Dressed for the occasion
To say Bucky wasn't particularly eager to go on another mission was an understatement. Especially since the meeting had made it out to be a long one.
Still, he was glad it he hadn't been called in for a mission until after Jane Foster had returned. Though the scientist had unintentionally granted him another lunch-day with Darcy, he knew it wouldn't be the norm anymore.
But he was still allowed to feel slight frustration at not being able to see Darcy for a couple of days. Obviously he hadn't made any comment about it during the meeting and kept an unreadable expression on his face.
Steve had given them 30 minutes to pack things.
Bucky had finished in less than three but he didn't want to leave without at least informing Darcy about it.
He wasn't sure if she would even notice his absence but the little hopeful voice in his head told him to do it anyway.
When he stepped into the elevator he was greeted by a smiling Sam.
"Where to?" Bucky asked, raising a single eyebrow.
"The labs, just wanted to tell Banner and Stark we'll be gone for a while since they weren't present for the briefing."
Bucky nodded slowly.
"You?"
The ex-assassin hesitated for a moment, contemplating whether to tell his friend or not.
"Same as you."
"Oh?" Sam acted surprised though he didn't seem to be completely convinced. "Let's go together, then."
As they walked past the labs Bucky's eyes scanned every single one for the familiar head with soft curls that usually bounced as she walked.
He figured she might be somewhere else as Sam, who was walking a few steps ahead, came to a halt in front of Bruce's door.
Without even knocking his friend opened it and immediately stopped in the doorframe, leaning against it.
Bucky picked up his pace to catch up to him.
"Darcy, where the hell are your pants?"
Bucky abruptly stopped at Sam's words, his mind going completely insane as he choked.
He still was a few steps behind and not able to see inside but he quickly began to move when Sam made another step into the lab.
The men of this century…
With a swift move Sam was yanked back into the hallway, making the door shut loudly in the process.
"Buck, what the hell?" Sam asked incredulously.
"I could ask you the same!"
Sam only continued to look at him in utter confusion, forcing Bucky to elaborate.
"She was undressed-"
The opening of the door interrupted him and a melodic laugh was came out.
"Sam, were you really that surprised to see me" Darcy stepped into the hallway "in a dress…"
The young woman's eyes switched from one man to the other. Bucky's arm was still clutching onto Sam and with a short cough they quickly fixed their position, standing straight to face her.
Sam giving Bucky the stink eye while the other man only had his eyes focused on the petite woman.
"James, you're here, too." Darcy's voice sounded delighted.
Bucky however still couldn't help but stare, so she twirled around while asking:
"What do you think?"
"Beautiful" he replied breathlessly without a even thinking.
His brain to mouth filter had been completely shut off by her appearance.
After a few seconds he realized blue eyes were staring back at him and he felt himself getting hot.
"Do you like it?"
She seemingly hadn't caught his comment, making him internally sigh in relief. Though he didn't miss Sam's analyzing eyes on him.
"Yeah, yeah. You look...great." he finally managed to get out.
"Thanks, handsome." she smiled at him sweetly though her eyes seemed to glint with slight disappointment.
"You look amazing, Darcy. Not used to you not wearing pants though." Sam commented.
"Oh, yeah. We had an incident last time I wore one- anyways, what brings you two here?"
Before either of them could've even asked she had changed the subject, leaving Bucky with multiple questions and dozens of possible situations in his head.
"We're going on a mission." Bucky answered quickly before Sam could even open his mouth to speak. "We won't be back for a couple of days, just wanted to tell you in advance."
"-and Stark and Banner." The other man practically mumbled from the side as Bucky watched Darcy.
"Thank you for telling me. I would've been slightly sad and maybe a little bitter if I had found out after looking for you through the whole compound." She practically pouted her lips as she said this.
"No need for that." Bucky gave her an earnest smile, which she immediately returned with one of her own.
"I'm glad."
There was a comfortable silence setting upon them as they looked at each other.
Until Sam coughed.
"Anyways, Tony and Brucie won't be back for a while but I'll tell them as soon as I see them that you came here for them." Darcy started walking towards the elevators. "Let me accompany you guys to the quinjet, I just have to go to the PR department real quick. Wanna join?"
"I think I'll leave this one to Barnes. I'll have to talk to Natasha before we get going so I'll see you at the hangers." Sam said as he stepped into the other elevator, leaving the other two alone.
Bucky and Darcy made their way towards the other department in comfortable silence with Darcy asking him about the mission now and then and telling him to be careful.
Meanwhile Bucky tried to keep his eyes off of her. Seeing her in a dress was still new to him and even though she was beautiful no matter what she wore, it had quite an effect on him.
Stepping into the huge office, Darcy's eyes began to search for whatever she came for.
Or rather who.
A young man with brown hair who had stood up from his desk was approaching them. "Ah, Darcy! You made it." A wide smile spread across his lips. He was wearing a suit with a tie and Bucky couldn't help but analyse him instantly as he came to a stop in front of them.
The man was almost as tall as him with brown eyes and a clean-shaved face. He seemed to be quite handsome and Bucky instantly felt himself stiffen when he realized the way he looked at Darcy.
"I always keep my word, Matt." Darcy replied with a grin.
"And you even brought company," Matt focused his eyes on Bucky and gave him a friendly smile, which Bucky tried to return. "It's not often that this department gets to see war-heroes and whatnot. It's an honor, Mr. Barnes."
Bucky gave him a curt nod and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
The other man seemed to get the message and looked back at Darcy.
"Here are the keys," he said after taking them out of his pocket. "Thanks again for lending it, we were really short on cars."
Darcy made a dismissing hand move as he dropped the keys in her other hand.
"Don't mention it. I barely use mine these days anyways."
"Still, it helped us a lot. You look gorgeous by the way. You could definitely rock some dresses more often." Matt gave her a wink, making Darcy laugh lightly. "Maybe we could go out for a drink or dinner some time?" His eyes were focused on hers and Bucky could clearly see genuine attraction and interest in them which only made him throw the other man a dark look. He didn't like the way he looked at her. Not one bit. A stranger asking for Darcy's time didn't sit well with him. Especially ones who seemed to be good looking. Bucky immediately felt irritation and anger rise inside him, that he couldn't quite understand, as Matt made another step towards Darcy. Coming way too close to her for his taste.
Instinctively the ex-assassin made a swift move to stand slightly in front of her, almost glooming at him.
Darcy however didn't seem to notice as she replied: "Sure, you finish work first. I heard you guys got a lot to do these days. We'll be going now, this dude here," she clutched Bucky's arm lightly as she pulled him to move. "is going on a mission and I can't let him be late."
She made her way towards the exit with him after shouting a quick "See you soon" to Matt with a giant grin.
Bucky didn't leave without throwing back another glance at the other man whose eyebrows were furrowed in thought and slight confusion as they turned the corner.
:-:-:-:-:-:
When they arrived at the hangers they were greeted by Natasha who was already waiting in front of the quinjet.
"You ready, Barnes?", she asked with a raise of her brows. The ex-assassin gave a firm nod, raising his hand to point at a grey bag inside the quinjet.
"I thought you weren't part of this mission, Nat. What brings you here?" Darcy asked after greeting the redhead with a light hug.
"Actually I'm here for you, solnyshko. Sam told me you'd be here." She stepped closer again so only Darcy would hear it. "It's girls night."
The brunette responded with an almost devilish grin. Next to her Bucky only furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
Soon after, the rest of the team arrived, consisting of Steve, Sam, Clint and Wanda.
As they prepared the quinjet Darcy hugged everyone goodbye, telling them to watch each other's backs.
She saved Bucky for last.
After hugging Steve, she turned to the ex-assassin who had stood beside her the whole time, body as stiff as ever.
"You be careful. I know you're skilled as hell but take care of yourself...and kick some ass, okay?"
Her eyes were on his, face serious. Bucky gave her a warm smile and a firm nod. "I will."
"Come here, you."Darcy practically threw herself at him as she pulled him into a hug.
After a few seconds she felt Bucky return the hug with a reassuring squeeze before she finally but reluctantly let go.
"See you soon, James."
"See you soon, Darcy."
:-:-:-:-:
"You do know he's only gone for a couple of days, right?" Natasha's teasing voice cut through the silence as they made their way back to the labs.
Natasha had joined in since she had some things to discuss with Tony, anyway.
Though Darcy wasn't sure if it was only an excuse to accompany her.
Or to tease her.
"I know. I just wanted to wish everyone good luck."
"Sure."
"Am I not supposed to hug him? Treating him like everyone else is supposed to help him, right? Isn't that what we want for him?"
Natasha raised her hands in a defensive pose at Darcy's little outburst making the latter instantly flinch at her own behaviour.
"I was just teasing, solnyshka. What's wrong? Something bothering you?"
Darcy huffed in annoyance. Somehow Natasha read her as easily as a book.
"It's just...I could've sworn he called me beautiful today." Darcy murmured barely audible. But as usual Natasha didn't have a problem with understanding her, the redhead only patiently waited for her to elaborate.
When the silence stretched for another couple of seconds Natasha spoke calmly: "Why is that bothering you?"
"Because I'm not sure if he actually said it or if my brain is just playing with me."
...but I could've sworn.
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:
The following days were rather boring for Darcy. Even Jane noticed her lack in motivation, though she really tried.
On the third day of his absence she decided to concentrate on Steve’s birthday party instead of moping around and barely doing anything except for work.
Jane didn’t have much to do for her anyways since she was still in europe with half of her mind.
Though she usually preferred the Common room for her baking sessions - because she had constant company - she stayed in the little kitchen of her apartment.
After she had organized catering, music and guests - she had decided on a retro theme for the party - she could concentrate on her biggest project yet.
The Freedom cake.
Bruce had come up with that name and she had immediately went with it.
The freedom cake had grown bigger and more colorful with every attempt. Now she was finally somewhat satisfied with it. When the young woman looked at the clock she realized with shock that it was already past 8pm and it had taken her way longer than anticipated.
Might have to do it the day before after all...or ask for help.
She huffed in exhaustion and began cleaning up when the doorbell rang. Her head shot up immediately and she practically ran towards the door to open it.
She was met with green eyes and raised eyebrows.
:-:-:-:-:
Natasha stared at the young woman in front of her. Her hair was styled in a messy bun, slightly covered in what seemed to be flour. As her eyes wandered to the rest of her body to see Darcy covered in dough, with red and blue dots on her head she began to chuckle.
“What?”
Natasha shook her head and walked inside, leaving the other woman to close the door.
She immediately sat down on the couch and watched Darcy from her seat.
The brunette raised a single eyebrow at this before she slumped with a huff and made her way back into the kitchen area almost lazily.
After a couple of minutes of cleaning Darcy almost whined: “You could at least help me a little, Nat.”
“I didn’t make the mess, sweetie.”
“Yeah, but I’m sure you want some cake.”
When she finally stood next to Darcy, she gave the cake a quick once-over. Feeling the other woman’s gaze on her she took her sweet time making her sweat.
After almost a minute of looking at the cake without mumbling a word she finally turned around to her friend.
“This might be your best work yet, Darce. Steve will be quite flattered by your efforts.”
“Don’t sweet talk me.” Darcy joked and went in for a hug but stopped, remembering her current state. “Anyways why are you here?”
Natasha smiled at her friend and began cleaning up as well as she started to speak: “I talked to Steve…”
Darcy stopped with her task for a second before she continued to put her baking utensils into the dishwasher.
“He said they’re almost done with the mission, so they might return in the next two days. Which means they’ll be there for your party. No re-scheduling.”
It took Darcy a while to comprehend what she’d just been told until she practically jumped on Natasha, making the redhead laugh in surprise.
“That’s great! Thank you for telling me, Nat. You’re the best.”
“I know.”
“You’re getting the biggest piece.” Darcy let her go and immediately went for the knife.
“Wo-woah, slow down!” The redhead took the knife out of her hands and put it back in its original place. “How about we finish cleaning up first, yeah?”
:-:-:-:-:-:-:
“Steve told me that your lover boy thinks Hailey Grant is the one behind the boxes…” Natasha threw the statement into the room.
Her friend stopped in her tracks, her hand hovering over the wine bottle before she slowly turned around. Her mouth opened and closed like a gaping fish and Natasha tried not to laugh at Darcy’s expression as she tried to form words.
“He...he thinks what now?”
Natasha raised a single eyebrow as she watched her friend practically have a breakdown in front of her.
Here we go…
“I am...the biggest...idiot.”
“Some might say so.”
“Nat, you’re not helping.”
The redhead laughed at this while her friend kept staring at her.
“Oh god, this explains so much…” Darcy slumped back into the couch as she stared into the air, her mind seemingly elsewhere.
“I think it’s time for you to confess, solnyshka.”
:-:-:-:-:-:-:
Bucky had struggled concentrating on their mission the minute they had entered the quinjet.
Especially after the intimate hug they had shared, he found it more than hard to keep his mind on the task at hand.
The way her body pressed against his had made his skin tingle all over.
But now that they were so close to finally finishing their mission he felt his mind wandering even more often to the young woman who had stolen his heart the moment he had met her.
She had looked almost ethereal in that white dress. His mind constantly going back to the moment she had stepped out of the lab.
“Buck, watch out!” Steve’s voice boomed through the comlink. Turning around he had a mere second to see where the threat was before the impact of the weapon sent him flying against a tree.
His vision was blurry, black dots flashing and the sounds of screams and weapons almost disappearing behind a curtain of cotton.
Struggling to stay awake he saw the familiar red, white and blue of Steve’s uniform.
“Sam, come in. We’ve got-” his voice faded away again and Bucky slumped even more into nothingness.
“Stay with me, pal.” he heard Steve’s voice again as he felt being lifted slightly before completely succumbing to the comfortable darkness.
:-:-:-:-:-: