Sorry this took so long! Trying to finish editing a book while working full time is really fucking hard. Enjoy this chapter, and please vote and comment! I say this a lot but the reads to comments ratio is really bad and writers work their asses off on top of school, jobs, life to bring these stories for free so please show appreciation to writers by engaging and commenting!
Bucky and Reilly sleep soundly, wrapped up in each other's arms as Steve sits on the couch, sketching them in the darkness. The Winter Soldier makes Bucky's face rest differently. There's a deep crease between his brows and his eyelids flutter. Occasionally, he mumbles in his sleep and Reilly stirs, opening her eyes for just a moment to kiss him. Steve watches them with a smile as he sketches. They're so beautiful.
At the compound, they can do this every day.
He sketches the gentle slope of Bucky's nose and the little smile on Reilly's face now that she has him back— well, partially. The Winter Soldier wasn't too keen on falling asleep after sex, but once he laid down on the mattress and sunk into it, his eyes were closing within seconds. Steve kissed his forehead and told him he could rest; that it was okay.
"Steve?" Sam's voice comes through the commlink.
"I'm here," Steve whispers.
"You've been quiet for a few days now, man. We're worried about you."
"We have a situation." Steve continues to sketch. It used to help him when he was a kid.
"Tell me you're with people," Sam sighs.
"I am. But Bucky is... not really Bucky right now."
"You mean he's the Winter Soldier."
"Yeah."
"Fuck sakes, man. We can't bring him back to the compound. Tony's gonna freak out."
"I know that."
"We can't have someone tearing the compound apart— and what the hell's this about you finding patient zero?"
"It's Reilly's husband. Well, very dead husband now. We're bringing his head to New York so that maybe Bruce can try to find a cure."
"He's been trying with the other biters. It's not working."
"But you don't have Mark. It's some kind of manufactured virus mixed with the Hydra super soldier serum."
"You mean you guys didn't get the same shit that jacked you up?"
"Not even close," Steve whispers. Sam sighs on the other end and Steve puts his pencil down. "Sammy?"
"Yeah."
"How are you?"
"Not great, dude. I'm going fucking crazy being stuck in here. Bruce and Tony are at each other's throats— Banner even Hulked out the other day for like three days. Almost smashed the entire lab and destroyed all his notes. We don't know where Natasha is, lost contact with her weeks ago." Sam pauses. "I don't know how much fight I have left in me, man."
