Hello Sergeant (Bucky Barnes)

Ultimatums

Steve's POV

Sarah was curled up in a small ball in Bucky's arms when I finally got back to the room. Her eyes were closed and she looked like she was sleeping. I set the backpack I'd packed for her on the bed as I sat down on the end of it to talk to him. Bucky was staring off into space; he hadn't even realized I was there.

"Buck?" I said quietly after a minute, concerned that he hadn't said anything yet but not wanting to wake Sarah up if she was sleeping. She needed her rest right now to heal. His eyes snapped to me at the sound of my voice and I was taken aback at the pain I saw in their cerulean depths.

"Steve? Where were you?"

I picked up the extra blanket next to me and stood up to drape it over her. The room was plenty warm, but I knew how Sarah liked to be covered up when she was sleeping. "I got pulled into a meeting with Fury. Is everything okay? Has the doctor been in yet?"

"He said she needs to stay here today. There are some blood clots that could cause problems and she's still not healing as fast as she should."

"I was hoping she'd stay a little longer," I said, exhaling loudly in relief. I sat back down, my worry easing slightly knowing she was going to be under direct medical supervision for a while longer. I knew she really wanted to go home, but I was glad she wouldn't be alone.

"She lost a lot of blood yesterday," Bucky said quietly.

"Her healing always slows down when that happens because it takes time for the donor blood to adapt to hers and for her serum to catch up."

Sarah stirred and Bucky stroked her face for a moment, murmuring softly to her so she'd stay sleeping. I smiled as I watched; it wasn't often that I saw exactly how much he loved her. Bucky wasn't really open about it outside our apartments, preferring to not let people see that side of him because he was afraid Hydra would learn how much she meant to him.

Finally, he looked back up at me, his face blank. "That's not the only reason why she isn't healing faster. Tony told me it was my fault."

"Buck – "

"I know what you're going to say Steve, but he's right. It's my fault she almost died yesterday."

"What? No, Buck. It's not your fault; you don't know that!" I shook my head, regretting leaving him alone for so long this morning. He'd somehow decided that he needed to take the blame for this whole mess.

"I do know that. Tony said they did some testing and found out it was mine, and because my serum won't work with hers, it was killing her."

"What?" I stared at him for a moment, my brain struggling to process what he'd just told me. "Is that why it took almost a full week for those bruises from Syria to heal when it normally only takes a day or two?"

"Yes."

"Does Sarah know?"

"Yes. She was going to tell you."

"What's going on in that head of yours, Buck?"

"I don't know. Why aren't you angry with me, Steve? You have every right to be."

"Because it never mattered to me if it was mine or yours because it's a part of her. We both would have loved that baby no matter what and you know it."

"If they put it on her medical record, I want it recorded as yours. No one outside of the team is to know it wasn't yours, Steve. Hydra wants her bad enough already, they can't find out I've been with her, that I made her pregnant." His tone was bordering on panic and I reached out to touch his shoulder, squeezing lightly.