𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠 ➳ 𝐁𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐬

7├𝚆𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚝𝚑 𝚘𝚏 𝚈𝚘𝚞

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❞𝐈 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫 on everythin' pretty if ya don't clamp it, Stark, I'll make sure ya don't ever say a word again!"

Cadence stirred. Her head was thumping, and her body incredibly sore – especially her head, it came back to her with every pulse how much it hurt. The yelling had to stop or she was sure her head would burst. She opened her eyes to see the three fellow Avengers standing around her. She carefully sat up, clutching her head and swinging her legs over the edge.

"Guys!" Steve spoke up.

Bucky rushed to her side and helped her sit, watching her carefully. His eyes said more than enough. Her and her damn plans. Her arms definitely hurt too. A lot. The lights were too bright, and she shielded her eyes.

"Mind turning off the sun?" She asked while feeling the coolness of Bucky's hand on her back. "Jesus, can you lay off with the metal? It's cold."

"Uh, that's my normal hand, Cadence," he mumbled gruffly.

She opened her eyes as the lights shut off, and sure enough, the hand on her back had been one made of flesh. Her eyebrows shot up on her forehead. She grabbed his hand and put it against her forehead, then rested her cheek against his palm.

"Are you cold?" She asked hurriedly.

Bucky frowned. "No?"

She reached out for his scruffy cheeks. He completely froze as she gently caressed his face. Bucky was always warm. Always. A side-effect of the serum. Cadence had never been warmer than either him or Steve. Not even when she was running the highest fever of her life could she combat Steve's warmth. Even his neck seemed cold compared to her skin.

"Okay, calm down, Songbird. You're gonna make the poor guy explode," Tony chuckled and gently pulled her back by her shoulders. Bucky remained frozen in his spot, eyes wide.

"What's going on? What happened?" She asked, glancing between Steve and Tony.

"We were wondering the same thing. I took care of Little Red and turned to catch you, but you were already safely on the ground by then. Unconscious but fine," Tony said as he looked over her vitals from the machines she was hooked up to. They were in the small medical room in the back of the cargo hold in the jet.

"I don't know. I was falling and spinning and got knocked out," she said with a shrug and looked back at Bucky. He had begun blushing and swallowed thickly when her eyes returned to him. "Who were those people? You knew of them, right?"

"Uh...They- I've..." Bucky mumbled, gulping again as he stared at her, sentence fully faltering.

"Oh good, he's broken now," Tony huffed and rolled his eyes. "They were Hydra agents. Newer ones but they were small-time criminals before that. I'm not sure about the spiky dude they were carrying but Stutter-Bot told us about their conversation so we're running a check on him."

"Man, why is it always Hydra? I hate them," she scoffed and shook her head. "What about The Hood – Little Red Riding Hood?"

"Some of the New York-based people have run into him before – including the kid," Tony replied while swiping to another screen. "Your body's slowly cooling back down after whatever happened.

"Hopefully, I don't need to tell you how irresponsible it was going out on a mission without alerting anyone else, do I?" Steve spoke up. He had put on his Captain's voice and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Well, I told FRIDAY to wake you up, didn't I?" She grinned.

"That's not good enough, Cade!" Steve insisted, scolding. "We're a team. Going out on your own like you used to with your dad ain't good enough."