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“I hate stealth missions.”
“All of our missions are stealth missions, Yelena. We’re spies.”
“I still hate them.”
“I know that, now be quiet.”
Yelena quiets down reluctantly.
“Thank you.”
Bucky’s still hesitant to roll up her sleeve, the wound a deep gash. Bright red. Fresh. She clenches her fist, moving each finger once to show she can, and Bucky can see the tendons move inside of her arm. As much as he’d like to proclaim he’s seen worse (which he has), there’s still a shudder of disgust. And fear.
Still, he bites down the nausea and tugs off his scarf and wraps her arm with it. He’ll disinfect it later. She cannot lose her arm.
“Are we heading back soon?” Yelena asked.
“You’re heading back, I’m going in deeper,” Bucky stated matter-of-factly, brushing down his hands on his pants as he spoke. “Try not to get cut up on the same spot—”
“What are you talking about, Barnes?” Yelena spat back. “We ditch together, or we move forward together.”
Bucky glares at her, “Quiet.”
“Fuck you.”
“Later. When I’m done with our job and you’re at our place with a wound that’s been disinfected and stitched up.”
Yelena glares back at Bucky. “You can’t do this without me.”
There’s a pause.
“I’ll figure it out.”
“You better make it back alive.”
“I always do.”
Before Yelena can turn back, Bucky hugs her. A short lived moment, but he hopes its good enough for her. He tries to smile.
“That better not be the last hug I get from you.”
“It won’t be.”
-/-/-/-
Yelena stitches her own wounds up. She’s long since graduated past the need to have a doctor look at something so minimal, it’s just a cut. Something that’s easy to fix and easier to ignore.
But, he was probably right.
It’s probably for the best that she fell back instead of trailing blood all the way in.
It still doesn’t sit easy with her though. The fact she just left him. The way he asked her to leave.
She can only sit in quiet, waiting for him to come home. Pleading, that he comes home. Damn near praying, that he comes home. She’s not sure what she’d do without him.
It was easier before it was him.
When her partner was simply a partner.
Not a friend and a lover and whatever they needed each other to be.
Stupid fucking Bucky, making everything more complicated than it needs to be.
-/-/-/-
Yelena spends an hour tending to all of Bucky’s wounds. There were barely any, but she doesn’t allow herself to mess it all up. Who knows when they’ll have a new mission. Both of them need to be fixed up for it when comes.
“I’m fine—”
“Yes, you are,” Yelena bites, “But you’re not going to do anything strenuous, understood, Barnes?”
“What—”
“Understood, Barnes?”
“Understood, but really, I’ll be okay.” Bucky offers a smile as he speaks.
“You’ll be fine, yes, but if you’re whining about pain in the vents and get us caught, that won’t be fine.”
“Right, and when will that ever happen?”
“If you aren’t gentle with yourself, on our next mission.”
“I’ll be as gentle as you are.”
-/-/-/-
“Be back in an hour.” Yelena’s zipping up her coat as she speaks. All black. Innocuous.
Bucky perks up from the kitchen. “Where’re you going?”
“Mission, solo,” Yelena calls back as she walks over to offer him a kiss and a hug.
“Without me?” Bucky asked. There’s genuine fear on his voice.
“Yes.” A kiss to the cheek. “Without you, I’ll be alright, will you?”
A huff. “I’ll be fine.”
She claps him on the shoulder. “Good. I’ll be back in an hour, promise.”
-/-/-/-
Yelena returns with a takeout bag of fast food and finds Bucky on the couch waiting for her. He looks worried beyond worry.
“Let’s never do solo missions again,” Bucky called from the couch as Yelena kicked off her shoes.
“You missed me that much?”
A beat.
“Yeah.”
“Good. Now you know how I felt.”
-/-/-/-
“Lockpick?” Bucky asked, expectantly holding out a hand as he spoke.
Yelena pulled the bobby pin from her hair. “Make it work.”
“I’ll try.” He presses a kiss to her wrist before taking it from her.
“You wanna get wine when we celebrate this?” Yelena asked.
A nod, “Wine. And sex?”
Yelena presses a kiss to his forehead. “Do you even need to ask, James?”