Red Hands
Bucky was going crazy. And that was putting it lightly. Ever since he had been introduced to Hailey Grant he had been avoiding the main entrance hall like his life depended on it.
And it did. He had no idea how to react to the person behind the secret boxes. Why would a staff member he had never talked to even come up with such an idea? And how did she even have access to the Common Room.
The last question could be answered with a petite assistant. Darcy had mentioned she had taken the blonde woman to the Common Room once in a while. Did Darcy know then ?
“Aren't you being a little overdramatic? She actually seems really nice.”
Steve walked over to Bucky, placing two plates in front of them before sitting down next to him. They were having dinner in their shared apartment again. Something they had rarely done the past few days since Clint somehow always had take-out with him in the Common Room.
“Then you try and get her attention and gift boxes”
Steve huffed in annoyance before taking a bite. They’ve had this conversation for the past three days. Steve had even checked out the entrance hall just to get on his nerves.
“All I’m saying is that you should at least give her a chance.”
Bucky looked at his friend in disbelief. For the past three days he had been so careful not to bump into the woman again. Every time he had gone to the cantine with Darcy during lunch time he had searched the entire room to make sure he could get away before the blonde woman got anywhere near them. Luckily he hadn’t been forced to runaway.
Yet.
“I don’t want to, punk. I don’t even know her and she doesn’t even know me. That was the first time I even talked to her. If you can even call it talking. Why would she send these boxes to me - of all people?”
“Didn’t Darcy mention you were her favorite Howly?”
Steve’s voice was teasing and Bucky rolled his eyes in response. Whenever someone mentioned his past and proclaimed him as a war hero he wished he could just vanish into the floor. Or that the old Bucky had never been known to anyone else.
There was just too much pressure to fit into a picture those people usually tried to push him into. He didn’t blame them though. Steve always told him that the old Bucky was still inside of him. And though he tried to see it as well, Bucky wasn’t really sure about it.
Pre-war Bucky probably wouldn’t have made such a fuss about a pretty dame showing interest in him.
Granted the old Bucky probably would’ve made a move on a beautiful brown-haired assistant instead. God, he was thinking about her again. Their lunch meetings had been the highlight of his day for the past few days. He hadn’t had anything to look forward to so eagerly in the first months of his stay in the Avengers Compound.
Somehow Darcy always found a topic to talk about. He was actually quite in awe of that. She had even casually invited him to the next Thanksgiving dinner with her family.
Bucky wasn’t quite sure if she had just offered it jokingly in the spur of the moment. Her eyes had looked too genuine for that. But he doubted he’d get to eat Thanksgiving dinner with anyone except Sam and Steve anytime soon.
“Besides she probably saw you in the entrance hall a couple of times.” Steve’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
“Well, do you make a move on anyone who idolizes Captain America?”
The blonde man only shrugged and gave him a teasing smile, to which Bucky responded with a light punch to his arm.
“You’re so full of shit.”
:-:-:-:
Darcy sighed dreamily as she looked at the handsome man currently blessing her vision (once again). “Your long hair would’ve been perfect for Hair night.”
The man in question gave her a confused look as he took another bite from his burger. They were having lunch again. In the cantine. Bucky had agreed to it the day before and so far he was managing quite well. Even though Darcy noticed the nervous glances he threw into the room once in a while. She had chosen one of the tables that was further from the chaos of the cantine hall.
“Hair Night?” One eyebrow raised in question, hidden curiosity in his eyes.
She nodded in excitement as she took a sip from her drink. His eyes were on her and she couldn’t help but smile. They had made a lot of progress considering he hadn’t been able to look her in the eyes a few months ago. He was opening up to her more and more each day. Even cracking some jokes about Steve and Sam now and then. She had actually been surprised by it but in a good way. The fact that he got more comfortable around her was something she was quite proud of.
“Thor and I watch movies and braid each others hair while eating high amounts of food. We call it Hair Night. I bet you would’ve been great company,” she explained
Bucky chuckled lightly and she sent him a wide grin. “I actually am not that bad at braiding.”
Darcy’s eyes widened and she was pretty sure she looked like a fish the way she was staring at him. It took her a few seconds to regain her composure. A thought coming to her mind.
“Let me guess, there were quite a few ladies in your life,” she teased, wiggling her eyebrows as she took another bite from her own sandwich.
The soldier only huffed in amusement, dropping his gaze to the plate in front of him. He didn’t look up for a while, making her wonder whether or not he felt uncomfortable by her question.
“There used to be a little girl in my neighbourhood back in the day, was almost like a sister to me. I used to do it for her occasionally.”
Darcy blinked in surprise as Bucky raised his head and she saw a small smile tugging at his lips.
“Do you know what happened to her?” Darcy shoved the tablet a little further to lean onto the table as she watched him with interest. He was still looking down at his food, smile on his face growing bigger.
“Steve contacted her before I got back here. Said she's married and got two kids.”
“What about you?”
“What about me?” Bucky raised his head, a confused look gracing his handsome features.
“You know,” Darcy took another sip from her drink “don't you wanna see her?”
She watched him silently as the idea progressed through his mind. His eyebrows drawing to another a couple of times. Darcy found herself more curious about his answer the longer it took but she kept herself from pushing and instead enjoyed looking at his face. He really was a handsome jerk. God, how she hated it.
But appreciated it at the same time.
“I don't...I don't think I'm stable enough just yet.”, he raised his head again and the pain that reflected in his eyes almost made her cry out in pain. It took everything in her not to jump over the table to hug him. The sad smile on his face not making it any easier. So she settled for something else.
His eyes were on her but he couldn't help but glance down as she slowly put a hand on his outstretched arm resting on the table. Darcy gave him a soft squeeze and internally sighed when he didn't flinch away, though she saw his eyes widening for a fraction.
“For what it's worth,” her blues eyes meeting his “I think you're doing great so far. Small steps, buddy. But I'm sure you'll be able to meet them soon enough. And I'm sure she'd be happy to see you.”
His eyes softened at her words and this time the smile he gave her wasn't filled with as much sorrow as before.
“Thank you, Darcy.”
She grinned at him as she gave him another squeeze before removing her hand from his arm.
“Only speaking the truth. You ready?”
Bucky looked down at their plates and nodded before they both stood up from their seats.
:-:-:-:
Wanda didn’t like getting into other people’s business. She simply wasn’t that type of person.
It was practically a rule she had followed most of her life.
But there is an exception to every rule.
So when she placed her own suggestion in the team’s current bet. She might have felt a little bit of guilt.
But that had vanished the moment morality in person, also known as Steve Rogers, placed his own bet into the round.
To be fair, Darcy would have probably done the same thing if their roles were reversed.
Her friend had made comments about Vision’s “growing interest” in her on more than one occasion. Frequently shouting “Get that robo-dick” whenever they were in the same room. Only stopping after Wanda had confronted her with hands glowing red and an evil smile on her face.
Which had also resulted in Darcy avoiding her for a whole week before greeting her with a “Please don’t fry my brain I’m sorry” cake in her hands.
“What are you smiling about, Red Hands?” Darcy walked up to her quickly, a smile spreading across her face as she came to a stop.
“Just thinking about frying brains,” Wanda quipped at her, trying to hide her amusement as Darcy shuddered slightly at the thought before her lips formed into another smile.
They headed for the garage in comfortable silence and Wanda was glad she had asked her friend to join her for dinner this evening.
“So what’s the plan, sis?”
Wanda chuckled at her friend’s ever present curiosity. That was just the way she was. One could barely keep a secret from her, even though Darcy was great at keeping secrets from anyone else.
(“Except when it comes to Barnes. They’re both clueless and obvious at the same time. It’s remarkable.” “I don’t think you can even call that secrets, Nat.” “Touché.”)
It really was one of her best and sometimes slightly annoying features. Planning surprises for Darcy was one of the hardest things to do. Wanda had resorted to another way of keeping things from her.
Let’s just say: There was a reason Darcy was calling her Red Hands.
“The usual. Dinner at Luigi’s and some drinks at Frontline’s.” she answered as she sat down on the passenger’s seat next to Darcy. Her friend always insisted on driving. Claiming it had something to do with “Jane trauma” as she called it.
“Uuuuh, I like how you said drinks . At first I thought you were gonna send us to a café.” Darcy wiggled her eyebrows in a teasing manner, making Wanda roll her eyes in amusement.
“Just drive before I change my mind.”
“Yes, sir.”
:-:-:-:
“You know,” Darcy shifted slightly in her seat “isn’t it crazy how we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Thor deciding to crash against Jane’s car.”
“I thought Jane ran him over?” Wanda raised one eyebrow as she took another sip from her cocktail while Darcy responded by violently fiddling her hand in the air.
“Same difference. Point is: It’s weird how the universe works sometimes. I mean we’ve got two 100 year old beefcakes walking around and no one bats an eye. Don’t you think that’s weird?”
Wanda nodded in response as she quietly analyzed her friend’s state of mind. Darcy was a talker. She definitely was. But adding a certain amount of alcohol to her already talkative mouth would result in deep conversations about life by the end of the night. So she decided to use that to her advantage.
“Speaking of beefcakes,” she leaned onto the table, trying to get Darcy’s focus back on her before her friend decided to walk towards whatever spot she was currently staring at. “What’s up with you and Barnes?”
This seemed to catch Darcy’s attention judging from the way her head immediately spun back towards her. She squinted slightly in suspicion.
“What do you know?”
Wanda blinked. “What do you mean, what do I know? You’ve been talking about him almost everyday for the past few weeks.”
“Oh, yeah. I thought you might know more than me, considering you’re a mind reader and all that-- What?” Her friend only shook her head and signalled her to continue. “Anyways, fact is: He’s been acting a little weird lately.”