Winter's Lost Gem - A BuckyBarnesxOC Story

Chapter 9

End of August 2018

The familiar click of the sniper rifle in Emma's hands was like music to her ears. Finally, she had a mission that required her particular skill set and was lucky enough to attend. It had come as a surprise when Steve walked up to her and told her to grab her bags, they were leaving. She was even more stunned to see, rather unhappily on Steve's part, that Bucky was attending with them. Apparently, the job required three of them. They weren't taking any chances with a rebel forces group in the Middle East that they were being sent to annihilate with as little civilian casualties as possible.

The team had decided that Steve and Bucky would infiltrate and fight up close and personal while Emma would cover them in a sniper's nest near the quinjet's location. Emma certainly didn't have any complaints. Not when she got to hold a rifle and do what she did best. She followed the guys' movements with her scope, watching for potential threats they weren't aware of coming up from behind or trying to shoot out of shady buildings or hiding spots. Her com echoed with the soft bickering of Bucky and Steve over nothing specifically interesting to her. That is, until her name came up, of course.

"We could have just brought Nat, you know." Steve's voice was laced with irritation.

"Yes, but we needed a skilled sniper. We came into this place blind."

A smile curled at the edge of Emma's lips. She could hear the eyeroll in Bucky's voice.

"You could have been the sniper, Buck."

"She's the best at what she does. Why settle for second best when you can take first?"

"Because she annoys me."

"She only annoys you because you can't seem to understand that I'm fine now and can handle my own. You think she's back to take advantage of me. Has it ever occurred to you that perhaps she came back because that was the agreement we set for ourselves?"

"You talk as if you've been married for decades."

"Well I feel like we have been. Just in a weird non-conformal way."

Emma tried her hardest not to laugh, trying to keep her attention on the task in front of her. She could hear the fighting through the coms and occasionally, she'd snipe an enemy sniper before they even had the chance to set up.

"But the two of you aren't, Buck. And, not that it was your fault, you two were on separate sides. What would you say if you weren't so committed to her? She was technically sleeping with an enemy of the United States."

"A forced enemy, you ass. She knew that. She also knew the risks. It was also her job for a little while to find me to bring me home since you went and turned into a popsicle. Instead, she retired from Peggy and chose to live her life keeping an eye on me. You should be grateful to her instead of treating her like an outcast."

"I can't believe Peggy didn't say anything to me about her. Or Fury. He would have known, too. Besides, isn't it a little coincidental that a cure is found for your code words, you come back to us full-time, and then she appears out of nowhere? Where was she when you were holed up in Bucharest? She didn't come save you then, did she?"

"No one knew I was in Bucharest."

"No one other than the guy giving you orders knew where you'd be during your missions either. She still showed up. Did she show up when you were in DC under orders?"

"Briefly. I told her to leave. She was too close to the people she'd given up and we weren't ready for her to return."

"We? There you go with that couple thing again. Why the hell didn't she help us in DC?"