Not The Only One - A Winter Soldier Story

Chapter 16

     Steve rushed over to his best friend. Rolling the girl's limp body off of Bucky revealed his bloody and bashed face.

     "Buck." Steve gently shook his right shoulder. "Buck!" The second shake was less gentle.

     Bucky opened his eyes slowly as if even that small movement was painful.

     Steve gave a small smile, but concern was still deeply etched on his face.

     Unable to fight against the powerful pull of drowsiness, Bucky's eyelids slid close.

     "Hey! Talk to me!" Steve said in a loud, panicky voice.

     A startled pair of blue eyes stared back at Steve. After a moment, Bucky asked, "Where is she?"

     "She shouldn't be causing any more problems for a while," replied Steve vaguely.

     "What did you do?" Bucky breathed softly.

     "Administered a sedative."

     Bucky hesitated. "What?"

     "I put her back to sleep," Steve clarified.

     "You drugged her?!"

     "All I did was pull the trigger. The dart gave it to her."

      Indignant, Bucky asked, "You used a tranq gun on her?!"

     "I had it just in case things went off the rails!" Steve defended himself.

     "She finally wakes up, and you put her back to sleep!?" growled Bucky.

     "She would have killed you!" Steve retorted.

     Anger twisted Bucky's face. "You don't know that! What's next? If I act a little crazy, are you going to shoot me?"

     "Of course not!"

     "Why? Because I only have one arm? Because I'm not a threat to you anymore?" Bucky raged.

     "Because you're my friend," Steve said softly. "You're my best friend, Buck."

     "You're my best friend, too," Bucky whispered. "Treat her like she is your friend too."

     "We hardly know anything about her," remarked Steve.

     "I know." Bucky paused. "But we are the only friends she's got right now."

     Steve nodded understandingly.

     "It's a good thing you brought the first aid kit with us from the Quinjet," Bucky said half jokingly as Steve carefully helped him sit up.

     "You're just lucky you don't need stitches," Steve informed him.

     Bucky quipped, "Maybe next time."

     "I hope you're not going to make a regular habit of getting beat within an inch of your life," Steve teased as he began cleaning his friend's bleeding face.

     "If I recall correctly, that was your pastime back in Brooklyn, not mine," Bucky replied sassily.

     Steve laughed and finished fixing up Bucky's wounds before a thick veil of silence fell between the two friends for several minutes.

     With a voice full of concern, Bucky said, "You do realize there are things she is going to need now that she is awake, right?"

     "Like what?" Steve asked absent-mindedly.

     "Well, I don't have any clothes or toiletries for her." 

     "I grabbed Natasha's backup outfit when we packed up the emergency clothes from the Quinjet."

     Bucky commented, "That's a start. There are a lot more things she is going to need, though."

     Steve pulled out a pen and piece of paper and wrote down toothbrush and toothpaste.

    "How about a hairbrush?" Bucky suggested.

     Steve scribbled it down along with shampoo.

     Bucky added, "Probably needs conditioner, too."

     Conditioner and soap joined the list.

     "Lotion and lip balm?" Bucky requested. 

     Steve shot a questioning stare at him.

     "What? I noticed her skin was dry. Siberia isn't the kindest place to stay," Bucky explained himself.

     After raising an eyebrow, Steve put down the desired items. He also wrote razor but then scratched through it. 

     "On second thought, giving her that might not be the best idea," he said aloud.

     "I think that's good enough for now," Steve remarked as he put the list away. "She is probably going to wake up soon."

     "What are you going to do to her?" Bucky faltered.

     "Restrain her in about the same way as Sam and I did you in Vienna. She's going to be okay, Buck," Steve assured him as he picked up the girl.

     Steve laid her down again. "Almost forgot, this is for you." Steve handed Bucky a flip cell phone. 

     "Already has my number in it. I'll call you when she wakes up," Steve promised.

     As the door closed behind Steve and the girl, Bucky stared at the phone and wished it would already ring.