part time soulmates, full time problem

One Bed

Tony's reasoning for pairing you with Bucky was supposedly because he thought you'd blabber your little secret to Clint or Wanda the first chance you got. Nat, Sam and Steve were on the front lines, and Bruce was staying back at the compound. When you asked about Rhodey or Peter or Vision, Tony mumbled something and walked off.

You secretly tried to swap to get Clint as your partner, but Sam refused, asking too many questions about why you had to swap until you got uncomfortable and just left the room. The rest of the team were doing more active recon, and while you didn't want to be stuck in a tiny safehouse with Bucky for two days, you just weren't ready to run back into the action. You'd only had four night sessions with Tony and Bruce so far, and in each one you did something that surprised you.

The first night, you'd thrown Bruce into the wall. The second, you'd ripped one of Tony's suit arms clean off. The third, Tony had caught you by surprise and made you fall onto the knife you were using, but you didn't notice you'd stabbed yourself in the side until Bruce commented on the blossoming red stain on your shirt. And the fourth? The fourth was embarrassing. You'd jumped to try and grab hold of Tony as he flew in the air around you, and you'd crashed straight into the ceiling, because apparently you could now jump like a fucking kangaroo.

So, here you were, climbing into a car with Bucky at the wheel, heading out of the compound to where you would be spending two days locked in a safehouse with Bucky, while staring at the computer screen and staring out the window to try and catch a glimpse of something.

The drive there was tense. It was like he knew every little thing that would grab your attention. Turning the steering wheel with one hand. Putting a hand on your seat while he turned to look out the rear window to reverse out of the garage. Flicking the radio station over without looking. Shifting in the seat to stretch his legs out. Pushing his sleeves up.

Okay so it was all really mundane stuff. But you realised that if this was getting you hot and bothered, you were really getting close to snapping. You needed to have this conversation soon.

You tried to keep the conversation short and superficial, mostly talking about the mission. Eventually, you made it to the safehouse, but it felt like it had taken three times the effort and four times as long as planned. You dropped your bags into the house while Bucky checked the doors and windows were all locked. You'd gone to the kitchen to start putting your food and drinks into the fridge, when he came out of the bedroom with an odd look on his face. It wasn't until you'd closed the fridge and stood up that you noticed it.

"What?" You asked.

"There's one bed." He said simply. But there was a ghost of a smile on his lips.

Of course there was. Because there was always only one bed. You took a breath in.

"Well we'll be on opposite shifts, so we take turns." You replied, before turning back to the bags and grabbing the one for the bathroom.

"That's it?" He asked as you passed him, starting to unpack your shampoos and toothbrushes. "Your answer is that we take turns?"

"What else do you want me to say?" You asked, still focused on your task and definitely not looking at his reflection in the mirror you were standing in front of.

You didn't want to spend time thinking of bed options with Bucky. Clearly, whenever you were near him you didn't think straight, evident by the itching you felt to just grab him and push him against the wall. Until you had this conversation, you couldn't even entertain the idea of sharing a single bed. When you had unloaded the bag, you went to walk out of the bathroom and found him still standing in the doorway.

"Figured you'd have some kind of comment." He said. "Or are you still ignoring me?"

"No comment at all. We'll take turns, end of."