After breaking an unlikely ally from prison on a SHIELD mission, Bucky Barnes finds himself on babysitting duty for a mutate with a spotty past and snarky attitude. Both of them have seen their fair share of darkness, but there's an overwhelming lig...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Director Fury was a pain in the ass.
That was all Bucky could think as he settled into the Quinjet for the eighth time in two weeks. Just like the other seven times they were called, it seemed nobody else in SHIELD was capable of dealing with the situation but them.
Bucky wasn't convinced.
He knew that SHEILD was probably still testing him and how successful their friends in Wakanda had been in reversing everything Hydra screwed up, but he couldn't exactly protest, no matter how much he wished he could. They were right to be doubtful. A lot could go wrong if Hydra still had power over him, but he trusted Shuri. If she said he was fixed, he wanted to believe her, which only made the situation more frustrating.
Bucky picked up one of the books he borrowed from her before he left. It seemed like it was taking forever just to make it through one of them. There was always something going on, always another mission lined up, and as much as Steve claimed that it was good for him to stay busy regardless of the reason behind it, he was looking forward to just hanging back at the Compound for a while. Relaxing. Taking advantage of Tony's billionaire status and freakishly large beds.
Bucky watched scrutinizingly as Sam sat directly in front of him, wearing that ugly purple shirt he hated, and put his shoes up on the arm rest beside him. Bucky glared at him then his shoes, but Sam pretended not to notice. He lifted up the case file Fury sent over, and Bucky narrowed his eyes at the glint of amusement in his eyes.
That bastard.
Bucky never thought he'd miss the living hell that was Hydra, but here he was.
Out of everything that had come with Steve saving him from Hydra, the worst thing was finding out that his best friend starting dating m Sam Wilson while he was in Wakanda. Not that he cared that Steve was gay. No. But with Sam? Steve was literally one of the few people on earth who could have anyone he wanted, and it had to be Sam. It was just wrong. Sam was petty and infuriating and sarcastic and charming and—just like Bucky used to be.
Bucky pushed away that depressing thought and reached his hand into his bag to pull out the last ham and cheese croissant. Which he had woken up 30 minutes early to nab from the kitchen. He bit into it with gusto, feigning a small moan. If he was being honest the cheese was a bit much, the ham a bit too sweet mixed with the bread, but Sam didn't need to know that.
Sam's jaw twitched and he dropped the file an inch to glare at Bucky.
"That was mine."
Bucky took another cheerful bite. "Sorry."
Sam didn't seem to believe him. "Can you chew any quieter?"
Nope, Bucky thought.
"Can you move your feet?" Bucky shot back.
"Oh. Sure." Sam wiggled his shoes, but kept them firmly in place, then went back to reading.
