the dark sapphire -Bucky Barnes-

58

When Ally's and Bucky's plates were also empty, they put them on the nightstand before first Ally got ready in the bathroom and then Bucky carefully got out of bed under Ally's strict supervision. Only when Ally was sure Bucky could handle it on his own did she lie down on the bed while Bucky went to the bathroom to change.

"Can I take a shower tomorrow with this bandage on?" he asked Ally, who by now was comfortable on the bed and almost asleep when he came out of the bathroom. The temptation to tear everything away he had just been able to stand again, because he hated bandages, he hated injuries. "I'll take it off for you, then I can just take a look at what the wound looks like. But remember, you take it easy for the next few days. A gunshot wound like that is pretty hard to take" Ally said as Bucky lay down in bed next to her and she snuggled up to him.

"I guess you forget that the Super Soldier serum heals faster" Bucky countered as he put his arm around Ally and pulled her to him as best he could. "It doesn't work miracles though, Bucky. You need to take it easy, take it down a few notches, relax. We need you at full strength the next time Karpov comes" Bucky sighed as he ran his hand through her hair. "I know. I'll take it easy" he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Promise?" Ally mumbled, almost half asleep. "I promise, Doll" Bucky whispered in her ear.

The next morning Ally and Bucky got up together and Ally removed Bucky's bandage. She examined the wound, it didn't look bad, didn't seem to get infected or cause any other problems, so she calmly sent Bucky to take a shower while she looked for Sam.

Together with him she went up to the kitchen, prepared breakfast and went back to the room. Bucky had finished showering by now and Ally disinfected the wound before putting a new big band-aid on it and they all sat down on the bed to eat breakfast.

"So what's the plan now? Do we stay here for now or not?" Ally asked as she shoved a spoonful of cereal into her mouth. Sam shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Do we have any other option then? We need to stay hidden while Karpov is still after us and Bucky definitely needs a few more days of rest before we can get back into the fight" Ally nodded in agreement. "On the other hand, it's also dangerous for Lean and Marisa if Karpov were to track us down, which is why we can't stay too long either" Sam added, with Ally agreeing again.

"I think the best solution would be for us to stay here until Bucky is reasonably back on his feet and then..." Ally sighed and gave Bucky an apologetic look. "...Then we should call your contact at the agency, Sam. I don't care what they do to me. We can't beat Karpov by ourselves" Bucky was about to retort something when Sam forestalled him. "I think you're right, Ally. Even with your powers and our knowledge, we can't do anything against Karpov alone. Next time we might not be so lucky and he won't just hit Bucky's stomach" Ally nodded as Bucky shook his head vigorously.

"No, we're not doing that to Ally. They''ll treat her like a lab rat" Ally sighed "Bucky....we don't have a choice. You're hurt, I can't control my powers. We need help if we're going to defeat him" "but we're not sacrificing you for this" Bucky retorted. "i'm not being sacrificed after all. i'm doing it voluntarily and if it gets too much for me i'll say so and then you just get me out of there ok?" Bucky sighed. "she's right, Bucky. We really don't have a choice" Sam interjected. "Alright. We'll get help" he conceded defeat.

After Ally and Sam took the dishes back to the kitchen and washed up, they changed for practice. Bucky protested at first, since they wouldn't let him help train, but after Ally reminded him that he had promised her to stay on bed rest and she threatened that he wouldn't want to see her if he didn't keep the promise, he sullenly settled for the iPad Sam had given him to keep him occupied.

Sam had checked with Lean last night that they could work out in the basement and had even gotten them two yoga mats. Although Ally and he pushed everything aside as best they could, the space still wasn't big enough for them to fight each other safely, plus the floor was too hard to risk fighting on. They just decided to do some stretching, strength and endurance exercises on the yoga mat so that they would stay in shape somehow and Ally had to admit that Sam wasn't a bad training partner either, even if he wasn't as gracious as Bucky and that's why she lay on her mat completely exhausted after an hour and a half.

Sam settled down on the mat next to her with a grin and crossed his arms under his head. "Good workout" he said, grinning even more at Ally, who had to calm her breathing before she spoke. "I would have kicked your ass in a fight" she snorted, which made Sam laugh. "Then I'm lucky we're short on space" he replied, which made Ally laugh as well.

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