[Ohio AU] the heart of winter

[nerves_of_ice]

Coulson had been called away on something for Fury before they'd gotten more than halfway to wherever his locker is and the set of trading cards stored within it. Without anything else to do, Bucky makes his way back to the quarters he's been given. It's either that or explore the rest of the helicarrier on his own, and that seems like something that can wait safely enough.

He swings by the mess on the way back. As he'd suspected, it's not placed too far distant from what serves as a commissary on this boat. He requisitions a couple of notebooks, a couple of pencils and pens and takes it all with him.

Might as well start with a report on the other Soldiers, he decides. That's likely to be more important in the immediate future than anything else.

Comments

[nerves_of_ice]

Relief surges like a wave.

"Thanks."

[from_the_outside]

She waits until they're in the lift before she looks over at him, the amusement gone. "I won't endanger the mission," she promises.

"And I'm not in any rush to get more injured and actually get benched."

[nerves_of_ice]

He looks right back at her, his gaze level and steady. "I never thought you would. But I'm already learning that you'll throw yourself into the line of fire if that's what it takes."

[from_the_outside]

From the look on her face, that seems like an obvious conclusion to draw. "Well, yeah. I wouldn't be very good at what I do if I weren't willing to put myself on the line for it."

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky just nods. She's not wrong. His own freedom is the evidence of just how good she is.

"Just let me be the one to catch the bullets and other things instead of you."

[from_the_outside]

There's a bright, laughing gleam in her eyes as the lift comes to a halt. "You could always just catch me instead."

He's right, obviously, but that doesn't mean she has any intention of slowing down.

[nerves_of_ice]

Without missing a beat:

"That too."

[from_the_outside]

She grins at him, bright and cheery, and leads the way back out of the lift and toward their quarters once more. "In the meantime, maybe you better make sure I actually get some rest before tomorrow's call time."

[nerves_of_ice]

He shadows her along the hall. She’s trying to get his goat, he figures, but that’s okay.

“Want me to drug you?”

His tone is perfectly bland.

[from_the_outside]

She glances over at him, eyes laughing.

"Do you have drugs?"

[nerves_of_ice]

“Not on me, but I can backtrack to find that doc.”

The corner of his mouth tugs slightly upward.

[from_the_outside]

"Better not," she advises, wisely. "Who knows what might happen in the ten minutes you're gone?"

Although that reminds her that he hasn't taken the time yet to go and talk to Nat, and if the mission is tomorrow, he's losing the chance. She sobers and looks over at him as they come to the door of their respective rooms. "But I know you were going to go check in with Agent Romanoff. Now might be a good time for that."

[nerves_of_ice]

He watches the change in her expression but doesn’t say anything about it. What is there to say that they haven’t already?

“Where do I find her?”

[from_the_outside]

Sharon tips her head at the door to her room. "Come in for a second and I'll look her up for you."

[nerves_of_ice]

Bucky nods and follows her inside, then moves out of the way to wait with every sign of patience.

[from_the_outside]

She goes to her bag and pulls out her tablet, then taps through a few screens, navigating the ship logs and notifications before setting the thing down. "Looks like she's one deck lower, port side," she tells him, and pauses a moment before continuing.

"Will you come back here after?"

[nerves_of_ice]

“Unless you don’t want me to.” Soft but clear.

[from_the_outside]

She comes closer, close enough to set her hands lightly on his sides as she looks up into his face. "I do want you to," she murmurs. "Come back."

[nerves_of_ice]

With gentle care, he wraps his arms around her and draws her in. Bucky breathes in the scent of her hair and feels the warmth of her in his arms, and just lets himself hold her.

“I’ll come back.”

[from_the_outside]

She lets herself melt against him, her own arms coming up to go around his waist. She's too sore to hold him tight, but the warmth of his body feels good against her aching muscles. "Good," she murmurs. "I'll take some of these pills while you're gone and get cleaned up."

[nerves_of_ice]

“Okay.” Bucky looks down at her and leans in to press a gentle kiss to her mouth.

“Rest,” he murmurs. “Stay safe. I’ll see you in a while.”

[from_the_outside]

She kisses him back and nods. "I'll be right here," she promises. Safe, probably. But who knows who might have managed to sneak aboard in the chaos? Has Nick really vetted everyone?

Sharon gives him a small smile and lets go. "See you soon."

[nerves_of_ice]

Soon is relative, it turns out. He and Natasha have a lot to talk about, given everything, but he feels okay about where they leave things.

Still, he makes it back to Sharon as he'd said he would, with plenty of time for the two of them to spend together before dawn lights the sky, bringing the onset of the mission with it.

Bucky stays quiet during most of the briefing, sliding into mission mode without even needing to think about it. He watches the others, thinking about what he'd already known or observed and comparing that to what he'd learned from Sharon and from Natasha as well.

Barton's skilled, apparently. He's curious to see him work, when the time comes.

Eventually all the prep work is done and they're on their way to Siberia, going in along the course he'd plotted for them, as close to under the radar as it gets.

[from_the_outside]

One nice thing about taking the Quinjet is that it's stocked to hell and back with everything they might need, up to and including the good painkillers. An hour or so before landing, Sharon heads to the little medical bay and searches out a syringe of something stronger than the pills the doctor had given her, injecting it into the muscle of her thigh. Looking up, she catches Natasha rummaging through a locker nearby, one slim eyebrow arched up toward her hairline.

"Don't give me that look," Sharon tells her, amused. "Like you haven't done the same damn thing."

"What look?" Nat counters, and sidles off as Sharon rearranges her clothing. Annoyingly, since she's appearing as Irma, she's not able to gear up quite as much as the others, either with body armor or weapons. But she'll find a way to make do.

[nerves_of_ice]

He's not sure if Tony Stark's even capable of being still for more than a minute or so at a time. The other man sure hasn't shown any signs of it, pacing back and forth across the aircraft, throwing himself into a seat and getting right back up again. Bucky checks the knives he'd borrowed from the weapons stash, watching as Stark drums his fingers against a nearby bulkhead.

"You're sure you don't want me to come in with the first group? You might need more oomph than you've got," Stark presses. Coulson, who's trying to pretend he's napping in his chair, lets out a small sigh. "Mr. Stark. We've been over this."

"If anything goes wrong, we'll need you then more than anything else," Bucky cuts in. Stark looks at him. "Yeah, but are you sure you'll be able to signal?"

"If it comes to that, you won't be able to miss it."