A/N: Once again this chapter ended up being exceeding long (11k and counting) so I'm splitting it up for ease of reading and editing and, uh, finishing (one scene left to go). Please note, I'm now working overnights, so if I fail to write it's because I'm well and truly fried from work. I'm doing well so far, and plan to use NaNoWriMo to help motivate me, but... we'll see how it goes.
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The sun had barely begun to show itself above the horizon when an odd thumping sound caused Bucky to open his eyes. He could hear what sounded like muttering over the even softer sound of music. He tossed off the light blanket and shifted until his feet hit the warm wood of the floor. Given his sometimes irregular sleep habits he often still slept on the sofa instead of putting one of the boys out of his bed. Sam usually offered his room, but Bucky wouldn't put him out either.
Ni had bunked in one of the boy's beds at Sarah's insistence even though she'd been more than willing to go to the local B&B she'd scoped out before her flight. The boys were backyard camping on the porch since Sarah wanted them nearby no matter how large the yard or safe they might be at home, which meant Ni had the room to herself.
He shuffled towards the sounds, figuring the boys had woken early and were goofing around as quietly as they could manage, which often wasn't very given they were, you know, boys, only to find a pair of familiar female legs sticking out from under the table, knees bent and one foot tapping in a regular beat.
"Ni? Nienna?" She showed zero reaction to her name being called so he squatted down and tapped her on the knee. She twitched, followed by the thud of her head connecting with the underside of said table as she sat up suddenly.
She came out from underneath rubbing the spot on her forehead that she'd impacted. "Ouch." She pulled the wireless earbuds out of her ears and gazed up at him.
Bucky snickered. "Trouble sleeping?" he guessed. She didn't look all that great based on the noticeable bags under her eyes coupled with the scent of strong coffee coming from the kitchen.
She sighed softly. "Yeah. I'm literally in the safest place on the planet considering I have both you and Captain America here, and I still couldn't sleep for more than a few minutes at a time. So I gave up and decided to get to work."
"I can see that. What are you working on, exactly?"
"Upgrading the system so you guys will be able to access my servers securely from here," she told him, waving at the duffle nearby on the floor. As he had suspected it was loaded with various bits of tech he didn't immediately recognize.
"I'd offer to help but I need coffee and I'm not sure what you're upgrading."
She shook her head with the hint of a grin softening her features. "Get some coffee and I'll explain."
He did so, refilling her cup as well and handing it to her where she sat waiting for him on the floor. "It's no Daily Grind pour-over, but it'll do."
She grunted. "It's strong and that's what I'm gonna need for now."
He settled on the floor next to her, sipping at his cup of java. "Can I assist?"
She gave a single nod. "Sure. But after I recaffeinate."
"Well, of course," Bucky agreed as he drank down his own mug of coffee. "So, what are we doing exactly?"
"I told you, giving their internet an upgrade."
"Sam has a secure computer he uses here," he told her, wondering for an instant if she were actually doing something far from innocent, perhaps she wasn't what she seemed, had never been the innocent normal woman he'd taken a chance on. Perhaps, she'd always been more of a danger to him than him to her, working for someone, perhaps Hydra, perhaps someone new, who wanted what he had, who wanted to use him, to control him and turn him once again into something he no longer wanted any part of.
He sucked in a deep breath, a frisson of true worry causing him to shiver in the cool early morning air. Had he made a mistake bringing her here? Had she been a plant designed to draw him in and use him to get to Sam, to get some great unknown the opportunity to get to what remained of the Avengers?
Had her perfect name and profile interests been designed to pull him in? Had he been fooled by her damsel in distress routine? Had she, perhaps, planted the bomb in her own car to trigger his newly found need to help instead of hurt people?
His sudden doubt must have shown on his face as she frowned and set her mug on the floor next to her. "Bucky? Are you okay?"
Could she really be a covert agent? Could everything she'd done in her life be nothing but an elaborate cover in the hopes she would one day come across a target worthy enough? The chances of them meeting had only become possible after his return from the Snap and moving back to Brooklyn. The dating app used location so the likelihood they'd appear as options for each other were high, while the matching possibility had lower odds, but not by that much. The neighborhood they shared was still small, a community that cared about each other to some degree, especially those who had gone through those five long years with little or no hope that any of those who had disappeared would return. She had been living there for several years before he returned to his home. Noticeably changed, of course, but still home.
The chances of them meeting had not been small, but not great either. They'd crossed paths any number of times before he'd literally run into her.
He looked at her, the concern in her entire demeanor, the tightness about her eyes, the blue streaks in her hair that had been pulled back into a messy bun. He wanted her to be exactly as she seemed, a woman who willingly spent time with him. A woman he'd come to like very much indeed.
"Any chance you're a covert agent trying to recruit me?"
She stared at him open-mouthed then shook her head. "You've seen how well I fight, what do you think?"
"You could be faking it," he pointed out. "Could be programmed to not remember."
"Oh no, my cover has been blown," she stated, tone sardonic. "James, if you don't want me here, I'll leave. Just say the word."
Just the thought of that caused something deep inside him to twist painfully. He shook his head. "No. I'm just…" He wasn't certain how to put it into words.
"Being paranoid?" she suggested. She didn't sound as upset as maybe she should have been to his ear. "The question is why?"
"I wish I knew," he muttered. "Sorry."
She reached out and set a hand on his thigh. "Do you really think I could be a covert agent trying to seduce you into joining my cause? Professional nerd, remember?"
"Sleeper programming," he told her. "Not even you would know until you were activated. And don't say it isn't possible, I've seen it."
Her fingers closed unexpectedly, squeezing his thigh in reaction to his words. "Well, then you should send me away and never see me again."
"I know."
"And are you going to?"
"No."
She cocked her head as she watched him through narrowed eyes. "Why not? It would be the logical move."
"Because, as you said, I'm probably just being paranoid."
"But are you? Do you think the book club is part of my team, just waiting for my signal to grab you and bring you to our nefarious hideout to meet our great and terrible leader?"
He snorted. "No." No way in hell that group could be part of any covert op. Only a few of them lived anywhere near Brooklyn, the nearest about an hour away. Their ages ranged from mid-twenties to mid-fifties. All younger than him, of course, but none of them seemed to be anything but genuine and having similar interests to him. He had legitimately enjoyed reading the books and talking with them via the forums and the occasional zoom party. None of them had reacted overtly to being in a discussion with the Bucky Barnes. Some of them hadn't even recognized him, who he really was being explained by one of those in the know. Ni had found it amusing, the chat room commentary even more telling than the stares that thankfully hadn't lasted all that long. He was still the same book nerd who had chosen the handle tiredoldman_1917 and after the initial surprise, they had treated him just the same.
"Then you must be looking for an excuse to no longer hang out with me. Though why you'd drag me to Delacroix to find it is beyond me." She took a swig of her coffee, set it aside then rolled back down to lie under the desk.
"What? No. Sam and Sarah wanted to meet you. Have for a while now, and I figured it would be crazy in the city this week, so…"
She knocked her bent knees together a couple of times. "So, essentially you brought me here to meet your friends and get their approval just so you could dump me, or whatever it is you do to dating app friends you no longer want to see," she was practically growling by the end of the sentence. "Would have been simpler if you'd just ghosted me. At least I know how to deal with that."
"Nienna-"
"You know what? I don't need your help. I've got this." With those words, she made it perfectly clear that he could go fuck off and possibly die if he could manage it.
He said nothing in response, certain it would only make her angrier, so with coffee in hand, he got to his feet and left her to her work.
. . .
"What did you do?"
Bucky turned away from staring morosely at Nienna where she kept the boys entertained during the thunderstorms that had blown in mid-afternoon. Not unusual weather by any means, but, according to the local station, these planned on hanging around until well after dark. They were actually under a tornado watch, but so far their corner of Delacroix had remained untouched aside from some dead tree branches and Spanish moss coming down.
The rain pounded loudly on the roof, but sounded oddly peaceful, a white noise hum in the background. It might have been the only peaceful thing for Bucky at the moment.
He sighed and turned to Sam, who was helping Sarah prep dinner. The weather had chased the boats back early, which meant a full house, something that normally put Bucky at ease, but not at the moment. He'd been unsettled ever since the early morning and the… fight, for lack of a better word, with Ni. He'd gone for a run after he'd finished his coffee and when he'd returned a couple of hours later she'd been on her computer, most likely doing that work she'd told him she'd need to bring.
"I may have suggested she was a sleeper agent trying to drag me back to Hydra or the like."
"Ah, that explains a few things," Sarah stated, shooting a look that clearly said all on its own that Bucky Barnes was a complete and total idiot.
Sam guffawed. "You… you thought a woman with a known history in the tech industry going back to before the Snap with two almost as well-known parents was a sleeper agent targeting you?"
Bucky hung his head. "Yeah. That thought had crossed my mind."
"So, wait, you're telling me you brought a virtual stranger into my house, my home, with my boys thinking she could be an enemy agent? " Sarah kept her voice down, not wanting the woman they discussed to overhear, but her tone held a harshness that damn near made Bucky shiver.
"What? No. I…" Bucky verbally stumbled to a halt. Sarah's statement putting his paranoid thoughts in a completely different perspective. "I would never put you or the boys in danger."
"Exactly," Sarah stated with a hint of a grin.
"Oh, oh," Sam chuckled. "You're afraid we won't like her."
Bucky swallowed his instant response of 'no' and instead took a moment to think before he answered. He wanted Ni to be a part of his world, his family… his found family and he had no idea what he might do if they didn't want her there too. "Fuck," he muttered softly.
"It didn't dawn on you that you were essentially bringing her to meet the family, did it?" Sarah summed up his jumbled emotions and intentions perfectly.
"You invited her," he argued, without the bite it should have, because he hadn't admitted the truth to even himself. Not even when Ni had flung the same idea at him. He needed them to like her, to be willing to consider part of the family as well even if it were only as a distant member who visited rarely. Though he suspected if this trip went well the visits would be anything but rare.
"Well, yeah, cause you like her," Sam explained as if it should have been obvious. "I didn't expect you to accuse her of being a spy her second day here." He set the knife down after a glance over at Sarah, then sat down across from Bucky. "Why did you do that anyway? Things seemed to be going well for the two of you."
He dropped his face into his hands for a long moment. "I don't know. I… I'm bad at dating apparently."
"Are you dating dating, or are you friends?" Sarah asked.
Bucky had an answer to that question but he'd wondered if it had changed more than a few times lately. "Friends. I'm… I'm not her type."
Sam blinked. "What does that mean? I doubt she'd've swiped right if you weren't."
Bucky shook his head. "Both our profiles specified friendship and… and she had a girlfriend who got Snapped."
Sarah spun about, knife in one hand, carrot missing bits in the other. "James Barnes, if you even suggest you're homophobic I'll use this myself to correct the problem… permanently."
Bucky quickly put up his hands in surrender. "No. Yes, I'm old, but I'm not an asshole."
"Then what?" Sarah asked, eyes narrowed and watching him with a gimlet eye for one wrong word that might need correction from her.
"You want me to make a move on a woman who has made it clear she likes women and not men for intimate relationships?"
"But has she?" Sam questioned.
Bucky blinked. "Uh, the ex-girlfriend seemed to be a rather definitive statement."
Sam huffed out a breath of dismay while Sarah turned back to cutting up vegetables with a smirk. "Have you asked her if she's a one-team-only kind of girl?" she asked and he could still hear the smile in her voice.
"Uh, no?" Why would Bucky ask her to elaborate on information she'd voluntarily told him?
"Because, Buck, some people play for both teams."
Bucky stared at Sam while he absorbed that. Bucky wasn't an idiot, he knew different people had different preferences when it came to partners and sex. Same-sex relationships may have been actively discouraged during his youth, but that didn't prevent it from happening. He, much like Steve, hadn't given a damn really. So long as one was happy and not hurting anyone, at least not without consent, what you did with your life was your business and no one else's.
Bucky, when he hadn't been Bucky, had done any number of jobs that hadn't required a long-distance shot, or a quick personal knife to the heart. He'd been used for other purposes and had never been asked his preferences. Male, female, both. Whatever was needed at the time he had done. So his current outlook on sexual preference was vague at best.
When younger he tended towards women because that was what had been expected. Not that he'd ever found that right one to settle down with.
"Oh."
"You know you could just ask her," Sam stated as if it should have been obvious.
Bucky shrugged. "I'm happy being her friend."
Sarah looked over her shoulder at him. "Are you happy?"
"I am." His actions that morning, the paranoid accusation, the doubting of her intentions which until now had always been good, made his stomach drop to the floor.
"Are you dating anyone else?" Sam asked in curiosity.
"No."
"So Ni is the only person you've connected with?"
"No. I'm in an online book club and hang out with them weekly. We doubled with a couple of her friends last week. Oh, and I got a local job, finally." At both Sam and Sarah's silence, he added. "I'm trying, but I still expect people to see The Winter Soldier and not me."
"And it's weird when they don't," Sarah stated as she shifted the chopped vegetables into a pot of steaming broth.
"You have no idea. Ni has been… amazing. I… I don't think I'll ever understand why she didn't just walk away after that first meeting."
"'Cause you're pretty," Sarah told him matter-of-factly, earning a glare from Sam and a chuckle from Bucky.
"Okay, but why does she keep coming back?"
"Why do you?" Sam countered. "You two connected on more than just an app. Enjoy it, Bucky, for as long as it lasts. And stop questioning her about her double life as a super-secret spy. Beer?"
"Sure." Bucky leaned over so that he could see Ni and the boys on the sofa, bowl of popcorn between them and strewn everywhere watching whatever movie she'd managed to score for them today. Something Sarah approved certainly.
Ni lifted her head and caught him watching her, her smile fading and eyes going hard before a question from Cass drew her attention away. The doghouse it would be until she decided he'd paid enough for his crime.
. . .
Bucky stared at the television without really seeing the movie that played on the screen before him. He'd hoped the movie would lull him to sleep, but clearly, it hadn't. The sleep timer, which he kept setting just in case he actually did manage to drift off, had shut it off twice so far and he'd turned it back on both times.
He couldn't get the… fight he'd had with Nienna out of his head.
Bucky had every right to be suspicious of the motives of pretty much anyone new he met. Strangers were just that, strangers that could be potential enemies. Hydra. SHIELD. FSB. MSS. Pick an agency good or bad and they could be after him no matter what the UN Council had decided.
Hell, family with a grudge against him, against the Winter Soldier. Another victim that wanted justifiable vengeance for the crimes he had committed. Unwillingly, admittedly, but the blood still stained his hands.
He deeply feared being used like that again.
So, since things had been going well overall in his life, he took those fears out on the nearest target when they bubbled over and out of him. That just happened to have been Ni.
He had invited her here to relax away from the city, to meet his friends, and maybe learn a bit more about him and who he wanted to be, and instead he'd done the one thing certain to alienate her.
And he had no real idea why.
They'd been seeing each other for a couple of months now, worming their way deeper and deeper into each other's lives, and recently causing Bucky to begin to look towards the future. Taking her… them into consideration when he made plans. Juggling his schedule around hers to make certain any time they planned to share he would be there for. Every other Saturday spent at Prospect Park listening to music and learning more about each other.
She had become part of his daily life even on days they had no plans to see each other. He always seemed to find something that he needed to share with her. A place, a food, an overheard conversation he knew she would appreciate and laugh at. Not that there were many days they didn't see each other anymore. Between training her, movie nights, book clubs, and group dates they rarely spent a day apart.
And he didn't want to.
For the first time, he'd met a woman with whom he enjoyed her company on more than a temporary basis. No, it hadn't been love at first sight or anything like that, but they had clicked on some level that first night they'd met. More than enough for him to be willing to meet again.
So why had he become suspicious of her?
Had there been some subtle warning signs he'd only been aware of subconsciously?
Doubtful.
Far more likely his recent adventures with Zemo had made him far more paranoid than he liked. Yes, he had been the one to go to Zemo, to break him out of prison no matter how little he'd actually done to facilitate it, and had planned to use him to get what he wanted.
And he had to a point, but in the process, he'd permitted himself to be used. He'd let Zemo convince him to play Winter Soldier one more time and while he hadn't killed anyone in that bar fight, it had been a close thing. Killing was easy. So fucking easy for him. Just hurting them took actual effort, not knowing exactly how hard to punch to knock them out versus crushing their skull in.
Training Ni had turned out to be of great benefit to him, teaching him limits on his strength. Yes, he could lift a damn car, but he didn't need to on a regular basis. He didn't need to punch through a heavy bag though he could without much effort at all. Curbing his indoctrination to go full out no matter the opponent had turned out to be more challenging than expected.
Ni, along with others like Sam and Sarah, were teaching him to be human again.
Teaching him to be Bucky again.
So, why had he accused Ni of being a plant? Why had that seed of doubt grown within him? She had never asked him to be anything but Bucky. Had trusted him with intimate parts of her life and he'd returned the kindness with distrust.
And he shouldn't have. Should have taken her efforts for what they were: a friend helping.
Much as he had helped her with the security system.
They helped each other and the only price either of them had put on it had been friendship.
And in one swift motion, he'd fucked it all up.
He still didn't understand why.
Before he could begin that downward spiral of thoughts as to why he was a fucking idiot again, he heard a soft shuffling sound and looked over to see Ni standing in the doorway.
She wore a tank top and a pair of shorts that looked to have been sweatpants once upon a time cut off just above the knees. Her hair was a tousled mess, suggesting she'd been tossing and turning since she'd headed to bed several hours ago. "Can't sleep?"
She shook her head.
Bucky didn't even have to think about his response. He shifted so that he was fully on his side, back to the cushions, and lifted up the light blanket he'd been curled under. "C'mon."
For her part she didn't hesitate at all, shuffling over to the sofa and lying down with her back to him. It took a few minutes for them to work out the positioning so they'd both be comfortable. The pillows shifted so that they each had some and so that her head rested on the polyester fill instead of the metal of his arm, which he imagined would become uncomfortable quickly. He didn't even want to think about the imprint the seams would leave upon her cheek as she attempted to sleep.
Never mind the risk of pinching her should he shift unexpectedly.
Weird that he'd never really thought about such things before. Then again it wasn't like he'd spent a lot of time sleeping with other people as Bucky. There were memories from the Asset he had yet to probe too deeply at. There had been relationships of sorts but the memories were firmly not his. Moments of pleasure had been few and far between over the majority of his life.
Therefore he should revel in the ones he did have. Like right now.
But there was something that must be done first.
Once they'd settled, his one arm curled under the pillows, his other hanging loosely across her waist, the remote on the coffee table within easy reach, he pressed his face into the back of her head, pleasantly surprised to discover she still smelled like god damned cookies, and said, "I'm sorry."
She sucked in a deep breath and released it slowly before responding with, "I know." She then grabbed his right hand, twined their fingers together, tucked their combined hands under her chin before going boneless.
Apparently, she hadn't enjoyed being angry at him any more than he'd enjoyed receiving the brunt of her displeasure. Not that she'd said a damn thing to him all day, which had bothered him far more than he'd anticipated.
So many times today he'd spoken to her, even something simple and polite, like offering to refill her drink, only to be met with a death glare that vanished the moment she turned to speak to anyone else. Her anger had been directed at him only, which he had to admit to being an impressive skill.
He hugged her tightly for a moment then returned his focus to the movie he hadn't been watching. He was thankful to be acknowledged if not actually forgiven for his transgressions just yet. He did have some concerns as to why she hadn't been sleeping properly and worried that it had been going on longer than just the last couple of nights due to being in a strange place in a strange bed. No matter how safe she might actually be.
If something problematic had been going on she had not told him about it, as she'd been going about her days as if everything had been normal and right with her world. He had been out of town for the better part of a week working on a government project he could not tell her about even though video always seemed to end up on the internet if not the nightly news.
Thankfully, he and Sam always seemed to be caught at the best possible moment, touted as heroes and saving the day no matter how harrowing the job had been up until that point.
He still did not think of himself as a hero, or worse an Avenger, and could never imagine being comfortable in that role and yet… Sam often unintentionally stole the limelight when it came to interviews or people wanting to give thanks after the situation had been resolved, after all the Falcon, Avenger et al, had been famous before taking on the role of Captain America, little surprise he'd be recognized and become the spokesman for their buddy-cop adventures.
But lately, people had been coming up to him as well, which was, well, confusing, to put it mildly. Sam made fun of his stoic and grouchy-sounding responses to the reporters who came up to ask him questions that often sounded stupid in light of the events that had just transpired. He'd answer, but even he had to admit he came across as brusque or dismissive. When people came up to shake his hand or more commonly lately hug him in thanks he'd been so flabbergasted he'd frozen in place and stumbled his way through responses.
And it wasn't that he didn't like the attention, he simply had no idea how to handle it. His mindset still far more about skulking in shadows than revealing who he was in the bright light of day.
Though, truthfully, no matter how badly he bungled the interviews it remained the best way for the world to see that Bucky Barnes had most certainly divorced himself from the persona of The Winter Soldier.
Sam might joke and rib him about his total lack of personality on camera, but he was also sympathetic to the complete one-eighty his life had taken in the last few months.
Nienna had assured him it would get easier with time, much as his interactions with the normal people he shared space with in Brooklyn had. More and more recognized him thanks to those interviews, but the locals, the ones who had known him since he'd moved back to his old stomping grounds had mostly treated him the same. Some ribbing, some side commentary about his latest interview, questions about working with Captain America. Yes, they honestly wanted to know, but no one probed too deeply, seemingly treating it as just another part of his life.
Did he still mostly keep to himself? Yes. But not nearly as much as prior to meeting Nienna. Sam had played no small part as well. Him and this whole damn community welcoming him and not caring who he had been or what he had done in the past even in the least.
And yet he still saw conspiracies in the most innocent of acts, assuming any interest in him to be more about the Winter Soldier than Bucky Barnes.
He sighed softly, really wishing he could talk to Steve right about now.
Grumbling mentally he resolved to enjoy things as they were. Ni had come here for him because he wanted to show her who he was when not in the city. She somehow saw his potential and that had apparently freaked him out enough to accuse her of being an enemy. He could have a life and friends and be a good person and while he wanted that too he couldn't seem to let go of the past enough to just let it happen.
He had yet to really look towards the future and what he might want from it.
He had work to do that clearly did not involve being a superhero.
. . .
"Well now if that ain't just the cutest thing ever."
Bucky cracked open his eyes to see Sam standing in the doorway, phone being lowered after obviously taking a blackmail pic of him and Nienna snuggled together on the couch. Bucky didn't remember falling asleep, so had no idea how much he'd gotten, but he could tell by the light filtering in through the windows that it was still god awful early.
Sam wore workout clothes and Bucky's foggy brain recalled they'd planned a practice session for this morning. "Shit," he muttered. With care he slipped out from behind Nienna, she grumbled in irritation at being disturbed, but a few soft words from him encouraged her back into a deeper slumber. Once completely free, she rolled over, mashing her face into the still warm cushions he had just left, shifting until once again comfortable, and sighing softly.
Sam chuckled and Bucky spun to shoot a glare at him. "Do not wake her," he hissed and he padded barefoot over to where Captain Annoying stood still grinning.
The coffee still brewed so Bucky grabbed a couple of mugs while they waited.
"I think it's safe to say she's forgiven you," Sam stated in a soft whisper.
Bucky shrugged. "Maybe. She's having trouble sleeping and I think it's not just because she's not home in her own bed."
Sam sidled over so they could keep the conversation quiet and not disturb the women in the next room over who had barely acknowledged a two hundred pound man moving literally around her. "Trouble in River City?"
Bucky didn't get the reference but understood the meaning behind it. "Not that she's mentioned."
"That security system working?"
"As far as I know. I don't have access."
Sam frowned for an instant. "But I thought… Never mind, I'm thinking like you're her bodyguard and not just a friend."
It took Bucky a second but Sam's meaning registered. "Yeah. No. Yes, I set it up for her, but she has all the access codes, not me. I didn't ask and didn't offer. That would be… weird. And all kinds of creepy."
"Yeah, I figured that out for myself." The coffee maker completed its task and Sam filled both mugs before handing one over to Bucky. "Not to stick my nose into your relationship, but maybe you should ask."
Bucky nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. Later though." He sipped the coffee. "Give me fifteen and I'll be ready to go."
"I suppose I can wait that long, old man," Sam snarked as he headed towards the door that led outside. "You and Ni will be fine."
Bucky's head came up sharply in surprise. "Why do you say that?"
"Because she stayed and finished the upgrades to the system. She could have just called a Lyft and left."
Bucky shook his head. "She's just stubborn. She agreed to help and won't take it back just because she's mad at me."
"That too," Sam agreed. "Why's she doing all this anyway?"
"Because I asked, I suppose."
"That's a good thing, Bucky. I don't see her being the type with ulterior motives, not of the kind you're worried about anyway."
Bucky hid behind his mug of coffee, agreeing with Sam but not able to articulate it for some reason.
Sam tapped his nonexistent watch. "We've got work to do."
Bucky snorted. "You've got work to do, I'm just here to make you look bad."
Sam grinned and stepped out the door into the early morning light.