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"Bucky!" yelled Steve over JARVIS's intercom system. Another explosion was heard from outside the building.
"What?" Bucky replied calmly. He, Natasha, and Bruce were sitting in the common area watching a movie, not bothered by the chaos outside. Bucky didn't bother raising his voice to respond, knowing from experience that JARVIS could pick up and broadcast even the quietest whispers.
"Where is my shield?" Steve shouted, his voice accompioned by a series of loud crashes. Over JARVIS's system, Bucky heard Steve swear violently and pictured him frantically searching every room in their apartment a few floors up.
"What?" Bucky repeated, an idea beginning to form in his head.
"Where - is - my - shield?"
"I, uh, put it away," Bucky responded, focusing on the huge, StarkTech television in front of him.
"Where?!" Steve cried. More crashes. More swearing. More explosions. Bucky could practically see him wrenching open closet doors and slamming drawers shut, frantically trying to find his shield so he could join the fight outside.
Bucky sighed. "Why do you need to know?" he asked, smirking. Natasha and Bruce glanced over at him, but Bucky elected to ignore their silent question.
"I need it!" came Steve's response. Honestly, the man had set himself up for this one, from asking Bucky to hold on to his shield after their last mission while he visited the hospital wing (he had been severly injured, and Bucky gladly obliged him) to forcing him to sit through a Disney movie marathon (he hadn't actually forced him – Steve would never do anything to take away Bucky's free will, not after he had been deprived of it for so many years – but he had made it clear that he would be extremely disappointed if he didn't. Bucky hadn't minded. Most of the films were pretty cute, actually).
Struggling to remember the exact wording, Bucky quoted, "Uh-uh! Don't you think about running off doing no daring-do! We've been planning this evening for two weeks!"
Natasha grinned at him, and leaned over. "It's 'dinner,' and 'two months,'" she corrected. "'We've been planning this dinner for two months.'" Bucky shot her a look and pressed a finger to his lips.
There was silence over the intercom for a moment as Steve realized what Bucky had been quoting.
"The public is in danger!" he responded, evidently deciding to play along. Bucky grinned.
"My evening's in danger!" he retorted.
"You tell me where my shield is, Bucky Barnes! We are talking about the greater good!"
"'Greater good?' I am your boyfriend! I am the greatest ‘good’ you are ever gonna get!"
Bruce chuckled as they finished quoting the scene. "Whose idea was it to let you two watch the Incredibles?" he asked.
Bucky grinned. "I think it was Steve's, but I'm sure he was influenced by someone. Whoever it was, they have my eternal gratitude."
Just as he was speaking, the elevator doors opened and Steve walked out. Bucky twisted in his seat to look at him. His face seemed caught between annoyance and amusement, which actually made for quite a laughable expression. He shook his head in a long-suffering manner as he strode over to Bucky.
"Where is my shield, Bucky?" he asked, exasperation tinged with amusement in his voice.
Bucky looked up at him innocently. "You left it with me after the mission last week, and I put it away," he replied.
"Where?" Steve pressed.
Bucky smirked. "Why do you need to know?"
Steve sighed. "We're not quoting the entire scene all over again, Bucky! Please just tell me where it is," he asked.
"Nope," came the reply as Bucky turned his head back to the screen in front of him. Honestly, he hadn't been paying that much attention to the plot of the movie to begin with, and once he started teasing Steve, he had lost all inkling of anything that happened on-screen. All he could tell now was that there was an attractive woman kissing an equally attractive man in the pouring rain.
"Bucky, come on!" Steve exclaimed. "I've looked everywhere! I don't know what you want me to do - here, have a pat on the back, good job, you're great at hiding things, now tell me where my shield is so I can go help Tony with - whatever the hell's going on out there."
Bucky looked back at Steve. "What do I want you to do? What I want you to do is to stay out of trouble for once in your life, Steve! Tony's got it; he just sent out a message from the suit saying so. Or don't you trust his judgement?" Bucky asked, only half-teasing.
"No, I don't! He went out there alone - no backup, didn't even tell anyone he was leaving - the next thing you know, the entire building's shaking, there's explosions every five minutes, and I can't even see him or whatever it is he's fighting through all the smog he’s managed to create. So no, Bucky, I don't trust his judgement in this situation, nor do I think he's 'got it.'"
Bucky glanced at Steve, who frowned back at him. "'No backup,' 'didn't tell anyone he was leaving'... Now why does that sound so familiar to me, I wonder," he deadpanned. "I'll give you three guesses as to who I'm thinking of."
Bruce, sensing an old argument arising, quietly collected his very important science papers and got up to walk over to the kitchen. Natasha watched him for a moment, then followed, leaving Bucky and Steve glaring at each other.
“Steve, you don’t have to participate in every single fight that roles around! Tony has it under control. It’s just some half-assed wannabe magician, anyway; and Clint and Sam just left to help him. You know they’re more than capable. Now why don’t you sit your ass down next to mine, and help me figure out what the hell’s going on in this movie.”
“I don’t care about what’s going on in the movie, I care about making sure the team doesn’t get hurt! If there’s more backup, there’s less of a chance someone will get injured.”
“Injured like you were last week?” Bucky snapped. “I care about making sure you don’t get hurt, Steve!”
“I know you do, but – “
“No ‘buts’! I’m not letting you go out there, especially when you’re not even fully recovered!”
“I’m fine, Bucky!”
“You were unconscious for two and a half hours when we brought you in, you haven’t gone running in a week, and you still have a scar. Nice try.”
“Bucky –“
“No.”
“But –“
“No, Steve.”
Steve hardened his jaw and glared at Bucky, who simply raised an eyebrow at him.
“You really think staring me down is going to work?” Bucky asked. Steve was silent. Bucky sighed. “Alright, I’ll compromise. You stay here unless they call for more backup. If that happens, you can be the first to go. Okay?”
Steve kept glaring at him for a moment before finally letting out a defeated sigh. “Fine. I’m not happy about it, though.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry your feelings are hurt,” Bucky deadpanned. “Better those than any more bones.” Steve huffed and perched on the arm of the couch.
“I just worry about you, Steve,” Bucky said in a slightly softer tone. Steve glanced over at him.
“I know you do. And I know it’s not fair of me to make you worry, but I have to make sure everyone else is okay,” he replied.
“And when do you take the time to make sure you’re okay?” Bucky asked.
“Buck –“
“No, don’t answer that. You know, one of the first memories I got back was of me patching you up after a fight. You had two black eyes, a broken nose, and the whole right side of your face was swollen and bleeding. And I’ll never get tired of looking after you, you know that, but I wish you didn’t always have to come home covered in blood,” Bucky said, looking at Steve. “It’s okay to sit one out every now and then.”
Steve’s face had softened while Bucky was speaking, and now he reached down and took his hand. “I’m sorry, Buck. I just –“
“I know. You don’t have to apologize. You’re a stubborn ass, but I’m not going to make you apologize for it.”
Steve huffed out a laugh. “Thanks. Real kind of you, Bucky.”
“Don’t mention it,” Bucky smirked. “I’d take a kiss instead, though.”
“Why am I not surprised,” Steve laughed. He bent down and pecked Bucky on the cheek.
“You know, that’s not exactly what I had in mind,” Bucky stated.
Steve shrugged. “You asked for a kiss, I gave you a kiss.”
“Get down here,” Bucky laughed as he tugged on Steve’s hand, causing him to fall sideways into his lap, legs still dangling over the arm of the couch.
“Bucky!” Steve exclaimed, albeit with a grin. Bucky just smirked again.
“You gonna kiss me for real this time, Rogers?” he asked.
Steve’s grin turned devilish, and he surged upwards, capturing Bucky’s mouth with his own. Bucky’s hands found Steve’s waist as he returned the kiss with fervor. He rolled them over so they were stretched out on the couch, with Bucky on top.
“Bucky, what – mmh – what about Nat and Bruce?”
“What about Nat and Bruce?”
“I think they’re still in the kitchen.”
“So they can stay in the kitchen. Or go somewhere else, I don’t care. I’m certainly not moving.”
In the kitchen, Natasha and Bruce sat at the table with mugs of steaming tea.
“You think they’re done yet?” Bruce asked. Natasha peered into the other room.
“Depends on what you mean,” she replied. “I’m pretty sure they’re done fighting, but I’m also pretty sure they’re going to have an apologetic make-out session on the couch, so we should probably let them be for a little bit longer.”
Bruce glanced down into his mug. “Never a dull moment around here, is there?” he asked. Natasha raised her own mug to her lips and hummed in agreement.