One Stormy Night

Five

CW/TW: All fluff and love. No sex just pure aftercare. Back to smutty stuff in the next part. Bucky needed to take care of his girl.

~Bucky~

Steve paces the bedroom, gnawing on his thumbnail while fervently throwing concerned glances Kat's way.

"She'll be ok, Steve," I say a little exasperated. Yes, maybe I pushed her a little too far. We have been playing with boundaries but never really established them. She needed me to distract her, to stop her mind constructing all these images Tony and the others may have seen. Words are not my strong suit, that's why we need Steve in our little trio, but actions? I'm damn good at actions. I pull on my clothes and glare at him. It makes me angry that he thinks I'd ever put her in danger. When he's like this he needs a task.

"Go and make her a sandwich and a fruit bowl. She'll need food and water, Steve, more water than you think is necessary. While you're at that I want you to drink a glass too. I'm going to draw her a bath," I head towards Steve's bathroom as he pulls on his clothes, looking rumpled and confused. I need to check in with him once we get Kat sorted. He's likely feeling all sorts of things. We took things physical between us and that's never happened, bar the accidental touch sharing our girl. 

Steve plants a kiss on Kat's forehead, her brow creases slightly before it eases again. He tiptoes out and I get to work. I find lavender oils and toss them in the tub. Once I'm happy with the temperature, I return to the bedroom to clean up. I remove all the toys; I don't want her to wake up and think we're going again. She needs rest and recharging. It's so easy to forget she doesn't have our ability to heal and bounce back. I pick her discarded clothes and fold them neatly in a pile. I open a window, a cool breeze whipping through the curtain. Hours have passed since we started, and the day is clearly drawing in. The sun is glowing in the distance, fading down, slowly. Steve returns with food, lots of it and jugs of water. I smile softly at him as he places it on a nearby desk. 

"Where are your linens? I want to change the bed sheets," I ask as he sits next to a passed out Kat. He points at a closet and after turning off the water in the tub I root around and take out what I need. I instruct Steve to cradle Kat so I can strip the bed. She shivers against him but I wrap her in a blanket. Before I can keep going about my task Steve grabs my hand. 

"You ok, pal?" 

"Yeah, I just want to take care of you guys," I mutter back, avoiding his eyes. Steve sits in the armchair holding Kat against him and watches me. 

"Are you ok? That was intense," I say with my back to him. He clears his throat and shifts in the chair. 

"Em, yeah, I'm just worried about Kat. If we-"

"She's in good hands. I thought you trusted me with her," I snap at him. The truth finally coming out. Steve's worried I broke our doll and he's not happy. He expected it, probably just wanted to get a little longer out of her. All of my body tenses, people still don't trust me, still don't expect me to have a gentle side. My need to exert control in the bedroom comes from years of having my autonomy stripped from me.  

"I do trust you, Buck. But Tony will freak out. Kat means more to him then he let on."

I grind my teeth, jaw tight and muscles taunt as I approach him. A small flash of fear crosses his eyes, and he pulls her closer to him. He must see the pain this causes me, and he relaxes. I kneel in front of them and brush the hair out of her face. 

"Hey, kitten. It's time to wake up and let us take care of you," I whisper in her ear as I continue stroking her dark hair. I stare down Steve when I speak to him. "She means a hell of a lot to me, Rogers and I would never, ever do anything to hurt her."