one.
“You cannot be serious, Steve?”
Bucky’s eyes glance from the six sittings sprawled on a couch and then, back to Steve, Steve just shrugged. “Listen. They've been fighting this just as long as we have, probably even longer. They need time and space to rest, just like all of us.”
“And they're helping rebuild the compound and get the world back in order,” Steve adds.
“God knows we need the help.” Bucky lets out a breath, looking at the still very disheveled courtyard. Courtesy of Thanos and his stupid ass army.
After the second snap by Bruce and the battle of New York. The guardians (along with the persuasion of Tony) decided to mellow down on earth for as long as they needed. Deciding that a little pause from saving the galaxy would do some good for them.
“Just be nice, buck.” Steve wore his infamous smile and gave bucky a pat on the back.
“Thanos's daughter and a tree are sitting in the living room.” bucky somewhat whisper-yelled. “And I'm convinced that little thing is trying to steal my arm.”
Steve rolled his eyes and simply walked away from the dumbfounded supersoldier. Bucky’s eyes glanced towards the group again, his eyes landed on you. With large bandages across your body from the battle, you were passed out and the raccoon lay sleeping on your stomach. Bucky makes a sort of confused-disgusted face at the sight, he shakes his head and decided not to question it then and there and just wandered off into the kitchen.
“The cyborgs staring at you,” Rocket spoke, his head lying back on the couch cushion.
You hummed, getting some shut-eye was hard in any world with a raccoon attached to your hip. “Leave him alone, Rocket. He's an earther and old, this stuff is very new to him.”
“That'd be a valid statement if it wasn't for that fact he was ogling at one of the only human-looking ones here.” Rocket spoke matter-of-factly.
You sat up, shoving the guardian off your stomach. “Get off of me, I'm getting food.”
Rocket fell to the side with an oomph and gave you a snarl. you just smiled and found your way to the kitchen. Your fingertips grazed upon the countertops as you walked around, your boots clicking quietly on the hard floor.
Openings a few cabinets and contains just to snoop, your eyes land on a plastic package labeled ‘Froot Roll-Ups.’ kleptomania wins again and you grab a few and stuff them into your coat pocket. Pulling yourself together, you open the fridge and pull out a container of leftovers.
“So, what's your shtick?” the bird avenger said from behind you, sitting next to the cyborg soldier. Bucky stared at you rather intensely.
“nice to meet you too. What if I don't have one?” you smiled at the two men.
Sam blows raspberries, “if you haven't noticed, everyone has one of those around here.”
You ignore the statement for a moment and throw the leftovers in the microwave, you gaze at Sam and bucky while leaning up against the counter. “And your shtick is flying? His is the arm or that serum?”
The two looked at each other and simple nod. You laugh quietly.
“Well I don't know, so I guess I’m just a normal being that can fight well.” you shrug.
The timer for the microwave beeped and you stuck a fork in the noodles and take a bite. Bucky snickered under his breath. “I watched you knock Thanos on his ass, I don't call that normal.”
“And you can somehow domestic a talking rodent.”
Your eyes shot to the supersoldier, raising your fork swiftly toward him, “Hey! Don't call rocket that. That is very rude.”
“Sorry.” he apologized quietly and raised his hands in defense.
“Anyways.” you roll your eyes. “How's the development going on the west wing?”
“Good, thanks to you guys.” Natasha practically strutted into the kitchen, wearing a warm smile. You nod in response. “Nebula and Mantis have been helping Tony with some stuff today.”
“Speaking of him, tony wants to throw a ‘small’ party tonight to celebrate and relax.” Natasha continued, throwing her hands up to make air quotes around the word small.
Sam scoffs, “I don't think any party tony has ever thrown had been small.”
“Or relaxing.” bucky grumbled.
“Sounds fun.” you shugged and waltz your way out of the kitchen. Mindlessly grabbing at some random pastries off the counter.
Bucky’s eyes followed you, looking you up and down. Noting the way your body swayed so calmly, despite the multiple wounds around your body.
You are quite beautiful– no way bucky could deny that, but he was almost convinced you had to be some godly being or alien race. You moved confidently and swiftly on that battlefield and even more, you had a good punch. And your best friend was a tree and a raccoon.
Sam nudged bucky’s side with an amused-curious look. Snapping him out of his gaze. “What's with the googly eyes at her?”
“What?” bucky practically winced back. “What are you talking about?”
Natasha and Sam both exchanged a knowing glance like they knew something bucky didn’t. A smirk rose to Natasha's face as she bowed her head to suppress a laugh. Bucky grew confused, and quite annoyed now.
“You've been watching her specifically since the guardians settled here,” Sam commented.
Another grumbled escaped bucky’s lips as he got up to leave the room as well, choosing to overlook the teasing comments from Natasha and Sam behind him. Bucky Barnes is due for a good nap.
Rocket spoke your name in a hushed tone, walking side by side with you, a teenage Groot stood close next to him. “What?”
“That soldier. The one with the long hair and beard.” Rocket's hands rose to his face to imitate a beard. Your eyebrows knot together.
“What about him?” you ask.
“He won't give me the arm, I need it.” Rocket whined and you swear you saw Groot roll his eyes. “Won't even let me near it!”
Rocket's multiple attempts to even just observe bucky’s cybernetic vibranium arm have been failures. Despite the bargaining, sneaking, and… attacking, the resistance from the avenger seemed to fuel Rocket's desire even more.
“What is your little infatuation with his arm?”
Rocket scoffs, and looks at you like you just said the most idiotic thing ever. A face you’re too familiar with from him. “Are you serious? It's so cool, I need it.”
“Listen to yourself rock, you are trying to take a human's arm away from him.” you stop walking to look down at him. He's too stubborn for his own good.
“He can get a new one!”
“You're horrible.” you huff and began to walk quickly through the compound's hallway. Rocket's protest began as he caught up to you, frantically grabbing at your arm.
“No, no, no, listen to me!” he shouts, “I have a plan!”
Rolling your eyes, you continue to walk. “Oh, amuse me.”
your word came out harsh, doused in a sarcastic tone. Rocket slid past you as you walked into the medical room to take your bandages off, considering they'd already healed. Groot followed close behind you and tapped away at his Nintendo Rocket stole from somewhere.
“So tonight you– hey! Are you even listening to me?” Rocket yelled as you more or less listen, busy unraveling the crusty white bandage around your shoulder. You hum in response.
Rocket hopped onto the table in front of you and grabbed you by your shoulder, ignoring the way you winced slightly at the way he grabbed you. asshole.
Rocket continued, eyes bored intensely into your very tired ones. “You are going to seduce that man and–”
“SEDUCE?” your eyes widen, “you want me to– what? I know you are crazy but have you lost your mind?”
“Yes, you are going to seduce him, get him vulnerable, maybe in bed, and then take his arm.” rocket finished and if it wasn't for the many years of friendship, you'd probably stab him for even thinking of using you for this. But stabbing has never really been off the table in the past.
“I am Groot.”
“Thank you!” you motion towards Groot. You shrug Rocket’s hands off you and stand up, “Groot’s right, I’m not sleeping with someone just to steal from them. That is one of my rules!”
“I didn’t say you had to sleep with him!” Rocket shouts
“I’m not doing it anyways!” you shout back
Rocket snarls, “you're a bad friend!”
“fine!”
The door swings open and the trio's head whips toward the entrance. Your face drops at the sight of a rather scared Bucky Barnes, standing there with a large gash in his flesh arm. His eyes scan the room and land on you. After noticing the blood drip down his arm, you're quick to grab some bandages and medicine. “Oh my god, are you okay?”
Bucky eyes Groot and Rocket nervously as he walks past them and closer to you, “uh… yeah, got myself on one of the scraps of metal while helping clean up.”
“Should heal quick but Sam made me come here.” bucky continued, looking between you and Rocket as you get some alcohol from the cabinets. “I can leave… if you're in the middle of something.”
“No! Im just taking my bandages off,” you replied rather quickly, you can hear the two guardians snickering to themself. You rolled your eyes and focused back on bucky, “here, let me help.”
Bucky wanted to protest, but the words got caught in his throat and your hands are already on him. Your fingers grasp around his wrist and you gently tug at him to the sink, “im gonna pour this over the cut, okay?”
You're eyeing down bucky and suddenly he's hyper-aware of your touch, feeling hot. Bucky just nods with a straight face and you continue to clean the wound. Thankfully to the serum, stuff like this didn’t hurt, but you were still so gentle. Holding bucky as if he may break under your touch, a weird feeling shot through his body at that realization.
You hum as you start to wrap the bandage around his arm, you two now incredibly close. “You going to that party tonight?”
“Tonys? Im pretty sure I have to, or Steve will carry me there on his back.” bucky says dead serious but you still smile and giggle quietly. “you?”
Bucky just gawks as you smile, noticing the way your smile lines were more prominent now. “Yeah, all of the guardians are going, which– warning, will be very eventful. Wanda promised me a cool dress.”
You place the tape to secure the bandages and smooth it down, your touch lingering slightly on his arm. Bucky takes a sharp intake when you look back up at him, the lack of distance made his ears red.
You would hear Rocket laugh in the background, “I am Groot.”
“Am not!” you shouted and quickly removed your fingers from bucky’s skin, leaving him feeling awkward and cold now. He hated feeling cold. Bucky caught his breath, not realizing he was holding it.
“Groots right and you know it!” the two continued snickered to themselves, Rocket dodging a hit to the head by you as they walked out of the medbay. The door banged as it shut, making bucky flinch slightly.
Confusion littered the soldier's face, “what did he say?”
“Oh- uhh, nothing, nothing to be worried about.” you quickly responded, struggling over your words and hands waving frantically in front of you.
“You sure?” bucky asked, his eyebrow quirked up slightly which made him look hotter than you’d rather admit to yourself.
“Mmhmm.” you looked down, “I have to go get ready for later, be careful with that.” you motioned towards his arm.
Bucky smiles slightly, motioning toward your shoulder. “You too.”
“See you tonight then?” you smile back at him.
“See you tonight.”
You thought over that last exchange with bucky, you could practically feel his skin under yours lingering. You hadn't expected to be so close to him like that, remembering the way your breath caught in your throat when made eye contact with him. Maybe you wanted to try that out again tonight, and it's not because of Rocket, no matter how much he may be convinced you were.
“Hey! What about this one?” Gamora handed you a silk green dress. “I don't think green on green looks so good on me.”
You both laugh and you walked into the bathroom to change, Gamora spoke up again. “So what's going on with you and that supersoldier?”
“What?” you shouted from the bathroom, pulling the dress down and looking at yourself in the mirror. You looked quite good, running your hand down your hips.
You could hear Gamora scoff, “he's been staring at you like your a chunk of meat, and Groot told me you had a quote-unquote intimate moment with him earlier today.”
“Oh my god, I was just bandaging his arm.” you groan. Walking out of the bathroom to reveal yourself. “Anyways, do I look good?”
A loud gasp comes from Mantis from the doorway, she shouts your name making both of you flinch from her surprise visit. “You look so good!” she shouts before running towards you, getting a closer look at your dress.
“Let's go, let's go. Party isn't waiting on anyone!” Mantis ushered you and Gamora out of the bedroom.
Gamora shoots you a look that says ‘we’ll talk about this later’ and the three of you are off to a party.
you were instantly met with Thor, taking you in a huge bear hug. you’re still surprised at just the sight of him now. seeing him on the battlefield was another thing as well.
“tiny god! you look quite beautiful tonight!” Thor spoke as he half-crushed your body against his chest.
muffled by the crushing hug, “how many times to have to tell you, I’m not a god.”
he pulls back and dusts off your shoulders politely. a huge enthusiastic smile on his face, Thor seemed chipper than usual after his redemption in battle. and getting his brother back.
“yes, but you do fight like one,” Thor adds. you can only shake him off and go to find your group of friends.
And Natasha was right when she said no Tony Stark party could ever be small, with many unfamiliar faces in flashy dresses, holding glasses of liquor with happy smiles. You spot most of the guardians huddled around each other, with the addition of some avengers and new faces. You hear Drax call your name, barely audible through his obnoxious laughter. the smiling faces look good on everyone after this stupid war.
“Get your ass over here,” Drax yells. You sit next to Peter and Gamora. It seems the guardians have warmed up well with the other, Mantis had already started to begin with the party tricks. Many people around the room seemed surprised as her antennas lit up and she bends and reads other emotions at will, some more comfortable with it than others.
“I think we may need to borrow you when Tony doesn't leave his workshop.” pepper comments, her face tinted red from the alcohol and warm lights around the room.
“Aw, I don't think so.” Tony laughs before noticing that you had joined the party. His eye light up in your direction. “What party trick do you got over here? I didnt get the chance to see you fight.”
A sheepish smile grows on your face as you notice everyone's eye falls on you, even bucky as he hid himself behind Steve and Sam on the couch. He looked more or less bored to be here, maybe even a little uncomfortable. Yet his eyes stay on you, anticipating your next words.
You attempt to shake the stares off, “oh no, I don't have any tricks. Sorry to disappoint.”
“Oh, I call bullshit,” Steve speaks up.
An exaggerated gasp comes from Sam, “you kiss your mother with that mouth, Roger?”
The avengers begin and finish up their teasing toward Steve. Midst the chaos you still notice bucky seemingly closing in on himself, making himself smaller behind his two friends.
“Anyways. You gotta show us.” Steve continued, turning his and everyone else attention back to you. “I saw you fighting and moving around like you weighed nothing, or the way could both take and hit a punch was just… nothing I've ever seen before.”
While Steve spoke you couldn't help but watch bucky getting up and leaving with a sour look on his face, you can't find yourself answering the captain's question. You just shrug with a shy smile, Gamora speaks up for you.
“Oh, she's shy about her abilities.” Gamora speaks, waving off the curious avengers. “let her be.”
You smile at her and excuse yourself from the group, you stand up and look around the room for bucky. You hoped he hadn't already left the party, maybe your hopes were too high that you'd be able to speak with bucky, possibly even share a drink or two.
In the middle of a group of people, you see the super soldier attempt to nudge his way through. Being stopped by random men in suits asking invasive questions and women trying to get much further than just a small conversation. You can see him roll his eyes so hard they practically reach the back of his head.
Bucky goes to turn around to rid of the crowd, but he begins to collide with one of the workers with a large tray of drinks in their hands. Bucky, along with the drinks and the worker starts to fall, but your senses are quicker. Your hand rises towards them and the gravity shifts around bucky and the worker, making them lighter and stalling their fall. The drinks practically stop where they fell and the liquid floats through the air as if time has paused.
You walk towards the group and grab the drinks and plate before they fall and fix the gravitational shift. Bucky caught himself before he falls and his face is flushed with confusion as he attempts to grasp whatever you just did to him. He looks down at his hands and body before you, eyebrows knotted together. “What did you just do to me?”
“Nothing.” you smile innocently, handing one of the two drinks to bucky. “Cocktail?”
Bucky blinks, once, twice. Before hesitantly grabbing the drink in your hand and nodding. “Uh, sure.”
“Join me?” you ask, motioning towards the two empty seats at the bar. Bucky just nodded again and starts to follow you.
Sitting next to bucky, a comfortable silence fell upon the two of you, the sound of people chatting and laughing filtered out in the background. You ask for another drink and order bucky some Asgardian liquor, knowing of the serum's side effects. Handing it to him with soft eyes, yet he still seems to be pulling away from you.
“Do you have a problem with me, Barnes?” you ask rather abruptly, avoiding his eyes. A part of you didnt want to hear his response, in fear his response might be bad.
You can hear the nervousness in his voice when he stumbled over his response. “What? I mean no. no, of course not.”
Bucky lets out a rather shaky breath, you don't say anything and simply hum in response. Attempting to not push any further.
You noticed the way bucky swirled his drink around, he gulped before speaking up. “Honestly, you kinda scare me,” he confessed with a slightly nervous tone.
“Oh?” you had to push down a laugh. You decided to joke around, hoping to calm any anxieties the man next to you may have, “is it because im just so strong and so powerful?”
Bucky's lip quirks up slightly, “that, and…” he trails off and your smile drops slightly, zeroing in on him,
“And?”
He doesn't respond, “come on now, don't leave me hanging, sarge.”
The nickname knocked him back a little, coming from you at least. He contemplates his choices before speaking, continuing to swirl the Asgardian liquor around in his glass. Bucky's head rises and turns to you slowly, looking at you close in your eyes and deciding to take the leap.
“I’m attracted to you, and I don't know why.” the nerves catch up to him and he avoids your gaze, “and that scares me.”
You weren't going to flat-out lie and say those words didn’t arise something in you, making your face hot and ears red. Confidence oozed through you suddenly and you went to graze your hands across his jaw. “Do you really need a reason to be attracted to someone? It's just your body telling you what you want.”
“Is this you flirting with me?” Bucky's eyes narrow at yours playfully, and a small grin fell on his lips.
You smile, “do you want it to be?”
Bucky’s eyes might have flashed towards your lips for a faltering moment. You noticed. Bucky blames it on the alcohol, for now, blames it on anything he can, but he needs more. So bucky leans over and looks at you sweetly, smiling. Your foot may have risen towards his calve. Bucky definitely noticed, looking you up and down. “What are you doing to me, doll?”
You simply smile and shrug. “I don't know, what am I doing to you?”
As bucky responded, you tried to focus on the words coming from his mouth, you really did. But certain someone caught your attention from behind bucky’s head, your face dropped slowly. Rocket stood with the largest grin on his face, his thumbs up and pointing excitedly to his left arm. God, if you could kill him right now, you would.
Bucky noticed the way your eye linger behind him and how your smile dropped, “what’s wrong?” he began to turn his head around but you were quicker, grabbing at his jaw and turning him back around.
“Nothing, I’m sorry, I just got distracted.” you looked into his eyes, your faces were much closer now and the tension between you two got thicker. All bucky wanted to do was tear straight through it, but he held himself back for now.
Bucky's eyes scan you up and down, his face falls and he pulls back. A disappointed sigh leaves his mouth. “I’m sorry, I should get back soon.”
the moment ends way too quickly, and bucky gets up from the barstool beside you. Any protest for him to stay fall short and his eyes linger on you as he leaves.
Your head falls flat on the bar and a loud groan escapes your lips, you cannot believe you embarrassed yourself like that, you'd probably already scared him off now. A squeak from the chair next to you and you're too bothered by your own self-pity to raise your head and look.
That is until you hear who speaks, “what's happened? You so had him on the ropes!” rockets annoying voice ring in your ears.
“You need to stop.” your state, your head raises so fast you are dizzy.
“What?” rocket argues back, “what the hell did I do?”
You stared back at him in disbelief and annoyance. “You distracted me! And now he thinks im weird. So leave me alone and stop cock blocking me, dude!”
Rocket doesn't respond and you don't give him the time to. You're up on your feet and walking quickly out of the room. A huff escapes your lips as you dodge the many people throughout the compound, trying to find your temporary room.
You push past the door, still slightly angered, and take no time in throwing yourself on the bed.
Hoping– praying the day tomorrow will be better and come with better chances with the super soldier. He clouded your mind as you attempted to sleep, even in your dreams.