Bucky groaned as he rolled over in bed. He would never regret coming to Steve’s aid, but the day after was always a killer. He’d cleaned up before he’d dropped into bed the night before, but that didn’t stop the bruises from making themselves known.

Steve’s head popped up from where he was laying on the couch. “Do you need something?” he asked. “Can I get you anything?”

“No.” Bucky groaned again as he pulled himself into a sitting position. “How many times is that?”

Steve tipped his head. “I’m not sure?” He got up, moving over to the bed to help Bucky to his feet. “Breakfast?”

Bucky consulted his stomach and shook his head. “No.” Standing up, he asked, “What time is it?”

“Not quite seven,” Steve answered.

Glad he hadn’t slept in and missed his shift, Bucky looked his friend over. Steve didn’t seem much the worse for yesterday’s fight. Bucky was pleased with that, even though he would be feeling it for days. “Think you can manage to stay out of fights for a few days, a week would be great.”

“I can’t promise anything.”

Bucky rolled his eyes and clapped Steve on the shoulder. “I’m gonna go wash up, I changed my mind about breakfast.”

“I’ll see what I can make,” Steve said.

When Bucky came back from his cold wash up, Steve was plating the last of their eggs and a piece of bread. “Did you eat?” Bucky asked as he sat at their rickety table.

Steve shrugged. “I had a piece of bread.”

“Get a plate,” Bucky told him. When Steve brought it over, Bucky dumped half the eggs onto the other plate. “Don’t starve yourself to feed me,” he ordered.

Steve grumbled, but dug into the food which is what told Bucky the truth. “You wanna meet me at O’Malley’s this afternoon?” Bucky asked as they polished off the food. “I’ll play some pool and get us enough money for dinner.”

“Okay. I have a couple of commissions to finish, but I should be done by then.”

Bucky pressed a kiss to the top of Steve’s head before putting the plates in their wash bin. “Try not to start any fights while I’m at work.”

“No promises,” Steve told him.

Bucky grabbed his coat, heading out the door. He might not remember how many times he’d been bleeding and black and blue because of Steve, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

It was tooo long... so over here!

Title: Hard Won

Summary: Malcolm has no intentions of letting this suspect escape.


Find the story here here.

Peggy dropped the man she’d dragged into Daniel Sousa’s office and complained, “If they’re going to try to kill me, they should at least be more subtle about it.”

Daniel looked up from the paperwork he had been reviewing. “Darling, he probably thought he was being subtle. Not everyone is as paranoid as you are.”

Peggy huffed. “I’m not being paranoid, darling.” She indicated the body on the floor. “He tried to kill me. That’s not paranoid, that’s logically concerned.”

Daniel snorted in response. “Why didn’t you call someone to take care of that for you. You are the director now.”

“But it's so much more satisfactory to dump him in here.”

Daniel shook his head, even as he reached for his phone. “Did you kill him?” he asked, pressing the button that would reach the receptionist. “Blanche, could you send a clean-up crew to my office? Director Carter brought me a… present.”

“Yes, sir,” the woman chirruped.

“That woman is entirely too cheerful. And no, I didn’t kill him,” Peggy commented when he’d hung up. “Since I’m here shall we discuss the operations we’re sending out this week.”

“I can fit that into my schedule,” Daniel replied as a knock sounded perfectionally on the door. That was followed by the door opening to admit three security guards. They worked with brisk efficiency and soon had the body out of the office.

“Would you like a seat, Director?” Daniel asked, shifting gears to the professional. “I think we should begin with Operation Blue Dot.”

Peggy took the seat offered and said, “I’ll need to see the file.”

Daniel handed it over, the man Peggy had taken out forgotten as they began to discuss the operation.