Always There (Stucky One Shots and Short Stories)

Comic Book -- Post Serum

Steve was glad to have Bucky back, of course he was. There were times, however when he wished Bucky didn't know him so well. This was one of them.

"What is this?" Bucky's eyes were bright and full of a giddy sort of pride as he held up the object that he had found.

Steve felt a blush rise to his face as he saw what Bucky had. It was a Captain America comic book. "Where did you find that?" He asked carefully. If it was someone else's, this would be fine.

"Under your pillow." The brunette laughed, waving it in front of his friend's face. "You are so vain, you know that?"

Well, there was no way Steve was getting out of this with his dignity intact, and he knew it. So did Bucky.

"Give it back, Buck." He said, resignedly, holding out his hand.

"Why do you want it back so badly?" Bucky was regarding him with something akin to suspicion now. "You don't jack off to this, do you?" He was making a face now, looking from Steve to the comic book and back again. "Because that would be the highest point of vanity." He had his eyebrows arched now and was looking at Steve with an expression of pure sass.

"I don't-" No, he knew that the more he denied that, the more suspicious Bucky would be. "It doesn't matter." But this answer was just as bad, and Steve didn't hear it until it was out of his mouth and Bucky's eyebrows went farther up his forehead.

"Oh, doesn't it?" Bucky opened the comic book and flipped to a certain page that depicted Captain America punching Hitler in the face. "It's this part, isn't it?" His face gained something of a devious look and he grinned slyly, cocking one eyebrow. "Does this do it for ya, Steve?"

Steve was blushing in earnest now. "Come on Buck. Give it back."

Bucky weighed his options for a few moments before reluctantly handing over the comic book. "This isn't over, Steve." He promised, pointing a warning finger and moving to leave the room.

---

"We'll go in the front, through the forest." Steve was pointing on a map at a war meeting with his Howling Commandos. They were going after the next HYDRA base. "Bucky, I want you to cover my back."

"Really?" Bucky was leaning back in his seat with his arms crossed and an "I don't think so" look on his face. "I think I'd be more useful as a sniper here." His eyes held a silent challenge which Steve accepted, if only briefly.

"I want you to cover my back." He leaned forward in his seat, his eyes and voice both collaborating to produce a "no bullshit" feel.

Bucky leaned forward in turn, cocking his head just slightly to the side. The rest of the Commandos ooooh'd, sensing the tension. "I can cover your back just fine from a high, sheltered place with a sniper rifle."

When had Bucky gotten so argumentative? Steve frowned and was about to open his mouth to reply, when Bucky continued.

"You know, after our little talk a few nights ago, I thought you'd be more agreeable." His eyes held a glint of mischief now, and Steve knew exactly where this was going. "You know, after I-"

"Okay Bucky, do whatever you want." Steve replied quickly, just barely keeping himself from burying his face in his hand with embarrassment.

He didn't see it, but he knew Bucky was leaning back in his seat with a look of smug satisfaction on his face.

As it turned out, having Bucky up there as a sniper saved Steve's life.

---

A week after the sniper incident, Steve was flipping through his Captain America comic - he hadn't actually read it, only bought it for his vanity - and realized that this comic book was wildly inaccurate. And it had just gotten very good. Bucky in the comic books was portrayed as a fifteen-year old boy and a highly trained assassin. The real Bucky was obviously neither of these things, and Steve knew that Bucky hadn't read this comic either. Otherwise maybe he wouldn't have been so quick to rub it in Steve's face.

The blond gained a sly grin of his own and he closed the comic. There was a way he could make Bucky stop playing the comic as the Ace up his sleeve.

He slipped the comic under Bucky's pillow before his friend made it to bed that night, knowing the way Bucky slept, and knowing that he'd have his hand under his pillow. He'd read the comic. And in the morning, Steve wouldn't have to deal with it anymore.

That's what Steve thought, anyway. But when he saw Bucky in the morning, it was when the brunette forcefully pulled him away from the rest of the soldiers and into an empty corner.

"What the hell is this?" Bucky looked angry, and he waved the comic in Steve's face.

Steve held up both his hands in surrender. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't be stupid, I know you put it under my pillow." The brunette opened the comic and flipped to a certain page, shoving it in Steve's face. It was Bucky as shown in print. "What I mean is, what the hell is this?"

Now Steve understood. Bucky assumed vanity on Steve's part because that's what Bucky would do. The blond arched his eyebrows and shook his head. "I didn't draw it." He said, trying to keep from laughing.

Bucky removed the comic from Steve's face and closed it before shoving it in the blond's hands. "Yeah, well, whoever did should be punished. I am obviously the better looking one here." With that, Bucky stormed off, and the first issue of Captain America comics was never mentioned between them again.