One of my first thought while reading was "So THIS is where all the BuckyNat fanfiction originates." Here is where. X mark this spot. Ta-dah. Natasha is Queen and Bucky knows it and I know it and we are in agreement about this fact. We love her forever and would totally consider giving up careers to be safe together if only we were not addicted to action and our careers. "She always amazes me."

My second thought was how interesting it was to get things from Bucky's perspective. He's a great storyteller, and very subtly different from Steve. It reminds of the Myers-Brigg distinction of Judging versus Perceiving. Steve Rogers judges people against his moral code while Bucky tries to perceive situations as they are, to get at a "truth" of everyone's reasoning and how it brought them to their decisions. Bucky used to be like Steve more, but then the Red Room happened.

My third thought was that this story is still very high testosterone thriller, but Bucky can tell how testosterone-y he is being, at least.

My fourth thought god damn it, Bucky, you have the emotional intelligence of a bOX of rOCKS, GET IT TOGETHER, DUDE. Let! Yourself! Be! Happy! Stop deciding dumb things! Stop trying to punch my other son Matt! Invest! In more! Knives!

My final thought is Sebastian Stan totally read this to prepare for his Winter Solider and Civil War roles and he made it 10 times better by having facial expressions to communicate emotions.

The end. *bows*