Hello Sergeant (Bucky Barnes)

Remember me

Bucky's POV

She was already awake when we walked in the hospital room. Steve grabbed Lucky's collar before he could rush past us to get into the room, knowing he wanted to get at her.

"Sit, Lucky," he ordered. "No jumping on her."

The dog whimpered quietly but sat, understanding the order. I picked him up, wrapping both arms around him tightly. He licked at my face as I walked him over to the bed to see the woman looking up at us with a small smile. I struggled to keep the dog from escaping - he really wanted to get to her.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly to her. "I'm sorry I hurt you."

I inspected her closer. She looked so pale; there were dark shadows under her eyes but I couldn't tell if that was because she was tired or if they were bruises – she had an awful lot of them, too.

I felt sick, knowing that I'd hurt her this bad – even if it really hadn't been me doing it. I remembered everything the Soldier had done to her better than I remembered my real name. I turned to leave, not feeling like I deserved to be here, but Steve kept me from going, one arm behind my back.

"Don't go, Buck," he begged.

Her hands moved and it seemed like the motions meant something because Clint was responding.

"Stay here, Barnes. Sarah knows it was the Soldier that hurt her, not you," Clint said. "You were just following orders."

I nodded, not knowing what to say to that and focusing on keeping the dog from getting away. I winced when he kicked my broken ribs, a flash of pain going through me.

"No 'Ria," Clint said, replying to her, "Lucky's not allowed on the bed today – you just got out of surgery." I looked back up at the sound of my name. "Bucky, if you bring him closer, she'll give Lucky some attention and he might stop trying to get to her."

"He hasn't seen her in a while either," Sam said, reminding me her was there. "He's missed you both big time. He'll hardly let Steve out of his sight; I think he's afraid Steve'll leave him, too."

I glanced back at Steve, who nodded. "He even tried to shower with me, sitting there with his nose to the glass the whole time. Tony thought it was hilarious until Lucky did it to him when I was gone on a mission - and somehow managed to get into the shower with him."

Sarah weakly lifted up a hand and I brought Lucky close enough she could pet him. Lucky nuzzled her hand and licked at it, still trying to get down. He whined when it became clear I wasn't letting him go and turned his attention back to me, licking my face some more.

"I don't need a tongue bath, dog." I set him down, taking a moment to wrap my hand around his collar before standing back up. My side was throbbing from the motion, but I ignored it.

"Yeah, you do, Robocop. You reek," Stark said, brushing past me to get closer to her and kissing her forehead. "I have to go now, kitten. Try to get some rest and I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yes, I'm sure he'll bring Pepper, too," Clint said, looking at Tony.

"Of course I will, kitten. She's so relieved you're home again."

"I'm not calling him that," Clint said, raising an eyebrow at her. She only smiled and stuck out her tongue, which made me smile slightly, wondering what she'd said.

Tony apparently understood because he laughed. "Yeah, it would be a little weird for you to call me Papi, Legolas. No offense, but this kid's caused me enough gray hair already in the past year." Tony looked over at the dog. "I'd take Lucky home, but I don't think I'll be able to get him away from either of you right now."