "The Shadow knows."
For a brief moment, they were teenagers again, sitting around the radio, eagerly awaiting the next segment. When Steve turned to Harry, he wondered if he and Bucky wore a similar amused, but confused expression when Harry talked about magic.
"The Shadow was a popular radio show when we were young," Steve said with a nostalgic smile. "Between that and Dick Tracy, Bucky thought about becoming a police officer."
"Him I've heard of," Harry said with a laugh. "Usually school boys having a laugh about the name," Harry shrugged. "But enough to know he was a detective in the comics."
Harry glanced between them a moment before pulling out his phone. "You can find most anything on the internet."
After a few moments of typing and swiping, Harry held the phone out so Bucky and Steve could see a long list of episodes.
Bucky laughed with obvious delight. "I know how to use Google, but that looks like something different." He looked up at Harry. "When we're not busy, can you show me?"
"Absolutely," Harry said with a smile. "If you can both work with the background noise, I can play a few now."
Between Harry's consideration and Bucky's high spirits, Steve felt content, and also increasingly optimistic about Harry's ability to work with others. "The noise isn't a problem." Steve actually looked forward to a pleasant trip down memory lane.
Harry held out a hand and a small black speaker floated off the desk, and when Harry gestured to the center of the table, the speaker obediently settled there. After another few moments of messing with his phone, Harry tucked it away as a familiar jingle played on the speaker.
Bucky reached out and laid his hand on Harry's. "Thank you, Harry."
It didn't qualify as a flinch, but Harry definitely seemed startled when Bucky touched him. But Harry didn't move his hand, and he looked up to meet Bucky's eyes even as a blush climbed his cheeks.
"You're welcome," Harry said with a soft smile.
Bucky squeezed Harry's hand once before releasing him. Without a word, Harry handed over another legal pad and a pen. By an apparent silent mutual agreement, they all turned to their tasks as the Shadow set the scene for his current case.
%%%
Steve sat up and stretched, humming a little when the tense muscles in his back tightened and relaxed. A glance at the clock showed they'd been working for over an hour. Once he settled into a rhythm, Steve knocked out three quarters of his list. Bucky leaned over the table, head propped on his hand as he read through the files, pausing now and then to scribble on the notepad. Harry sat hunched over the table, writing more numerical nonsense, half his hair spilling out of his bun, and Steve had to stifle the urge to fix it. Steve blinked in surprise when he saw the two enormous books sitting open in front of Harry. Steve hadn't noticed Harry either going to get them or any magic.
It was well over the hour Harry said he needed before eating again, so Steve pushed the plate with the cinnamon roll into Harry's line of sight. Bucky stopped writing and tilted his head to watch Harry. After a few moments, Harry reached out and pinched off a bit of the pastry and ate it. Bucky huffed a quiet laugh, sat up, and slipped the last few chunks of his fruit onto Harry's plate.
The next time Harry reached out, he snared a chunk of melon. Steve eyed the few bits still on his own plate speculatively.
"If you put anything else on my plate, I'll throw it at you," Harry said without looking up from his work.
Steve shook his head as Bucky laughed. Clearly, Harry was more aware of his surroundings than he appeared. Satisfied Harry was eating, Steve shared an amused look with Bucky and turned back to his own work. And a few moments later, when Bucky reached across to steal Steve's plate, Steve smiled and let him.
He only had two addresses left when Bucky softly called his name. Steve held up a finger and finished noting the camera number before turning to Bucky.
"How many you got in Perth?" Bucky asked.
A quick glance at his list confirmed Steve's memory. "Only one, on Melville St."
"This kid, Brian Campbell, thinks he saw a wizard an hour before the vandalism outside the Perth train station." Bucky thumbed through several pages. "But doesn't say how he knew the man was a wizard."
Steve frowned and turned back to his map. There was something not quite right.
"Probably knew by the way he dressed," Harry said as he closed the books with a sigh. With a wave of his hand, the books headed back to the bookshelf. "A fair portion of magical people don't go into the mundane world often. And they tend to dress oddly, overly formal or something barmy. I saw a wizard in Hyde Park wearing a lady's housecoat because of the similarity to a robe."
Steve tuned out the quiet laughter as he tried to figure out what bothered him. When he found it, he tapped the map. "There's two closer apparition points," Steve said. "A blind alley and a secluded park are both within a five-minute walk, but the train station is almost two miles out."
Wordlessly, Harry stood and came around the table to look at the map. Steve pointed out the different locations. Harry studied the area with a frown. A few moments later, Harry moved aside Steve's list and the other maps to get a better look.
"They're all near a train station," Harry said as he held out a hand. A moment later, a ruler came flying. The next few minutes passed in silence as Harry went over the map, double checking. With a sigh, he set the ruler aside. "They're all within five miles of a station."
"Is that important?" Bucky asked.
Harry shrugged. "Only in pointing towards who's involved. Train stations are the traditional apparition points, which indicate someone older. Most of the younger Purebloods are more comfortable in the mundane world. And all the apparition guides for the last ten years have those listed." Harry pointed to the ministry map.
Steve picked up the map with the camera locations to add the train stations to the list when Harry laid his hand over Steve's.
"Don't bother. Finding the surveillance cameras for the stations is easy."
He barely dared to breathe when Harry's thumb rubbed over his wrist. Harry didn't seem to notice as he continued studying the map. Steve sat motionless, not wanting to do anything to stop the absent caress. Even when he noticed Bucky's silent laughter, he still didn't move.
A far too few moments later, Harry finally noticed and flushed red as he jerked his hand away. He fumbled for the list of addresses and camera. Steve carefully laid his hand on Harry's, stopping the movement.
"I still have a couple to finish," Steve said. He knew his voice was husky, but there was nothing he could do about it.
"Sorry. Yes," Harry stuttered. "I'll just go," he waved in the general direction of his seat. Still red-faced, Harry huffed and muttered, "Ta."
Steve could see the struggle on Bucky's face as he fought not to laugh. A struggle Steve shared. He'd never seen Harry so flustered before, and Steve desperately hoped it was a good sign. Steve didn't want to make Harry feel bad, so he turned back to his work and quickly finished with the last two names.
When he'd finished, Steve silently slid the legal pad to Harry. Harry seemed to have regained most of his composure. Only faint traces of strain showed in the smile he gave Steve.
"I'll send these on to Kingsley, and he should have the relevant footage back to me this afternoon." Harry quickly straightened up his stack of papers, laying the legal pad on top.
Bucky groaned. "Not looking forward to watching hours of surveillance tapes."
With an amused laugh, Harry shook his head. "The ICW doesn't want to pay my rates for that. I imagine Kingsley's clerks will end up with the job, the poor sods."
Relieved he wouldn't have to sit through the mind-numbing tedium of watching surveillance tapes, Steve smiled at Harry. "What next?"
"For you lot? Nothing until the footage comes in. I kept today free of appointments," Harry said. "But now I have enough time to finish up another project, plus getting in that run so Hermione doesn't pester me to death."
Bucky watched Harry with a frown, and Steve's brow furrowed. "You set aside a whole day to get through this?" Steve asked as he gestured to the draft table. "It took under two hours."
Harry shrugged and looked away.
With a sigh, Bucky shook his head. "Prepare for the worst, hope for the best, huh?"
With another shrug, Harry gathered up his papers. "Prudent planning, less chance of disappointment."
Steve's heart sank as Harry walked to the door. He hated to think about the amount of disappointment Harry suffered to reach this point.
Harry paused at the door, and half turned towards them. "Thank you for…" He trailed off and gestured to the paper-strewn table. "I'll let you know when Kingsley sends the footage."
