The Pursuit of Perfection (A Bucky Barnes Fanfic) [Sequel to Winter Is Coming]

Chapter 7: A Fire on a Hill

"Each of us is born with a box of matches inside us, but we can't strike them all by ourselves." -Laura Esquivel

***

            Steve has remained unseen for the last twelve hours (Bucky is counting). If he's in his apartment, he's giving them the silent treatment. If he's not, then he must've gone somewhere on foot because his bike is still parked.

            "How can we just sit here and do nothing?" Harley asks. Bucky and she are in the living room in their pajamas watching TV before bed.

            "Harls, if we can't find Steve, we can't do anything for him," Bucky replies, trying not to start another fight about this. "I called him at least six times. He's obviously ignoring us."

            "Do you think he remembers what he did?"

            Bucky pauses, contemplating. "Yeah. That's why he's avoiding us. Maybe we should just give him some space? We might be overthinking this. He might just need some time alone."

            Harley takes a deep breath. "This is so stressful." Bucky kisses her forehead. When the clock strikes midnight, they decide to finally go to bed. Bucky notices Harley's uneasiness as he pulls back the covers.

            "What's wrong?"

            "Bucky, what if S.H.I.E.L.D. has something to do with Steve's behavior?" she asks. "What if they gave him something that has bad side effects?"

            "What would they be giving him? He doesn't exactly need steroids."

            Harley lays in bed. "I don't know. It was just an idea."

            Bucky pulls her closer. "We'll ask Fury tomorrow, okay? And then we're going to find Steve, even if he's a thousand miles away."

            Harley grins. "Road trip?"

            Bucky kisses her. "More like a highway to hell."

*
            "What would I possibly give Rogers?" Fury asks. "If he needs any kind of serum, it's one that would help him wrap his head around the world now."

            "I don't know. He's been acting weird lately and--wait, what do you mean 'wrap his head around the world now'?" Harley questions.

            "Rogers is constantly stuck in the past," Fury says. "He doesn't get that the world is ever-changing and there's nothing he can do to make it the way it once was."

            Bucky and Harley glance at each other, realizing this factoid about Steve could benefit them.

            "So you're not giving him anything at all?" Harley clarifies. Fury shakes his head. "Okay. Thank you."

            "So that's out," Bucky says as they descend in the elevator. "Now what?"

            "We talk to Sam." Harley sounds shaky, and when Bucky gives her a questioning look, she simply says, "Elevators."

            "I'm so sorry; I forgot," Bucky says, pulling her into him as if it would help. "Is there a reason you hate elevators so much?"

            Harley mumbles, "I'll tell you later."

            The doors open, and to their convenience, Sam is right on the other side.

            "Hey, Sam!" Bucky calls as they exit. "Can we talk to you for a sec?"

            Sam nods. "About Steve?"

            Bucky nods. "Yeah. Do you think your program would help?"

            "It's helped a lot of people since I started doing it," Sam says. "I think Steve would at least get something out of it. Try to get him to come."

            "I think Steve just needs to face the fact that it's not 1945 anymore, you know? It's like Fury said," Harley adds. "He seems stuck in the past."

            "I talk about that, about moving on," Sam says. "Don't worry, I'll do what I can."

            "Thanks, Sam," Bucky and Harley say together.

            "No problem. See you guys later."

            Having completed their missions for today, the couple walks back towards their apartments, hoping Steve is there so they can talk to him. Harley interlocks her fingers with Bucky's real ones and tells him why she hates elevators.

            "In my Hydra days, I was sent on a mission to burn down an entire building," she starts, her voice quiet and grave. "I did it, and as I was running out, I passed the elevators, and I could hear people inside of them, locked inside. I'd locked the elevator doors as soon as I stepped foot in the building; there was no way for them to even consider taking the stairs. They were burning alive in there, and I didn't do anything. The doors wouldn't open for them; the whole building was burning; they couldn't've gotten out. They watched each other die."

            Bucky knows that sometimes people's fears can be irrational, but Harley's fear of elevators is completely rational. Every time she steps into an elevator, she probably hears the cries of those people. Bucky stops them in the hallway, resting his hands on Harley's shoulders.

            "I know I say this all the time, but you have to remember that you were a puppet on strings," he says softly. "We both were. I know that if you had control, you would've saved them. Because that's what heroes do."

            Harley grins a picayune amount, but her eyes are glassy. "My Inferno days are not days I'm proud of."

            "I know," Bucky mutters, "which is why I think you should change your name to the Summer Soldier."

            Harley breaks out into a full on smile. "Really?"

            "Yeah!" Bucky unlocks the door and goes inside. "First of all, it sounds way cooler. Second, it just really fits you, like, I look at you and Inferno doesn't sound right in my head, but the Summer Soldier does. Thirdly, I'm the Winter Soldier, and you're my wife, so if we both have 'soldier' alter egos I think that'd be the cutest yet most intimidating thing ever. Lastly, you deserve it. Think of the name change as a clean slate for you. I'm going back over to S.H.I.E.L.D. later to change it in the system. Or make Natasha do it for me because I am useless with complicated computer stuff and-"

            Harley shuts him up by twining her arms around his neck and kissing him so deeply that she feels sparks in her heart. He responds immediately, kissing her back and sliding his hands under her shirt, one colder than the other. Her hands run through his hair as his hands roam up and down her spine. His lips are soft and taste like coffee. It's ideas like his that earn actions like hers.

            Bucky pulls away enough to ask, "So you like it?"

            Harley reconnects their lips and mumbles, "Love it."

***

            Later that night, the duo indulges in an evening caffeine fix. They're on the balcony in the stifling July heat. Harley scarcely notices the weather while Bucky has pulled his hair back into a bun. They speak in hushed voices until they hear a knock at the door.

            They move inside to answer it. They hope it's Steve; he hasn't been around all day.

            Bucky opens the door and, to his delight, it's Steve.

            "Steve! I have a new name for Harley. It's-"

            Before Bucky can finish, Steve interrupts in a demanding voice.

            "You killed Howard Stark!?"

*Credit to XxTheFirstAvengerxX for thinking of the Summer Soldier!*