[Virginia AU] take my waking slow

[nerves_of_ice]

The nightmares are present, but at least they don’t jerk him out of sleep in any way that disturbs Sharon. When he does finally wake sometime shortly before dawn, he kisses her shoulder and her hair before sliding silently from the bed.

Bucky pulls his shorts back on, then pads into the kitchen and searches out the coffee. He sets it to brewing as quietly as he can and picks up his phone to send Alyona a text while he watches the sky lighten.

surprise - am in Berlin
hope all is going well

Comments

[nerves_of_ice]

“Not at present,” Bucky says. There’s no point in mentioning the Secretary: if Ross wasn’t ready for that kind of trouble, he’d have caved already.

“I do have one other thing to talk to you about, though. Privately.” He gives Riley a quick, wry smile. “No offense. It’s for your boss to decide how much to share first.”

Really, it’s more for the sake of Sharon’s privacy than Ross’s, but there’s no reason to make the man have to hear this news with anyone else watching. Besides, the more he can let Sharon decide how she wants to handle the rumor mill here, the better.

[marvel_npc]

Ross frowns at him, but nods sharply to Riley. “You’re dismissed, Agent,” he says. “Wait outside for the Sergeant. I’m sure whatever this is won’t take long.”

Riley stands without argument. “See you in a minute,” he tells Barnes, and exits, closing the door behind him.

Once they’re alone, Ross looks back at Barnes, eyebrows raised. “Yes?”

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky meets his eyes with a calm, steady gaze. “I need to inform you that last night I asked Agent Carter out, and she accepted.”

His voice is just as calm and steady as his expression. “We thought it was important to disclose.”

[marvel_npc]

For a long moment, Ross only stares at him. He’d expected some argument or accusation, but not a calm statement that Barnes and Carter are apparently far more involved than he’d wanted to believe. “What?”

It kicks in after a second, and he groans, running his hands up over his face. Lord knows this place is a disaster zone for interpersonal drama, but Carter…?

“Please tell me you didn’t just say you’re romantically involved with my agent.”

[nerves_of_ice]

Perfectly matter-of-fact, Bucky says, “I understand if this is a surprise to you. But I’ve come to respect and admire her quite a lot, and had to ask.”

[marvel_npc]

“Not as much of a surprise as I wish it were,” Ross grinds out, his headache spiking as he fixes a frustrated gaze on the other man.

“This has only been since last night? Were the two of you involved at any point before now?”

[nerves_of_ice]

“I’m not going to lie and say I wasn’t interested,” Bucky tells him, without missing a beat.

He’s also not going to compromise Sharon if she doesn’t want to tell Ross about what came before. They hadn’t discussed this part.

“Is that a problem?”

[marvel_npc]

"That's not what I asked."

He takes a deep breath and runs a hand up over his mouth, cursing the Secretary of State, Carter's poor taste in men, and Barnes himself for good measure. "Is it a problem? It better not be. I want to believe she made the calls she did from a professional viewpoint, not because she was emotionally compromised."

[nerves_of_ice]

His eyes narrow sharply. “You damn well better believe that,” Bucky snaps. “Agent Carter’s mind and skills are as sharp as they always have been, and her sense of duty as strong. That’s never been in question.”

[marvel_npc]

“Hit a nerve, have I?” Ross snaps back. “Good. Carter’s stuck her neck out for you more than once since she finally called us in on it. I hope you’re worth it.”

He fights down a frustrated barrage of words and shakes his head. “You’ll have to disclose your relationship to HR. They’ll instruct you - both of you - on what’s needed.”

[nerves_of_ice]

I’m not. He swallows it back, even as guilt and self-loathing burns within him.

“I’ll let them know,” he says. “We thought you’d want to know first.”

[marvel_npc]

“You’re damn right I did.”

He sighs and steeples his fingers over his eyes a moment. The problem is, he might well need to leverage the Avengers for the assignment he’s giving Carter once she’s back on active duty. He lifts his hand away and looks at the other man. “Will this affect your working relationship?”

[nerves_of_ice]

“No.” He sinks every bit of certainty that he feels into his words. “Just because we’re involved doesn’t make us any less capable. It doesn’t change professional behavior or respect. Not in the slightest.”

[marvel_npc]

He hopes that’s the case, but he didn’t get where he is by hoping. “Make sure it doesn’t,” he says, tight, and takes a deep breath.

“As liaison, you’ll report directly to me and to Captain Rogers and Mr. Stark.” He drums his fingers on the desk, considering the man.

“While you’re here, Sergeant: have you at any recent point picked up any intel on black market vibranium?”

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky frowns a little, thinking. “Rumors here and there. Nothing substantive. The kind of thing that might be someone testing the waters or wishful thinking. At the time I was chasing a different lead, so I didn’t follow up.”

[marvel_npc]

“I’d like a report on anything you can recall, substantive or not,” Ross tells him. “On anything to do with black market vibranium or a man named Ulysses Klaue.”

He pauses to see if the name rings a bell. “I understand the Avengers had a run-in with him not that long ago.”

[nerves_of_ice]

“Sokovia,” he murmurs. Vision’s synthetic body is due to the vibranium Ultron had sought, he knows. “I’ll summarize the intel.”

[marvel_npc]

“I’ll look forward to seeing it.”

There’s a bottle of aspirin in his drawer. He resists drawing it out, for now. “Anything else?”

[nerves_of_ice]

“Not right now.” Bucky eyes him. “This should be interesting.” A beat of silence falls. “But for what it’s worth, I’m not here to cause trouble.”

[marvel_npc]

“And I’m not planning to give you any,” Ross tells him, a little sharply. “So hopefully we’ll figure out how to navigate this new relationship with as few rough spots as possible.”

He sighs and sits back in his chair. “Don’t get me wrong, Sergeant. In the long run, I think this will be beneficial for both our teams, and I don’t mind giving old Thunderbolt a black eye. The man’s far too comfortable with requisitioning anything or anyone he thinks will give him an edge.”

He purses his lips, shakes his head. “I understand the circumstances aren’t ideal, but I hope you’ll find that you can do good work with the team here, along with the Avengers.”

[nerves_of_ice]

“They could be worse,” he says, dry as dust. “Believe me, I know.”

Bucky studies him carefully for a moment or two. “Agent Carter speaks highly of you,” he says. “Nilsson and Riley clearly respect you. And you’ve sure given me a hell of a chance. So I’ll do my best. For Steve and our team, and for you and yours.”

[marvel_npc]

"You do your best, and I'll do mine," Ross tells him, a little gratified to hear that Carter speaks so well of him.

Probably he should remind Barnes not to let any of this intel slip to Carter, if they're indeed pursuing a personal relationship, but... sometimes being an effective supervisor means knowing when to look the other way. "And we'll see how this goes."

He leans back, already imagining with grim satisfaction how he'll tell Marta to hold all his calls for the next hour or so. "If there's nothing else, you're free to go, Sergeant. I'll look forward to seeing that report."

[nerves_of_ice]

He nods to Ross and stands. Governments the world over run on paperwork, he guesses. Hopefully he won’t break any keyboards with his left hand.

“Let me know how often you want me to check in,” he says. “I’ll send something over in a little while.”

[marvel_npc]

Ross nods back. "We'll play it by ear for the moment," he says, dry. "Agent Riley should be able to answer any questions you might have about resources or protocols, but my door is open if there's anything you need to run by me."

Or, it will be. Just not in the next hour or so. "Thank you, Sergeant."

[nerves_of_ice]

"Deputy Commander," he says politely, and walks out of the office, pulling the door shut behind him.

That could have gone worse, he feels.