New York (Nico and the Avengers)

34.

Bucky's POV

"Can I borrow Steve's shield really quickly?" Nico asks as he barges in without knocking.

"Why?"

"There's a pretty bad hellhound out there, and his shield should be strong enough to prevent me from getting gutted. My stuff isn't based on getting ripped open so I wanted to borrow it."

"Don't worry, we can handle it."

"This is my world, I know how it works and what to do to stay alive. You guys have no idea and don't have proper weapons anyways. So, can I have the shield or am I risking going without it?"

I want to keep fighting, but I know that Nico will fight without the right arms, and I don't want him to get injured. "Here, just bring it back as quickly as possible."

"Thanks!" he says before running out the door, leaving it open. I get up to close it, and almost run into Steve who careens around the corner and right into the room. "What's wrong?"

"Something's attacking the tower, I think it's one of Nico's monsters, I'll grab my shield and deal with it."

Oh drat. "I lent it to Nico, he's dealing with it."

"What? He's just a kid!"

"I know, but if I hadn't, he'd've just fought without protection."

"I hope he'll be okay."

"I'm sure he will, Nico knows what he's doing."

"Maybe, but it only takes one mistake."

When Nico comes back dusted with glitter Steve grabs his arm and pulls him in before shutting the door. "What were you thinking? You could've been killed! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, thanks for the shield," he says passing it back. The shield itself is fine, but the huge scratches in the almost indestructible paint show why he needed it.

"Next time ask one of us to deal with it."

"Why? I'm better suited to fighting Greek stuff, and the mist will hide me."

"But you're a kid!"

"But I'm the one with the skills and knowledge for the job, you guys can't even see through the mist!"

"Nico, he's just trying to keep you safe, everyone needs time to be a child."

"Yeah, but that's not what I am anymore."

"Are you even five foot yet?"

"Just because I'm not tall like you doesn't mean I'm a kid, you used to be really short," Nico fires back at Steve.

"Yes, but you aren't fully grown yet."

"Well I can fight my own battles, so stop worrying about it!" I put a hand on Steve's shoulder, because he's just riling Nico up and I don't want to risk them saying anything they'll really regret. He takes a deep breath to refocus, and Nico storms out of the room, complete with a loud door slam.

"That could've gone a lot better."

By dinner time Nico seems to have gotten over his anger, mostly. He's gone back to his old habit of not talking to anyone besides basic politeness. The other's would've figured everything out, if Steve hadn't already talked to Clint, Natasha, and Bruce about how to fix things. He would've asked Peter but he isn't here right now and Steve has no clue how to work a modern phone. I considered giving him a few tips, but I'm not the best myself and it was pretty funny. Tony wasn't told, but either he heard it through a game of telephone, he picked up on the mood, or is so absorbed in whatever he's doing that he didn't notice because he's not trying to fix it or asking obnoxious questions about what happened. I'm a bit surprised he was okay with eating together, but Peter did ask him yesterday and it's really hard to resist Peter.