stamina (bucky barnes)

3

"You needed me?" Bri said, poking her head through the door.

Steve barely looked at her, typing away on the computer and occasionally glancing at a big stack of files near his desk. "Yeah, take a seat."

Bri carefully sat down, crossing her arms and nonchalantly peeking at the files on his desk. She knew he wasn't going to apologize. She'd been around men long enough to know they considered their pride a valuable and wouldn't do anything to damage it. 

But, she never though she'd hear this come out of his mouth:

"Bri, I need your help."

Her eyes nearly shot out of her head. "Excuse me? Did I hear you correctly?" She gasped, trying not to laugh in his face.

Steve let out a loud breath through his nose and dropped the file he was reading. He turned it so Bri could see and she immediately tensed. 

"I need help finding my friend." Steve's voice was so stern that anyone could've missed the concern laced through it.

Bri's eyes widened, her hand clutching her stomach. She knew exactly who he was talking about and she felt like she could throw up at any moment. Her mind was going a mile a minute and she began to realize that Steve still hadn't read her background file. 

"Uh..um..I-" She stuttered, trying to find a way out of this. "You should talk to Tony. He can probably find him faster and-"

"Bri." Steve pleaded, his eyes completely genuine. "This has to stay between you and me. Bringing other people into this could tarnish the mission."

It was Bri's turn to sigh. She blinked furiously and tilted her head towards the ceiling. "I'll do it."

"Good, because you're my only option." Steve said, subtly dropping Sam Wilson's file under his desk. 

Suddenly, an alarm sounded throughout the building and FRIDAY started telling everyone to suit up. Bri looked around, convinced that leggings and a t-shirt were good enough for a battle. Steve pushed her out into the hallway and took off running towards his room. Casually, Bri walked to Stark's lab and caught a glimpse of him handing bags to Wanda and Pietro. 

"Hurry up and change. If you see Bri, tell her to get her ass over he-"

"Already here, grandpa." Bri smirked, leaning against the door frame as the twins turned to leave.

"See you in five." Pietro winked at her. He grabbed Wanda's hand and zoomed off to change. 

"I know you probably don't want this, but Bruce and I made it last night." Tony pulled out an almost black cat suit. He held it up to the light, showing Bri that it was actually navy with slight grey trimming. "Natasha has something like this, but I laced yours with vibranium because we can't lose you just yet, kid." He winked.

Bri rolled her eyes, patting him on the shoulder. "Thanks." She kissed his cheek and took the garment from him. "I'll put it to good use." 

"Now, go get changed and there will be a briefing on the quinjet." Tony hugged her. She was like a daughter to him and he could not wait to fight by her side.

Steve had somehow managed to slip his confidential files in Bri's duffel bag before they reached the plane. She caught him just as he zipped the bag up and turned around.

"Are you serious?" She huffed. "We match?!"The both looked down at their stealth suits, then back at each other with unamused faces. 

Taking a seat, and trying not to punch Tony for doing this, she did not hear anything while the team was being briefed. Her attention was focused on the papers that listed Steve's friend's whereabouts and past missions. She gulped as she flipped through the hefty pile of papers, wondering why Steve wanted to bring her into this.