Escaped

You unlocked the apartment door, balancing your grocery bag at your hip. Bucky and Sam were off on some mission on the west coast, so you had the apartment to yourself for a little while. But when you walked through the door, you know something was up. You pulled your gun out from the inside of your jacket and stood close to the walls.

You turned the corner to see a man with an eyepatch reclining in the chair in the living room. You slung the grocery bag over your shoulder and pointed the gun at him, flicking the safety off.

“Who are you and what the hell are you doing in my apartment?” you asked him, aiming the gun at his chest.

“Can you really call it your apartment if you don’t pay rent, Ms. (L/N)?”

Your grip tightened on the gun. “How do you know my name?”

He pushed up from the chair. “My name is Nick Fury, Director of SHIELD.” He looked you head to toe. “Barnes was right. You are a jumpy one. Put the gun away before you accidentally fire.”

“No. I reserve the right to keep this on me in case you being here puts me in danger.” You flicked the safety on. “I will, however, do that. What do you want? You know Bucky isn’t here.”

“I’m not here for Barnes. I’m here to offer you a job.”

“What?”

“I’m here to offer you a job with our SHIELD intel operations. You would be in charge of gathering information on current and former HYDRA agents and soldiers. We would set you up in a nice apartment in D.C. near our main headquarters. We give decent pay and benefits, including both maternity and paternity leave.”

“Why would I need to know about paternity leave?” you asked Fury. “What are you insinuating?”

“Nothing. Simply saying that if you were to have a child with a fellow SHIELD employee, you would both get sufficient time off.”

“And if I decide not to take the job?”

Fury looked at you, face devoid of all emotion. “I just struggled to convince Peter Parker, don’t make me struggle to get you, too.”

“What if I don’t want to leave New York?”

“Then you can work out of our HQ here, like Wilson and Barnes. We can set you up in an apartment here as well.”

“Do I have time to think about your offer?”

“Of course. But don’t wait too long, I need to know as soon as you decide.” He handed you a slip of paper. “Here’s the number of my number two, Maria Hill. Call her when you make your decision.”

“Hey,” Bucky said, tossing his tactical bag on the counter when he came back from his mission. “Did you survive without me?”

You were stretched out on the couch in a pair of sweatpants and one of Bucky’s hoodies. You were staring at the television as you watched a Law and Order: Special Victims Unit  marathon. “Yeah. Almost adopted a cat, though.”

Bucky laughed, filling a glass with ice water. “Well, that would have been an interesting surprise.”

“Yeah, uh, speaking of surprises,” you said, sitting up and scratching the back of your neck, “I, uh, I got a job.”

“That’s great!”

“In D.C.”

“What?”

“Yeah. Uh. Nick Fury stopped by. He offered me a job at SHIELD. I accepted it. So they’re setting me up an apartment in D.C. I’m going as soon as Pepper finishes my arm. But, I mean, this just gets me out of your hair, right? You get your apartment back, you can stop worrying about me taking all your money,” you said with a laugh. “And that was the deal, right? I could stay with you until I got back on my feet. And now I’m back on my feet.”

Bucky took a slow sip of his water. “Right. Yeah, that was the deal.” He smiled at you. “You need help from Sam and I moving your stuff?”

“Well, it all fits in, what, three boxes? But, I mean, if you want to help I won’t stop you.”

“Great. Well, sign us up.”

You smiled at Bucky before flouncing back to your room to read the book you’d gotten from the library. Bucky sighed, the smile dropping from his face.

“What is up with you, man?” Sam asked Bucky when they went out for drinks the next night. “You’ve been all mopey since we got back yesterday.” He slid Bucky another beer. “Spill.”

He sighed, downing the glass. “Fury talked to (Y/N). Offered her a job at the main HQ while we were gone. She took it.” Bucky called to the bartender for another round.

“Oh,” Sam said, taking a sip of his drink. “And you don’t want her to leave. Because you’re in love with her.”

It wasn’t a question. Instead of protesting, Bucky took a long sip of his drink.

“You know, it’s not like she’s leaving your life,” Sam said. “She’s working for SHIELD, we’ll probably be working with her a lot.”

“Won’t be the same,” Bucky muttered, twisting the glass in his hands. “I love living with her. I love knowing there’s someone there when I get home. I love movie nights with her. I… love her.”

“Well, then, tell her that, man. Tell her how you feel. Maybe she can work out of the New York HQ? Fury can be accommodating. Occasionally.”

Bucky sighed. “I don’t know. I don’t think she feels the same way. She seemed kind of excited to be working in D.C. You should’ve seen how happy she was talking about the job. I can’t take that away from her.”

“You’re an idiot, Barnes. If you don’t talk to her, you’re going to lose her,” Sam warned.