Chapter Text
“Buck. I have to go into the lab today.” He grumbled something unintelligible and pulled me closer beneath the covers. “Listen, I don’t want to go in, but-”
“Then don’t.” He replied, his beard tickling against my shoulder.
“You’re not helping.”
“I know,” he chuckled. “Come on, just a few more minutes?”
“I said yes to that an hour ago.” I turned in his arms so we could face each other, but that only made it worse. His baby blues gazed up at me from where he’d cuddled into the crook of my neck and I sighed. “Buck, come on, I really need to get down there. I think I’m close to finding the last anomaly and I really want to get this done soon.”
“Fine,” He replied, dropping his arm so I could climb out of bed. I didn’t want to, but I had this nagging feeling in the back of my head that said I was close to something.
“How does Steve get you out of bed in the morning?” I asked, checking my phone for any messages.
“He’s too much of a morning person that it pisses me off enough to keep me awake,” He replied, yawning. “Sometimes we wake up in other ways.”
“Gross,” I laughed, sticking my tongue out at him as he winked in reply. “I’m going to hop in the shower. I’ll say goodbye before I go if you’re still sleeping.” As I disappeared into the bathroom, I watched as he turned over and pulled the blanket back up over his shoulders, leaving only a mass of messy brown hair sticking out.
By the time I finished getting ready, Bucky had gotten out of bed and was in the kitchen making coffee, but it wasn’t the smell of the coffee that caught my attention. His back was to me when I walked in, finding him only in a pair of low-slung sweatpants, his hair loose and messy. There were scars across his back, and when he turned to offer me a sleepy smile, I saw more on his front. I had seen them before, but for some reason the way he stood so comfortably in front of me, his prosthetic off, scars out, made me feel a level of trust I hadn’t before.
“Mornin’ doll.” He grinned, offering me a steaming mug of coffee made the way I liked. He’d caught me staring and I felt the telltale heat of a blush spread across my face.
“Morning.” I gave him a quick peck on the cheek before popping two frozen waffles into the toaster. “Thank you for the coffee.”
“‘Course.”
“So what are you up to today?” I asked, pouring syrup across the waffles. He joined me at the breakfast bar with his own mug and shrugged.
“I’m pretty free today. Probably go to the gym for a bit, check in with Fury. I don’t have any training scheduled until next week.”
“Want to pick me up for lunch?” I asked and he nodded.
“Sure, doll. I’ll see you then?”
Standing, he followed me to the sink where I deposited the plate and grabbed my purse to head out. “See you then!”
***
Thunk. The table was cool beneath my head and I cringed; I hadn’t meant to drop my head down as hard as I did, but I was too frustrated to care. Thunk.
“I’m pretty sure banging your head against a table isn’t part of your research.” I shot up and glanced at the door, finding Bucky and Bruce standing there, Bruce with a small smirk.
“Yeah, well it helps me think.” Bucky chuckled as he followed Bruce inside, stealing one of the rolling stools to perch himself beside me.
“It’s not lunch already?” I asked and he shook his head.
“Ran into Bruce, decided to come bug you for a bit.” He replied. I reached over and turned on the monitor that projected the images from my microscope which made him smile. “What’s got you stuck?”
“I know there is an anomaly here somewhere, but I can’t find it.” I replied, glancing at Bruce who examined the screen. “It’s here; I can tell by the surrounding genes, but I can’t find the one specific… wait.” Bruce reached out, running his finger across the screen, casting a shadow across the image. I reached up and moved his hand where it had been a moment ago. Was that it? I pushed myself back to the table and readjusted the microscope until I saw it: the last anomaly.
“Sarah? Can I move my hand now?”
“Mh-hm.” Rolling across the way, I connected the computer to the image, highlighting it until it showed me exactly what I wanted to see. “That’s it.”
“What’s it?” Bruce and Bucky followed behind, both examining the image until Bruce nodded. “Yeah, that’s it!”
Bucky held up his hands and asked: “Wait, does this mean you found what you were looking for?”
“This means that I’m done manually searching the genes! Renee already installed the software on here, so all I have to do is input this last piece of data and the algorithm can take it from there!”
“So you did it? You cracked the serum?” I shook my head.
“Not really. But I was able to trace the mutations.” I replied. “Now, I put the data into the system, let it create an algorithm, and when it’s done, I should be able to isolate any other genes that were mutated!”
“So…”
“So we’re almost there!” Bucky wrapped me in a big hug and I laughed, hugging Bruce as well.
“Great job, Sarah.” Bruce nodded, eyeing the screen.
“It was your shadow that helped, so thank you!” Bruce only shrugged.
“So what’s the next step?” Bruce asked as I sat at the computer to enter the data.
“I’ve been thinking about how I can isolate each gene, see if I can mimic the mutation and stabilize it outside of the host genome.” I replied. “I’ve been reading some journals that are using stem cells to create any specific cell that they want, so I’m thinking of going along that line. It might not be stem cells, but maybe if I can mimic that…”
“If you can make something like a prototype, we can talk to Tony and see what resources we have available.” He replied.
“Will do,” I nodded. “Okay, let me input this data and then we can head to lunch.”
“Bruce, are you coming?” Bucky asked, but he shook his head.
“I’ve got some work to catch up on,” he replied. “But next time.” I glanced at Bucky and shrugged as Bruce headed out.
We settled at one of the tables in the more quiet area of the cafeteria. My phone vibrated on the table and I glanced at the text, suddenly remembering what I had to ask them. My frustration must have shown on my face because Bucky picked up on it.
“Everything okay?”
“Hm? Yeah.” I replied. “My brother. He’s having his son’s Christening in a few weeks and I’m going to be the godmother.”
“That’s really nice,” He replied. “Are you going?”
“For him, mostly. And to meet my new nephew. I miss my mom too.” He nodded.
“You don’t seem to excited.” I could only shrug. “I’d go with you, but…”
“I get it. It’s not going to be the most calming thing to see my family.”
“Let’s ask Steve when he gets back. I can’t imagine anyone daring to say anything mean to you when Captain Righteous is around, especially the good Irish Catholic he is.”
“I haven’t seen him pray or go to church once,” I chuckled and he shrugged. “Are you okay with that? Staying home?”
“I think it’s best. Your family could probably deal with learning about polyamory later.”
“Look at you, getting all modern.”
“I like to learn, and if it’s learning about our relationship, then I like it even more.” He paused for a moment, taking a drink. “There are so many labels and definitions out there now! When we were younger, you were just ‘normal’ or ‘queer.’ No in between. And nothing is wrong with any of them. It’s kinda nice to know we weren’t crazy all that time.”
“Since you were kids, huh?” He nodded. “What about the ol’ James Barnes being a ladies’ man?”
Rubbing his stubble, he thought for a moment. “I don’t remember a lot, but I know that I’d set me and Steve up on these double dates sometimes. It’s how we got away with going places together. Steve mentioned some of them were straight, but a lot of times they were like us- queer… gay? Anyway, they wanted to be with each other like me and Stevie, so it was the best way to keep things quiet.”
“So that’s why the ladies loved you, huh? Cause you helped them out.”
“I guess.”
“Definitely not for your stunning good looks.” I grinned up at him, watching as he ran one hand through his hair. “Alright, maybe a little…”