[Leipzig AU] a means to a necessary end

[nerves_of_ice]

It's a long flight from Berlin to Novosibirsk and the secret location far beyond it, even in a Quinjet. They spend the time planning and coordinating. Bucky describes the structure and security of the facility itself as best he remembers. Tony calls up plans and blueprints from god knows where and throws them into the middle of the plane for all to see. They're not the same as what Bucky remembers, they figure out fairly quickly, but they're better than nothing.

Tony also takes over the back of the plane and snaps at anyone who comes close, doing something that involves shifting screens and models of buildings and wave patterns and a human skull, and the eventually the low humming grind of a machine. Soon after, he stalks back up to the front of the plane and shoves a set of custom-fabricated earplugs at Bucky, who stares at them and then at Tony.

"Noise-cancelling all the way to total sound blackout. Tap the end of the earpiece to deafen yourself," Tony informs him. "Last thing we need's for you to be his puppet." Bucky starts to stammer a thanks, but Tony growls something under his breath and stalks back to the back of the plane again to work on something else. Steve catches Bucky's eye and shakes his head, and Bucky decides to leave well enough alone.

Sam advises everyone to rest in shifts; Bucky knows he's not wrong, but neither he nor Steve can do it, and after a while Sam stops trying to convince them. Natasha sits with him for a while, her eyes dark with concern. They don't say much, but there's no need to.

A Snowcat is parked outside the door of the facility when they land. Bucky's jaw sets in hard lines at the sight of it, and he trades a look with Steve.

They're already here.

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[nerves_of_ice]

"Baby--"

Maybe if they lie down together, he reasons, he can soothe her to relax with more soft kisses, more gentle caresses. She must be exhausted, and he's determined for her to not overstrain.

But he'd come so close to losing her, and the memory of fear and desperation threads through him, driving him to touch her again and again, reminding himself she's here within reach, she's safe.

Carefully, he gathers her up in his arms and rises to his feet, carrying her. Bucky kisses her again and starts for the bedroom.

[from_the_outside]

She presses her mouth to his neck as he carries her, totally relaxed in his arms as she breathes him in, kissing and caressing him wherever she can reach.

"Before I got here, I thought about putting some music on my phone," she teases. "And asking you to dance. But I like this, too."

[nerves_of_ice]

"I'd dance with you," he promises. "Would you like to?"

She's setting him afire with each gentle touch, his blood simmering in response with a sweet, steady burn.

[from_the_outside]

"Maybe tomorrow," she murmurs, and gently sets her mouth to the spot in his throat where his pulse flickers.

[nerves_of_ice]

He swears he can feel his pulse accelerate at the feel of her mouth on his skin. Bucky kicks the door shut behind them and crosses the room to the bed, where he braces himself with one knee and gently lowers her to the mattress.

Bucky makes himself stay still for a moment, just breathing and looking down at her with his eyes blown dark with desire, one hand planted on each side of her as he makes sure to keep a tight grip on his control.

Slowly, deliberately, he leans down to kiss her.

[from_the_outside]

Her hair spreads over the pillow as he sets her down, and she toes her shoes off, letting them drop where they will, as she looks up at him, at his darkened eyes and the desire and tenderness written across his face.

She reaches up to cradle his head in her hands as he lowers himself to her, kissing him gently, slow and lingering.

It's only been a few days, but she feels like she needs to relearn every detail about every part of him.

[nerves_of_ice]

He hopes she knows how much she means to him, how much he cherishes even the smallest details about her, from the way she bites her lip when she's feeling mischievous to the sparkle in her eyes to her bright, fierce spirit and deeply caring heart. Bucky kisses her gently, first her mouth, then her forehead, then brushes his lips over her still-bruised cheek.

"Sharon," he breathes. "Sharon."

[from_the_outside]

Her eyes drift closed as he brushes soft kisses over her aching forehead and her sore cheek, the spots where Zemo had stuck her so harshly, aiming to bruise, to batter, to break. The tenderness in his touch combined with the strain and exhaustion of the last few days almost brings tears to her eyes.

"Bucky," she murmurs, running her hands down along his sides and over his hips, her fingers brushing skin where his shirt falls away from the waistband of his pants. "You take such good care of me."

[nerves_of_ice]

He shivers at the sensation of her fingers on his skin, then kisses her again. "Let me," he asks, softly. "Let me take care of you."

He leans on his hip beside her and braces his weight with his left hand as he trails the fingers of his right lightly along her throat to the first button of her shirt and undoes it.

[from_the_outside]

She tips her head back into the pillow and rolls it so she can watch his face, exposing her throat as he traces his fingers along it. "Yes," she murmurs, her eyes dark and warm as they trace his face, her hand light on his arm as it moves.

She's Sharon Carter. She was an agent of SHIELD. She's never allowed herself to be this vulnerable with anyone.

Not until she found this haunted, hunted, jaded, deeply caring, sweet-hearted man in a little town in France.

[nerves_of_ice]

With painstaking care, he undoes one button, then the next, then the next, working his way down until her shirt lies loose against her and he's able to draw it open.

Bucky leans up and kisses her again, then begins to trace the same path with kisses, along her throat and across her collarbone, across her chest and down to her belly. Each kiss is deliberately placed and lingering. As he paints her with kisses he strokes her skin lightly with his right hand, his fingers warm against her, petting her with slow, soothing strokes.

[from_the_outside]

Sharon breathes deep and relaxes under his touch, his sweet ministrations, even as shivers race over her skin and warmth licks along her nerves. "Baby," she murmurs, sinking her fingers into his hair as he kisses along her body, his mouth as gentle over the spots where Zemo had hit her as it had been when he mapped out the bruises he'd remembered from Thessaloniki.

She tugs lightly on the back of his shirt, her voice a bare whisper. "Let me touch you."

[nerves_of_ice]

"I'm still taking care of you," he murmurs, his breath warm over her skin. Bucky looks up and smiles at her, heartstoppingly sweet.

"Just relax, baby."

[from_the_outside]

She reaches up, curving her hand at his cheek so she can touch the corner of that smile with the pad of her thumb as her heart turns over in her chest. "That smile," she murmurs, caught on its curve, and smiles back, sweet and utterly trusting.

"Okay, baby."

[nerves_of_ice]

He holds himself immobile until she lifts her hand away, then dips his head to press a lingering kiss to the center of her belly, just above the waist of her pants.

"Stay here," he tells her, and shifts back to kneel beside her on the bed. Carefully, delicately, he unfastens her pants and coaxes her to lift her hips so he can draw her clothes from her.

[from_the_outside]

Sharon huffs a small breath of laughter and shifts her hips as coaxed, letting him peel away the fashionable dark jeans Nat had brought her that morning, leaving her long legs bare against the blankets. A frisson of tiny goosebumps runs across her thighs as the air touches her skin.

She watches him through it all, an amused sparkle in her eyes despite the darkness of the room, but only rests herself back on the bed once he's finished removing her clothes, as requested.

[nerves_of_ice]

"Cold?" he asks. Bucky strips off his own shirt and tosses it aside, then gets to his feet and takes off the rest of his clothing. He picks up the blanket folded at the foot of the bed and shakes it out over her, then crawls in under it beside her and strokes his hand up and down her thigh.

"I was going to take the rest of your clothes off next," he murmurs. "But I don't want you to be cold. Let me warm you up first."

[from_the_outside]

"That won't take long," she tells him, laughter bubbling up in her voice as she turns towards him. "You throw heat like a furnace."

Never one to pass up an opportunity, she presses her body against his, stroking her hand down over his chest to his stomach and side, then back over his hip. Under the blanket, with him lying beside her, she soaks up his warmth like she's lying on the beach in the sun. "And you set me on fire," she murmurs, leaning in to kiss him. "Every time you touch me."

[nerves_of_ice]

He hisses in a sharp gasp at her hand moves over him, desperately clinging to self-control as he kisses her back. Bucky runs his hand back up her thigh, then down her other thigh and back again as he keeps kissing her, slow and teasing and deliberate.

[from_the_outside]

She bites at her bottom lip, her eyes dancing with laughter, as he makes that sound and as his body presses against her, then kisses him back, deep and wanting.

"What was that about the rest of my clothes?" she wonders, teasing him back, trailing her fingers up along his side and down to the small of his back.

[nerves_of_ice]

"You're still wearing them," he points out, reasonably. He runs his hand along her inner thigh, then shifts to do the same to her other inner thigh without touching her center, teasing her with delicate caresses.

"Maybe we should do something about that."

[from_the_outside]

She shivers at his touch, her voice a breathless laugh.

"Then you should probably get on that, don't you think?"

[nerves_of_ice]

"Guess so." He lifts his hand away from her and reaches for her wrist, then unfastens the button at her cuff with excruciating slowness.

[from_the_outside]

This time her laugh bubbles up like champagne.

"Remember when I said you were ridiculous?" she teases, and threads her fingers into his hair before deliberately fisting them in it as she kisses him again.

[nerves_of_ice]

He chuckles against her mouth, only to have the sound turn into a deep groan as she tightens her hand in his hair.

"God, baby, the way you make me feel," he whispers, when the kiss breaks.