Chapter Text
"And though she will mess up your life
You'll want her just the same
And now I know
She has a built in ability
To take everything she sees
And now it seems I've fallen, fallen for her..."
“Good morning, family! I have announcement!”
Bucky bit back the urge to flinch. Not at the “family” comment–that was sort of endearing, actually, although he’d never admit it. Especially not in front of Yelena, who was currently groaning and looking like she was about to faceplant into her cereal. No, it was more about the volume. Alexei, however well-intentioned, was nothing if not loud, and this wasn't the first time Bucky had contemplated investing in a pair of earplugs to muffle the sound of his voice.
Yelena scowled up at her father, who was now towering over her with a triumphant grin plastered across his face. “Dad, it’s nine o’clock on Saturday. What could you possibly have to announce?”
“Why can I not make announcement on Saturday? Is day like any other day–”
“We don’t have anything scheduled today.”
“This has nothing to do with De Fondue’s stupid schedule–”
Bucky snickered at the jab, meeting Walker’s eyes from across the kitchen table. He was snickering too, as was Bob, who was clearing his throat in an obvious attempt not to laugh. Alexei never referred to Val by her name anymore, preferring instead to assign her an ever-expanding list of nicknames, half of which were just Russian swear words. “De Fondue” sat on the tamer end of the spectrum, but given the team’s collective disdain for the woman, it was satisfying to hear nonetheless.
Yelena and Alexei continued their bickering, their voices blending into the background like a familiar hum of white noise. Bucky tuned them out, his gaze inadvertently flicking towards Ava. Her lips curved into the ghost of a smirk before she took a long sip of tea from her mug. Bucky’s heart skipped a beat. He knew there was nothing to that smirk–nothing, at least, more than shared amusement at Alexei’s antics. But to his dismay, it threw him off-kilter anyway.
It’d been doing that a lot lately.
She’d been doing that a lot lately.
He buried his face in his own mug, wincing as the coffee scorched his throat on the way down. Well, at least it was distracting him from the very different kind of heat now incinerating him from the inside out. Get your shit together, Barnes. It wasn’t that kind of a smirk.
His thoughts were, this time blessedly, interrupted by Alexei’s voice yet again ricocheting off the walls. “Now that my beautiful, talented, and very outspoken daughter is done yelling at me, are we all paying attention?”
“I wasn’t yelling, you were yelling–”
“I HAVE BOOKED VACATION!”
Bucky choked on his coffee. “Vacation?”
“Yes, Mr. Winter Soldier, that is what I said.”
Walker squinted. “Alexei, what the hell do you mean you booked a vacation?”
Alexei threw his arms into the air, nearly whacking Bob in the head. Bob, thankfully, managed to duck at the last second. “Is everyone gone deaf? I said I booked vacation!”
“Yeah, we heard you the first time,” Ava said. “I think what we want to know is why?”
“Why?” Alexei looked incredulous. “Is not obvious? Team bonding!”
Yelena groaned again.
“That sounds nice,” Bob chimed in.
“Oh my god, don’t encourage him!”
“Lena,” Alexei chided, placing his hands on his hips. “You have been working hard. We all” –he swept an arm over the table, narrowly missing Bob’s head again– “have been working hard. Even you Bob. With the cooking and the cleaning and the therapy–”
“Why are you making him sound like postmodern Cinderella?”
“Do not interrupt me, Walker, I am in middle of speech–”
“Okay, we’ve been working hard and we need a break,” Ava cut in. She caught Bucky's eyes for a fraction of a second, that smirk once again dancing at the corner of her mouth. “Where are we going, exactly?”
Bucky set his mug down, deciding not to risk another choking incident. Ava’s smirk, much to his chagrin, was now branded into the back of his brain. Alexei, oblivious, barrelled on.
“We are going camping!” he exclaimed, whipping a glossy brochure out of his back pocket and slamming it onto the table.
Bob jumped at the noise, but leaned closer as soon as he’d regained his composure. “That looks neat. Are we renting a cabin?”
“Lemme see that!”
Walker’s hand shot out at the same time as Bucky’s and Ava’s. Ava’s got there first. Her fingers brushed against Bucky’s, sending an electric jolt shooting up his real arm. He jerked back as if burned, earning a curious glance from Yelena, who was no longer grimacing at her cereal but watching him with rapt attention like some kind of bush predator.
To his relief, Ava didn’t notice that anything was amiss. Ignoring Walker’s whines of protest, she slid the brochure towards her and flipped it open. “Emerald Pines Luxury Cabins,” she read aloud. “This sounds more like glamping than actual camping.”
“Glamping, camping, whatever,” Alexei replied. “Is opportunity to get out of city and relax. Have fun. Get away from the superhero-ing and the mission reports and De Fondue always shoving us in front of the cameras–”
“Dad, you like being shoved in front of the cameras.”
“Even the great Red Guardian needs some down time, Lena! This will be good for us. For team!”
The table fell quiet. One by one, they all exchanged looks, Bucky’s lingering a moment too long on Ava’s eyes. They were the most gorgeous shade of green, he realized. He’d been so busy helping Yelena run the team that he’d never really taken the time to notice–
“Okay, fine,” Yelena muttered, shattering the silence. “We’re going camping. When do we leave?”
“Monday!” Alexei boomed. “Bright and early, seven AM sharp!”
“So, what did Val say?”
“What do you think? She’s furious.”
Yelena slumped back against the living room couch, letting her phone flop onto the cushions. “You know how much she hates it when we go ‘off-script.’”
Bucky snorted and sat down beside his friend. Well, more like his little sister now. Not that they’d declared anything of the sort out loud, but he’d had enough experience with Rebecca to understand the distinct way in which Yelena looked up to him. Natasha’s death had punched a hole in her life that he, Ava, and even Walker had almost instinctively stepped in to fill. The three of them would never be a perfect match for what she’d lost, but it was still something. And he knew that for all her snark, Yelena did appreciate it. Even if she never said so.
“It’s not that I don’t want a vacation,” she sighed. “God knows we need a break. But I hate negotiating with that woman. I swear, it knocks ten years off my lifespan.”
Bucky chuckled. “Well, if you live as long as me, subtracting ten years won’t mean much in the long run.”
“Oh, right, go ahead and flaunt your eternal youth in front of the poor, useless mortal with chronic back pain.”
“You don’t have chronic back pain.”
“Do too. It hurts right now and I haven’t done anything except sit down.”
Bucky bit his lip, suppressing a laugh. “Look, I’ll talk to her next time, okay? We can take turns, you know.”
Yelena let out a huff. “Fine, but she’ll find a way to bother me anyway.”
Bucky’s face fell. “She still badgering you about the Sentry thing?”
Yelena rolled her eyes. “When is she not? She thinks just because Bob and I are close that I can somehow flip a switch to activate him or some shit.” She heaved another sigh. “Anyway, like I'd be able to even if I wanted to. Which I don’t. That’s his choice. He’s happy being a homebody and I’m not about to take that away from him, even if he does learn to control his freaky shadow powers.”
Bucky nodded, taking in Yelena’s clenched fists and the thread of tension knotting in her jaw. She always got like this whenever Val pressed her about Bob. Well, when anything posed a threat to Bob, Val’s intrusion included. Ava had her theories about their teammate’s protective streak, but Bucky didn’t think it appropriate to pry. Whatever Yelena and Bob were to each other, that was for them to figure out on their own terms. Although he had to admit they’d make a cute couple. Better than Yelena hooking up with some random person they didn’t know. There were far too many scum-of-the-earth types out there, and he didn’t want to witness a repeat of Rebecca’s first serious boyfriend. God, that guy had been an asshole–
“So anyway,” Yelena continued, interrupting his train of thought. “What was going on with you at breakfast?”
Bucky choked on air. “W-what?”
Yelena sat up, her eyes glinting with a sudden spark of energy. “Breakfast. You. Ava.”
A spike of adrenaline shot through Bucky’s chest. “What about me and Ava?”
To his surprise, Yelena burst out laughing. “Oh my god, your voice just went up two octaves!”
“It did not!” he squeaked.
“You kept staring at her and then got all weird when she touched your hand.”
Bucky’s lip curled. “I was not staring–”
“Yes, you were. You’re always staring at her.”
“Always? Have you been spying on me?”
“Aha!” Yelena cried, pulling her feet up underneath her in a little hop. “So you admit it!”
Bucky’s insides were roiling now, tossed about in a maelstrom of both terror and denial. Not that there was anything for him to deny. “I haven’t admitted anything,” he retorted. “Why are you invading my privacy?”
“I’m not invading anything,” Yelena shot back. “You’re so obvious. And you’re deflecting, by the way.”
“I am not–”
“Are too–”
“Am not–”
“You liiiiike her!”
“I do not!”
“You do not what?”
Bucky’s veins turned to ice.
“Oh, hiiiiii, Ava,” Yelena drawled, her grin stretching so wide it looked like it was about to split her face in two. Ava had materialized out of nowhere, wearing a wine-red off-the-shoulder top that was drawing far too much of Bucky’s attention to her collarbone.
“What are you two talking about?”
Yelena’s eyes twinkled. “Wellll, Bucky here–”
“Was just leaving,” he interrupted, jumping up from the couch. His voice really was two octaves higher. Damn it. “I, uh, have some…paperwork to finish before we leave.”
Ava tilted her head at him, the sparkle in her (don’t think beautiful, don’t think beautiful) green eyes indicating that she didn’t believe him. “Paperwork,” she echoed, her smooth voice unraveling the word in a way that definitely should not have been sending shivers down his spine. “You hate paperwork, Barnes.”
Hell, why did she have to say his name like that? “Well, I don’t do it because I like it,” he spluttered. “But, uh, Val will have my head if I don’t.”
“Right,” Ava said, that infuriatingly enticing smirk reappearing at the edge of her lips. Bucky gritted his teeth and tore his gaze away, but then he was met with the sight of Yelena making faces at him. He could feel himself shrinking under the girls’ scrutiny, a helpless animal caught in a trap.
Well, no. Not quite caught. Not today. He fled for the hallway, wriggling out of the trap and away from their unrelenting stares.
“Paperwork!” he yelled over his shoulder, retreating until the faint sound of giggling faded into the distance.