i hate you but

It had been a week since Bucky—or any of the other Avengers—last heard from y/n. The compound, without the e/c-eyed girl and Bucky’s never-ending arguments and shenanigans, the compound was quiet. Peter was in school, Wanda was working on her hand-on-hand combat with Rhodey, Sam was busy taking on the responsibilities that came with taking Steve’s place as the captain of the Avengers, and Clint was spending time with his wife.

Bucky didn’t realize how lonely the compound felt without y/n constantly telling him off. Perhaps that was why his features lit up when FRIDAY told him there was an incoming call from y/n.

“Pick up!” Bucky exclaimed a little too excitedly the moment FRIDAY made the announcement.

“Hiya, Barnes,” came y/n’s voice. Bucky was easily able to notice she sounded much less tired than she did the last time he’d seen her. He assumed it had something to do with the fact that the kids were most likely at school.

“Sounds like someone’s happy. Did you succeed at not burning down another kitchen this time?” Bucky quipped.

“I’ve never burned a kitchen down in my life, but I also need your van, again,” y/n requested with a nervous chuckle.

“Again? Don’t the Avengers pay you enough for you to afford van?” Bucky huffed.

“Yes, but I just bought a new apartment and I don’t think I’ll have enough left in my bank account if I buy a van. Look, the kids all fit in my car but—” y/n started, only to get cut off my Bucky.

“Then bring your damn car, y/n. What do you keep needing my van for?” Bucky questioned, never really understanding why y/n couldn’t just take her Aston Martin and go.

“Well, last time, I had to bring the kids’ shit to my place. Now, I’m taking their things to the new apartment before they get out of school,” y/n explained, making Bucky smile a little. y/n’s apartment was big…for someone who lived alone or had one roommate. It wasn’t exactly ideal for one Avenger and five kids, though.

“That’s…that’s actually pretty amazing, congratulations on the new place. I’ll bring the van over,” Bucky’s eyes went wide upon hearing the news. Though he and y/n didn’t see eye-to-eye, he knew how big of a step it was to buy a home for your family. After all, it was what Bucky dreamed of for life after the war.

He didn’t want to be an Avenger. He never wanted to be HYDRA’s asset. No, he wanted a simple life. He was willing to set aside his playboy ways in pursuit of true love. A few years after the war, maybe he and the love of his life would have been married had he not been captured by HYDRA. They would’ve bought a house together where they raised their family, eventually growing old together. That, that was the life Bucky dreamed he would have had after the war.

But life isn’t fair. At that point, he was sure life in Wakanda was the closest thing to domesticity he would ever have in life. Sure, y/n wasn’t settling down in the more ‘traditional’ way, but she had a home for her family.

“Thank you! You’re a fucking life saver!” y/n exclaimed excitedly before Bucky heard a loud thud from the other end of the line.

“Did you trip over something?” he raised a brow, recalling how clumsy of a person y/n is when she isn’t out on the field.

“yes,” y/n mumbled after a quick moment of silence. Bucky burst out in a fit of laughter; of course, she tripped over something!

“Are you sure you don’t need any help? The van isn’t even there yet and you’re already tripping over things,” Bucky chuckled.

“If this is you offering to help me carry boxes, why?” he could hear the confusion in y/n’s voice, “Wait, if this is about you proving you’re better than me, Allie probably doesn’t remember you anymore.”

“I can’t be that forgettable! She’ll remember me, I swear to god,” Bucky challenged her, pulling a chuckle from the other side of the line.

“Yeah sure whatever. Get your ass over here now, the kids get out of school in six hours,” y/n demanded, her voice holding a certain sense of urgency.

“Alright, calm down, I’m on my way,” Bucky chuckled before dropping the call. He headed into his bedroom to change into a sweatshirt and jeans before driving his van to y/n’s apartment building and heading up to her apartment unit.

He brought his fist up on the door, knocking it quietly against the wood. After a minute or two, y/n swung the door open, Allie in her arms. Bucky’s eyes lit up like a Christmas tree at the sight of his new favorite person.

“CKY!” Allie exclaimed excitedly, reaching for Bucky and trying to wiggle out of y/n’s grip. Bucky smirked victoriously at y/n who just rolled her eyes in response.

“I told you she’d remember me,” Bucky smiled, taking Allie from y/n’s grip.

“Little traitor,” y/n frowned, letting Bucky take the toddler from her before she turned to the pile of boxes in the living room.

“Don’t be better just because she likes me better. Isn’t that right, Allie? I told you I was the better Avenger,” Bucky chuckled, making faces with Allie.

“Okay, so you go do whatever the hell it is you do, but I’ve got to put all these boxes onto whatever this is,” y/n chuckled stacking a box onto the trolley that she may or may not have “borrowed” from the downstairs staff.

“You’re an Avenger, can’t you just borrow something from the tower that would make all this easier?” Bucky raised a brow, lounging on the couch with Allie tugging on his hair.

“Last time I borrowed something, it got me forever banned from borrowing things from the tower when I’m off duty, so no. Fury’s still kind of mad at the fact that I took the quinjet on a joyride to England to go see an Adele concert,” y/n cringed, remembering the hell Fury managed to reign on her life the moment she landed the jet.

“Is that when you were suspended without pay for two months and you weren’t allowed on any S.H.I.E.L.D bases and non-residential areas of the compound?” Bucky’s brows furrowed.

“Yes. Yes, it was,” y/n nodded before continuing the work Bucky was supposed to be helping her with. Of course, he’d gotten distracted and ended up playing with Allie.

“I told you I was the better Avenger. Unlike her, I can actually do my job right,” Bucky cooed, poking Allie’s nose.

“Better?” Allie’s brows furrowed, as though asking Bucky the meaning of the word itself.

“Better means Bucky,” Bucky insisted before chuckling.

“Stop, you’re teaching her the wrong things. Allie, baby, better means auntie y/n,” y/n smiled, patting Allie on the head before continuing with her task at hand.

“No! Better Ayee!” Allie frowned, making Bucky chuckle.

“I guess you’ll be a better Avenger if you decide you want to be a S.H.I.E.L.D agent. You’re going to be doing a much better job than your aunt. Just make sure you find a better trainer, okay? Hell, if you’re older and you decide you want to be an Avenger, come find me,” Bucky chuckled.

“Me be Avenger?” Allie questioned, looking up at Bucky, her e/c eyes shining under the living room lights.

“No, Allie. You aren’t going to be an Avenger,” y/n rolled her eyes, giving Bucky a warning look as he chuckled to himself.

“Why?” Allie questioned.

“Because you’re just a baby, you’re not supposed to fight,” y/n explained as Allie frowned in response. God, the idea of being an Avenger was just drilled into her tiny brain, wasn’t it?

“It’s fine, kiddo. I’ll just train you when your Aunt’s not looking,” Bucky whispered quietly, pulling a gummy smile from Allie.

“Yeye,” she nodded excitedly.

“Barnes, I swear to god, you need to stop trying to turn my niece into your little protégé, she’s too young,” y/n huffed, taking a seat on the trolley, “didn’t you offer to help me out with this?”

“Well, yeah. I am helping! I mean seriously, do you think you would get this much work done if I didn’t get my protégé—I mean, Allie, out of your hair?” Bucky raised a brow as he faced y/n, Allie’s expression mirroring his own.

“Allie, you are not going to turn into a mini Barnes, okay? Your mommy would kill me if you did,” y/n shook her head scooping Allie up from Bucky’s arms.

“What? Are you just going to pack the boxes up while holding onto Allie? That seems like an awful precaution just to stop me from teaching her the most important life lessons she’ll ever learn,” Bucky scoffed, a frown on his face.

“Nope. You’re going to put the boxes onto the trolley like you said you’d do. You can go play with Allie when you’ve actually helped out like you said you would,” y/n smirked proudly before plopping down onto the couch with Allie sitting on her stomach.

“You’re the only reason I’m doing this, so I hope you’re proud of yourself,” Bucky sent a fake glare over to Allie as he pointed at her. In response, that sassy toddler stuck out her tongue before she began playing with y/n’s hair. Maybe she should’ve pulled her hair back before picking up Allie.