Flawed Minds

Chapter Twenty Four

Nova's P.O.V.

We had arrived at the tower not long after Nat and Clint, who didn't get a glimpse of the enhanced but found a lot of damage, confirming his fiery shenanigans were indeed just a distraction. We discussed what we had discovered while Tony and Bruce worked on the drone, retrieving the scans it had made along with a copy of all the footage it had taken, and everyone seemed to agree with me that it looked to be a place for further experimentation. Immediately after the debrief I made my way to my room to take off my suit and sleep the rest of the night away, once again exhausted after such an eventful evening. I had considered returning to Bucky's room, unable to deny that I was much more comfortable when I slept next to him, but I decided against it as I needed time to recover from the mission. The moment I woke up, I dragged my achy body out of bed without even bothering to check the time, and immediately stepped into the shower, wincing as I unwrapped the bandage covering the deep graze from the bullet, the water washing away some of the excess blood as I finally relaxed. I spent longer than I should have under the hot water and reluctantly stepped out, drying myself with a towel before pulling on some comfy clothes and searching for a bandage. I finally noticed my suit was folded at the end of my bed with a note that said; 'Fixed the sleeve for you. Try not to get shot again :) T' and I smiled. I had sat down, finding myself trembling still, and was attempting to wrap my arm again without much success when I heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," I sighed, shaking out the bandage in frustration as the door opened. There was silence for a few seconds as I continued to struggle with wrapping a bandage one-handed.

"What happened?" Bucky's concerned voice demanded and I finally looked up at him a little sheepishly.

"Well... Last night, I may or may not have caught their attention during the mission... So they started shooting at us-"

"You got SHOT?!" Bucky's voice got louder and he walked over to me, taking hold of my arm to examine the wound before taking the bandage and began wrapping it for me. "Steve said it was just surveillance, said you'd be in no danger, how did they let this happen-?"

"No no, Bucky, it was completely my fault," I assured him, trying to calm him down. "We got the drone stuck in some wiring, and I decided to sneak over there to free it- they heard it hit the ground so we had to run for it. It was just awful luck that one of them got me in the dark, and honestly it's not all that bad, I've had a lot worse." He looked furious, but was still holding my arm gently even after finishing with the bandage.

"I'm coming with you next time." That surprised me.

"What?"

"Your next mission, I'm coming with you. I don't care what Fury or anyone else says." His voice was low and certain, his decision unchangeable.

"To be honest, I don't think Fury will have a problem with it at least," I admitted, causing confusion to briefly flash across his face. "I told him that my condition for becoming an Avenger was that you'd be allowed to join me on at least one mission, to get you used to being out in the field, that is if I managed to convince you... And he wanted me on the team so much he agreed almost straight away." Bucky nodded slowly, his eyes still on the bandage around my upper arm as the tiniest smile curled his lips.

"Maybe if I'm around next time you won't get yourself shot," I let out a laugh.

"I'm not all that hopeless on my own," I reassured him. "I can tell you I have a powerful right hook," It was his turn to laugh then as he looked up at me with a fondness in his eyes that made my cheeks blush a little.

"Oh I don't doubt that doll, I know you can handle yourself," He moved a strand of hair from my face and tucked it behind my ear, leaving a trail of tingles where his fingers brushed against my cheekbone. I could almost see the thoughts running through his head as his smile faded slightly. "I want to at least be nearby, just in case..." He trailed off and I could feel his conflict as he realized how close we were sitting, as though he were about to move away from me but he never did.