Red Star ✴️ Bucky Barnes X Reader

19: Morning Jog @ 3 A.M.

Bucky jumped up from bed when he felt a light touch graze his arm. In his surprised stupor, he looked up to see that famous Steve Rogers' smile.

"Good morning!" Steve whispered.

Bucky just groaned. "What time is it?"

"3 A.M."

Bucky rubbed his eyes, letting out a small yawn. "And why are you up at 3 A.M.?"

"Because I set an alarm."

Bucky rolled his eyes. "Ok, but why did you set an alarm for three-in-the-fucking-morning?"

"Language. Secondly--" Steve scolded, "it's time for our morning jog."

Bucky squinted his eyes in confusion. "Wait, but I thought we weren't allowed to leave the palace?"

Steve shrugged. "And since when did I follow the rules?"

Bucky couldn't help but chuckle. "You were singing a different tune last night."

Steve's lips tightened against his teeth. "Yeah, but Bowman made a really good point. You still need-- deserve to be treated like the core component of the team you are."

Bucky smiled, glad to see his friend on his side.

"Then let's go for a jog."

---

It was a crisp early-morning with street lamps still illuminating most of the city. There was one garden square right outside the palace, though, that mysteriously had the lights out. Bucky eyed the series of broken street lamps in confusion.

"Is this your doing?" Bucky inquired while grabbing one of the nearby poles.

"Maybe." Steve smirked. "Maybe I got some help."

"From who?"

"Shuri."

"Of course!" Bucky chuckled as he leaned his back against the lamp post. His eyes glinted with childish amusement. After last night, it was nice to see his friend taking the effort to stick up for him. "Ready to run?"

"Yup." Steve answered in the affirmative, slowly walking up next to Bucky before the two went off running around the park.

They did a few rounds at full speed, but after about an hour of actual cardio, the duo eventually slowed to a meandering jog to talk like old friends do.

"You feel ready to break into one of the world's most secure prisons?" Steve joked.

Bucky chuckled. "About as ready as I'll ever be. But I wish we had more time to prep with Bowman. It's clear she's got cryo rot."

Steve looked at him questioningly.

"When you're first out of the cryo chamber, it takes a while for your super-soldier-ness to kick back in properly. The longer you're in, the more it disorients you." Bucky chuckled. "It's part of why they shock you before giving you commands. It ignites your fight-or-flight, helps override that system."

Steve nodded, thinking back to when he first got out of the ice. He was completely unconscious for days after they excavated him: Bucky's explanation made a lot of sense.

"So is there any lasting damage?"

Bucky shook his head. "It's not too bad, just takes a while to get back into the swing of things."

Steve chuckled. "I think it's actually kind of good for her. She's got a pompous confidence about her that really needed to be taken down a few rungs."

Bucky shrugged. "I mean, I can't disagree. But think about it: she was part of the world's most elite death squad. They got more kills than anyone in HYDRA history..."

Steve shot Bucky an odd look.

"...before the serum."

Steve shook his head, dismissing Bucky's words. "For one of the deadliest killers in world history, she really can't take a punch."

"Oh c'mon, she's trying." Bucky scolded. "You gotta give her credit for that."

Steve nodded, before letting out a short laugh. "Well, she's got a lot to work on... especially her sarcasm."

Bucky gave a sly smile. "Really? I didn't notice."

Steve shot Bucky a confused look.

"I'm being sarcastic."

"Ohhhhhh...." Steve nodded before letting out a short laugh. "Hah! Funny."

"Not as funny as it's going to be when you eat my dust!" Bucky joked, moving from a jog back into a full-on run.

"Try me, Barnes!" Steve yelled back, running after his friend.

---

They finally turned in at 5 A.M. just as the sun began to barely lighten the dark black sky. Just as they walked up the steps to the palace, the lights for the park flicked back on.

"Remind me that I owe Shuri a day's help in the lab."

Bucky chuckled. "Of course you promised her that."

The happy mood was abruptly cut off by one King T'Challa, who stood at the door with his arms crossed like an angry parent.

"I thought we agreed no leaving the palace."

"It's a midnight jog--"

"SOMEone could see you, just--" T'Challa pinched the bridge of his nose. "That's not what's important right now."

Bucky and Steve shot each other worried glances before turning back to T'Challa.

"Captain, we have a problem."

---

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

If you're reading this AFTER 6/25/2021, you're good. Skip this.

If you're one of the three people who read it before then, I made some edits after realizing this chapter did not set up the next correctly. It's just a small change in Bucky and Steve's tone of conversation, nothing majorly plot related :)