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He opens his eyes slowly, a headache throbbing behind them. Bucky looks up at the unfamiliar stucco ceiling then down at the weight that warms the right side of his body.
Under the blankets, Sam is snoozing against him, his head pillowed on Bucky's shoulder. His chest bare. Using his free (metal) arm, Bucky lifts the blankets.
They're both completely naked, one of Sam's thighs over curled over his.
Bucky puts the blanket back down. Well. And to think Sam found it weird when their legs were together before.
The worry is slow-building, but building. His brain feels foggy. And he can't remember a damn thing. Just... staking out a Hydra facility. He thinks they went inside, but the memory's vague and prodding at it gleans no further details.
Where are they? The room looks like some sort of... dorm or cheap hotel room. He shifts, trying to nudge Sam off slightly, but Sam makes a groaning sound and throws an arm around his waist.
"Clingy," Bucky says.
Sam doesn't stir further. Bucky watches him for longer than he would get away with, if Sam were awake. All his complaints about staring, as if he doesn't know how good he looks. The amount of times Bucky's typed out a response to a text, only to delete it because he knows it's just... too much.
Definitely he should be panicking more right now. They've been drugged.
"Sam?"
Nothing but deep breathing against Bucky's shoulder. Like he's safe. It makes Bucky's chest tight, makes him want things he can't have. Sam's no damsel in distress, but he's no super-soldier either. With his determination and compassion... Bucky worries for him.
With his stronger arm, Bucky reaches out and shakes Sam's shoulder. "Hey."
"Mmf, Buck no, effwriggleruffmm..."
"That wasn't English. Or any other language that I know."
Sam's response is to press his face harder into Bucky's shoulder.
"Wake up, Sam." Bucky shakes him again.
"Ugh, what?" Sam actually whines as he blinks at him. It's... adorable.
Clearing his throat, Bucky tries to ignore that. "It looks like we've been drugged. And uh... we're naked."
"Good," Sam says before pressing his face back to Bucky's bare skin. His voice is rough.
"Um." That wasn't the reaction he expected. "We need to get out of here."
"Shuddup. Wrecked me, m'sleeping."
Bucky twists, pulling himself out from under Sam's warm weight, letting the man's head fall to the pillow beneath. Then he cups his jaw and peers closer at his face. "Look at me."
With eyebrows raised and very sleepy eyes, Sam does. His pupils confirm Bucky's suspicion - they've both been dosed with something. "We need to get out of here. Find out what happened."
"I know what happened," Sam says, words a little slurred and croaky.
"You do?"
"Yeah man, my ass is sore, I'm not gonna forget."
Bucky's face heats. Oh. Naturally they're naked because... oh. "I don't remember," he says, the implications making him speak barely above a whisper.
Sam chuckles and closes his eyes again. "Figures. You give a guy a pounding then go full amnesiac. Classic Winter Soldier."
"There was no pounding as the Winter Soldier," Bucky snaps. "Just killing and being frozen and rewritten. I haven't even gotten laid since..."
"Last night," Sam says before chuckling again. "I know you're not an android but fuck, you were a machine."
"You're still under the influence. It must have worn off for me sooner due to me being a super soldier."
As if absolutely nothing worrying or unexpected is going on, Sam yawns and stretches his arms up above his head, pressing against the wall behind the bed as he wakes up his muscles. Bucky's mouth waters. He's hit with the sudden sensory memory of tracing a tongue down those dark abs, the feel of hot skin against his own.
"We really had sex," he murmurs.
"Mmm."
"You know, when you sober up you're going to be mortified," Bucky says. "Maybe even mad at me."
A little shrug is Sam's only response to that. Bucky turns to get out of the bed. Sam grabs his arm.
"Where you goin'?"
"I'm going to find out where we are."
"C'mon man, don't leave me. This isn't a Grindr hook-up, we know each other."
They do. And Sam... he has friends and family, he's been able to pick stuff back up, even after the Blip. He makes friends easier than anything and doesn't realise how special it is. He must know he's the only person who actually really knows Bucky and still cares. Bucky can't ruin that over something as stupid and messy as sex.
Wait.
"You use Grindr?" Bucky asks.
Sam's eyes open, lit with amusement. "You know what that is? You've been on Grindr? I haven't seen you there."
"I don't use it, I've heard of it."
"Right, right," Sam says with a grin.
"God, you're even more annoying when you're drugged," Bucky says. He shifts away again and Sam's hand tightens around his arm.
"No, no, don't go. I'm just messing with you. Come back, come on. I'm not that sore, y'know?"
Bucky frowns. "What do you m--" He eyes Sam's body, the blanket fallen all the way down to his thigh now. He notices for the first time the bitemark on Sam's shoulder, just above his collarbone near the neck. "You're asking to... do it again?"
"Yeah, I'm really in the mood. I blame you. Your brooding bullshit always gets me going and you know it. Bastard."
"I absolutely don't know that. I thought I annoyed you."
"Can we have this heart-to-heart with your dick in my ass?"
Tugging out of Sam's grip, Bucky gets out of the bed. Tugs the blanket up over a bemused Sam. "I'm going to get you some water." Possibly make some calls to get a medic. He puts a hand to Sam's forehead. "You're not feverish. That's good."
"Just hot for you, babe."
"No, you're not. And don't call me babe. Just... rest."
"Oh I'll rest," Sam says amicably. "You carry on struttin' around the room with your ass out and I'll lay right here watching."
It's excruciating. It's Sam, the easy joking and all, but in this context... he's going to be so embarrassed when he sobers he's probably never going to look Bucky in the eye again. Bucky's going to lose his only friend over a night he can't even remember.
His pants are in the corner, his vest nearer the door, his jacket flung a little bit further away. He's only wearing one sock and can't see the other. A boot is under the bed, another by the bedside table. He gets dressed quickly and efficiently, ignoring Sam's drowsy, "aw come on, don't get shy on me."
By the time Bucky steps out into the hallway, Sam is asleep again. He makes his way to the left, round the corner, and finds...
A small buffet. Sharon and Zemo sitting at a breakfast table, her on her phone, Zemo on a tablet. Sharon's facing Bucky's direction, so she's the first to notice his arrival. She laughs a little.
"Look who's here."
"My money is on the Winter Soldier," Zemo says. He turns around and beams to see Bucky. "Ah ha, I am correct."
"No you're not, my name's Bucky," Bucky reminds him. He strides to the buffet table and pours himself some orange juice. "Where are we?"
"You see," Zemo says to Sharon, "it's as I said. No awareness from the time the drug took hold. They held out well, but you could see a certain... vacancy in the eyes from the moment it hit."
"Did you do this to us?" Bucky demands, advancing on Zemo fully prepared to kill him with a glass of oj.
Sharon rolls her eyes. "He didn't. We were backing you up on your trip into the Hydra base, do you remember that, at least?"
Bucky nods slowly. He can recall that much. Zemo and Sharon on the comm link, ready to intervene if things took an unexpected turn. Which, clearly they did. "So what happened?"
"Sex pollen," Sharon says, grinning.
"What?"
Zemo rolls his eyes, seemingly at Sharon rather than Bucky's outburst. "A potent drug intended to divert assailants using a redirection tactic on their hormones. We're lucky, really."
"Lucky?" Bucky sneers.
"If it had reacted even slightly differently, you could have become irrationally violent. There is a reason this kind of biological warfare hasn't taken off amongst arms dealers. How is Mr Wilson faring?"
"He's, uh... he's not making much sense."
"Delirious?" Sharon asks with a frown. "Or just horny?"
"Um." Bucky swallows. "The latter." He can't meet their eyes.
"That will wear off," Zemo says with a shrug. "It may just take a little longer. He lacks some of the advantages you have. He's very lucky that his exposure was secondary. A larger dose may have killed him."
"Secondary?" Bucky asks.
"Huh, it really has scrambled your brain," Sharon says. "They took aim at him so you dove in like the tortured white knight that you are and took the hit. They panicked and Sam stuck with you trying to get the dart out while me and Zemo went after them. The dart broke and Sam got it on his hands. We came back to help mop up the stragglers, unfortunately the other assholes got away, and you two were adamant you were fine, but..." She smirks, looks like she's trying hard not to laugh.
"It quickly became apparent you were distracted," Zemo says politely. "We managed to pry you off of one another long enough to pay for accommodation at this quaint bed-and-breakfast. Quaint though it may be, it wasn't cheap to buy the entire place for the night and bribe the owner into being blind to your wandering hands over Mr Wilson."
"And deaf to the noise you two made," Sharon says. "I mean, wow. Really. I didn't know Sam could make noises like that."
"Perhaps we should have filmed it as you said," Zemo says to her idly.
"Well it would have outsold anything in my gallery."
"Thanks for your fucking support," Bucky snaps. "Is there anything I can do to help him out?"
Sharon can't suppress her laughter at that. Bucky glares at her. Zemo is a little more measured, though grinning.
"Honestly James, he can just sleep it off. Any ill effects would have undoubtedly presented themselves before now. Perhaps some hydration would be in order, though. I imagine you were very busy."
Bucky turns his glare on him then finishes downing his oj. He grabs another glass and a pitcher of water and heads back to the room. In the doorway he stops and just watches Sam sleep. It's not the first time. He has few enough connections in this world that he can't help but be a little protective. He knows it's odd, but he has stopped outside Sam's window once or twice. Never gave any sign he was there and sure, maybe his therapist would prefer he just responded to the guy's text messages, but...
This is different.
He sets the glasses down on the bedside table and pours some water for when Sam wakes.
Then he takes a seat on the bed and waits. As much as his instinct screams to run away.
If he did that, he'd have to add Sam's name to his list and that's something he's sworn to never do.