Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

You unceremoniously fell atop of Bucky, laughing but above all trying to catch your breath. His chest below you rumbled as his arms came around you, the left holding you flush against him, while the right settled at the back of your head. You revelled in the feeling of him, surrounding you and touching you everywhere all at once. He gently pressed on the back of your head, guiding you toward him and in an instant, that somehow felt like a lifetime, your lips connected.

God, you’d never get enough of kissing him. Every time his lips touched yours felt just like the first; electric in every sense. You felt him relaxing into the kiss as it turned languid. Unhurried. After the heat of the passion that had enveloped you for the last however long the kiss felt like a respite. Like a cool drink on a hot day, a respite and a chance to recover. You smiled into the kiss and soon Bucky did too, the two of you eventually parting with wide grins taking over your faces.

You reached over him, picking up the remote control from the bedside table to turn the TV back on so that you could finish off your Netflix marathon from which Bucky had distracted – not that you were complaining. You snuggled up into his chest, sighing dreamily as Michael Fassbender's face came back on screen. You'd been watching Centurion when Bucky had come in, being needier than you'd ever seen him. He'd climbed into your bed and under your covers without invitation before attaching his mouth to skin on top of your collarbones and nibbling at it. Not even a minute had passed before you'd literally just turned off the TV, realising that trying to get him to wait until after you were done was futile. And really and truly, you weren't sure you could wait any longer with the way he was making you feel, either.

That had been a little over an hour ago and now all you really wanted to do was cuddle with your boyfriend and watch your other boyfriend's fantastic acting on screen. Bucky didn't seem particularly thrilled if his grumbling was anything to go by.

Ten minutes of enduring his muttered monologue passed before you sighed, yet again, and paused the movie. Again.

“Spit it out.” you finally instructed when Bucky didn't seem to be in any hurry to explain his sudden bad mood.

“I haven’t a clue what you’re talking about, doll.” he replied nonchalantly. His face looked the picture of innocence but you called bullshit. This was the second time in one evening that you'd paused your movie for him. You were going to get answers. One way or another.

“Bucky you big fucking baby tell me what the matter is? You've been moaning into my ear for the last quarter of an hour. I just wanna watch my movie in peace. Please.” you responded, your voice taking on a whiny tone. You were tired and starting to feel sore and all you really wanted was to relax but for some reason God hated you.

“Well, why don't you just marry your stupid movie then...” Bucky grumbled quietly, literally pouting. The beginnings of a humongous grin was starting to break out across your face when you realised what exactly was happening.

“James Buchanan Barnes, are you perhaps... by any chance.... just possibly.... a teeny tiny smidge jealous of a fictional character?” you teased in a sing-song voice, your index finger poking Bucky in the chest with every word.

“Not-fucking-likely, doll.” Bucky replied, though you could see a faint blush developing on the apples of his cheeks. Adorable. You saw his eyes shift around, as you watched for any changes in his expression. After all this time you'd picked up on a few things thanks to Nat and you could see that he was holding something back.

“Hmm Buckaroo, I'm struggling to believe you here. I mean, you come home and basically assault me on my only night off to have your wicked, wicked way with me. And now, instead of cuddling me like you're contractually obliged to you're here muttering in Russian or Romanian or whatever at my poor innocent TV...” you absently ranted, all the while scrutinising Bucky and his body language. You noticed that he'd been running the index finger of his flesh hand over the plates on his metal arm. A nervous habit. You were onto something. You decided to press for more.

“Maybe you're jealous of the way Fassbender looks so hot in that Roman uniform toga thing. I've always had a thing for men in skirts and dresses, you know?” you rambled on yet again, noticing how Bucky's finger stilled for just a fraction of a second when you'd mentioned how hot Fassbender looked. Bingo.

“God, the things I would do to that man...” you sighed dreamily, though on the inside you were doing the utmost to hold your laughter in. Teasing Bucky had always been fun, but teasing a jealous Bucky? You felt like you'd just unlocked a whole new level in your favourite video game.

Barely a second passed before Bucky tangled his flesh hand in the soft tendrils of hair at the back of your neck, using his hold on you to pull you down and meet your lips with his. It was a heated kiss, one filled with passion and barely concealed possessiveness. You kissed him back with the same fervour, the two of you momentarily a tangled mess of swollen lips and barely there pants. That was until you remember why he was kissing you like this and you pulled away to giggle. A lot.

Now it was Bucky's turn to sigh, as he gently rested his forehead against yours. His hand moved down from the nape of your neck and settled on the small of your back, pulling you flush against him. He had a small smile on his face, not really enjoying the reason for your laughter but loving the sound nonetheless. He waited for you to calm down, his face moving to the crook of your neck where he bit you warningly. You laughed a little louder before pulling back and kissing him chastely on the tip of his nose.

“Babe, there’s no reason for you to be jealous. I don't want anyone else but you, okay? I'm yours.” you told him softly, affection saturating your voice but you didn't even mind. Before you'd met Bucky this kind of open display of emotion would have made you squirm in embarrassment but you were far too happy to care. Bucky made you too happy to care. Even when he was being a jealous grouch who was interrupting your Netflix night.

“Good and don't you forget it.” he murmured, his lips brushing softly across yours with every word. You smiled at him, the possessiveness was still in his voice but there was also a tone of pride. He was proud that you were his. It made you tingle all over. You leaned forward, fully kissing him and attempting to deepen it but Bucky wasn't let you in so easy. You kept nibbling and licking at his lower lip, begging for entrance and just when you were at the end of your tether he let you in only to pull completely away from you.

“Y/N?” Bucky mumbled, his voice now an octave deeper, exposing that it wasn't just you who was so affected, even though he'd been the one to stop it.

“Yeah, Buck?” you answered back, leaning in closer to him to kiss a line up the side of his neck and up to his jaw. A strong hand was on your waist, holding you in place but also, somehow, seeming to urge you on. His other hand was holding onto your bare thigh, the contrast between your heated flesh and the cool metal being nothing shy of delicious.

“Do you... ever get jealous?” Bucky suddenly asked you. His question startled you and pulled you out of your lust-induced haze. The hand on your thigh tightened infinitesimally when you stopped placing wet open-mouthed kisses up the column of his throat.

“Nah, that’s not really my kind of thing.” you answer slowly, not really sure where this was going.

“What? Like, at all?” he questions. The disbelief is clear in his eyes and you found it amusing, to say the least.

“Yep.” you nod, popping the 'p'. You slightly tilt your head, looking at him inquisitively. You knew Bucky well enough to know that this definitely wasn't the end of your little discussion.

“So, what if I told you that I find that cute little singer real hot?” Bucky then challenged, a smirk quickly coming over his face. You could see that he was mostly joking, probably to test the waters, but you also knew by the look in his eyes that he was being somewhat genuine.

“Which one do you mean?” you inquire. You knew Bucky had been caught up on the major parts of pop culture that he'd missed out on but he was still finding it a bit tricky to get used to current music. Something about there being too much bass which made no sense to you. At all.

“You know the one that sings that song you like? The Work thing?” he explained.

“You mean Rihanna?” you confirmed.

“Yeah. Her. She's smoking.” Bucky nodded.

“I'd have to agree with you there.” you tell him simply.

“You-you what now?” Bucky spluttered, clearly caught off guard by your comment. You hadn't meant to pull that reaction from him, you were just being honest but damn if you weren't finding this even the slightest bit entertaining.

“I agree. She's hot.” you simply confirmed, keeping your face neutral and your voice steady as if you were discussing something as trivial as the weather.

“Huh.” he eloquently answered. You could see his mind was running a million miles a minute and decided to put him out of his misery with your secret weapon – teasing.

“I see how you're not jealous now....” you quip, your outstretched index finger going to the tip of his nose before bumping it lightly. The hand that had been resting on your thigh gently swatted at your finger, before catching your palm in his and pulling it up to his lips. He softly brushed his lips over your knuckles, intertwining your fingers and resting them in your laps the small space between your torsos.

“No. I am. Trust me. I'm just a little more confused than I am jealous... You really don't mind?” Bucky asked yet again, though this time there was just pure confusion in his face. It seemed like it was dawning on him that for once you weren't teasing.

“Buck, I already told you. I honest to God don’t get jealous. There’s no point.” you settled, a warm smile on your face.

“I know, doll. And I hear you. It’s just hard to believe, is all.” he acknowledged, though the confusion in his eyes was still very obvious.

“And why is that?” you replied, perplexed. You realised that you were perhaps different to what people thought the norm was but at the same time you didn't think that Bucky would have a reason for finding this so difficult to accept.

“I vividly remember being in trouble with several dames back in the day over something like this. I just can’t believe women have change that much in such a short time…” he recalled. His asking the same question ten different ways now made sense.

“Listen here you old fart—that’s not what I’m saying at all. I honestly haven’t dated enough women to have a valid opinion on that. I’m just saying that I’m not a particularly jealous person myself.” you retorted. You were smiling wickedly and Bucky couldn't help but feel the corners of his mouth pull up, too. He loved it when you smiled. That was until your words registered in his head, and his mouth mouth opened in bewilderment. He promptly shut it and gently shook his head. He swore you gave him whiplash with the things you so causally said. One thing at a time, right now, he decided.

“Okay. Alright. I’m choosing to table that discussion for another time. But anyway doll, I won’t believe 'til I see it.” he told you in a challenging tone. You were never one to back down.

“Okay old man. Try me.” you countered.

"Oh, I will.” he said, the challenge still in his voice.

“Now about dating girls. And the Rihanna thing. So how-” he started but you promptly shut him, your hand covering his mouth.

“Don’t even fucking go there, Barnes.“

Chapter Text

You'd almost forgotten about your little quasi-bet with Bucky until one fateful afternoon a few days later. You walked into the common room in the tower, dressed in sweats and a tank top, your hair in a messy style. You wanted to do nothing but relax and enjoy the little free time you had between missions, which is why you were dressed so comfortably and why you also had a huge plastic bag full of your favourite snacks on you. The plan for today was to eat until you couldn't anymore and to also peacefully, and without disruption, enjoy another Fassbender movie.

You plopped down on the couch, your legs folded under you, and reached behind to grab a blanket. When you were sufficiently burrito-ed in, and all of your snacks were positioned in a strategic circle around you, did you ask FRIDAY to put on your movie. Tonight you were watching the Steve Jobs movie and if you were completely honest with yourself you'd already seen it a few times but you couldn't get enough of it.

You got almost three quarters of an hour into the movie when your team mates (sans Wanda, Vision and Tony who were currently away on a mission) started piling into the common room. First was Bruce who smiled timidly at you while grabbing a bag of potato chips, joined your little movie session without asking any questions. Which you appreciated. Next was Clint, who smirked knowingly at you before parking himself on the couch adjacent to you and engrossing himself in his phone. Of which, yet again, you were appreciative. But also suspicious. Clint was well known for ruining movies by asking a hundred and one questions about the plot instead of just watching to find out. Also you swore you'd caught him looking at you and then furiously texting someone at least five times in the last twenty minutes. But you decided to let it go, knowing Clint whatever misfortune he was planning for you would make itself apparent eventually. There was no point in worrying and suffering twice.

Next in were Sam and Steve, who apparently had just got back from performing some type of physical activity on their day off, judging by the sweat running down their necks. Fools. They were standing by the fridge, throwing inquisitive looks in the direction of the TV until they realised the remote was lying on your lap. Fassbender. Steve softly shook his head, an amused smile on his face, while Sam openly chuckled at you. You threw a withering stare at him, causing him to throw his hands up in surrender, before the both of them sat down and joint your impromptu team movie night.

You were getting to your favourite part of the movie, Jobs was finally getting off his ass and making amends with his daughter, when Bucky and Nat decided to come in. You barely turned your head away from the screen, holding you hand up in their direction, signalling them to be quiet. You heard snickers from all around you but couldn't care enough to even focus on that. You felt your eyes starting to water and a smile form on your face. To a lot of people the success of the Macintosh seemed like the most important part of the film but for you it was always the growth in Jobs as a person that really pushed your buttons. You watched the rest of the movie, still interested but not too bothered if your team mates accidentally made a sound.

Before you knew it, the credits were rolling across the screen and there was an intense debate about who would get to choose the next showing. Steve currently had the remote in his hand, say something about showing respect to elders while he was holding Sam back from reaching across him and stealing the remote with barely any effort at all. Bruce was watching all of it bemused, sat a safe distance away, with his favourite potato chips in his lap. Clint was watching the whole thing like what you'd expect a puppy to look like watching a tennis game, his phone now stored safely in his pocket. He was really enjoying the whole back and forth and wasn't particularly interested in the outcome.

That's when you realised that Nat and Bucky were sat together on the little love seat couch that you and Bucky normally sat on. And Nat was also looking suspiciously put together for someone who was supposed to just be hanging around at home. She wore the tightest yoga pants you'd ever seen, with mash panelling in strategic places all around her legs, and a crop top that may well have just been a sports bra. It was too tiny for you to conclusively tell. Her hair was up on a messy ponytail that looked far too pretty to be an accident. It also looked like she was wearing mascara.

And then Bucky. He was sat close to her, which wasn't uncommon since the two of them had quite the history, but he was sat as close to her as he would be if he were with you. He never sat that close to other people. You titled your head in question as you assessed the situation before you.

Almost as if he could feel your stare Bucky turned around and locked eyes with you. He smirked, winked and then put his arm around the back of the love seat, over Nat's shoulders to pull her even closer into her. The look in his eyes was nothing but mischievous and that’s when you remembered the jealousy thing. Interesting. You smiled at the scene before you, which caused Bucky to look at you in confusion before mouthing 'what?' at you. You simply shook your head in response, too scared to open your mouth in fear of laughing out loud.

A giggle escaped you before you could stop yourself, which caused the escalating fight over the remote (that had been getting increasingly more physical) to stop. Everyone looked over at you, before following your gaze to see a confusing sight. Your boyfriend was essentially cuddling with another woman, your team mate and close friend at that, and you were laughing at the whole situation.

“Really? Nothing?” Bucky exasperatedly asked, breaking the slightly awkward silence that had overtaken the common room. You grinned, shaking your head at him, still trying to control the giggles.

“Doll, are you kidding me?” he practically yells, frustration showing in his voice. You noticed he'd gotten up and was on his way over to your seat. He was also running his flesh hand through his hair. You couldn't believe that somehow you were the one having the most fun as a result of his little challenge.

“Nope.” you answer, popping the 'p', barely concealed mirth in your voice. You were looking at Natasha, wondering if she'd willingly entered into this. Which is when you noticed her shoulders shaking in silent laughter.

“Wow...” he breathes. He's shaking his head in bewilderment, all your team mates looking at the two of you in absolute confusion. You'd noticed that Steve had even put down the remote that he'd been so valiantly fighting for down.

“I do have one question, though.” you countered. You really weren't too bothered by this whole thing but there was one thing that you simply had to know so that you could move on with your life.

“I knew it!” Bucky exclaimed, entirely too excited. He leaned forward, eager to hear what you had to say. Which made your next words all the more satisfying.

“Its not for you, old man.” you told him, dismissively waving your hand in his direction.

“Wh-what?” he stammered out. His brows were furrowed and he was looking at you with his nose scrunched up. If he hadn't been the person to instigate this whole situation you would have felt some sympathy for the guy and put him out of his misery. But as such that was not the case here, so you simply turned away from him and towards Natasha.

“Nat, I just gotta know how he got you to do this.” you basically demanded, as you leaned back in your seat. You expected that whatever got Natasha to part take in Bucky's shenanigans had to be a pretty cool story.

“Apparently, I owe him one for that time in Odessa where he didn't kill me. So nice of him, right?” Natasha explained. Bucky barely spared her a glance, looking straight at Steve, who was now giving him the Eyebrows Of Disappointment. Everyone else looked just as confused as you and since neither Bucky or Nat (or Steve) looked like they were in a hurry to explain you decided to try and just ask. Probing Natasha and getting her to talk was an impossible ask so you thought going straight out was the best option.

“Odessa?” you inquired, your eyebrow raised.

“Its a long story but honestly I just wanted to see your reaction.” Nat said, quickly deflecting. You noticed that she didn't seem unwilling to talk about it, since she was the one that had brought it up in specifics, but rather that she seemed like she didn't want to talk about it in such a public setting. It had been years since her experiences in the Red Room, and honestly she'd settled in almost seamlessly, but she still found it difficult to share things about her past. Which you understood.

“Fair enough.” you nodded, acquiescing her request to change the subject. You'd try and ask her about the whole Odessa thing another time. Maybe on the next girl's night when Wanda was back. You made to get up, having gotten enough out of Nat, when Bucky's hand on your wrist stopped you.

“Where are you going?” he asked, a hint of desperation in his voice.

“To my room. Duh.” you told him slowly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Which it was. You'd gotten your fill of Fassbender for one night, and quite frankly of social interaction, so you were going to retreat to your bed and scroll through Instagram until you fell asleep.

“Oh.” he answered eloquently.

“Wanna come with?” you asked, with the same tone that you'd ask a small child.

“Huh. So you're really not mad? I was convinced you were gonna make me sleep on the couch tonight, doll...” Bucky said, though it sounded like he mostly talking to himself.

“Nah, I told you. I'm cool.” you quipped, as you grinned at him.

“Riiiiiiight.” he said, a teasing tone finally in his voice. It seemed that, at least for the moment, that he'd given up on his ridiculous little game.

“Shut up and get up, Buck. I wanna go to bed and cuddle.” you ordered as you tugged with your arm that was still encased in his wrist. He promptly let go of you and heaved himself up.

“Yes, ma'am.” he bellowed, as he mock saluted. You fondly rolled your eyes at him as he wrapped his arm around your waist, the two of you retreating down the hallway to your room. The rest of your team mates, apart from Natasha and Clint, watching completely baffled.

“What the fuck was that?” Steve finally asked, minutes after you had exited. He was entirely confused. He had no idea what had just happened, nor what in general was going on.

“I don't know. I once saw Y/N's eBay history. They're into some real weird shit, those two.... Its probably best not to ask.” Sam whispered, a shudder wrecking his body. Steve visibly blanched and nodded, silently picking up the remote and passing it to Sam.

Chapter Text

Weeks passed without another incident, so much so that you’d honestly completely forgotten all about Bucky’s little challenge. The entire team was scattered about on the Quinjet, each tending to their injuries, with some even tending to the wounds of the hostages you’d just rescued.

This mission had been a little different to the things you usually dealt with. You had been trailing and apprehending a businessman who was also involved in illegal international arms dealing - and by ‘involved’ you meant that he was singlehandedly responsible for about 80% of all guns and weapons bought on the black market in the entire world. The mission would have normally been something you’d leave to the international community, perhaps the team would offer their assistance to NATO or whoever, and be done with it. But this mission had been particularly personal to Tony, understandably so, and as such the whole team had gotten involved. Even Thor was on standby in Asgard, ready to travel through the realms at a moment’s notice.
Thankfully everything had gone off without a hitch and you were all on your way back to the tower, to return to your relative normalcy. First, though, you had to drop of the hostages at the FBI headquarters. Unannounced. Which would probably cause a shit-tonne of paperwork. Which would probably shave at least two entire movies off the Fassbender marathon you’d been mentally preparing for the duration of the flight.

You were in the middle of making mental calculations, trying to figure out when it would be best to take your designated bathroom breaks when you locked eyes with Bucky across the Quinjet. He was sat with three of the seven hostages, and judging by his body language he was doing his best to ignore them. He was angled away from them, his head turned even more in the opposite direction even though that left him starting at the wall. His shoulders were tense and his hands were balled into fists. You also noticed that he was still wearing all of his weaponry, strung across his frame on strategically placed hooks. You couldn’t help but snort at that. Trust Bucky to be the one to run into open gunfire to rescue complete strangers but then leave an AK-47 strapped across his back so he didn’t have to speak to him.

He heard your snort and broke his scary façade for a second to wink at you, knowing you’d understand why he was doing his best to appear menacing to a few harmless civilians. Though you did belatedly realise that they were all women, which may have also been another factor in Bucky’s unease. Bucky was completely incorrigible, a flirty man who was not ashamed of his sexuality and very in tune with it. He loved to tease, make innuendos and he also had a wicked sense of humour. It did take a while to get to that level of comfort with him, though. You remembered when you first met him, how standoffish and distant he’d been and how that contrasted to the playful and charming man that emerged the longer you knew him.

Regardless, you grinned at him, silently basking in his discomfort. You knew that he wasn’t genuinely uncomfortable. He could hold a friendly, and professional, conversation with these women if he chose to. He could play the part of a hero but he also got incredibly flustered and somewhat frustrated when people he didn’t know would flirt with him. Which was bound to happen judging by the looks on the women’s faces. Not that you could blame them! Bucky was always handsome but there was just something entirely different about his aura when he was in his tactical gear. It was dark and sexy, a thrilling danger surrounding him.

Suddenly Bucky’s eyes lit up, and a cheeky smirk was prominent on his features. He rolled his shoulders back before he shuffled in his seat, turning his body towards the pretty woman to his left. He opened his legs, essentially manspreading on the small bench, and crowding the woman’s space with his very presence. Not that she was complaining. Her eyes lit up and she rearranged herself too, almost straddling the bench in a bid to minimise the remaining space between herself and Bucky.

He started talking, and judging by her reactions he was laying it on thick. She blushed and laughed and giggled. He brushed the hair out of her face and she gently rested her hand on his forearms. You watched with mild interest from your seat, nudging the almost asleep Sam next you. He startled awake, immediately looking for a threat in, still running on his adrenaline. You shook your head before pointedly looking forward until the sleepy Sam followed your gaze to Bucky and his new friend.

“That man does not know what he’s getting himself into, does he?” Sam asked, humour very apparent in his voice. You knew Sam’s relationship with Bucky and you also knew he would immensely enjoy this. Which was precisely the reason you’d decided to wake him up from his well-deserved nap.

“Nope.” You replied, popping the ‘p’.

“How bad do you think she’s going to be?” Sam wondered aloud, his lips quirking up slightly the longer he thought about it.

“She seems really nice but, honestly, I think he’d fucked.” You said in a matter-of-factly.

“And why are you enjoying this so much?” Sam asked you a moment later, seemingly only now realising that you were watching your boyfriend flirting with another woman with rapt attention.

“Because I am not pulling her off of him later on.” You answered as you turned towards him, mischief clear in your voice.

“See. I knew there was a reason you were my favourite for a reason.” Sam grinned at you, slinging his arm across your shoulder and pulling you into him.

“Thanks, birdman.” You laughed back at him, affectionately slapping him in the chest.

“Y/N. Sam.” Steve’s voice broke the silence you had found yourself in. Both you and Sam were just content watching Bucky dig his own grave until Steve showed up.

“Steve.” Sam nodded at him, not taking his eyes off the train wreck that was happening across the jet.

“Dorito.” You said in the same voice as Sam, though you couldn’t help but look at Steve. You loved his reaction whenever you called him that. His eyebrows would always rise in surprise and then his face would turn red. He still got flustered when people made comments about his physique, especially ones that were complimentary even if they were teasing, and you found it absolutely adorable.

“I thought you agreed to stop that?” Steve almost whined. So adorable.

“No.” you shook your head, a grin on your lips.

“Alright.” Steve simply shook his head at you, mocking disappointment though you could see the small smile gracing his lips.

“What bring you over here to the fun side of the jet, Stevie? Shouldn’t you be off somewhere on the phone explaining to the FBI why we’re flying into their facility unannounced?” You asked after a second, partly curious but also partly hoping to move this whole conversation along so that you could continue watching Bucky set himself up for trouble.

“Nah. I figured I’d call a few of them ‘son’ and then sort of wing it.” Steve said as he shrugged.

“He’s really good at that! You should’ve heard the speech he gave at SHIELD with the whole helicarrier thing. I still can’t believe he came up with that off the top of his head…” Sam exclaimed excitedly. He looked up at Steve with something akin to awe in his eyes, to which he replied with a tiny little smirk.

“Actually, I came over here to ask you what’s going on with Buck?” Steve explained though by the end it sounded more like a question.

“What do you mean?” you ask.

“He’s over there flirting up a storm with one of the hostages and you’re sat here with Sam…” Steve said slowly, vaguely waving his hand at you.

“Hey! That’s a perfectly logical choice! She’s finally had enough of you senior citizens and also if you go black you never go back. Isn’t that right, Y/N?” Sam said indignantly. He turned to you at the end, mouth cocked in a smirk and eyebrow raised in what he assumed was a suave expression. He just looked silly to be completely honest.

“Sam. Samuel. My friend. My colleague. My teammate. I’m asking you for the sake of humanity to never, ever, ever, say anything like that ever again. And I mean ever.” You said seriously, as you took one of his hands between yours in what was meant to be a comforting gesture but really only caused Steve to barely contain a chuckle at the scene before him.

“Damn… Ain’t you ever heard of letting a brother down gently?...” Sam grumbled as he walked away, probably to go find Natasha somewhere and annoy her for a change. You patted the empty seat and Steve lowered himself into it.

“Anyway, I’m not bothered. I know Bucky wouldn’t genuinely do anything like to me so it’s alright.” You told him simply. It was true. You never thought for a second that Bucky would ever cheat on you. And also he was smarter than that. If he were ever to do something like this he would definitely not be doing it in a crowded space with his friends, and especially not a few meters away from you.

“I realise that but she might not?” Steve questioned. It seemed he was still in ‘Captain America mode’ and was only thinking of the civilian’s well-being.

“I’m betting on it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Have you ever heard of Stockholm syndrome, Stevie?”

“No?”

“Right, well. It’s this thing where you fall in love, or what you think is love, with someone who’s kidnapped you. Which is beside the point here but what I mean is that she’s just come out of an emotionally stressful situation, and your best pal Buckaroo is offering her safety and affection.” You explain.

“So?” Steve questions you, apparently not following along.

“Stevie, she’s gonna latch onto him like a magnet.” You deadpan.

“Oh.” Steve replied articulately.

“Yeah. And I am 100% not dealing with that.” You carry on, vaguely gesturing in Bucky’s direction.

“I see.” Steve says, a wicked grin plastered on his face. He leans forward a little, finally as interested as you were in the situation that was unfolding in front of you. You settled into his side, resting your head on his shoulder, content to watch Bucky ruin the rest of his day.

Barely ten minutes passed and Tony was pulling the jet into descend. You still found it difficult to comprehend the speed of the Quinjet. Sometimes you really loved his obsession with technology. Honestly, after being part of the Avengers taking commercial airplanes would never be an option again.

The second the jet touched down and the emergency lights turned off everyone jumped into action. Steve got up and fetched his cowl and shield, Sam checked on Redwing as he strapped himself back in and everyone else made sure they had all their equipment firmly attached to their person. You were currently buckling your tactical suit back up, watching with amusement as Bucky tried to extract himself from the hold the girl had on his arm. He finally managed to shake her off, none too gently, and tried to walk away to safety. Which is when she very promptly burst into tears.

It wasn’t big, ugly crying. She didn’t scream or wail. A few tears streaked down her face, and honest to God you felt bad for her. You momentarily thought about going over there and comforting her yourself when you saw Bucky exhale heavily and close the little distance he had managed to create between himself and her. He gingerly placed his hand on her back, gently running it up and down; trying to console her but the look on his face almost killed you. You genuinely had to place a hand over your mouth to stop your pealing laughter from escaping.

Bucky’s face was scrounged up, expressing his discomfort. His body language screamed that he really didn’t know what to do; he stood a little further from her than was social convention and he held his left hand in mid-air, not really sure what to do with it. At this point Steve had made it back to your side, quickly finding the source of your delight and looking on with an amused smile.

Finally the door opened and the tarmac made itself visible. FBI agents stood by the jet, waiting for the team to descend. You turned to follow Steve out, but turned around at the last minute and walked over to Bucky, a spring in your step. He looked so confused, and just entirely overwhelmed that you almost felt sorry for him but then again he’d brought this on himself.

You took his still suspended metal hand in yours; shaking it firmly while looking him straight into the eyes before you muttered the words you’d been planning to say for the last 45 minutes.

“Congratulations, you played yourself.” You said with a pleasant smile on your face, Bucky looking confused at your words. You strutted off the jet to join Steve, intent on hearing his freestyle speech.

Somewhere in the distance you heard Sam cackle.