Chapter Eleven

Bucky and Mat sat up on the roof for the better part of an hour. Mat seemed to be in a bit of a better mood, at least. Talking with Bucky seemed to help him come to terms with his own abilities. They'd made a list of everything they suspected might have been augmented by the serum. So far, it consisted of healing, his senses of sound and sight, strength, and speed. That was all they could determine from sitting there. Bucky knew Stark and Banner were probably itching to know more, and Fury would want a full breakdown of everything Mat was capable of as soon as he could get it.

Bucky only hoped they could keep Mat safe while all this was happening.

For now, they were both lying back on the roof, watching the clouds pass overhead. Bucky knew he should mention lunch, seeing as how neither of them had had anything to eat since the smoothies Steve had made them this morning, but it so calm and quiet up here that he was content to just keep lying there, Mat close enough that Bucky could twitch his hand, and catch Mat's fingers in his own.

God, did Bucky want to hold his hand. He wanted to kiss Mat so hard he forgot about everything else and keep him wrapped up safe in Bucky's arms forever. It was a completely irrational dream, and Bucky knew neither of them were ready yet, he didn't even know if Mat felt the same way. His flirting certainly gave that impression, but some people just had that kind of personality. Maybe Mat was using it as a coping mechanism. There were dozens of reasons that Bucky knew he couldn't act on his feelings, but that didn't stop him from basking in the warmth of just being with Mat, of being able to hear each other's heartbeats and watch- out of the corner of his eye- the way Mat's face had relaxed as he watched the sky, almost smiling.

'But for now...having you is enough.' God, Bucky was hopeless.

And then their moment was ruined by Jarvis. God knows how he's on the goddamn roof  but at this point, nothing really surprises Bucky about Stark tech. "Pardon the intrusion Mr. Barnes, Mat, but your presence is required in the meeting room."

Bucky sighed and hoisted himself up on his elbows and then onto his knees. "I guess we could only put this off for so long."

Mat hummed, closing his eyes. "We should come up here more often. I bet it's a beautiful spot to watch the sunset."

Bucky's heart fluttered at the thought of the two of them watching the sunset together. "We should. As long as I can be sure you won't be sniped." He grinned and held a hand down to help Mat off the ground.

-

The meeting consisted of Steve, Tony, Bruce, Nat, Maria Hill (who was representing Fury), and for some reason, Scott Lang. No one else really 'lived' at the tower as much as they did, Bucky guessed. Except Scott. Bucky didn't know why he was there, and from the look on the man's face, neither did Scott. Everyone was spread around the meeting room, either sprawling on the chairs set around the long table, or leaning against the table itself. Mat quietly took a seat, and Bucky opted to stand next him with his arms crossed like some menacing guard dog.

"Alright." Steve began. "Now that everyone's present, let's begin." Stark rolled his eyes. He still had a thing with Steve after the whole Germany fiasco. "We've only gathered you guys since you're the ones who'll be around the most- yes, Scott?"

"Uh, hi guys. Antman here. Um, just wondering, why am I here? Because I don't even think I'm really an Avenger, y'know, and I do remember when I left like an hour ago, that my house and family that I live with do definitely still exist. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled to be here and all, but I'm just confused."

Steve sighed. "We'll get to that. You might have to spend more time here than you usually do, but if you'd let me explain, I'll get to it."

Scott nodded. Bucky hadn't really met the man, but from what he did know, Scott was a pretty big fan of the Avengers, which was probably the only reason he'd helped out at Germany come to think of it. He also really wanted to be an Avenger, and at this point it seemed pretty cruel to keep telling him he wasn't when he helped out more than some of the actual Avengers did. Plus, he was a nice guy.

"As some of you might have heard, we have a new soldier staying here." He gestured at Mat, who offered a small wave. "He's also a supersoldier. He recently escaped Hydra and our current mission is to protect him from their agents and assassins." Bucky noticed Mat keep glancing over at Nat, and he wondered if the two had officially been introduced, aside from the initial interrogation. From the story Mat had told him, he sort of idolised her, and Bucky thought it would be nice for the both of them to meet. They both grew up in the Red Room, afterall. She'd understand parts of his history that Bucky never could.

"Fury wants a write-up on how the new serum affects Mat, so Tony and Banner, focus on that. T'challa said you're welcome to use his labs if you need. Nat, you and I will be in charge of security, both in and around the tower. We'll also be leading covert missions to start taking down and investigating Hydra bases, based on information Mat can tell us." Everyone nodded.

"Bucky, you're Mat's bodyguard. I want you with him whenever you can be, and if he leaves the tower, you two are inseparable." Bucky nodded his head stoically, trying not to display the fact that this arrangement made him very happy. "Scott, I'm also putting you on guard duty. If they leave the tower, you shrink down and follow them. The aim is that if something happens, you'll be back up. Good?"

Scott nodded. "Yeah, man. I can do that. Shrinking's kinda my thing." He shot Mat and Bucky a thumb's up.

After the meeting, everyone filed out to their different jobs, Tony and Bruce were meeting up in the lab to go over the blood test results and finalise the tests they wanted to run. Maria and Scott left to see the rooms they would be staying in while they were here. Only Steve, Nat, Bucky and Mat stayed. Mat had slouched forward and put his head in his arms. Bucky took half a step to the right so that his hip bumped against Mat's shoulder. I'm here, he wanted to say. I'll protect you.

Steve took the seat across from Mat and Nat remained standing. "Mat," Steve began in that gentle, 'I'm about to ask you to talk about something hard' voice. "We need to know what you remember about Hydra. Anything you think could help us, we'd be grateful to have."

Mat sighed. "I don't know how much will be helpful. I was a weapon, Steve. They didn't tell me important things."

Steve smiled softly, his eyes flicking to Bucky for a second. "I know. But you have to know something. Even how they run their facilities."

Mat swirled his tongue around his mouth. "They use rankings, like the military. There's soldiers and officers and generals and stuff. The scientists are above everyone except the base's General, I think. I've only ever seen them take orders from that rank. Each base has its own general, but I don't know who they take their orders from. The soldiers live in the barracks building, which is usually separate from the main facility. Everyone else has rooms, and the experiments have cells. The labs are all on the lower levels, and the command and training centres on the upper levels. They usually have lookout posts and snipers stationed around the base, in shifts. Surveillance, and stuff like that."

Steve nodded, writing some things down in his own little notebook. "What about locations? Did you visit any other bases?"

"Sometimes. Usually, they had me come right back to the Red Room, but if I had a mission too far away, like overseas, then I would be temporarily stationed at an external base. I can't tell you exact coordinates, but I know there's one in Glasgow, another somewhere outside of Paris, to the south, I think? There's one in Australia, under the Sydney Harbour. I know there's one in Canada, too, but I've never been there. It's in the north, somewhere in the territories."

Steve gave another encouraging nod. "This is a great start, Mat. If you remember anything else, call me or Nat, alright?" Mat nodded, slumping in exhaustion. Bucky rested a hand on the nape of neck. Once the two were alone, Bucky slid into the seat beside Mat, keeping his hand in place, and began rubbing circles with his thumb. He could feel Mat relax after a few minutes, letting out another tired sigh and leaning forward onto his elbows, rubbing his hands over his pretty face.

"Are you hungry?" Bucky asked. "I know this really great diner in Brooklyn, Steve and I used to go there back before the war."

"It's still open?" Mat looked up, raising an eyebrow. "All these years later?"

"It's a family business, so the owner isn't the same, but the food still tastes like it used to back when I was a kid. I think you'd like it."

Mat thought about it for a moment, before standing up decisively. "Alright. But let me change first." He was still wearing the clothes he went running in this morning, and there was blood staining the collar and the cuffs of the sleeves.

"I'll wait outside for you."

This is not a date, Bucky. It's two companions having lunch together. Three, if you count Scott, because he'll definitely want something too, even if he is going to be tiny and hidden.

It's not a date. Calm down.

Bucky could not calm down. 

omg bucky being a closet romantic is so cute ahhhhh >v< 

also this is definitely a 'he fell first, he fell harder' trope and i regret n o t h i n g