Chapter Text
“Or should I say, Dillinger?”
Sophia’s hand instinctively went to her side where she usually would keep a holstered gun, breath hitching before she stabilized it. Fuck. She thought she had been careful enough to not leave any tracks behind.
She thought wrong.
Dead silence fell upon them, everyone’s eyes trained on her, waiting for her to make one move that was out of line.
She swallowed, lifting her chin, begging her lips not to tremble. It was so funny. She had killed so much that she was soaked up to her chin in cold blood, yet she was so scared of it. Death. Dying.
“Are you going to kill me?” She asked, voice low so they wouldn’t hear it wavering.
“We’re going to question you first,” Steve clipped sternly, Captain America face on. “And then decide what we’re going to do with you.”
“They’re going to come for me.” She told them quietly, palming the pocketknife she had tucked into her waistband of her pants. Its edge pressed against her thigh. She didn’t have cyanide capsules but she did have knives. She could kill herself, but with her useful information too. “I’m important to them, they’re going to come for me.”
“We’ll be prepared,” Steve raised an eyebrow. “Do you want to do this the hard way or the easy way?” He asked.
Sophia had already lost. A trained assassin since birth as she was, she couldn’t fight against four Avengers. Her best shot would be trying to get to Summer. But James would sooner die than let that happened. He loved her.
Sophia tried to bargain. “If I gave you all the information I know about Hydra, would you kill me after?”
Captain America narrowed his eyes. “I told you. We’ll see from there.”
“That wasn’t a question, it was a request,” Sophia said, and released her hold on the pocketknife. “I don’t…” Her eyes darted to Bucky’s pleadingly. “I don’t want to go back to Hydra.”
James’ eyes were cold and emotionless. Sophia looked away. It felt like looking into a mirror.
The Captain stiffened. “You’re willing to betray them?”
Sophia hesitated. “As long as you promise not to let me go back to them.” She promised. “I’ll tell you everything I know.” She looked away. “Hydra is a fate worse than death.” She murmured.
“I’ll let you know I am too,” Stark spoke up. “You really think we’re going to believe you?”
“Yes,” Sophia said immediately. “You can have the witch look into my mind.”
“You’ve been trained to deflect telepathic disturbances,” James mentioned quietly. “And play mind tricks.” He added, eyes piercing through Sophia. She clenched her jaw and glanced away.
“I will allow her to look,” Sophia promised, though the idea of someone going through her brain was largely discomforting.
Wanda stepped forward, fingers curled by her sides. “Okay.”
Steve gave her a concerned look. “Be careful, okay?” He said so softly even Sophia with her genetically modified ears could barely pick up on.
How nice it must be to have someone be so genuinely concerned for your welfare. Not because you were an asset, but because you were family.
How nice, and how scary it was at the same time.
Sophia wanted to ask her how it was like to have a family, to be cared for. But then again, she didn’t quite want an answer.
It was better if she didn’t know what she did not have.
Wanda touched her head and she closed her eye, fidgeting of having someone looking into her mind. She could feel the presence there, poking at her. Sophia swallowed, steeling herself. The witch kept herself at the surface, no delving deep enough to go into her subconscious. Good. Because most of the time, Sophia didn’t know what was happening there anyway.
“She’s not lying,” the Scarlet Witch stepped away.
Rogers nodded. “Lock her up. Set her in the room, I’ll go brief Natasha.”
“I should go in too.” Maximoff murmured. Steve nodded. “To make sure.”
“Bucky,” Rogers eyed his friend. “Lock her up?”
James gave a nod. Before he neared Sophia, though, his eyes searched Summer’s, giving her a questioning look, silently asking her whether she would be okay. Summer gave a small, reassuring smile. Even then, James still paused, making sure she was alright, before he grabbed the handcuffs deposited by Tony on his table.
He was never like that with Sophia.
Wordlessly, James swiftly put Sophia into the handcuffs, bounding her hands together. He tugged her out of the room roughly, and by God, did it feel like she was going home.
Home. Hydra. It was synonymous to her. Hydra was familiar and thus had become her home. It was there were her heart belonged, after all. Her heart was theirs, and she could do nothing about it. Her blood was theirs. Her soul was theirs.
Sophia was utterly theirs.
It was funny to think Hydra could ever resemble a home, but what did Sophia know? They took care of her, gave meaning to her life. It was all she ever knew, cruelty and pain her environment. Anything could be home if you never truly understood the meaning of the word.
But now… now she was seeing outside, she was seeing the world. She had been on field missions before, of course, but this was the longest time she was ever away and to see this family… this ragtag team of superheroes…
It was so pure, and it was so devastating. Devastatingly pure.
Purely devastating.
James put her inside a white room. Sophia immediately thought it was very much like the white torture Hydra had her undergo. Hydra had her experience hundreds of strange torture tactics so she would never be affected on the field. They never had her experience one of the cruellest things of all, though. Love.
She didn’t love James, not really. His heart and his mind had always been too preoccupied with someone else for her to really fall in love with. No. She loved someone else, someone she could never have.
She felt like a silly high-school girl saying it, but... it sucked. A lot.
Sophia switched to German. “I didn’t trick you or anything, you know,” She said, James’ back to her. “It was just strategy. You were vulnerable. You hated her. I was everything she wasn’t.” She watched for any reaction. “It’s the reason why I call you James, too.”
And also because Bucky felt too intimate. James had called Sophia ‘Soph’ once. Sophia had stared at herself in the mirror for 5 minutes wondering if she was compromised.
James didn’t say anything at first.
“Du hast recht,” He raised his eyebrows. You are right. “You’re everything that she’s not.”
He left then, leaving Sophia in the white room all by herself. Too bad she had so much red on her fingers that it didn’t fucking matter anyway.
---
Bucky found Summer in the kitchen eating chocolates. She looked up, mid-chew, like a deer caught in headlights and flushed.
“Sorry. Am I interrupting something?” Bucky gave a playful smirk.
Summer stammered as she slid the lid back on the box. “Sorry.” She murmured. “I got carried away…”
“By all means, you can have it all.” Bucky said and joined her by the countertops.
“Really?” Summer asked, and to Bucky’s glee she shot a cheeky smile back. “I might finish it all off though. Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
“I won’t,” Bucky said softly. Not anymore.
Summer’s cheeky smile turned genuine and she opened the lid of the box again. There were about 10 left. She hesitated and then took the last one from the left side and extended it to Bucky.
Bucky took it graciously and ate it while Summer plucked out another. As Bucky chomped on the melting chocolate, he paused as he tasted the caramel.
“That was the last caramel one,” Summer informed, smiling up at Bucky shyly. “It’s good, isn’t it?” She asked, eyebrows raised hopefully and innocently, unaware of what she had just done and the weight of it, the very one that was settling into the depths of Bucky’s poor old heart. She had given the very last caramel chocolate to Bucky. Her favourite kind.
Summer was just offering Bucky a piece of chocolate. So why did it feel like she was offering him her heart instead?
Realizing Summer was still expecting an answer, Bucky swallowed the chocolate.
“Yeah,” Bucky said softly, eyes trained on her. “It’s good.”
Summer beamed. God, she shone when she smiled like that.
And when she smiled like that, Bucky just couldn’t help himself, his brain often just short-circuits when she looked like that—“Go on a date with me.”
Summer looked up, wide-eyed, surprised by the sudden statement. “Uh?” She emitted dumbly. Bucky resisted the urge to smile dopily at her confused expression.
“I’m sorry,” Bucky started again. Where had his charisma gone? This was the same man that flirted his way out of problems! Which, alright, made sense, because Summer was obviously not a problem. Not at all. “Would you like to go on a date with me?”
“Like a… a date. Just the two of us,” Summer processed.
“Yes.” Bucky confirmed. “No pressure.”
Summer pondered over this, chewing on her chocolate. “Okay.”
“Okay?” Bucky perked up.
“Today?”
“How about tomorrow evening?”
“Sure.” Summer agreed. “Where?”
“Um. A dinner place nearby. I think.” Bucky fumbled. “I haven’t quite gotten the details—”
“It’s okay,” Summer smiled and slid off the counter. “Well, I think… I’m having a session with my therapist… so…”
“Oh, go ahead.”
Summer nodded but remained where she stood. Bucky raised an eyebrow.
“I would—” Summer halted before. “Can I—” She mumbled something under her breath before, “May I give you a kiss? Kiss you?”
Bucky’s world stopped.
Oh my.
“Yes,” Bucky replied the instant after his hammering heart could compose itself.
Summer leaned in close and kissed Bucky’s cheeks, warm lips brushing on his light stubble, nose poking against his cheekbone.
Well. He had expected a kiss on the lips but… that small peck somehow still managed to set Bucky’s heart and soul into flames.
Summer leaned back and gave an unsure grin, which Bucky returned one. She smelled of caramel and Bucky wanted so much to taste those lips she was chewing on. But he’ll take it however slow and steady Summer wanted them to, because Bucky wasn’t going anywhere.
---
Summer ran down the hallway.
Therapy session, her ass.
“Oh my God, Wanda, I’m going on a date tomorrow! With Bucky,” Summer slammed into Wanda’s room before halting into a stop. Wanda and Vision were seated together, close enough to touch, on the bed. “Oh. Sorry.”
“No worries, Summer,” Vision stood up with a small smile. “Congratulations on your date.”
“Thank you, Vision,” Summer gave a curtsey. “But don’t congratulate me yet. I might just fuck it up.”
“Well. I’m certain your worries are the reason why you’ve looked for Wanda, so I think it’s best I leave. As knowledgeable as I am, I don’t think dating in particular is where I thrive in.” He nodded politely and opened the door. “I hope you do not… eff it up.”
“Bye, Vis,” Wanda called out.
“I’ll see you tonight, Wanda,” Vision said warmly and phased through the doorway.
Summer plopped down where the purple man sat a few seconds ago.
“So,” Wanda grinned, folding her long, slender legs so she was sitting cross-legged. “A date, huh?”
“Yup,” Summer grinned excitedly. “What should I even wear? I’ll have to borrow some of your clothes.”
“Duh. And I’ll be happy to. Venue?” Wanda asked objectively. “Time?”
“Some kind of fancy restaurant, dinnertime.”
“Mm. A dress, maybe.”
“I don’t remember the last time I wore a dress,” Summer murmured. “Sunday school? Bea was still alive then.” She decided that mentioning the last time she actually probably wore a dress was when she was trying to get strange men drunk and then steal from their back pockets.
Summer’s confidence and good mood fell a little bit. What did Bucky think of her… colourful, dirty, disgusting past? The men she had to seduce, the hands that have ran all over her body on so many occasions, the bile in her throat—
Summer’s body was used. Did Bucky really want that?
Did Bucky really deserve that?
“Summer,” Wanda called out amidst the static ringing in Summer’s ears. “Summer. You’re alright. The date will be amazing.”
Summer breathed deeply. “Okay.”
“Bucky asked you out. He likes you. And we all know he does, just by the way he looks at you,” Wanda smiled happily.
Summer nodded. Right. Bucky at least has an idea of Summer’s past. To know that, yet still want to go out with her…
Wanda rubbed her shoulder. “So, I think you’ll look great with something black against your pasty pale skin.” Wanda murmured.
Summer laughed. “Hey. Rude,” She stuck out her tongue, even though she knew just how pasty and pale she was. She should probably go out more but Summer was fucked up in the head and didn’t like going out.
Wanda flopped onto her back. “Maybe black and gold, really fancy and elegant. Ooh. I think I actually have something like that…”
Summer crinkled her nose. “I don’t think I suit elegant.” She said, self-conscious. Did she really suit anything at all? She was always wearing lousy clothes and sweatpants, so…
“Hey Wanda—” Natasha’s sexy voice floated and Summer turned her head. The redhead was standing by Wanda’s door. “Oh, hey, Summer. What are you girls talking about?”
Summer flushed lightly and Wanda beamed, glad to share. “Oh, Summer’s going on a date with Bucky.”
A smirk crept onto Natasha’s face as she advanced towards the bed. “Oh, well. Seems like James finally is getting it on.” She sat down, grinning.
“Hey, you should give pointers,” Wanda said. “You used to date Bucky, right?”
Summer froze. She didn’t know that. She tried not to look intimidated even though she totally was. Bucky? Dating Natasha? She thought they were dating at first, but since the whole thing was cleared up…
Natasha was… gorgeous. She was the epitome of sexiness. She was curvy, she was confident, she was…
Not Summer. Anything but Summer. The complete opposite of Summer.
What did Bucky see in her? Really? Oh my God.
Natasha, unsurprisingly, noticed Summer’s poorly masked horror. “It was nothing serious.” She tried to reassure.
Summer didn’t feel much better. Nothing serious? Sex? Was that what Bucky was looking for from her too?
Well, Summer wouldn’t mind, but once Bucky saw her body, he would.
“Relax, Summer,” Natasha assured. “It was a long time ago. Both of us were different people then. We were stuck in the same place, being brainwashed and killing people. We just decided to find comfort in each other. That was all. It wasn’t as much dating as just… one night stands.”
Summer nodded, anxiety not decreasing but at least not swelling into a mammoth sized issue and choking her into a state of catatonia. “Okay.”
“Hmm. Now, as for any advice… I do know James quite well.” Natasha hummed. “But there is someone who knows him better…”
---
“Hello?” A mop of golden blonde hair popped into the doorway.
“Steve,” Wanda rejoiced. “You’re here! We need you.”
“Sure,” Steve said, warm voice like honey as he gracefully sat criss-crossed on the floor. “What’s up?”
“Summer has a date tomorrow night with Bucky!” Wanda announced.
“Seriously?” Steve said. “Aw, Summer, that’s great. And finally.” Natasha and Steve shared a high-five.
“Thanks,” Summer tried to smile.
“So why do you guys need me?” Steve frowned. “Are you okay, Summer? You know you can always say no if you change your mind about it. I know how much Bucky likes you, but Bucky would rather it be consensual.”
“No! I am willing to do this! More than willing.” Summer said quickly before hesitating. “I’m really excited about the date but I’m just… worried. I’m not good at dates. What kind of girl does Bucky like?”
Steve blinked. “Oh, Summer. You don’t have to hold yourself to any standards. He likes you, and that’s just purely that.”
Summer shrugged. To a certain extent, she knew there was some truth to what Steve was saying, but Summer had fucked up every single thing that came into her life, even bad stuff. “I don’t know.” Summer mumbled. “I’ve just never really been on a date.”
Everyone paused at that. Natasha asked, “Never? Not even once?”
“Yeah,” Summer shrunk. “Mostly… they just… want to have sex. Or they buy me a drink. That’s not exactly a date, right? I don’t know.”
“Well,” Steve said, smiling gently. “I’m sure Bucky will make it the best first date ever.”
Summer smiled back. “God. I don’t even know what to wear.”
Steve thought over this. “Is it somewhere nice?”
“He said it could be a fancy diner. But I don’t want to overdress. Or under.” Summer sighed deeply.
“Bucky likes black on red,” Steve said. “He likes… ankles. And eyelashes.”
Summer laughed at that, feeling a little better at that. “Okay.”
“Look, Summer. No matter what you wear, I’m sure he’d be more enthralled by the stuff that actually happens. The conversations, the content.” Steve said. “Of all the people I’ve seen Bucky like, you’re the one he likes most.”
“That’s true,” Natasha threw in.
“Thanks, guys,” Summer took a deep breath in. “I just think I’ll screw this up.” I just know I’ll screw this up. One way or another.
“Not a chance,” Steve interrupted fiercely. “You’re amazing, Summer. You’re not going to screw anything up. Just be yourself.”
“Steve is right.” Wanda announced and then sat up. “This is going to go amazing because you will be there,” She said and then threw her arms around Summer, pressing her face against the side of Summer’s head.
“Aw, yeah,” Natasha said then joined in on the hug.
“Group hug,” Steve grinned, looking very much like a joyful Golden retriever. He wrapped his enormous arms around the three girls. They stayed there for a while, just holding each other.
Summer breathed. Billion dollar skyscraper in one of the world’s greatest bustling cities with the Avengers aside, this was home. Not the Avengers, but Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Wanda Maximoff... they were home.
James Buchanan Barnes was home.
Summer… she’s finally found home. Summer was finally home.
“Guys!” A sudden voice complained. “You’re having a group hug without me?”
Andrea skipped over and ducked under Steve’s arm and Summer laughed, filled to the brim with content.
“What are we celebrating?” Andrea asked, voice muffled.
“Summer and Bucky are going on a date tomorrow night,” Wanda conveyed.
“Aw, sweet!” Andrea said happily. “My OTP!”
Summer had no idea what she was saying but God damn it, Summer loved all of them.
And it was an incredible and overwhelming feeling when Summer realized that all of them loved her too.
---
Sophia was chained. Wrists, arms, thigh, ankles, all strapped down. She could disengage the locks if she tried hard enough, but she deserved this.
“How many are there?” The Widow asked the moment she sat down.
“Currently, to my knowledge, there are 87 bases. 8 of them are purely for storage, about 40 of them R&D. The rest are centred on military.” Sophia answered.
“Truth,” The Witch followed up.
“Do you know where they are?” Natasha asked.
“I memorized the ones that were important.” Sophia said. “If you give me a map I can locate them for you.”
“Truth.”
“Is the Winter Soldier program still effective?”
“No, they stopped that.”
“Why?”
“The Soldiers proven to be ineffective. Programming were either not failsafe, or soldiers became too violent. Emotionless. Fear is an important part of the program. No fear, no motivation.” Sophia recited. “The number of wipes they had to do was getting frustrating.”
“What is Hydra’s current project?” Natasha asked.
“Destroy the Avengers. Summer was going to be the face of that. Obviously, that didn’t work out as they had planned but I suspect from the blood samples they got from Agent02—” Sophia backtracked, “Summer, that they had found something of substance.”
“Truth.”
“Can you get us into Hydra’s system?”
“Difficult. I can try. If I don’t report soon, they will disconnect me, change up the firewall.” Sophia said.
“Truth.”
“How did you pass through Tony and Friday’s firewalls?”
“Hydra gave me a powerful decrypting device.”
A pause from Wanda. “You’re lying.”
Sophia sighed. “I hacked it.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“It is the truth,” Wanda admitted.
“How?”
Sophia sighed. “I had just—had sex with James. He was sleeping. James’ quarters doesn’t have cameras since he isn’t comfortable with the thing. I managed to hack into Friday, disable some frequencies, created a type of circadian rhythm so every day I would have an opening to send files and receive them but not create such a huge distraction in Friday’s protocols. Messages were encrypted and ran under Friday’s radar.”
“Truth,” Wanda said.
Natasha moved on. “Do you have activation codes?”
“No. I did not need any.”
“Truth.”
Natasha looked down at her paper, breaking eye contact for the first time before looking back up.
“You decided to betray Hydra and spill their information to us. Are you… compromised?”
The intonation, the raised eyebrow, the gleam in the Widow’s eyes. Sophia swallowed, understanding the context of her words. “No.”
Wanda’s fingers fluttered.
“Lie.”
---
It was in the middle of the night and Summer could not sleep, mind overthinking about the next evening and Bucky’s smile, Bucky’s lips, Bucky’s scent, Bucky’s warmth, Bucky’s eyes, Bucky, Bucky, Bucky.
“Just go to sleep,” Summer murmured to herself when suddenly, a thunder struck, Summer yelped, and the building shook.
“Friday what was that?”
Friday took a second to respond. “It appears that we have a guest.”
Summer’s stomach dropped.
“Who is it?” Summer asked in a small voice.
Before Friday could reply, a loud bang sounded abd she downright let out a bloody scream as her door slammed open, only to reveal—
“Bucky?” Summer asked breathlessly, tears already pricking her eyes. She tried to calm down.
Bucky stood by the doorway, the light from the corridor illuminating his panic stricken face.
“Summer,” Bucky breathed before advancing towards her.
“Bucky,” Summer returned as Bucky clambered onto her bed and then wrapped her up in his big arms. He tucked his head into the crook of Summer’s neck and then breathed. “I’m okay,” Summer said.
Bucky just nodded, inhaling and exhaling deeply until he calmed down.
It was… really nice, to have Bucky come immediately for her.
She felt precious. Bucky made her feel precious, like she was the priority.
“I’m sorry,” Bucky whispered. “I’m sorry, I just need to you you’re alright.” He murmured something under his breath, something akin to, “Wouldn’t live with myself if you weren’t.”
“I am,” Summer promised then ran a finger through Bucky’s hair, their heartbeats pressed against each other’s. “Are you?”
“I am now, yeah,” Bucky said before pulling away. “What was that?”
Friday let out a little cough to announce her presence. “Well, that was the god of thunder,” She explained. “The son of Odin has returned.”
---
Bucky and Summer were one of the lasts to appear at the common longue area, where booming laughter was sounding and Steve was clapping his fellow hunky blonde friend on the back. Thor looked up and smiled enthusiastically at the sight of Bucky.
“Ah. The brave metal-armed Soldier of the Winter. How are you, my friend?” Thor asked, setting down his hammer as he gave Bucky a side hug. He then stared at Summer. “And who are you?”
“I’m Summer,” Summer introduced. “I’m new.”
“A new addition to the team! What a celebratory evening we will have!” Thor said happily.
“Uh, no. I’m just… I’m just…” Summer’s voice floated away. What was she? She wasn’t a superhero, she wasn’t beneficial to the team. She wasn’t even smart like Andrea or anything. Now, she knew she was welcomed here but…
There honestly was no reason why she was there. They were just being pitiful. Summer was ripping off them, and though she knew Tony was loaded, it wasn’t right, was it?
“She’s family,” Steve stepped in.
“Ah. I see,” Thor said approvingly, giving an understanding nod. “Good pick, James. The two of you would make lovely off-springs.”
Summer tried not to blush and looked away.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Ms Summer. I did not mean to be crude. My own wife, Jane Foster, very intelligent, I miss her dearly already, she tells me that I can be a little bit too straightforward sometimes. But you are very, very beautiful. Not that I plan on stealing her, of course. You and James seem to be an excellent pair.”
Wanda was giggling, Vision just smiling happily.
Steve just laughed, and gave an apologetic smile to Summer. “Thor’s right, you are beautiful, but come on, buddy, I think Tony’s in his lab listening to rock music. Let’s to find him.”
“Yes! I do miss dear Anthony as well,” Thor said and followed after
Bucky’s hand reached for Summer’s and silently, Summer took it. It was big and warm and just like Bucky.
Summer tried to inconspicuously shuffled closer to Bucky. She peered up at him only to see him fighting back a smile as their arms met.
“Do you want to go back to bed?” Bucky asked when Summer tried to cover a yawn.
Summer slowly and embarrassedly nodded.
“Alright,” Bucky said soothingly. “Good night, guys,” He said. Wanda returned a wave and a ‘night’ while Vision bid them a good night’s rest. Bruce gave a nod.
Bucky led her back to her room. “Good night, Summer,” Bucky murmured as Summer opened the door.
“Night,” Summer said as well, turning around to give a smile.
“Gosh, you’re beautiful,” He muttered, and Summer’s cheek erupted with colour. Bucky leaned down and kissed her cheek, his lips soft. “I’ll see you tomorrow evening at 6 o’clock. Is that okay?”
Summer nodded wordlessly, staring at Bucky’s back as he turned and walked away.
Great. Now she was back to where she started, unable to fall asleep again but this time out of anticipation, excitement, and her mind overthinking about Bucky and his ass.
---
“Wow,” Wanda murmured appreciatively.
Summer was silent, staring at her reflection.
In the mirror before her stood a girl, sandy hair simply put into a half-up half-down hairstyle, wearing a beautiful black dress. She was… beautiful.
Summer avoided wearing makeup after the whole… thing. Wearing makeup had become associated with seducing men in dimly lit alleyways and him, and them, but she looked nothing like that dirty eyelash-battering princess. She swallowed, feeling scared and confused at the same time because she had never once thought of herself as beautiful, but that girl in the mirror, the one staring right back at her, she was. She was… beautiful.
“You are so beautiful, Summer,” Steve said warmly, standing behind her. The way he said it, you are so beautiful, and not you look so beautiful, sent something undecipherable into Summer’s chest.
“Thank you,” She could barely whisper as she continued to shamelessly stare at herself.
The dress was loaned from Wanda. It grazed Summer’s ankles (“ankles!” Steve had exclaimed) and was sleeveless, which Summer had been hesitant about. She always opted for long sleeved clothes because of her scars, but… she looked… she looked…
She looked away and licked her lips.
“Summer?” Wanda asked gingerly.
“Sorry,” Summer gruffly forced out. “I just… thank you for making me look this nice.”
Wanda laughed. “You’re already ‘nice’ to begin with, Summer. I just brought out the nice looking features.”
“Thank you,” Summer murmured again. “Thanks.”
She turned and looked at herself once more in the mirror. It was odd for her to be looking elegant and not sexual. She wasn’t used to dates where people talked, she was used to dates where people just fucked. She wasn’t used to dates where people argued about who’s paying, she was used to dates where she was paid to be there.
Summer wasn’t used to this kind of normalcy teenage girls get, she as a teenage girl should have gotten, but she was too busy getting into the wrong company.
Summer wasn’t pretty at all.
But at least she looked beautiful tonight.
“Go get ‘em, baby,” Wanda hooted.
“I’ll try,” Summer said, and even though her heart was pounding, she meant what she said.
Bucky was easily the best thing that had run into Summer’s life, and she was not going to ruin it. Not this time.
---
Bucky had dated many women before. Bucky was charming and always caught flirting and winking at giggling dames. Bucky was tall and dark, tanned from working at the docks. Bucky was handsome. Bucky was very charismatic. Bucky was… nervous. Cut him some slack, he had been out of the game for quite a while.
Since becoming… lucid, as he called it, Bucky did have a few sexual encounters during nights when he just had to escape. The ladies of course knew what they were in for. Sexy mysterious brooding man, a total fixer-upper, it was the typical one night stand kind of boy they’d want, but not someone in the long term.
But that whole part of Bucky’s life was over. He was neither the charismatic boy from the 30s, nor was he the brooding mysterious man.
Bucky was just… Summer’s.
God, was he Summer’s.
He looked down at his watch, licking his lips. He could barely see his reflection in the glass of his watch. He had decided to put his hair into a man bun. Instead of the rugged messy look, he had neatly gelled his hair back and tied it with help of Natasha. His suit was also chosen with the fellow ex-Soviet’s help.
“You will look good in one size smaller,” Natasha had mumbled in Russian. “Why are you so obsessed with wearing too-big clothes and Steve so obsessed with too-tight clothes?”
So Bucky was donning a fitted suit, black and white, with a thin black tie, waiting 5 minutes early for his date.
He had booked a table at a small but fancy restaurant. It served all kinds of food, according to Becca, and had excellent feedback from customers. It wasn’t very popular, but it was well regarded by food critiques.
And also they had this special chocolate caramel fudge dessert with ice cream, so… it was a no-brainer to Bucky after that.
Bucky paused when he realized other than dessert food, Bucky didn’t exactly know what Summer’s favourite food was.
Well. He would have to find out.
Bucky heard the sound of heels and immediately looked up. His lips parted and he tried not to gape but… Summer… it was hard to not gape at Summer, no matter what she was wearing. But especially with what she was wearing tonight…
She was just—
She adorably fumbled a little in her seemingly 2-inch heels and Bucky’s stomach dropped a little.
Black on red. Fuucckk.
Steve must have tipped them off. Bucky did not know whether to hug him or hit him. That always seemed to be the dilemma between them two.
Oh God, Summer looked absolutely stunning. She was wearing a pair of diamond earrings, probably courtesy of Natasha, the front parts of her hair tied back, leaving her beautiful face on display. Her eyes were glittering, quite literally. There was golden dust spread on her eyelids, her eyelashes, God, her eyelashes curlier than ever, long and voluminous.
Bucky was a lucky man.
“Hi,” Bucky said as Summer got close. She seemed to be walking a little tensely and nearly tripped when Bucky grabbed her by the waist, careful not to be too far up or too far down as he stabilized her. “Careful,” He whispered. “Do you need to change your shoes maybe?” He felt awful for feeling sad about it, because the red was really… really sexy, but Summer’s comfort was a little more important.
“No, no,” Summer said and then blushed on top of the dust of pink already on her cheeks. She was always so vibrant and endearing when she blushed. “I used to walk in heels all the time, I’m just a little rusty.”
“Maybe you should bring a pair of extra shoes in case it starts hurting,” Bucky suggested.
“Great idea!” Wanda yelled, running out of the room, a pair of sandals in her hands then paused. “Uh… I mean… this would work as a fashion piece, but…”
“I’ll take them. We’re going to be driving so I’ll just leave them in the trunk,” Bucky said. “Thanks, Wanda.”
“Just looking out for my lady,” Wanda winked before running away back to the room Summer had emerged from.
“Sorry,” Summer said and Bucky turned back to her. “I didn’t mean to be so troublesome.”
“Summer,” Bucky nearly chastised. “You being comfortable is super important to me.” And safe. Safety too. And happiness. And consent. Basically, every aspect there was to Summer was important to Bucky. She was important to Bucky.
“Okay,” Summer said. “Are you… are you comfortable?”
“Yeah,” Bucky replied softly. “You look… really beautiful tonight. As you do every other,” Bucky added without really thinking it through.
Summer flushed again. Jesus, she’s adorable. “You look really good too,” Summer confessed nervously. “I like your... um, I really like your hair,” Her voice turned into barely a whisper as she peered up through those lashes before looking away. “It’s… nice.”
“Thank you,” Bucky said. “Shall we?”
“Okay,” Summer said and then took his outstretched arm.
Bucky was determined to make this the best date of Summer’s life.
---
Summer couldn’t imagine having a better first date.
The ice had broken between them sometime during the drive to the restaurant, so at least she wasn’t as nervous when they pulled up in front of the quaint bistro. Bucky told Summer to stay put as he rushed to the other side to open the door for Summer. She had been a total bumbling idiot, blushing as she took his hand and tripping for the umpteenth time, embarrassedly saying, “Thank God I’m taller than Wanda, or I’ll rip the hem of the dress.”
The maître d’ nodded at them. “Mr Barnes,” He greeted before bringing them to a table.
“He knows you?” Summer asked, trying to vigorously resist the idea that Bucky had brought someone here before.
“I’ve been here alone once,” Bucky explained. “It doesn’t help when your face shows up on the news when something bad happens either.”
“Right. I forgot I’m dating a superhero,” Summer’s idiot mouth said before she could process her words. Bucky blinked at her and she shrunk. Fucking dumb head, this was just one date. They weren’t really ‘dating’, although, literally, they would be. But they weren’t official or anything, jeez, Summer—
“Hey. We can be dating. If you want.”
Summer didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t entirely used to relationships where people asked what she wanted, if she was comfortable, and went extra lengths or held back based on her requests. In short, she wasn’t used to healthy relationships.
“You don’t have to be afraid to say if you want or don’t want, I promise I will never let something like that influence how I treat you as a person,” Bucky added, his eyes soft.
“I… I do want that.” Summer managed to say. “I want to date you and be exclusive.”
Exclusiveness. That was something Summer never used to have.
“Good,” Bucky smiled happily. “Because I want that too.”
Summer fought back yet another blush as those blue-grey eyes stared into hers. Bucky looked so beautiful that night, hair slicked back into a bun, the suit hugging him just right. It wasn’t fair at all, when Summer was looking like a stick drowning. Though, it was a better look than her usual drab so.
“Good evening,” A woman comes up to the table, dressed in uniform. “My name is Elizabeth, and you can call me Beth,” She smiled, voice dropping, looking directly at Bucky. Summer faltered a little. Elizabeth—she would call her Beth but she did not exactly think that the friendliness extended to her—was gorgeous. Curvy body, dark black hair, eyes blue, lips red. Summer tried to sit taller. “Would you like to start with a drink? Perhaps a champagne or a wine?”
“We,” Bucky emphasized and looked at Summer, who gave a nervous smile back, “would like a bottle of red wine. Is that okay with you, Summer?”
Summer swore the waitress secretly rolled her eyes at the sound of her name. “Uh, yeah. Red… red wine is good.”
Summer… did not think she ever had red wine.
Vodka, scotch, margarita, tequila, rum, martini, jugs of beer after beer, sure, but never really wine.
“What kind of red would you like? A merlot, perhaps?” Beth was looking at her. Summer swallowed. Fuck. Bucky probably knew all about wines, and Beth probably did too. Oh my God. This was embarrassing.
Summer shrunk into herself. “I don’t know,” She could barely whisper.
Beth looked proud. “How about you, sir? Would you like to pick a certain kind of red wine? We have a delicious Cabernet Sauvignon from 2015. Would you like a bottle?”
“Hell if I know. I lived in during the Great Depression then became a POW for over 70 years, so it’s not like I had the liberty to drink beverages that isn’t water, let alone fancy red wine.” Bucky drawled and Summer’s stomach swooped a little at his Brooklyn accent.
The waitress paled a little.
Bucky licked his lips and gave the waitress a curt nod. “Just bring me any bottle of red wine. Not the cabinet sovereign or something though.”
“Cabernet Sauvignon,” The waitress just murmured in a faded tone before coughing and nodding. “Very well. I will be back with a bottle of red wine.”
“Well, that was kind of mean,” Summer raised an eyebrow when the lady finally left.
“I don’t know, she was being a little rude by trying to flirt with me when I’m quite apparently on a date.” Bucky retorted.
Summer’s mouth fell. Oh, so he noticed. “Well, I mean, you can’t blame that on her.” Summer murmured.
“Why not?”
“Look at you,” Summer nearly snorted. “You’re looking like that and you don’t expect a couple of girls wanting to get a piece of that.”
“Well, they should have a little respect,” Bucky explained softly. “I’m here with you and you only, and that’s quite obvious.”
“Very questionable, though,” Summer muttered, not expecting Bucky to hear. She apparently forgot she was dating a super soldier too.
“Hey, Summer,” Bucky interrupted immediately. “You are beautiful. And anyone who decides to talk to you or befriend you will be blessed by your sarcasm and wit. And your adorableness.”
Summer flushed.
“Yeah, like that,” Bucky said, and the affection in her tone made Summer look up at him. How can the world’s most beautiful man speak of Summer so highly? She couldn’t understand that at all.
Beth returned soon after. “I brought you a nice merlot from Bordeaux, La Mondotte St. Emilion from the year 2012. It is very versatile and goes well with most foods. Shall I pour a glass for you?”
“Yes, please,” Bucky said politely. Beth proceeded to open the bottle.
“Tell me when to stop,” She instructed and started pouring. Bucky had his mostly filled while Summer decided to have a little less.
“Are you ready to order?”
Summer looked down at her menu. Ah, fuck, she hadn’t really looked at it. A foot came into contact with hers and she jolted upwards. Bucky was just smiling at her, probably seeing her worried face.
“We’ll have the steak. Well done for the both of us,” Bucky said. “For dessert, we would like to have the chocolate caramel fudge.”
Summer perked up, eyes widening. Bucky just gave a knowing look, lips twisted into a smirk. Summer didn’t know which was hotter, that look or the chocolate caramel fudge.
Both, she thought, both, together.
Oh, God.
“Alright.” Beth seemed to be a little upset. “It’s an honour having you serve our country, by the way, Mr Barnes.”
Bucky broke the gaze and looked up. “You’re welcome. Although I did spend most of my life fighting your country and assassinating world leaders.” He said innocently. “I’m guessing you don’t mean that part.”
Beth just stammered for a moment, clutching menu to her chest. “No, I don’t,” Beth finally said. “But still. Thank you for the things you have done for us.”
“Steve would be a better candidate to be thanked,” Bucky said but then gave a genuine smile. “Thank you, though. It’s the least I can do.”
Beth gave a curt nod then walked away.
Summer just smiled dopily at Bucky. “What?” He asked defensively.
“Nothing,” Summer whispered. “Just thinking how I managed to strike gold.”
This time, Bucky blushed and Summer grinned. She was slowly getting her game back.
---
Summer sipped the red wine. “Mm,” She said. It was sweet. “I’ve never had people buy me red wine. Usually they just buy tequila shots or a Cosmopolitan, if they’re stereotypical like that.”
Bucky looked up from his food.
“Oh. Sorry,” Summer murmured. He probably didn’t want to know what other men buy her when they were trying to get into her pants (and she into theirs too, for their wallet, that is).
“No,” Bucky just said. “Don’t be sorry. I was just suddenly angry.”
“Why?” Summer asked hesitantly. She didn’t people when they were angry. Which was probably why she hated herself most of the time?
“About those men. Those men who used you when you were drunk.”
“I wasn’t drunk—”
“They didn’t know that,” Bucky said. “They didn’t have good intentions, Summer.”
Summer looked away. “I know, but neither did I.”
“You did what you have to do, what you could do,” Bucky corrected. “They didn’t have to rape people.”
Summer cringed.
“I’m sorry,” Bucky took a step back. “I just… I just don’t like it when you defend them.”
Silence washed over them before Summer opened her mouth again, heart thudding. “It’s just… hard. To think about it, to try to comprehend it.”
“I know,” Bucky murmured. “Just know that it doesn’t make you any less of a person.”
Summer poked at her steak. It was very good and she could only imagine how much it would cost. “I’ll try to remember that.”
Bucky reached his hand out and looked at Summer expectantly. She took it. Warmth spread through her. Bucky’s eyes were a swirling blue and grey, deep and calm. “And I’ll do my best to remind you.”
--
“You said you were born into Hydra. Who were your parents?”
Sophia hardened her eyes. The dreaded questions. “They were scientists. High-level security clearance. They were deeply rooted into the program. I was… I was conceived as part of the mission.”
“Yeah, well, we’ve heard our share of sob stories, so,” Natasha said dryly.
“I’m not trying to get pity, I’m trying to give you information,” Sophia glared. “My parents were Druyt and Odilie Kozlov.”
Natasha frowned, probably wondering where she had heard the name before. The Widows had impeccable memory so when the information clicked—
“You’re saying…”
Sophia nodded, lips in a flat line. “Summer wasn’t the only one.”