What kind of trickery is this?
You had just come back from an intense workout with Natasha. As you were opening the fridge door to get a refreshing drink of water, Bucky snuck up on you and wrapped his arms around your waist.
“Dammit Bucky! You made me spill!” you started dabbing your shirt with a nearby towel to dry yourself off.
“What’s the matter darlin’?” he began to place small kisses on the back of your neck. “Can’t I greet my best girl? After all, I haven’t seen her in forever.”
“It’s been three hours, James.” you deadpanned.
“Ooh, you used my real name.” he gasped, “Better get out of here!”
As he scurried out of the kitchen, you sighed happily to yourself.
That’s my boyfriend.
______________________________
Fast forward to five hours later: 1pm.
All of the Avengers were lounging around the tower; well, sans Wanda, Vision, and Peter. Peter had to study for his finals, and God only knows where Wanda and vision were. There was no need to save the world from anything, and they also needed the well-earned break from stress.
Tony, the man who you’re pretty sure is incapable or resting, was toying with a few of the many ideas he had to get the team up and running. Rhodey was by his side drinking coffee, just in case he decided to do something crass and or irrational.
“All right losers, get in the car. We’re gonna paintball!” He clapped his hands together and stood up.
“Tony, just let us rest. It’s been a long, hard week.” Bruce groaned.
Tony ignored his pleading. “Sorry science bro, let’s do something fun!”
Nat, on the other hand, seemed to agree with Bruce. “Unlike you, some of us got up at the ass-crack of dawn and had stuff to do.”
“Hey! I only woke up late because I stayed up until the ‘ass-crack of dawn’.” Tony retorted. “And watch that language. Grandpa Steve over here doesn’t like it.”
That earned a stifled chuckle from Bucky and Sam; which earned then a smack on the back of their heads by you and Nat. Then you secretly high-fived each other when you saw both of them grimace.
Steve could only roll his eyes and throw his head back on the couch. He sighed. He’s been over this so many times in the past he no longer cared for it.
Finally, you spoke up. “Actually, I think Tony’s idea is good. It could serve as tactical training, anyways.”
“Thank you, Y/N! At least someone here gets it!”
“Don’t flatter yourself Stark. I said it was good, never said it was a golden ticket.”
That gave you an “ooOOOH BURN!” from the team.
After everyone had their turn of making fun of Tony, they agreed to go have a few rounds of paintball, you turned to Bucky. Leaning in for a kiss, you whispered in his ear.
“Prepare to have your ass whooped by your girlfriend.”
______________________________
When you arrived at the -quote unquote- battlefield, you were all given the essentials: A gun, ammo, and a bulletproof vest. Of course, since it was the Avengers playing, the game was stepped-up.
The rules were the thing that really amped it all up. There were two Captains: Tony and Steve. They were to pick who was to be in their team, sort of like when kids choose players for kickball. And a commander-of-sorts, just in case the leader gets shot down: Bucky for Steve, Rhodes for Tony.
There are three rounds of paintball, whoever loses has to be in the mercy of the winning team. No mercy is ever shown in one of these bets. Ever.
_______________________________
The groups were separated apart like so:
Steve had Bucky, Natasha, and Sam.
Tony had Rhodey, you, and Bruce.
You all thought it was best to spread out the group and see who could take out who. As you parted ways, you noticed that the other team was doing the same thing. Weird how all of you had the same idea, right? It seems you were spending too much time with each other.
You shook your head out of your thoughts and wandered off into the field.
______________________________
Bucky just finished taking intel of the perimeter. There were many obstacles that acted as both a maze and barrier for both sides. The dirt floor was a minor inconvenience, since the grime got all up in the crevices of his combat boots, but nothing he couldn’t handle.
You know, this paintball game actually reminded him of when he first fell in love with you.
——
You were fairly new to the team. They had just recruited you since you were recommended by the Maria Hill for ranking top class in espionage. It didn’t hurt that you were also a science buff; majoring in biology, so you could help out in the lab with research and med bay.
Things were rocky from the start. Your Welcome to the Avengers party had to be postponed because the team had just received word of a heavily-armed drug cartel smuggling grand shipments of cocaine overseas. They needed the Avengers battle-ready in the next six hours.
Flying over to the tipped location, Bucky finally got to truly meet you. You were looking outside of the quinjet, preparing yourself for your first battle when Bucky came up behind you.
“Y/N, right?”
“Oh my God, you scared me!” you put a hand over your chest as you spun around.
“Sorry ‘bout that doll. Being a trained assassin leaves you with some things you can never get rid of.”
“You mean walking up to someone behind their backs and scaring the crap out of them?” You chuckled.
“I guess so.” he snorted. “Barnes. James Barnes, Bucky for short.” He stuck out his hand.
“I like Bucky better, and you probably know my name already.” You laughed.
The two of you talked for a bit, and before you knew it, it was time to land.
“Ready to fight crime and restore justice to the world? And by that I mean, wanna fight some bad guys?” You giggled.
Stepping out of the jet, Bucky stopped for a bit, and stared as you walked off the quinjet.
It was at that moment he knew he was hooked.
_________________________________
Two out of the three games were done, and the team was just getting started on the last one. So far, it was tied. Who won this round was anyone’s guess. You heard a loud bang and then a sudden “Aw fuck! Why do you keep shooting me, Rogers?” It was Tony complaining. Steve caught him both rounds before.
“Sorry, Tin Man, I guess grandpa’s still got it.”
“First off, ew, and secondly, you are a petty, petty, man.” You heard the fake venom lace his voice as he stalked off the field.
Soon enough, everyone from both teams was out. Except you and Bucky. Try as you might, you couldn’t find him even if your life depended on it.
But that was okay because he couldn’t find you either. This went on for a solid 15 minutes.
That was, until you found Bucky hiding behind a wall with hole cut in so he could shoot un unsuspecting Y/N wandering around. Spoiler alert, it didn’t work.
Now that you had the knowledge of having Bucky in your hands, you took the liberty of sneaking up behind him, just as he did in the morning.
“Hey babe, look behind you.”
He turned around, eyes wide open, but he didn’t have time to process it at all because as soon as he looked at you, you pulled him in by the collar of his t-shirt and kissed him, hard.
For those solid five seconds and ten more after that, he went brain dead and could only look at you with lust-filled eyes.
While you pulled him into a passionate kiss, you executed your plan. You reached for your gun and shot him in the stomach.
He pulled away, processing the situation and looked at you with an expression that looked like a kicked puppy. You could only smirk and walk away.
________________________________
Back at the tower, your team celebrated. You guys were all so excited for the things you were going to do to the other team, like make them do all their paperwork (it doesn’t seem like much, but it’s a bitch to do) or make them wear tutus all day.
But Bucky didn’t care about any of that; it could be done another day.
What he was focused on was what he was going to do to you.