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“I can’t imagine she’s going to try and take us out immediately,” Ava suggests hopefully. “She just told the world that we are the New Avengers. She has to at least give us some time to be the New Avengers before she tries to have us all murdered, right?”
Bucky’s head hurts just thinking about it. Trying to understand the motivations of someone like Val is out of his wheelhouse on a good day, and he just did a speed run of some of his most painful memories. Bucky is not in a problem-solving state of mind.
“She’s probably not going to try anything tonight, at least,” Bucky agrees. “But no one should be alone tonight. Everyone pick a buddy and stay together and I’m going to try and talk to Sam. See if he has any ideas.”
“Good idea,” John agrees. “You should definitely go talk to Sam and make sure to emphasize how much I had nothing to do with this. I saw him going toe-to-toe Ross. I don’t need that heat.”
“Who’s Sam?” Bob asks. “And who’s Ross?”
“President Ross?” Yelena prompts. “Thaddeus Ross?”
Bob wrinkles his nose. “He became president? Did he do a good job?”
“He turned into a Hulk and tried to murder Captain America,” Ava explains.
Bob blinks several times before responding, ”What?”
Yelena shrugs, “He turned into a fiery red Hulk and smashed Sam Wilson into the side of the White House.”
“He smashed the Falcon into the side of the White House?” Bob asks, looking horrified. “Is he still alive? Is that the Sam Bucky was talking about?”
“He’s still alive,” Yelena assures him. “Sam’s Captain America now.”
“Does he have some kind of super soldier serum?”
Yelena shakes her head no.
“But he fought a Hulk and got smashed into the White House and he’s still alive?”
“Yeah,” John says with a tight smile. “And that’s why I’m not looking to have any more beef with Sam Wilson.”
Bob tilts his head as he tries to process the whole series of unexpected bits of information before asking, “Does Sam still have wings?”
Alexei lets out a belly laugh. “Does he still have wings? Come here, little man. Let me show you some videos of this magnificent bird of prey. Some of them are set to music. Do you like the band Journey?”
As the sound of ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ fills the air, Bucky is grateful to have Bob and Alexei occupied. His brain is already spinning. He hadn’t considered the fact that Sam might be angry with them. He’d been assuming that Sam would see the footage and immediately know exactly what was happening.
But even if he does know exactly what’s happening, it still must be a kick in the teeth to see Bucky on a team of ‘New Avengers’ with John Walker. Val hasn’t been subtle in her efforts to undermine Sam, and now she has made it appear to the world that one of Sam’s closest friends and Natasha’s sister have chosen to team up against him.
“I need to talk to Sam,” Bucky explains, hearing and hating the note of panic in his voice.
“Yeah,” John agrees. “And when I say you should go kiss his ass, you know I mean it literally.”
John does a bit of miming to drive the point home.
“That’s disgusting,” Ava snaps.
“It’s not disgusting,” John argues. “It’s a loving act between consenting adults.”
Ava rolls her eyes, “I didn’t mean the act of… I meant you acting it out just now.”
Yelena turns to Bucky and asks, “Are you and Sam…?”
“No. We’re just friends.”
John laughs at that. “Sure. You and Sam are just good buddies and the government never gave me steroids to make me look like I was naturally super human and Yelena’s hair is naturally blond with dark roots.”
“Sam and I aren’t… We’re friends,” Bucky insists, feeling self-conscious and guilty, wondering what he has done to make John think that Sam would actually let Bucky…
Bucky tries very hard not to think about what John is suggesting. Those are the kinds of thoughts he needs to avoid before spending time with Sam.
“Really?” John asks, looking as baffled as Bob had looked moments earlier. “Never?”
Bucky shakes his head.
“I need to sit down,” John sighs. “This whole day has been a mindfuck.”
Sam doesn’t answer his phone, but it appears that his phone is currently located in Bucky’s guest room. Sam was in Brazil as of this morning, so he must have flown back because of the chaos. He finds Sam wearing nothing but a towel, slumped on the bed in an awkward position with his phone on the floor. Bucky’s first thought is that something terrible happened to him, and he grabs Sam’s shoulder to shake him instead of taking the normal precautions around waking up a combat veteran. He’s rewarded with a kick in the face, but Sam wakes up enough to pull the second kick aimed at Bucky's crotch.
Bucky blinks until his eyes stop watering while Sam hovers and apologizes.
“I came here to make sure you were all right,” Sam explains apologetically. “I guess I fell asleep while texting you. They stopped all air traffic into the states so I had to get here on my own. I was pretty worn out when I got here.”
“You can keep sleeping,” Bucky offers. “We can talk later.”
“Are you all right?” Sam asks. “Everything I’ve heard has been pretty awful.”
Bucky’s stomach twists, but he pushes all thoughts of the Void out of his head. He can have a mental breakdown later. “I’m fine.”
Sam pulls him in for a tight hug and Bucky tries not to think about the bare skin under his hands or about John-Fucking-Walker.
“I’m sorry,” he says as he holds Sam tight. “I should have said something during that press conference but I was kind of messed up and confused… Maybe we can make a joint statement tomorrow to make it clear this New Avengers shit is a bunch of nonsense.”
“Don’t you dare,” Sam argues. “I don’t want to see her Plan B. I know how to work these angles.”
Bucky squeezes Sam a little tighter. “I’m sorry.”
“None of this is your fault.”
“I’m sorry you have to deal with this. I’m sorry I didn’t know how to handle it before it became your problem.”
Sam shrugs, “I’ve had the lawsuit paperwork ready to go for a year now. I’m surprised it took this long for the government to try and create their own Avengers.”
Sam’s tone suggests he is calm to the point of indifference, but the fact that he is still letting Bucky hold him is proof that he’s upset. Bucky gives him another squeeze and Sam makes a contented noise. Bucky has many skills, but negotiating the complexities of public relations is not one of them and he is certainly out of his depth when it comes to the microaggressions and dog whistles that haunt Sam’s every move as Captain America. All he can do is try not to make things worse, because he has no idea how to make them better.
He tries not to remember the things he saw in the Void. The horrible things the Void version of the Winter Soldier did to Sam every time Bucky tried to interfere. He’d been able to power through the first few rooms by going into Winter Soldier mode. He’d stormed through painful memories, refusing to feel anything but the weight of his feet hitting the ground, but he’d paused for a moment when he saw the Winter Soldier ripping off Sam’s wing. It was enough for the Void to recognize a weakness and then it was nothing but memories of the ways he’d hurt Sam and ways he could hurt Sam.
Sam’s breath catches and Bucky realizes he’s pressed his lips to his partner’s shoulder. It’s something he’s done in the past, but only through layers of clothes. If Sam notices the weird little ways that Bucky expresses his affection, he never mentions it or draws attention to it. Bucky waits for any sign from Sam that he needs to back off, but Sam just turns his head and gives Bucky a quick kiss on the neck. Bucky pulls back a little so he can see Sam’s face. He can feel Sam’s heart racing against his chest, but his partner looks uncertain. He’s probably thinking of all the reasons it’s a bad idea to be half naked in Bucky’s arms, but he’s not pulling away. Bucky gives him a quick peck on the lips and whispers, “I’m sorry.” Sam shakes his head no but he’s not retreating. Bucky gives him another kiss and another apology.
“I’m not upset with you,” Sam says, but he’s not meeting Bucky’s eyes.
This time, Bucky gives him a real kiss that Sam returns with surprising enthusiasm. There’s always been a spark between the two of them, but Sam usually keeps Bucky at an arm’s length any time they wander into more intimate territory. He keeps waiting for Sam to push him away, but when he lifts Sam off the ground, his partner wraps his legs around Bucky’s waist with no sign of hesitation.
Sam laughs into Bucky’s mouth and calls him a show-off as he gets them horizontal on the guest bed without breaking their kiss. He kisses Sam all over. Sam moans when Bucky sucks on his nipples and when he kisses Sam’s inner thighs and he nearly kicks Bucky in the face again when Bucky kisses the apparently sensitive arch of his foot.
“Sorry, ticklish,” Sam explains with an apologetic cringe.
Bucky puts a finger over Sam’s lips, “I’m the one apologizing today.”
Sam gives him an indulgent smile. “You don’t need to apologize.”
“I really do,” Bucky argues. “For everything I’ve ever done to hurt you and all the dumb things I’m definitely going to do in the future…”
Sam laughs at that and puts his hand on the side of Bucky’s face, looking at him with so much fondness that Bucky has trouble maintaining eye contact. “Bucky Barnes, you are a goddamn lunatic.”
“I’m sorry for that, too,” Bucky says as he lifts Sam’s hips and shoves a pillow underneath him.
Sam looks worried and says, “I’m definitely on board, but it’s been a minute since I’ve done this…”
Bucky’s much more a man of action than a man of words, so he spreads Sam’s legs a little wider and flicks his tongue over Sam’s hole, smiling at Sam’s surprised gasp.
“I haven’t really… holy fuck,” Sam moans as Bucky applies more pressure. Bucky takes his time, testing different techniques to see what Sam likes. Based on the way Sam is gripping his hair and moaning, he seems to enjoy them all. He alternates running his flattened tongue in long, wet licks and curling his tongue to poke at the tight ring of muscle until Sam starts to relax and let him inside. He doesn’t have lubricant handy and he really, really needs to not cause Sam so much as a moment of discomfort, so he’s careful to keep his finger nice and wet as he slides a finger inside, causing Sam to suddenly clamp his thighs around Bucky’s head.
“Sorry about that,” Sam says, looking adorably contrite as he rearranges his legs.
“I thought we agreed this was my time to apologize,” Bucky teases, slowly sliding his finger in and out of Sam’s hole. “If you keep interrupting, I’m going to be apologizing all night.”
“Well that sounds like a challenge,” Sam retorts. “I’d like to apologize for… What the…”
Bucky easily flips Sam so that his partner is on his stomach with his hips propped up. He loses Sam’s hands in his hair in this position, but he has easier access and Sam doesn’t have to hold his legs up and can rub himself on the pillows (which he immediately begins to do). Bucky gives him a quick slap on the ass and tells him, “I’ve got a lot to apologize for, don’t try and speed things up or I’m going to have to apologize again,” he says before giving Sam another long, wet lick, “and again… and again…”
Sam whimpers into the mattress and grinds into the pillows as Bucky tongues him, mumbling a string of half articulated curse words as Bucky drives him over the edge. He keeps his tongue inside his partner as Sam’s noises get more desperate. Bucky fumbles to get his cock out of his pants without letting up on the way he’s tongue fucking Sam, stroking himself as Sam begins making a desperate little keening noise before finally coming, his muscles tightening around Bucky’s tongue. Bucky growls his own orgasm into Sam, finishing himself off on the bed spread. Bucky gives him a few more tender licks, but Sam keeps pulling away, overstimulated. Sam is a little shaky as Bucky holds him and there are tears on his cheeks.
“You good, Sam?” he asks, between pressing kisses to the top of Sam’s head.
“I am fucking wrecked,” Sam mumbles into Bucky’s chest. “You definitely owe me an apology for breaking my brain.”
“I’ll give you a few minutes to recover. Then I’ll start apologizing again.”
“Of all the 110-year-old men I could have chosen to fall in love with…”
Bucky is careful not to acknowledge the words, hoping Sam is too blissed out to realize what he’s said, but he feels Sam start to tense up.
“None of those other geriatric fools could love you the way I do,” Bucky promises, happy to feel Sam once again melt into his arms.
Bucky holds Sam and admires his lovely face and the feel of his powerful body and doesn’t let himself think about Val or the ‘New Avengers’ or whatever the fuck is going on with Bob. And he definitely, definitely doesn’t think of John-Fucking-Walker.