Steve Rogers has a little sister, Norma Grace Rogers, who became an Army nurse during the war. Captured in Italy, Grace is taken by HYDRA, unbeknownst to Steve and Bucky. They find her frozen in a forgotten HYDRA outpost 70 years later, her memory g...
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As stealthily as he could, Steve sneaked into the common room to find Bucky and Grace still fast asleep on the couch. Steve, Nat and Sam had just returned from a mission a few minutes ago, and Steve immediate came to see if his best friend and his sister were still where the picture Clint sent indicated.
Steve could not help but grin softly at the pair. Grace had shifted so that she was stretched out on the couch and her head now rested on Bucky's chest, her hand loosely fisting in a fold of his shirt. His arms were no longer crossed over his chest, but his flesh hand covered hers. They looked more at peace than Steve had seen them in a long time.
He hated to wake them, but Steve knew that Bucky would be suffering from a crick in his neck in the morning if he slept slouched on the couch all night. Lightly, Steve nudged Bucky's leg with his knee.
"Bucky."
"...Hmm..."
"Buck, you need to wake up, pal."
Slowly, Bucky opened his eyes. He glanced down, found Grace sleeping on his chest, and froze, eyes wide.
"It's not what it looks like, I swear-"
Steve shook his head. "It's okay, Buck; I know," Steve whispered. "Let's just get you two to bed."
Bucky nodded and gently shook Grace's shoulder. "Grace, wake up. Film's over."
Grace stirred, but tried to bury her face further into Bucky's chest.
"Come on, Gracie. We gotta get you to bed," Steve tried, kneeling by her.
"...Sleeping..." she mumbled.
"I know, Babydoll," Bucky murmured, gently finger-combing her curls away from her face. "but we gotta get up and back to Steve's."
"...mmm..." Grace just wrapped her arm all the way across Bucky's chest as far as she could reach.
Took a lot of effort for Steve to keep a straight face. "Come on, Gracie; I've got ya." He gently loosed her grip from Bucky's shirt so that his friend could slip out from under her. With one smooth motion, Steve scooped Grace up, her head settling on his shoulder.
They rode the elevator to Steve's floor in a comfortable, sleepy silence. When the doors dinged open, Steve headed straight for his room to lay Grace down. "Good night, Bucky."
"'Night, punk," came the reply. Bucky went over to Steve and, tucking a curl behind her ear, brushed a kiss to Grace's temple. "'Night Grace," he murmured before he realized what he had done.
"...G'night...Sarge..." she mumbled.
Steve, pretending nothing happened, just turned, walked into the bedroom, and tucked Grace in. When he came out, Bucky was still standing the same spot as before, eyes wide.
"Steve, I...that wasn't...I mean, I-"
Steve silenced him with a hand on either shoulder. "Buck, it's fine. Really."
"But-"
"You didn't do anything wrong," Steve answered firmly, then softened. "Go to bed, Bucky."
Nodding, Bucky headed to his room. Closing the door softly behind him, he leaned against the back of it and slid down to the floor. What was going on with him? He could not remember being so openly affectionate with Grace before the war. So why was he now?
Bucky closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the door, thoughts and half-remembered memories swirling around his brain. It would be awhile before he could actually go to sleep.
