Steve POV:
Late night talks turned into sleeping in late for the first time in forever. It was almost noon and as much as I didn't want to risk waking Amelia I needed to get up. I silently roll out of bed and throw on a pair of grey sweats and head for the kitchen. It doesn't take me long to figure out that Bucky didn't make it back last night and I was getting concerned. I tried calling, but he sent me to voicemail multiple times until I finally gave up. I know he'll show up eventually.
"Damnit Bucky..." I groan, watching the coffee brew.
"Morning, Stevie." Amelia's sleepy voice sounds from behind me. I turn around, half expecting her to be in my shirt again, slightly disappointed that she's in her own clothes but a smile breaks out on my face nonetheless.
"Morning, Princess. I've got coffee going."
"Where's Bucky?" She asks, padding across the floor to sit on one of the bar stools across the kitchen island between us.
"I'm not sure, he never came home last night."
"Is he on a mission or something?"
I shake my head, "I don't think so baby, he would've called... Or texted at least."
"Oh..." She looked so disappointed by that. I turn around and pour us a mug of coffee and set one in front of her. She smiles again and takes a sip. "Vanilla... How'd you know which creamer I liked?"
"I didn't, Bucky must have got it. I just remembered that you don't drink it black." I notice a hint of a blush on her face. "How are you feeling? I didn't hurt you last night, did I?"
She shakes her head, her dark hair falling in her face. "No, you didn't hurt me. I'm a little sore, but I'll be alright." My phone chimes, I check it, and read a text from Bucky:
Need to talk to you. Get Amelia somewhere else.
I groan internally think quickly to cover up whatever is going on. "Princess, why don't you go take a shower? It'll help with the soreness. I'll have breakfast done when you get out.. and hopefully I'll figure out where Bucky is too."
She nods her head and hops off the barstool, grabbing her mug. "Alright, but I'm taking this with me. Coffee is a writer's fuel, after all." She chuckles a little and kisses me on the cheek before heading to the bathroom. I start to text Bucky back to let him know that she's out of the room when he comes through the door. I drop the phone on the counter. "Where the hell have you been?"
"Following a lead. Coffee?"
I nod my head and fill a mug for him. "You can't just leave like that."
He takes a sip and shakes his head. "She's got a problem, she just doesn't know she has a problem."
"What do you mean?"
Bucky looks over his shoulder, checking that Amelia wasn't behind him. He lowers his voice a little, "Somebody bugged her place."
"Who?" I ask, watching Bucky take another sip of his coffee.
"I don't know, but we're going to find out."
"Find out what?" Amelia's sudden appearance caught us both off guard. She crosses her arms and looks at both of us.
"You're supposed to be in the shower, missy."
"I know, but I heard Bucky and wanted to see him first."
"Alright, well, you saw him. Shower. Now."
"But Steevve," she whines.
Bucky stands up and hugs her tightly to his chest, cutting off any further complaints. "How about I join you in a minute doll? I'll help you wash your hair or something."
Amelia nods her head, giving in to him immediately. "Yeah, I guess... but don't take too long. I'm already a little upset with you."
"Me? What did I do?"
"You stayed out all night and didn't even bother to call."
Bucky chuckles a little and leans down to kiss her forehead, "you're right I didn't, and I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you, little one. Go shower, I'll be there in a minute."
"Alright." She rolls her eyes and moves out of his grip. We watch as she turns around and heads back to the bathroom, waiting a minute to make sure the shower turns on and she actually gets in this time.
Who could be stupid enough to stalk her after I dropped her off that morning? The wheels in my head were already turning. I wanted to get to the bottom of this as fast as possible, and damn sure without Amelia getting involved in any way. "What about the neighbor?"
"Devon?" Bucky scoffs. "He plays a lot of video games, but I don't think he's smart enough for it."
"How much is a lot?"
"Pretty much all he does."
"Hm... What about the ex? What was his name again? John?" Bucky's jaw twitches and I raise an eyebrow. "What is it?"
"John's last name... is Walker."
"She was with that prick? No wonder she's scared. How the hell did she even come into contact with him?!"
"No clue." He takes another sip of his coffee and shakes his head. "He's got the brain, but I don't think he's got the balls."
"How'd you even find out about this?"
"Natasha. She found a few cameras around her apartment. We thought at first that Amelia had them installed until we found the one in the bathroom... Pointed at the shower."
My mouth dropped and I felt my blood begin to boil. "What?"
"Exactly. Now do you understand why I stayed there last night? I'm trying to send the message to back off our girl before this shit goes bad... Plus, I wanted every fucking camera out of her place."
"Are you going to tell her?"
"Hell no. We're keeping this quiet until we know who's stalking her. Then, we'll deal with it. For now, just let her be happy."
"Did you get all of them?" I ask, noticing slight apprehension on his face. "Bucky... you did take the cameras out, right?"
He shakes his head, "No... They're the only lead we have right now."
"Damnit, Buck, I thought you didn't want him to see her anymore."
"You're right, I don't, but I have a plan before I keep the camera on a loop of the empty room."
"What do you mean?"
"Don't worry about it. I've got it covered."
I sigh, "If you do anything to get her hurt, I swear to god I'll kill you."
"Relax, Stevie, nobody's gonna do anything to her."
I roll my eyes and take the last sip of my coffee. "Whatever. Just make sure she stays safe."
"You know I wouldn't let anything happen to her."
"I know, just... go in there and make her happy." His brow furrows and he looks at me like I have two heads, it's adorable. "You're cute when you're playing dumb. Amelia was asking about you all night. She's worried, go take a shower with our girl. I'll start looking deeper into the people around her. See if I can find anything new."
He smiles and stands up. "There's a file started on her. Ask Natasha, she'll give it to you."
I nod my head, "yeah, thanks." I'm still annoyed that Natasha was involved while I was kept in the dark about everything. I love Bucky, he knows that, but this felt like betrayal to me. He kisses me on the cheek and puts his mug next to the sink. I look down at the counter, "don't keep things like this from me anymore. We're in this together."
"I felt like I had to. I know you wanted her to be with us sooner, but I didn't want us getting involved and fucking up her life." He wraps his arms around my waist and kisses the crook of my neck. "She lights up a room, I didn't want that to go away because of us."
I smile softly, "yeah, you're right. We were going through a lot the past few months. It would've dulled her shine if she was involved."
"Exactly, now we just have to make sure nothing stupid like that happens anymore. We need to keep her separate from the Avenger stuff." He was right, and I knew he was but Bucky underestimates how much of our life is actually consumed by being Avengers. Until recently, he didn't go on as many missions as the rest of the team did, I think it's left him with a rosy view of our lives as heroes. He kisses me again before releasing his grip. "Alright, I'm going to join our girl in the shower."
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A.N.
Hey guys!! Not a great part this week, sorry! I ended up having 5 teeth pulled instead of 3 and it took me a few extra days to get back to everything. Thanks for reading!