Pardon

Chapter 1: Safe House

A few weeks prior, Bucky and you were in a safe house in Budapest, hiding. You just returned from an eventful night at a HYDRA base here in Hungary. You were able to successfully steal some Hydra intel. Now you had to lay low for a couple of days before you could leave the country again.

For you, this meant that the worst part of this mission was still to come. Bucky and you despised each other. To stay at the same house as him was literal hell for you.

After returning from the mission, you immediately walk up to a sink. You have a large cut on your arm and are breathing deeply as you pour alcohol on the wound to disinfect it. You hiss at the pain and let out a deep breath afterwards. Suddenly Bucky appears from behind, leans in and grabs you by the wrist.

"Hold still."

His voice is cold and detached. He has a sharp tone as his grip is strong as he starts to clean the cut himself. You flinch a little at his touch but manage to stay where you are after all. He sighs in annoyance but finishes disinfecting the cut. He looks at you with clear disgust on his face. You clench your jaw and give him an angry look but don't protest further and just let him do his thing. His grip on your wrist is firm but not too hard. You don't like him being this close. You could feel the heat of his body against yours. He stares at you with his steely gaze and those piercing eyes of his. Not blinking, just staring.

"Stop these games and just tend the wound..."

You try to stay calm but your tone is a little shaky.

"You're annoying", he whispers.

"Says the one who can't keep his hand off me", you bite back.

He tilts his head just a bit, his brows furrowing. His brow is the only facial part that gives away any emotion at all. He keeps staring at you and leans closer. You don't react. This is just another way he tries to piss you off. His eyes dart to your lips and they linger there a little too long for your comfort. You clench your jaw, already enraged about the audacity of this man. Just the way he treats every situation like it was a game, just the way he thought he could play you. His eyes dart back to your eyes.

"The cut."

You hiss at him.

"Take care of the cut."

Your response makes him frown. He looks down at the cut again and his eyes narrow. Finally he finishes treating the cut and pulls away just enough not to touch you anymore but he keeps glaring at you. The way he is staring at you... He looks at you with that same steely gaze as usual but there is something less hostile about it. The last time you had to work with him, you swore to yourself you would stop trying to read him. You get annoyed at yourself because you can't help but try anyway to make sense of this douche bag – in for yet another failure.

Once he backs off, you take a deep breath and look down at your arm. The cut is now clean but it still needs some bandages around it, so it wouldn't get infected. You had prepared everything before you started to clean the wound. You look down on the bandages. For a moment you pause. Then you take them and hold your hand out to Bucky.

"Would you help me with that?"

Your voice is now a lot calmer than before.

His eyebrows arch in surprise. There is no way he would've expected you to actually ask for his help. You were always this stoic, self centered bitch that was too proud to ask for help and now you asked in such a calm and polite way. A small smirk plays on his lips and even though he tries to hide it, there even is a twinkle in his eyes.

You look down on the cut. It is on your lower right arm.

"I'm right handed. The bandage won't be too good if I put it on with my left hand."

He glances down at your reached out left hand. He hesitates at first but can't deny the small amusement he feels at this situation. Maybe he is just a little too tired from your mission to keep the act of hating you up. He takes your hand. His grip is tight but not too hard as he takes out the bandages and proceeds to help you. You hold your right arm up for him but in a calm and relaxed way so that he can move it around as he needs to put the bandages on.

The whole process of treating the wound and applying the bandages is strangely intimate as he watches you carefully, making sure he isn't hurting you. He is still looking at you with his usual blank stare. The only sign of emotion are his lips sightly twitching at the sides. The touch of his fingers along the wound sends weird shivers down your spine but you don't flinch as you know this needs to be done.

After a moment of silence, you carefully speak up:

"What about you? Did you get hurt somewhere?"

His eyebrows arch again and you could see the corner of his lips twitch up a bit more now. He is clearly amused by how you were making an effort to be... nice. He looks down on the bandage on your arm and then looks back up at you. His expression returns to its usual stoic state.

"I'm fine."

Only a few more moments, until he finishes tending the wound. He looks at your wrapped up right arm and then back up at you.

"There. All done."

"Thanks..."

The word only left your mouth in a small whisper. This has probably been the longest the two of you have been in one room without getting in a fight. And as much as you don't like the fact, that you two would have to stay at the safe house a little longer, you are exhausted and in pain and you could really uses this little calm.

He pauses for a moment but then he can't hold back a small smirk from playing on his lips. He is surprised by your change in demeanor. He has never seen this softer side to you. He is just about to say something when you suddenly hear a knock on the door of the safe house.