Work Text:
1.
“Stark Billing, this is Bucky, how can I help you?” Bucky droned into the phone, trying not to sound too robotic. He didn’t think he succeeded. He usually never did. Today had been a long ass day and he only had about five minutes left before he could officially stop answering phones and begin ending the day. Natasha smirked at him as she walked pass him to go process the payments she had taken that day.
“Hello.” There was a sneeze from the other end of the line, and it was no graceful sneeze either. It was full blown sneeze heard from another room kind of sneeze. Bucky actually pulled the phone away from his ear. “Sorry.” Bucky heard the man snuffle out.
He almost felt bad for the guy. He sounded like absolute shit. It must suck to be sick in the middle of the summer.
“No problem. What can I help you with today?”
“Oh, I need to pay a bill for Dr. Banner.”
“Okay.” Bucky replied, pulling up the site for Dr. Banner. “Account number?”
“Oh shit.” The man mumbled out and Bucky could hear papers crinkling in the background. It almost made him smile.
Almost.
He hated when people weren’t prepared when they called in. If you were calling to pay a bill, you better have everything with you when you make the damn call. It made things so much quicker. But a majority of the people who called didn’t know their account number.
Hell, some people don’t even know the name of the doctor they are trying to pay. Those are the most frustrating calls.
“Okay, got it. Sorry about that. I had everything when I dialed the number, I swear.” Bucky couldn’t stop the smile that appeared. This guy sounded very adorable. “543987.”
“Alright, just give me a quick minute to get that pulled up.” Bucky typed in the account number and waited as the account pulled up and-
Holy shit.
This guy had a million different things wrong with him. He was in to see Banner all the time. Multiple times a week even. Bucky didn’t want to snoop though. Dr. Banner did a lot of different things, so who knows why this guy was there all the time.
He glanced up at the name. Steven G. Rogers.
“Patient name?”
“Steve Rogers.” The man, (Bucky didn’t want to assume that the man calling was the patient) sneezed again, but this time, he was considerate enough to cover the phone.
“And are you the patient?”
“The one and only.” Bucky smiled. This man needed to stop being so charismatic. Bucky hated talking to patients. Yet here he was, being charmed by one.
“Okay Steve, can you just verify your date of birth for me?”
“July 4, 1990.” Bucky paused and looked up at the date of birth on the account. Oh. He really was born on the 4th of July. “Yeah I know. I was born on the 4th of July.”
“Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever met someone born on the 4th of July.” Steve laughed.
“It’s not that great, believe me.”
“What do you mean? You get fireworks for a birthday present every year! What can be better than that?” Bucky looked up at the cough in the room. Natasha was leaning against the doorway, raising her perfectly sculpted eyebrow at him.
Right.
“I appreciate that. But the fireworks are never for me.”
“Well maybe next year, they can be.”
“Why thank you Bucky.” Bucky almost freaked himself out by how the man knew his name but then he remembered that he had said his name at the beginning of the call. Most people never remember his name.
God he was such an idiot sometimes. He needed to go home. He needed to get this call over and done with so he could go home.
“Anyways, you wanted to pay your bill.”
“Yes. Um, I’m seeing $25.68 on my statement? Is that correct on your end? I want to make sure it hasn’t gone up since I’ve gotten this statement.”
“No, that’s the balance I see. You do have a few dates of service still with the insurance though. I assume you want to pay the balance in full then?”
“Yes.”
“And what kind of card will you be using?”
“Visa.” Bucky smiled and got all the payment information he needed from Steve. “Is that all?” Steve asked, once Bucky confirmed the information back to him.
“Yep. That’s it. I will fax over this information to the office and they will process it for you. I can have the office mail you a receipt once they get done processing your payment though. If you like?”
“Nah, save the paper.” Bucky nodded.
“Alrighty then, I will note your account of your payment and send your information over to the office for you. Hope you feel better Steve.” Bucky added before he thought better of it.
“Thanks Bucky. Have a good night.” Bucky hung up the phone and looked over at Natasha. He could feel her judgment.
“What?” She just laughed as she walked back over to her desk.
“Nothing.” She said as she sat down. “Never seen you flirt with a patient before. Not that I wouldn’t put it past you to do so, but I’ve never seen you do it yet. It’s strange.”
“I wasn’t flirting.” Natasha just laughed. Bucky turned back to his computer and completed Steve’s payment, and marked it down in his work flow. He glanced back and made sure Natasha wasn’t looking as he looked up the documents on Steve’s file.
Some doctors scan in the driver’s license and insurance cards of patients into the system. He looked up and saw that there was an ID on file. He hovered over it but stopped himself.
This seemed like a huge invasion of privacy and really, he will probably never even meet the guy. He shouldn’t even bother seeing what he looks like. No point. He would probably never talk to him again. He let out a deep breath and closed out of Steve’s account.
It was time to go home anyways.
2.
“Stark Billing, this is Bucky, how can I help you?”
“Yeah man, I need to see what the damage is on a bill for a friend. The idiot can’t seem to find his statement.”
“Do you have an account number? And which doctor does he see?”
“Oh, hang on.” Bucky heard some movement and what sounded like something covering the phone. “Yo Steve! What’s your account number?” Bucky tensed up.
It can’t be Steve Rogers.
It just can’t be. It wasn’t going to be Steve Rogers. There was no way it would be the Steve Rogers that he talked with last month.
There were thousands of guys named Steve. The probability that he would get a phone call from that Steve Rogers again was very unlikely. It just wasn’t possible.
“Okay.” The man said, coming back to the phone fully. “Sorry about that. Account number is 543987. And he sees Dr. Banner.” Bucky closed his eyes as he typed in the account number. He took a deep breath.
“Patient name?”
“Steve Rogers.” The man replied and Bucky opened his eyes. He always did have that kind of luck.
“Okay, can you verify his date of birth for me?”
“July 4, 1990.”
“Okay, it seems his bill as of right now is $568.32.”
“Oh shit. Steve, what the hell did you have done?” Bucky could faintly hear Steve’s sickly voice in the background and god, why him? Bucky looked over the account and found that Steve had a four day hospital stay on his account.
Thank god he had good insurance that covered most of it. But still, this was a lot of money.
“Is there anything else I can help you with? Does he want to make a payment?” Bucky asked, trying to get off the phone quicker. He didn’t need to think about Steve’s health as well. That would only end badly.
“Um, Steve wants to talk with you.” Bucky’s eyes widened.
“Okay…”
“Is this Bucky?” And that was Steve’s voice. Steve’s beautiful angelic voice.
“Bucky here.” Why did he have to sound like a complete idiot? Bucky normally wasn’t this stupid. He was usually really smooth with men and women.
“Hey Buck. Can I set up a payment plan?” Steve just called him Buck. Bucky had to make sure he was still alive. Steve had a nickname for him.
Bucky needed to get a hold of himself. It was just a stupid nickname. What was he, eight?
“Sure.” Bucky was quite proud of how even his voice sounded.
“Okay, put me down for $50 a month. I can’t afford anything else at the moment.”
“Sure, I can note your account for you. As long as you continue to make payments, your account should not go to collections.”
“Great. I’ll be sending in a check when I can. I still can’t really move at the moment.” Bucky’s stomach flew up to his chest. What the hell had Steve done? What had happened to him? Why can’t he move?
Was Steve dying? Bucky didn’t know what he would do if he would see his account and see that dreadful red note ‘deceased’.
Wait, hold up Bucky. This isn’t any of your concern. This man is a complete stranger. You don’t need to feel sorry for him. Or worry about him. His health isn’t any concern of yours.
“I will note your account for you Steve.”
“Thanks.” Bucky just smiled, typing away.
“Anything else I can help you with?”
“Better health?” Steve replied with a laugh.
“I wish I had that power, but sadly, I don’t.” Steve laughed until he started coughing again. “Take it easy there tiger.”
“I’ll try.”
3.
“So, guess what statements went out last week?” Bucky twirled around in his chair, raising an eyebrow Natasha’s way.
“Why should I care?” It was a slow day, not too many calls, so he and Natasha were really just doing nothing, waiting for people to call.
“Come on, play along. Guess?” She said as she twirled her chair around in a complete circle. Bucky just rolled his eyes.
“I don’t know.” Bucky heard the phone ring but decided to let it go to voicemail.
“Dr Banner’s.” Bucky closed his eyes. He knew exactly where this was going.
“Natasha…”
“And I just happen to know that Steve had a statement sent out.”
“You know, that is borderline stalking. And creepy.”
“It’s not creepy. I was putting in payments for Clint and I got the latest one from Mr. Rogers and saw that a statement was sent out for him last week.”
“You need to stop meddling.”
“I am so not meddling.”
“Who’s meddling with what now?” Sharon said as she and Clint walked into the room. Sharon worked in another office suite doing insurance denials. Clint did data entry. In fact, one of his accounts was Dr. Banner’s.”
“Nothing.” Bucky said, turning back to his computer.
“Bucky here has a crush on one of the patients.”
“Which one?” Bucky turned and looked at Clint, giving him the ‘Are you serious right now’ look. Clint looked like a teenage girl about to get the best gossip of her life. Honestly, how many patients did they have accounts for? Like Clint was going to know the exact one.
“Steve Rogers.” Natasha said with a smile.
“Oh, I know him. He visits Dr. Banner like all the time. Poor guy. Has a very sucky immune system.” Of Clint would know him. Bucky glanced at Sharon and saw that she was just grinning away. She probably found all this hilarious.
“Look, it’s not a crush. I’ve only talked to him a few times.”
“But he asks for Bucky by name. Just to make a payment. It’s adorable.” Sharon laughed as she made her way back out of the office.
“You guys should look like you’re working. Stark is in today!” Sharon shouted as he heard his heels clinking against the floor as she made her exit. Bucky sighed and turned back to his computer. He saw that he had a message and picked it up. Bucky could hear Nat and Clint talking behind him.
“Hey Bucky, this is Steve Rogers.” Bucky almost wanted to bang his head on the desk. Of course it was Steve. But he refrained from causing a scene. Instead he smiled as he listened to Steve’s very soothing voice. “I just need to make a payment. Um…” Bucky didn’t need to listen anymore. He knew Steve’s account number by heart now. Hell, he even knew his phone number. But he would never admit that to anymore.
He hung up the phone, saving Steve’s message in his inbox.
He pulled up Steve’s account and dialed his number.
“Hello.” He was a bit taken back by the female voice. He was not expecting that. And it was a British female voice too. Why was a British woman answering Steve’s phone?
“Hello. This is Bucky calling from Stark Billing. I am returning a voicemail from Steve Rogers. Is he there?”
“Ah, yes.” Bucky waited.
“Hello.” Bucky smiled when he heard Steve’s voice.
“Hello Steve.”
“Bucky!”
“So, you wanted to make a payment?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Well, I have your account pulled up. Do you want to do your monthly $50 payment?”
“Yes. It’s a slow process, but with all the medicine I have, it’s all I can afford.”
“You know, you really should try to stop being sick all the time.” Bucky looked over and found Clint and Natasha smiling at him. He gave them his best glare, flipped them the bird and turned back around.
“Oh, I try. I can’t help it sometimes. To be fair though, I’ve been doing quite well since that hospital visit.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“Okay, so I got my card ready. You ready?”
“Yep. Fire away.” Steve read off his card information, and Bucky repeated it back to him.
“Well, I hope you have a good night Bucky.” Steve said.
“You too.” Bucky hung up and stared at the computer screen.
He had to know what he looked like. He just had to. He couldn’t hold back anymore.
“What are you doing?” Natasha asked, getting up from her chair.
“I have to see him.”
“It’s about damn time.” Bucky pulled open his account and took a deep breath before clicking on the link to show his ID. Hopefully it was a good copy.
Bucky felt his heart jump out of his chest.
Steve was gorgeous.
It wasn’t a good picture of him, but he was exactly how Bucky had pictured him.
“He’s adorable.” Natasha said, bending over Bucky’s shoulder.
“He’s beautiful.” Bucky whispered. And if Bucky wasn’t already head over heels in love with Steve, then he sure as hell was now.”
4.
“Ma’am.” Bucky said as calmly as he could. He was having a shit storm of a day today, and this…this bitch was making it ten times worse. “Ma’am, the balance is due to you. Your insurance left it to your deductible.”
“My deductible has already been met.” She said, in a snotty voice. He rolled his eyes. He had even pulled up a copy of the EOB and they left it to her goddamn deductible.
“If you believe that the insurance may have processed your claim wrong, you will have to contact them yourself. You can let them know, and they can reprocess it…”
“That is absolutely ridiculous. I am not paying this.” Bucky just sighed. He could hear Natasha laughing behind him. Of course she would have a good patient while he had a horrible one. He turned around and made eye contact. She just smiled and Bucky rolled his eyes.
“This doctor is a horrible man. He is a crook who is just after my money.” Bucky had to try very hard not to groan. He hated when patients were like this. In all honestly, he didn’t care if they paid their bill. He didn’t care if they went to collections. That was their credit report. But he hated listening to them bitch about it.
“Ma’am. I can…” She cut him off and Bucky hated when they did that. But he could not hang up on them. He would get fired if someone found out he had done that. “Ma’am. I can send a message to the rep on this account. She can look into this more for you.”
“Great. I would also like to speak to a manager about this.”
“I can transfer you to my manager, Ms. Potts.”
“You do that.” Bucky quickly hit the transfer number and dialed Pepper’s extension.
“Hello James.” She said with her usual friendly demeanor. Pepper was always so nice. He hated transferring people like this. But she was the best with them.
“Pepper, I have a Margaret Burns on the phone. She is pissed about her bill. She owes the balance. It’s her deductible. I’m going to send her info on to Sharon but she requested to speak to you.”
“Alright James. Send her through.” Bucky sent her through and groaned, hitting his head on his desk.
“You okay over there?” Natasha asked.
“That bitch.” Bucky groaned, sitting up and turning to look at her. “I hate when patients get like that. Like you get your damn EOB in the mail, and if you have a problem with how the insurance paid, then take it up with them. Not us. I’m not going to change your damn bill. And no one else here is going to do it either.”
“Well, I’m sorry about that. It seems you always get the crazy ones. But I just got off the phone with a Mr. Steve Rogers.” Bucky straightened up.
“Steve?”
“Yep. Called to pay his bill.”
“Lucky you.”
“He asked about you, you know.” Bucky was out of his chair in seconds, standing next to Natasha.
“What did he ask? Did he sound okay?” Natasha just laughed.
“He sounded okay. He was upset that that you didn’t answer. But he hopes you are doing well.”
“Ugh.” Bucky moaned, falling back into his chair.
He had missed talking with Steve. All because of that stupid woman.
“Don’t worry…” Natasha said as she walked on pass him. “He’ll call again.”
5.
Bucky felt like shit.
He normally never got sick. He was very proud of his immune system, but now. Now he hated it because he was sick. And it was all Natasha’s fault. She had been sick last week and now he was sick. He was going to give her a stern talking to when he got back to work.
He walked into Dr. Banner’s clinic. He got a discount so he always came here, when he needed it. Maria greeted him with a smile as he signed in.
“It’s been a while James. It’s good to see you again.” He let out a small grunt.
“I wish I wasn’t here.”
“You sound awful.”
“Yeah. Well I feel awful.”
“He should be with you soon. He doesn’t have very many appointments today.”
“Thanks Maria.” He walked over and found a spot by the windows. He really just wanted to sleep. But his head was so congested he needed something to help him sleep.
He really just didn’t want to feel like this anymore. He thought it would pass in a few days, but this thing was not going away. He would rather not spend his nights hacking up a lung.
“Steve. Here again, I see.” Bucky looked up because no. There was no way. He looked towards where Maria was and saw a scrawny blonde man signing in.
What were the odds that Steve Rogers would be here the same day he was. His luck wasn’t that bad, was it?
He wanted to see Steve in person, don’t get him wrong. But now when he looked like shit. He wanted to be his normal handsome self. Not like he just crawled out from under a rock.
Then again, Steve had no idea what he looked like. He wouldn’t even know the difference.
Steve turned around and Bucky felt his breath leave him. Steve was even more beautiful in person. Bucky quickly pulled his phone out and sent a text to Natasha.
Steve just walked into Banner’s clinic. What do I do?
Bucky leaned back and glanced around the room, only to find that Steve had found a spot right across from him.
No. Well, of course he would. That was how Bucky’s morning was going. Might as well just add to it.
Steve looked at him and smiled. Bucky felt like his insides were goo. Steve’s smile was even better in person. He wanted that smile directed at him always.
Steve looked in perfect health. Bucky had to wonder why he was even here. He felt his phone vibrate and looked down at his phone.
Talk to him!
Yeah, like that was going to happen. Bucky looked up and found that Steve was still looking at him. Bucky took a deep breath. It wouldn’t hurt to maybe do some kind of small talk. It would be something.
“So, what are you in here for?” Bucky asked and immediately winced. That did not come out the way he wanted it to. Why was he such a loser? He made it sound like they were in prison or something.
He saw Steve stare at him, but before Steve could answer or have Bucky fix his word vomit, Bucky heard his name called.
“James Barnes.” Bucky nodded and stood up, trying to get over the embarrassment that was his life.
“Did you hear Stark hired a new keyer?” Natasha said, walking pass Bucky and sitting down in her chair.
“Yes. By pretty much everyone else in the office.” Natasha just laughed. News like that never stayed quiet in their office. If something happened, everyone knew within five minutes. No one could ever keep secrets here.
“Sharon says it’s a dude.” Bucky just rolled his eyes.
“How does she know?” He asked, making small talk as he opened up his work flow sheet.
“Apparently she knows him.” Bucky just nodded.
He was still upset by how embarrassing he had been around Steve at the clinic. By the time his appointment was done, Steve was gone. He would have looked like a loser if he just waited around. And he didn’t want to ask Maria about it.
So he had left, knowing that he had made a complete fool of himself in front of Steve.
And to make matters worse, he hadn’t received a call from Steve since then.
Not that he was really expecting too. Statements hadn’t gone out yet. But still.
“Are you okay?”
“What?” Bucky asked. Natasha just gave him a sad look.
“I hope you are all working hard back here.” Bucky’s eyes widened as Tony Stark’s voice echoed throughout the room. “These are our amazing phone people. Both are excellent with our patients.” Tony said and Bucky realized that the new guy must have been with him.
Tony walked through the room and Bucky almost had a heart attack because none other than Steve Rogers walked in behind them.
This could not be happening.
“Steve, this is Natasha and Bucky. Guys, this is Steve. He is going to be the temp keyer while Jane is out on maternity leave.”
Steve and Bucky made eye contact and Bucky just stared at him like a deer in the headlights. Steve was the complete opposite. He was smiling at Bucky like it was his birthday.
“Come along Steve, we have more people to see.” Steve nodded and walked out of the room, following Tony out, but not before giving Bucky one last glance.
“James.” Natasha whispered, but Bucky droned her out by hitting his head against his desk.
How was this his life?
7.
It had been 2 weeks since Steve had started working at Stark Billing, but Bucky wouldn’t have even noticed it. He never saw Steve.
Since Steve was training, his breaks and lunches were at different times that Bucky’s. Plus they were in different offices.
“Seriously, just go ask him out. You’ve never had this problem before.”
“I know! I just…” He stopped talking when Steve walked in.
“Hey Bucky.” Steve said with a smile.
“Hi…Steve.” Bucky whispered.
“Can…um, are you on your break?”
“Um, well…” He looked over and saw that it was actually Natasha’s break, but she gave him a quick nod, that he could go first. “Yes.”
“Can we go for a quick walk?”
“Sure.” Bucky stood up and walked along with Steve as they made their way outside.
They were both silent for a while as they walked around the parking lot. Bucky didn’t know what to say. Well, he had an idea, but he couldn’t really get himself to actually come out and say it.
“So…” Steve started but Bucky interrupted him. Well, more like word vomited at him.
“Would you want to go out with me?” Steve stopped and Bucky felt that maybe he had gone too far. Oh my god why did he have to say it? Why? He was just a second ago not sure how to get it out of him.
Steve then gave Bucky the biggest grin.
“I have been waiting ages for you to ask me that.” Bucky laughed. It was a nervous laugh, but he somehow felt a bit more relieved.
“Oh my god.” Bucky whispered, taking a deep breath. Steve must have sensed his uneasiness and reached forward and grabbed Bucky’s hand.
“I happen to know this amazing coffee shop down the road. We could go after work?”
“That would be fantastic.” Bucky was sure he was grinning like an idiot but he didn’t care. He was too damn happy to not smile. Steve gave his hand a squeeze as they continued on their walk.
Bucky couldn’t wait for the day to end. And for once, he was actually looking forward to tomorrow.