The Twin Flame: Grumpy x Sunshine

The Archer

"Combat, I'm ready for combat. I say I don't want that, but what if I do?"

You stride back to the safe house with adrenaline thrumming in your ears, your head forcibly held high in spite of the dread churning in your stomach, and a relentlessly racing mind.

You don't even make it all the way inside before your suspicions are confirmed, Bucky wanted answers, and he wasn't going to take cryptic bread crumbs of truth anymore.

He stands to the side of the door, his arms crossed as he looks at you expectantly, "What was John talking about?"

You can't meet his pleading gaze, too afraid you'll tell him everything. "We should go look for Zemo."

"You can't avoid the question forever."

You swallow the knot forming in your throat, "I know."

"Is it true?" he pleads. You keep your eyes off of him, staring at the stained glass window above the door. He decides to take your silence and refusal to answer his question as his answer. "It is true."

"No," you instantly respond. "It's - it's complicated."

"Just tell me if it's true or not! Were you on the Raft because of me?" You remain standing in front of him without a word. He groans in frustration, "Can someone just tell me the truth? Sam?"

"Don't look at me," Sam retorts, holding up both his hand in innocence. "I wasn't even there when Tony saw whatever Tony saw, I was chasing after Zemo."

"Who we should really be looking for right about now," you dryly point out. "Before John finds him."

"I'm not dropping this," Bucky forcibly states.

You shut your eyes for a second, rolling your neck with a long deep breath. "I know. I'll explain later."

"Promise?" he demands.

You open your eyes to find him standing right in front of you, his face lingering only a few inches away from yours. You nod, "Promise."

Sam loudly clears his throat. "Take your time, guys. It's not like we have a fugitive to catch or anything."

You roll your eyes, theatrically gesturing to the door. "Let's go then."

As the three of you walk out onto the street, a silence settles over the group. The entire time you pretend you can't feel the Bucky's lingering gazes that always seem to cause goosebumps to trail up and down your spine.

Bucky's not even sure he can help it, his eyes seem to have a magnetic pull toward you, and in spite of his best efforts, he can't keep his eyes off of you.

Logically, Bucky knew John was going to take whatever he found in his 'research' and make it hurt as much as he possibly could.

Logically, this, his current reaction, the feeling of being torn apart at the seams, was exactly what John wanted.

But Bucky also knew there were very few things that occurred between you and him that could be described as logical. Nothing about the way he felt was logical nor rational - and he wasn't sure that it was supposed to be either of those things.

But now, every time he found you in his peripheral, he could see it.

He knows how they treated people on the infamous Raft. He can picture you sitting there, curled up in a corner as you prepared to spend the rest of your life there.

And then he remembers how you once mentioned that you were intensely claustrophobic.

A new detail is added to his increasingly vivid daydream, you sitting there, restrained and pleading with the guards to let you out, hyperventilating, tears streaming down your cheeks as you try to calm yourself, steeling yourself and doing your very best to tamp down the phobia.