Little Secrets, Little Bucky

Mama's Sick

Y/n and Bucky had been arguing for at least 15 minutes. Y/n had woken up feeling awful and Bucky was trying to convince her to let him take care of her. The issue at hand was that he'd already been on edge for a couple days and she knew that he needed to be little soon.

"You've had a rough couple days," she said. "I think you could use some time in your headspace."

"I can wait, Y/n," he said, rolling his eyes. "It's more important for you to get better."

"Why can't we do both?" She asked weakly. "We could-" she was cut off by her own coughing, leaning forward as Bucky rubbed her back to soothe the irritation in her lungs.

"Look," he started once the coughing had subsided. "Sam's gonna be gone until 4:00ish, but Steve will be back around 2:00. I'll be little when he gets here okay? The last thing you need right now is a clingy baby crying on you."

Y/n gave him a look, "Bucky-"

"Y/n you're not changing my mind," he interrupted. "You need me right now, please just let me help."

"Fine," she said, giving in to the exhaustion that she feel all the way down to her bones.

Bucky gave her a bright smile. He could finally give back some of what his mama always gave him. He got up and headed to the common area, letting her know that he'd be right back.

Bucky came back quickly with a bottle of cold medicine that Tony had developed for the enhanced members of the team, a cold washcloth for her face, cough syrup, a bottle of Gatorade and a box of tissues. "I wasn't sure exactly what you'd need so I just brought everything," he said sheepishly, coming to set the stuff down on her bedside table and sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Aww Buck, you didn't have to do all that," she said gratefully, squeezing his hand.

"You took care of me when I was sick, remember? I don't mind returning the favor," Bucky reminded her, adjusting her pillows so that she could sit up more in bed.

"Oh, I remember," she said. "You puked all over me and my bed." Bucky winced apologetically. "Oh stop that, I've had worse things on me than my baby's vomit."

"Y/n/n you shouldn't call me that right now," Bucky warned. "I need to stay big."

"Honey, just let go," she tried to persuade him. "I know you need it, I'll be fine looking after you until Steve gets home later."

"You're sick," he said firmly. No matter how bad he wanted to just curl up in his mama's arms and cry out all of the stress from the last couple days, he knew that right now she needed big Bucky. She took care of him whenever he needed it, now it was his turn to take care of her. "I can handle a few hours, you need me right now."

Y/n knew that he wasn't going to take no for an answer, besides she really was exhausted. Her head was starting to pound and Bucky noticed the way that she winced at the lights. He closed the drapes and dimmed the lights, making sure that he could still see what he was doing.

Once he'd gotten her settled with the tissues and helped her wipe her heated face with the washcloth, Bucky settled on the end of the bed and turned on Y/n's favorite sitcom, knowing that it brought her comfort.

After a few episodes, a coughing fit struck Y/n and he rushed over, helping her sit up even more in the bed and pouring her a dose of cough syrup, soothing the itch in her throat. "You need to hydrate," he said softly, opening up the Gatorade bottle for her. "If you drink the whole thing, I'll give you ice cream." He flashed her a goofy smile.

She gave him a little smile and took the offered drink, taking small sips. It wasn't going over her head that he was caring for her the same way he had often cared for Steve. She'd heard countless stories over the years of Bucky sneaking her brother sweets as a child when he got sick and using them to bribe him into taking medication when they got older.