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It was the first time Steve had left the store and it was his first date with Natasha. They’d been flirting back and forth. Well to be honest, Natasha flirted, Steve stumbled over his words, and smiled goofily at her whenever she walked into the store. His little cousin, Peter loved to tease him about her, because Steve had a bad habit of giving Nat all her coffee for free. A few packets of sugar, a hit of cinnamon and a little cream. It was the same every day, but Steve still got nervous when he smelled her fresh shampoo as she breezed passed him to grab her daily snacks and coffee before she headed to the salon for the daily gossip.
They had the same routine every morning. Natasha would reach for her purse and Steve would wave her off.
“Your coffee’s on the house.” He’d smile, and she return it with a quick wave.
“Thanks Steve!”
He’d finally managed to get a date with Natasha thanks to Peter’s asking her. Steve would deny it for as long as he lived but he was happy to let Peter man the store for the night while he went with Nat to the local club.
One highlight for Steve was that a winning lotto ticket had been sold at his store. 96,000. So far no one knew who won and it was the talk of the neighborhood. Man, if it had been Steve he’d hightail back to Brooklyn instead of being stuck in the Heights. He missed the familiarity of his mother’s people and since moving to the Washington Heights, he’d been able to brush up on different dialects and people, but it wasn’t quite home. Well he’d lived here for as long as he remembered, he stopped visiting Brooklyn when his mother passed way. Peggy had taken him and Peter in, raising them as her own. The corner of their neighborhood was her school of hard knocks.
How he found himself sitting at the bar with his best friend Bucky, and watching his date dance with everyone guy who asked…well, he was still trying to work that out. Bucky, unfortunately, was drinking to excess. He’d just been laid off from his long-time job at the Stark’s as the full-time mechanic. Mr. Stark had decided to sell the company to pay for his daughter’s tuition. She’d come home from California just the day before. It was all over the neighborhood, Darcy came home after losing her scholarship because she’d tried to work and study, causing her grades to dip. Natasha had filled him in while they walked up to the club. It the next disaster in a long list that had been happening in the neighborhood. Their neighbor the Barton’s had been bought out and their sports shop closed a little over a month ago.
“Here’s to getting fired!” Bucky said as he down a shot, Steve frowned at him, but still taking the shot.
“To killing the mood.” They both tossed back the shot. Steve made a face as the liquor burned his throat.
“Without so much as a thank you! Five long years.” Bucky shook his head, and ordered more shots. “But hey, here’s to finally getting Natasha. Man, fix your collar.” Steve accepted the shot, hitting the glass on the bar before downing it with Bucky. Bucky fussing over the collar on his shirt that was slightly up.
“Holler!”
“Dude, who’s Natasha dancing with?” Bucky looked at the red-head who had captive his friend for the past few years, dancing with the guy Bucky had heard had a boyfriend.
“I don’t know, some dude.”
“Some dude? She’s trying to make you jealous.” Bucky slammed another shot back.
“Jealous? I’m not jealous, I can take any guy here.” Bucky raised his brow at his buddy. While Steve had the heart of a fighter, he sure didn’t have the body for it. He was thin and lean, with sandy blond hair. Not a brawler. Bucky had gotten into his fair share of fights, usually bailing out Steve.
As if he needed to prove his point. He grabbed Natasha from the guy she was dancing with to dance with her himself.
Darcy walked into the club, her dad had just informed her of what he’d done, and knowing it caused Bucky his job, a job that no matter how much her dad denied it, Bucky was the best at. Stark’s was the neighborhood’s machinic shop, and since her dad was getting older, he’d been steadily grooming Bucky as his top guy. That didn’t stop her dad from putting the guy down every chance he got.
She had to make it right. She was so angry at her dad. He had no right to make that decision. It was the family business it should have been a family decision. She finally spotted Bucky next to Steve at the bar.
“Bucky…hi. Can we talk? Please? Take a walk with me?” It was no secret to anyone that Bucky and Darcy had feelings for each other, to everyone that was, except them.
Bucky turned around, each hand holding a shot glass. His eyes landing on Darcy, her beautiful blue sundress swaying, her dark curls pulled half back, away from her face. Her beautiful blue eyes shimmering. He didn’t want to see her. Didn’t want to hear whatever she had to say.
“There she is.” He waved his hand in her direction. Furious anger burning in his chest just upon seeing her, it was only quelled by his equally intense love for her.
“I’m so sorry! I didn’t know.” Darcy reached for his hand to pull him away, but he brushed her way.
“Who let you in? Yo! This is the girl that caused us our jobs today!” He hollered at the crowd, which made up a few more of the techs from the shop.
“I’m going to make it right!” Darcy fought the urge to stomp her foot, why wasn’t he listening to her! Bucky always listened to her, even when he was so angry that it was almost impossible to calm him down.
“A toast to the end of all I know.” He slammed another shot. Darcy’s eyes falling on the glass. Oh. Alcohol. She rarely indulged in drinking, except for on the occasion. Obviously, Bucky had gone overboard.
“You’ve had enough.” She said sternly, trying to pry the glass from his hand. He grabbed two fresh ones, instead.
“Says the girl who has it all.” He downed another shot in front of her. She pulled back from him, to avoid the drips.
“That’s not fair!” He walked across the club, to the booths. She followed him, determined to get her point across. He rounded on her, halting her advance.
“Then why don’t you run home to daddy? He loves to remind me that I’ll never be good enough for your family!” He shouted, drinking one of the shots. “Or for you.” She jerked back as if he slapped her. She knew her dad was hard on him, but she always thought it came from a place of respect. Apparently, Bucky didn’t feel the same. She had her father’s temper when she was pushed too far.
“You don’t know me.” She fired back. Happy that his face dropped before slipping back into anger.
“Poor you.” He snarked.
“I thought you were different Bucky.” He looked at her for a moment before looking at the other glass in his hand. He raised it to her, in a mock toast before slamming it back.
“Salud!”
Darcy had had enough but not ready to go home. She found the first guy who wanted to dance and set to work enjoying herself.
Bucky watched as Darcy danced, her body illuminated by the club lights, he stumbled towards her before turning away, back to the bar. Though he was done with the alcohol. His stomach turning on itself without any food to help absorb the copious amount he drank.
Steve and Natasha were dancing close by and Bucky considering them before sitting down a chair, letting his stomach settle.
A quick crackling noise was the only warning before a complete blackout took over the club.
Instantly Bucky sobered up, the adrenaline pumped through his veins, every instinct screaming at him to find Darcy and get her back to her folks safety. Blackout meant looting and robberies, and with the recently announcement that someone had won the lotto, there was a very good chance that it wouldn’t matter who caught in the crossfire.
Steve had been shoved, causing him to let go of Nat’s hand. The crowd panicking around them as people rushed the doors to escape into the moonlight street.
“Nat?! Natasha!”
“Bucky?! Bucky? Has anyone seen Bucky?” Darcy’s voice cried out in the manic crowd.
“Darce?! Darcy?! Where’d you go?”
“Steve? Steve!” Natasha hit the doors, still closed and she shoved hard.
“Somebody better open these goddamned doors!” She screamed as another body shoved up next to her.
“Somebody better open these damn doors!” Bucky hit the doors with his shoulders, finally busting them open. People rushed out the doors, causing him to stumble and grab the door for stability.
Across town, at Rogers’s Corner Store, Peter immediately went to lockdown mode as the blackout rolled over the city. He quickly stashed the cash machine in the back office and locked it, before racing to the front doors to get the grate down.
“Peter! We gotta go! They’re throwing bottles in the streets! People lootin’ and shootin’. Pete they wanna see a robbery, we gotta keep movin’.” Wade Wilson, Peter’s longtime boyfriend rushed to the store as soon as the power went out. Knowing the vandals would hit any store they could. He was known a delinquent, but Peter kept him grounded.
“I can’t leave, I gotta guard the store!” Peter replied, still tugging at the grate.
“Man, they’ll bombard the store, till you ain’t gotta store nomore.” Wade grabbed the grate trying to pull it down and get his boyfriend to safety.
“I gotta baseball bat in the back.” Wade frown, like a baseball bat would do much against thugs with guns. An idea popped into his head.
“I got a few roman candles, you know for us for the firework show. We can distract them. I’ll handle it.” Wade responded, quickly yanking them out of his backpack.
“I see some thugs coming, man we’re gonna jacked up.” Wade stuck a roman candle between his teeth before tossing his backpack.
“Gimme your light, I’ll be right back. Back up-” He lit the flares, and drove off a few of the thugs, with a few quick hits. They wanted it quick and easy, as long as they knew they were willing to fight they’d go find another store to hit.
“It’s okay, Pete. I’m here.”
Darcy wandered the streets as the moonlight faded in and out from behind the clouds. The block so different at night without the lights to keep the shadows back.
“Bucky? Steve? Natasha!” She called out, trying to avoid drawing any unwanted attention to herself. She managed to escape the club with the crowd, but she was forced to follow the crowd as they scattered. She ended up a few blocks from the club and any familiar streets.
“Darcy! There you are!” The moon illuminated Bucky’s frame, and before she could run to him, she remembered all the reasons she was upset with him. “C’mon I’ll get you home.” She jerked away from him.
“I don’t need anything from you!” Bucky jerked back from her, shock on his face.
“Darcy, I just wanna get you home safety. Please. It’s not safe.” She shook her head and started way in the opposite direction.
“I’ll find my way home without you.” She said coolly.
Steve couldn’t find Natasha, but he found himself in front of his apartment that he shared with Peter and Peggy. He quickly rushed in, making sure she was safe. Her grey hair shown the moonlight, she looked terrified.
“Peggy, you okay? You won’t be alone tonight I promise!” She brushed him off, her feeble fingers, gripping a large bag, holding it close to her chest.
“Steve, promise me, promise me you’ll guard this with your life.” She shoved it into his hands, and he opened it, seeing an obscene amount of money.
“Peggy, you won the lotto? I’ve never see this much money in my life!” She nodded solemnly.
“Please, Steve, promise me. We’ll keep it safe through the night.” He nodded, gripping tightly as he bolted the apartment door.
“Of course, Peg.”
The loud crack of fireworks brightened the skies over their city, Darcy’s back went ramrod and she turned for a moment to see Bucky standing where she left him, looking up at the sky then his eyes finding hers.
It seemed so silly now with the power gone and the block in turmoil. Her legs were running back before she could think twice.
Bucky running to meet her, sweeping her up in his arms, his lips finding hers and the block was doused in darkness once again.