[Bucky Barnes; R] I'll Be Home For Christmas: Chapter 14 Character/Series: Bucky Barnes, Cast; Marvel Cinematic Universe Rating: R Notes: Yes, the title is a half-assed reference to a song from the '30s. Title: I'll Be Home For Christmas- Chapter 14: After The Ball Author:yuuo Word Count: 5544 Summary:The waiting lobby nearest to the room that Bruce put Natasha in was the only one lit up.
The waiting lobby nearest to the room that Bruce put Natasha in was the only one lit up. Bruce had called in one of his on-call nurses to take the early morning watch, and she sat around the corner, just out of hearing range if conversation was kept to library-voices level.
They'd been there just long enough for Maria to have landed the ship wherever Tony kept it hidden and to rejoin them, and for Bruce to have taken and processed an x-ray of Natasha's femur. He'd declared that no damage beyond a bruise had been done to the bone when the shrapnel hit her. She'd be fine with rest and some rehabilitation.
Barton looked ready to collapse from relief and fatigue. Tony looked far more worried than he'd probably let on through his words. Thor and Steve looked somber, relief overwhelmed by the drop of adrenaline. Bucky had to stomp on the urge to make Steve subject himself to Bruce's tender mercies and get his arm looked at, see if that anti-personnel grenade had caused any bruises, but he knew it was unlikely. Steve had survived worse without needing medical attention. Bruises weren't anything that needed anything but maybe a Tylenol.
Nobody spoke until Pepper and Sharon joined them. Pepper went right to Tony. He shook his head at her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'm fine," he told her. "Better than fine. Spangles took a hit for me."
Pepper turned to Steve. "Do you need any medical attention?"
"No, I'm okay. The shield took most of the impact." He nodded in Bucky's direction. "I wouldn't have seen anything coming if he hadn't spotted it first."
Pepper didn't speak, just went over to Steve and hugged him, then over to Bucky to do the same. "Thank you," she said.
Bucky gave her a lopsided smile. "I told you I'd watch out for him."
Pepper took in a deep breath. "You did." She looked over at Sharon, who was hovering near the entrance to the lobby. "They're all yours," she said, walking back over to Tony.
Sharon took a place between Steve and Bucky, studying them both intently. When both men assured her that they just needed a shower and sleep, she turned to Bruce. "How's Agent Romanov doing?"
"She'll be fine," Bruce said, taking off his glasses and wiping them on his shirt. "She lost a lot of blood, but she's recovering. Getting her to stay off her feet until I say it's time for rehab is going to be tough."
Barton made a half-laugh, half-snort of derision noise at that. "That's Natasha for you." He sighed, thunking his head back against the wall behind him. "I gotta contact Homeland, let them know the mission wasn't successful."
"Honestly, Clint, I don't think it would've been anyway," Bruce said. "Not with the level of brainwashing needed to get through those groups."
"I know," he said. "Now that I know Nat's gonna be fine, I'm just as glad we got out. The mission was compromised before it started."
"So what was going on?" Steve asked, sparing a glance at Sharon when she wrapped one arm around his.
Barton didn't answer at first, before finally tilting his head slightly to look at Steve. "Where do you want me to start?"
"Stories usually start at the beginning," Thor said. "Perhaps starting there would be best."
"Smart ass," Barton said with absolutely no heat. "SHIELD had me on mission in Syria to try to infiltrate the Islamic State. I think their logic was that I'd been brainwashed once already, I could handle it again. I wanted to give them the finger on that, but that wasn't going to work, and I knew it. So off I went.
"When SHIELD went down, Homeland inherited my mission, hooked me up with Natasha as my liason. I've spent the last couple years over there, acting as an interested party. It hasn't been that long since I took the oath before we ran into trouble."
"The other group that showed up?" Steve asked.
Barton nodded. "The Brothers of Heaven," he said. "They and pretty much anyone Muslim don't get along much."
"Never heard of them," Tony said. "Who are they?"
"Syria has a minority Christian population," Barton said, not really looking at anyone, more at the far wall. "The Brothers started as a Christian militia group to defend against the Islamic State and the various other Islamic terrorist groups in the area. It didn't take long for them to turn into a terrorist group themselves. Now, even they don't claim to come from any particular religion, they've gone so far off the deep end, that they pretty much just kill anyone who so much as utters the word Allah except to curse the name."
Steve and Bucky exchanged a look. "So the argument you had with Natasha over the telecomm was about them starting to cause trouble for your group?" Steve asked.
Barton stared at him for a few seconds, then a tiny LED popped on over his head. "Right, she said she was hiding Cap and his partner when the Winter Soldier stuff leaked." He shrugged. "Yeah. I told her things were getting hot, I might have to bail, she refused to let me do it without her to help. I finally gave in and let her come over."
"As your jihadi wife," Bruce guessed.
"Yeah," Barton said.
Bucky squinted at Bruce. "How do you know so much about those groups, anyway?"
"I've done humanitarian work over there," Bruce said. "I've tended to people who got out. I probably know about as much as Clint does."
Barton pointed sternly at Bruce. "And if you were anyone other than Bruce Banner, Natasha and I would both have to kick your ass for risking yourself like that."
Bruce smiled, a bit of a wry expression. "Anyone else," he said. "As it is, I think if anyone who took me captive had a brain in their head, they'd let me go really fast. The other guy might have words for them if they didn't."
Bucky leaned back in his seat, glancing at the empty seat next to him where his goggles and mask were sitting. "You know, if we could get the countries of the world to get together and hire us to take care of that little problem out there, we could make a helluva profit."
Steve made an aggravated sound. "Bucky, sometimes I think all you think about is money."
"And women," Bucky said. "But I wasn't being serious. I don't like that area, don't wanna tangle with religious groups. I try to stay far out of that kind of mess."
"Smart idea," Bruce said. Then he ran a tired hand over his face. "It's past five in the morning, I think we're all starting to head towards the 'up for twenty-four hours' mark, and after the excitement, I think we could all stand some rest. Especially you, Clint."
Barton glanced towards the room Natasha was in. "I'll rest when she's awake," he said.
"No, you'll rest now," Bruce said. "Please don't make me give you a sedative and tie you down to a bed."
Barton swore at him. "Fine. Only because I know you'd do it, though." He pushed himself up off his chair. "So do I just pick a bed here?"
"We have apartments set up for the Avengers," Pepper said. "Maria can direct you. There should be clothes in your size there, you can shower and change before laying down for awhile."
Barton looked down at himself. "Yeah. Shower. Clean clothes. Both sound nice." He looked up at Bruce. "Tell me as soon as she wakes up." He frowned like something just occurred to him. "You might want to have someone she knows with her when she wakes up. Her blood pressure might go up if she wakes up in a strange place with no familiar faces after being injured."
"Right now, I want her blood pressure to go up," Bruce said. "But I see your point. I can go a bit longer, I'll stay-"
"I'll do it," Bucky volunteered. "I can go longer than most people, and she recognized me while we were there, it might be less disorienting if it's me than if it's you."
Bruce rubbed the back of his neck. "If you're sure. I won't turn down a chance to sleep. But I'm going to give the same demand that Clint gave: I get woken up as soon as Natasha does."
Bucky waved him off. "I'll have the nurse call you." He looked over at Sharon, jabbing his thumb in Steve's direction. "Make sure this idiot gets sleep, he might have to take a shift if Natasha's slow to wake up."
Sharon smiled, the expression tired. Bucky had a feeling that she and Pepper were both up all night, waiting for them to get back. "You know there's no making him do anything he doesn't want to."
"Speaking of doing what I want, I'm staying up with you, Bucky," Steve said.
Before Bucky could argue, Sharon gave them both a pointed look. "I'm not going to get into this between you two, but I'm going to say that Steve's probably going to win this. And I will make you two go clean up before you stay here. I can stay long enough for you to do that, and I'm sure Doctor Banner can, too."
Bucky stared at her, then up to Steve. "Why do you always pick the bossy ones?"
Steve's expression looked like it might've been trying to be accusing, but failed. "Well, you know what they say about getting involved with people who remind us of a loved one."
"Don't blame me," Bucky snapped, then stood, grabbing his mask and goggles. "Come on, your girlfriend might actually strip us and throw us into the shower one at a time if we don't listen to her, and that sounds awkward." He looked at Bruce. "We'll be quick."
The group broke up, Maria and Clint to find Clint's apartment, Bruce and Sharon to hover near Natasha, Pepper and Tony half-leading each other out of the lobby, both looking ready for a good day's sleep. Thor bid them good night and joined the group going up to the apartments.
Bucky lay claim to the shower first, once he and Steve were home, and spent a couple minutes just scrubbing dust out of his hair, before changing into something comfortable for sitting vigil for an undetermined amount of time. He told Steve he was going down ahead while Steve showered. Steve tried to protest, but Bucky pointed out his girlfriend was going without sleep to wait for them, and the faster someone got down there to relieve her, the faster she could go to bed.
That logic seemed to work.
Sharon was pacing in slow, deliberate steps outside of Natasha's room when Bucky showed up. She stopped when she caught sight of him, walked over to him, and rested her forehead on his metal shoulder. "I'm tired," she mumbled. "Where's Steve?"
"Still showering," Bucky said, patting Sharon's shoulder. "I got this, you go sleep. You need it to keep up with us."
She made a noise around a yawn that might've been an insult. "I don't think anyone can sleep enough to keep up with you two jackasses," she said. She straightened and rubbed her eyes, smearing the make up she was still wearing.
Bucky made a point of not mentioning it.
After a bit of prodding and assurances that Steve could find his way from the apartment to the med center without her waiting for him, she left, and Bucky headed into Natasha's room. Bruce gave him a grateful smile, told him the nurse was listening for any alarms on Natasha's vitals, and all Bucky had to do was be there when she woke up to keep her from panicking.
Bucky wasn't sure she'd panic, but it'd probably be better for her nerves to see a friendly face when she woke up.
Once he was satisfied that Natasha would be okay, Bruce left to join the others in the land of sleep, and Bucky settled in a chair near Natasha's bed and waited for Steve. The EKG monitor beeped steadily, much slower than the one fifty it'd been at when Bruce declared surgery done. Bruce hadn't said anything about it before he left, so Bucky assumed it was fine.
Steve joined him a few minutes later, looking and smelling a helluva lot better than he had been when they'd landed and gotten Natasha to the med center. He flopped into the other chair in the room with a groan. "You know," he said, keeping his voice low to not disturb Natasha, "if it weren't for why we were out, I'd say it was nice to get in the uniform again and do a little good somewhere."
"We've been needing a job," Bucky agreed. "Would prefer something paying, but we might be able to weasel some payment out of Homeland for rescuing two of their operatives."
"There you go with money again," Steve said.
Bucky turned his head to look at Steve. "It means I can take care of you, so don't act like I'm just being a greedy asshole about it."
Steve gave him a weary look. "I know that's exactly why you do it," he said. "And we don't need nearly as much as you act like we do."
Bucky shrugged his right shoulder. "I like to have a nest egg. And don't tell me we have one, we've taken out over ten thousand from it recently just on those suits and shoes we had to abandon before the evening was even over. I don't like not having income coming in regularly." He sighed. "It's probably my fault. Nobody's willing to trust a former Hydra operative with their money and secret missions."
"The president said he wanted to keep us employed," Steve pointed out.
"One person, who doesn't even control half the jobs we could be getting," Bucky argued. Then he sighed again, a sound that bordered on a yawn. "We'll figure out something, I suppose. If nothing else, I can drop out of sight, you can get the jobs, I'll retire." He made a face. "Not that I want to, but people might still be more willing to trust Captain America than the Winter Soldier. Nobody was real fond of me to begin with."
Steve reached over and smacked him lightly on the shoulder. "Stop that. We're a team, we're always going to be a team. If it comes down to it, I'll see if Tony has any PR suggestions. But I think we'll be okay."
Bucky didn't answer, went back to watching Natasha's EKG monitor. "You know, you can't stay up all day, you won't sleep tonight, and you have a busy evening tomorrow."
"I'll be able to handle it," Steve said. "I'm not going to let the kids down. Do you work Monday night?"
Bucky tilted his head back, trying to count the dates. "Yeah, I do. I'll be there about four forty-five, help get things ready for when the guys come in at five. So we'll be leaving about the same time."
"It's too bad I can't get you to come with me to see the kids," Steve said. "They get really excited."
"I'll bet," Bucky said. "But I promised, and the guys need a warm place to stay and someone to keep them safe more than those kids need to see a superhero for Christmas. Not to downplay what they're going through, or anything, but-"
"I know," Steve said. "And that's your thing. The kids are mine. I can handle seeing dying kids smiling because I'm there to say hi a lot better than I could probably handle seeing a bunch of abandoned vets trying to have a meal in peace and sleep in a bed in a crowded room with no privacy."
Bucky didn't answer at first. "It's not easy, no," he admitted. "I don't always feel right sleeping in my bed after coming home from my volunteer nights. Like they deserve it more than I do."
"You deserve it just as much as they do, Buck," Steve said. "You served, you spent a long time as a POW. I think you've earned a nice bed."
"So have they."
Steve didn't seem able to come up with a reply beyond putting his hand on Bucky's right shoulder and giving it a light squeeze. Bucky reached up with his left hand and patted Steve's hand with it, then sighed and shifted in his seat, trying to get comfortable.
They fell into silence, minutes ticking by into a half hour, then into an hour. Another hour followed, and Steve excused himself to the bathroom. Bucky glanced at the time and wished he'd thought to bring his tablet to read while keeping watch.
Steve hadn't returned yet when Natasha finally showed signs of life outside of the monitors hooked up to her, her eyes half open and groggy-looking, a pained little noise managing to work its way out of her throat.
Bucky stood and stepped over by the bed. "Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," he said quietly.
One of Natasha's eyebrows raised like she was trying to pry her eye open more than it was. "What're you doing here?" She flopped her head to the side, looking at the monitors, then looked back at Bucky. "Where's here?"
"You're at the Avengers Tower," Bucky said. "Barton called us in to rescue you guys. You gave everyone a helluva scare."
"Mm." She stretched, wincing slightly. "My leg hurts. I don't suppose Banner gave me anything for pain?"
"I'll ask the nurse if you can have any yet," he said.
"In a second," she said. "I don't wanna be knocked back out yet." She focused on the ceiling, blinking a couple times until her eyes opened a bit more than half mast. "Where's Clint?"
"Sleeping," Bucky said. "He's up in his apartment. We made him go clean up and get some rest. Steve's here, too, he just ran out for a second. We figured we super soldier types could stay up longer a bit easier than the others."
Natasha blinked a couple more times, slowly, like she was having trouble opening her eyelids back up once they'd closed. "So we're safe? Him too?"
"You're both safe," Bucky assured her. "I'll go get the nurse, you need more rest. You lost a lot of blood."
She didn't protest, except to move her leg a bit and groan in response to the movement. "I think I'm okay, but Clint and Banner both would have fits at me if I didn't pretend to need medicine."
Bucky left the room to walk over to the nurse's station. "She's awake," he told the nurse. "She's asking for more pain killers."
The nurse looked at her computer. "She's not scheduled for any more for another half hour," she said. "I can get authorization from Doctor Banner, if she's in enough pain." The nurse got up and walked around the counter, heading into Natasha's room. Bucky waited outside the door, not wanting to get in the way.
Steve rejoined him from around the corner. "She's awake?" he asked, glancing in around Bucky's shoulder.
"Yeah," Bucky said. "The nurse is checking on her now. She can't have any meds yet. I guess she's checking pain levels, see if Natasha can make it another half hour."
They got out of the way as the nurse came back out, then went back into the room. "Hey, Natasha," Steve said, beating Bucky to the bed, leaving Bucky to stand near the foot. "How're you feeling?"
"Like something stabbed my leg," she said with a faint smile. "I hear you guys got us out. Thanks. I hadn't come up with any plans to do it ourselves."
Steve smiled. "The Avengers stick together. We're a team." Then he motioned to Bucky. "Speaking of, say hi to the newest member of said team."
Natasha looked down the bed at him. "Welcome to the crazy," she said. "I don't think joining us had been your intention when you ran off to Meade. How'd that go, by the way? I left almost right after you guys."
"Spent a few days in the stockade," Bucky said. "Then Tony got on national television and saved my ass with the news about Hydra. So it's no longer a secret that I was an experiment."
Natasha frowned. "Sorry. I know that's not information you wanted out."
Bucky shrugged. "It's hurt business a bit, but so far, it seems that most people are on my side. President Ellis was a bit upset we didn't tell him before, but he says we're still on the 'will hire' list, and he's encouraging other countries to decline pressing charges. I think I'm unwelcome in Russia, though."
"So am I," she said. "No big loss, it's cold there."
"I know," Bucky said. He looked at Steve. "I should probably have the nurse put in a call to Barton, let him know Natasha's awake."
Steve frowned a second. "We'll have Bruce do it. If Bruce decides to put her back out with pain killers, there's no sense in Clint coming down here when he needs more sleep. Bruce'll be able to talk him into going back to sleep better than we can."
Bucky shrugged. "You know him, I don't."
Natasha made a distinctly unhappy noise. "Bruce better not put me back to sleep. I'm fine, nothing a bit of Tylenol won't help."
"I thought you asked for pain killers," Bucky said, giving her a frustrated look.
She gave him that smile he wasn't sure if he liked or not, but he sure missed it. "Tylenol is a pain killer. And Clint and Banner would both be mad at me if I didn't make at least a half-hearted attempt at sounding injured. My leg's fine, just need maybe a Tylenol-3 and a bit more rest."
Bucky looked at Steve. "Has she always been like this?"
Steve shrugged. "She's not as bad as I am, but yeah. After Hydra shot her in the shoulder, she took all of three Advil and went right back to work."
Something about that sounded wrong. That was the sort of healing Bucky expected out of Steve and himself, not a normal human like Natasha. He set aside that thought; god knew she was unusual, and she may not have been healed, just self-trained to fight through the pain, and had simply taken time later to finish healing properly before jumping back into life as an assassin.
Natasha looked smug. "Took out the Strike Team that had gone to take over the Security Council all by myself. In heels, no less."
"Please tell me you got Rumlow," Bucky said, voice more of a growl than he'd intended. He didn't like any of the Strike Team, but something about the way Rumlow would watch the techs work on Bucky when it came time to perform a wipe unsettled him, like the sick fuck got off on watching Bucky get tortured.
"He wasn't there," Natasha said. "Sam went to take him on."
"How is Sam still alive?" Bucky demanded, snapped, more like it, tone more aggressive than he'd intended.
Steve studied him, and Bucky sensed a Talk was being mentally prepared for having later. "Sam jumped out the window when the helicarriers went down. As far as we know, Rumlow died in the crash."
Bucky grunted in response, trying to hide how pleased the idea of Rumlow dying a painful, fiery death made him.
"You didn't like him much, did you?" Natasha asked, that damnable smile on her face, and this time, Bucky really did hate it. He wasn't surprised she figured that out, not with his visible reactions, but Steve had the courtesy to not bring it up, at least.
"Did anyone?" Bucky said, trying to brush off her question.
"I did until he tried to kill me and we found out he was a Hydra agent," Steve said. Bucky gave him a pointed stare in response. Steve stared right back, before he figured out what Bucky's expression meant, giving Bucky an exasperated look. "He did it willingly, Bucky," he said. "That's different."
"Agreeing with Steve," Natasha said. "If you'd been trying to kill us of your own free will, we wouldn't be talking right now."
Bucky was saved from the conversation by Bruce speaking as he walked into the room. "That didn't take you long to wake up," he said.
Natasha glanced at Steve and Bucky, both of whom stepped back and out of the way of Bruce giving Natasha whatever treatment and/or scolding he was planning on giving her. She wrinkled her nose at them, then looked up at Bruce. "I had the best doctor treating me, and you're surprised that I'm recovering quickly?"
"Flattery doesn't become you," Bruce said. "But I'll take the compliment anyway. How're you feeling? And be honest, or I'll have Clint appeal to your guilt complex to make you cooperate."
Natasha gave him a look of extreme consternation. "That's not fair. But since you're twisting my arm, my leg hurts, my toes are cold, and I could probably stand some Percocet, but I'd prefer some Tylenol and a pair of crutches so I can get out of this bed."
"Your preferences are being considered and are overruled," Bruce said. "You lost a lot of blood. The transfusions helped with that, but you had a major artery severed, it's going to take awhile for it to finish healing, and you risk tearing it back open if you try to push yourself before it's had that chance."
"You drive a hard bargain, Banner," she said. "But fine. I'll take the Percocet. And maybe a heated blanket. And my toes are still cold."
Bruce frowned. "How cold?"
"Like walking around an apartment at night with the heat on low and no slippers. Not unbearable, but I'd like socks or something."
Bruce nodded. "Okay, that's not bad. I was worried there might be a blood flow problem."
She shook her head. "No, just plain old 'it's cold out and I want socks' cold. I've done the whole injury thing a few times, I know better than to dismiss unusual symptoms."
"Good," he said. "That makes my job easier."
"She's actually making someone's job easier?" Barton's voice said from the doorway, and the other three men turned.
Natasha lifted her head. "I don't recall asking for your commentary."
"You're getting it anyway," Barton said, walking in. He stopped next to Bruce. "How is she?"
"I'm right here."
Bruce ignored Natasha. "Her vitals are good, she isn't reporting anything problematic. She just needs some Percocet and a heated blanket and some more rest. The medicine's probably going to knock her back out, so I'd say hi, and then go get proper rest. She'll be okay, she just needs time to heal. If anything about that changes, we'll let you know."
Barton gave Natasha a stern stare. "If you don't toe the line of the doctor's orders, Agent, there will be hell to pay."
Natasha graced him with an expression as sour as milk a month past the 'good by' date. "We're not on mission anymore, you don't get to order me around."
"Natasha."
She let out a heartfelt sigh. "Only because you asked so sweetly." She looked at Bucky. "I hope Steve gives you half this much trouble."
Bucky rolled his eyes towards the ceiling. "Only half?"
Steve, of course, didn't sound at all sorry. "If you listened to him, he'd say twice as much, easily. I maintain that I am not that bad."
"The hell you aren't," Bucky retorted.
Barton studied them a moment, then turned back to Natasha. "If you don't listen to me, I'll sic Cap on you."
"I already said I'd behave," Natasha said. "Now, all of you, go away. Bruce is going to put me back to sleep for awhile, and I don't need three of the seven dwarfs keeping watch over my glass coffin."
"Maybe not, but Doc's going to stick around until one of his relief pitchers shows up," Bruce said. "You can kick out Grumpy, Dopey and Sleepy, though."
Bucky raised an eyebrow. "Did I just get renamed to 'Grumpy'?"
"Better than being renamed Dopey," Steve said, frowning.
Barton gave one more look to Natasha, then over to Steve and Bucky. "I'll willingly claim 'Sleepy'." He stifled a yawn. "She'll be fine, which means I can go rest without sitting by the phone."
"Aw, you care," Natasha said.
The conversation stopped briefly as the nurse entered, a syringe of what Bucky assumed was Natasha's pain killer in hand. They watched quietly as she screwed the syringe into the injection port on the IV line and began to administer the Percocet. The nurse looked at them. "Don't let me stop you," she said with a smile. "I don't tell Avengers secrets, that's why I was hired."
"I just didn't want to interrupt your work, ma'am," Steve said. He looked at Bucky. "We can probably go get some sleep ourselves now." He looked at Natasha. "We got kicked out in pretty clear terms."
"Yes, you did," Natasha said. "So did you, Clint. Go sleep, I'll be fine."
The three men that were being banished out said good night to Bruce and 'get better or else' to Natasha, then left, each yawning in turn as the curse spread from Barton, then to Bucky, then finally to Steve. Barton looked ready to fall over from fatigue, and possibly hunger.
"When was the last time you ate?" Bucky asked Barton, as they stopped at the elevators and waited for one to hit their floor.
He looked at Bucky in confusion, then rolled his head back to look at the ceiling. "Yesterday sometime. I don't have a damn clue when, time zones are a bitch and I'm tired enough to not try to count them. Why?"
Bucky glanced up at Steve, silently asking permission to make them all stay up a bit longer, and Steve shrugged in response. Close enough, as far as Bucky was concerned, and he turned back to Barton. "I'm too tired to cook, but we have some Finnish Pulla I made yesterday, you should get something in you before you sleep for the next ten hours. You'll have a helluva headache from the blood sugar crash when you wake up, otherwise."
Barton looked at the elevator when it pinged, and stepped in, followed by Bucky and Steve. "What's Finnish Pulla?"
"It's a type of sweet bread I make around Christmas," Bucky said. "As long as you're not allergic to milk, it should be okay. And if you're allergic to milk, I need to know now before I plan dinner for Christmas. Tony volunteered me for an Avengers party."
Barton shook his head, watching Steve hit the floor button. "Tony's good at volunteering people." Then he shrugged. "Won't turn down free food, I guess. Might be nice to have something not from Syria for awhile. I don't mind the food there, but after a few years without any variety, I'm ready for something else."
"I'll keep that in mind for Christmas, too," Bucky said. "I hadn't planned on anything from that region, anyway."
Barton leaned back against the back wall of the elevator. "Do we get the traditional goose, like in A Christmas Carol?"
"I hope that wasn't sarcasm," Bucky said, "because I'd been leaning towards goose, actually."
A second or two passed, wherein Barton looked like he was trying to parse what was said. "Is goose actually any good?"
Bucky shrugged. "My family liked it, growing up. So did Steve and his mom. I figured everyone could use a break from ham and turkey."
Barton quirked a smile. "Be nice to that ham, I grew up with it."
"A lot of people did," Bucky said. "Which is why you need a change of pace."
"Works for me," Barton said. "I have a feeling, come Christmas, we're all going to be ready for a change of pace." He suddenly stared at Bucky as if seeing him for the first time. "We haven't been properly introduced, have we? I don't have the slightest clue who you are. I've heard the name 'Winter Soldier' before, anyone worth their salt in the intelligence community has, but we all thought he was a boogeyman. Is that a borrowed name?"
Bucky shook his head. "No, I'm the real one. Name's Bucky Barnes, I'm Steve's friend from before the war. Long story how I stuck around so long. It involves Hydra and mad scientists, and you have definitely been out of the world for awhile if you hadn't heard that I came back around and stopped being the monster under the bed."
Barton snorted. "Hydra. Because everyone loves them. I can only imagine it involved experimentation, and that already puts me on your side in whatever story you're going to tell me. And you can tell me over that sweet bread of yours."