Missing Piece

Part Six

The team had noticed the way you and Bucky acted with each other. You weren't as subtle as you thought you were but no one ever said anything because clearly whatever was happening between the two of you, you weren't ready to talk about it with everyone.

At first, no one really noticed because they kind of left Bucky alone. Sam was the first to notice. He saw you grab Bucky's hand once when he was feeling anxious. He got so excited he almost told everyone to look at you but his eyes shifted to Steve, the death stare coming from the blonde was enough to make him decide to keep his mouth shut. Then slowly, more and more people noticed until the entire team knew about it.

It was so obvious, even when you weren't with them because the two of you were always missing at the same time and reappearing at the same time. Bucky always chose to sit next to you instead of Steve and though Bucky was a lot more subtle in his actions, his eyes were a different story. Though some of your teammates wanted to tease you, they changed their minds when they saw how Bucky's whole being lit up when you smiled or when you laughed. His eyes were almost always on you, even when you weren't looking at him. It was hard to make fun of something so pure and innocent.

Some of the rare occasions when Bucky was alone with them, as you were busy elsewhere, he was tense and didn't know what to do with himself. The second you walked in the room his whole demeanor changed: his shoulders relaxed, his frown turned into a smile and he seemed a lot more comfortable talking with other people when he knew you weren't far.

Steve made everyone promise to not say a word to either of you, not until you were the ones who talked about it first. He wanted to know more, just as much as everyone else because he was curious and he knew as much as the others which wasn't a lot. Bucky seemed to be doing a lot better and it was enough for him to not ask questions.

The changes might have been a lot more obvious with Bucky but they still saw changes with you, too.

Your smile was much bigger and your laugh much happier whenever Bucky was around. You looked a lot more relaxed when he was in the same room than when he wasn't and when he wasn't you always gave quick looks towards the door every few seconds in case he'd walk in. Somehow, when you were in the same room, you always seemed to know where Bucky was even with your back turned to him. It was like a sixth sense.

Then things changed. They didn't really know what happened with Bucky, all they knew was that he wasn't doing very well and he never came out of his room anymore. It must have been serious because you always had a frown like you were worrying constantly and you did. You never stayed with them for too long and disappeared for hours at a time.

Some of the team members were envious, almost jealous, of you two. In different ways they all craved attention from someone, they all wished they could have someone that supported them and that was right there with them through the lows and highs. The kind of unconditional love that knew no boundaries. Whatever situation presented itself, you'd get through it together no matter what. It was hard to find someone with the kind of work they did, it was even harder to find someone who was willing to go through hell and back, no questions asked. ''Ride or die'' Natasha liked to say. They were envious because you managed to find all of it in each other and you didn't even have to leave the compound to do so.

From all of this, the one thing that truly surprised them was that you weren't together together. It was obvious to absolutely everyone around you that you belonged together, except for the two of you. It didn't make sense to any of them.

It all became even more obvious when you left on your mission and Bucky had to stay behind. Whenever someone would cross paths with Bucky, he'd be in a bad mood whether he was angry or just looked sad. He walked around with no purpose and just didn't know what to do with himself.