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Steve doesn’t really understand why this has to be everyone’s business. He’d tried to fight and argue but was repeatedly overruled. It’s a good story, he’s told, and good press is good for everyone, they know he’s here anyway so something has to be done. Coulson offers him an apologetic smile and his hand digs into his fist to resist punching Fury or Hill in the mouth. In the end he nods and accepts that he’s not going to win this one.
Bucky is waiting for him out in the hallway, seated cross-legged on the ground since there’s no real waiting area for Fury’s office. His guards are down the hallway but still obvious. He has a book and though he doesn’t look up when Steve comes out, his posture shifts. Steve slides down next to him, reading over his shoulder.
“These things are practically porn.”
“What are you reading?” Steve sighs, fairly sure he doesn’t want to know the answer. Bucky grins and flips it to the cover so Steve can see Men on Fire written in one corner. Most of it is taken up by a picture of a shirtless man in a firefighter’s uniform.
“I don’t exactly have access to the library,” he points out, finally looking up at Steve and there’s a resigned look in his eyes. “So we’re doing it?”
“Yea. Will you be ok?” Bucky nods, not surprised. Steve quickly squeezes his hand before standing. The small PDA was enough to make Bucky smile and he scrambles up to his feet and together they start towards the garage.
“So you need to hear some of the passages from this book,” Bucky says as they reach the guards. Steve blushes because he’s fairly sure that no he doesn’t but Bucky starts reading anyway. “Under the jeans, he was unmistakably erect.”
“Bucky,” his voice comes out more like a squeak and he tries not to look at the guards.
“Hm? Oh it gets better.”
“Bucky, you really shouldn’t…”
“Beneath my own pants, the crotch of my panties was soaked, my sex swollen and throbbing. His mouth and mine melded as if they'd been designed to mate. Didn’t know mouths could mate,” Bucky mumbles as an afterthought, seemingly ignorant of everyone around him. Steve is sure he is bright red, and he can’t quite look at the book anymore. A sidelong glance shows that the guards are just as uncomfortable, but Bucky’s grinning as if he’s found the best thing in the world. He bumps Steve with his shoulder. “His pelvis flirted with mine, the press of his arousal arguing his case,” he reads in a low husky voice. Steve hides his face in his hands, mentally resolving to throw whoever gave Bucky the book off a very tall building.
“I hate you,” he says through his hands, but Bucky just laughs.
“Gotta learn about this century somehow.”
“We should be preparing for this press conference.”
“Spoilsport.” But he closes the book. The guards shoot him grateful looks. “So how should we be preparing?”
-
They stand in front of the crowd. All of them, though Steve is in the front. He’s a little reassured by the other Avengers being close by, lending their support but the group of reporters is close, almost suffocating. Bucky’s standing with the Avengers wearing a SHIELD field uniform so he doesn’t look too out of place among heroes.
The speech is simple. James Buchanan Barnes, Captain America’s sidekick, was alive and well. Someone else in SHIELD had written it, Steve had only to fill in details. It’s a snub to the Russians and a fulfillment of fanboy fantasies to have Cap and Bucky side by side.
When it’s done, the press is allowed questions. Most are easy to field with vague answers. Yes, it is good to have Bucky back. No, this isn’t like the Howling Commandos. No, he’s not joining the Avengers just yet.
It’s inevitable that someone asks the question. Steve thinks he’s even prepared for it. When it finally comes, it’s towards the end and Steve can feel the strain of the entire press conference weighing on him.
“Isn’t he a traitor? Shouldn’t he be tried?”
Steve turns and reacts without thinking. At least he manages to check himself so he doesn’t completely crush the man’s face in. Someone grabs his arm and pulls him back. The other Avengers step in and create a barrier. There’s yelling, and Steve immediately knows he overacted.
It’s Bucky who has pulled him back and away from the crowd. His hands are on Steve’s shoulders and he looks confused. “What the hell was that?”
“I won’t listen to him insult you like that.” There are too many eyes, too public for Steve to kiss him like he wanted. “I won’t.”
Bucky’s lips quirk into a small, self-deprecating smile. “It is kind of the truth,” he points out.
“You weren’t yourself,” he says heatedly. “You gave up everything for this country. More then he ever will.” Bucky ducks his head but Steve can still how his eyes get watery for a brief second before he quickly blinks it away.
Bucky’s hands drop from his shoulders but Steve catches one, the metal one, and kisses the knuckles. Distantly, he can hear the buzz from the crowd at the gesture but he doesn’t look away from Bucky.
“Sap,” he grumbles but he squeezes Steve’s hand tightly before letting go and he realizes he’s getting looks from the rest of the team that vary from ‘aw cute’ to ‘hurry your asses up’. He wants to say something else to Bucky about how he’ll always be there, and it’s his turn to stand up for him but none of it feels like the right thing to say so he goes back to the waiting reporters.
He apologizes for his behavior but Bucky Barnes is not a traitor and he won’t tolerate any American war hero being accused of such. He hears the shuffle of feet and he glances back to see that Clint and Tony have pushed Bucky forward. Bucky salutes the crowd and Steve lets him have the floor for a minute. He smiles, the adorable one that used to make all the girls swoon.
“I uh don’t ask for apologies, but I do hope my actions in the future make up for what I’ve done in the past.” Some reporters try to ask what exactly it is he has done. Steve finds himself holding his breath, wondering how Bucky will answer this. He sees Bucky glance at Coulson who gives him a small nod to go ahead. “I was used in a Soviet experiment in retraining US operatives.” His voice is flat and loses some of its charm but the words are just right in taking blame off himself and shifting it to the Russians.
Steve wonders if that’s another thing the Russians ‘trained’ him in.
Coulson seems to think that’s a good stopping point and ushers them all away, back to the Mansion and without a word the Avengers all head unanimously to the living room. Tony and Clint squabble over what to watch on TV and Bruce asks for anything but the news and Thor wants something exciting. Natasha has a book that looks suspiciously like what Bucky was reading earlier but she’s there too and that counts for a lot. Steve has never been so grateful to be out of the public eye and just drops onto the couch. Bucky slumps into the seat beside him, eyes closed.
Steve reaches for his hand and entwines their fingers, watching Bucky’s lips curl into a smile as he does so.
“So can we expect you to defend the rest of us so dramatically?” Clint teases.
“That is a privilege reserved for war buddies only,” Bucky lifts his head to cut in.
“’Buddies’ is one word for it,” Tony says, still distracted with the TV. Natasha kicks him at the same time as Bucky makes a grab for the remote. It’s creepily well-coordinated and Steve really doesn’t want to picture the two of them planning out ways to harass Tony so he asks Bruce for a game of chess. When Bucky rejoins him on the couch sometime later, their hands find each other like magnets.
There’s a word for reach person in the room that he’d defend them from (monster, traitor, criminal) but he gets a feeling he doesn’t need to say that for them to know.