Do You Trust Me? // Bucky Barnes

40

Ava

"Oh good." A familiar voice sounded by the door, full of sarcasm and judgement and maybe even a little bit of relief, as Ava jumped where she sat - wrapped around Bucky on the couch. "I was worried I'd get home and you two wouldn't be all over each other. So glad I was wrong."

Sam stood with his arms folded as he leant against the doorframe, and as Bucky groaned and Ava scrambled to her feet, he smirked and nodded to himself.

"I go back for a few days, run a few errands and gather some intel, and you guys do what? Play house? Typical."

As he rolled his eyes, unfolding himself from the doorway and stepping into the small living room, Ava dove towards him. Sam grunted on impact, his arms flailing and his feet stumbling slightly, but she wrapped around him tightly anyway. Her arms were tight around his neck and her face buried into the crook right between his neck and his shoulder, and when his hands fell to her back - one resting between her shoulder blades and the other wrapping around her and holding her tight - she mumbled into him.

"Sorry." She knew she should probably pull away soon, but she couldn't bring herself to let go of him. "It's just, once you left Steve's place, we didn't hear from you and I - we were - I'm just glad you're back Eagle."

Sam's chuckle was low in his chest, grumbly and warm, and he patted her back as he held her.

"Thanks, Hall. Promise I'm good. And I didn't mean to worry you guys."

She heard it as Bucky got up from the couch and as he stepped up behind them, and she slowly let go of the man standing in front of her, blushing a little as he passed her back to her super soldier.

"All go okay?" Bucky spoke as he tucked his arm around Ava's waist and pulled her against his chest. "No issues?"

"None at all." Sam ducked down to his side, grabbing the small bag by his feet. "But no success either. Outside of what we already had on her, there's not much out there on Sharon Carter. Steve passed over everything he has on Peggy, but it's not much and none of it leads anywhere we need."

Rocks sank in Ava's stomach at the reminder. Sharon Carter was the last of the Carter line. She was Steve's only link to Peggy. And Ava had killed her.

"Stop that." Sam pointed at her as he handed over the bag to Bucky. "He doesn't blame you at all. In fact, he's pretty angry at himself for letting you walk into that trap. Thinks he should have been there to do it himself."

She nodded silently, but the guilt still gnawed at her; still left her feeling hollow and broken.

"Sharon was nothing like Peggy," Bucky murmured as he held her close. "Steve knew that too."

With a small sigh and a heavy heart, she extracted herself from Bucky's arms, shrugging out of his hold despite the way she felt him reaching closer for her, and stepped towards the now empty doorway.

"I'm fine, James. I promise. I just want to sleep or something, okay? Today has been... It's been a lot and I just want - no - I need to process it all, okay?"

When she looked at him, he was watching her with a furrowed brow and worry in his eyes. But he nodded anyway, and held the bag towards her.

"Sam asked Jamie to pack some things for you. She's usually pretty good at this. Never packed for another girl though so..." He shrugged a little when she stepped back towards him and took the bag. Before she walked away, she pressed onto her tiptoes, her hand resting on his chest to anchor her, and he leant in towards her - closing the distance between their lips and kissing her sweetly.