Chapter Text
"This is so not my day!” You huffed as a beer bottle whizzed past your head. You should have gone home four hours ago, but the night bartender had called out for their shift. Being the Good Samaritan that you were, you offered to stay. Apparently, the universe decided that the best reward for your small act of kindness would be an all-out brawl at the bar. Cowering behind the counter you tried desperately to remember what your boss had said the procedure for this was.
“You’re telling me!” A voice groaned from your left. You looked over to see a man sitting a couple feet your left. His chin was lined with stubble. His hair was grown out long, just reaching his shoulders. The brim of a baseball hat covered most of his face but you got the impression that you had nothing to fear from this man.
“Long day for you too, then?” You scooted over towards him. Both so that you could avoid another flying beverage and so that you could hear each other better.
“Long life.” He chuckled bitterly. He poked his head up over the brim of the counter only to immediately pull himself back down. “Well that’s not stopping any time soon.” He sighed. “I guess I should introduce myself. I’m Bucky.”
“Nice to meet you Bucky. I’m [Y/n].” You grasped his hand and gave it a shake. You were surprised by how smooth and cold his hand was. You looked down. It was metal!
“Like I said, long life.” He repeated uncomfortably.
“Believe me. I get it.” You smirked. “Any chance that arm of yours is bullet proof?”
“Actually,” Bucky smirked back. “It is. But no one’s got any guns out there.”
“Yet. They’ll only be happy fighting over booze for so long. Eventually they’ll try and hop over this counter…”
“It’s okay.” Bucky put a hand on your shoulder. “We’ll get out of here. I have some friends I can call.” He took out his cellphone and dialed. “Steve? Listen I’m trapped at Billy’s Bar in midtown. A brawl broke out and…no, I’m hiding behind the counter with the bartender. I’d rather not have to crack any skulls if…thank you.” He hung up the phone. “My friends are on their way.”
“Well unless your friends are the Avengers…”
“I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not.” He tilted his head to the side. He was studying you the same way you used to looked at your math homework. Intrigue with an overwhelming feeling of befuddlement.
“I’m guessing that means I should know who you are?” You started through his curtain of hair and tried to place the face that was looking back at you. Maybe it was the baseball cap that was still obstructing most of it, but you couldn’t tell who this man was.
“I mean how many other people are there in the world with a vibranium arm?” He mumbled. “Bet if I was Tony Stark though…” You were about to apologize to your accidental comrade, when a hush wavered through the bar. You stuck your head up over the wooden countertop reminding yourself of the prairie dogs you’d seen on TV. What your eyes met was a sight you had not expected. Captain America and one of the B-list Avengers…Falcon, was it? (You were pretty sure that’s what the guy in the flight suit went by.) Were standing on the doorway of the bar, both with their arms crossed. You ducked back under the bar to gape at Bucky.
“You weren’t kidding! You’re really friends with the Avengers!” You exclaimed before taking another peek over the bar.
“We can do this one of two ways.” Captain America was telling the patrons seriously. It was like something from a movie as one by one men and women throughout the place were paying off their tabs and exiting through the very same door Captain America was playing bouncer too.
“You can come out now, Princess!” Falcon called out, walking in your direction.
“Excuse me?” You huffed, immediately putting your hands on your hips. Sure, this guy was an Avenger but he wasn’t even a well-known one. You didn’t allow the customers to talk to you that way, so there was no way you were going to let any Avenger.
“He’s talking to me.” Bucky explained, now clambering to his feet. “Very funny, Sam. Ha ha.” He added sarcastically.
“I’m just saying for a guy who supposedly killed quite a few people in their day, it sure does feel like we end up saving your ass an awful lot.” Falcon shrugged.
“You’re pushing your luck, Wilson.” Bucky growled in warning. By this point the bar had emptied out except for Captain America, Falcon, Bucky and yourself. Captain America secured the door behind himself and then walked over to the bar where everyone else was still standing.
“Gentlemen, don’t you thing we’re being rude?” The captain asked. “Buck, perhaps you could introduce…”
“[Y/N], these are the friends I was telling you about. The one with the muscles is Captain America, and that’s his pet bird.” He nodded at Captain America and Falcon respectively.
“It’s Sam.” Falcon explained. “Nice to meet you, [Y/N].” He smiled for the first time.
“You can just call me, Steve.” Captain America explained. “What exactly happened here?”
“That’s what I’d like to know.” You huffed. “One minute I was purring like a hundred tequila shots for this dude’s bachelor party and next thing I know there’s a all-out brawl. I tried to clear the place out, but no one ever listens to the bartender. Especially if it’s a woman.” You sighed. “Thanks for the help. I’ll give you my bosses contact info so you can send him the bill or whatever, then I’ll get this place cleaned up.”
“There’s no charge for our services.” Steve explained. “We offer protection to people who need it. It would be much of a service if we expected payment for it.”
“I suppose.” You agreed. You lifted the hinged section of countertop so that yourself and Bucky could step out from behind it and into the main part of the room. “Thanks again for the help. I don’t mean to be rude but I really do have to start cleaning up if I want to get out of here before four AM.” You heaved another sigh as you looked around the bar. The place looked like your sister’s apartment after her last sorority party. It was practically trashed. Oh yes, today was definitely not your day.
“Well we could stay and help, couldn’t we?” Bucky suggested.
“Oh, no.” You shook your head. “That’s really nice of you but I’m sure you have a cat to rescue from a tree or another bar maid in distress to save.” But the Avengers wouldn’t take no for an answer. They insisted on sticking around and helping you clean up the disaster area, which was basically the entire bar.
With their help, it only took about an hour to gather and wash what had survived of the glasses, the remnants of liquor and beer bottles, take out the trash, sweep of the floor, wipe the tables and counter, and get everything looking as it had before you agreed to work a sixteen-hour shift. When it was finally time to go must have looked a little worse for wear than you thought because Bucky insisted on walking you home.
“This late at night, you really shouldn’t be walking home alone.” If you weren’t so tired, you probably would have tried to argue with him. You were more than capable of handling yourself, you grew up on the streets of New York! But that night, you were so tired you decided having an escort probably wasn’t a bad idea after all. Sam and Steve both gave you’re their personal cellphone numbers and instructed you to feel free to call if you ever ran into trouble. You promised to do just that before exchanging polite goodbyes and adding a final thank you for good measure.
“So, Steve said you guys were in the war together, but he didn’t say which. Was it Iraq or…?” You let your sentence trail off, internally scolding yourself. Of all the ways to start a conversation, [Y/N]!
“No.” Bucky smirked. “World War II.”
“Oh…” Now you felt like a complete idiot. Sure, someone had found Captain America in the ice in the 2000, but the only war he’d ever actually fought was World War II. You tried to think back on what you’d learned in History Class. What was that group they’d said he fought with? The Howling Commandos. Now you remembered. His childhood best friend was a part of the Commandos too. James Buchanan Barnes. Bucky!
“You’re that Bucky Barnes? Best friends with Captain America, Bucky Barnes? Of course you are.” You shook your head.
“Don’t hold it against me.” He chuckled.