Everest

Chapter Six

"Morning, Sarge," Y/N's voice was heard from across the room as Bucky stirred and shifted from a type of sleep he hadn't experienced in ages. His body fatigued with the kind of rest he forgot existed. "First time I've seen you move since I've been up."

After retrieving the maps and new papers from the jet last night, Y/N concocted a drink for Bucky to help him sleep. He didn't have full faith in the tea as much as he did in the magic her hands tended to use, but he was proven terribly wrong about 10 minutes after drinking the concoction.

Bucky blinked slowly, easing his way out of sleep. The lingering feeling of shuteye was like a weighted blanket heaved over his whole body, begging him to sink back into the bed and take every last moment he could to actually relax. 

"I thought for a minute I may have overdosed you, but then I remembered that serum running through your veins and figured you'd be ok." When he looked at her, she was studying him from the table as if to double-check that her guess was right. "You feeling ok?" 

He hummed and using his voice even felt like a chore.

"If by ok you mean I have never slept as soundly before, yes," he smiled, only provoking a yawn that made her laugh. "But also, I don't think my body is used to this kind of-"

"Rest? Yeah, I can tell you have a little hungover," she chuckled, holding a new set of papers in her hands that were sprawled out, covering the wooden surface to the point you wouldn't know it was wood. Her gaze stayed on him, even if she was finicking with the blueprints before her. "I call it a magic hangover. Sometimes, when our body gets something it hasn't been well nourished in before, the after-effects are similar to a real hangover."

"That's what my body feeling like a giant paperweight is?" 

"Yeah, but no headache or nausea comes with it," she chuckled, pulling a leg up in her chair and turning her attention back to the papers in hand. "Give it 20 minutes, and it should ease up. If not, I'll even it out," she wiggled her fingers as a hint but furrowed her eyes at the paper she was reading as well. 

Bucky took a minute to haul himself out of bed, and once he did, he moved behind her to pour a cup of coffee while looking over her shoulder at the new information. A dash of cream and three sugars. That sweet tooth was for every kind of serving, not just for his favorite candy. 

"Tony, send anything useful?"

She hummed a sound that didn't sound too sure as she shuffled through some other copies and handed him a new map. 

"He found a layout to an abandoned coal mine that we can scope out today. Besides that, we may be out of luck with this town," she sighed, leaning back in her chair, her own coffee mug held between her hands now and still looking intently at the maps in front of her.

"If not this town, do you have an idea of where to next?" he asked. After the rest he had last night, he felt like he could go through twenty more rounds of travel with her if she asked him to.

She let out a long sigh of defeat and shook her head earnestly. "I really thought I figured it out, but I don't think we were fast enough..."

He looked over her shoulder, seeing her crushed disposition more than the lines on the maps littering the small table. When she didn't say anything and continued to manipulate the new resources in front of her, marking crossroads and spots where a hideout could be, he sat in the chair next to her. 

"Maybe that mine will have something. The clues are somewhere. We just have to keep looking for them."

She looked detached from the world for a second as she played out multiple scenarios in her head. Finally, she answered.