Chapter 13 - Live Wire

The next morning saw a heavy clean-up duty. Somehow, they had managed to make as much mess as a school wide party might have, bottles flung around the place, articles of clothing everywhere, uneaten snacks coating the tables.

Bruce was the first to rise, but he was truly tangled up in all his friends. Somewhere during the night, he had wound up holding Tony, while both still laying on Thor. Steve, Clint, and Natasha had remained in some sort of needy triangle, which seemed fitting for them, Bruce thought.

It was nice to have a moment of respite after the drama of the previous night, even if his head was pounding worse than ever. He suspected that the others were in similar states of distress so he made a conscious effort not to wake them as he slipped out of Tony's grasp and somehow left the room without waking anybody, even though he thought that he was totally going to fall on Thor at one point.

Bruce used the majesty of the Stark kitchen to prepare a breakfast for the six of them. He poured them each glasses of orange juice and set about cutting up some fruit, making pancakes, and pretty much all the breakfast food he could find in the kitchen. Eggs, bacon, the works. Even if nobody had much of an appetite, he could always count on Thor to pack away the calories.

As the bacon sizzled in the pan, he felt a pair of lips pucker and kiss his cheek.

"Lucky us having our own personal chef."

Bruce chuckled as he recoiled as some of the oil hissed and splashed him. "I'm doing what I can considering there's a bulldozer in my head."

Steve drained his orange juice with a sigh. "I feel like I'm going to shit myself and throw up at the same time."

"You better go do that somewhere else, buddy."

"Figuratively, Bruce."

"Okay, good to know."

Steve laughed. "You been awake long?" He pulled open the refrigerator and refilled his glass of juice, placing the carton on the kitchen island for easy access.

"About twenty minutes or so. Anyone else up?"

"Nah. I think Nat's awake, but she's content to just pretend she's not for a few more minutes. I wouldn't count on the others being awake for a while."

"Well then their food will be cold."

"I'll wake 'em. Don't want your hard work going to waste."

Bruce shrugged. "It's just breakfast."

"Well, we all appreciate it. We appreciate you. I appreciate you."

Bruce groaned. "Don't tell me that touchy-feely vocal Steve continues on through a hangover. I don't think I could bear it."

Steve wrapped his arms around Bruce's waist and placed his head on his shoulder. They looked like a picture-perfect suburban couple. "Oh, Brucey, I do love you so." Steve snorted and pressed rapid kisses to his head.

"I'm so telling Mr Barnes about this."

"Oh no, then he's gonna punish me. What a shame." Steve rolled his eyes.

"I'm not sure I needed to know that about you, Rogers."

"What? I punish him plenty too."

"I'm not sure I needed to know that about him."

Steve shrugged. "Better the devil you know and all that."

Bruce did grin. "There's no way I'm going to be able to pay attention in English class now."

"Then you'll know how I feel."

"Maybe not quite."

"I should hope not," Steve chuckled, bracing himself on the counter next to the stove. "God, I hate drinking. Why do we do it?"

"Because of Tony's very limited parental supervision," Bruce shot back, scooping the cooked bacon onto a plate. "And because it's fun."

"It is fun isn't it?"

"So fun. But right now, I can't remember why," Bruce gave him a shaky smile.

"Okay, I'm gonna go wake up the guys. Be right back," Steve groaned as he pulled two extra pans out of the cupboard. "This is going to hurt everyone, but it'll be funny."

Bruce chuckled as he braced himself for what was about to happen.

Steve edged into the living room and brandished the pans. He banged them together loudly and cleared his throat. "Rise and shine, everyone!"

Natasha cracked her eyes open and sat up, hair dishevelled but otherwise looking as gorgeous as ever. She reached up on the table next to her and took a hearty sip of a glass of water. Steve wanted to kill her, quite frankly, considering the way she would always be able to shake off the alcohol in her the next morning.

Thor folded his arms, keeping his eyes closed and letting out a grunt. "I will kill you, Rogers."

Tony, though, jerked awake and put his hand to his chest. "Am I dying?"

Clint groaned and sat up, holding his head. "Please, please no more."

Steve held the pans by his side and sighed, cursing himself for this ridiculous idea that now left his head throbbing even worse than before. "Bruce has made breakfast so get up before it gets cold!"

Thor sniffed the air. "B-Bacon…eggs. Pancakes?"

"You're damn right."

Natasha licked her lips. "Pancakes. I'm up."

She did stand up gracefully and head towards Steve, leaning up to kiss his cheek before taking the pans from him. She rolled her neck as she met Bruce in the kitchen, circling her arms around him and cuddling up to him. "You're a godsend."

"I know. I still hate you, though."

Natasha chuckled. She was used to this. "I can only tell you what I tell you every single time we drink. My father's Russian, I know how to handle my alcohol."

"Great, rub it in some more, that'll help everyone," Steve grinned as he led the other three into the kitchen.

Natasha stashed the pans away as quietly as she could while the boys sat down at the table, already digging into the food that Bruce had prepared. Natasha pulled up a chair next to Clint and Thor and piled some fruit onto her plate.

Clint picked up her hand and planted a small kiss to it. Natasha staved off the blush and popped a few grapes into her mouth.

Steve smiled across the table at them, tucking into his own breakfast, unable to keep the grin off his face looking at his best friends.

"Steve, no," Natasha said teasingly. "Don't do it."

"What?" Tony wondered.

"He's going to make a speech."

"Oh god, please no," Thor groaned, mouthful of pancake.

Natasha bit into a particularly juicy piece of mango and watched Steve debate whether or not to do it anyway, despite the protests from everyone around the table.

Bruce winced. "Can you at least save it until the construction workers in my head are done with their drilling?"

Tony smirked. "Am I allowed to make a sex joke?"

"When has that ever stopped you before?"

"True enough. But I figure since Brucey made breakfast for us, he gets to set the tone."

All eyes turned to Bruce.

Bruce shrugged. "I'm way too tired to oppose it, so fire away. Make your jokes at my expense."

"Oh, mine was going to be making fun of Clint," Tony pouted.

"What the hell man?" Clint scoffed, fork full of bacon and eggs hovering by his mouth.

One look at Steve told Natasha that he had been distracted enough to not say whatever he was about to, thankfully for everyone at the table.

Natasha hated that the other shoe was dangling above his head with the fury and vengeance of a storm cloud, ready to drop and strike at any moment. As if he didn't already have to worry about Sam and his relationship going up in flames, his overwhelming feelings about his (and their) future just piled on top of those worries, stacking and stacking until they tumbled over, which was inevitable. Natasha knew something was going to happen, the feeling of change was in the air, she just hoped that Steve would brace himself for whenever it did.

As Natasha freshened herself up in Tony's ridiculous bathroom, Clint slipped into the room and hopped up on the countertop.

"I could've been changing in here."

"I knew you weren't, the door was open a sliver."

Natasha raised a challenging brow. "What if that was by design?"

Clint's eyes glazed over, the middle distance becoming incredibly fascinating to him. "Well then forget what I said."

"Clint."

"I know. I didn't just come in here to be a boy."

"So it was just to be annoying?"

Clint grinned but his grin quickly sobered.

"I have to tell you something."

Natasha grinned. "I know you took one of my pancakes while I was in the bathroom earlier, it's fine."

Clint shook his head. "Something important. Also, sorry."

"What's going on, Clint?" Natasha reached out and took one of his hands.

"I think I fucked up," Clint squeezed her hand for comfort, but that did nothing to offset the worried look on his face.

"You think you fucked up?"

"Well, I didn't think I was fucking up when I did the fucking up, but now I definitely know that fucking up is what it was."

Natasha blinked. "Does it scare you that I understood all of that? Because it scares me. What did you do, Clint?"

Clint blew out a breath and avoided her eye contact. "I may have been the one who told Fury about Sam drinking and got him kicked out of Homecoming."

Natasha stared at him for a long moment, silently, something that Clint hated.

"Please say something."

"Why would you do that, Clint? You don't poke the bear when it already hates you. This could…"

"I know."

"He's gonna be pissed. Fury's going to want to talk to him on Monday."

"I know, Nat."

"Do you?" She asked sharply. "Because this could ruin everything."

Clint hung his head. "I know, Nat, I felt so guilty as soon as I realised what I'd done. The whole time Steve was in my lap and I just felt horrible. I'm sorry."

Natasha played with the ends of her hair, something that she only really did when she was stressed out. "Okay, that's…there's no point dwelling it on now. You gotta tell Steve."

"I know. I will. I'm gonna go over there once I drop you at home. He should hear it from me, if I'm the reason his relationship has to end…"

"Hey, none of that. Steve and Bucky both knew what they were getting into. If it ends badly, that's on them. I've supported Steve and I will until my last breath, but he of all people knows how stupid it was. I think they actually work really well together, the two of them, but it's just…it was never going to end the way they wanted it to."

"I really wish it could. Steve really deserves that. Do you think he's gonna be really pissed at me?"

Natasha shakes her head. "Clint, what you did was misguided, but your intentions were true. Should you have just left it alone? Probably yes, but you shouldn't beat yourself up about it. Steve certainly isn't going to."

"We're gonna need to really be there for him," Clint muttered, squeezing Natasha's hand.

"In a way that we've never been before. He's really in love."

Clint smiled as he thought about that, their stalwart, steady best friend was finally going through his epic romance only for it to be shattered by an unfortunate case of power dynamics and bad timing. If Steve and Bucky were the same age or had met later in life, they would've been unstoppable. And maybe they would be in the future, who was to say? Relationships had survived worse.

Clint drummed his hands on the steering wheel in front of him as he looked up at Steve's house. The rational part of his brain that knew Steve knew that it was going to be absolutely fine, but there was a little, darkened corner that promised nothing but doubt and misery that he just couldn't shake.

This was Steve's big love and he had almost ruined it. It wasn't unforgivable by any means, but Steve had a right to be a little mad at him and Steve Rogers being mad at him was nothing something Clint Barton was equipped to handle.

His phone buzzed, stopping his intrusive thoughts before they could continue.

Why are you sat outside my house, loser? Come up!

Clint's eyes raised to Steve's bedroom window, where the boy stood, waving and laughing. Clint couldn't help but grin as he got out of the car and headed into the Rogers' house.

"Are you just going to sit there silently all day? Cause that's cool, but I gotta get some homework done eventually and I'm still kinda shaking off my hangover."

"I…uh…gotta tell you something."

Steve heard the tremor in Clint's voice and immediately entered protective friend mode. "Whatever happened, it's going to be fine, Clint, I've got you."

Clint sighed, looking at his hands as Steve put one of his own hands on his back, rubbing gentle circles into it. Clint ignored what that felt like as he focused on his guilt. "Shit. Right, I'll just come out with it. I…I was the one who told Fury about Sam drinking."

Steve, much like Natasha had been, was silent for a very long moment. His eyes searched Clint's, then looked around his room, and then rested on Clint again. "That's okay, Clint."

"It is?"

"Well, not really, but you know what I mean. I know you're gonna beat yourself up about this until the end of time, but you made a mistake. That's life. Hell, I've made a few pretty big ones recently."

"Bucky's not a mistake, Steve."

Steve's eyebrows shot to his hairline. "Oh no? So everything's working out great and nobody's career is in jeopardy?"

"How do I put this? It's not a mistake because you guys truly love each other. And sure, it might be dangerous and unethical or whatever, but I'm not gonna let you call falling in love with him a mistake."

"Clint…"

"Sometimes with the opposition it seems like nobody's rooting for you, maybe not even us. But I am. I root for whatever makes you happy. You know that right?"

"C'mere, man," Steve mumbled and pulled Clint into a tight hug.

Clint hadn't realised that this was what the moment was going to turn into, but all of a sudden pieces clicked into place. Yeah, he was bi.

So, so bi.

He wasn't sure whether it was Steve's sincerity or his rippling back muscles but, either way, the revelation shot through him like an arrow. He had to stay very still just to not let on that anything was wrong until he fixed the bewildered look on his face. Once he was satisfied that he was acting normal again, Clint pulled back with a smile.

"I feel like we both needed that."

Clint knew from the look that was being angled his way that Steve knew something was off about him since he went in for the hug, but he was gracious enough not to ask.

"Yeah. I…I meant to say something at Homecoming but I didn't get a chance to with everything going on."

Clint didn't know if he could handle any more of Steve Rogers' signature sincerity, but he knew that he had no choice.

"Whatever happens next year, I'm really gonna fucking miss you, Clint."

Clint looked down at the floor, his feet tapping together to distract from the well of emotions that he knew would bubble up from his gut if he allowed it the freedom it so desperately craved. Clint was a big fan of managing your emotions until there was a good time to release them, either a fight or sobbing so hard in the shower he would dry heave.

"Me too, man. Me too."

They didn't need to say anything else. Steve just knocked their shoulders together and flopped back onto his bed. "How's your Economics?"

"Oh, you're going straight to homework? I gotta go."

"You'll have to get it done eventually, Barton."

Clint grinned, glad that the world was being set to rights after what seemed like a long, weary period of stupidity on everyone's parts. "Nope, I can run forever."

"Then get out of here and tell your girlfriend to FaceTime me so she can help."

"She's busy."

"Not with you," Steve smirked.

Clint shook his head, slowly and fondly. "See you tomorrow, Steve."

"See you, tattletale."

"Oh come on!" Clint grunted, backing out of Steve's room with a smile and a wave, relishing the feeling of his diminishing guilt and the sensation of grappling with something very new, and not entirely unwelcome.

Clint supposed that he should've listened when everyone said that senior year was going to be a challenge he'd never faced before.

Thor wanted nothing more than to wipe the self-satisfied smirk off Sam Wilson's stupid face.

He knew that he could easily best Sam in physical combat. Sam worked out but, compared to Thor, he was practically a stick figure. Contrary to what other thought of him, Thor wasn't a particularly violent person, aside from the few rare occasions when his vitriol overwhelmed him. Those were usually reserved for his brother, but Sam Wilson had been on the receiving end of such thoughts for the last few weeks now.

He felt Natasha emerge next to him, their classes the closest the group's usual meet-up spot meaning they were usually the first to arrive to regroup before the end of the day. It was usually to figure out any evening plans, or just to see each other before heading to their respective homes.

"Let him pass," Natasha put a hand on Thor's chest, somehow calming him down after a few seconds. Thor had no idea how Natasha managed to have that sort of influence over him, but he attributed it to mystical female energy or something he didn't quite have the capacity to understand.

"I do not like seeing him walking around the school like he owns it. Like he's about to do something horrible," Thor said through gritted teeth.

"I know. All we can do is lay low. We know Fury's going to want to talk to him regardless about the drinking, and we can assume Sam isn't going to take that laying down. He's going to fight back, using the only ammunition he has."

"I hope Steve is ready for this," Thor mumbled, a wave of unease passing over him like a tsunami.

"I don't think Steve has been ready for any of this. Which only makes it harder to watch."

Before Thor could say anything else, Loki walked past, smirking at both of them before heading away from them.

"You ever wish you'd been born into a different family?"

Natasha rubbed his arm. "I'm sorry. But I don't think he'll be causing you or us any trouble after today."

Thor frowned. "What do you know?"

"I know that your brother is all bark and no bite."

"He did bite me once," Thor muttered. "He has freakishly sharp teeth."

Natasha cuddled into him quickly before pulling away. "I'll be back in a few minutes. If I'm not, start planning your brother's funeral."

As she sauntered after his brother, Thor knew that Natasha had the situation handled. She was a terrific judge of character and didn't often willingly enter herself into situations she knew she wouldn't come out on top of. Thor was surprised to learn that there wasn't a part of him that was wishing she would go easy on Loki.

He supposed that the only thing thicker than blood was the power of friendship, or something equally as twee written on Tumblr years earlier.

"Going anywhere fun?" Natasha purred as Loki slunk around the corner towards the parking lot.

He tried to walk past her, but she imposed herself in his pathway, causing him to stop and sigh, a scowl etched onto his face.

"May I help you, Miss Romanoff?" Loki drawled, his displeasure clear in his tone.

"I'm glad you asked, because surprisingly yes, you can."

"I'm getting the feeling I won't be leaving until you get what you want, so why don't we take this somewhere more private?"

Natasha beamed. "Excellent. Now you're getting it."

Loki growled and led her into one the Spanish classroom, which was out of use on Mondays.

Natasha perched on the teacher's desk while Loki leaned on one of the desks in the front row.

"Ask your questions," Loki waved his hand impatiently.

"I want to know what you have on Sam Wilson."

Loki's head snapped up in surprise, clearly not expecting that to be the first question she asked. "If it's leverage you're after, I'm of no use to you. The shock factor on my particular piece of blackmail ran out. Turns out your friend Steve already knew the information."

Natasha shrugged. "Okay, that's of no importance to me then. What did you want out of it?"

Loki stared at her as though she'd spoken a different language. "Don't play dumb, Natasha."

"You think I would've asked if I already had the answer?"

Loki's eyes widened momentarily. "You mean he…okay. Well, if you don't know now then it means you don't need to."

"You allow me to ask questions just to dodge all of them, typical Loki manoeuvre. How about next time I don't ask?"

Natasha took a step towards him. "Why did you use Sam?"

Loki grinned smugly. "He's easy to use. Not too bright but popular enough to have some sway over people. Then again, not all things work out the way you expect them to."

"You engineered the date," Natasha narrowed her eyes. "To what end?"

"Surely you can figure this out. I figured that when the date went badly, your pals would give Wilson a beating, lighting a fire within him that would make him infinitely easier to manoeuvre."

Natasha nodded, reluctantly impressed with the foresight of the scheming. "It was a good idea, though I think you severely misjudged my level of interest in him."

"You're right," Loki hummed. "Maybe I should've gone after Barton instead."

"You know better than to even go near him," Natasha spat.

Loki put up his hands in defence. "I do, just thinking in retrospect."

"Let's not beat around the bush. The information you have and could expose is big news. And I want it to stay secret. And frankly, it's in your best interest to keep quiet."

"Is this about a beatdown I should expect if I talk?"

Natasha frowned. "Nothing so Neanderthal. No, I'm talking about Dartmouth."

Loki's ears perked up at the mention of the school he would hopefully be attending in the fall. "Go on."

"Well," Natasha folded her arms. "You leak the info, Barnes gets fired. You know as well as I do that he's the best teacher we've had at this school since we started. If he goes, his replacement might not be so competent. There goes your English grade. And then you can kiss the Ivy League goodbye entirely. You know I'm right about this, Loki. Make the smart play. Keep your mouth shut, we clear?"

Loki nodded. "You've made some valid points, Romanoff. I'll keep quiet. Tell Steve he should do the same."

"What does that mean?"

"He'll know. And I'll know if he says anything."

"Mutual blackmail? I'm surprised Steve went along with this."

"He didn't," Loki grinned. "He'd have done anything to protect his precious relationship. It's quite pathetic really."

"It's called having honour, Laufeyson. Not that you'd know anything about that."

"You don't know me," Loki narrowed his eyes and walked past Natasha, leaving her standing in the middle of the classroom alone.

Natasha knew he was right, she didn't really know Loki that well, even Thor didn't know Loki that well (and she presumed even Loki didn't know Loki that well), but she knew everything she needed to.

She knew that he was going to keep the secret. Whatever Steve had done or knew about Loki was bigger than the whole scheme, more important than Loki revealing the information he had about Steve and Bucky. And that was more than enough for Natasha, she enjoyed the security of it.

Natasha returned to Thor to find the rest of her friends had assembled, and they were all looking at something in the distance, the end of the hallway like a beacon of light that they were all drawn towards. Natasha initially thought it was some hot girl or something, but then she sees what they were really focusing on.

Sam Wilson was stalking down the hallway towards Fury's office, a wry grin on his face, which told Natasha that he knew they were watching. And he knew exactly what this visit to the office meant to all of them, especially Steve.

"Should I go after him?" Steve muttered.

"He's almost there," Bruce whispered back, rubbing his arm. "It'll look worse if you go charging in after him, you'll look crazy."

Steve nodded. "I know. I just…I don't know what to do."

Steve slumped against his locker and tried focusing on things he knew to ground him. He saw the water fountain that Tony had once rigged to splash water all over their Physics teacher because she gave him an A- purely out of spite. She had no way to prove that it had been Tony, but everyone had known; their in-class feud was legendary.

"I have to warn him," Steve said.

He immediately knew his friends thought it was a bad idea from the way nobody said anything right away.

"Is that really the best idea?" Bruce replied, apparently taking on the role of assurance in the group at the moment. "If Fury comes looking for Bucky and finds you in there, no matter what capacity that's in, it'll be worse. A lot worse, Steve, you won't have any room for deniability."

"I don't want to deny anything," Steve moaned. "But I know that I have to. It's my reputation for the next few months versus Bucky's career, it's the easy choice."

"Steve," Clint started but Steve shook his head.

"So what? I'll look like an obsessed schoolboy with a crush he can't shake? Great, that's what I am. They don't have to know just how requited it is. But I can't…I can't let Bucky get caught up in this. I have to explain it to him before Fury does. Sam will be in there for a while, I've got some time."

Natasha knew this was a lost cause, so she nodded with a small sigh that she didn't think anybody else heard. "We'll stall Fury if we see him. But Steve, be quick about this. You're playing with fire here."

"I know. Thanks."

Steve raced around the corner and treaded the familiar steps on the way to the classroom that held so much meaning for him.

Steve correctly found Bucky in his classroom and closed the door, seeing his boyfriend look up, immediately concerned about the look on Steve's face.

"It's over."

Bucky's grin faltered and he took Steve into his arms. Steve pulled away.

"Baby, what happened?"

"Sam…he…"

"He what?" Bucky urged, seeing Steve's face fall apart.

"He went into Fury's office," Steve whispered, lip quivering. "He's still mad about Homecoming, thinking that I set him up. Which…I didn't."

"Do you know who did?"

Steve thought about telling Bucky that he did, but he didn't want to lay any of this blame on Clint, when it was Steve and Bucky who had more their own choices and would accept any and all consequences for the fallout of this, so he shook his head. "I don't know who would've. Maybe Principal Fury just found out on his own? No, Sam's not stupid enough to be caught like that."

"Neither are we," Bucky muttered. "I just want to say to you, Steve, if all of this ends how I think it will…it's been a pleasure being your teacher this year."

Steve gaped. "No. You're not going down for this."

"I knew what I was doing, Steve."

"So did I. Nobody needs to be blamed. We haven't done anything wrong."

"Yes, we have. We can't keep having this conversation."

Steve sighed. "It's never felt wrong, but I guess I see why it would look that way. Well, it won't matter, I'm going to take the fall for it."

Bucky shook his head. "You won't get into trouble for this, you're Fury's student, he'll do whatever he can to protect you. And it…however it comes out, it'll look like I manipulated this to work in my favor. And maybe I did."

"I wasn't manipulated. I went after you. You tried to stop things early on and I wouldn't let you. I did this knowing that your job was in danger, that your whole career could've been upended. My friends tried to talk me out of it. I was selfish, Buck, and I'm really sorry. Which is why I'm going to shield you from all of this. I'm going to do what I can for you. I always will."

Bucky let a sad smile cross his face. "You really are an exceptional person, Steve Rogers."

"Does this mean you won't fight me on what I'm about to do?"

"I'm not sure I have a choice."

Steve nodded. "I like to think we always have choices. We both made one we don't regret. Right?"

"Steve, of course not. I…I love you."

"I love you too."

Steve rushed forward and collapsed into Bucky's arms, kissing him deeply, eyes squeezed shut. Bucky grasped him by the waist and deepened the kiss, hands moving up to Steve's hair. Steve moaned into Bucky's mouth before breaking the kiss, tears rolling down his cheeks, looking into Bucky's eyes.

"I love you," Steve whispered.

"I love you so much, Steve."

Steve grabbed his hand and squeezed it before letting go. "I'll…see you later."

"Good luck baby."

Steve nodded and dipped out of the room, taking a breath before walking down the hallway towards what was sure to be a vital turning point in not only Steve and Bucky's relationship, but in Steve's life.

Bucky tried to focus on menial tasks, like grading the last few papers he had or organising his lessons plans for the following day, but he couldn't. His mind was too busy racing, thinking about the next few days and what that might mean for him, for Steve, who was so willing to jump on the grenade for the both of them, it just made Bucky love him even more, which made what was about to happen even more painful.

He was startled by a sharp knock on his door and Bucky turned to see the last person he wanted to see.

Principal Fury.

Fury walked into the room as though he wasn't about to ruin everything. "You got a minute, James?"

Bucky pretended to finish off grading a paper and looked up. "Sure, Nick, what's up?"

"I'd prefer if we spoke about this in my office. I'll let you finish up here, but come see me when you've got some time."

Bucky frowned, pretending not to know exactly what was happening. "Uh, sure. I should only be a few more minutes here."

"Thank you," Nick said and backed out of the room, his stoic expression never once faltering.

As soon as he was out of sight, Bucky ran a hand down his face and tried to keep himself together.

"Oh God."

Bucky didn't know exactly what Steve had done, even though he could make some guesses, but he knew that everything was going to change. Fury had given nothing away.

Bucky stared down at the stack of papers he was almost done grading and saw the words swimming around the page, blending into each other behind his eyes. He wasn't able to concentrate one little bit until he knew what was to become of him and Steve.

Without another thought, he stood up and left his office, walking down the hallway to meet his fate.