Hello Sergeant (Bucky Barnes)

Just breathe

James' POV

I worried about Sarah the whole way to Shield. I'd woken up before dawn, ready to go for our usual morning run, only to find them both gone and a sticky note on my phone. I'd panicked when I found things slightly out of place and a couple drops of what looked like blood on the bathroom floor. There wasn't any signs of a struggle, but I was still concerned that Hydra had taken them.

I started trying to call them, but Sarah's phone went straight to voicemail and so did Steve's. I started texting them, but didn't get any replies. I called Natalia to find out what she knew, only to get a terse response saying that she was on the way to come get me and take me to Steve and Sarah.

My mind went into overdrive, thinking of everything that could have happened to them. I was dressed and waiting in the living room when Natalia and Clint got there. I was so relieved to see Natalia that I kissed her, holding her tight for a moment until Clint came in, took one look at me and threw his knives at me; not to kill, but to injure.

"What the hell, Barton! What's wrong with you?" Confused, I lashed out at him, pulling a gun from a hidden holster only to have Natalia knock me hard upside the head.

"Not again, James. If you shoot him, I'll shoot you." Natalia said, holding guns pointed at both of us. "Clint, one more projectile and I'll shoot you, too. We don't have time for this right now."

Fortunately, I have good reflexes, because Clint threw another knife that I caught and whipped back at him after dodging the bullet aimed at me.

"Clint, you have to at least tell him why you're mad at him, but not here. Tell him on the way."

We passed the drive mostly in silence, Clint refusing to talk to me, Natalia giving me a very basic explanation: Sarah was having a miscarriage, so we were going to be there for emotional support, whatever that meant. She didn't elaborate, so I googled 'miscarriage' and 'emotional support' on the way to Shield. What I read didn't really reassure me.

I handed my badge to the guard and then followed them to where Sarah and Steve were. Bruce looked glad to see us when we arrived at the hospital room. Sarah was sitting on the bed, hunched over in pain. She didn't even know we were there until I knelt before her and took her hands in mine, kissing them lightly.

"Hey Sarah. I thought we were all done with the hospital stuff?" I teased.

"Broke my streak," Sarah said, flashing a grin at me. "Had a record going, too."

"I'm sorry about the baby; Natalia explained." I squeezed her hands, finding it hard not to feel guilty when I saw the sorrow in her beautiful golden brown eyes.

"Did you have any problems getting here?" she asked, having noticed that things were strained among us already.

I gave her the crooked little smile I knew she liked. "Only with Barton. Natalia said I'm not to kill him."

She shook her head, slightly, frowning at me. "I say you can't kill him either. I thought you were friends?"

"Tell him to be good. He started it." I said as she glared at me and I pointed at Clint, who was standing over kind of by Bruce, his back to Natalia, pointedly ignoring her. He was so angry, I could feel it exuding from him. Sarah's eyes widened and she looked back at me.

"What did you do, James?"

"I don't know! One minute I'm greeting Natalia and the next she's stopping me from killing him after he attacked me."

She looked up at the redhead. "Nat, what happened now?"

"Well, Clint blames James for this," she gestured to Sarah, "so they had to have it out before we could come here."