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When his phone rang, Bucky sighed heavily before slipping his bookmark in place and setting the book down next to his cup of tea.
He didn’t receive many calls, and, since the only people who had his number were Avengers, half the calls he did get were the sort that meant he had to suit up and go help them win some battle. The other half were him being butt dialed by America’s ass.
He was sorta hoping for the former, for some reason he was restless today and had been struggling to focus on his book with mixed results for the last hour. A good fight might settle his nerves.
Picking up his phone, he saw that not only was the call from Clint, it was a video call too. That probably meant Clint had worked out a new trick shot and Bucky was about to get an opportunity to appreciate both Clint’s skill and the musculature that went with it.
He tucked his grin away the best he could before swiping to accept the call.
The next instant the grin fell off his face entirely when the screen was filled by a man who was definitely not Clint; Bucky could tell that for sure even around the black ski mask he was wearing. Besides, he didn’t think Clint would start a conversation by boldly declaring, “We’ve kidnapped your husband!”
Bucky blinked at the screen, his mind racing even as his fingers automatically pulled up the tracking app Tony had put on everyone’s phone.
“But, I’m not married,” he said cautiously, hoping to distract the guy and buy some time.
The masked guy looked briefly nonplussed, then what Bucky could see of his face cleared. “Well, we have your boyfriend then!”
“Nope, you really don’t. I haven’t dated anyone this century.”
“Really?” the bad guy asked. “Because since we got the truth serum in him, he hasn’t shut up about you.”
Bucky was about to demand who he meant when a voice in the background said, “Hey! Are you guys talking to Bucky?!”
“Clint?” Bucky asked.
The camera tilted crazily for a second, when it steadied again Bucky had a view of Clint in his bright purple jogging clothes, blindfolded and tied to a chair.
“Bucky!” he said, a dingy grin plastered on his face. “It’s Bucky guys! Isn’t his voice amazing? It’s all gravelly and sexy, but not as sexy as his eyes. I write poetry about his eyes. And dirty limericks about his ass. My favorite one goes, “There once was a gorgeous man named Buck-”
“Clint!” Bucky yelled, as much out of embarrassment as concern.
“What? You don’t like poetry?”
“No. Well, yes, but I don’t think this is the time.”
“Oh,” Clint said. “Is it because of the kidnapping?”
“Yes, because of the kidnapping, you dolt.”
The camera moved again and Bucky had to stifle a protest as it refocused on the guy in the ski mask.
He looked smug. “See, there’s no point in denying it. We have your boyfriend and if you ever want-
Clint interrupted him. “Oh, we’re not dating.”
The guy turned back toward Clint. “Wait, you’re really not dating?”
Before Bucky could confirm it, Clint did, his voice wistful. “No. I could never get a guy like Bucky, he’s too smart and pretty. He deserves someone as great as he is.”
“Ah, Clint…” Bucky whispered.
It must have been loud enough for the bad guy to hear because when he looked back at the phone he was clearly uncomfortable.
“Um. So, yeah. Are you ready to hear our demands?” he asked, obviously trying to get back on script.
Coldly, Bucky said, “No. Instead, I’m gonna find you, smack you around, rescue Clint, then, er, we’ll get the rest sorted out.”
“Ooo!” Clint cooed. “Is Bucky doing his ‘I will rip out your spine without even breaking my stride’ glare? I had to buy looser combat pants after he started coming on missions because of that look.”
There was an awkward pause that Clint happily filled. “Because of all the erections.”
“My spine?” the bad guy asked.
“Yes,” Bucky said.
Clint backed him up. “I’ve read reports of him doing it.”
“It doesn’t need to come to that,” the guy said, but he sounded close to panic. “Just listen to the demands.”
Bucky glared harder.
“Oh no, man,” Clint said. “You should really just go. Bucky is gonna find you and beat the crap out of you.”
“No, he’s not,” The guy said, but he didn’t sound very sure.
“Yeah, he is. Though he probably won’t kill you much. He doesn’t do that anymore.”
“Much? Anymore?!”
“I could make an exception,” Bucky growled.
The guy looked around a bit wildly. “You know what, screw it. I’m not getting paid enough for this. Kang can do his own dirty work.”
Suddenly the phone screen went black, leaving only the audio.
“Look,” he continued. “I’m turning the GPS on this phone back on. Give me and my crew a couple minutes to clear out and he’s all yours-”
“I wish!” Clint called out in the background, and was ignored.
“-just please don’t find us and rip out our spines.”
“Maybe I won’t,” Bucky said, “if Clint’s okay.”
“Fair enough,” the guy said, and the call ended.
At the same time Bucky’s tracking app pinged, flashing Clint’s location across his screen. Bucky only glanced at it before he gathered some weapons and started for the elevator at a jog.
It took Bucky twenty minutes to get to the address. He could have been there sooner if he’d been on his motorcycle but somehow it had seemed like a bad idea to take Clint anywhere on his bike right now. God knew, the man had piss poor impulse control even when he wasn’t drugged.
Still, you couldn’t weave through traffic the same way in a nondescript sedan as you could on a bike and the delay grated on his nerves. Even so, when he reached the deserted gym that his app had pinpointed as the source of Clint’s signal he circled the building twice, looking for any hints of an ambush.
When everything was quiet, he finally parked the car behind the building, ripped the backdoor off its hinges, and made it inside without incident. Even so, he stayed on for any ambush as he made his way through the maze of rusting exercise equipment until he found the chair Clint had been handcuffed to.
His heart skipped a beat when he found the chair as abandoned as the rest of the area. Before it could skip a second beat, a voice called out from above him, “Bucky! You’re here now!”
“Yes,” Bucky called back, looking around for the speaker.
He wasn’t very surprised when he spotted Clint sitting at the top of the gym’s climbing wall, though the joy on his face as he grinning down at Bucky was unexpected.
“And you look so angry!” Clint said, sounding cheerful.
Bucky scowled at him. “I’m not angry.”
“You totally are, but I’m wearing tight pants today so I probably shouldn’t watch you while you are.”
Bucky absolutely didn’t glance down at Clint’s lap. Instead, he asked, “Why don’t you just come down here so I can stop being angry instead?”
“Aw,” Clint said. “You’re angry at me?”
“Sorta. What were you thinking, climbing a wall while you’re drugged?”
“I was thinking, ‘Hey, look! A climbing wall!’”
Bucky shrugged, it was a very Clint thing to think. “Well, okay. But you should come down now before you fall.”
“If I fell, you’d catch me. In fact…”
Clint leaned forward and Bucky had a split second to realize what he was planning and another to brace himself as Clint tumbled off the wall towards him.
For a moment it looked like he was going to plow feet first into Bucky’s face, but then in a move too graceful not to have been well practiced Clint flipped over in midair so Bucky could catch him bridal style.
“Tada!” Clint exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air.
Bucky was not impressed. “What the fuck, Clint?!”
“I knew you’d catch me. It was awesome!”
Bucky tried to glare at him, but Clint looked so happy in his arms that instead he smiled.
He still managed to put a little bit of a grumble into his voice as he said, “I should’ve let you land on your ass.”
“You wouldn’t have,” Clint said with complete certainty. “You’d never let me get hurt.”
“No, I wouldn’t,” Bucky admitted.
For a long, loaded moment Bucky almost said more, almost leaned down to kiss the grin off Clint’s face. Instead, he shifted his hold so he could ease Clint back onto his own feet.
As he stood, Clint gave him a disappointed look. “I thought you were gonna kiss me.”
“Not while you’re drugged and can’t say no.”
“I’d never say no to you kissing me.”
Bucky took a deep breath, wrestling back the warmth that had flooded his chest, before he replied, “Say that again later and see what happens.”
“Really? Will you kiss me then?”
“Probably.”
Clint beamed at him. “Awesome!”
Bucky might have blushed at that. For sure his voice was a little more gruff as he said, “Yeah, so. Other than the drugged part, are you okay?”
“Not bad,” Clint said. “As kidnappings go, this one was pretty nice, no threats or hitting and they didn’t take my hearing aids!”
“No threats and no violence?” Bucky repeated. “Then how the hell did they manage to get you at all? Did you drug you first or something?”
“No, I let them get me.”
“What? Why?”
“I was bored,” Clint admitted.
“You were bored? So you thought being kidnapped was a solid choice?”
“Yeah. I really hate being bored.”
“You are so dumb,” Bucky said, shaking his head fondly.
Clint just nodded in agreement. “I know. I never finished high school.”
“So?” Bucky retorted, not liking the matter of fact tone in Clint’s voice as he put himself down. “Neither did I.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I went into the army instead.”
“I joined the circus.”
“I’m not sure which of us made the better choice there,” Bucky said with a wry grin.
“You did,” Clint replied seriously. “My childhood was horrible.”
Bucky wasn’t sure how to reply to that, luckily he didn’t have to.
Clint shrugged an apology. “I shouldn’t have said that, it makes people feel awkward.”
“It’s my own fault,” Bucky said, mirroring the shrug. “I should be getting you back to medical instead of standing around here. I just really enjoy talking to you.”
Bucky froze. He hadn’t meant to say that out loud. Even if it did bring Clint’s smile back.
“I love talking to you too!” Clint said. “It’s pretty much the highlight of my day, everyday. “
Bucky automatically reached one to rest his hand against Clin’t cheek, but stopped halfway through the movement.
“That was going to be another kiss, wasn’t it?” Clint asked.
“Probably,” Bucky admitted. “I can’t help it, I’ve been wanting to kiss you for a really long time.”
Fuck, he hadn’t meant to say that either. Maybe the truth serum was transmitted through touch.
Right, no more touching Clint. No matter how tempting it was.
Clint didn’t help when he smiled down at him. “I wish you had kissed me a long time ago then.”
“I wasn’t ready,” Bucky admitted, “and now you’re not.”
“No, I’m totally ready.”
“Yeah, no, you’re not. Let’s get you back to medical so they can tell us when you are.”
Clint looked heartbroken. “Ah, medical, no.”
“Yes, medical,” Bucky said firmly.
“I’d rather play doctor with you.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“It’s a sex game.”
Bucky rolled his eyes, even as he blushed again. “I should have guessed.”
“I’d be a good naughty nurse,” Clint said with a leer.
“I have no doubt.”
“Damn right. I’d blow your mind. Among other things.”
Bucky sighed. “So, on that note, when we get back to the tower what do you think the chances are you can keep quiet until whatever they gave you wears off?”
“Probably not very good. I’m no good at being quiet.”
Bucky nodded, resigned. That was sorta what he’d thought too.
He still nodded back towards the exit, “Let’s go see, shall we?”
Clint rambled happily through the entire trip back to the tower, covering such topics as Archery: An Underrated Art Form, all the ways that dogs are amazing, and how attractive Bucky was while Bucky tried to focus on driving. It was pretty difficult to do with Clint right beside him radiating so much sincere enthusiasm.
When they did get back to the tower, Bucky hustled Clint through security as quickly as he could while he was distracted by the cute dog pictures Bucky had pulled up on his phone and dropped him off on the medical floor with as little explanation as he could before retreating.
He felt bad about abandoning Clint there alone, but Bucky wasn’t sure just how much more honest, happy Clint he could handle before his resolve not to make a move on him crumbled. Also, he thought that being out of Clint’s line of sight would make it less likely that the doctor would be treated to a limerick about his ass
That might have been too optimistic though, given that the last thing he heard before the door closed behind him was Clint telling the doctor, “That was Bucky. Isn’t he the best?”
Guilt twisted in his guts at that and he almost turned back to stay with Clint, but he steeled himself and continued to his room as fast as he could.
It was the next morning before Clint found him.
Bucky was sitting out on the observation deck under one of the large umbrellas, pretending to read his book but really just enjoying the quiet rain when he flopped down on the lounge chair next to him with a sigh.
“How are you feeling?” Bucky asked cautiously.
“Fine,” Clint replied. “I was always fine, I just lost the filter between my brain and my mouth for a while.”
Innocently, Bucky asked, “Really? I hadn’t noticed.”
“You’re the only one on the whole team who didn’t then.”
“So, the doctors ratted you out, did they?”
“Yeah, they did. So much for doctor-patient confidentiality.”
“Not sure that applies to hiding kidnappings.”
“Oh, come on!” Clint said. ‘It was barely even a kidnapping. You didn’t even call in for back up when it was happening.”
“Um,” Bucky said.
No, he hadn’t, and he probably sure have. Opps.
“Exactly,” Clint continued as if Bucky had agreed. “It wasn’t worth getting worked up over.”
“I bet that’s not what the others said.”
“They mostly laughed. Even Nat cracked a smile. Bruce was super excited about the drug they used, apparently it was unnaturally effective.”
“Huh and what did Steve say?”
Clint smiled. “Not much. I mean, he started on a speech about responsibility and being careful, but I cut him off and told him I’d read about everything he got up to in the comic books and that he was one to talk about reckless endangerment.’
“Oh, god,” Bucky said, laughing. “I wish I could’ve seen his face.”
“It was pretty great. How often do you get a chance to talk back to Captain America with no consequences?”
“Every damn day.”
“Maybe you do,” Clint said, “but some of us gotta seize the chance when it comes our way. I mean, the drug was mostly worn off by then, I still have a great excuse.”
Trying to sound casual, Bucky asked, “So, the drug is completely gone now?”
“Yeah, though they insisted on keeping me overnight to make sure.”
“I’m actually sorta surprised they let you go this morning. Didn’t they want some more tests?”
“Nope,” Clint said quickly, “clean bill of health. They told me I could go.”
Bucky rolled his eyes. “Now I know the drug’s worn off. They didn’t actually release you at all did they?”
“They didn’t handcuff me to the bed, so in a way they did let me go.”
“Being handcuffed to a chair yesterday didn’t stop you.”
“There was a climbing wall right there!” Clint protested. “Like I wasn’t gonna climb it.”
Bucky nodded, less at the statement then at what it confirmed. “You remember everything, then?”
“Yeah, I do,” Clint said, shooting Bucky a sidelong look.
“You said some pretty wild stuff.”
“So did you. Like, I distinctly remember you saying you’ve wanted to kiss me for a long time.”
“Well, you said you wanted me to kiss you first.”
“And I wasn’t lying. Were you?”
Bucky swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry, but he still met Clint’s eyes as he said, ”No. I meant every word.”
“Good,” Clint said. “Because, I also remember you saying that if I asked again after the drugs wore off you’d kiss me.”
“And, are you asking?”
“I told you, I’ll never say no to you kissing me.”
Nodding decisively, Bucky leaned towards Clint.
Clint met him more than halfway, eagerly pressing his lips to Bucky’s, one hand already reaching up to pull them together into a proper embrace, but, after only a second and with a great deal of will power, Bucky pulled back, keeping the kiss light, quick, and unsatisfying.
“Hey!” Clint objected.
Bucky gave him the most serious look he could muster, though he had the feeling it was not very efective. “Trying to steal a kiss before you even take me out for dinner? What kinda fella do you think I am?”
“Well, going by the comic books, I’d have guessed you were more open to bold advances.”
Bucky blinked, then stared at him. “I’m in the comics?”
Clint stared back. “Wait, you’ve never read the comics?”
“When have I had a chance too?”
“Oh, man,” Clint said, and his grin would have worried anyone who wasn't also a world class superhero. “How about you and me have dinner tonight? I’ll order pizza and we’ll read the comics together. We can even print out all the most embarrassing panels about Steve and post them all around the lounge.”
Bucky matched his grin. “It’s a date, gorgeous.”
“Then, maybe afterwards, I can get another kiss,” Clint said, a hint of a question in his voice.
“You know,” Bucky drawled, “I don’t think I’ll ever say no to you kissing me.”
“Even if I asked again right now?”
Bucky rolled his eyes, but he also pulled Clint in for a kiss.