The moment you saw the tension in his shoulders, you knew something was wrong.

You’d left him alone for five minutes, long enough to grab tea from a neighbor’s hut and when you came back, Bucky was standing stiffly near the edge of the gathering space, eyes locked on a group of Wakandan villagers.

They weren’t hostile, but they were wary. One of the elders had approached him with tight eyes and a question that clearly meant more than it seemed.

“How do we know it won’t happen again? The programming,” she’d said. “Can we be sure?”

You could see the flicker in his expression. Not anger. Not arrogance. Shame. You didn’t even think. The tea was forgotten in your hand as you stepped between them.

“He’s not a threat,” you said, sharper than you meant to. “He’s a guest.“

The woman raised an eyebrow, not unkind but unimpressed. “You speak for him?”

“I don’t have to,” you said. “But if no one else will, then yeah. I do.”

Bucky’s voice was quiet behind you. “It’s okay.”

You turned. His jaw was clenched, but his eyes, those blue eyes, they looked small. Like someone waiting for the judgment to hit. Like someone bracing for a world that would never let him outrun what he’d been forced to do.

“No,” you said gently. “It’s not okay.”

You looked back at the others. “He didn’t choose what happened to him. But he’s choosing who he is now. Every day. And if that’s not enough for you, maybe the problem isn’t him.”

There was a silence. Then murmurs. Some exchanged glances. Some uncomfortable, some thoughtful.

Eventually, they moved on, the conversation shifting. No apology. But no more judgment either.

When they were gone, Bucky stayed still for a moment too long. You wondered if he even knew how to process being defended.

“You didn’t have to do that,” he said eventually, voice rough.

“I know,” you said, and turned toward him. “But I wanted to.”

He met your eyes like it hurt to do it. “You’re not scared of me.”

You smiled, not pitying, just soft. “You’ve seen what I’m like when I haven’t eaten. You’re the brave one.”

That startled a breath of a laugh out of him, and some of the tension finally drained from his shoulders. Not all. But enough.