Bucky made his way to the kitchen and let himself in. "Christian" he said happily, pouring himself a cup of coffee as he leaned against the counter.
"Bucky! So good to see you this morning, I was on my way up with breakfast in a few minutes. How is our girl?" Christian said in a cheery tone, sliding a plate across the counter for Bucky. He had made bear claws from scratch as well as rugelach cookies.
Bucky took a bite of the small pasty and his eyes lit up. "What is this?" He asked as he quickly popped the whole thing in his mouth.
"It is a polish pastry, basically a croissant wrapped up with filling and dusted in rock sugar. Do you like it? It's filled with pecans and cinnamon. These are filled with strawberry and chocolate. Try it!" Christian said happily, pushing a plate of the small pastries at Bucky.
Without hesitation Bucky popped the whole thing in his mouth. "You never cease to amaze me, Christian"
The two talked until it was time to serve breakfast, Bucky helped set the table and serve the team that had actually came down.
"Decide to trade in the hero life to be a waitress, Buck?" Sam said with a laugh. Bucky quickly pushed him out of his chair "You can't call me that" he said with a laugh. When everyone was served Bucky retreated to the kitchen.
"I will help you carry breakfast up to our girl, come on" Christian said with a smile as he loaded up the cart. Bucky added a 2 coffee mugs and a carafe filled with Christian's freshly made mango pomegranate juice for Peter, just in case. They made their way up to the penthouse together.
Bucky couldn't help but smile when he exited the elevator and saw Theo and Peter on opposite ends of the couch watching The Haunting of Hill House yet again, Theo had her feet in Peter's lap.
"Before you ask, I took my dose when your alarm went off" Theo announced either a smile. Bucky had forgotten his phone so he was grateful Theo was already awake.
"Good, and I brought breakfast" Bucky said with a smile. He came over and sat on the adjacent couch, Christian following and sitting with him.
"Good morning Prețiosul meu ((My precious in Romanian)) I'm not used to seeing you up so early, and it is good to see you Peter, it's been a while" Christian said, pouring a cup of coffee for Theo and handing it to her.
The four ate in silence as they watched Theo's favorite show, surprisingly Peter stayed. He offered to switch seats with Bucky, nervously. But Bucky refused, he knew his fiancee needed time with her former best friend and he didn't mind giving it to her. But he did steal looks at her every chance he got, many of them met with Theo already smiling at him.
"Well boys, I'd love to stay but the lab calls me" Theo said as she climbed up off the couch. "Parker you might want to go train" she added with a laugh, retreating to the bedroom to get dressed for the day.
"Is there a mission coming up?" Christian said, puzzled.
"No, I'm kicking the kids ass tomorrow" Bucky added with a laugh. "Theo's orders, no mercy, no tap outs. She decides when he's had enough"
Peter laughed nervously, he didn't realize Theo ordered no tap out. He was screwed.
"I'm just kidding, kid. You can run" Bucky added, clapping a firm hand on Peter's leg before following Theo to the bedroom. Christian quietly cleaned up breakfast and left the penthouse, Peter looked around nervously but then also left to find Sam and ask him to train with him for the day.
"How was your morning with Parker? I heard he apologized" Bucky said, coming up and wrapping his arms around her waist from behind.
"He's trying, it'll be a while before we're friends again but I like where we got today. I'm sorry he stayed, I know you don't like him" Theo admitted, leaning her head back onto his chest.
"Doll, I don't dislike the kid, I hate how he made you feel" Bucky started kissing her shoulder and up to her neck lightly, causing Theo to let out a small pleasurable groan.
"Do you still want no mercy tomorrow? Or do you want me to spar with him?" He asked, still kissing up and down her neck and shoulders, leaving little bites occasionally.
Theo closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of him all over her again. She held onto his arms and happily sighed, tuning out the rest of the world.
"Doll?" Bucky pulled away from kissing after a few minutes without a response. Theo let out a small whimper and spun around in his arms to face him.
"Spar. I'm angry with him but it's not fair to you to make you be ruthless" she sighed, laying her head down on his chest while she tightly wrapped her arms around his torso. "I'm sorry I even asked you to do that"
"Don't be, I would've done it if you wanted me to, it's not like I would've killed the kid" he leaned down and kissed her forehead several times until she finally giggled and looked up at him.
"Let's get dressed, I know you have work to do in the lab." He finally said, leaning down to press a soft kiss on her lips.
"I would like you to come down with me, if you're willing. I have to check in with Wanda and Pietro" Theo admitted. Bucky was more than happy to accompany her in the lab. The two finally separated long enough to let get dressed. Theo put on Tony's long sleeve Black Sabbath shirt and a pair of salmon colored biker shorts that barley peeked out from the shirt.
The two walked down to the lab together, Bucky right behind her. He didn't spend a lot of time down there so he wasn't sure what to do.
"Okay, I'll get you on a call with the twins but I have to help Scott out in the other room. Is that okay?" Theo asked.
"Of course it is, doll. You know I'll take a thorough report. If I need you I'll call. I love you" Bucky said happily, wrapping his arms around her waist.
"I love you" Theo replied with a big smile, reaching up to him for a kiss. Bucky met her halfway, their kiss was loving and hungry. Theo didn't want to break away but she did, she had work to do.
"Hey, nugget" Scott said happily as he walked into the lab and rushed to hug Theo.
"Hey, Scott did you bring the suit?" Theo and Scott walked off together into Tony's part of the lab to take a look at Scott's suit. He was complaining about the stability of the suit when he uses it to grow, he feels like it's not as stable and durable when he's big. The two intended to work on a solution together.
Bucky headed to the computer, the call with Wanda and Pietro connecting a few minutes later. Turns out someone did get ahold of old Stark weapons and was selling them to the enemy. Wanda told Bucky all about the weapons and how many they had. Pietro filled him in on how many men were involved and where they seemed to be coming from. The weapons were coming from Russia. Bucky made extensive notes and ask for every detail he could think of. He was already uneasy knowing it would be an argument to convince Theo not to go. When the call was over he avoided Theo and went to find Bruce on the other end of the lab.
"What can I do for you, Bucky?" Bruce said without looking up from his computer.
"I know you told Theo 8 more weeks but I'm wondering if there's any chance she can be cleared sooner" Bucky blurted out.
"I'd need to examine her, but I already feel like I'm pushing it to release her in 8 weeks. Why?"
Bucky sighed and sat down in one of the chairs. "Somehow the Russians are dealing Stark weapons in Iraq. I don't know if I'm gonna be able to convince Theo not to go when I tell her"
"Get her in here for an exam and I'll see what I can do. No promises" Bruce responded before turning his attention back to the computer.
"Thanks, Bruce" Bucky said as he left to find Theo.
Scott was gone now but Theo stayed back to finish up on the suit. She added nanotechnology to his suit so that no matter what size he needs he's protected. Bucky was always blown away by how smart she was, she really was a genius like Tony.
"Are the twins okay?" Theo asked when she finally looked up and noticed Bucky standing in the doorway. He sighed and crossed the lab, sitting next to her. "They're fine, on their way home tomorrow"
"Any updates on the weapons?" Theo added, if they were coming home they must have gotten the intel she needed.
"They are being sold" he admitted. "Somehow the Russians are the dealers"
Theo felt her blood boil. "I have to stop them." Bucky wrapped his arms around her "I know, doll, we will. But you have to stay. You're not ready"
"Buck, I can't stand back and watch my fathers legacy be handed to the enemy. I can't" she felt the tears fighting their way to the surface but Bucky pulled her closer to his chest, letting the tears free fall.
"I know. You're going to get checked out by Bruce to see if he can release you, but please don't fight me on this if he doesn't. I'll take the whole team and we'll fix this. I promise you, doll" Bucky vowed, he pulled her into his lap and held onto her for dear life while she silently sobbed into his shoulder.
"We won't let Tony's name get destroyed, we'll destroy the weapons and put a stop to the sales. I promise, doll." Bucky rubbed her back while he attempted to soothe her.
Theo continued her silent sobs into his shirt for a while, she felt like everytime she started to calm down she got worked back up. "Talk to me." Bucky whispered into her ear.
Theo sighed and turned her head to look up at Bucky with her puffy tear stained face. "I feel helpless. I haven't felt helpless since I was 15 in Romania."
Bucky tightens his grip on Theo and lays his head down onto hers. "I'm so sorry, Doll. I just need you to depend on us for a little longer, Bruce wants to see you today and he'll give you an update on your progress"
"I trust you, Buck. I just need to do more..."
"I know. Soon. Let's go see Bruce, then we'll know how long we're looking at." Bucky says, standing up with Theo in his arms, walking them to Bruce's section of the lab.
As soon as they walked into the lab Bruce rushed to the two. "Is she hurt?" Bucky shook his head but sat Theo down on Bruce's exam table. "She's fine, just upset about the weapons"
"Bucky you can step outside, I'm gonna do a full exam" Bruce says but Theo grabs Bucky's arm before he walked off. "No. He can stay. Bruce he literally helped you scrape burnt dead skin off my back while I screamed bloody murder. I think he can see me bend over and cough" Theo jokes.
Bucky couldn't hold back from laughing, Bruce rolled his eyes. But he obliged, having Theo strip to nothing and fully examined her burns as well as her mobility in her joints. He did a few scans for internal injuries but overall she was healthy.
"I don't know how, but you're cleared to go back to work. You healed much faster than I thought" Bruce admitted.
Theo sighed, she knew why. "Let's not forget I'm the failed experiment of the super soldier serum. I'm sure that's why"
"I forgot about that, Theo. May I run some tests about the serum you were given? It's not necessary but it might help if you're ever injured again" Bruce pleaded. Theo agreed and Bruce took several vials of her blood as well as bone marrow and spinal fluid. By the time Theo left the lab she was exhausted and in a world of pain. Bucky had to hold her down for the bone marrow sample.
Bucky carried her out of the lab as she drifted in and out of consciousness in his arms. Peter saw the pair and followed behind them, insisting to know what had happened. He followed them all the way to their penthouse but stayed in the livingroom while Bucky laid Theo in bed and covered her up.