Chapter 4
The days and weeks go by and Y/N finds that her new position is more comfortable than she had thought of before. She mostly is alone while working but now and then Steve, Bucky or Tony will join her and they talk. She even misses the little talks with them when they’re on a mission. She befriended with all three of them quickly and sometimes, when she doesn’t feel like going home and stays in the tower, she meets up with Steve to watch some movies, listen to old music Steve likes or they just talk. Occasionally, Bucky will join them but he never really talks to her then. Instead, he watches her closely and even when the others get the feeling that he’s avoiding her, she knows that he watches her to make sure that she’s not going to kill herself.
Y/N never thought of this to be possible. Alone the thought of working in the private quarters was ridiculous but to be friends with one of the Avengers was something impossible. Even when she just knows Steve, Bucky and Tony it’s something to be very proud of. She even notices that she isn’t as angry at Tony for throwing parties out of nowhere anymore. She talked to some of her friends and most of them didn’t believe her but her best friend is as excited as she is and when they meet, once a week, she asks question after question. Y/N told her siblings as well but neither of them really cares. They have their own struggles with life. It’s not that they aren’t happy for her, that she knew, but after her parents died, they started to drift apart. Either of them developed interests which the other didn’t care for and it was okay. They aren’t really close anymore, but they manage to stay in contact and for Y/N that is what matters. Even if it means to miss the closeness they had back in the days as kids.
Currently, Y/N is in the hall of her room. She just finished cleaning the floor and now takes a break. So, she walks into the common area. She goes straight to the fridge and takes out some grapes she stored there this morning and pops one into her mouth. “Y/N!” She twitches and hits her head on a shelf above the fridge as she turns around to face the voice that called her name. “Stebe?”
“Yeah, sorry. It seems I keep scaring you.” He scratches his neck as she touches the point of her head which had hit the shelf. “What’s up?”
“I was wondering if you ever talked to some of the others. We’re having a movie night tonight and I and Nat are chosen to get snacks and dinner ready.”
“And now you want me to... join you?” She raises a skeptical eyebrow at the blonde soldier.
“Yeah, kinda. I just thought you would get along with Nat very well. You’re similar in some ways.”
“I- I... Sure, why not. But is it okay for me to just join you all?”
“I don’t think that will be a problem. What do you think, Buck?” Suddenly someone comes in behind Steve and Y/N’s met with Bucky’s grim expression. “It will probably be better. At least she’s not jumping off chairs then.”
“You’ll never let that drop, will you?”
“Not really.” She sighs and rolls her eyes. Since that day Bucky always brings it up if it fits in the conversation. “Okay. Would you go with Nat to the store down the street? I’ll go and pick up the movies.”
“You now that there are streaming services where you can watch any movie you like, do you?”
“Yeah, Nat said something about that. Just call me old-fashioned.” He grins at her and she chuckles. After a few minutes of talking Steve and Bucky retreat into the training room. Y/N sighs again and walks back to her room. She wanted to clean the windows again but, now that she knows they are going to have a movie night, she decides to clean up the common area for everyone. It takes her about three hours to get everything cleaned up and by then Nat stands in the door frame, arms crossed over her chest and an amused expression on her face. “I like that you take your job this seriously.”
“Natasha.”
“No.” The red-haired women holds up a hand and shakes her head. “You are part of the family, at least Steve says that so just call me Nat. It's what everybody else does anyway.” Y/N nods and takes a few steps closer to the other woman. “Can I do something for you?”
“Yeah. We’re supposed to go shopping. Movie night starts in about two hours and we should start now, don’t you think?”
“Oh shit. I totally forgot. Just let me change really quick and put my stuff away. I meet you at the front door.”
* * *
“No, stop. Clint!” Y/N giggles and tries to hide behind Steve but Clint manages to aim perfectly and the thrown popcorn hits her head. “Please!”
“You asked for it!”
“You did twitch as the axe came through the window!”
“I did not.” The next few popcorn bombs flew into her direction but this time Y/N is quick to hide behind Steve and instead of her, Steve is hit against the head. “I saw it, too. You’re officially caught now.” Nat pats his shoulder and grins at him while he pouts and stares in betrayal at his best friend. “I hate you. You’re supposed to fight on my side!”
“Sorry, Clint. Y/N and I did some talking and we decided to be against every man in this tower.” Y/N giggles again and comes out of her hideout. She inspects the faces of Bucky, Steve, Sam, Bruce, Clint and Tony and starts laughing. “I think Steve regrets inviting me now.” She looks over to Nat who grins back at her. “Oh, Bruce, you don’t have to worry. I think you’re actually the only man that is allowed to team up with us.” Nat pats the man on the shoulder and Y/N sees how he lets out a relived sigh. “I have to admit, this is the best movie night I ever was on.” Y/N leans back on the sofa and stretches out to her full length. “But it’s sad that Vision and Wanda won’t join us. We have at least two films left.”
“Yeah well. I don't think they can hide on us for any longer.” Tony leans back in his chair and smirks at them. “Oh no, Tony. What did you do?” Bruce sighs and throws an unreadable expression at the genius.
“Nothing. Really. But it could be that FRIDAY, accidentally of course, cut the power to their rooms and turned off the water.”
“Please, tell me you didn’t.” Steve rolls his eyes and Bruce lays a hand on his face in shame. Tony just lies casually on his chair and smirks further. It takes just ten minutes in the next movie as a really annoyed Wanda walks into the common room, followed by an expressionless Vision. “Tony, I hate you.”
“That’s fine. Family is supposed to hate each other and join together for movie night.” Wanda sighs and looks around the room. Her eyes land on Y/N and a small smile appears on her face. Y/N motions for her to take a seat beside her, so Wanda comes up to her and sits down. “I’m sorry that Tony interrupted your evening with Vision.” She whispers into Wanda’s ear as the woman gets comfortable. “Well, it's okay. He does that a lot. I get my revenge at some day.”
The movies go on and Y/N talks with everybody a lot. At the end of the night she knows that she’s going to be good friends with Nat and Wanda. They have a lot in common. Everybody else is really nice, too, and now she believes that it was the right decision to take this job. She never had this much of a social life. She’s just about to retreat into her room as Tony comes running back into the room right after he just left. “Guys! We have a situation. Clint, Nat, Steve, Sam. Suit up. We leave in ten minutes.” Y/N sits on her sofa looking concerned as Steve, Nat and the others jump up and run out of the room. Her eyes meet the ones of Bucky for a brief moment. He stands up and sits down right beside her, which makes the remaining people look up at him. Then he leans in and whispers something into Y/N ear. She listens and nods. Bucky stands up again and leaves the room without looking back. Y/N fidgets around a little in her seat. “Y/N? It will be okay. We’re doing this a lot. Especially Tony and Steve.” Wanda places a careful hand on hers. “I know, thank you.” She smiles an unsure smile. “I think I’ll… I go to my room.” She stands up and gives everybody a weak wave. “Good night, Y/N.”
Y/N walks down the hall but goes past her room. She stops in her tracks just as she stands in front of Bucky’s room. She hesitates but eventually knocks on the door. A muffled, rough voice calls her in, so she opens the door and steps into the room. Bucky’s sitting on the couch, a book in his hand. He doesn’t look up at her. After a few, long seconds of silence he sighs annoyed and looks up at her. He motions for her to close the door and sit to down beside him. She does and as she sits beside him, she starts shuffling again. Her fingers wring at each other and she bites her lower lip. “Would you stop that.” Bucky’s hand lies on top of hers and he glares at her. “I- S-Sorry.”
“Stop it. Stop worrying.”
“I don’t-” She stops speaking as she sees Bucky’s look at her. “Okay, I do worry.”
“Why?”
“Because… Because I got quite close to Steve and Tony. And- And I like the others, too. I know that they get in danger now and it worries me. I don’t want them to get hurt.” The pressure of Bucky’s hand, that still lies on hers, gets a little tighter and makes her look up. “They come back. It's not the first time.”
“I know that, still…” She drifts off and looks down at her hands. Bucky takes his hand back and returns to reading his book. It's silent for several minutes. “Why did you tell me to come if you’re not going to talk to me?” She looks at Bucky with a curious expression. He doesn’t look up from his book. “Because you would worry all night and wouldn’t go to bed.”
“What makes you think that this will help?”
“Because I drag you to bed if you refuse to go and I will knock you out if you don’t go to sleep.”
“You’re strange.”
“Sometimes.” They’re silent for a few minutes again until Bucky speaks up this time. “Does it help?” A smile creeps on Y/N’s face as she inspects his face. “Are you concerned about me or do you worry about the guys yourself?” He is silent and doesn’t answer but Y/N has the feeling that it’s a little of both. “Yes, it helps. Thank you, Bucky.”
“No problem. You should go to bed.” Y/N nods and stands up. She goes to the door and is about to open it as Bucky calls from behind her. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“I- Into my room? To get to bed?”
“You’re taking my bed.”
“What? No!” She turns around, shocked at his words. “It’s your room. Where are you going to sleep?”
“On the couch. I don’t sleep much. It will be fine. Stop arguing and go to bed or I throw you on it.” Her gaze switches between Bucky and the bedroom door. She debates with herself but after a few seconds she comes to the conclusion that Bucky’s not making a joke. He would throw her into the room. So, she passes the room and makes her way into the bedroom. “Thank you, Bucky.” Then she closes the door without missing the little smile that shows on Bucky’s lips.
* * *
It takes four days for everyone to get back. Y/N has spent a few hours of each day with Bucky and Wanda or had joined Bruce or Vision in the common room. But since the minute FRIDAY told her when the others were going to get back, she’s exited. She went into town, after picking up some fresh washed clothes from her actual apartment. She brought some things and packed them up in a fine wrapping paper. Back at the tower she sneaked into the room of everybody and even if Tony still doesn’t allow her to go into his lab, she had asked FRIDAY to let her in and she gladly did it. Y/N drops the little package she wrapped for Tony on one of his working benches and looks around the room. She never came down here since she worked here. “So, this is where you build your stuff, huh?”
“Miss Y/N, I have to inform you that Mr. Stark and the others will land in less than three minutes.”
“Thank you, FRIDAY.” Y/N makes her way out of the lab and joins the others to wait for the missing ones. As they get out of the jet Y/N sees that everybody looks exhausted but other than that they are fine. They have some cuts and bruises but nobody seems to have a serious injury. They greet each other and talk for a minute before they retreat into their rooms. She notices that Bucky hugs Steve a little longer than normal.
Y/N walks into the common room followed by Bucky and Vision. It doesn’t take more than ten minutes before the first one comes into the room. “Y/N? Were you in my room?” Nat stands there, holding the package Y/N had placed on her bed in her hands. “Yes.” She smiles at the red-haired woman as she walks up to her and sits down on one of the armchairs. She’s just about to rip the paper off her package as Steve, Sam and Clint come into the room. They all wear the same confused expression Nat had just a few seconds before. And they all hold a package in their hands. Y/N just smiles at them and motions for them to take a seat around them. It takes them just seconds to rip the wrapping paper off and look at what Y/N got them. Each of them holds a little key chain in their hands. It is a little angel that holds a banner with ‘be safe’ on it. “It’s so you have an angel that watches over you, so you can get home safe.” Nobody says a word and Y/N starts to worry that she went overboard. That is until Steve jumps up and takes her into a bone crushing hug. “Thank you.” He whispers into her ear as she slings her arms around him and pets his back. “Its fine.”
“Y/N!” They part abruptly as Tony storms into the room, glaring at Y/N with a grim expression. “You were in my lab!” She opens her mouth to explain herself but Tony just holds up a hand to silence her. He glares a second and Y/N feels Steve tense and start to stand up just as Tony’s expressions softens. “I would be furious if I wouldn't know already what you did. I have to talk to FRIDAY, though. But thank you, Y/N.” He holds up his chain and gives her a small smile. “There’s nothing to thank me for. I’m just glad you’re all back.” She smiles at all of them.
After she saw how happy everybody is about their presents, she starts to get one for everyone when they go onto a mission. Every time she did, she’s greeted with a smile and happy people returning home.