Alpha and Omega

Chapter 8

When he had finally made himself cum in the shower, he cleaned himself off quickly, as well as any evidence from the shower wall, before he dried off and ran to the cafeteria. He almost knocked Steve over in his rush to get back to the little werewolf. Steve looked at Bucky's harried expression and the rush he was making, as well as the fact that the werewolf wasn't with him when Bucky was supposed to be watching her. "Hey Buck, what's wrong with you? Where's the newbie?" he asked, concern in his voice. The newbies weren't supposed to be alone on their first day after rescue.

"I sent her to the cafeteria to eat. I had to change my shirt. The other one was ripped on the left shoulder. It ripped worse while I was with her. So I'm up here to get a better one. By the way, buy them in a size or two bigger, please," Bucky scrambled to come up with a valid excuse. He rambled as he tried to throw the blame onto Steve. He prayed it would work. He really didn't want to admit to Steve that he'd become so aroused by the newbie that he had to take care of the situation before he could be in the same room with her any longer.

That was not a conversation he wanted to have with anyone, especially Steve.

Steve laughed, accepting the lie without question and walked with Bucky to the cafeteria. "I'll try to remember that," he agreed warmly, though they both knew it wasn't going to happen. They found Gwen sitting at the big table with the rest of the team. There were still two open seats and everyone was introducing themselves to the new girl and trying to get to know her.

Bucky was glad she seemed to fit in. He wished desperately that she wasn't there only temporarily. The rescues generally didn't stay for longer than a few days while they figured out the best place for them. Bucky took the open seat next to her. "Getting acquainted with everyone?" he asked her warmly.

Gwen looked over at him when he came in and when he sat down, gave him a smile to light up the room. Or his heart. He couldn't quite tell which.

She nodded in answer to his question. "I'm getting to know everyone. You have interesting friends," she informed Bucky, sounding interested in getting to know them better. Which made Bucky jealous for some strange reason. "Natasha was going through different options for after I clear the medical exams," she explained. She made a face, though, adorably letting him know exactly what she thought of medical exams.

"Options? For what?" he asked her, though he understood her sentiment about the exams, especially coming out of Hydra. He doubted she had pleasant associates with anything related to Hydra and medical exams could be intimidating even without association with Hydra.

"What to do with my life," she explained. Bucky's heart skipped. He didn't want her thinking of what to do with her life. She would choose to leave. "Apparently most of the rescues go to Shield," she didn't sound like she was interested in that. "or back to the normal world," those words also held no interest to her. That made sense, she couldn't exactly hide among the humans with wolf-ears and a tail. "But she said if I get along with everyone, I could stay here with you guys," she added and he could hear the hopeful note in her voice.

"Why would you want to stay here?" he asked, curious. She clearly wasn't a fighter type. "Shield isn't too bad," she could get a job there that would fit her skills. "I get why you can't return to the human world, but I don't know why you would want to stay here," he wanted nothing more than for her to stay, but he knew it was an unlikely scenario. Joining the Avengers wasn't a light decision and was a heavy responsibility. It wasn't for everyone. Only the best of the best. And those with superpowers.

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Did he not want her here? "I don't want to go to another big government organization," she said softly. The whole table could understand that. "I can't go back to the human world looking like this," she gestured to her wolf ears. "I want to have a home again," she added softly. She felt she might be able to have that with the misfits that made up the Avengers.

"Would you want to possibly put your life on the line, almost every mission?" He was thinking about her safety. He didn't want her on missions. He wanted her safe and out of danger.

"I'm really hard to kill and a fully trained doctor. Well, fully trained but unlicensed. Hydra thought that since I was useless as a fighter that I be trained as a full doctor. Which is more than anyone here except Doctor Banner can say," she replied. She wasn't the most skilled fighter, it wasn't in her nature. She would fight to defend what she cared for, of course, but a doctor with this group was invaluable.

Clint couldn't stop getting shot on missions.

Bucky's eyes widened in shock, then anger and temper took over. "So you knew that you had the possibility of having a concussion, but didn't understand why I was keeping an eye on you?!" He demanded. He felt like he had been made fun of. Like a hidden joke. She'd been playing him this whole time?

"I knew I didn't have a concussion," she corrected, taking his anger and temper in stride. She was used to angry men around her. She was also used to soothing their tempers. She shrugged in answer to his demand. "I figured you were ordered to keep an eye on me to make sure I wasn't a danger to everyone else, so I let you stick with the concussion story,"

"That's what the medical bay said. So, I was doing as they prescribed. I've lost my appetite. Good night." He stood in one angry movement and stormed out, feeling terribly made fun of and taken advantage of.