You gently exhale, pressing an ice pack to your jaw as your mind runs rampant with Rumlow's words.

You're not free.

They're scared of you.

You'll never be one of them.

"You okay?"

Your head snaps up to see Bucky standing in the doorway of the MedBay. Bruce and Dr. Cho told you that your jaw wasn't broken, just bruised. After their thorough examination, they handed you some very effective pain killers and an ice pack and you'd been here ever since, just silently replaying the events of today. "Define okay," you quip, ice pack still pressed to your jaw.

"That's fair."

"What are they going to do with him?"

"The Raft probably. They'll try to get as much information out of him as possible before they ship him off."

"Are you okay?" he asks again.

"What made you change your mind?" you ask, cutting off Bucky's question.

"What?"

"About me," you amend. "What made you change your mind about me? Why did you stop hating me?"

"I never hated you," he corrects, taking several steps toward you. He didn't look at your face before Rumlow was taken out of his custody, he didn't need another reason to want to pull the trigger. "I didn't know you."

"But what is it about me?" you ask, frantically searching for anything to cling to.

"I don't know," he admits. "Every time I try to figure it out- I can't. It's everything. Everything and nothing at the same time. It's just...it's you."

Your eyebrows furrow as you try to figure out how to take Bucky's word. It should've been comforting that Bucky wanted nothing from you, just you, but all you could think was that maybe, Rumlow was right, maybe one day you wouldn't be enough. And what would happen then?

"They mess with your head- that's what HYDRA does," he says, answering your silent worries and runaway thoughts. "Don't let them. Easier said than done, I know. But if anyone can, it's you."

"I'm fine," you assure him, shaking off the fear and doubt. "Rumlow's just got a mean right hook."

Bucky lowers the ice pack from your cheek, silently looking at the inflicted damage. His fingers lightly trace over your bruised cheekbone and split lip. "I could kill him for that," he quietly breathes.

"Please don't."

"I won't," he promises, his eyes squeezing shut as he remember the unbridled fear and panic when he heard you were missing. "I was just so worried about you. So fucking worried."

"I'm right here. I'm okay."

Rattled to his core, completely out of his mind with worry, Bucky makes an uncharacteristic show of affection when his lips lightly graze the bruise covering your cheek. He rests his forehead on the side of your head for a moment before he presses another kiss to the corner of your mouth where your lip is split. Your breath hitches when his lips press against the corner of your mouth, just barely grazing it.

He hesitates, knowing this is not a good idea. That this is terrible timing. He shouldn't be doing this.

Just a breath away, you decide for Bucky by slightly turning your head and closing the distance with you. As if all the tension and the palpable pining had finally boiled over, Bucky's restraint snaps.

Even though your mouth aches and you can still faintly taste the blood in your mouth, you're overcome by the sensation of Bucky's lips on yours. His hands move away from your face to rest on your waist, pulling you even closer to him. You follow his lead, dropping the ice pack completely, your cold fingers twisting around the hair on Bucky's nape. You'd seen this in movies plenty of times, but there was nothing that could compare to actually kissing Bucky.

This time with more fervor, he kisses you again. Lost in your own mutual desperation, you two stumble back, Bucky pushing you flush against the wall. Even though you've never done this before, you move so naturally against Bucky, until-

"Oh my God, I'm sorry!" Steve gasps, slamming the door behind them. Not that either of you even realized the door had creaked open in the first place. You both jump away from each other, both in shock at Steve's interruption and how quickly it seemed things were escalating with each other.

You look at Bucky, completely frozen and unsure of what to do. His face is flushed, lips slightly swollen, and definitely as confused as you are. He clears his throat, "I should um... I should- Steve's going to..."

"Yeah," you clear your throat, nervously tucking your hair behind your ear. "Sam's probably..."

But just as abruptly as he turns on his heels to walk out the door, he turns back and pressed one last longing kiss to your lips then leaving without another word, mostly because he's not sure if he's ever going to get to do that again.

-

Steve bolts the second he slams the door shut. Even though he's a little concerned that Bucky might kill him for interrupting, he walks away with a cheeky, knowing grin on his face. As much as Bucky could deny it, Steve had seen firsthand how quickly his best friend was falling for you, or how quickly he had already fallen for you. He's happy for Bucky, because if anyone deserves a happy ending, it's him.

"Steve!" he hears Bucky shout from down the corridor. Steve picks up his pace just a little bit more.

"Steve!" Bucky hisses again. Though Steve doesn't turn around, he can hear Bucky's footsteps rapidly approaching. "Get back here, you little shit."

Bucky roughly grabs Steve's shoulder, yanking him back and halting his pace. "Oh hey, Buck. Didn't see you there."

"Bullshit! Haven't you ever heard of knocking?"

"You know your timing could definitely use some work," Steve quips, ignoring Bucky's vitriol.

"You really want to talk to me about timing?"

"I knew it," Steve smirks. "I totally knew it."

"You don't know anything. We're just friends," Bucky insists, dropping his hand from Steve's shoulder.

Steve cheekily grins. "I don't want to be your friend if that's what you do with your friends."

"It was just the heat of the moment."

"The heat of the moment?" Steve scoffs. "That's really what you're going with?"

"It was!"

"You know Sam's going to kill you."

"Sam should mind his own business," Bucky bites back.

"Sam's - Sam!" Steve nervously exclaims, seeing Sam round the corner over Bucky's shoulder.

"Not a word," Bucky harshly whispers to Steve.

Though Sam immediately notices that something isn't quite right, he focuses on finding you first. You weren't in the MedBay were he'd left you and after the events of today he wasn't keen on letting you wander around alone. "Has anyone seen-"

Sam doesn't even have a chance to finish his question, before Steve starts rambling away, the urge to blurt what he'd just walked in on eating away at his self-restraint. "Why would I have seen her? I don't know where she is- Why would I know where she is?" Bucky harshly elbows Steve in the ribs to stop his rambling.

"What's up with him?" Sam asks, pointing at Steve.

"Old age," Bucky grunts, pointedly glaring at Steve. "I may have to put him down."

"Okay...I'm going to pretend like I see nothing wrong with this and-" Then you round the corner, right into all three men. And Bucky's got to hand it to you, you're a much better liar than Steve is- or maybe you're not as affected as he hoped you'd be.

"Sam!" you exclaim, a little too cavalier for Bucky's liking. "I've been looking for you."

"I could say the same thing. Where'd you run off to?"

You hesitate for a moment. "I was, uh, looking for my journal!"

Sam slightly furrows his eyebrows, definitely noting your strange behavior. "Right... Well, I have it. Don't worry, I kept it safe for you."

"Great," you exhale. And then there's just silence, the four of you all exchanging glances at each other, all trying to figure out why the others are acting equally strange.

"Well," Bucky interjects, clearing his throat. "We should go do that debrief."

"Um...Actually, Sam, can I talk to you for a minute?" you ask, nudging your head in the other direction of the conference room.

"Sure," Sam nods suspiciously.

"We'll meet you in the conference room in a few," you tell the two super soldiers, both who are standing there with their eyes silently asking you what you want to talk to Sam about.

You walk away without answering either of their silent questions, or even letting Sam know what it exactly is that you want to talk about. Instead, you're oddly silent as you two find the nearest vacant room.

"Sam, I'm going to ask you something," you say as you shut the door behind you.

"Okay..."

"I'm going to ask you something and I need you to be completely honest with me because I will believe whatever you tell me so I need it to be the truth."

"I wouldn't lie to you," he promises.

"Was Rumlow telling the truth?" you bluntly ask.

"About what?"

"Did you say that I was a ticking time bomb?" you ask, tears welling in your eyes. "Did you say I was an apocalyptic threat?"

He takes a large gulp of air, slowly exhaling he says, "Yes." You jaggedly hiss like Sam's confession physically hurts, but he continues, hoping to alleviate some of the pain. "It's not what you think. He's twisting my words, it wasn't like that."

The knot in your throat tightens, cutting off any and all speech as you wait for Sam to continue, "When Fury asked me to be your handler, I told him no. I read the file they started on you and I told him absolutely not. I said that whoever this person was going to be a ticking time bomb." You wince as he repeats the words. "But then I met you. And you're not that. Please don't think a bad judgment I made before I even knew you has any implication on the person that you are, because it doesn't."

"You're sure?" you ask, giving him one more chance to tell you anything.

"Positive."

"Okay," you nod. "I believe you."