I also wrote this piece just now. Also kind of fluff, good ending, I need a break from angst. Two updates in the span of like an hour! I'm kinda proud, guys. :)

////

Steve collapses onto the couch and Carol keeps her eyes on her phone.

"Tough mission?"

"You could say that."

Bucky charges in and stands before Steve, hands on his hips, glowering. "So?"

Steve sighs and meets his gaze. "I'm fine, Buck... "

His eyes sweep over his blood-spattered clothes, the shadows under his eyes, bruises scattering his cheeks. "Fury said it 'didn't go as planned'," he says, using air quotation marks to enunciate his meaning. Carol snorts quietly and looks up.

"Fury says a lot of things," she muses and Bucky slowly looks at her, and crosses his arms.

"Yeah? And you'd know how, exactly?"

"She worked with him, Buck." Steve grunts as he sits up and rubs a hand over his face. "Look, I'm fine, I promise."

"Bulls***."

"Bucky -- "

"I worry, okay?" He steps closer, lifts his chin and examines his bruises more closely. Steve looks at him and Bucky's features soften a little. "I... I don't like seeing you hurt," he murmurs. Steve reaches up to touch his hand.

"'M sorry," he sighs, eyes falling closed. Carol pretends she doesn't exist by curling silently into her side of the couch, texting Brunnhilde -- Valkyrie to those who didn't know her well.

"Just -- just meet me upstairs, okay? When you can?" His eyes flicker to Carol and back, giving Steve a look before walking away. The silence stretches in his absence, and Steve finally releases a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

"Sorry about that."

"What, a feisty brunette who worries about you all the time?"

"Has a thing for guns?" Steve adds with a roll of his eyes. They look at each other and see the connection they share.

"Guess we're more alike than we thought." Carol stands up and offers him a hand. Steve takes it and allows himself to be pulled to his feet. "Let's get you upstairs, I don't want Barnes to think I was holding you captive or something."

"Why?" He tries not to lean on her for support, but as his knees buckle, he's forced to. Carol doesn't seem to mind as she takes his full weight and helps him up the stairs.

"You know," she breathes. "He doesn't seem to like me."

Steve waves a dismissive hand. "Valkyrie doesn't like me either," he points out. Carol shrugs.

"She doesn't like anyone, really." She pauses, considering. "Well, I don't really count."

"You guys look good together," Steve muses as they head down the hallway. Carol looks at him, at how pale he's gotten, and she sighs.

"Thanks. Now stop talking, you're probably bleeding to death."

"That's fair, fair point."

Carol knocks on Bucky's door and he opens it in an instant, furrowing his eyebrows. "Here," Carol says as she hands Steve over. "You might wanna hurry, he's not looking too good."

Bucky narrows his eyes a little and supports Steve as he rests against him. "Thanks," he says suspiciously. Carol takes a step back, raising her hands, and Bucky sighs. "Thanks for looking out for him."

"You guys are close," she comments, and Bucky shoots her a quick look.

"Yeah. You could say that." He sighs and looks at Steve briefly. "I should really, uh... "

"Oh, yeah, yeah," she agrees. Bucky nods and closes the door, bringing Steve into the bathroom to clean him up. Carol sighs and heads back downstairs, shaking her head.

"You should be nice to her," Steve murmurs, eyes closed as he leans against the cold wall, his shirt hanging open as Bucky works on fixing him up. "She's gonna replace me one day, y'know."

Bucky pauses and looks at him, then shakes his head. "Maybe. Now just rest, okay?"

"I trust her," Steve mumbles, and Bucky looks at him quietly. Steve didn't completely, one-hundred percent trust anyone until he really knew them. He considers this and finally gives a resigned sigh.

"I'll give her a chance. Now stop talking," he says. Steve nods and falls still, breathing lightly.

////

Weeks later, Bucky decides to make his peace with her. Knocking on her door, he holds a plate of brownies with his other hand. She opens it and Bucky begrudgingly hands the platter out to her.

"Steve trusts you, and I trust Steve, so surely, you can't be that bad."

"I'm not that bad," she assures, taking a brownie. "And don't call me Shirley."

Confusion flickers across his face, but it dawns on him and he smiles. "You're alright, Danvers."

"You too, Barnes."

Later, she passes by Steve as she walks through the living room. "Thanks," she says with a smile as she notices Bucky entering the room. Steve smiles back and nods good-naturedly at her.

They weren't best friends by any extent, just like Steve and Brunnhilde, but they got along to an extent. Then, Carol proposes the idea of a double date.

So that's what they do.

Bucky and Brunnhilde hit it off, joking about random things. Steve and Carol, across from them, share a glance -- the two were the same down to the type of drink they liked to how they acted around those they loved -- hiding a soft side with a tough exterior and dry humour.

"What have we created?" Steve murmurs as he watches the two brunettes. Carol shakes her head, smiling.

"It's for the best." She smiles over at him, and he smiles back. The four grew close and Bucky decides to trust them; that decision made everything easier from then on.

////

That got longer than I thought it would, but I also liked writing this friendship between Carol and Steve, and about halfway through I realised that Bucky and Brunnhilde are sort of similar, in a way -- at least, now they are, in this particular head canon. Oh, I did do some research and Valkyrie's name is actually Brunnhilde.