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“Sam, come on. Can’t you think about it?” Bucky asks with desperation in his voice, following Sam into his and Joaquín’s office.
“I have thought about it,” Sam says with frustration, walking over to his desk. “And my answer is still no, Buck. You knew before all of this that I already had plans to form a new Avengers group, and you still went ahead and formed one behind my back!”
“That wasn’t- I was just trying-”
“I know what you were trying to do, Buck. I just…” Sam sighs. “My answer is no. I don’t want anything to do with the government or Valentina when it comes to the Avengers. You know how I feel about them. Now you’ve gotten them involved.”
“You’ve got it all mixed up. Valentina works for us ,” Bucky argues.
“I don’t want her involved at all, Buck!” Sam raises his voice, before letting out a sigh, and shaking his head. “You’re not going to change my mind about this. I’m sorry. Look, I don’t care what you do with your group, but they cannot be the new Avengers-” Sam glances down at his watch. “You can stay for lunch. Joaquín is on his way. He’d love to see you again.”
Bucky scoffs. “I’ll see you at home,” he mumbles before turning and storming out of the office.
Bucky pulls out his phone and calls Yelena.
“Hello,”
“He’s not changing his mind,” Bucky says, walking over to his car. “We’re screwed.”
“There has to be another way-”
“As long as Valentina is involved, there won’t be,” Bucky says as he gets into the car. He looks up once he’s sitting in the driver's seat, and freezes when he sees Sam walking out of his office. He looks upset, and Bucky just wants to run out to him, to hug him and say he’s sorry a thousand times. He hates more than anything when they fight, but this is something Bucky cares about, especially after everything happened with Sentry.
“Bucky? Bucky !”
Bucky blinks, coming back to reality. “What?”
“Are you coming to the tower later?” Yelena asks. “Kate is coming over with Clint for lunch, and we can talk about what we’re going to do when we see each other in person.”
Bucky chuckles. “Yeah, I’ll be over later,” he says. “See you.” He hangs up, and starts the car, and pulls out of the driveway. Though his mind can’t stop thinking about Sam.
Bucky arrives at the tower before Kate and Clint. He walks into the lounge, and sees Yelena at the bar. He nods at her in greeting, before walking over, taking a seat in one of the stools. “So, where are the others?” He leans against the counter.
“On the way,” Yelena answers. “So, how bad was it with Sam?”
Bucky sighs, and instantly hangs his head. “Pretty bad,”
“You’re sure you can’t convince him?” Yelena asks. “I mean, Valentina…”
“I’m sorry, Yelena. I really don’t want to bring it up again with Sam. We just end up in a fight every time we talk about it, and I care way too damn much about my relationship-” Bucky instantly stops talking, and his eyes widen. He definitely wasn’t supposed to say that. Not very many people know about his relationship with Sam. “I didn’t-”
Yelena chuckles. “Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me,”
Bucky takes a deep breath, slowly nodding. He knows he can trust Yelena. In fact, she’s the one he trusts the most in their newly formed group. “Look, he’s not saying we can’t… form our group. We just can’t… be the new Avengers. We can’t use the name,”
“We cannot call ourselves Thunderbolts,” Yelena groans.
Bucky chuckles. “Dunno. Maybe your dad can come up with some sick merch for us,”
Yelena glares at him. “We are not giving him that power!”
Bucky barks out a laugh at that, and he instantly looks over when he hears the elevator dings, and in walks Kate Bishop with Clint Barton, as well as their four-legged companion, Lucky.
“Barnes, surprised to see you here,” Clint says.
Bucky instantly stands, and walks over to greet Clint with a friendly hug. “I work here,”
Clint snorts. “True,” he says, and he looks over, rolling his eyes when he sees Kate rushing over to kiss Yelena. Clint looks over at Bucky. “So, what’s new with you?”
Bucky chuckles, and crosses his arms against his chest. “We have a lot to catch up on,”
Bucky doesn’t get home until late. It’s 11:30 PM when he walks into the apartment that he now shares with Sam. Bucky is cautious when he walks into the apartment, because he has no idea what’s waiting for him when he gets inside.
Bucky slowly shuts the door behind him and locks it. Sam’s nowhere to be seen yet, so he makes his way to their bedroom. There, he finds Sam already in bed with his glasses on, reading a book. He looks calm, peaceful. Bucky sighs in relief. “Hi Sam,” he says.
Sam finally looks up, and closes his book when he sees Bucky. “Finally,”
“You were waiting for me?” Bucky asks, raising his eyebrows.
“Yeah. I was hoping we could talk,” Sam says, and gestures for Bucky to come closer.
Bucky hesitates before stepping closer to the bed. “Usually when we talk, we end up fighting. I’m not really in the mood for that tonight, I’ve gotta be honest,”
“Long day?” Sam asks, pushing himself up in a sitting position.
“Kind of. It wasn’t a bad day though. Saw Clint and Kate. So, that was fun,” Bucky says.
Sam nods. “How are they doing? I haven’t talked to Clint since… well, forever,”
“They’re doing fine,” Bucky says, and he slowly sits down on the bed. “So, you wanna talk?”
Sam sighs, and scoots closer to Bucky. “I know you’re mad about my decision, but-”
“Sam, stop, I’m not mad,” Bucky cuts him off. “I’m a little disappointed, sure, but I’m not mad. I knew you wanted to start a new group and reform the Avengers. Look, we had no idea that Valentina was going to do that. She didn’t talk to any of us. It all happened so fast, and we had no choice but to stand there and let it all happen.”
“You had no idea?” Sam asks, frowning.
“No. We had just finished dealing with Bob when it all happened,” Bucky tells him.
“Who’s Bob?” Sam asks, looking even more confused.
“He’s not important,” Bucky mumbles. “Uh- not right now anyways. You know Valentina, and you know how power hungry she gets. She tried to kill us all for crying out loud. You think we’d wanna work for a scumbag like her?” He looks up at Sam.
“I didn’t know. I just… assumed. Shit, I’m so sorry Bucky,” Sam says.
Bucky shakes his head. “Don’t be sorry. We’ve both been dealing with so much shit lately, and… we haven’t really had time to actually talk about everything,” he mumbles with a shrug.
Sam sighs softly as he stares at Bucky, and reaches over to grab Bucky’s hand. “Buck, I’m going to start a new Avengers with a new group. I’m sorry. But, I promise I don’t care what you do with your group. You just can’t call yourselves the Avengers, and… you have to promise me that when the time comes, we’re not going to fight against each other,”
Bucky looks up at Sam. “You’re really going to make me call our group Thunderbolts?”
“ Thunderbolts ?” Sam snorts. “Who the hell came up with that name?”
“I don’t fucking know. It was probably Alexei. I wouldn’t be surprised,” Bucky scoffs.
Sam shakes his head. “Anyways. I’m sorry. I really am,”
“No, it’s okay. I get it. I do. You just… you can’t expect me to abandon them all. Like it or not, we’re a team now. I’m not going to abandon them,” Bucky warns.
“I’m asking you to abandon them,” Sam says. “In fact, I’d love to properly meet them.”
“Really?” Bucky asks, surprised. “I… you don’t have to. We’re not that great. We suck, actually.”
Sam can’t help but laugh, and leans forward to kiss Bucky on the lips. “Seriously? You saved New York City, babe. I don’t think that qualifies as sucking,”
“No, I mean it. You shouldn’t have any high expectations. We really suck. Except for Yelena. She’s actually pretty badass,” Bucky says. He looks at Sam. “Wait. So, we’re good?”
“Yeah, Buck. We’re good. We’ve always been good,” Sam assures him.
“Perfect. Can we go to bed now? I’m exhausted,” Bucky complains.
“Yeah? That makes two of us,” Sam says, and pulls Bucky towards the pillows, wanting nothing more than to cuddle with his boyfriend and sleep for the night.