Work Text:
You really wanted churros. Like, badly.
It was funny because you didn’t even remember the last time you had churros, but you could hardly stop thinking about the crispy, deep-fried, cinnamon-sugar treats. Maybe there was a place back home in the city you could go to with Lucy, or even Bucky if you managed to coax him out of the compound. You just had to get through this little inconvenience first.
You sighed. You were chained to a metal chair being transported in the back of an armored truck with a few masked goons. If your calculations were correct, you were somewhere 10 miles east of Kyiv, and judging by the change in vehicular speed, you were nearing wherever they were taking you.
Does Ukraine have churros?
You glanced over at one of the goons, and you saw that he was glaring at you, his hand curling around the grip of his gun. Right. You had to act scared. You widened your eyes and made your breathing shallow, releasing little gasps of air that hopefully sounded terrified. The goon seemed content with your performance; you could just make out a grin under his black spandex mask. It took everything in you not to roll your eyes.
The truck made an abrupt left turn before coming to a full stop. One of the goons shoved a bag over your head and you heard the doors slam open. You were pulled out and dragged out of the truck, and you could feel the cool night air around you for a brief moment before they took you into an enclosed space (probably some sort of warehouse, these guys weren’t that clever). After dragging you for a few yards, they finally set you down and yanked the bag off your head.
You scanned your surroundings (you were right about the warehouse) and saw about seven goons around you, plus the three you couldn’t see out of your line of sight. A large man stepped forward slowly, casually twirling a knife in his hand. He towered over you, regarding you with an amused expression, and you could clearly see the jagged scar that ran diagonally from his chin to his hairline. Ivan Petrovsky, you knew his name to be. He was the mastermind of this whole operation, and he had been able to see through your cover quicker than you’d like to admit.
“Such a pretty face,” he mewed, pouting mockingly down at you. He placed the knife against your cheek, trailing it across your skin. “It would be a shame to ruin it. But we can avoid that if you cooperate.”
You said nothing, not breaking eye contact with him, and you could feel him add pressure to the blade, just shy of breaking skin. Okay, now you were a bit scared. Just a smidge. You really hated knives, especially when they were pressed against any part of your body.
Ivan sneered down at you. “Tell me who you work for.”
You still said nothing, your chest heaving up and down.
“We can do this the easy way, or the hard way, princess,” he added.
You couldn’t help it. “I doubt you know anything about being…hard,” you told him, the corner of your lip tugging upward.
Ivan’s eyebrows shot up at your innuendo before his expression turned dark again. He added even more pressure to the knife, and you felt the sting and warm stickiness of a new wound opening up. You flinched and he laughed, tracing the blade down to your neck, right against your jugular.
“Listen to me, bitch,” he growled. “I’m not going to let you or anyone else get in the way of my money. That shipment is coming in no matter what, so you get to decide if you live another day.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you said plainly.
“Don’t you? So, you weren’t the one who tipped off my supplier?” he asked rhetorically. He pressed further on the blade. You didn’t dare make a move.
“Even if I did know what you were talking about, I could guess you were probably cheating him out of money anyway,” you said through gritted teeth.
Ivan laughed again. “That’s just how the game is played, princess.”
“I might be unfamiliar with the rules,” you said, and you could feel the blade pull away from your neck slightly.
“I might as well entertain you for a while, since this will be the last thing you ever hear,” Ivan said thoughtfully. “You see, princess, I--”
He never did get to finish that sentence.
You heard the shot before you saw it go straight through Ivan’s forehead. The man barely slumped to the floor before you heard several more shots ring out, a thud accompanying each one as the goons toppled like dominoes. There was a final masked goon standing, and you could see their terrified eyes as they held their hands up in surrender. Panic raced through you, and you fought against your constraints.
“DON’T SHOOT, DON’T SHOOT!” you shouted at the assailant you couldn’t see. You heard their heavy footsteps as they appeared in your periphery. You turned your head, and you let out a long breath.
“Bucky,” you breathed, but he didn’t take his murderous gaze off of the remaining goon. He still had his gun up and aimed, his finger poised on the trigger.
“Sorry I’m late, Doll,” he said, his voice gravelly and menacing as he stared down the goon. “We’ll be out of here soon.” His finger curled against the trigger.
“For goodness sake, Lucy, take off the damn mask before he kills you,” you said, feeling your irritation grow by the second.
Lucy shakily reached up and pulled the mask off, finally revealing her ashen face. Bucky stiffened with surprise before he lowered his gun slowly.
“Lucy?” he asked incredulously.
“Yeah dude,” she said breathlessly. “What is he doing here?” she asked, turning to you.
“I have no clue,” you said, glaring over at him. He just blinked at both of you.
“I—well—Sam heard your mission went south and you were taken,” Bucky explained, scratching the back of his neck. “I’m here to save you, Doll.” He sounded so unsure of himself. You would have thought his flustering was adorable if you weren’t so mad.
“I don’t need saving,” you groaned. “Bucky, you just shot my midterm!”
“What?”
“We were supposed to get the intel and go,” you said exasperatedly. “You didn’t even let him start monologuing!”
“Yeah, he was about to give us everything,” Lucy added accusingly, crossing her arms.
Bucky’s face tinted pink. “I—I’m sorry? Sweetheart, I thought you were in trouble…”
You sighed. “Just get me out of this thing,” you said, and he came over to you and broke off the chains. You stood and he gingerly touched your cut cheek, his eyes filled with concern. You felt yourself melt a little, but you were determined to hold your resolve.
“I had no clue this was just a test. I heard you were taken and I just needed to get to you,” he said sweetly. Damn. Why’d he have to be so freaking cute?
You crossed your arms and took a step back. “You know what this job comes with, Buck. It’s dangerous. I’ll be put in all kinds of dangerous situations. You have to trust that I can handle myself.” You stepped around him to join Lucy, who was picking the pockets of the fallen gangsters. She sighed and held up a flash drive and a tablet.
“I think we’ll be able to get some stuff from these,” she said helplessly. “I think we’re looking at a B-, C+ tops.”
You pinched the bridge of your nose. “Gosh, Bucky I love you so much, but you need to back off. What’s gonna happen when I graduate next year, huh? You’re gonna follow me on every assignment? We go through training for a reason--”
“What did you say?”
You looked up at him and frowned. “I said, I’m going to graduate from the program next year and I’ll officially be an agent, and you can’t--”
“No. Before that,” he said carefully, taking a few steps and closing the distance between the two of you. He was so close that you could smell his aftershave, and you fought the swoon that threatened to sweep you off your feet. He smirked down at you. “You love me?”
You bit your lip. Had you really said that out loud? You had known for a while; honestly, he shouldn’t have been surprised, you weren’t exactly subtle about how you felt about him. But you looked up at those clear blue eyes, and they were so full of hope and a little anxiety, as if he expected you to take it all back.
You nodded, and the smile that bloomed on his face took the breath out of your lungs.
“I love you, too, Doll,” he murmured before dipping down and placing his lips over yours. You sighed into him, wrapping your arms around him and drawing him in close.
You heard Lucy snort. “How wonderful. My average is going to plummet, but hey, at least you two are in looooove,” she said sarcastically. “Get a room.”
You pulled away from Bucky a bit. “Speaking of that, you should probably find somewhere else to crash tonight, Luc,” you said, giving Bucky a smoldering look. It was his turn to bite his lip.
“What? No way, he has a whole suite across the compound! I’m not sleeping on Nicole’s lumpy ass couch again,” Lucy complained.
But you tuned her out and pressed your lips to the love of your life once more. You were still pissed about your grade, but that could wait.
For now.