Stranger Who Knows All My Secrets [A Marvel FanFic]

Chapter 6: God Damn Basket Case

As much as Bucky hated to admit it, he and Elena Constantin worked pretty damn well as a team though you wouldn't ever catch him saying that out loud. Sure, he trusted her... But only as much as he trusted the expiration date on gas station sushi, which was to say he didn't trust her much at all. Sam said Bucky would probably trust Elena more if he didn't ignore her in almost everything they did together and that bit was maybe partly true. Bucky just never really needed to speak to Elena because she was generally much better at following instructions than Sam was though sometimes talking to her was like talking to a brick wall. 

Assignments were typically painless, Steve would brief them and Elena would let Bucky dish out plans which she would question nearly every aspect of before ultimately biting her tongue with a furious glare and allowing him to take the lead. There were no laid-back chats and no joking with each other, just him and Elena in stone-cold silence carrying out their mission and he was perfectly okay with things remaining that way. It was a detestable, almost unpalatable pairing, one that made him squirm but he dealt with it because much like anyone who chooses to buy gas station sushi, working with Elena was the only decent option he had left.

To be honest, Bucky had been kind of scared of her since he had snapped on their first official assignment, which was very weird because usually everyone was scared of him. Elena however, had seemingly proved in an instant that she was exactly the person he needed to watch his back even if he didn't like it. After Bucky had calmed down, he said sorry to Elena but as it turned out she had a blistering rage of her own. 

It stained her face as they escaped the gunfire to make it to safety and remained there long after they had gotten back to New York but it wasn't her fury that scared him. It was the look of hurt that was hidden underneath that had really frightened him and he couldn't exactly explain why. It was like she was disappointed in him as if she knew him well enough to be offended that he could become so violent toward her.

Bucky learned quickly after that mission that Elena's eyes would easily betray her if you looked closely enough, well... They had to be the only thing you focused on for quite some time but once you could read them, they'd give away her true thoughts. The most common was when he would tell her to shut up and follow his plan; Elena's lips would curl into a smile of concession and say okay but her eyes would darken and whisper I am going to fucking stab you one of these days. 

Oftentimes when the science bros were together at the compound, Elena would listen to their ramblings with a very serious face that said yes, I understand all this, common sense but her pupils would dilate slightly as if to say I have no idea what they are telling me. And then there was one time in particular with Sam. Elena said something, Bucky didn't know what because he wasn't paying attention, but Sam started to tease her, and while there was no doubt that she was smiling and laughing with Sam, her eyes rapidly lost their sharpness and a thick fog of doubt rolled in. It was vulnerable and raw, yet she played as if it hadn't bothered her at all.

It wasn't a trait unique to Elena but the first one that really came to Bucky's attention and it was mainly because he was in a constant state of observation, continually scrutinizing every detail of her face as he was still trying to process the details of their first meeting in Grozny. It was Elena's eyes he couldn't figure out and though she rarely looked directly into his own, he was constantly searching hers for something but usually, all he found were annoying personality traits. It's always difficult trying to get used to a new partner, you have to learn what they will and won't tolerate and what they stand for. There was adapting to the way they worked and processed information, their mannerisms, and the way they talked. 

Bucky had become accustomed to everyone else's personalities and numerous quirks, the way Natasha never said what she really meant, how Sam turned everything into a joke, how Stark used sarcasm to deflect, and Steve's often overwhelming optimism. Hell, Bucky had even gotten used to Rhodey repeating the same War Machine story to anyone who hadn't heard it before, the punchline wasn't even great but somehow he always got a hearty laugh from people.