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The headlights of the car barely cut through the dust kicked up from the car's threadbare tyres. They were in the middle of nowhere, and that was kind of the point - Steve had been too cautious to take a jet in, and Natasha had thoughtfully suggested picking up a couple of junk cars to perfect their disguise. They'd taken the Hydra lab by suprise, so it might have been a good plan.
Bucky was less certain about it now. His shoulder was throbbing, as it did after a good fight, and there was a growing stickiness on his left side that probably meant he was going to need a couple more bandages. Sam was somehow asleep in the back, his wing contraption draped over his legs.
He looked over at Steve. His hands were tight on the wheel, jaw set, eyes staring directly ahead. Another person might have seen it as the stubbornness Steve was famous for, but Bucky had known him for too long. He was exhausted.
"Pull over."
It was maybe because Bucky had broken a forty minute silence that he only got a confused glance and a grunt from Steve.
"I mean it," Bucky said. "Pull over. Let me drive for a while."
"Since when have you given me orders, sergeant?" There was a softness to Steve's tone and a half-smile.
Bucky snorted. "Since I met you. Pull over."
"I'm only doing this because Sam's asleep," Steve said. But he stopped the car.
Bucky knew he'd made the right decision as Steve slumped heavily into the passenger seat, lolling his head back.
"Get some rest," Bucky said.
"I'm still in command, you know," Steve replied, and closed his eyes.
Bucky smiled over at Steve's sleeping form, turned the key, and let his sore eyes take in the dirt road in front of them.