001
Clint Barton was one of the friendliest beings Bucky has ever seen in his life, which was expected of someone with Artemis’ blood running through his veins. It was how he managed to have a permanent place in a diverse group of people who unironically called themselves the Avengers. Apparently a few years before he moved into the apartment, they somehow saved the apartment building from a fire after Loki played around with his potion and accidentally burned a very expensive and flammable rug. The landlord, Nick Fury, a dark man with a missing eye, made it a point for him not to experiment with ‘stupid-motherfucking-potions’ when Bucky signed his lease contract. And he wasn’t James Buchanan Barnes if he didn’t roll his eyes and mutter something sarcastic along the line how mermaids love fire. That earned him a deathly glare and Bucky wondered if Fury would set him on fire if it weren’t for Clint Barton walking in with three cups of black coffee, two of which he drank himself in a matter of minutes.
“Oh hey. Want some coffee?” He offered the last cup of coffee after dumping the empty cups in a trashcan near the stairs. “Hey, boss. Didn’t see you there with your murderous eye.”
“No, thank you. You look like you need it.” Clint Barton only shrugged and gulped down the coffee, unbothered by the scalding hot liquid.
“This is Clint Barton from 405. He lives with his girlfriend/wife, god knows what their relationship is.” Nick Fury grumbled. “Barton, this is James Barnes. He’s going to stay in lot 709. Try to get along.”
“She’s my person. A spider-person, but my person nevertheless.” Clint Barton corrected with a grin as they watched Nick Fury slammed the door of his place. “Come along, Barnes. I’ll introduce you to The Avengers.”
“The what?” Bucky didn’t even bother to ask Clint why and trailed behind the blond-haired man while he explained about every tenant he was friends with.
“The Avengers? You’ve never heard of us? Not even from Steve and Sam? We saved this building from a fire two years ago. It was awesome, man. Loki, the little shit that lives on the seventh floor, accidentally set his apartment on fire. Tony Stark-that’s the filthy rich guy who lives in the penthouse-decided that we should help and gave us the name. I personally love it, but Nat thinks it’s stupid,” Clint paused to take a breath and unlocked the door to his place, “I think she secretly loves it.”
Bucky stopped in his tracks when something-someone tugged on his pants. A little boy, probably around three of four, with twinkling eyes and gummy smile, looked up at him in amazement.
“That’s our kid. Found him in a dumpster.” Bucky’s heart dropped at the sudden revelation before he saw Clint’s mischievous grin. “Nah, his aunt died and we adopted him. Peter, say hi to Barnes.” The little boy let out some nonsensical words, hands making a grabbing motion at him with a wide smile.
“Hey.” Bucky nodded awkwardly as he slowly picked up the kid. “Nice to meet you.”
“Sometimes his extra arms appear when he’s a little excited, just a little warning.” Clint grinned. “You know, little spiderling and all. Want some coffee?” Bucky furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Clint who was already running on three cups of black coffee, was too busy brewing a fresh cup to notice the weird look.
“… No, thank you.”
That was two years ago and Bucky now knows that Clint drank an inhuman amount of caffeine every day, talked too much, befriended everyone, including the stray dogs across the street, and he was disgustingly in love with Natasha and a fool for Peter.
“You’re drooling.” Bucky commented off-handedly as he settled himself next to Clint and grabbed the TV Remote from the table.
Clint shamelessly grinned at him. He never missed his aim and might be the best when it comes to archery but he was helpless when it comes to Natasha. Bucky was about to play the movie when Natasha called out his name from the kitchen.
“You’re looking for a roommate?” She asked him once she reemerged from the kitchen with Steve and Peter trailing behind her. Peter, who was now five and found his calling in imitating every single person, quickly mimicked Natasha’s stance and said the same sentence.
“Yeah. Why?”
“I thought you mermaids love to brood alone in your place.”
“Excuse me, I like being with other people.” Bucky defensively retorted.
Clint and Steve snorted. “Nick Fury went out of his place more than you do, Barnes.”
“Fuck you, Barton.”
“Fuck you, Barton! Fuck you, Barton!” Peter made an excited squeal as he repeated the words over and over again and ran back to the kitchen to find Sam.
“Language!”
.
Steve Rogers let out a loud sigh as he leaned back on the couch, eyes glaring at Bucky who just closed the door on the eigth rejected roommate.
“What the fuck are you looking for in a roommate anyway? Flounder the fish? Sebastian the crab?” Steve grumbled, crossing another name on the list of potential roommate. He didn’t cancel his date with girlfriend Peggy to do this (Bucky might or might have not bribed him with pizzas). Bless Peggy for telling him to help Bucky with sorting out a new roommate, instead of going to the nice newly opened restaurant at the other end of the city.
That was seven hours ago and they were still struggling with finding the perfect roommate for his fussy friend. The pizzas were long gone, leaving them with empty grease-stained boxes next to the coffee table. They had interviewed at least eight applicants, with one getting kicked out the moment they appeared when they said something racist.
“Ha-ha. Very funny, Steve.” Bucky rolled his eyes. He was about to plop down on the couch when he heard the doorbell ring. “The next applicant won’t be here until later.” Bucky frowned.
“Maybe Peggy is here to pick me up from this hellhole.” Steve replied as he got up from the couch and made his way to the front door, ignoring Bucky’s incoherent profanities.
.
There were things [Y/N] expected to happen in her life. Getting fired from her job after punching a perverted colleague in the neck was one of them. But getting kicked out of her apartment because she couldn’t pay her share of the rent for the month (and because her roommate’s boyfriend was moving in) apparently was not something she thought she would experience.
“We were friends, Clint!” She cried into the phone, shoving her clothes into the gigantic suitcase. “I can’t believe her. She didn’t pay rent for a month too last year and I let her off!”
“Well, she’s a human. What do you expect, [Y/N]?” Clint told her.
“Well, my mom is a human but she’s not like this.” She angrily wiped the tears off her face and sat on the bed. “I can’t believe I’m unemployed and homeless. Clint, I don’t think I can survive a day outside. I have a child to feed.”
Clint snorted. “You have a fat cat that eats too much.” There was a pause before she heard him speak to the phone, “You can move to our building! My friend, Bucky, is looking for a roommate and I think you’d be the perfect roommate for him. He’s a nice guy and doesn’t talk much. You’ll love him and I bet he’ll be thrilled to have you as his roommate. Why don’t you bring your stuff over here and we’ll visit him together?”
“Are you sure? What if he says no, Clint?”
“He won’t. Do you want me and Nat to pick you up? We can even scare your ex-friend and her boyfriend for you.”
“Yes, please.” [Y/N] mumbled into the phone, hand reaching out to softly pet her cat.
.
It took her an hour to finish packing the rest of her clothes and stuff, another to put it inside Nat’s car, and a good thirty minutes to watch Natasha intimidate her ex-friend with her red eyes and extra limbs. The shrieking and crying that ensued afterwards was quite worth it. She was even smiling as she hauled her cat’s bag into the car. She would have to come back to get the rest of her stuff but after Natasha’s soft threats, she wouldn’t worry about her former roommate throwing away her belongings.
“We’ll bring this to our place. You should go to Bucky’s place and say hi.” Clint grinned. He patted the two large suitcases when the elevator door opened on seventh floor. He gave her a gentle push before she could say anything. Natasha was already gone to find an empty parking space and couldn’t stop Clint from doing whatever he wanted.
“I don’t know his room.”
“709. He’s pretty tall, pretty good looking.” [Y/N] sighed as she watched the elevator door closed on her.
.
Door 709 was located at the end of the hall to her left. She jumped a little when the door abruptly opened and someone walked out of the place with scowl on their face, ignoring her when they went past her. She took another deep breath and made her way closer to the door, nerves pricking at her skin when she heard faint arguing noises coming from inside the apartment. Maybe this was a bad idea, she thought as she raised her hand and pressed the doorbell. The bell made a weird buzzing sound, followed by what sounded like a string of profanities from someone before it opened, revealing a tall, blonde haired man, with face that made her want to cry. Pretty good looking, my ass, she thought as her eyes wandered to the man’s face. He looked like he was sculpted by the gods.
“Bucky?” [Y/N] hesitantly asked. She could feel her heart hammering against her ribcage when the man didn’t say anything. “Uhm, Clint said you’re looking for a roommate and he had texted you I’ll be coming over?”
At the mention of roommate, his eyes brightened up and a beautiful smile slowly appeared on his face. He opened the door wider, giving her a view of the cool-colored interiors. “Bucky is inside! Come in! What’s your name?”
“[Y/N]. My name is [Y/N].” She answered as she stepped inside the apartment. There was a turquoise colored entryway table on her right and a small whiteboard hanging on the off-white wall on her left. The apartment itself was nice and clean, with a similar floor plan as Natasha’s and Clint’s place. It was a little brighter than her friends’ home, with its blue interiors to accentuate the white walls and sand-colored carpet in the living room.
“Bucky is inside. He’ll be happy to know you’re here. No wonder he says no to all the other applicants.” Steve’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She dumbly nodded as she trailed behind him, eyes widely looking around the impressively decorated apartment. It took her a moment to process Steve’s words and she quickly stopped on her track, hands reaching out to grab Steve’s arm.
“Wait, you’re not Bucky?”
“No, I’m his best friend, Steve Rogers. This is Bucky.” Steve beamed, gesturing to a brooding guy on the couch. Bucky, as it turned out, was not as she expected to be. He looked the exact opposite of Steve, with dark, shoulder-length hair, stubbles, and frown that made him look a lot more intimidating. His gaze slowly made its way towards her, lips pressed into a thin line as he stared at her questioningly.
“Who is this?”
“This is [Y/N], your new roommate!” Steve grinned, patting [Y/N]’s back with a little force, causing her to stumble a little. She thought she saw Bucky’s lips tilted into a smile. “She said Clint texted you about her arrival.”
“No, he didn’t.” Bucky shook his head, taking his phone out of his pocket to check for new messages.
“But he said you’re on board with me being your roommate.” [Y/N] added, eyes darting between Steve and Bucky in panic.
“Uh… no?”
“Pardon my language, but what the fuck do you mean by ‘no’?” [Y/N] blurted out before she could stop herself.