The Grumpy Sunshine Series

The Clearance Conundrum

"What?" Steve gasps, his head whipping around to look at Bucky with an incredulous expression.

"I'm not going down with you! Do you know what F means? Do you?" Bucky frantically asks.

"It means you two would have to come to us for help. You don't even have access to the armory anymore!" Sam teases, his thumb jutting to the both of you. He turns to you with a cheeky grin, theatrically shaking your hand, "Anyways, welcome to the Clearance B Club."

"We meet every other Wednesday," Wanda cheekily adds.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you guys are having secret meetings?" Tony quickly interjects.

"But I was already at those meetings?" you quietly mutter to Sam, raising your hand over your mouth in a poor attempt to keep Tony from hearing about the not-so-secret meetings.

"I know," Sam shrugs. "But now it's official."

"Pinkie?" Tony calls in disbelief. "You're at these meetings?"

"Meetings? What meetings?" you scoff.

"To be fair... Bucky's at those meetings too," Sam interjects, throwing Bucky under the bus.

"Thanks for that," Bucky huffs, scowling at Sam. "Now, I'm not bringing snacks."

"You never bring snacks," Sam accuses. He juts his thumb in your direction, "She brings the snack."

"But I carry the trays," Bucky defends.

"Those little quiches were so good last time," Nat compliments.

"Who isn't at those meetings?" Tony incredulously demands.

"Er... just you and Steve," you reluctantly admit, wincing as you sink further into your seat.

"What?" Steve squeaks, his voice oddly high pitched compared to his normal tone.

"I'm sorry! We didn't think you could keep it a secret!" you guiltily exclaim.

"I am an excellent secret keeper, I've kept all of our secrets," Steve informs the entire table, wildly gesturing to defend himself.

"Like what?" Sam prompts, leaning further into the table with a mischievous smirk on his face.

"Oh, no, no, no, Sam," Steve objects, crossing his arms. "I'm not telling you because I am an excellent secret keeper."

"If you're such a great secret keeper, why did you just get your clearance taken away?" Wanda mutters under her breath.

"Because - because...." Steve stammers, fumbling for a valid reason.

"Because you can't keep a secret?" you supply.

"Yeah," Steve dejectedly sighs, his shoulders slumping in defeat.

"Alright, meeting adjourned," Tony exhales, swatting his hand away in the direction of the door. "Go. Before I take away everyone's clearance."

"Hey, Steve," Sam whispers as Steve stands up out of his seat. "Those secrets, tell me later?"

"You already know," Steve meekly admits.

Though Bucky was still sort of sulking around about his clearance taken away, the whole clearance issue had mostly been put to bed when you and Sam were called on to help with an assignment a few days later.

Other than a grumbling about how Sam was going to get to test all of Tony's new gadgets first, you thought the two super soldiers had mostly made peace with their standing for the next three months.

Or at least that's what you thought.

After helping a few agents wrap up an otherwise successful mission, you and Sam are boarding the Quinjet to head back to the Compound when you get a strange call from Bucky.