The room was still and peaceful as Bucky stirred. He revelled in the quiet and calm, somewhat surprised he had slept soundly for a night of undisturbed rest.
There was a gentle breeze coming in from the open window and the warmth from the sunshine washed over him as he lay with his eyes closed. Beside him, Elizabeth lay close enough he could feel her, but not touching him, and he rolled to his side. He could feel her watching him and opened an eye.
"Elizabeth Halsted, go to sleep."
Elizabeth smiled softly. His voice was thick with sleep and he cleared his throat as his eye closed again and he gripped her waist, pulling her closer to him.
"I am asleep," she giggled as his arm wrapped around her waist and he sleepily nuzzled into her, kissing her hair.
Bucky chuckled as he remembered his time in the medical tents, watching her work her magic and soothe soldiers through the night. He recalled the first night, and how he had been caught sneaking glances at her as he waited for her to rest. That was the first night he held her in his arms and felt her slip into a restful slumber. He had thought then that he knew what love was, that he knew what it meant to love her, but now, holding her close to him after everything he had done, knowing she had forgiven him for things she still did not fully comprehend, knowing she would always forgive him, he felt devotion. He was devoted to her.
"You're a terrible liar Lizzie," He unwrapped his arms from her as she pushed herself up and gently brushed his hair off of his face. His eyes flickered open and he watched her as her eyes ran over his face and down his chest.
"Oh well," she smirked as she leant in close, her lips just a whisper from his, "now that we're both awake..."
His hands gripped her hips as he rolled back, pulling her on top of him, and he kissed her hungrily. She giggled against his lips as she felt his hands move over her waist, pushing the silk of her pyjama top up. As she pulled away from his kiss and removed her top, Bucky's fingers traced over the freckles on her stomach and he smiled widely at her.
"You're so beautiful Lizzie." His fingers skimmed up and over her sternum, brushing along her collar bone as he pushed her hair back and gripped the back of her neck firmly before pulling her back to his lips as if she was the very air he needed to survive.
She was pressed up against him, her skin so soft and supple beneath his fingers, and he shifted quickly so that she was beneath him, his free hand slipping down her side.
"Note to self; always knock."
Bucky pulled off of Elizabeth suddenly, throwing himself between her and the doorway as he ripped the blanket from the bed and threw it over her quickly. His face flamed with poorly hidden discontent and annoyance. His eyes flashed with a dangerous darkness as he glared at the man now standing in the doorway with his hands over his eyes and an alarming shade of red creeping up his neck and over his cheeks.
"God dammit Steve!" He sighed as he flopped back onto the bed, trying to control the urge to throw the bedside lamp at his best friend. "What could you possibly want right now?"
Slowly Steve peeled his fingers from over his eyes, carefully peeking over to the bed and praying he didn't see any more of the girl he considered to be his baby sister. He couldn't help but laugh with relief when he saw Bucky laying next to what appeared to be a small lump covered by the sheet. A lump that was muttering.
"Oh God. Oh God. Oh God oh God oh God." Lizzie groaned from beneath the sheets, her mind racing as she desperately prayed that Bucky's reflexes had been fast enough to preserve her modesty.
As Steve laughed loudly she only felt the heat of her cheeks growing and she curled herself into a small ball.
"Hey Sweetheart," Steve grinned, "you coming out?"
Elizabeth groaned again before giggling slightly as she felt Bucky's arm wrapping around her waist and pulling her towards him without pulling the sheet off of her at all.
"No," she smiled as she felt Bucky press a kiss into her cheek through the sheet, "go away Steve."
"Okay then." Steve grinned at Bucky when he turned back to face him, trying desperately to commit the image of his dejected pout to memory. "Well, we're leaving in five."
Elizabeth pulled the sheet down so that she could peer over it and turned to face Steve.
"You're leaving?" she whispered. Her eyes were wide with worry and Steve suddenly felt a wave of guilt for ruining what had been such a simple, happy moment for the two of them.
"There's a lead on Rumlow. We're going to scope it out, get some information and see what's going on out there. Nothing major."
He smiled softly at her as the cover pulled down to her chin.
"Oh."
"Don't worry Lizzie, it's not a big mission I promise." He backed out of the room slowly. "So you two are free to... resume your activities."
Steve dove from the room at top speed as the pillow that had previously rested behind Bucky's head was launched swiftly at his own. His laughter bounced off of the walls as he listened to his two favourite people shout abuse at him from the safety of their room and his heart felt a little lighter than it had that morning.
Bucky turned to his side, pulling the cover down from Elizabeth's chin and holding her face as he spoke.
"You know, I know you love him but I think I'm going to kill Steve."
Elizabeth rolled her eyes as he kissed her, giggling against his lips.
"You," she pushed him back so that she could get out of the bed, "love him too."
His hands reached out for her as he flopped back onto the bed and he made grabby fingers as she moved to the bathroom.
"No Lizzie," Bucky groaned as he pouted, "come back to bed."
He heard her laughter peeling through the space as the water turned on and he smiled.
"Get out of bed Barnes. We've got to see the team before they leave."
*
Nat pulled Bucky to the small kitchen, away from the team, away from Lizzie.
"She's going to worry Barnes," her voice was hushed and serious.
"I know. I've got this Nat."
"I know you do Bucky, I know you'd do anything for her," she smiled as she opened a small drawer and pulled out another knife for her weapons collection. "But I wanted to check on you."
Bucky's brow furrowed as he took a seat at the island. "What?"
"I want to know you're okay? You've been through a lot these last few months and I know everyone checks on Lizzie with this stuff, but other than Steve I don't know if anyone has asked you if you're okay." Natasha shrugged nonchalantly, as if she wasn't being uncharacteristically kind to him.
"I'm..." he hesitated. "I'm actually pretty great Natasha."
"You sure about that James?"
A soft smile danced across his lips as the blue ice of his eyes melted into a warm sea.
"Yeah. I've got my Lizzie, and despite everything that's happened, everything I've done, she still wants to be with me. I couldn't be anything other than great."
Natasha smiled warmly at him as Thor popped his head into the kitchen.
"Lady Romanoff," he grinned as she rolled her eyes at his formality, "we're leaving. Barnes."
Thor offered a tight nod for Bucky before disappearing into the other room once more.
"Stay safe out there." Bucky stood and approached Nat tentatively, a little unsure of himself as he opened his arms and she watched him.
A soft chuckle escaped her as she watched him open and close his arms a few times before awkwardly looking away from her and she decided to cut him some slack. Quickly she wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed as he patted her back, a big smile forming as she pulled away.
"We're going to make sure you're both safe, just keep her calm while we're gone."
"Got it."
*
Lizzie was laying across the bed, gasping for breath as she laughed wildly. The team had been gone for almost three hours now and she and Bucky had spent the morning hidden away in her room. Bucky had watched her with the team as they prepared to depart and now he had one mission for the day: keep her distracted.
"Oh my God," she coughed, "Stop please. God I'm in love with an idiot."
Her laughter was loud and she wiped her eyes as tears fell. In front of her Bucky stood in a jumper and his boxers, swinging his hips and grabbing at the air in time with the music that was blasting through the room. He sang along a beat too late, trying to find words he didn't actually know as he shimmied and shook around her room.
"Come on, dance with me Lizzie." He dropped to his knees by the bed, grabbing her hands and kissing the tips of her fingers as she giggled. "You love dancing with me."
"I'm not joining you with that." She rolled to her side, still laughing as he got up again and grabbed her hairbrush from the nightstand, using it as a microphone for his out of time singing. "Nothing you're doing now is dancing Buck."
"You mean," he shook his shoulders and twisted his hips so that he could back up to her, "you don't like my moves Doll?"
Swiftly Bucky dove down and scooped her up into his arms, spinning her around as he continued his dance, before placing her down in front of him, his arms wrapped around her waist and hers around his neck as he smiled down at her.
"I'm hurt." He grinned as he leant into her, brushing his lips across her jaw. "You know Lizzie, we never did resume our activities this morning."
He kissed her softly at first; savouring the taste of her lips, the way she seemed to melt into his touch, the way she sighed as her lips parted and his tongue brushed against hers.
He felt the way her hands wound into his hair and his hands moved to the waistband of her jeans, hastily unbuttoning them as she pushed him towards the bed and pulled at the hem of his jumper.
As they crashed down on the bed, Lizzie giggling as he held her flush against him, the creak of floorboards snapped her attention away from him.
"As much as I love being alone with you Sergeant Barnes," she smiled as he grunted out a nonsensical complaint, "I think that was the team back. We should -"
"Go check on them. Yeah whatever." He rolled his eyes as she stood up, buttoning her jeans again and quickly checking herself in the mirror. "I'm kicking Steve's ass for this interruption, just so you know."
"Oh of course Metal Man," she winked as she sauntered over to the door, aware that his eyes were roaming her body as she walked away from him. "I'm sure you will."
Still laying where she left him Bucky laughed to himself. Despite all of the chaos and the threat and the danger, she still made him feel like he was floating on a cloud somewhere far away from it all. She had made him feel like that every single day since the moment he met her. He got to his feet quietly and pulled on some black jeans, thinking about the plan he had so willingly given up just days before and he realised there was one other thing he could include that would make it completely perfect for her.
The sound of shattered glass ripped him from his peace and his heart dropped to his stomach as he darted from the room and towards the kitchen, where Lizzie was now standing face to face with the man she had learned to loathe.