An unconventional trio

"At ease, Sergeant."

Bucky's POV:

Betrayal. That's all I feel right now. It courses through me like fire, burning hotter the longer I think about it. My fists clench at my sides, my knuckles white, muscles straining with the effort it takes not to punch something. How could Steve do this?

I've known him my whole life. I've seen him angry before, seen him on the battlefield, but this... this was different. This wasn't about tactics or frustration over a mission gone wrong. This was personal. He humiliated Nova. In front of everyone. In front of the whole team. I can still see the look on her face, the way her eyes widened, that brief flicker of hurt before she ran from the dinning room.

Steve didn't just question her. He attacked her, said she couldn't be trusted. And Tony—Tony—he just believed him. Without even giving her a chance to explain, without a second thought. After everything. After all the times they've spent together, all the moments they've shared... Tony didn't even blink. Just sided with Steve like it was the easiest thing in the world.

I can't wrap my mind around it.

I follow her down the hallway towards her suite, my mind spinning. I feel like a coil wound too tight, ready to snap at any second. Every step I take, I'm trying to burn off the energy, the rage. But it's no use. It keeps coming back.

This isn't the Steve I know. The Steve I know wouldn't do this, wouldn't tear someone down without giving them a chance. He's always been stubborn, but he's never been cruel. And right now, that's all I can see in him—cruelty, judgment. He treated Nova like she was nothing, like she was some stranger he couldn't stand to be in the same room with.

I can't understand it.

Steve isn't just hurting her—he's hurting me. He knows how much she means to me. How much I care about her. And yet, he did this anyway. Steve crossed a line tonight. One that I'm not sure he can come back from.

The sound of her suite door slamming open pulls me out of my thoughts. I follow her inside, the door closing behind us with more force than I intended. My chest tightens seeing her like this—her shoulders tense, her hands gripping into her hair like she's trying to pull the frustration out of herself. I don't even have time to think before she starts pacing the living room, the air between us thick with anger and hurt.

"Dick!" she screams, her voice trembling. "DICK!" She's spiraling, and I can't blame her. Not after what Steve said.

"I just... I can't... what the fuck, Bucky?" She whirls around to face me, her voice cracking, her eyes red and swollen from crying. The tears keep coming, trailing down her face, and it breaks something inside me. The anger I've been holding onto tightens in my chest, because it's not just my hurt anymore—it's hers too.

I take a step toward her, wanting to reach out, to pull her into my arms, but she's still too worked up, pacing, fuming. Her hands tug at her hair again, and she's staring at me like I have the answers, like I can explain why everything just went to hell in front of everyone.

"What the fuck was that?" she shouts, her voice shaking with disbelief. "How could he—how could Steve—say that? In front of all of them! And Tony just... just yelling right along like it was nothing!" She wipes at her cheeks, frustrated at the tears that won't stop. "I don't understand. I don't understand any of it."

Neither do I.

"Baby... I'm... I'm so sorry."

It's all I can manage to say, the words sticking in my throat, feeling hollow against the weight of her anger. I watch as Nova paces the living room, her hands shaking as she runs them through her hair, her whole body practically vibrating with fury. I've never seen her like this—so raw, so hurt—and it makes me feel helpless.