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[endsinafight]

It was the sound of a quiet pinging noise that woke him from a restless sleep. He opened his eyes, blinking a few times against the faint light filtering into the bedroom from the closed blinds. Steve was curled up beside him, head resting on Bucky's shoulder. He exhaled, letting his eyes drift shut again until the pinging noise sounded once more, and he groaned.

"Someone's trying to get a hold of you, Steve," he grumbled, burying his face in the pillow.

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[littleguyfrombrooklyn]

It was unusual that Steve slept soundly enough that he was still resting when there was any light at all. Usually he was up before the crack of dawn, his super powered body humming like a race car engine. But it has been an impossibly long couple of days, emotionally and physically. He was healing and in pain. And there was something relaxing, down to his very soul, about kissing Bucky goodnight and then falling asleep with him in his arms.

When Bucky said his name, Steve just hummed a little and kissed his shoulder over his shirt. “Good morning,” he murmured and twisted so he could reach his good arm toward the phone on the nightstand.

“You might want to—Buck, do we get the paper?”

[endsinafight]

Despite how tired he still felt, he couldn't help but smile a little at the whispered good morning and the tiny kiss to his shoulder. He was half asleep when he heard Steve's question and his eyebrows furrowed. "Yeah? Well, the Brooklyn Eagle, not the Times." He rubbed at his eyes, yawning. "Why?"

[littleguyfrombrooklyn]

Steve frowned, uncertain. “Natasha is telling us to check the paper. I assume she means the Times?”

He didn’t want to leave bed, but he was immediately tense. He hated when she was cryptic. He texted her back asking for details and she sent a smiley face.

He sighed and pulled himself to his feet, scratching his stomach. He ran hot, so he always slept shirtless and in gym shorts.

“One day,” he said, with a sigh. “Can we have one?”

[endsinafight]

A knot formed in his stomach immediately. That didn't sound good. In fact, it sounded the exact opposite of good, like maybe Fury had followed through on those rumors of releasing the Winter Soldier files. He forced himself to draw in a breath, letting himself be momentarily distracted by the sight of his half-naked boyfriend. God. He was so beautiful it was actually almost painful to look at him. It was really kind of unfair. How the hell had he ended up being the one that Steve had chosen? Out of all the people on the planet? It didn't really make any sense to him at all.

"We could leave our phones at home when we head north," he suggested, making no effort to hide the fact that he was ogling. Monet scooted up in the bed so she was curled up beside him, replacing the lost warmth of Steve's body beside him.

[littleguyfrombrooklyn]

Steve sighed and looked at Bucky, thinking about offering to grab bagels with the paper—but he was caught by how clearly Bucky was looking him over. He smirked and stretched, putting his arms over his head and letting all his muscles move underneath his skin.

It was nice to look back at Bucky, too. Warm and rumpled and curled up with Monet.

“You make such a cozy picture it’s hard to drag myself away, sweetheart,” he said, his voice a low rumble.

[endsinafight]

Bucky narrowed his eyes, fully aware that Steve had caught him and was intentionally putting himself farther on display for his eyes to feast on. "And you're unfairly fucking gorgeous, Rogers, so I guess that makes us even." Except not at all.

[littleguyfrombrooklyn]

Steve smiled and then faked wounded. “Unfair? Oh okay, I’m sorry it’s so hard to look at me.”

He couldn’t keep the glee entirely out of his face, though. He wasn’t used to being hot, at least not compared to Bucky. There was something intoxicating about it.

[endsinafight]

"Ugh."

If he hadn't been concerned about hitting his injured hand accidentally, Bucky would have heaved a pillow at him. Ridiculous. He shook his head, wrapping his right arm around Monet and laying his head back down on the pillow even though his eyes remained on Steve. The pleased look on his face made Bucky feel warm all over.

At that moment, Steve's phone pinged again and Bucky groaned.

[littleguyfrombrooklyn]

Steve’s smile faded as he remembered what had dragged him out of bed.

When he checked his phone, Natasha had sent a link to a website called TMZ.

He clicked it and then his jaw dropped. He looked up at Bucky, all of the playfulness gone and replaced by uneasy uncertainty.

When Bucky made eye contact, he gently tossed the phone over, so he could see for himself.

[endsinafight]

Steve's reaction to whatever was on his phone didn't leave him feeling very reassured and he caught the phone easily in his left hand, pausing at the sight of them splashed on the front of some website. It was from yesterday when they'd taken Monet for a walk, only a block or so from the apartment. Steve's hand was on his neck and they were gazing at each other with open affection, Monet at their feet waiting patiently to go on her walk. The next image they were a fraction closer and Bucky had ducked his head, soft smile on his face and the look of adoration on Steve's was impossible to mistake. It almost took his breath away, seeing it from this perspective.

"Oh," he murmured, sitting up in bed a little more and scrolling until he reached the headline.

Captain America and The Winter Soldier...Dating!? Say It Ain't So.

And underneath, the smaller caption: It certainly appears to be so.

Bucky chewed his lower lip, scanning the very small article, which stated an anonymous source had spotted the pair the previous day enjoying a cozy moment in Brooklyn with one another. Did they really get a dog together? He glanced up at Steve silently, not sure what to say or even how to react.

[littleguyfrombrooklyn]

"I’m not ashamed," Steve blurted out, before he could think. He flushed, but continued, his jaw setting out stubborn. "You’re the best part of my life. You make me happy. I’m proud to be your fella. I’m not ashamed of anyone knowing that and I’ll happily tell them all about it myself."

He sighed and visibly got ahold of himself, closing his eyes and running his good hand through his hair. It stuck straight up on end in the wake.

"But I know this isn’t what you wanted. We could almost certainly deny it? Or say nothing. There’s nothing definitive about those photos," Steve said, his voice a little weak. Everything he felt was as clear as day on his face. It was no wonder it hit the news so quickly.

In Bucky’s hand, another text from Natasha popped up. This one had a link to the Times and a warning that their apartment was currently being swarmed by all the paparazzi in New York.

[endsinafight]

Bucky's expression softened at Steve's immediate reassurance that he wasn't ashamed of their relationship. Absently, he scratched behind Monet's ears before swinging his legs over the edge of the bed and rising to his feet. He didn't like the way Steve's voice went weaker at the suggestion that they deny everything or just say nothing.

"Hey." He moved to stand in front of Steve, shaking his head. "I'm not ashamed, either. Not of us." This wasn't the way he'd wanted to start the morning out, but it was what it was. "And for what it's worth...it's pretty obvious in the pictures. I don't think there's any real point in lying about it." Bucky was quiet for a second. "I only wanted to keep this quiet for your sake, Steve. You know that right?" Because the world was certainly going to have plenty of opinions about Captain America dating the world's most well known assassin.

When the phone made another noise, he glanced at it instinctively, reading the text and feeling a swell of anxiety in his chest. He handed it back to Steve before moving to peer out the blinds. Sure enough, the brownstone was surrounded by a crowd of people, and news vans lined the street. He rubbed a hand over his face.

[littleguyfrombrooklyn]

Steve smiled at Bucky, a little more relaxed with the reassurance. “I don’t need protecting. I love you. Anyone who has a problem with it isn’t worth my time.”

Now that he was up, he could hear the murmur of people outside. New York was always loud, but this was more focused. He wasn’t too surprised when he took the phone off of Bucky to read what it said.

He pushed dial. “Natasha,” he said. “Any bright ideas?”

[endsinafight]

He disagreed with that, though he didn't voice it. He very much thought Steve needed to be protected. But maybe that was just old instincts that he didn't know how to shut down. He scraped his teeth over his lower lip, listening as Steve spoke with Natasha.

"Well, you've got a couple of options. One, you go out and address them directly. Two, you ask Tony to send a car for you both and stay somewhere else until some of the publicity dies down."

[littleguyfrombrooklyn]

Steve looked up and met Bucky’s eyes, giving him a half-smile. He assumed he could hear Natasha clearly.

“Do you think we could leave the country? We were talking about heading up to Canada to get away from things a little bit. And maybe we could release a written statement.”

[endsinafight]

Natasha hummed quietly, sounding thoughtful. "Yes. But you'll probably want to consider removing Barnes' ankle monitor if you're hoping to go off the grid for awhile."

Bucky glanced down at his foot momentarily, grimacing, and looking back at Steve, nodding.

[littleguyfrombrooklyn]

Steve put Natasha on speaker.

“Okay, how about this plan? We go into Tony’s place today. I get my hand stabilized by whoever he’s got while we wait for Cho to come over later. Some of his people help Bucky get the bracelet off. We both meet with some of Pepper’s people to help us put out a statement confirming the rumors and asking for privacy.”

Steve was using his tactical voice.

[endsinafight]

"Sounds like you didn't need my advice for a plan," Natasha said wryly.

Bucky stared outside at the crowd below, knowing the plan was a good one even if the idea of being around Tony unsettled him more than he cared to admit. He simply nodded his agreement with Steve's words. He was pretty certain he could get the monitor off without help, but he'd already mentioned to Steve the possibility of explosives. It seemed unlikely but he didn't trust Fury not to screw him over entirely.

[littleguyfrombrooklyn]

“You’ve helped enormously, Nat,” Steve said, warmly. “Given our previous discussion, we could certainly use your help on the PR side at the very least, if we want to put some version of your old plan in practice.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Natasha said, playfully. “Don’t flatter me. I’ll meet you there.”

She hung up on him. Steve texted Tony, taking him up on his already offered car. Steve slipped his phone into his gym shorts pocket and made his way over to Bucky, coming up behind him. He made no effort to be stealthy and wrapped his good arm around Bucky, holding him against Steve’s chest as Bucky looked out the window.

“Hey, baby. What are you thinking about?”

[endsinafight]

Bucky closed his eyes, leaning back into the warm strength of Steve's body. He brought his own arms up to cover the arm Steve had wrapped around him, turning his head just enough to rest his cheek against Steve's. "Head's kinda all over the place," he admitted.

[littleguyfrombrooklyn]

Steve nuzzled Bucky’s cheek.

“Makes sense,” he murmured. “Want to walk me through it?”

Steve’s head was remarkably clear. This felt kind of like a crisis, like something where he had to get his shit together and make stuff happen. He wasn’t sure he’d entirely emotionally process it for awhile—except for the part of him who was quietly pleased that he could brag on Bucky in public now.

[endsinafight]

He drew in a slow breath, body feeling shivery with the affection. It was strange how he'd gone from such strong instinctual aversion to touch from anyone to craving it just as strongly from Steve. "When she texted you, I was sure it was because Fury released the documents he'd threatened to put out there. And I know I was the one who wanted to keep this quiet from the start, but...I was glad. That it was this. And not...the other stuff. And now I feel bad because I know you're going to get dragged through the mud because of it. Again."

Bucky kept his eyes shut. "Also kinda dreading having to go out there to get to a car, and...facing Stark is...I don't know. I know you said he's moved past what happened, but I wasn't in the room when he was with you at the hospital and maybe seeing me will trigger things for him again." Welcome to Bucky Barnes' tornado'ed brain, he thought.

[littleguyfrombrooklyn]

Steve ducked his head and pressed a warm kiss on Bucky’s neck, lingering for a moment.

“You don’t really need it from me, but you have my permission to feel glad about this. I’m glad, too. For my own sake. Please don’t feel bad for me,” he said, softly. “If anything, I should feel guilty for being so pleased about being able to be public with how much I love you.”

He kissed Bucky’s neck again, sucking ever so slightly. “And that makes sense, worrying about Tony. I think it’s gonna be alright. But even if he loses it, we’ll be okay. I’ll make sure we get out safe.”

[endsinafight]

His tone was so gentle and reassuring that Bucky relaxed despite his own worries, nodding. A soft noise escaped him and he shivered when Steve kissed his neck again, feeling the heat from his mouth and tongue on his skin. His arms tightened around Steve's good arm, and he arched his back in response involuntarily, feeling like the room was spinning around him.

"Yeah. Yeah, I know," he answered, voice breathier than usual as it hitched in his throat. He wasn't really worried about Tony hurting him, hurting either of them, really. He was worried about stirring up emotions and memories in Tony that he was the cause of. He'd hurt him enough, however unintended. He didn't really know how to voice all that, though, particularly with Steve's mouth on his neck.

[littleguyfrombrooklyn]

Steve could tell that he had successfully distracted Bucky and he had a moment of worrying about if it was the right move—he did genuinely care what Bucky was thinking about, he didn’t want to give him the impression that it didn’t matter to Steve—but then Bucky pressed back into him and basically sighed, his voice intoxicatingly breathy.

At that, Steve kissed him again, right in the same spot—he used his teeth, just digging a little, and then followed it with his tongue. "Is this okay?" he murmured, right into Bucky’s skin.