Work Text:
Sarah was washing dishes as she looked at them out of the kitchen window. She watched her sons running around the yard like crazy fools. She isn’t complaining too much. She knew her boys needed to burn off all that energy that came in spares during those years. In the corner of the yard, Sam was throwing that shield around like a damn frisbee.
Not going to lie.
She was impressed by it for about 5 seconds until he kept doing it again and again.
She wasn’t impressed after that, especially when he said that it was for practicing. Personally, she thought that he liked throwing the thing around.
Boys.
“Morning,” A voice said before her. She looked over her shoulder. Bucky was standing there in an old, holey Nirvana shirt that she swore Sam threw away with black running pants.
“Morning,” She replied then turned back around.
She could hear Bucky moving out behind her. One thing that she noted about Bucky was his use of silence. He moved in silence. He talked in silence. Sometimes, it caught her off guard since their family was one of talkers and touchers.
But Sam knew that language better than anyone.
Part of her was still trying to figure it out.
She knew that Sam was bi. It never really bothered her. It was part of him. He dated mostly girls rather than boys. Only a few of either sex made it to the house.
So, it took her by surprise when he showed up after running and the world went crazy with a damn husband.
Not boyfriend.
Best part?
That he got married to in some damn crystal….gem? but he made it official when he got home.
Without telling anyone.
She knew people changed but this…this was big.
She tried to treat it like normal. Like nothing ever changed but nothing is normal anymore.
Not Sam.
Not her.
Not anyone.
She glanced over her shoulder again to see Bucky looking out one of the other windows in the kitchen. She saw a small smile and twinkle in his eye. She glanced back around to look out her window to see Sam had stopped throwing the shield and gave him a smile back.
That is another thing that was different.
Sam was a man of words and actions.
Not a man of silence.
Until now.
During those years on the run and his disappearance, Sam mastered the art of silence.
He used it quite well with his husband.
He and Bucky would dance around each other without saying a word. It didn’t matter when they fought in the backyard or worked on the boat together.
They could communicate with looks and touches that impressed even her. It left her feeling like an odd man out sometimes.
Despite these changes, she liked Bucky.
Once he warmed up to the family, he had warmth to him especially with her sons. They adored him.
She is happy to say that she enjoyed the many times that they ganged up on Sam to make fun of him for some reason or another. (Can’t have Captain America’s head get too big.)
Most of all, he watched her brother’s back because even as kids, he got into way too much trouble which she shared the stories happily with him.
“I’m going to Peru soon. You get one of us out of your hair,” Bucky said behind her.
“You know that you are welcome here,” She said.
“I have a lead.”
She didn’t dare to turn around to face him but she squeezed the dish in her hands. She could almost feel it break.
She didn’t know all the details. It was a mission and they ran into some Hydra members. They shot Sam with something. Even now, they have no idea why or what they hit her brother.
The only thing they knew was that it left Sam a mess.
She only got the list later.
Intense muscle spasms.
Accelerate Heart Rate
Increase Blood Pressure.
Fever.
There was more on that list but the thing that she could remember was the screams coming from the boat. Bucky took him there because they weren’t sure if Hydra would try to grab him at the hospital. The new Falcon…Joaquín? He stood at the end of the dock like a damn rock. He refused to let anyone through.
The screams gave her nightmares.
The screams made her cry late at night when the boys were in bed.
“I promise to bring you something pretty back,” Bucky said with a smirk.
“Please. You know the boys will just end up breaking it,” She said.
Bucky chuckled.
“Does Sam know?”
Bucky paused.
“Yes.”
She sighed.
“He doesn’t want me to go by myself. He wants to come but he has his hands tied with being Mr. America. Besides, he wants answers just as much as me. I have my resources while I’m down there even if I don’t particularly like my source.”
“Well…I’m sure that you will find them. Kick them in the balls for me.”
“For you, doll, of course,” Bucky said with a grin.
She might not understand their code. Their language but she did understand one part of it.
The part of it that mattered. The part of it that this family shared.
Love.
End.