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“You okay there?”
Your feet felt impossibly heavy as you trudged out of the quinjet and down the ramp. A shiver passed through you as you glanced up, seeing Steve with a confused look on his face. His eyes scanned your body, noticing how damp you were, your hair sticking to your face.
“There may have been a slight altercation when we took down Brone’s men. He slipped out at the last minute.” Sam said, coming up beside you. “One of them got the advantage on Y/n, and she had to make an emergency exit.
You sighed, ringing your hair out. ‘Making an emergency exit’ was quite possibly one of the worst codes you had come up with Sam. That usually involved you jumping into the air, and Sam flying down, catching you. You hated doing it, only using it as a last possible solution.
“So why is she wet?” Steve asked, and Bucky sauntered off the jet, his hand reaching for yours.
“Cause birdbrain over here dropped her into a freezing lake. Isn’t that right, Wilson?” Bucky asked, and you elbowed him in the ribs, giving him a stern look.
It wasn’t like Sam had done it on purpose. No one would have thought that the mercenary would launch himself out of a window almost a hundred feet above the ground, and onto Sam’s jetpack. But just as the grip he had on your wrist loosened, he tossed you a few feet to the right, so you were aiming for a small lake instead of cement.
“Stop, Bucky. He’s fine, I’m fine, it was just a hiccup in the road.” you said, sending Sam a sympathetic look. “Besides, we’re home now, and we have more information regarding Brone’s whereabouts, and all his followers. So it wasn’t a total bust.” you said, hoping to lighten up the mood.
“That’s true.” Steve drawled out, taking the flashdrive that Bucky presented. “Well, go clean up, we’ll run through the drive in about an hour or two.”
Sam patted your shoulder before walking out of the hangar with Steve, leaving you with Bucky. He smiled at you and pulled you into the direction of the residential wing, pulling you into your room. With a relieved sigh, you peeled off your damp clothes, exchanging them for a pair of soft leggings and a long sleeved shirt. You towel dried your hair in the bathroom, tying it up before sauntering out back into the room.
Bucky sat on the edge of the bed, and he opened his arms, a quiet invitation which you so gladly accepted. You practically jumped into Bucky’s arms, feeling his strong grip tighten around your form, and you laid your head against his shoulder.
“You alright?” he asked, and you nodded, your arms reaching around to hug his bicep.
“Just a little tired.” you said, and you felt Bucky press a feather light kiss to your temple.
“Well, all we have to do is get through the boring meeting with Steve, and then we can watch that one movie with Sam and Wanda.” Bucky whispered into your ear, and a tired smile appeared on your face. You sighed lightly and melted into his embrace until FRIDAY announced that Steve was waiting.
“C’mon, doll. Let’s just get this over with, then it’s relaxation town for the rest of the day.”
Bucky was right about one thing; the meeting with Steve was boring. You would have preferred to watch Sam and Tony argue about which music genre was better than be in a meeting, decrypting a flashdrive that had way too many firewalls. Eventually Tony was able to pass them, and had FRIDAY pinpoint the exact locations of Brone and his men.
Being ‘just tired’ raised your suspicions, feeling a tiny tickle in the back of your throat. You drank water, and tried clearing your throat as quietly as possible, but it was still present. You had excused yourself, and hurried down to the communal bathrooms to clear your throat, which caused you to go into a coughing fit. Your throat was sore, and you had only been home for a few hours at most.
But you ignored it, insisting it was just a small itch, nothing more, and nothing less.
Steve had dismissed the team, and you and Bucky met Sam and Wanda in the living room, with the movie ready to play on the TV. You got comfortable on the couch with Bucky, leaning into his side with you back against his side, his arm slung around your shoulders with a bowl of popcorn in your lap.
As the movie progressed, you felt yourself drifting in and out of sleep, almost dropping the bowl of popcorn that was in your lap. “Here, lay on my lap.” Bucky whispered, taking the bowl and placing it on the coffee table. You nodded and stretched out on the vacant couch, resting your head on Bucky’s lap, and you felt him run his fingers through your hair, softly massaging your aching temples.
You didn’t remember falling asleep, you didn’t even remember closing your eyes. But when Bucky jerked forward suddenly, your eyes cracked open, and you caught the sight of Sam looking over in your direction, most likely caught in a heated discussion with Bucky. Wanda had gone to bed halfway through the movie, telling the two men she would catch it later.
“You must be delusional if you think that was a good movie.”
“It was! You just don’t know taste, Barnes. You’re from the age of Mid-Atlantic accents and movies in black and white with horrible editing.”
“It was the forties, Sam. What are you expecting? CGI? We barely had microwave ovens.”
Your head felt heavy as you tried to sit up, and once you did, a wave of dizziness hit you, and you immediately laid back down Bucky’s lap, squeezing your eyes shut. You sighed, bringing a hand to your face. You felt Bucky lay his hand on your shoulder, leaning down.
“Are you okay?” Bucky whispered, and you nodded, keeping your eyes shut. Sam had retreated into the kitchen, giving the two of you a moment alone.
“Yeah,” your voice came out a hoarse whisper, and you sat up, wiping the back of your hand against your eyes. “I think I’m gonna go lay down.” you whispered,and Bucky stood up immediately, offering you a hand. “Stay here, Buck. I’ll be fine on my own.”
Bucky nodded and kissed your forehead. “You let me know if you need anything, okay?” you nodded and lazily kissed his cheek, waving at Sam before making your way down the hall. You kept a hand on the wall, and as you made your way into the room, you didn’t even bother to change out of your clothes. You laid down on the bed, wrapping a blanket around your shoulders. Exhaustion seeped into your bones as you closed your eyes, hoping that after a good night’s rest, you would feel recharged and refreshed.
“C’mon, throw a punch, kick me, do something!” Natasha’s voice tore you from your daze, and you slowly blinked, looking at her. Her red hair was pulled back into a low bun, her hands firmly planted on her hips.
“Sorry,” you apologized meekly, ignoring the growing tightness in your sinuses. You got into a position, but Natasha gave you a pointed look. “I think I slept wrong.”
“Are you sure it’s not just allergies? I mean, that water yesterday was colder than the lake. Maybe you caught something.” You shook your head.
It was bad enough that Bucky was coddling you, Natasha didn’t need to be in on it too. “I promise you I’m fine.”
The door opened, and Bucky and Sam wandered in, both donned in their workout attire. “Okay,” Natasha said, moving into position. You looked at her, waiting for her to make a move first.
Sparring with Natasha was a whirlpool of different outcomes. You never knew what the end would be like. Some days, you would have the advantage over her, other times you wouldn’t be so lucky. Being a former assassin, she knew how to fight, but so did you. You were a trained SHIELD agent with years of experience in martial arts.
But sometimes there was no matching Natasha.
“You gonna make a move?” the red-head asked, her voice filled with amusement, and you swung your closed fist at her. She ducked and moved to the right, and swung her leg, connecting with your knee. You fell, but quickly regained posture, Natasha threw a punch at you, but you blocked it with your forearm, grabbing her wrist and flipping her over, and she landed on her back, the slam of the mat echoing throughout the gym. She did a kip up, swiftly regaining her stance.
She threw punches at you, and you backed up, effectively blocking each one until you were backed up against the ropes. “There she is, thought you were in another world for a moment,” Natasha said through breaths. You smiled, and you threw a punch at her, connecting with her side. She reacted quickly, catching your wrist, hooking her foot around your knee, and threw you to the ground.
You rolled to the side and practically threw yourself back on your feet, but Natasha acted quickly, sending a kick to your ribs. Just as she did, a wave of dizziness hit you, and your vision started to tunnel; you fell back against the ground, your breath caught in your throat as you clenched your eyes shut and rolled onto your side.
“Jesus, Y/n!” she cried, running over to you. You faintly heard Bucky hop over the ropes of the ring, and his blurry figure came into view. “When are you gonna stop being so damn stubborn?”
You felt Bucky snake his arm around your shoulders, and he lifted you up. You rapidly blinked your eyes, your hand coming up to feel your warm forehead. “‘M fine, I just got a little dizzy.” you whispered.
Natasha and Bucky shared a look, completely unconvinced at your answer. He didn’t say anything as his hand moved from your shoulders down to your waist, helping you stand. You swayed a bit, but Bucky’s grip on you didn’t falter. “Let’s just get you to bed, okay?” he whispered. Not having the energy to protest, you nodded and allowed him to guide you out of the gym, and up to your room.
The first thing that Bucky did was get you out of your workout clothes and into something a bit more comfortable. You sat and watched him with drowsy eyes and he helped you into sleep shorts and a long sleeved shirt, and he kneeled in front of you. Bucky leaned forward and pressed his lips against your forehead, as a way to test your temperature.
“You know, you have got to be the most stubborn woman I know.” Bucky said. You looked up at him through tired, bleary eyes, a smile inching across your face.
“Yeah, but you love me.” Bucky rolled his eyes playfully, retreating into the bathroom for medicine.
“That I do. Because someone has to make sure you actually take care of yourself.” Bucky said, placing two pills in your shaking hands. You threw them back and drank your water, leaning back against the pillow with a tired sigh.
You watched him as he turned on the TV, flicking through the channels before it landed on a movie. He set the volume at a low level before walking over to the edge of the bed. He ran his hand over your forehead, leaning down to press a soft kiss to your cheek.
“You get some rest,” Bucky whispered against your skin. You nodded and lazily watched as he draped a blanket over your form, giving you a soft smile. You held out your hand, and Bucky laughed lightly, knowing what you wanted.
“Lay with me,” you whispered, and he grasped your hand gently, laying down on the bed next to you. He gently pulled you into his arms, nuzzling his nose into your hair. It didn’t take long for you to fall asleep, the coolness of Bucky’s vibranium hand cool on your warm forehead lulled you to sleep.
Switching on the TV off, Bucky looked down at you, smiling softly. He pressed a kiss to your temple, watching a ghost of a smile creep onto your face. You nuzzled deeper into his chest, and Bucky smiled, wrapping his arms around your shoulders, leaning back into the soft sheets.
It was unbelievably hot. It shouldn’t be this hot in the middle of February. Let alone in the comfort of your room.
Cracking your eyes open seemed like a struggle, and when you finally opened them, you turned to see Bucky peacefully sleeping on his side, facing you. You groggily sat up, holding your forehead with a groan. You felt warmer than you normally should, and you sat off the edge of the bed, legs dangling over the side.
You took a shaky step towards the bathroom, wanting nothing more than to splash cool water on your face. But as you took a step, a wave of dizziness overcame you, and you gripped onto the edge of the desk.
“Hey, hey, what are you doing?” a soft voice said, and you felt strong arms wrap around your waist, walking you into the bathroom. He flicked the light on, and you squeezed your eyes shut, softly whimpering. Bucky kneeled in front of you, placing his palms on your thighs. “What’s wrong, baby? What hurts?”
You shook your head. “I’m hot… too hot.” you whimpered out, and Bucky placed his left hand on your forehead, and you felt some relief.
“Are you dizzy?” You nodded your head. Bucky reached under the sink for the thermometer, and he ran it across your forehead, and he frowned upon seeing the result. “You’ve got a fever, sweetheart. No wonder you’re dizzy.” he said, getting ibuprofen from out of the medicine cabinet. Bucky wordlessly gave them to you, and you swallowed them with the water he gave you. “C’mon, let’s get you to bed.”
You looked up at him with squinted eyes as he helped you back into the bed, laying a damp rag across your forehead. You sighed, and Bucky laid you against his chest, drawing circles on your back. He pressed his lips against your warm forehead.
The two of you stayed in that position until morning, and Bucky had reluctantly left the bed to make you chamomile tea with honey, placing it back on the nightstand when he returned to find you sitting up against the headboard, a blanket wrapped around your shoulders, and a tired look on your face.
“How’re you feeling?” Bucky asked, wiping the sweat off your forehead. You took a sip of the tea, and gave him a small smile.
“A little better.”
“Yeah? Think you can eat something, maybe some oatmeal?” Bucky asked sweetly, and you smiled at him. You knew how attentive he could be even when you weren’t sick, and it still never ceased to make your heart flutter.
You nodded your head, and Bucky smiled before nodding his head. “I’ll be right back.” he whispered, and you nodded, smiling at him. You laid back against the headboard, sniffling occasionally until Bucky returned a couple of minutes later with a bowl of oatmeal in his hand.
Bucky wordlessly handed you the bowl and sat next to you as you ate small bites, and once you were done, you nestled against Bucky. He smiled and pulled you into his side, pressing a soft kiss to your head.
Throughout the day, you drifted in and out of sleep, waking up to eat the soup that Natasha had made for you, and to take the medicine Bucky insisted you take. Your fever luckily hadn’t spiked, but it had stayed consistent through the entire day, and well into the night.
But Bucky had been by your side all day, and all night. When your head was aching, when your throat was sore, and when you went through the shakes. You had been worried about getting him sick, but he had assured you that the serum prohibited him from getting sick. He had also reassured that he wanted to be by your side, that there was no place he would rather be.
And when you laid on his chest that night, with one hand in your hair, the other resting gently against your back, you knew he meant it.
The faint sounds of the TV echoed throughout the quiet room, and you felt yourself teetering on the edge of drowsiness. “Bucky?” your whisper pierced the silence, and you felt Bucky shift under you, humming in acknowledgment. “I love you.”
Bucky smiled fondly down at you, wrapping both of his arms around your shoulders, and pressing a kiss to the crown of your head. “I love you, too. You know I love taking care of you.” You smiled against his chest and smiled.
Of course you knew. It had been clear the past two days, being bedridden, he hadn’t left your side. He even helped you when your legs were too weak to hold yourself up when you were showering. He made sure you took all medicine and were hydrated and fed the proper food.
“I know.” you whispered, and Bucky held you closer as you fell into a peaceful slumber. And when you awoke in the morning, feeling a little better than you did the previous night, you cherished the moment, being in his arms. In the arms of the man you loved.
And you wouldn’t change a single thing.