4.4 | Trigger ✓

03 | ржaвый

A/N

Out of curiousity, who's your favourite Marvel character? Mine has always been Emma Frost, but Steve Rogers / Peter Parker / Stephen Strange follow closely behind. Yours?

x Noelle

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(rusted)

THE NEXT FEW days passed in an almost surreal way.

She became used to Sam leaving his Falcon equipment lying around the house for her to trip over, while Steve's vibranium shield sat stoically in the corner, an ever-pressing reminder that she basically had America's pillar of patriotism living in her apartment. She overheard Bucky asking them how they managed to locate their gear to begin with, and Steve had made some vague remark about how Wakanda had everything that they needed – Vibranium, a remodel of the Falcon gear, even a duplicate of the drone that Sam called Redwing.

"Who needs Stark when there's T'Challa?" Sam had joked, even though the light in his eyes seemed to dim at the mention of the infamous Iron Man.

In spite of her protests, Sam insisted she take several days off work until he made sure they were safe. He and Sam had begun patrolling the neighborhood and although she thought their paranoia was unnecessary, she didn't question it.

Bucky, on the other hand, was a mystery she couldn't help but want to figure out. He was almost ghostlike – his presence was impossible to ignore, but he was frightfully silent unless directly addressed. Sam's usual quips went ignored by him, and it seemed that only Steve was able to get a reaction out of him. On one particular occasion, it seemed as though Steve had gotten through to him, and Dakota could've sworn she saw a glimpse of the person Bucky was before the war.

It had been sometime in the evening when Steve decided to head up to the roof. She'd been sitting on the couch next to Bucky, although he seemed adamant on keeping a safe distance from her.

Steve smiled at her and glanced at Bucky. "Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."

"How can I?" Bucky said flatly, his eyes still fixed avidly on the television, despite the fact that it was just some rerun of an old series playing. "You're taking all the stupid with you."

There was a beat of startled surprise. And when Dakota looked up at Steve, she saw a strange look on his face, a blend of nostalgia and stunned surprise. Steve blinked and shook his head, shooting Dakota a quick grin before looking back at Bucky. "You're a jerk."

It was clear that the words had triggered some old memory because Bucky had stiffened, and he slowly took his eyes off the television, his metal hand clenching around the remote control. "Punk," he muttered, keeping his eyes averted from both their gazes. He was staring at the table blankly, but Dakota could practically see the cogs whirring in his head as he thought. As he tried to remember. "Be careful."

Steve nodded and she rose to see him out. "He's remembering," he said to her out in the hallway. "Without all the running, he remembers better."

"Give him time," she said and patted Steve on the shoulder. She shut the door behind him and returned to the couch. As she curled her feet under her and sat down, she felt Bucky's eyes on her.

"Steve and I – we used to fight in the war together," he finally said in a low voice.

"I know." She smiled when he looked at her in surprise. "I saw your pictures in the museum. Howling Commandos. You were Sergeant Barnes."