I Feel The Ocean Between Us Closing In
a/n: INSPIRED BY AVENGERS DOOMSDAY TWITTER SPECULATION, MAY BE PART OF THE FILM!!
Relationships: Bucky Barnes/Sam Wilson, Bucky Barnes & Sam Wilson & Nick Fury, Shuri & Joaquin Torres & Sam Wilson, Bucky Barnes & Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes & Thunderbolts
Characters: Sam Wilson, Bucky Barnes, Nick Fury, Thunderbolts Team members, Shuri, Joaquin Torres
Fury was fucking sick and tired of their shit.
Bucky and Sam were quickly becoming insufferable in their squabbles. No decision could be made without one of them bringing up copyright claims.
It would always devolve from arguments everyone could follow into something about Louisiana cookouts, the new Falcon kid falling, Congressman Gary, and old wrinkly Steve Rogers.
Things that Fury wasn’t understanding the context of, and from the looks around the room, whenever he looked around, neither did anyone else.
He had already dealt with one Captain America and a cornerstone Avenger fight with each other.
It is not in his plans to repeat that shit show.
This time around, the shitheads were arguing in one of the meeting rooms of the base they had hunkered down in for planning. Due to their limited options for a base, this room was composed completely of glass, not soundproof, and not private in the slightest.
For fucks sake he got dusted for five years because of this same petty bitching. And this time around, he doesn’t have Maria to complain to, so forgive him if he loses his patience a lot quicker this time around.
He entered the meeting room, and he wasn’t even surprised when they just kept arguing with each other way too closely.
“Captain Wilson. Sergeant Barnes”, his voice as commanding as always, finally getting them to look at him.
Sam nodded toward him in greeting, “Fury. Anything urgent other than the multiversal threat we’re already dealing with?”
“Frankly, yes, Wilson, but I would like to have this scolding in a more private place and not in front of both your teams and the alternate timeline refugees.”
Bucky and Sam shared a look, still seemingly connected enough to read each other. Both are looking embarrassed. As they should.
“Now, let’s go to the back before the scary invisible lady murders everyone here for waking up that baby.” Fury walks out before either of them has a chance to reply.
They have a moment where neither moves. Sam looks out to see each of their teams averting their eyes, pretending, and failing miserably, not to have eavesdropped on them.
Sam sighs and turns toward Bucky, not quite looking him in the eye, “C’mon, we should follow him.”
“After you”, Bucky gestures with his arm.
Fury was standing in the hallway in front of a cleaning supply closet, resting next to the door.
“I know both of you lack in team leading experience, and your examples were Tony and Steve, but this shit needs to stop right now”, arms crossed and half whispering to control his anger.
“I’m sorry, Fury. I have a responsibility to you and my team, and I should have controlled myself knowing Bucky would try to start shit-”
“Oh, I started shit, Samuel? This is on me?”, Bucky said, bordering on hysterics.
“Yes, James, it fucking was. But at least I take responsibility for my actions”, he then turned to Fury, who was looking unimpressed, “I apologise. I‘ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Meanwhile, Bucky is facing him, mouth opening, ready to start the argument back up.
“Will you? Because it looks to me like Captain America and The Winter Soldier decided to have a domestic dispute in front of everyone and their mother”, Fury’s eyes bouncing from one to the other.
“And if I hadn’t intervened, you two might have choked one another. Unfortunately, I need both of you ready to fight the actual threat. Your teams need you ready to face that threat. Along with everyone in the fucking multiverse.”
The pair looked like two young boys getting a stern talking to by their teacher for fighting in the playground. Eyes down and fidgeting, taking the words in.
“Now I’m going to ask you two to get in that closet and figure your shit out. You have 20 minutes. After that, I need the two men who served to come out and guide this team. We don’t have the luxury of losing like last time. No do-overs.”
“I’m going to ask Yelena to debrief you on anything relevant. Now get your asses in that damn closet!”, scoffing and stomping away.
After a few seconds of lingering outside the small room, Bucky breaks the silence, “That’s ridiculous, we don’t actually have to get in the closet. We can be adults about this. Have a conversation.”
Sam sighs, “Get in, Bucky.”
“Wha- Why?! It’s not necessary. We won’t be arguing in front of the team-”, he said, annoyed at everything.
“You may not be in a screaming mood, but if I have 20 minutes to bury all this, then I’m going to raise my voice on a few things. Get. In.”
After Bucky didn’t instantly move, Sam, fed up, pushed him inside and closed the door.
The only light inside the closet came from the gap under the door. They could still see each other, even through the darkness.
Bucky threw his hands up and rolled his eyes. “You wanted us in here, so start.”
“I can’t believe with everything going on, you still have time to care about the stupid name”, he said, sounding irritated.
“Oh, I care about the name?! How come you’re the one bringing it up?! You were the one who copyrighted it in the first place”, pointing at Sam.
“Because I knew what it meant! Captain America not having the Avengers name, not leading the team. I fucking told you I was making a team, Bucky! And a few months later, I turn on the news to you on my screen with a team and the name to go along. What the fuck did you want me to do?”, seething anger in his voice.
“I have told you a million fucking times, Sam, but you keep not listening! Valentina made that shit up on the spot. Announced us as the Avengers. We had no clue it was going to happen”, getting closer to him, trying to get Sam to listen.
“You expect me to believe that-”, jabbing a finger at Bucky’s chest.
“Yes, I expect my partner to trust me enough not to think I would fuck him over after he told me something in confidence during one of the hardest things he could go through.” Bucky was backing Sam against a wall at this point.
Never one to back down, Sam got in his face, lifting his hands in frustration, “Then why haven’t you apologised?!”
“Apologised-?”, Bucky said, baffled.
“For what it looked like!”, Sam screamed desperately.
“For fighting me on the name when you didn’t even want it! When you didn’t pick the people on your team. When you know what it will do to the reputation I have built under the mantle.”
Bucky could see him tearing up, “Sam-”
“When you know me and Steve fought as hard as we could against the accords, so that the Avengers wouldn’t be anywhere near government control”, his eyes changed from sorrow to anger in the blink of an eye, “You love to bring that one up when its convenient for you but suddenly you forget when it goes against what you want”, no longer looking at Bucky to let his tears fall.
He wasn’t sure if Sam’s tears were out of anger and frustration or plain sadness and betrayal. Considering the situation, it may be both at once.
“I may not have chosen my team members, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want them- this. We were given an opportunity, Sam. To show people can change, go from what we were to heroes. Not just heroes, but The Avengers. It gave everyone on my team a second chance”, there wasn’t any anger left in his voice, not after seeing Sam cry.
Sam looked over, tears still running, barely any fight left in him, “I know that, my first reaction to the team wasn’t anger, Buck. I was so happy to see you were okay after New York went dark. Then, so proud you handled it with a team of your own, with Natasha’s little sister, and even got Walker to reform slightly. But God, everything flew out of my head when I saw ‘New Avengers’. It felt like you took a fragile, vulnerable thing I shared with you and stabbed me with it.”
Bucky opened his mouth to speak, but Sam lifted his finger, “Yeah, okay. ‘It was Valentina’. But you still wanted the name. Even after I told you how insecure I felt about it. And to top it off, your team was mainly composed of supersoldiers, when I’d told you just how I felt about that, too.”
Bucky looked struck at that last part; he hadn’t even considered that part of it at all. He hadn’t been the one to pick the members; it just sort of happened, so his mind never went to the other very important piece of information Sam shared during that conversation at the hospital.
He fought for the name. Stayed with the team. And it was mainly supersoldiers.
No fucking shit, Sam was so pissed. Though not really, he was hurt, very obviously so. Yet Bucky had mistaken it for irrational anger and jealousy.
“Sam, I am sorry”, he said in all plain and belated sincerity.
Bucky heard him scoff, though the tears made it sound off, “Yeah, you say that now.”
“No. I’m sorry. I got insecure about this. I wrongfully assumed you wouldn’t care that much about the name since you could still have your team and validity because Captain America would be leading them. And when you did care, I didn’t stop to think why, I just thought it must have to do with me and the team’s past. ‘Of course, you criminals can’t have the Avengers name. ’ I let the same crowd I constantly tell you to ignore get to me.”
Sam’s eyes lost their unforgiving edge, still hurt and a little angry, but the exhaustion and sympathy finally broke through to him.
“The ‘B-vengers comments got to you that bad?” with a slight smile on his face.
It made Bucky respond with a chuckle, “Yes, they kind of did.”
“I’m sorry too. I can see how you could have misinterpreted everything. I wasn’t exactly talkative when we first called, and I was so shaken from seeing all of New York as a void, I didn’t talk about Bob with the sensibility I should have. He’s a good kid.”
Bucky got a grin on his face from that, “I mean, I knew he’d get along with Joaquin, so Bob would grow on you.”
“Thanks for the ‘I told you so’, Barnes”, Sam pushed Bucky slightly.
Bucky grabbed onto his waist, finally comfortable enough to touch him in their gentle way. With the anger gone, only leaving longing and the need to salve each other’s wounds.
Sam reached up and put his arms around Bucky’s neck, “I know. I’m sorry too.”
Bucky tried to catch his gaze but failed, “Hey, what’s wrong? We just fixed our thing here.”
Sam looked up, and out of all the emotions Bucky had gotten used to seeing on his face the past few months, this wasn’t one.
“I’m scared, Buck. I have such a horrible feeling about this, and I got so mad at you earlier because you’re an idiot, and you dying when we’re not on good terms is fucking disgusting and terrifying to think about…What would I do?”, his eyes watering once more.
“Cmon now, no need to be scared of that anymore, we just buried the hatchet thanks to Fury of all people. I already felt bad for his attempted murder, but now I owe him a lot more”, he said, trying to lighten the mood.
“No, this isn’t good. Good is us a few months from now. No resentment. AJ and Cass aren’t asking for you like they’re scared you’re not coming back. Sarah isn’t asking me to fix the issues between me and my white boy”, Bucky laughed, and it made Sam smile, his heart lighter.
He continued, “It’s us visiting Louisiana any chance we get, inviting our team to the cookout. Though I’m still doubtful about Walker.”
“I promise to make sure he’s on his best behaviour”, taking a hand away from Sam’s waist to place it on his heart.
“And I’m sure you will. That’s why I’m scared. Because I want to get there. Intact. I’m real tired of funerals, Buck.”
“I know, Sammy”, he wipes the tears from Sam’s cheek, though his eyes water as well, “Let’s make sure our team is safe.”
It felt like they both realised at once, this was the eye of the hurricane. The only moment of quiet they would get till this ended. However, it did.
They reached out at the same time. Bucky placed a hand against Sam’s cheek while he reached into Bucky’s long hair to entangle his hands in, kissing with so much love and yearning.
The months of distance, the time wasted, taken into account but frankly ignored. They had each other in this moment. No one could take this loving kiss in a dark supply closet away from them.
Except for their idiots opening the door.
Yelena and Shuri high-fived and turned to Joaquin and Bob.
“Looks like we were right, what did we bet again?” Yelena said smugly.
“Hello, White Wolf!” said Shuri at the same time Joaquin said “Sam!” in a betrayed voice, “I owe them now! I was rooting for you, even bet you’d have at least punched him.”
Sam and Bucky hadn’t parted in their shock, but stayed entangled with one another, completely frozen looking at their team, until Sam finally said, “I can still punch him, get the last bit of anger out”.
To which Bucky turned to him, looking very offended, which made Sam laugh, which made him want to peck Bucky on the lips, and he did. But Bucky didn’t seem to care that a good amount of their team was in front of them and deepened the kiss.
Apparently, that was the perfect action to summon more people because among the ‘Awws’ and ‘Ewws’, there were more voices.
“HA! The Winter Soldier using seduction technique against the enemy, classic”, said Alexei while Yelena rolled her eyes at him.
“I fucking told you, John!” Ava told Walker gleefully.
Walker looked horrified, “Had this been going on the whole time the Flag Smashers thing was happening? When Fury said he sent you guys to kiss and make up, I thought he was kidding.”
That led to the rest of the team to start bickering with Walker about his obliviousness, temporarily getting the attention off the pair.
They turned to each other again and smiled. They knew this was their family, and they had to protect them.
yousharknotpass
kianamaiart
gracieabrams
discoholicmusic
dailybridgerton
origamiaround
