Riding Out This Storm

The Ones I Could Hear Them Singing

The sound of one of the bedroom doors opening caused them to break apart. Steve ducked his head, smiling at her before turning to the noise that had interrupted their enjoyable reunion. Sharon returned the expression, but it faded quickly as Barnes appeared in the doorway, looking haggard. It was clear that Steve had the same reaction because he started forward.

"I'm fine," Barnes insisted.

One of the more surprising things she'd found about the Winter Soldier was his voice. It always caught her off-guard to hear it, maybe because of how soft it was, or how it always sounded a little hoarse – like he'd just woken up. Not something to be expected from one of the most feared assassins on the planet. Of course, Natasha could be considered in that boat, and her voice was similarly unlikely for an assassin. Perhaps it was just a surprise to hear someone in that line of work talk at all. In any case, she'd heard Natasha speak far more so it was less of a surprise when she did so.

Steve stopped in his tracks, glancing back at Sharon briefly. "Did you find anything?" he asked his friend.

"Yeah." Looking like he had no intention of continuing, Barnes headed for the couch and dropped onto it heavily after setting her laptop down very carefully on the table.

Sharon and Steve exchanged a look before heading toward the other couch. Steve didn't let go of her hand which made her cheeks warm. "Can you tell us?" she asked gently.

"Sorry for interrupting," was the only response as Barnes stared intently at his hands, which were clasped in front of him.

It was irrelevant but she couldn't help wondering if the self-comforting gesture was limited by the fact that one of his hands was (presumably) cold and metallic. "It's not a problem," Steve insisted, putting his free hand on Barnes's shoulder.

"Particularly if you've found any leads for me," Sharon added smoothly, predicting that giving him an immediate option to do something good might lessen the weight of having to dwell on the bad things he'd done. Barnes didn't answer right away and she felt Steve tense beside her. His jaw was clenched in that way of his and she was concerned that she'd taken the wrong approach.

"We can talk about it in the morning." The tone Steve used was possibly more commanding than he'd intended, and she glanced at him sharply.

Barnes snorted. "You two can take the bedroom if you want. I'm sure I won't be sleeping."

That quickly diminished Steve's intensity, and she would have been amused by his embarrassment if she weren't feeling it herself. They looked at each other for half a second before both looked away, blushing and uncomfortable with the suggestion. He released her hand to fold both arms over his chest, looking at the ground. She liked him, certainly, a great deal. And he was... very handsome. But she didn't know she was ready to hop into bed with him. He clearly felt the same way, which was something of a relief while still being vaguely insulting.

"Maybe next time," she managed to say.

It occurred to her that Barnes looked like he was suppressing a smile, and she frowned with the thought that he'd brought that up on purpose. To distract them. Well, it had worked quite effectively. She had expected that kind of gentle manipulation from Natasha, but not from him. Clearly she was wrong to think he was just a lost boy from the forties with a sordid history. She reminded herself that he was HYDRA's best resource for years and that couldn't only be from his sharpshooting skills.

"Alright," Bucky conceded, watching Steve, who was apparently speechless.

Sharon reached for her laptop and opened it, seeing a handful of files were still open. "These are the ones?"