Chapter 4
It took some convincing, but the boys managed to come around.
Thor kept Steve company: sparring, talking and the like.
Bruce and Tony managed to escape the mission by holing up in the lab, protesting that, "Bucky could be a scientist!"
"You said stripper last time."
"Shut up Bruce."
Clint did...well Clint wasn't actually doing anything. Instead he created bets.
"40 bucks says he's hot shit."
"Alright then, I say he's an ugly duckling." Tony and he shook on it.
And whilst the rest of the Avengers did their part, Natasha ran surveillance.
"Huh, there's not that much on this "Bucky" guy", she acknowledged. "Father was in the Marines, died when he was 10. Mother passed when he was 14. Was a sniper, did his tours in Afghanistan and Iraq where he escaped from a Hydra facility. Discharged with both a distinguished service cross and the medal of Valor."
"Sounds pretty badass to me", Clint grinned.
Natasha's eyes narrowed. "Yeah a little too badass."
Tony cackled. "She sounds impressed", then his eyebrows raised. "wait, why does she sound impressed?"
"More like suspicious", she muttered. "Who's to say he isn't a spy or assassin??"
"Woah Nat", Bruce said between mouthfuls of skittles. "Let's not jump to conclusions."
Thor nodded and snatched the bag of coloured candy. "I concur", he popped a green one in his mouth, ignoring Bruce's squawks. "The Captain is more than capable of handling himself if ever in a dire situation."
Natasha grunted in response.
"Maybe."
***
Steve was going crazy.
He hadn't seen or heard anything from Bucky in 2 weeks; in a desperate attempt to find something, anything, he went to the café. It was painfully nostalgic, remembering the first time they met.
"Excuse me?" He walked towards a barista.
"Have you seen a guy around here? Um.. he's about 6ft tall, brown hair, gray eyes and hot as fucking hell?" He finished shamelessly; watched the amused smile on the barista's face.
"Uh, nope sorry pal."
With a small frown and sigh, he left the café. He quickly got home, throwing himself on the bed.
"Damn it."
Honestly, Steve did many things, but liking someone as soon as he met them was definitely not part of the list, and thinking about it now Steve had met many attractive people, attractive people that liked him. But, Bucky was different. In this modern world everyone was so polite and deferential, which was the exact opposite of what he needed. A man who was gorgeous and snarky? It was almost too good to be true.
Steve rarely acted on impulse either, so when he kissed Bucky, the fear of rejection came crawling in, and those awful thoughts came too:
"What am I doing?"
"I'm not good enough for him."
"You'll never find love Rogers, live with it."
Then he felt those plush lips kiss him back and, Steve was ecstatic; all his worries just disappeared. Life was difficult, 4 years ago he was out of the ice and everything...changed. Everyone he ever loved, his friends, the life he could've had, just poof, gone; it was devastating. Sometimes the pain was just to much to bare, he would wake up everyday feeling numb and hollow, as if his own heart was taken out of his chest. It took some getting used to. Realising he was in a new world, realising he wasn't with the commandoes... or Peggy.
That was always an awkward topic to discuss, she had passed away last year, and with her went Steve's only connection to his past life.They were never meant to be. He loved her, but only as you would a friend. Carter was a force to be reckoned with: brilliant, bright and beautiful. But she was a woman in a man's world. It was wonderful seeing her get the recognition she deserved, seeing females in power. In an odd way, it helped him cope with his new life.
Steve also knew he wasn't ugly, but he came with a lot of emotional baggage. It was why he rejected most of Natasha's set ups. He was hurt, carrying unimaginable agony that seemed to always reflect on his face. And on the dates he did agree to go to every once in a while, said dates would complain relentlessly about how he was, "too depressing". Or, "sad all the time." As if there was something to be happy about, to smile and laugh about.
Because of this Steve was always cautious, slow and steady.
But for Bucky he was willing to risk it all.
He sighed, running a rough hand across his face, warm feet shivered at the contact of the cold floor as he made his way down the hall and into the kitchen. Once he made his coffee (black, a pinch of sugar) he sat on the couch and thought.
And thought.
And thought some more.
Until he felt his eyes get heavy; a drowsiness that clouded his vision. He fell asleep peacefully, the last thing he saw being Bucky's dazzling grin, and he smiled.
***
"Ok. Well, Thor, what do you think?"
Among the bets, arguments and speculation became common in the tower. Stark was adamant on getting his views across, even if they were a little crazy.
"Tony", Rhodey's eyes twitched, like his brain short-circuited just hearing his friend talk. "I'm going to break it to you nice and slow: Bucky is not a pirate, or alien or fucking cyborg or anything. He is a human being, and I'm pretty sure Cap would have the common sense and intelligence to figure out if his crush was inhuman."
Tony pouted. "Well fine. But if you ask me that name is still pretty weird."
"Well I like it", Clint stated. "It's sexy and playful and makes you curious. I mean, that cant be his real name, right?"
"Oh enough about the name for god's sake", Bruce groaned out. "I for one think we need to stop with this whole "mission thing" and let Steve figure out what needs to be done, agreed?"
Thor and Clint raised their hands in tandem. Natasha shrugged, an in different expression written on her face.
"Alright, I'll stop with the stalking", then her eyes hardened. "But if he hurts Steve, what are we gonna do?"
The boys sighed in exasperation, but she continued to glare at them, awaiting her answer. They all replied in unison.
"Hunt that son of a bitch down."
Natasha grinned. Fuck all the dangers, being an Avenger was fun.
All she had to do was hope Steve wouldn't get his heart broken.