James Bucky Barnes, the former soldier, doesn't think he's got any gentleness left in him. But Grace Juniper Cunningham, the former child prodigy, strongly disagrees.
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"𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯."
"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴�...
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None of you better tell Bucky, but my heart rate did speed up—in a sort of Pavlovian response ingrained years ago—when Sam came into the lab looking for me. I heard him ask Tony for me while I was in the next room, and I came hurrying out, beaming, before Tony could reply.
"Hey," Sam said, arms full of a cardboard box. "I brought you a gift. Can I put this somewhere?"
I noticed Tony slip out, like he wanted us to be alone. That made my smile falter, and I shifted uncomfortably.
"Um, sure," I said, clearing a space off of my counter. He put it down.
"It's a box of trash," he said happily, folding his arms and nodding toward it, urging me to look.
It was. It was full of computer parts. My smile came back.
"I see that, and I love it," I said, peering into it.
"I thought you'd be wanting to take some stuff apart right about now. With everything going on. Thought it might help. Seemed better than flowers."
"It is. Thank you," I told him. "Where'd this all come from?"
"SHIELD. They were gonna throw it out, and I said 'hang on a second. I know a girl.'"
"Aw. I love that trash makes you think of me."
He glanced around at my counter. "I was half scared to come in. I haven't been in this lab since you left, and I keep expecting to see Spooky Rick. What are you working on now?"
I didn't want to talk about hard stuff, about HYDRA and Rumlow and Colin stuff. I told him about my soft robots instead. He nodded along, but I trailed off when I realized he wasn't interested. Oops.
"That sounds great," he commented. "Anyway, I've gotta get back downstairs. Don't tell Bucky I came to see you unless I'm there to see his face."
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Bucky and Steve met me outside of the lab when I was done with work. My eyes widened at the sight of them injured and limping toward me.
"Sparring. I hit him a little hard," Steve said before I could ask.
"Don't be mad at him, doll," Bucky said before I could scold anyone. "He doesn't know his own strength. He used to be so small. Have you seen the pictures?"
"Um, yeah."
"It's a wonder he figured out how to walk after they made him big. I wasn't there, but Peggy told me he wobbled around like a newborn giraffe. You've gotta give him a break sometimes."
"Peggy said that? She lied to you," Steve said, chuckling.
"I think she was pissed at you for something at the time."
I looked between them, not sure if I should let them keep reminiscing or address the issue. "Why is Steve bruised up too, if he hit you?" I asked Bucky finally.
