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.
;
"𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯."
"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴�...
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After giving our accounts to SHIELD, we drove back to the Tower in even lower spirits than when we left.
"I can't believe you wouldn't let the med team look at you," I hissed at Bucky while the other three were talking. He was insisting on pretending like he didn't have two stab wounds in his abdomen.
"I don't need it," he muttered with disinterest. "It's already healing. I feel it."
"So? It wouldn't have hurt anything to let them look at it."
"Waste of time."
"Just let me look at it then."
"Later."
"Promise?"
"I promise, sweet girl."
My hands had been intertwined, fiddling nervously in my lap, and he covered them both with his metal one. I leaned my head onto his shoulder, appeased.
"What are you smiling about?" I heard Sam ask Steve during a lull in their conversation.
"Nothing," Steve said, before considering something. "I've just never heard him sound like that is all."
"Who, Bucky?"
I hadn't realized Steve had been listening.
"I still can't believe you brought her out into a fight," Bucky said to Steve.
"I told her not to come out into view!" Steve argued.
Bucky squeezed my hands. "And you're gonna listen next time, right?" he asked me, quieter.
"Yeah, as long as whatever I'm told to do is also what I think I should do."
"Grace, please," he said.
"To be fair, that is what we do," Steve reasoned. "You should never follow an order that you don't think is right."
"What, are you proud of her for not listening to you and putting herself in danger?" Bucky leaned forward to argue with him.
"Yeah, kinda," Steve shrugged.
"Me too," said Sam.
"Always knew she had it in her," Nat said.
"Aw, thanks, guys," I said.
"You should start coming on missions with us," Sam suggested, and I had a feeling it was to rile up Bucky. "You can distract the bad guys."
"Maybe. She'll get 30 seconds into an explanation of the newest project she's working on and they'll just take a cyanide capsule," said Nat. "Could be helpful."
"Wait, I think that was mean." I lifted my head off of Bucky to give her a hurt look.
"All I said was you'd be helpful!" Nat said innocently.
