Work Text:
“Okay! Who’s ready for movie night?” Sam Wilson walked into the viewing room at the Avengers training facility carrying the most enormous bowl of popcorn that you had ever seen and a fuzzy blanket under his arm. He set the bowl on the coffee table in front of you. Behind him, Steve followed with an assortment of movie candy boxes.
“Hey, Steve,” you motioned to him. “Toss me a bag of Twizzlers before Barton takes all of them.”
Clint gave you an affronted look. “What? I can’t help it if they are chewy, irresistible little sugar-coated strips of licorice deliciousness!” He tried to intercept the bag that Steve threw at you, but a shiny metal arm reached out and grabbed it before he could. Bucky handed you the bag before taking a seat next to you on the couch.
“Nice try, buddy,” you giggled to Clint, who caught the second bag that Steve threw.
Tony arrived with a tray of drinks and began passing them around as everyone found seats. “So it’s (Y/N)’s turn to pick the movie tonight. What did you go with?”
You sat your wine glass down and pressed play on the remote. “Only one of the best stories ever written,” you beamed to the group. “Pride and Prejudice! Even though the Colin Firth version is much better, I went with the Keira Knightley version because it isn’t over five hours long.” Grumbling began almost immediately as Elizabeth Bennett made her way toward her family’s home. You paused the movie and looked around the room. “Is there a problem?”
“Ugh. I know these types of movies,” Pietro, who had a hard time sitting still through a movie he was interested in, let alone through one he was not, whined. “They will prance around in fancy clothes and stare at each other. If we are very lucky, someone might challenge someone else to a duel, but even that will not be very dramatic. I will be in my room.” He was off before you could even reply.
“Hmm. My hearing aids seem to be acting up,” Clint grabbed his Twizzlers and stood up. “I guess I won’t be able to stay.”
“We can turn on closed captioning for you,” you suggested, knowing there was absolutely nothing wrong with his hearing aids.
“What? I can’t hear you!” He yelled at you. “Oh what a disappointment. Maybe next time.” You huffed and waved him off.
“Well, I’ve seen this before with Pepper. I’m gonna hit my workshop and start working on another robot army,” Tony joked. “I’m kidding! I’m kidding! Well, at least about the robot army part.”
“I think I need to go with Tony,” Steve added, “Since Bruce isn’t here to keep him in line, someone needs to.”
“Steve! You helped me pick the movie!”
“I know, but we can’t leave Tony unsupervised. Who knows what sort of crazy stuff he will do. Plus, I’ve watched this with you before.” Tony and Steve left quickly, but not before Tony stopped long enough to refresh your glass of wine.
“I’d like to stay, but well, I just remembered that I’m a guy, and yeah. I’m out.” Sam set his blanket down on the arm rest beside you and grabbed a large scoop of popcorn from the bowl before leaving.
You knew it was a risk picking this movie, especially on a night when just some of the guys were around, but it was really one of your favorite stories, and you hoped that maybe they’d give it a try. After all, you’d sat through all of their choices, no matter how ridiculous they were. You turned toward Bucky and waited for his excuse.
“You can hit play anytime, (Y/N),” he said, tossing a handful of popcorn into his mouth.
“You mean you aren’t gonna make up a lame excuse to leave, Bucky?”
“Naah, I was just telling Stevie last week that I think I remember that my mother really enjoyed all those Jane Austen stories. I survived her dragging me to see Gone with the Wind in the theater, and I survived Hydra. I’m pretty sure I can survive this,” he grinned.
You really wanted to throw your arms around him and give him a hug for staying, but you knew better. Although he had been away from Hydra for a while before you joined the Avengers, he really didn’t seem like a touchy feely type of guy and you didn’t want to freak him out.
Of course, if you were being honest, there were many times that you wanted to throw your arms around him, but that was a completely different matter entirely. When Steve invited you to join, Bucky was one of the first people that you met, and you became fast friends. You were still adjusting to your sudden ability to move things with your mind, and he was still adjusting to this decade and not being controlled by Hydra. You loved spending time with him, but he’d never given you any reason to suspect that he was interested in you as anything more than a friend, so you contented yourself with that.
You started the movie, and right about the time that Darcy and Elizabeth met, and he declared her to be ‘Barely tolerable,’ the lights in the room suddenly dimmed to almost completely dark. Startled, you paused the movie and both of you looked around the room.
“I’m sorry, Ms. (Y/L/N), Mr. Barnes. Sir usually has the lights turned down when watching a movie. It is, after all, a more realistic movie experience.”
“That’s okay, J.A.R.V.I.S,” Bucky replied. “It’s better this way.” You settled back in and started the movie again.
The movie went on and to your amusement, Bucky was really getting into it. “Wow. This Darcy guy is a great big jerk, isn’t he? That’s not the way to treat a dame!”
“Well, he’s been raised under certain misguided principles and I think that Elizabeth is causing him to question all of them. That can be a pretty uncomfortable place to be, I’d imagine.”
“Yeah, but he’s still a jackass. Good for her throwing it back in his face when he asked her about the best way to encourage affection.”
“Yeah, but you know she’s still going to dance with him later.”
“Hey! Spoilers!”
“Sorry,” you shrugged sheepishly.
You continued to watch with Bucky making comments along the way. By the time Elizabeth made her way to Bingley’s house to visit her ailing sister, you noticed that the temperature had dropped quite a bit. Goosebumps popped up all over your arms and you couldn’t help the shiver that escaped you. “Is it me, or is it really cold in here all of the sudden?” You whispered, as the drawing room scene went on.
“Well, I have a pretty high tolerance for cold, but yeah, maybe there is something wrong with the air conditioner? Bingley isn’t the brightest guy, is he?”
You chuckled as you grabbed the blanket beside you and wrapped it around you, thankful that Sam had left it behind. “Well, I think he’s a product of the time. Idle men, and all. He means well. Do you want some of the blanket? It’s not very big, but we can manage.”
Bucky nodded and scooted closer to you, taking the end of the blanket to wrap around himself. You found yourself a bit distracted by how close he was sitting to you, but you didn’t mind at all because he was so warm, and you were freezing. He didn’t seem to be bothered by it either, which surprised you a little.
“Bingley’s sister is a piece of work, isn’t she? I think she just has the hots for Darcy,” he declared as Caroline Bingley rudely said goodbye to the Bennett women when they left Bingley’s estate.
“You are absolutely right about that. She also doesn’t think that Jane is good enough for her brother.”
“We had a name for women like that back in the 40’s, but I’ll be polite and not say it out loud.”
“Snob?”
“Yeah, sure. We’ll go with that.” You both reached into the popcorn bowl at the same time, and your hands collided. “Wow, (Y/N), your hands are freezing!” He grabbed both of your hands in his flesh hand, bringing them up to his lips and blowing on them. He seemed to realize instantly that it wasn’t a normal thing to do, but instead of letting your hands go he wrapped your hands up with his in the blanket. He glanced up at you quickly. “Is this okay? I mean, your hands are so cold.”
“Yeah,” you smiled at him. “I don’t mind at all.” Both of you focused back on the movie, even if you spent the rest of it keenly aware that Bucky was now technically holding your hand. Judging by the tense little glances you saw out of the corner of your eye, you weren’t the only one realizing it, either. He seemed to relax a bit after laughing at Mr. Collins and pointing out how much George Wickham looked like the guy who played Will Turner in Pirates of the Caribbean.
“They do look similar, but they aren’t the same actor,” you shrugged.
Soon, Darcy and Elizabeth finally admitted their true feelings and the credits began to roll. When Bucky continued to watch the screen, you giggled at him. “That’s all there is, Bucky. Not every movie has an after credit scene.”
“Huh, well they should!” He grabbed the remote with his metal hand and turned it off. “Thanks for letting me watch the movie with you. I actually really enjoyed it.”
“Well, thanks for being the only person brave enough to watch it with me. If you want, we can watch the longer version sometime. Colin Firth is the best Mr. Darcy, and it goes into more detail from the books.”
“I’d like that,” he replied.
You both sat together kind of awkwardly before he seemed to realize that he was still holding your hands. Letting go, he ran his hand through his hair, and you expected him to make an excuse to bolt out of the room. Instead, he stood up and held out his metal hand to you. “You still seem really cold and it is still early, would you want to maybe go for a walk outside with me? It has to be warmer out there than it is in here.”
“Sure. I’d really like that.” As you reached for his hand, he suddenly jerked it away and stuck his flesh hand out instead.
“Sorry, I sometimes forget that no one wants that hand.”
You purposely reached over and grabbed his metal hand. “I don’t mind it at all, Bucky. It’s a part of you. There’s nothing to be ashamed of.” You squeezed his hand, having no idea if he could even tell that you did it. You did notice the smile that spread across his face and you couldn’t help thinking that he was very handsome when he smiled.
He didn’t let go of your hand as you walked together outside. He was right. It was much warmer outside, and since it was a clear night, you could see stars all around you. You told him about other Jane Austen books and movies, and he shared a few memories that he had of his mother. You finally took a seat on a secluded bench, and he sat down beside you.
“So I guess you identify with Elizabeth? She was really pretty brave and stood up for herself. That reminds me a lot of you.”
“Actually, I think I identify more with Jane. I’m nowhere near as outgoing as Elizabeth, and Jane is more reserved.” You looked up at him and smiled. “Also, I guess the idea of really liking someone and not being sure if they feel the same is something that I understand.”
“Well, I think that I identify more with Wickham. I'm familiar with trying to date one sister and then picking the younger one instead.” You knew he was teasing you, and it made you laugh.
“Nice,” you giggled. You were grateful for the break from the strangeness of their conversation, but it didn’t last long.
“No seriously, I think that Darcy believed Elizabeth was way too good for him, and I think that scared him. Maybe she'd never feel for him the way he felt for her, ya know?”
“That’s not an analysis that I’ve ever heard of Darcy, but I’d buy it. When you really think about it, all of them could have saved a lot of time and misunderstanding if they just talked about it, instead of keeping their feelings to themselves.”
“True, but the fear of rejection can be pretty strong.” He used his flesh hand to brush an errant piece of your hair out of the way before bringing it to rest on your cheek. This time, your involuntary shiver had nothing to do with the cold.
“I agree,” you forced yourself to look into his very unsure brown eyes. “But maybe sometimes it's worth taking the risk. You can miss out on some pretty great things in life if you never step out of your comfort zone. For instance, me coming here to join the Avengers. That was not something I would ever have considered doing, but when Captain America comes to see you and gives you a speech about doing the right thing, you do it. If I hadn’t, I never would have met you.” You were very aware that you were babbling, but you didn’t seem to be able to stop yourself.
Bucky leaned in toward you, and your heart started beating faster. You couldn’t help wondering how one movie had led you to this situation, whatever it was. He gave you a wicked smile that very much reminded you of pictures that you’d seen of Bucky before the war, and you thought for a moment that he was going to kiss you. Instead, he cleared his throat dramatically and went down on his knees in front of you.
“My dear Miss. (Y/N). I daren’t stay long. I just had to see you. These past months have been a torment to me, and I can bare it no longer. Can I persuade you to accompany me to dinner tomorrow night?” He bowed toward you dramatically and you fell apart laughing, all the tension of the moment completely gone. “What? Was it a bad impression? I mean, I’ve only seen the movie once,” he grinned.
“It was actually pretty good,” you managed to say between giggles.
“So is that a yes for dinner?”
“It is absolutely a yes, as long as you promise not to talk like that while we are out”
“To be clear, you know that I am asking you out on a date, right?”
“Well, I hope so, because I’m planning to go out on a date with you tomorrow night, and it would be really awkward if you weren’t there. Now, we should probably go back inside.”
You made plans for your date while you walked back to the building hand in hand. “I’m really glad that you agreed to go out with me, (Y/N). Maybe a little surprised too.”
“Why surprised?”
“Well, Stevie’s been hinting that I should ask you, but I guess I just didn’t believe that you’d want anything to do with a guy like me.”
“I didn’t think you wanted to go out with someone like me,” you shrugged.
“Yet, here we are,” he grinned.
“Yep……and here I am.” You stopped outside of your room and turned toward him. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Bucky. Thanks for spending the evening with me.”
“I had a great time, (Y/N), and I’m really looking forward to tomorrow night.” He leaned down and pressed his lips against yours briefly. “Sleep well.” He waited until you were in your room and he heard the locks click before he turned and walked away.
(Meanwhile……Back in the Screening Room)
“Hold on, how can the Bennett sisters not see that Wickham is obviously up to no good? He looks like every smarmy little bastard that I grew up with,” Sam grumbled at the screen. “I thought they were supposed to be smart.” Sam, Steve, Tony, Clint and Pietro were all gathered around the TV, munching on candy and popcorn, and watching Pride and Prejudice.
“Naah, I think only Lizzy and Jane are supposed to be smart. The other three appear to range from weird to downright frivolous,” Clint replied, before shoving a Twizzler into his mouth. “That little one? Lydia? She’s trouble.”
“You’re right about that, Barton. Then there is the amusing Mr. Collins. That has to be the most clueless guy ever written,” Tony added.
“I hope that (Y/N) isn’t mad at us for bailing on her tonight,” Steve commented thoughtfully. “I mean, it was for a good cause, and we can tell her later that we did come back to watch the movie.”
“Oh please. That was the best orchestrated plan in history. A movie that would remind Bucky of his mom and make him stay, the dimmed lights to set the mood, turning the air conditioning up in the room and leaving the blanket beside them for when they got cold? It was genius. They are probably making out in a dark corner somewhere right now as we speak.”
“We still do not actually know that it worked,” Pietro pointed out. “We just know that they were not here when we arrived.”
“If Rogers would have let us monitor the room, we’d know.”
“Look, Tony. I was willing to try it, because they were both being as stubborn as Elizabeth and Darcy there, but that didn’t mean that I was going to let you all spy on them.”
Sam stomped his foot angrily, interrupting the entire conversation. “Are you kidding me? Someone needs to take that Wickham guy out. How in the world is Elizabeth falling for his bullshit? Not only that, now she’s got M from the James Bond movies trying to keep her and Darcy apart! They can’t get a break. Come on, can’t everyone see that Elizabeth and Darcy are in love?”