Behind closed doors

Chapter 3

As soon as he made it to his room he collapsed onto his bed, eye lids heavy and wishing that he could be somewhere safe.

'Stay safe.'

He wasn't safe anywhere.

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*Location- Rouge hideout*

Bucky kept his expression impassive as he walked back into the warehouse, sticking to the shadows to make sure no one saw him. He couldn't stop thinking about Peter, the kid he had helped. Something about the kid just didn't sit right with Bucky.

Whether it was just how skinny the kid was.

How scared he was through it all.

How he had seemed so shocked to receive help, and how grateful he seemed when Bucky had offered him some food.

Or the fact that he had agreed rather quickly to Bucky saying how it was bullies who had already hurt his stomach and chest. That was the one that stood out for him, he seemed so scared when Bucky had asked about it, his eyes flashing with what Bucky could only think of as a memory of sorts.

He really hoped that if the kid needed he would go back there, even if Bucky wasn't there, he just wanted to make sure he had a place to go if he needed. It confused him slightly why he wouldn't even let Steve come with him, and yet he invited a kid who he doesn't even know to go there whenever he needed.

But something told him that he had done the right thing, he knew if Peter needed help again Bucky would happily help.

He's never been a fan of kids, but Peter he can stand. He would happily spend time with him if he wanted. He frowned to himself not understanding where all of this was coming from, he met the kid today and yet it doesn't feel like it.

Bucky sighs silently with a small shake of his head, the kid probably won't even come back. But he knows he helped him so that's good and he knows he told him he could come back there whenever he needed. Bucky had made sure to leave a little more food there if the kid were to need it and some extra blankets and pillows.

"What are you brooding about?" Natasha asks, coming from seemingly nowhere and looking at him with her analysing stare. She could tell something was different about him, his usual heavy and tired expression seemed to have lightened slightly and his eyes were sparking with what she could work out as protectiveness that she had only ever seen in his eyes when protecting Steve.

Bucky closed off his expression, making his eyes blank, knowing the spy would be able to notice the slight difference in him.

"Nothing," Bucky grunted, wanting her off his back. He didn't want to tell any of them about Peter just yet, he didn't even know if he would see the kid again and he really didn't think it would be a good idea if he suddenly met all of them.

Natasha narrowed her eyes at him, she could see as his whole form changed as soon as she had spoke and she wondered what it was he was hiding.

"Hmm, it better not be anything even more incriminating Barns," she growled, no real bite in her voice, but Bucky knew she was being serious.

"It's not," he replies shortly, not wanting to talk about it anymore. Before she could reply though, he was already walking away.

He walks over to where Steve is and sits silently beside him. Steve startles slightly, not having heard his best friend walk over. Steve can tell something has happened, he just can't work out if it's good or bad just yet.

"Are you okay Buck?" Steve asks, his voice taking on a softer tone, knowing Bucky isn't one for talking about his emotions, or really anything to do with him.

Bucky thinks for a moment, contemplating telling Steve the truth or not. He knew Steve wouldn't judge him for it, the both of them had seen each other at their lowest and their highest. And something about Peter really wasn't sitting right with him, he just couldn't put a finger on it yet.

With a small, almost inaudible sigh, Bucky shakes his head. "I'm not sure Steve," he replies honestly.

Steve frowns, wondering what could have happened while he was out. He knew this wasn't about what had happened. This was something new. "What happened?" Steve questioned lightly.

Bucky shakes his head a little, but nonetheless replies, "something just isn't sitting right with me."

Steve was going to ask more, but he could tell from the tone of his voice that he wasn't going to say anything more about it. So Steve stays silent, sitting beside his friend as he allows him to think about something, while Steve thinks over his own problem.

Bucky was grateful Steve didn't ask anymore of it and instead they sat there silently, basking in each other's company without having to say anything to one and another.

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*Location- Stark Tower*

Tony swallowed down the last of the contents in the bottle before standing up abruptly. He hadn't left the lab in over a week and he knew he needed to. Part of him just wanted to stay here forever, but he also knew he needed to try and deal with this.

Ross to be more precise.

The man wanted the rouge avengers found and placed in the raft and wanted Tony to help. As much as he was hurt by what happened between them all, they were still thought of as family to Tony, and he wouldn't help anyone to put them into a shitty jail.

Yet still, the man wouldn't stop bugging Tony in pursuing them.

Instead, he was trying to work out a way to fix the accords. He knew Steve wouldn't agree to them if he asked him again, so he was trying to change it and make it more flexible. He could understand Steve's anger for the accords, but that still doesn't make Tony like him anymore for what he had done. He had left him to die in that wasteland with a shield having just been embedded within his chest.

As for the other one, Barns, Tony wasn't sure how he felt. On one hand, he hated the man more and more with each day; the video of him murdering his parents- his mother- repeating over and over again as he watched the merciless killer end their lives, no remorse in his actions or face. But then, when he thinks back to the day of the fight, he could see the remorse and sorrow in his eyes. He knew deep down it wasn't Barns fault but actually HYDRA's, but Tony still finds it hard to find it within himself to not think of it as Barns who had done.

Shaking his head with a sigh be stumbled his way out of the lab, silently readying himself to deal with the others and their questions.

He is able to make it halfway to his bathroom before three figures move to stand in front of him, faces hard with both concern and anger.

Sighing once again all Tony can think to himself is that this will be a long, long day. 

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A/N- :D

2.6k words 

- Bear xx