Here With You - Bucky Barnes

Here With You

She'd been paying plenty of attention to Bucky, as always. He had been shifting and rolling his left shoulder more than usual and she suspected the pain was getting worse. He was so private about anything relating to the arm, or hydra, even his hair was a sore spot at times. He'd grown to trust her more, slowly, painfully slowly, but it was progress. She knew she'd say something eventually, she just hoped she wouldn't push him away.

"Hey James," she started quietly once they were alone in his room.

"Oh great," he groaned.

"What?," she laughed at his tone.

"You. You only call me 'James' when you're worried about me."

"Well by that logic, I'm worried about you most of the time - actually yeah, that checked out," she chuckled lightly. "Does it bother you?"

"Nah, not really. I don't know. Just spill it. What's on your mind?"

She laughed at him again. He was very fed up with everything lately. But you know, lovingly.

"I'm worried about the phantom pains," she said cautiously. He stiffened a bit but didn't brush her off so she went on. "I know you don't like to talk about it, I'm sorry. I just hate seeing you in pain. And I know you don't take care of your shoulder like you should." She wasn't chiding him in any way, just stating the truth. He hated to be reminded that the arm was metal, so he rarely removed it to tend to his shoulder.

"I want to help you with it, if you'll let me." She kept her tone neutral, not pushing him.

He sat in silence as the minutes stretched on awkwardly. She was used to his silence and let it rest, looking around the room so as not to stare at him.

Bucky knew she was right. It hurt like the dickens and he hadn't properly cared for his remaining shoulder in far too long and things were happening. It embarrassed him immensely but he knew he wouldn't do it on his own.

After a very long four minutes, he sighed and she turned her attention back to him.

"Okay," he said simply and kept his voice as void of emotion as possible. She smiled gently and nodded, standing and going to where they kept the things they needed. It was hardly the first time she'd helped him. She would hold off bringing it up as long as possible, giving him every opportunity to deal with it himself. It was an effort to dignify him, but she realized she'd left it too long in between. He never seemed to be able to do it on his own.

Her own leg clicked quietly at the joints as she walked, it was hardly noticeable to anyone else. About five inches below the knee her left leg was amputated. After a mission had gone wrong, she had been forced to lose the limb and now she had her own prosthetic to care for. It was a nuisance, but she was thankful that the experience let her help Bucky when he needed her.

She reentered the room to find him sitting on the floor and fiddling with his metal fingers, his face clouded.

"Hey Buck," she said softly, dropping down beside him and crossing her legs beneath herself. He gave her an amused smile and they sat there for a moment as she tried to give him some time. As she waited, she pulled her own prosthetic leg off and put it aside. She rubbed the nub and swung it slightly with a lopsided grin on her face and Bucky chuckled. She recrossed her legs, much more comfortable now that there wasn't metal jamming into her butt, and she waited for him.

When he didn't say anything after two minutes had passed she put a gentle hand on his back.

"Can we get this over with?," she asked softly. He hummed distractedly in response and she gave the shoulder a slight squeeze.