Roswell stumbles a little kicking out of her shoes as she makes her way towards Steve's bedroom, rather then going back to her own, she finds she rather likes sleeping with him, just sleeping, he's warm, soft but hard, protective. She stumbles into the wall a little and then pushes open Steve's bedroom door, only to find it empty, she frowns a little.
"Hey" Bucky greets poking his head out of his bedroom, Roswell glances to him.
"Where's Steve?" she asks leaning against the wall to keep herself upright, her voice slurred with drink, it had been a fun night full of fruity cocktails and dancing.
"He got called out on some stealth mission" Bucky answers moving to help her.
"Oh" she breaths a little, he touches her waist and then lifts her arm around his shoulder, letting her lean against him. She hums a little. Bucky helps her into Steve's room and towards his bed.
"He left a note" he tells her. "Guessing you walked right past it" he keeps a hold of her waist as he turns her and sits her on Steve's bed. She hums a little. "You have fun?" he asks, she nods her head.
"Yes!" she tells him. "Nat kept getting these....pink drinks" she mumbles as he pulls one of Steve's shirts out of the draws and moves back to her. "They were fruity" Bucky smiles and stands in front of her.
"Can you get dressed yourself or....?" he stops as she nods her head.
"I can do it" she stands up, swinging where she stands, Bucky takes her arm to steady her while handing the shirt to her which she takes between her fingers. He turns away from her once he's sure she can stand on her own two feet, giving her privacy to change. She groans a little and Bucky bites his lower lip listening to her shuffle around, undressing. She groans again and then she touches his shoulder. But he senses something is not right.
"What's wrong?" he asks not turning around.
"I can't reach my zipper" she complains, Bucky closes his eyes and sighs, of course, of course she can't just do it herself so he doesn't have to see her like that. But oh no, no, her zipper gets stuck and now he has to help her. He turns to her and finds her watching him with hazy, drunk, doe eyes. And how can he say no.
"Alright" he whispers. "Turn around" she smiles victorious and turns, her back to him, he brushes her hair out of the way and takes the zip between his flesh fingers and pulls it down carefully, holding his breath as he reveals skin, this was a terrible idea. He should have just let her sleep in the stupid thing. He reaches up and sets his fingers into the straps pushes them down her arms before tugging the fabric down the rest of her body, he takes her arm and helps her stand from her dress, Roswell shivers slightly as his metal arm brushes against her waist. Bucky keeps her facing away from him, for his own sanity, he touches the back of her bra and sucks in a breath before snapping it open, she crosses her arms over her chest and pulls the fabric from her body. Bucky takes the shirt from her hand, untangling it from her bra before he sets the shirt over her shoulders, helping her get her arms through the right holes. She pulls the fabric together at the front and messily does up the buttons, some of them in the wrong holes but she doesn't care, Bucky uses his flesh hand to pull her hair out of the back of the shirt, letting it fan across her back. Whilst she finishes the buttons he gathers up her clothes and sets them in the desk chair. She moves to the side of bed and he joins her. Bucky opens up the blankets and Roswell climbs in, shuffling lightly to get comfy, Steve's shirt riding up to reveal the black lace panties underneath, Bucky quickly covers her again before he does something stupid. This is his best friends girlfriend, she's his friend.
"Thank you" she whispers softly taking his wrist in her hand. He gently cups her cheek before kissing the opposite one.
"Get some sleep" he tells her pulling back, she smiles warmly at him. She nods and snuggles into Steve's bed. Bucky leaves her alone closing the door behind him. He takes a steadying breath and heads back to his own room.
................
Bucky stares up at his ceiling, twiddling his thumbs against one another, he takes a deep breath and then releases it. It's hard for him to sleep knowing Roswell is all alone in the bed in the next room. All he wants to do it get up and go back to her. Bucky looks to the door as it opens, Roswell stands in his doorway fiddling with the bottom of Steve's shirt.
"Kitten?" he mumbles quietly.
"I can't sleep" she admits, more sober then before, her voice quiet but even. "Feels weird" she motions back towards Steve's room. "Empty bed"
"You've slept without Steve before" he comments leaning up, she nods a little and then takes a step back.
"Yeah, sorry" she shakes her head, embarrassment flowing through her. "Never mind"
"Wait, no, come on" he stops her with a sigh, he shifts over in his bed and lifts the blankets, she smiles a little and nods. She shuffles to his bed and then climbs in, settling into his mattress, he sets the blanket around her and she pulls them closer, the distinct smell of Bucky, musky, warm, Bucky.
"Thanks" she tells him.
"S'okay" he mumbles setting his hands, clasped on his stomach.
..................
Roswell wakes feeling eyes on her, she shifts and turns away from Bucky to find Steve in the doorway, still in his stealth suit, he tries to give her a smile but it doesn't quiet follow through. She frowns a little and climbs out of Bucky's bed and moves to Steve.
"Go back to sleep" he whispers, she shakes her head and touches his arm.
"You okay?" Roswell asks, Steve nods a little but his eyes show that this mission didn't exactly go to plan, Roswell kisses his cheek and takes his hand, Steve squeezes back softly. "Come on" she whispers pulling him out of Bucky's room. Roswell pulls Steve into the bathroom. "Sit" she pushes him gently to sit on the closed toilet seat, Steve rubs at his eyes and then cringes spreading the dirt and blood from his hands. Roswell turns on the bathwater taps and sets in the drain plug before turning back to Steve. He rubs at the dried blood on his hands. "Hey" she whispers lifting his chin, Steve nuzzles into her hand. "Are you hurt?" she asks.
"Scrapes and bruises" he admits. "I'll be alright, honey"
"Let me see" she motions to his suit.
"Roswell" he mumbles pulling her closer, setting his head on her stomach.
"Please, Steve....humour me" he nods against her and pulls back looking up at her. Sees the real worry.
"Okay" he assures her, she nods and steps back moving to check the water as Steve strips out of his suit, revealing injuries a bit more serious then scrapes and bruises. There is a stab wound to his shoulder, a gunshot wound to his right arm and lower down on the same arm is a knife wound, not to mention that he is covered in bruises. She turns off the water and tests it before leaning up and turning towards him. Her eyes widen slightly seeing the damage, this isn't even the worst he's ever had.
"Steve" she whispers touching his stomach, he cringes slightly as she brushes them over a bruise.
"I'll heal" he assures her. "I'll be fine in a few hours" he takes her hands and kisses the backs of them. She sighs a little and he kisses her forehead trying to make her feel better. She knows she has to get used to this. This is who he is, this is part of his job. She nods a little and pulls away from him.
"Get in the bath" she tells him softly. Steve sinks into the water as she moves to grab a wash cloth and antiseptic soap from the side before turning back to kneel next to the bath.
"You don't have to stay" he tells her, she shrugs.
"I want to" she assures him dipping the cloth into the water, she wrings it out and then scrubs the soap into it. "I'm your girlfriend" she reminds him. "Let me look after you" she looks to him, he nods and relaxes into the water, she takes to brushing the cloth over his chest, slowly removing the grim from his skin. His features soften watching her. She hadn't pushed him, to know what happened, she's just looking after him, taking care of him, cleaning him up and patching his wounds.
"I love you" he whispers, she looks to him and smiles softly. "I mean it" he assures her.
"I know" she touches his arm careful of the knife wound. "I love you too" he reaches up and pulls her closer, hovering over the water, he kisses her.
"Thank you" he adds pulling back, he strokes her cheek, brushing her hair behind her ear, she leans back and goes back to the task at hand.
"What do you normally do?" she asks, he shrugs.
"If things go bad....I hit the bag" he answers. "Not very often they go bad any more though" he whispers playing with the necklace around her neck. "Bury myself in work" he adds. "Reports...."
"Till I kick his ass back into gear" Bucky states leaning in the doorway, Roswell and Steve look to him.
"I'm in the bath" Steve complains.
"I've already seen your bare ass, punk, you really that bothered?" Bucky teases, Steve smiles and looks down a little, Roswell touches his arm. "How bad was it?" Bucky asks.
"Could have been worse" Steve mumbles. "Could have been a hell of a lot better too" he flexes his toes in the water a little. "It was stupid mistake" Steve counters. "One that someone as experienced as Romanoff should never have made" Roswell taps Steve's arm and touches it softly, curling her fingers around his forearm. Steve presses his forehead to her arm and sighs. Steve then lifts his head and looks to Bucky. "Thanks" he states, Bucky frowns. "For looking after her" Steve nods to Roswell. Bucky shrugs a little looking to Roswell who smiles.
"Well...." Bucky starts and then comes up short. "We're friends, right?" he settles on. Roswell and Steve share a look.
"Are you hungry?" Roswell asks Steve who nods a little.
"Yeah, a little" she leans up a little and kisses him before standing.
"Finish your bath and I'll put something ready" she tells him and then starts to leave the room. She touches Bucky's arm as she passes him, Bucky watching her disappear down stairs before moving into the bathroom and closing the door.
"Normally after a bad mission you go straight for the gym" Bucky comments. Steve shrugs.
"I needed to see her" he comments. Bucky frowns, Steve looks to him. "They're going after mutants, Buck...there were these mutants at the lab, corpses, butchered, couldn't be any older then Roswell, and I just kept thinking...."
"It could be her" Bucky offers, Steve nods and looks away.
"I like that she's different" Steve admits. "I like that she's powerful enough to look after herself if anything ever happened but it doesn't stop me worrying"
"Well it's not like anything bad is actually going to happen" Bucky offers. "She's usually always with one of us, unless she's working and even then she's in a secure office"
"I know" Steve nods. "I do, I know all that....but these guys are getting crafty. All the more reason for you to get your arm seen too" Bucky looks to his metal arm. "I could use your help out there" Bucky shrugs a little, he's not sure himself that he's ready to go back out and join the fight, he wants to be able to say, yeah he's there, he's just not sure he's that person any more.
.........
Steve had changed into a simple pair of track trousers, opting to leave his chest bare, mostly so Roswell can see his wounds healing, he thought it might make her feel better about everything if she could see him getting better. He sighs a little getting comfy on the couch, Bucky sat at the far end leaving space between them for Roswell as she leaves the kitchen carrying two bowls. She hands Steve and Bucky a bowls each, they both look to her and take one from her, she heads back to the kitchen and grabs her own serving of the food. When she returns Steve pokes at the food.
"What is this?" Steve asks cautious, Roswell, he knows, cannot cook. She chuckles and drops down between Bucky and Steve.
"Don't worry, I just...heated it up" she assures him. "It's Cottage pie" she tells him, they both turn to frown at her.
"What?" Bucky asks and then glares at the bowl.
"It's beef, gravy, peas, carrots, onion, topped with mashed potatoes and melted cheese" she answers. "Constantine stocked my freezer before he left, he brought it over from England" she pokes at her own food. "My mom used to make it for me when I was upset or sick" she shrugs. "Look just try it" she tells them, Bucky shrugs. He'll eat anything really. Steve is the fussy one. Stuck in his ways. Bucky eats, it's good, actually it's really good. He moans a little and Roswell glances to him, she smirk and then turns to Steve. "Your family was Irish right?" she asks, Steve nods. "Well it's like Shepherd's pie, just beef instead of lamb" she explains.
"S'good" Bucky mumbles smiling back at her, Steve takes this as encouragement and tries it himself. Bucky is right. There is something familiar about it. Something hearty and traditional. Comfort food.
"Do you miss it?" Steve asks her, she raises an eyebrow at him. "England" he elaborates.
"Technically I'm from the United Kingdom or Scotland....not England" she explains. "Different area...." Steve nods, she shrugs. "I don't know....I barely remember it any more" she admits. "I was six when we left"
"How did you end up here?" Bucky asks. "In the states"
"My mother fell in love with an American and followed him across the pond. Alex...." she smiles. "He adored my mother" Steve smiles sadly listening to her. Knowing how it ends it's hard not to feel bad for her family. For it to not be bittersweet. She flexes her fingers on her bad arm.
"What about your father?" Bucky asks. "The twins dad?"
"Never met him" she answers. "He and my mother didn't have a relationship for very long, few weeks, and she had no idea how to contact him after, if he knows I exist I'd be surprised" she pokes at her food. "I had Alex, Constantine, my mother and my little sister, it wasn't perfect....but it didn't suck either" Steve touches her leg softly and she smiles sadly. "Well you know....until everyone died" she adds. Steve and Bucky share a look over her head as she sighs.
................
Steve pulls Roswell closer to him as she crawls into his bed, his hands wrapping around her, fingers grazing over her skin, she curls up into his side and sighs softly.
"Thank you" he whispers, she looks to him. "For....." he smiles. "Looking after me tonight" he strokes her cheek. "It makes a change...you know, coming home to someone" he smiles sadly. "Someone that looked at me and...knew I needed someone to just be there for me"
"You have Bucky" she points out, he tugs lightly on her hair
"You know what I mean.....someone who looks at me like that" he cups her cheek and brushes his thumb under her eye. "No one's ever looked at me like that" he admits brushing her hair back with a smile. "I love you" he tells her with a smile, she smiles back at him.
"I should hope so" she teases leaning closer. "I love you too" she whispers softly, he kisses her and then lets her go back to resting on his chest, her fingers tracing over the lines of his muscles across his ribs. He watches her a moment before plucking up the courage to talk again, what he's going to ask her may go two different ways, maybe more, but he's been dying to ask her for days now.
"What do you think of Bucky?" Steve asks, Roswell raises an eyebrow before sitting up.
"Why?" she asks back, he shrugs.
"You're my girlfriend and he's my best friend, just want to make sure you're...getting along"
"You know we do" she argues straddling his waist. "Bucky's amazing"
"Do you find him attractive?" Steve asks, Roswell frowns down at him. "I'm curious" Steve adds.
"Is this some new...foreplay?" she counters, he shakes his head.
"No" he runs his hands along her thighs. "Just wondering" she cocks her head and draws her fingers along his chest.
"Well.....Bucky's more....rough around the edge" she offers. "Like he has this...brooding quality, and yes, he's all muscular and tough like you, but he's more....battle worn" Steve nods a little. "You're...blonde, blue eyed, all American" he chuckles a little. "It's a different type of attractiveness"
"But are you attracted to him?" he asks noting she didn't really answer him, she sighs.
"Well...I mean...." she looks down. "Honestly?" she asks, he nods and lifts her chin. "Yes, I am attracted to him, but..."
"I'm not mad" he offers. "You don't need to explain" she frowns. "I've seen the way you look at him....and the fact that you were just honest with me right now, means so much to me, especially because it was an uncomfortable subject....it's okay to be attracted to other people as long as it's me you come home to" she smiles and leans closer to him, brushing her fingers through his hair.
"How much I am attracted to you transcends how much I am attracted to any one else in the world" she assures him. "Because I know you love me...and that gets me really tingly" he chuckles and wraps his arms around her as she nuzzles into his neck.
.......
Steve takes a breath as he hears Bucky coming down the stairs, he's been agonizing about this for days, his newest idea, his craziest idea, he's not even sure he should be bringing it to his friend, he's pretty sure that it's not going to work out. But he really wants this to happen.
"Can I talk to you about something?" Steve asks Bucky as Bucky walks into the kitchen.
"Can I have coffee first?" Bucky counter asks rubbing at his eyes.
"You didn't sleep well?" Steve asks watching his friend, Bucky nods a little and then shrugs. He's not about to admit that he's not kept awake by his nightmares any more but his desire and want for Roswell. After that night he watched them it's harder to sleep knowing she's in the next room, probably writhing under Steve, moaning, and it drives Bucky mad. Bucky grabs the coffee pot and a mug before pouring himself a cup.
"Okay" Bucky tells Steve. "Go"
"I want to do something nice for Roswell for Valentine's day" Steve offers, Bucky frowns.
"Right" Bucky draws out cautiously.
"Well..." Steve clears his throat. "I was thinking of giving her...." he pauses and then takes a breath. "You and me" Bucky pulls a face and turns to Steve confused. "How would you feel about joining us?" Bucky frowns a little. "In bed"
"I'm sorry, what?" Bucky asks.
"You know..." Steve answers. "You and me and Roswell...together in bed" Bucky stares at him. "Having sex" Steve adds and then looks up as he hears Roswell. "Damn it" Steve complains a little as she enters the room, of course he's happy to see her but she cut off his conversation with Bucky, she smiles at them both.
"Hey" she greets, Bucky forces a smile as he looks away from Steve. "What are you two up too?" she teases a little.
"Steve here" Bucky starts and Steve shoots him a dirty look trying to get him to stop. "He's...planning your valentine's day present"
"But that's not till next month" she argues, Steve smiles softly at her.
"I just want to make sure it's perfect" he offers, she bites her lip a little. "And I have the perfect idea" he promises looking to Bucky who stiffens slightly.
"Well I can't wait" Roswell assures him as she pours out coffee before drinking it, her eyes finding the clock on the wall. "Crap" she complains setting her coffee down. "Suppose to meet Rhodey" she wraps her scarf around her neck properly and heads for Steve, she leans up to kiss Steve's cheek, he smiles and turns to kiss her properly.
"I'll see you for dinner" he promises her pulling back, she touches his arm and then leaves, the door clicking shut behind her, Steve turns to Bucky.
"No" Bucky tells him and then walks away.
"Bucky" Steve scolds following him. "You cannot tell me you haven't thought about it" Bucky whirls on him.
"Thinking about it and doing it are two different things" Bucky points out. "And it's weird"
"Why?" Steve asks. "We share everything else"
"Not your girlfriend" Bucky counters. "There was a time" he starts. "When you wouldn't have even thought about something like this"
"Yeah well" Steve starts. "I'm different"
"Not really" Bucky argues.
"Look when everything was enhanced....everything was enhanced...including my...sexual appetite" Steve admits. "Roswell is the first girl I have felt comfortable enough to share my....hunger with. She's very open minded....and I want to do something nice for Valentine's"
"So get her her favourite flowers" Bucky argues. "Don't invite your best friend into your bed"
"Are you saying no?" Steve asks, Bucky sighs a little. He wants to be that guy, the one that can say yes to something like this. To have the chance to get his hands on Roswell. But he isn't. He can't do it. He can't. It will be awkward after and then they'll fall out and the three of them will just end up falling out, Steve and Roswell might even break up, Steve and Bucky will no longer be best friends. It's not worth the risk. No matter how much he wants her.
"Yeah....I'm saying no" Bucky tells him and then walk away. Steve looks down and wrinkles his nose.