Leipzig AU: the choices we make

[nerves_of_ice]

It's a month after Thessaloniki when he slips the unmarked, unstamped postcard in the mail at Sharon Carter's apartment.

(It had taken him the entire month to decide to reach out. He'd spent most of the time burying himself in his self-imposed work and not allowing himself to think about anything other than the mission. Eventually, he'd realized that it wasn't working, and that there was only one way to find out what he now needs to know, even if he can't admit even to himself exactly why he does.)

Of course there's always the chance she'll think it's just an advertisement and ignore it. If she does, he'll try again with something a little more obvious before deciding she's not interested in reconnecting. Still, he thinks she's clever enough to catch it, and to decode the message, which isn't that subtle when it comes down to it: time, place, location.

It takes far less than a minute to pick the lock on the mailbox security panel - two seconds, maybe three, and he's able to pull it open, drop the card on top of her mail, and secure it once more.

Bucky makes his way from her apartment back down the Berlin street quickly and quietly, cap pulled down to hide his face, and disappears into the crowd.

Comments

[from_the_outside]

She shrugs and lets her eyes drift closed to better savor the feeling of him against her.

Not that she's questioning it just now, when she's so pleased and sated and he's right here in her bed and in her arms. "I'm just happy it happened that way."

[nerves_of_ice]

"I am, too." He hasn't been this happy in a long, long time. Longer than he can easily remember.

He runs his hand along her back in slow, gentle strokes, down and up again.

[from_the_outside]

She hums contentment and opens her eyes to look at him. "Baby," she murmurs, feeling the word out in her mouth, enjoying the weight and taste of it, how easy it feels to say.

[nerves_of_ice]

He smiles, slow and warm. "Hi."

[from_the_outside]

Her own smile is lazy and sweet in return. "Hi."

She traces her fingertips along his chest. "So are you just going to be blowing my mind on a regular basis? Because you've turned out to be full of surprises."

[nerves_of_ice]

"I'm not that surprising," he protests.

[from_the_outside]

The look she gives him speaks volumes, mostly of the you're kidding me, right? variety.

"Pretty surprising," she says, amused.

[nerves_of_ice]

He's still not sure about that, but decides not to argue the point.

"I guess we'll find out," he says instead.

[from_the_outside]

Her smile is a warm, sweet thing. "I guess we will."

And she doesn't want to give up a second of that adventure. Or this one, the one where she can lean in and up and kiss him again, just because she wants to.

[nerves_of_ice]

He returns her kiss and follows it with another, then studies her face as if memorizing it.

“Tomorrow’s Saturday,” he murmurs. “Did you have plans?”

[from_the_outside]

She shakes her head with a soft rustle of her hair against the pillow, watching him back.

"Not really," she says, quiet. Her workdays are so busy and so long that when she can relax on a weekend, that's often all she wants to do. "Why?"

[nerves_of_ice]

“Trying to figure out if I need to leave before dawn or not,” he tells her, quietly. “Although it’s mostly up to you.”

[from_the_outside]

"You don't," she says, soft but insistent, and her hand firms for a moment on his chest. "Stay as long as you want. I like having you here."

She studies him, drinking him in as well as she can in the dim light. "The next two weeks are going to feel too damn long."

[nerves_of_ice]

“You sure? I don’t want to wear out my welcome.”

He puts his hand over hers. “Get a safe phone. I’ll text you.”

Still, she’s not wrong.

[from_the_outside]

"I'm sure. And I will."

Which will be something, at least. Just not this: him warm and real and solid beside her.

[nerves_of_ice]

He squeezes her fingers. “Don’t think about it now,” he says, soft and low in the dimness of the room. Easy to be unheard, if she wants it that way.

“It helps.”

[from_the_outside]

Sharon smiles, slight. "Smart," she says, just as quiet, then lets a little teasing slip into her tone.

"Some distraction might help."

[nerves_of_ice]

“Distraction, huh?” He grins, quick and bright, and rolls them over with one easy move - supporting her weight as he does so that her ribs won’t be strained.

Bucky leans down to kiss her, gentle at first, but quickly growing deeper and more passionate.

[from_the_outside]

Sharon laughs and wraps one arm around his back, her free hand in his hair as he kisses her down into the pillow, but soon enough her amusement becomes soft wanting sounds as he kisses her over and over.

[nerves_of_ice]

He runs his right hand along her side, her hip, back up, in long, slow caresses as he keeps kissing her. His body’s already recovered, and he shifts his hips a little, teasing her without pressing her.

[from_the_outside]

It's another, pleasant surprise – but then, considering the stuff that HYDRA pumped into him, maybe she shouldn't be surprised at all. Sharon makes a soft sound and shifts beneath him, letting him slot between her hips as she winds her leg around his, her hands tracking over the nape of his neck, down along his back, over the curve of muscle at his rear and back up again.

[nerves_of_ice]

Still kissing her, he brings his hand down again, stopping to caress the curve of her breast along the way before he moves to her hip, then down along the crease of her thigh to circle and tweak the bud of nerves before he slips his fingers against her, checking to make sure she's ready, that she wants this, before he rolls his hips and presses in.

[from_the_outside]

The low, pleased sound she makes muffled itself into his mouth as he kisses her, as she rocks her hips up to meet him. She wraps her legs around his hips and draws him in as close and deep as she can, her hands gentle against his head and the back of his neck.

[nerves_of_ice]

"Distracted yet?" he teases, rolling his hips and pressing deep, then drawing back - all with a deliberate controlled pace meant to tantalize. Bucky kisses along her cheek back to her ear and whispers, "You're so beautiful, baby."

[from_the_outside]

“From what?” she teases, playing along.

But she is, of course. It’s impossible to worry about the next two weeks - or even tomorrow morning - when he’s making her feel so good. She shivers at his warm breath on her cheek and ear, at his sweet words, and wraps her arms around him, clinging to him as he moves and slowly sets her aflame all over again. “Baby,” she murmurs back, “you drive me crazy.”