Attachment Theory - Bucky BarnesxOC

Part 22: don't let it in with no intention to keep it

18+ WARNING MINORS DNI

Washington, D.C.

They run near the National Mall. Steve seems distracted. He's keeping his pace in line with Sam's, which is basically like walking for a super soldier. Sam doesn't mind, but he occasionally tries to out-sprint him - just to see if he can. Steve always speeds up and rushes ahead, glancing backward with a shit-eating grin on his face. Sam grumbles as he catches up.

This idea of Bucky travelling with a woman is throwing Sam for a loop, but it doesn't seem to be bothering Steve. Whoever this woman is, she's clearly important, or she wouldn't have given that cop as much attitude as she did on the highway. Nat managed to pull the call from the police station. The cop described her as slight, blonde, protective of Bucky, with a big attitude and an even bigger mouth.

The "protective of Bucky" thing is what Sam is stuck on. It's dangerous for people to know who he is. If he's on the run, wouldn't he just want to keep to himself?

And what would a big ass super soldier need a little blonde bodyguard for?

"Who do you think the woman is?" Sam huffs as their feet thud along the pavement.

"What?"

"The woman he's with," Sam reiterates. "Who do you think she is?"

"I have no idea. At first I thought she might be a hostage, but that's not Bucky's thing."

Sam scoffs.

"You gotta let that go."

"Let what go."

"How well you think you still know him."

Steve shakes his head.

"Okay, then why don't we theorize? She could be Hydra. Maybe a handler if Nat said she did most of the talking."

"That's a possibility," Sam replies as they round the corner and start to run back to the safehouse. "But it's pretty bold of Hydra to be showing their faces after what happened."

Sam's lips curl into a small smile as he contemplates saying what he's actually thinking. Steve flashes him a curious glance.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Tell me."

"You really wanna know?" Sam asks.

"Yes! I really want to know."

"I think he found himself a cute little blonde friend with benefits."

"No," Steve replies flatly.

"What do you mean no?!"

"Sam, he's traumatized. You really think he's going to dive head first into a relationship?"

"Yeah, man. I do. You know why?"

"Why?"

"Because he's a human being -- a fucked up human being, but a human being all the same. We all have needs, man - and I'd imagine his would be amplified after being cooped up like an attack dog for 70 years. If he is the person you say he is, do you know how lonely it would be to have to face down his demons by himself?"

Sometimes Sam shocks himself with how well he's able to connect with other people's pain. His mother always told him he was empathetic, and it's only now that he's out of the military that he's finally starting to see it. Riley's death opened something up in him - a capacity for caring and understanding that he didn't think he possessed.