#agent triplett

It wasn’t until you could see the island that it hit you.

You were going to see Bucky again.

You’d watched him on screens over the past few months. Kept close tabs on him. Even had to pick up and move once when he got too close to your hiding spot.

But you hadn’t looked him in the eye since the day you left all those months ago. Hadn’t felt the warmth of his skin against yours. Hell, until today you hadn’t touched another person in months... unless you were killing them. You had half a mind to turn the boat around and run away like the coward you were, but the information you had was too important. Bucky needed to know. It was his right as much as yours.

It would be simple. Go in, drop the file in a place he’d find it, make it out before he noticed your presence. Alfred was keeping tabs on Bucky, unbeknownst to your husband. He was good, but you knew how he worked. You doubted anyone but yourself knew where he was. Not even Steve or Natalia would be able to find him, no matter how hard they dug.

You docked in the space Alfred told you to and drew more than a few looks as you rolled out of the marina in the Batmobile. “Alright, buddy. Find me a place to drop the package,” you said as you idled at a stoplight.

“One moment, please. Searching for a suitable drop site.”

“Maybe calculate some quick escape routes through the city while you’re at it, just in case,” you said, eyeing the people passing by on foot and in their cars warily. You hated new places. Hated old places, too. Maybe you just hated everything, or perhaps there was a small area between those two wherein existed places you didn’t hate.

“I have found a suitable location to leave the file for discovery by Master Barnes. I advise haste to the site, as Sir’s behavior patterns tend to not hold a pattern at all and it is unlikely I will be able to find another suitable location before the day ends if we miss this one.”

“Got it, Alfred. Throw it up on the screen and take the wheel while I review it,” you said, pulling your hands off the steering wheel as Alfred took over driving. Turns out Bucky was on his way to a little farmer’s market on the north side of town. He was on foot, which didn’t surprise you much. You hadn’t caught him using motorcycles or cars while you’d been separated. You didn’t want to dwell too much on the possible implications of that, the guilt twisting low in your stomach unbidden.

“I suggest parking in the garage a few blocks over. The appearance of the Batmobile will only draw unwanted attention,” Alfred reasoned.

You groaned, biting your lip as you thought it over. Alfred was right, of course. The moment Bucky caught sight of the Batmobile the jig would be up. You still had to escape back to your boat and that’s be a lot more difficult if Bucky tilted the Batmobile on its side.

You really needed to get those flight functions installed.

“I’m going in undercover, Alfred. Nanomask, nanoskin. I’ll leave the file where I know he’ll find it and observe from a distance, ensure he receives the package.”

“(Y/N), there’s been a new development,” Alfred informed you warily.

You groaned. That tone never meant anything good for you. “What is it, Alfred?”

“It appears SHIELD activity in the area has increased since we made landfall.”

You frowned. “Are they after us?” you asked, already slipping back into combat mode. The icy coldness that instantly wormed its way into your bones scared you. How easy it was to slip back into the ruthless efficiency of The Soldier when you were in danger.

“It does not appear they are aware of our presence,” Alfred informed you carefully. You knew he was monitoring your vitals closely enough to recognize the change. “They are gathered around ruins in the south of the city... From what I can gather it appears that it is Coulson and his team.”

You groaned and thumped your head forward onto the steering wheel. “They’re in trouble, aren’t they?” you murmured, already knowing Alfred’s answer. Where Coulson and his team went, trouble sure well followed.

“Yes, (Y/N). Should I set a course for their location?” Alfred asked, tone neutral.

You glanced at the folder on the seat beside you for a long moment, torn. Finally you cursed and nodded. Bucky waited this long. He could wait a few hours more for you to help Coulson and his merry band of fucking idiots. “Turn the car around, Alfred. We have damsels in distress to save.”

Puerto Fucking Rico. You should have just turned your damn boat around the second you made port. Maybe given Bucky a heads up you were coming so he was waiting on the docks for you and peaced out you the moment he step foot on your ship. Hell, if you had your way you wouldn’t even stop, just trust in his ability to jump onboard as you sped by.

“We have to go, Triplett. Now,” you gritted out, staring at the large cylindrical room Skye had just disappeared into with a woman you didn’t recognize.

“Not without Skye!” Triplett said, banging against the thick, solid stone as though it’d make a difference. “Don’t you- don’t you have something that can break through these walls?” he asked, sparing you only a glance.

You looked up at the ancient ceiling and grimaced. “Not anything that wouldn’t also bring the whole thing down on us. I know she’s a good agent, a good person, but I’m not looking to die today,” you muttered. I have better things to be doing right now, you thought bitterly. That was perhaps a bit unfair. From what you could glean, whatever SHIELD was doing here was important.

“We can’t just stay here with our thumbs up our-” he froze as the ground began to shake. And the walls. And the ceiling.

You watched in horror as a long crack ran up the side of the room. Even more branched out from the center room to create a web-like pattern on the ceiling and walls around.

“Run,” you whispered, eyes dropping to Triplett in horror. “Run!” you yelled, already turning on your heel to make a break for the exit you saw earlier. You weren’t getting fucking buried under tons of rock today. You didn’t make it through World War II and 70 years of brainwashing just to die to some damn rocks... that you shouldn’t even be having to deal with if SHIELD could just get its goddamned shit together!

You ran slow enough for Triplett to keep up and had half a mind to throw him over your shoulder in a fireman’s carry, knowing you’d get the two of you there faster. The only problem was the somewhat narrow hallways.

It didn’t seem to be a problem, though. The earthquake died down, leaving the tunnels only partially collapsed, especially close to the chamber.

“Skye,” Triplett whispered, staring down the hallway towards the chamber where she’d disappeared. He made to run back to her, but your firm hand on his shoulder froze him in his tracks. “Get off of me!” he said angrily, jerking away from your touch.

Your gaze turned a little icy as you regarded him. “I know you want to go to her, but we don’t know if the tunnels are stable. You have people up there that have no idea what’s happening. If you go after her now half-cocked you could get yourself killed. Possibly the agents that come after you, too, if they don’t know what they’ll be walking into. Yes, you should try to save her, but not if even more people get killed in the process. You don’t even know what or who is waiting for you in that room.”

Triplett’s jaw worked as he stared at you. Finally, he relaxed a slight bit and walked towards the entry room that had the rope they used to get in and out of the city. “Grandpa always said you were even more reckless than Captain America. Guess he was wrong,” he said, though it didn’t sound like a condemnation.

“I was young and foolish then. Now that I’m in my twilight years I found that wisdom really does come with age,” you said dryly.

Triplett looked up at you as he hooked himself up to the rope pulley system, looking conflicted. “Thank you. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t been here. I hope Skye’s okay, but if something bad happened in that chamber-” he paused and took a deep breath. “Just, thank you. Can you get out alright?” he asked as he gave the rope a sharp tug.

You jumped, letting your rockets boost you all the higher, and dug your talons into the thick rock. “I’ll manage. Good luck rescuing Skye, Triplett,” you said, already clawing your way up the hole.

It was so dark that you lost sight of Triplett within a minute, but that didn’t stop you from hearing his whispered but heartfelt “You too, Misses Barnes,” as you clambered upwards.

Fitz-Simmons was waiting at the top of the shaft. It was obvious from their slack-jawed expressions they hadn’t been expecting you or known you were down there to begin with.

You groaned and stretched your limbs, thankful to be out of the damn alien city. It messed with your electronics something fierce and your legs hadn’t worked quite right the entire time. Your hands’ wiring hadn’t been responsive at all.

“Triplett’s on his way up. Now, if you don’t mind, I have somewhere to be,” you muttered, giving Fitz a friendly pat on the cheek and Simmons a playful, mocking salute before you walked out of the room, leaving them gaping in your wake.

“Did we miss the window, Alfred?” you asked the moment you were back into the Batmobile. You’d parked it well over a mile away. The walk had been ass, but you weren’t chancing any of the bullshit SHIELD seemed to attract. Not with your masterpiece.

“Affirmative, (Y/N). But you should be pleased to know I have found another opportunity.”

“Really? You’re the best, Alfred. What’s the plan?” you asked, already moving to buckle up.

“Wait,” Alfred said. You waited for him to elaborate further, but when he didn’t you frowned and leaned forward slightly.

“Whaddya mean?” you asked, confused.

“The opportunity has come to us,” Alfred said quietly. You had barely a moment to wonder at what he meant before a soft tap at your window startled you so badly you nearly screamed.

Your head whipped to the side and you stopped breathing.

James Buchanan Barnes was standing just outside, bright blue eyes squinted slightly as though it would help him see through the tinting on your windows (it would not).

Your pulse raced in your veins and it took you a second to remember how to breathe. He looked just like you remembered, but also different. His facial hair had grown out a bit, leaving him with a short, scruffy beard that hid his cleft chin and the sharp line of his jaw. His long hair was tucked behind his ears and half-hidden by a baseball cap. He was wearing a holey long sleeved shirt and gloves.

He looked amazing. Your memories and dreams and 2D images could never do him justice.

Color and feeling came slamming back into you in an unstoppable wave, washing through your unprepared mind like a tsunami through a coastal town. How had you not noticed the world had gone so grey around the edges? Had you really not realized that sights and smells had begun fading away to nothingness?

Bucky Barnes brought life to your existence, even now. Even with a piece of glass and a mask between you.

How stupid you’d been to leave him.

But you’d do anything to keep him safe.

Including leaving him again.

Apparently you’d been frozen long enough because he raised his hand and rapped his knuckles gently against the missile-proof glass again. You took one look in the mirror to ensure your mask was in place, displaying the face of another woman, before you rolled the window down slowly.

“Hey there, handsome. Are you the one I’m supposed to meet here?” you asked coyly, voice altered by the mask.

Bucky frowned slightly, though he looked more hurt than anything else. “Please don’t,” he whispered, sounding wrecked.

Your heart constricted painfully in your chest. You reached for the file and held it out between you. “Sorry if you don’t like the news I’m givin’ ya, sweetheart. I only get paid to deliver-”

“Stop,” he rasped. Pleaded. His grey-blue eyes bored into you, a window to his soul. He was hurting so, so badly.

And you’d done that to him.

“I’ve been watching you since you left the site that was crawling with SHIELD. Even with whatever tech you have disguising your face and cybernetics I know you. Not to mention I can hear your metal legs. They clink and whirr ever so softly whenever you move,” he whispered, giving you a sad smile. “Please don’t treat me like a fool.”

You grimaced as tears threatened to spill. “I’m sorry, Bucky. I- Please, get in. We’re in danger out in the open like this,” you whispered, your fear and sadness sounding odd in a voice that wasn’t your own. You didn’t want to show both of your faces in the same place so you’d wait until he was inside to take the mask off.

He stared at you for a long moment. “Will you take off the second I step away from your window?” he asked, voice almost accusing.

You shook your head quickly, pleading with him with your eyes. That hurt, but you deserved it. Deserved all of his anger and distrust. He stared at you a second longer before he walked around to the other side of the car and slipped inside. The moment he was in, you turned off the nano mask and slipped it from your face.

“Alfred, surveillance and guardian mode, please,” you said quietly.

“At once, Mistress Barnes. Additionally, it is a pleasure to finally meet you, Master Barnes,” the AI said quietly, sensing the gravity of the situation between the two of you.

Bucky stared at the dashboard as though it’d grown a goat head and started singing the Russian national anthem at him.

You wanted to smile at his reaction, but the current atmosphere just wouldn’t allow it. “That’s Alfred, my AI. He helps me monitor... well, everything.”

“Everything... including me?” he asked, blue eyes sharp as he looked over at you.

“That is correct, Mister Barnes. Misses Barnes requested that I keep an eye on you at all times. It is thanks to her programming that I am able to perform such a monumental task, as you are quite adept at avoiding nearly all forms of surveillance. I fear without her input such a feat would have been impossible,” Alfred informed him.

Bucky’s eyes clouded over for a moment and didn’t clear when he looked up at you. “So you knew where I was? This whole time?” he asked.

His voice was immeasurably sad. It was the worst. You wanted him to yell at you. Cuss you out. Tell you he never wanted to see you again. Anger. Hate. Rage. You could take all of that and not even blink because you knew you deserved it, but the way he was looking at you just then, as though you’d just ripped his heart out with your bare hands? That was torture. What made it absolutely unbearable, though, was that, behind all that hurt, you could see the love in his eyes.

You didn’t have an answer. At least, not one that justified what you’d done. How foolish you’d been. How tremendously stupid. What was the point of being free if you couldn’t be with your heart?

“I’ll spend the rest of my life apologizing for leaving you, Buck, but there’s somethin’ you gotta see first,” you said, holding the file out to him once more.

His eyes searched your face as he slowly reached for the file. For what, you didn’t know.

“I was lookin’ high and low for- well, you’ll see. I finally found a lead thanks to Pegs, but-” your voice died in your throat as the images in the file flashed in your mind’s eye. You didn’t have to look at the papers anymore. You’d long memorized every word, every grain of each picture.

Bucky eyed you warily, sensing your distress. He flipped the file open and his eyes immediately began scanning them. The furrow in his brow grew the longer he read until, at last, he got to the pictures. His face darkened immediately and you watched as tears fell onto the old pages. He raised his right hand and hastily wiped them away, but they just kept coming.

“So you found ‘im,” Bucky finally managed to get out between near-silent sobs.

You nodded as tears filled your eyes. “I had to tell ya in person.”

“S’that why you were trying to run away a minute ago?” he said, bitterness creeping into his voice.

You winced and curled in on yourself, ashamed. “You caught me off guard, s’all,” you murmured weakly.

Bucky frowned and closed the file slowly, turning his gaze on you. You felt like you were being zeroed in on by two huge spotlights and turned away, unable to meet his eyes.

You were surprised when you felt his large hands wrap around you and pull you gently but unerringly into his lap. You squirmed, knowing his gentle, kind touch was too good for you. Then he shushed you gently, his lips barely an inch from your ear. His right hand ran gently over your hair, slow and soothing, and you stilled immediately.

“I didn’t know how else to keep you safe, Buck,” you muttered brokenly.

Bucky inhaled deeply and let it out in a long sigh, but he wasn’t tense. In fact, he seemed the opposite. You’d melted into his touch and he’d done the same, nearly all tension leaving his body in the safety of this relatively safe space.

“Promise me you won’t leave again,” he said, barely above a whisper. His chest rumbled with the words, sending a shiver down your spine. Although his voice was carefully controlled, his turmoil screamed in the way he clutched tightly at you as though you’d vanish if he didn’t touch every inch of you that he possibly could. He breathed your scent in deeply with every breath, eyes shut as he mouthed feather-light kisses onto your exposed skin. “No point in bein’ safe if I can’t be with you,” he said quietly, but with a firmness that couldn’t be denied.

“I’m sorry,” you whispered, clutching tightly at him.

“Don’t, Doll. Don’t apologize. Just promise me,” he whispered, taking your face between his hands. You leaned into the touch of his warm right hand and brought your right hand up to cup his left gently.

You closed your eyes and nodded against his palms, biting back tears. “I promise, Buck. I won’t leave you again. It’ll be you and me, like it was since the day I met you,” you whispered, finally opening your eyes to stare at his blue-grey ones.

You both leaned forward at the same time, lips touching tenderly together. The kiss was like coming home after a long day and you couldn’t help but smile into the simple touch, so much better than you remembered.

Finally, you broke away after what could have been seconds or minutes and nearly began crying at the look on his face. So open and loving as though the last 70 years hadn’t happened. Like you’d never been kidnapped back in the 40′s. Like you were just a dame and he was just a guy.

“I love you, James Buchanan Barnes,” you whispered reverently, using your thumb to gently wipe the remnants of his tears from his face.

He caught your hand and planted a gentle kiss to your palm, his eyes fluttering closed for the briefest of moments, his eyelashes brushing against his cheeks. When he opened his eyes again your breath caught in your throat. God, but he was stunning.

“I love you, too, (Y/N) (Y/M/N) Barnes.”

Nothing would ever be right again, not after everything the two of you had been through.

But perhaps, reunited once more, you might have the will to continue existing until you learned how to live again.

“Alfred, take us home,” you whispered to the AI.

“At once, madam,” Alfred responded instantly. The car turned on almost silently and began moving out of the garage, driven by Alfred. You had the best seat in the house and you weren’t planning on moving until it was time to leave the car.

“Where is home?” Bucky asked when he finally managed to pull his lips from the skin of your neck.

You smiled and carded your fingers lightly through his long hair. “Indiana.”

Bucky stared at you for a long second, more than one expression flicking across his face before it settled on surprise. “Indiana? As in-”

“Shelbyville, yeah,” you said quietly.

Bucky blinked a few times. His gaze clouded over for a minute before, “I was born there,” he said, half question, half statement.

“Yeah, Buck. You were,” you said quietly, giving him what you hoped was a reassuring smile.

“Moved to New York before I started grade school. Rebecca was only a year old,” Bucky said quietly, lost in the memories.

“That’s right, Buck,” you said quietly, rubbing slow circles into his back.

“I don’t remember it. Indiana,” he breathed, looking confused for a moment. “Don’t think I ever remembered it, though,” he said, though he sounded unsure.

You carefully brushed some of his hair from his face and placed a kiss to his forehead. “Not much to remember anyway. I hope you like corn,” you said, trying for some levity.

It worked, more or less. Bucky’s lip quirked up at the corner, though his smile was more of a grimace. “We’re not gonna stay there though, are we?” he asked knowingly.

You shook your head slowly. You hadn’t wanted to talk about this just yet, but he knew you too well for your own good. “Only for a few days. I’m... we’re not done yet,” you said, nodding your head towards the file that Bucky had carefully stowed on the dash.

Bucky’s gaze turned hard. Determined. There was absolutely zero hesitation when he looked expectantly at you. God, you did not deserve this man. “What’s the plan, Doll?”

Next Chapter

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