Chapter Text
At first the police thought it was isolated instances.
A young woman went missing, then one or two more. They thought they were unconnected, but the numbers kept rising. Men and women- teenagers too, not only from the United States but from Europe as well- from Russian- from Germany, and they soon came to realize that this was bigger than anyone had anticipated. It wasn’t a shark- it was a kraken- its malicious tendrils far-reaching, and hidden below layers of murky lies, fake fronts, and deceit. People were disappearing and none of them had turned back up. Not even remains.
Something had to be done.
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The frothy, hot latte sloshed, but didn’t spill as FBI agent James Barnes set it down on the desk across the station from his own, his mouth tugging into a smile. “Caffeine, Agent?”
Steve lifted his eyes from his paper work, following the other officer’s figure from his legs, where he’d half sat himself on his desk, up his strong torso to his face. And Steve smiled, letting out a breath as he reached for the latte. “God- Perfect timing, Buck.” He sighed, his eyes having just started to burn from fatigue. Agent Barnes was no stranger to him...just the opposite in fact….Bucky was Steve’s best friend. But best friends left a little too much unsaid...To be fair, he was his ex as well. Fortunately, that rough, and painful part of their relationship was in the past now. They’d rebuilt. They’d gotten close again, and Steve just did his best not to focus on the ‘ what-ifs. ’
Bucky smiled at the grateful little moan that rumbled in Steve’s broad chest as he took the first, sorely needed sip of the drink. He leaned back in his chair and closing his eyes, and Bucky couldn’t help but notice that, even though they’d completely reformed the basis of their relationship, he still looked exactly like the man he’d fallen in love with. His posture and body language were still all the same. His hair was the same style he’d had for years, and his eyes- his eyes were always going to be the eyes he’d fallen for, no matter how many years went by. Like Steve, Bucky didn’t focus on the ‘ what-ifs’ but he was human, and they did sometimes slip into his thoughts. Like what if the risk hadn’t been too much? If they maybe weren’t both FBI with dangerous, high pressure jobs? Could they have made it liked Bucky had so deeply hoped?...
Maybe . But that wasn’t their life now. That wasn’t their life anymore .
“You hear Sharon got her guy?” Bucky asked, picking up a conversation they’d left off some time before. “-caught him right in the middle of a shipment too.”
Steve looked up from his drink, blinking, his mind having drifted as he’d closed his tired eyes. “What?”
Bucky gave him an odd look. It wasn’t like Steve to zone out. He was always so earnest and attentive- like a golden retriever, or a sponge that soaked up every little tidbit so that sometime later he could use it to make someone’s day brighter. “Sharon caught the dealer she and her team has been after.” He reiterated, watching Steve’s eyes now. “He had finally crawled out of the woodwork to supervise a shipment of heroin they were bringing in and they nailed him.”
Steve’s mouth pulled into a smile. “That’s fantastic!” He said warmly. “I’ll have to treat her to lunch sometime. She’s worked hard enough for that.”
Bucky nodded, taking a sip of his own coffee. “Damn right. Now it’s just if they pay credit where credit is due.” He muttered and watched as Steve grimaced at the thought. It was hard for female officers to get half the credit they deserved and Steve knew it….but he didn’t respond, when Bucky had expected a sharp retort about the disgusting trend in their line of work...and that worried Bucky. “Hey…” He nudged Steve’s leg with his foot, still sitting on his desk. “You okay, Steve?...”
Steve blinked again, letting out a measured half breath. “Yeah...I just didn’t get much sleep last night.” He said, the weariness presenting itself in the low rumble of his voice. “Uhm...Director Fury got intel about that rash of kidnappings, they’re figuring its sex trafficking…” He said quietly, and Bucky waited him out. There was more, he could feel it. As much as Bucky put stock in Steve’s empathy, he knew in this job you had to let the unsettling things roll off of you. The realization that the kidnapping victims were likely kidnapped for the sake of sex trafficking was disturbing, of course, but if it knocked Steve down he’d never be able to survive in this field. There had to be something else.
Steve looked up, letting out a half breath. There was something frightened in his eyes “...He wants me to go in under cover.”
Bucky’s stomach dropped out from under him. “What?” He could hear the thick, rough disbelief in his own voice but he couldn’t strangle his tone back to the professional. His system was suddenly flooded with alarm and worry, and feelings he should no longer feel for his friend. Protectiveness- a longing to take him in his arms and keep him far away from the filthy amoral cesspool that was the world they lived in. It all flared up at once at the understanding that their superior officer wanted Steve to let himself be taken...to place himself in harm’s way to try and dismantle this ring from the inside. And suddenly Bucky understood why Steve hadn’t been able to sleep.
Steve held his gaze for a moment longer- let his fear show for a moment longer before he dropped his eyes. He lifted a hand to his face, pinching his brow with his thumb and index finger to relieve the pressure building in his head. “Yeah…” He said quietly, looking down. “But- but it’s okay...it makes sense.” Steve swallowed, letting out a rough breath. “This ring has taken men and women so they’ll probably spring for the bait...but trends are trends….I’m less likely to be hurt or wanted than a female officer.” There was no way he’d leave this job untouched, but maybe he’d draw less attention...just enough to make him worth keeping, and little enough that he could keep his attention on gathering intel rather than purely surviving.
There was silence for a long time, and Steve could feel the emotions coming off Bucky in waves. Rage. Fear. Reluctance. And finally….
“-You gonna do it?” Bucky murmured after a million potential reactions had run through his mind. As an Agent and Steve’s co-worker, this was the most appropriate one. As his ex through- As his friend?
“I already said yes.” Steve’s voice was quiet and rough. He sounded a little nauseous, and Bucky couldn’t begin to imagine what Steve felt facing this task. Steve dropped his eyes to the coffee in his hands- warm and comforting. “...I’m going to respond to a lure Wednesday evening….”
Bucky tried to pretend he wasn’t swallowing back a knot of pure panic in his throat as he nodded. He and Steve faced all kinds of dangers every day, but this felt different….Steve was going to be essentially helpless….He was going to have to do things in there Bucky never ever wanted for him...and the thought made Bucky sick with fear. He just kept picturing Steve when he’d met him- still coming into himself, his muscle just beginning to catch up to the growth spurt that had hit him so fast it had left stretch marks all over his back and thighs. He could see him smiling, and joking with him...he could see him bleeding, and swaying as he took another swing at a stranger to give someone else a chance to get away...He could see him later on in that perfect and painful year when he got to call him his...laying there in the bed beside him with hair tousled from sleep and sex- with that sweet smile on his lips as he reached out to stroke bucky’s hair back from his face. He remember him making breakfast, belting out the song that was on the radio thinking Bucky was still in the shower….Bucky saw him now. Tired, and stressed, and scared- coming to terms with the things he was going to have to do to bring justice to the hundreds of victims...and he loved him so much his whole body hurt….
And now he was walking into something that he might not walk out of….and if he did, the man Bucky had love….the man he still loved...wasn’t going to be the same man at all.
Bucky wet his lips and slid off Steve’s desk, his hand finding Steve’s broad shoulder to squeeze the tense muscle. “How about we grab lunch out today?...” He murmured lowly, unable to face the topic without trying to convince Steve to fight this order- to pass this gruesome and scarring mantle to someone- anyone else. But Bucky knew Steve would never, ever do that. So he changed the subject. “Give you a break from that paperwork…” He added quietly. If he couldn’t stop him, than all Bucky wanted was to help Steve shoulder this weight...make this lot easier to bear, even if all he could do was distract him.
Steve looked up at the contact, his mouth pulling into a tired smile as he resisted the urge to press his hand over Bucky’s. “I’d really like that.” he said trying to look fine. He wasn’t...of course he wasn’t. He was terrified- the idea of walking into a sex trafficking ring and giving himself up made him nauseous….but It was the right thing to do. Dozens upon dozens of people had been taken from their homes- their families. It had gotten too big for the police, the investigation being surrendered to the FBI...it was their job to stop this, and that meant it was his. He couldn’t just sit back and wait for someone else to take this bullet.
Something had to be done.
Bucky nodded. “Okay….I’ll swing back around at 11, maybe?” He asked, reluctantly letting his hand drop from Steve’s shoulder.
And Steve granted him a nod. “Yeah, 11’s perfect.”
Bucky gave him a little half smile. “Alright….hold tight, Agent.” He said, his knuckles just grazing his arm in the platonic, neutral affection that was all that was allowed to them any more, and he turned to go. As soon as his back was turned to Steve, Bucky’s expression hardened and his gate turned sharp, purposeful, and aggressive. Because Steve going undercover was a choice between Steve and their superiors.
But god save the man who tried to stop Bucky from being his support.