Fated Marks

“So I’m going to be making some changes around here and I’m going to start by addressing the issues the board brought up because they’re urgent.” I said bringing up the presentation but Steve was still standing and staring at me in shock.

“Wha…” He said still processing.

“You may want to sit down, we’re going to be here a while.” I said. “The first pressing issue the board has that we can probably all agree on, is the budget deficit. As Tony said in the past three months you guys have spent three quarters of the annual budget.”

“How did Tony not realize this?” Rhodey said.

“For many reasons, for one Tony who we all know sometimes has no real concept of money except for the fact that he has a ton of it. The other is that Tony decided to have a hands off approach and decided to focus on the things he actually wanted to do and just told the board of his foundation to give us funding and the rest would be handled.” I said.

“So why don’t we just ask the foundation for more funding?” Sam asked.

“Because they can’t give us anymore.” I said. “The Stark foundation runs and works with over a hundred charities around the world mostly with funding from Stark industries who have made it very clear in the past they don’t want to be tied to the Avengers due to your image problem.”

“But Stark Industries is Tony Stark who is Iron Man and an Avenger.” Sam said.

“Tony owns most of the company but he doesn’t run it and there are many shareholders that don’t want the stocks to plummet every time you guys blow something up while saving the world. To make up for that Tony gives the foundation money from his own person fortune to give to us.” I said. “So the foundation does have a fixed budget every year and from there they assign it to the other organizations, including the organizations that clean up after your messes, like say relocating people who lost their homes and rebuilding after invasions etc they can only give us the money Tony assigned to them for us. There’s also another reason, the Avengers used to be funded through SHIELD and since it was decided that it would be better if you were run independently from any government, you don’t get government funding anymore. On top of that, for tax purposes and for Tony to even be allowed to put so much money into this without being accused of money laundering or any other excuse the government can use to try and take over the Avengers, you guys along with New Shield are registered as a non-profit Humanitarian Protection Organization. To put it simply we don’t pay taxes on the money they give us to use for the greater good of the world but in exchange there’s a limit to how much we can get every year and how we spend it.”

“Okay so what do we do?” Natasha asked.

“I’ve looked through the books to try and figure out where all the money went.” I said. “Turns out most of it was spent on just two areas, insurance and the discretionary fund.”

“Insurance?” Steve asked surprised.

“Yeah we have insurance on the building, the jets, the cars and more importantly all of you.” I said skipping to the next slide. “We pay different rates for each of you depending on how accident prone you are, how many missions you go on, the difficulty of said mission, your skill level and how much collateral damage you cause when out in the field. As you can see, Vision and Natasha are at the lowest, followed by Wanda, Sam and Rhodey are tied and Steve is at the top. When you guys go on a mission the insurance rate of the equipment you use like the quinjets also increases proportionally to who’s on it.”

Sam whistled.

“Damn that’s a lot of zeros.” Rhodey said looking at the average estimate of how much was spent for each mission the team went on. I flipped to the next slide which was a line graph comparing each of them and how much was spent on each of them in the last three months.

“The defense business is expensive, but because of what you guys can do, the missions you go on, the risks you take it’s a lot higher.” I said. “See this black line on the bottom, that’s just a regular field agent spends doing a normal amount of missions with no extra threat. The yellow line is vision, slightly higher, along with Nat, the red line is Wanda higher but not too high. Then Sam and Rhodey. And this blue line all the way up here is Steve.”

“Uh I know my estimated rate is higher than everyone else’s but it’s not that high.” Steve said.

“It’s not but you also go on more missions than everyone else, last minute missions that you weren’t even assigned to and just decided to go along on. That’s an extra charge.” I said. “It’s actually estimated that you go on 3.5 times more missions than anyone else on this team. Add to that the increase for the insurance on the equipment you use, the damage the quinjet took on that crash landing that led to the entire hydraulic system for the landing gear needing to be replaced and you get that.”

“Okay but those are just regular costs of doing the job.” Steve said.

“You go on three times as many missions as the rest of us.” Natasha deadpanned.

“There does seem to be a correlation.” Vision said.

“And as for our discretionary fund which covers the collateral from our more covert missions…” I said.

“I thought the foundation covered that?” Steve said.

“They cover the clean up for bigger incidents like New York, DC, and Sokovia. The discretionary fund covers the collateral from your missions like say relocating people, any bystanders that may have gotten injured, sprinkler systems getting activated that led to five star restaurants in Manhattan getting shut down for a day and one of the busiest streets in the city being closed… you know that sort of thing.” I said.

“Someone’s still mad…” Sam whispered to Rhodey.

“She’s not the only one.” Rhodey said nodding to Natasha who was glaring at Steve.

“And as you can see yet again, Steve’s costs are way up here, almost off the charts. You’re our hemorrhage.” I said.

“I… I get it…” Steve said.

“I don’t actually think you do.” I said. “You have a fourth of your annual budget to get through to the next fiscal year. That’s operating costs, salaries, insurance, discretionary costs for the entire compound and everyone in it for another six months. Money that normally covers 2 and a half to three months we somehow have to make last six months.”

“Is that even possible?” Vision asked.

“Not if we don’t start making changes. I’ve talked to Hill and Fury and they agreed that as of today no one in this room or this compound is going on any missions unless your name is on the approved mission roster. That means no and I mean absolutely no tagging along on any missions you were not assigned to just because you feel like it or want to make sure it’s done right.  No going out and following hunches, Hell no one in this room is even allowed to set foot on a quinjet or company car unless it’s been approved by not just Hill and Fury but by me.” I said.

“Hayley you can’t do that. Missions come up and things in the field can change and…” Steve said.

“You shouldn’t be complaining.” I said. “The board wanted you suspended from all duty until the next fiscal year and I honestly don’t blame them. For the foreseeable future you should get comfortable sitting behind a desk because you’re essentially grounded.”

That shut him up.

“From now on all missions will be assigned based on an agent’s skill sets and abilities. We don’t have assessments and grading systems for nothing. If for whatever reason an agent gets sick or can’t make it someone else of the same rank and ability will take their place. As for you guys unless Aliens show up to try and take over the world, there’s another murderbot or the world is ending no one is going off book.” I said. “Assigned and authorized missions only. Are we all clear on that?”

“Yes Ma’am.” Rhodey and Sam said.

“Yeah…” Everyone else said.

“Another problem that’s been brought up is that the team has an image problem.” I said. “After Sokovia obviously public opinion dipped but incidents like last week aren’t helping. The PR teams working on solutions, they’re going to get back to me later and I’ll get back to you. For now that’s everything. If you have any questions you can come find me in my office or just call me. I might be working from home.”

With that I had everything shut down.

“Later guys.” I said before walking to my office. I really hope they were done setting up by now, I wanted to get ahead before…

“Hayley!” Steve said walking after me. “Can we talk?”

“As long as you can walk and talk yes.” I said.

“I just… you took without saying anything, I mean is Clint okay with this?” Steve said.

“First off it’s 2015 not the forties or fifties, I don’t need my husband’s permission to do anything or any man’s for that matter. But since you asked Clint and I talked about it and agreed that given the situation this is the right thing to do and Tony’s been trying to get me to take the job for a while so this works. Secondly this was kind of a last minute thing and I’ve been a bit too busy trying to catch up and fix things here. Plus I did just tell you.” I said as we turned to another hallway

“Uh yeah just don’t you think this is being a bit too drastic…” he said.

“Do you want to be the one who tells all those agents in medical, and communications and everyone else that they’re going to be out of a job, that they’re not going to be able to send their kids to college, or get their wives and children healthcare they need and the world is going to be unprotected because you’re a control freak that couldn’t delegate basic missions you had no business being on?” I retorted.

“Uh...” He said not thinking that far ahead.

“Exactly.” I said as we turned to my office. My glass door already had my name etched on it.

“It’s all set up ma’am.” The IT guy said.

“Thank you.” I said walking into my office and seeing a flower arrangement. I smiled and picked up the card.

‘In case you needed the reminder, you’re the boss. Love Tony.’

I smiled admiring the flowers for a minute before I remembered Steve was right behind me.

“Sorry you said something?” I asked.

“Just that… It’s good to have you.” He said.

“Thanks. Oh before you go PR did actually give me an idea for something you can do to repair the teams image. Since you’re always the one on the news right after they’re reporting on collateral damage you need it more. How do you feel about filming some PSA’s?” I asked.

“Uh PSA’s?” Steve asked.

“Public Service Announcements.” I said. “Short little movies about stuff like what to do in an emergency, looking both ways before you cross the street. It’s for the kids.”

“Uh sure, I kind of have a lot of free time now that I can’t go on any missions.” Steve said rubbing the back of his neck.

“You should look at this as an opportunity. It’s been a while since you had time to paint or draw or you could pick up a new hobby. You can even go to therapy and work through somethings or go visit… her.” I said as I climbed onto the treadmill. I had gotten myself a small treadmill that went under my desk and the desk could be raised so I could work out while I worked.

“Hayley…” he started.

“Not an invitation to talk about it just pointing it out.” I said as I started walking

“Right…” Steve said. “I should leave you to it.”

“Kay.” I said turning on the four monitors mounted on the wall in front of me, the two on my desk and having Friday bring up a projected screen on my left and right. “Friday bring up every single one of our agent’s files on the screens on my desks including records from their time in the old SHIELD on the four screens in front, The compounds financial statements on the two screens on my desk, information on the dragon lady’s house in Paris as well as the record of the sale on my right, and on the left look up ad astra per aspera tattoos reported in any criminal database that may match mister tramp stamps. And flip through at my usual speed.”

“Of course boss.” Friday said.

“Time to work.” I said as the files started flicking though the screen rapidly.

I started walking and glances at each screen. Clint and Tony always said it was impossible to understand or even read was what on the screens when I did it but to me it actually normal, sometimes even slow depending on what I was looking at.

I don’t know how long I was there all I know was that I blinked and suddenly Natasha and Clint were standing in front of me.

“Woah!” I said losing my balance and almost falling before I caught myself on my desk.

“Oh!” Clint said quickly moving to catch me.

“Oh I got it.” I said stepping off and straightening up.

“You okay?” Natasha asked.

“Yeah, you just caught me by surprise.” I said.

“You didn’t hear us come in?” Clint asked concerned.

“No I was really in the zone” I said glancing at the screens.

“I can see that.” She said looking around at the screens that stopped as soon as I stopped looking at them. “I think they froze.”

“Oh no I actually updated Friday so she’d recognize my eye movements and hand gestures to stop the screens or mark something for later.” I said.

“And it works?” Clint asked before clarifying. “They move pretty fast.”

“I worked it out.” I said. “So what’s up?”

“It’s lunch time.” Natasha said.

“It is?” I asked confused.

“Yeah.” Clint said exchanging a look with Natasha.

“Have you been working since you left the meeting?” Natasha asked.

“Yeah.” I said.

“That was almost five hours ago.” She said.

“Seriously?” I said. “Must’ve lost track of time.”

“Yeah…” Clint said exchanging looks with Natasha. I could feel how nervous and concerned they were from their marks. It was buzzing and sent chills down my spine. Guess they were jumping to worst case scenarios.

“I was thinking of heading home after lunch.” I said hoping that would help. “I got more work done than I thought I would. Plus there’s nothing I do here I can’t do at home.”

“If you’re sure.” Clint said.

“Yeah.” I said as I took the packed lunch Clint handed to me.

“So when did you guys decide to come out of retirement?” Natasha said.

“We’re not out of retirement. Just on pause.” I corrected.

“One last mission. That’s it.” Clint said.

‘I’ve heard that before.” She said.

“We’re serious Nat. Once we stop the dragon lady and we are back to being retired.” I said.

“And I’m not going on missions. I’m on standby. I’ll train with the team but no missions unless it’s dragon lady related.” Clint said.

“I don’t think that’ll be a problem.” Natasha said.

“What does that mean?” Clint asked and Natasha turned to me as if asking if Clint knew.

“Hayley grounded Steve.” She said.

“You did?” Clint said.

“He’s a financial liability.” I said and he just looked at me confused. “Long story. Problem I’m currently working on fixing.”

“Are you getting payback for last week?” He asked.

“No this is just business… though it is slightly satisfying and a bit karmic if you really think about it.” I said.

“Hales…” Clint said.

“I’m keeping things professional, promise.” I said taking a bite of my short ribs. “I don’t want to get sued. Mhmm is this that recipe for the braised short ribs?”

“Yeah? Is it good?” He asked.

“So good.” I said.

“It really is.” Natasha said.

After lunch we headed home though that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to work. I had Friday monitoring the landing pads and hangers to make sure no one went off book.

“Take a break.” Clint said. “You’ve been at it for hours.”

“Just getting caught up and helping Hill and Fury reassign agents to missions based on skill while saving money as well as postponing non urgent missions and rerouting agents already in the field to cover those missions if possible.” I said.

“Again take a break.” Clint said gently taking my tablet and sitting behind me and rubbing my shoulders.

“Mhmm that feels so good.” I said relaxing.

“It’s just the first day, you don’t have to do it all at once.” He said.

“I know, I just feel if I can do it I should.” I said.

“True but it is after five which means the work day’s over and you’re at home so no more work.” Clint said wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me to lean back against me.

“Okay. Honey I’m home.” I teased. “I read so many files today, I could actually recite them from memory.”

“I bet you could.” He said. “What’s the plan for tomorrow?”

“I have a few meetings in the city with the board about my proposed plans to reduce the budget, from there I’m spending the day with Tony.” I said. “I’m probably going to be back late tomorrow.”

“You could always sleep over?” Clint suggested.

“I would but I have a meeting with Hill and Fury early the morning after and the commute in the morning is rough.” I said.

“I know.” Clint said.

“I’m not looking forward to the board meeting. I’m starting to get why Tony always ditched those meetings or made someone else go for him.” I said. “Every time I talk to them they give me the worst headache.”

“You could always get yourself an assistant.” Clint said.

“Friday’s cheaper.” I said. “It’ll be fine. Being the boss can’t be all perks and I’ve dealt with them before as Tony’s assistant. I’m just out of practice.”

The Following Day…

As it turned out it wasn’t a matter of me being out of practice in dealing with the board so much as they hated me because I was their boss’ girlfriend and I got my job out of pure nepotism or so they said which I couldn’t really argue with considering there may have been a bit of truth to it. I didn’t complain, instead I decided to let my work speak for itself. Of course that didn’t mean I had to like it.

“I hate board meetings.” I said as I walked into the lab.

“Isn’t this your first one?” Tony said with a smile.

“Yeah but I forgot how much they complained. And then I offer a solution all they do is complain about how that’s too much change and not the way it’s done even though the way it’s done would just make the problem worse.” I said.

Tony just smiled and nodded.

“And don’t even get me started on the paperwork. It’s a whole other red tape to cross with Fury that ended in a stare off. And you were right I don’t know if I was supposed to stare at him in the eye or the eyepatch or both.”  I said.

“Mhmm.” Tony just kept nodding as he slowly walked closer.

“He tried to give me the it’s classified spiel.” I said. “And I told him well in that case all of New Shield’s and the Avenger’s bank accounts are classified. He still wouldn’t listen so I hacked his computer and left his a virus that spammed him with ads for Viagra and hemorrhoid suppositories and got the files anyway. I feel sorry for any IT guy that gets assigned to clean that up he’s never going to be able to take Fury seriously. I made it so his history showed links to a lot of butt porn…”

“Butt porn?” Tony said laughing. “That’s… that’s a good one. I should really remember that one.”

“That was my day.” I said as I started rolling up the sleeves of my blouse. Unbuttoning the cuffs of the white long sleeved v-neck draped wrap top that paired well with a black high waisted textured panel black skirt, strappy heels and black clutch.

“Mhmm.” Tony said just looking at me with this adorable smile.

“What?” I asked.

“Oh nothing.” He said. “Being the boss is a good look for you.”

“Oh you like the uniform?” I said with a smirk.

“That’s one word for it.” He said putting his hands on my hips as I put mine around his shoulders as we kissed. “I actually got you a present.”

“It’s not over the top is it?” I asked.

“I made it.” Tony said taking my hand and carefully putting a watch on my wrist, at least I thought it was a watch. There was no clock on it instead it lit up in squares to tell the time.

“Pretty.” I said.

“And…” Tony said clicking the button and the watch split open revealing a miniature arc reactor and then he flipped it so it started wrapping around my hand so I was wearing an Iron man gauntlet.

“Wow.” I said.

“I designed it to be a deterrent only. The one thing we can all agree on is that we don’t want you fighting anyone on your own. It can push away enemies and disorient them with light beams. It also has a built in tracker.” He said. “same controls as the suit, just flex your wrist and…”

I did and I let out a blast that sent all the papers on the desk flying and cracked the glass room partition.

“Oops.” I said.

“No you got it on the first go.” Tony said slowly lowering my hand and making the gauntlet go back into the watch. “But maybe we should wait until you’re not in the lab to practice using it.”

“That might be a good idea…” I said. “Maybe I could get Nat or Clint to teach me some moves use it with.”

“Or you could ask Spangles.” Tony said. “He can take a hit. Might be better.”

“Yeah I don’t think we’re there yet.” I said.

“Hales…” Tony started.

“Tony.” I said staring at him. “This is our day, do you really want to spend it talking about Steve?”

“I think maybe I should.” Tony said. “Because he’s obviously not going to, or he’s going to say the wrong thing.”

“Tony there is literally no point in talking about this. I spent months in therapy talking about it, weeks being miserable and sick about it, there is nothing I can do. Steve needs to work on himself and figure out what he wants and until he does I’m done.” I said. “He’s the one that refuses to even admit he has a problem.”

“Maybe things can be better the more time you spend together. I mean you are working together now.” Tony said.

“Weren’t you the one that wanted to surprise Steve with the news I was his boss in the most embarrassing way possible?” I retorted.

“Well yeah because he always acts all high and mighty and his way is the only right way to do things which I admit most of the time he’s right but he acts like…” Tony started.

“Like he has a stick up his ass.” I finished for him. “Tony the reason you guys work so well together isn’t because you all agree on everything all the time, it’s because you see things differently and balance each other out.”

“That right there is why you’re perfect for the job.” Tony said. “And one of many reasons I love you.”

“Love you too.” I said kissing him.

“You have any more meetings?” Tony asked.

“Nope, I’m just on call unless anything comes up at the compound.” I said.

“Good.” Tony said kissing me as he lowered his hands to my butt as he slowly started backing me up before lifting me up onto the lab table.

I smiled before I started running my fingers through his hair while we kissed. Tony moved to stand between my knees as he slowly started kissing down my neck when my phone started ringing.

“Uh… sorry hold on.” I said picking up my phone and seeing it was Steve. I turned it into a video call. “Hey, everything okay? I’m kind of in a meeting.”

“Hayley a mission just came up and I really think I should go on it but I need your authorization to be able to go on it.” He said.

“Have you checked in with Fury and Hill, I didn’t get any messages from them?” I asked.

“They’re in a meeting and said to check in with you because you have final say.” Steve said.

“Friday bring up the mission briefing.” I said as Tony handed me his tablet so I could read through it. “Uh let’s see… level three recon and retrieval mission. Possible undercover. You need to keep a low profile. Yeah this is a no go. It’s a low risk mission and we already have a full roster for the mission. You’re not going.”

“But it’s a potential Hydra cell…” Steve said.

“Very small cell less than four people and it’s intercepting a piece of old shield tech before it lands in the buyer’s hands. It’s handled.” I said. “You’re sitting it out. Anything else?”

“Are you sure cause…” He started.

“You’re not going.” I said before hanging up. “Friday monitor the quinjet hanger. Specifically quinjet number three.”

“You don’t think he’d actually try to get on do you?” Tony asked.

“Don’t know but just in case.” I said. “Now where were we?”

“I think I was doing something like…” He said as he started kissing my neck again as I started undoing his pants. I slipped my hand under his boxers and gently gripped him before stroking up and down making Tony hiss. “Hales.”

I kissed him as I kept going. Tony pulled my blouse free from where it was tucked into my skirt. He slipped his hand under my shirt and bra. He cupped my breast and squeezed it gently pinching my nipple between his thumb and index finger making me moan.

“Uh… Tony.” I moaned.

“Fuck. I don’t think I’m going to last if you keep that up.” Tony said.

“Want me to stop?” I said squeezing a bit harder.

“Ah…” Tony groaned pressing his face into my neck. He pinched my nipple a bit harder as he flinched.

“Tell me what you want Tony?” I asked.

“How about you tell me what you want boss?” He said as he gently nipped my earlobe. Just hearing me call me boss made me wet.

 “Anything?” I asked.

“You’re in charge.” He whispered ad he kneaded my breasts.

“I want you to fuck me against this table.” I blurted out.

I felt him twitch in my hand.

“Like that huh? You remember what you said, what you imagine whenever I wear heels and tight pencil skirts? How you want me? Bent over while you fuck me.” I said taking his hand and moving it under my skirt. “Still dressed, just flip my skirt up just enough to tear my panties off…”

“uh…” Tony’s breathing got heavier.

“And just take me as fast and hard as you want.” I said as he finally got to the apex of my thighs. “Gets me wet just thinking about it.”

“You’re so wet.” He said pressing his hand against my crotch. “hardly wearing anything under. Just a lace…”

He moved his fingers under tracing up and down my slit, squeezing my clit between his fingers.

“Tony…” I moaned before he teased my entrance before plunging a finger in. “Ah!...” I clung to him tight.

“Fuck so hot and tight.” Tony groaned threading his hand in my hair and pulling my head back as he plunged in a second finger.

“Ah!!!” I cried out.

“Want me to keep going boss?” Tony asked kissing down my chest.

“Please…Stop teasing…” I said.

“Tell me what you want boss…” he said.

“Fuck me.” I said. “Bend me over and fuck me, now.”

Tony smirked and pulled his hand out from under my skirt. Pulled me down and kissed me before spinning me around. Putting his hand in the middle of my back and gently bending me over before lifting up my skirt. Tony gently moved his hands up my thighs bending over me to move my hair aside as kiss the back of my neck.

“Red and lacey… all wrapped up just for me.” He hummed before he gripped my panties from my crotch and ripped them off.

“Ah…” I moaned. Fuck that was hot.

“I’ll buy you new ones.” He said giving me one last kiss as he lined up and slammed in.

“Ah!” I cried out, arching my back. Tony leaned forward moving one hand from my hip to my waist and under my shirt so he could keep touching my breasts.

“Fuck you’re even tighter like this.” Tony said pulling out before slamming in again as I clench around him making him groan. He was hitting all the right spots and it just felt even better like this.

“Don’t stop…” I said turning my head to kiss him.

He kissed me as he gave me a hard thrust pulling out immediately and pounding in.

“Tony yes…” I said as pushed my back down a bit and hitting deeper. Of course that’s just when we had to get interrupted.

“Boss…” Friday started.

“Oh come on…” I cursed.

“No…” Tony whined pressing his face against my shoulder.

“What is it Friday?” I asked.

“Captain Rogers is getting on the jet.” Friday said.

“Fucking Spangles.” Tony said starting to pull away but I reached back and stopping him keeping him in me. “Hales…”

“I got this.” I said. “Friday activate Banshee protocol on the quinjet.”

“Yes boss.” She said. I got my phone and saw the live footage of the inside of the jet. The pilot and all the agents including Steve were buckling in when a shrill high pitched cry ran through the jets speaker system as the plane engines shut down. All the agents cried out covering their ears but it wouldn’t stop. It was worse for Steve because of his enhanced senses he was covering his ears and shutting his eyes tight as he groaned.

“Woah…” Tony said.

I got into the intercom system.

“Captain Rogers get your star spangled ass off the jet if you want the sound to stop.” I said.

“Hayley!!!” He screamed.

“Get off the jet or…” I said making it louder so even agents on the tarmac were cringing.

“Ahhhh!!” the other agents screamed and Steve ran off the jet. The sound stopped and the jet doors immediately closed and locked.

Less than five seconds later he was video calling me.

“Hayley what the…” He started.

“Shut up. I made it very clear you weren’t authorized to go on that mission and you disobeyed a direct order.” I said feeling Tony’s grip on me tightened as he let exhaled heavily.

“It was an important mission.” Steve said.

“It was a milk run. You had no place being there and I’m sure Hill and Fury agreed with me which is why they didn’t assign you to begin with.” I said as I felt Tony twitch in me.

“I get that you’re doing your job but there’s no way Tony would…” He started before I moved my head slightly so he could see Tony was listening over my shoulder.

“She’s the boss, what she says goes.” Tony said before I moved back.

“Like I said before you’re grounded. Do it again and your thawed ass will be riding a desk permanently.” I said before hanging up.

“Fuck…” Tony said pressing himself against my back. “That was so fucking hot.”

“Oh yeah?” I said. “You like it when I’m bossy?”

“So much.” Tony said pulling out before pushing in against rocking his hips.

“Like it when I show people who the boss is…” I said.

“Yes…” He said starting to speed up pinching my nipple.

“When I tell them to shut up.” I said as thrust in hard.

“Oh you showed him who’s boss….” Tony said grabbed my hips pulling me back as he thrust forward pushing me to lean forward as he pounded into me hard and fast. “Kept me nice and warm while you did it…”

“Felt good…could feel you get harder and harder as I told him off.” I said “You liked that huh?”

“He didn’t even know how close I was.” Tony said not stopping even as I started panting. “So deep…”

“Fuck Tony…” I whined feeling myself get so close

“Hales fuck…“ He groaned spreading my legs to reach my clit and rub it fast as he pounded into me.

“Tony!” I cried out cumming and falling forward onto the desk.

“AH shit…” he cursed thrusting three more times before I felt his cum spill into me and he fell forward.

We were both panting… and then I started laughing…

“I can’t believe we just did that?” I said.

“What part? The boss talk while we… or telling off spangles while we kept doing it?” Tony said.

“Both,” I said and Tony laughed as he hugged me and kissed my cheek.

“That was really hot.” Tony said.

“Didn’t think that would turn me on as much as it did but you were right. Plus your texts gave me something to look forward to.” I said.

“Always happy to help.” Tony said “I did get an idea for something else we could try?”

“Oh really?” I said. “Something for Paris or…”

“Mhmm for when we get back… I want to take my time.” He said.

“I’m liking it already.” I said kissing his cheek.

“I’m getting kind of hungry.” He asked.

“We did work up an appetite.” I said.

“Let’s go out and get lunch, maybe take a walk?” He suggested.

“Sure let’s just wait until I can feel my legs again…” I said making Tony laugh.

It took a couple of minutes before we cleaned up and straighten ourselves out before we went out for lunch. We went to a sushi bar for lunch, it had been a while and one of the few things I did miss about living in the city. From there we went to the park and took a walk which made me regret wearing heels but I couldn’t wear a skirt without heels.

When we made it back I only had to deal with approving a shift change before calling it a day. Tony had also decided to take a day off from the lab so we were upstairs in the living room watching a movie. I got up to use the restroom and when I walked out I noticed a room Tony never used but kept in case Rhodey or anyone else was staying over after a party or something. But it was different now. Instead of the usual kind sized mattress and nightstand and all black furniture… there was a crib. And a changing table, a rocking chair, even a daybed with decorative pillows and baby avengers décor.

“Huh…” I said looking around at the nursery. It was cute. When I had a kid the nursery was probably going to decorate something like this. With glow in the dark stars on the ceiling. I flipped the switch and turned off the lights only for an accurate projection of the nights sky to be projected on the ceiling. He even put in a tiny death star. I shut off the lights and projector before going back to the living room.

Tony was looking at something on his phone but put it down when I sat down. “So I found us a few movies…”

“Mhmm…” I said.

“Uh oh.” Tony said.

“What uh oh?” I asked.

“You’re making a face.” Tony said.

“This is my face Tony what other face am I going to make?” I said.

“I can feel something from your mark Hales. It’s not bad but you’re feeling something… warm and fuzzy and something else…” he said.

“Okay so I saw the room.” I said.

“What room?” Tony asked.

“The nursery.” I said.

“Oh… that room.” Tony said sitting up. “Yeah I kind of… went overboard when I thought you were… that there was going to be a baby around and I went ahead and bought everything the internet said we were going to need and I even designed a baby carrier with a forcefield because we’re us and things tend to go wrong…”

“We never really got a chance to talk about it did we?” I said.

“There wasn’t really a lot to talk about. There was no baby…” Tony said.

“Yeah but for a while you actually thought there was going to be. More than any of us did.” I said.

“You only drunk dialed me?” Tony said.

“Yeah. I mean you’re one of the loves of my life, one of my soulmates, and one of my best friends and I know that whatever stupid mistakes I do that I tell you about you always find a way to make me laugh about it later.” I said.

“Well I didn’t laugh about that.” Tony said. “I freaked out a lot. I never saw myself as a dad, my dad wasn’t the best and I’m just like him so I’d probably be really bad or worse so I never let myself want that.”

I felt like I had gotten punched in the gut hearing that. I had to bite my lip to keep myself from saying anything. Tony needed to talk about this. I wasn’t going to let him bottle it up.

“I mean until I met you. I was a mess and in a lot of ways I still am but I always knew someday down the line I wanted everything with you. And it always seemed really down the line but when I got that message I just froze and panicked. I went into overdrive trying to make the tower as safe as possible, trying to figure out how exactly this thing would even work considering with of us and the break up had just happened and then a kid is just…” Tony started. “The first three days I just kept thinking that over and over again while I baby proofed every inch of this place. I even baby proofed the toilet which let me tell you it’s a lot easier to put on than take off.”

“I never saw the point of that that’s why you’re supposed to close the door right?” I said.

“That would have been good to hear before I had the entire thing replaced.” Tony said. “So that happened and I couldn’t sleep going over the worst thing that could possibly happen, I even called Rhodey but he was no help…”

“In his defense you apparently were making no sense.” I added in. “And he had no clue what was going on.”

“Then I think it was the day you and Clint took Rebekah’s kids hiking or swimming and I saw picture of you with that baby and I just thought that’s all that matters. At the end of the day I wasn’t alone, I had you and everyone else though still no idea how that would work but having more people around to make sure I don’t screw the kid up wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.” Tony said.

“You’re not going to screw any kids up Tony. None of us really had perfect parents, the good thing about that is you know what not to do. And at the end of the day what really matters is loving your kid and it’s pretty obvious you already do.” I said. “I mean that nursery, Equal representation for all of us, ethically sourced everything…”

“I tried.” He said before biting his lip wanting to say something.

“There’s more isn’t there?” I asked.

“I just… I love you no matter what and I get that this isn’t the right time with everything but as much as I was freaking out I was kind of sad the test was negative…” Tony said a bit nervous as he said it refusing to see me.

“I knew I wasn’t pregnant. It was a pretty crazy couple of weeks but I knew I wasn’t, but while I was waiting the two minutes for that test to finish I starting thinking about it actually being positive and having a mini us running around and when it was negative I was disappointed.” I said. “I know it’s crazy and way too soon but… yeah. It’s probably for the best. Could you imagine having to deal with the Dragon Lady while doing this job and pregnant?”

“We would have made it work.” Tony said.

“She kidnapped Adam.” I said. “Our kid, on the off chance they get any alien stuff from me, she wouldn’t just kidnap them, she’d do whatever it takes to get what she wanted out of them. So yet another reason she needs to be dealt with. We’ll get there, there are just things we need to do first, enjoy a little more time just being us.”

“I do enjoy us time.” Tony said pulling me closer. I moved to straddle his lap and put my arms around him as we started kissing.

We stayed like that for about another hour just making out, holding each other… I lived for moments like these.

If it weren’t for that early morning meeting I would have stayed.

“Oh come on Hales, you can skype in.” Tony said.

“Tony it’s only my third day and I already took two half days and one of those was working remotely.” I said. “The boss does need to show her face at the office.”

“I bet she does…” Tony said with a flirty smile.

“Down boy.” I said. “Though if maybe my boss wants to surprise me in the office one day to check on things…”

“I just might.” He said kissing me.

“Love you.” I said.

“Love you too.” Tony said kissing me again. “Okay, okay, let me know when you get home. Keep the watch on you and if you want to use the watch to kick spangles off the jet instead of the Banshee wail…”

“Watch is for self defense only.” I said. “get some sleep.”

“I will after I know you’re home.” He said.

“Talk to you tomorrow.” I said getting into my car and driving back home.

The Following Morning…

I woke up before Clint did. Man I envied how much of a heavy sleeper he could be sometimes. I kissed his cheek before slipping out of bed to jump in the shower. By the time I was out Clint was out of bed and downstairs getting started on breakfast.

I got dressed in a white buttoned up shit with half sleeves, a high waisted blue pencil skirt with a pleated bow on the front at the waist and matching blue suede heels. I finished off the look with my arrow necklace and new watch.

I headed downstairs where my handsome archer soulmate already had a mug of coffee ready for me.

“Morning.” I said kissing him as I took my coffee.

“Morning.” He said smiling as he prepared one of his protein shakes. According to him he needed to get back in shape. When was he ever not in shape?

“I love you.” I said taking my first sip of coffee.

“Should I be jealous of that coffee mug?” He said.

“Never.” I said. “Did I miss anything?”

“Other than Steve being hard of hearing for a few hours and all the old man jokes we made? Nothing much.” Clint said. “How’s Tony?”

“Good, he made me an iron man gauntlet that comes out of a watch.” I said lifting my hand so he could see it.

“Wow, Just when you think he outdid himself he does it again.” Clint said taking a closer look at it. “You tried it out yet?”

“A bit, accidentally shot off a blast in the lab.” I said. “It’s a deterrent so it’s only for buying time to run away or until back up shows up.”

“No looking for fights.” Clint said.

“Course not.” I said before I looked at the time. “Oh shit, I have to go or I’m going to be late. I’ll see you later. Love you.”

I kissed him before grabbing my things.

“Love you.” He said back as I ran out.

The meeting itself was pretty uneventful. Just keeping everyone up to date. I may be the boss but Hill and Fury did have years of experience running Shield.

“What’s this I heard about a shrieking alarm going off in my quinjet hanger?” Fury said.

“Technically it’s our quinjet hanger, we’re all on the same team.” I said. “I was serious about not allowing agents to go on missions they have no business being on. A certain Captain decided the rules didn’t apply to him so I set up a failsafe to enforce that rule.”

“He’s a super soldier and he knows what he’s doing.” Fury said. “He would have been fine.”

“It was a business decision not personal. You have a severe budget deficit. Every penny saved counts.” I said.

“The mission did go off without a hitch. Team actually finished early and with no collateral damage.” Hill said.

“Alright then, we have a few active missions, I managed to re-route a few teams to handle the more urgent missions we couldn’t postpone.” Fury said.

“That’s good, next order of business. The Foundation suggested we lay off people.” I said.

“Are you…” Hill started.

“That’s not going to happen. All of our personnel is essential and can’t be laid off so I’m thinking we temporarily reduce benefits.” I said. “Most of our staff goes to medical here so if we cut their PPO healthcare for the next couple of months that should give us a bit more wiggle room. Might be a hard sell though.”

“They used to be government employees, they’re used to it. Just send a mass email.” Fury said.

“Friday will be right on it.” I said. “We’re going to be working on the PR problem might have the team make appearances at hospitals, do some community service see if we can make the news for not blowing up something. Any other issues?”

“I think that’s it for now, but I think someone wants to talk to you.” Hill said pointing to the door where Steve was pacing in the hallway.

“It’s either to apologize or to whine.” I said grabbing my things. “You know where I’ll be if you need me.”

“Morning.” I said as I walked out.

“Morning.” Steve said. “Can we talk?”

“Walk and talk.” I said nodding in the direction of my office.

“It’s about yesterday, I wanted to apologize…” he started.

“I don’t need an apology I need you to not do it again.” I said as we kept going.

“I know you’re in a tough position because of the budget…” Steve started.

“Then you should know why you need to obey your orders.” I said as we walked into my office and I put my things down on my desk.

“It was a Hydra cell.” Steve said.

“That was not confirmed only suspected.” I said walking out of the office and Steve followed me. I didn’t get to finish my usual morning caffeine dose so I headed to the common room to use the espresso machine.

“Either way Hydra I thought I should be there because things with Hydra tend to get more complicated than they’re supposed to be.” Steve said.

“Doesn’t really matter. You’re not in charge anymore. The mission was handled successfully and in record time with no collateral the way it was supposed to be without you there.” I said as we walked into the common room where everyone was having breakfast. “And I meant what I said, you’re grounded. Morning guys.”

“Morning.” Everyone said.

“Hey.” I said kissing Nat’s cheek before I went to pour myself a cup of coffee and taking a sip. “Mhmm needed that.”

At that instant Bucky walked in and froze when he saw me.

“Morning.” I said.

“Hi.” Bucky said just staring at me.

“Is it okay if we go to the Farmer’s market a half hour later than usual, I have a feeling my meeting with accounting might run long.” I said.

“That’s okay.” Bucky said looking at me strangely.

“You okay?” I asked him. “You look a little red.”

He just nodded.

“Okay, I’ll look for you when I’m done so we can head out.” I said gently patting his shoulder. Before he grabbed an apple and walked out. Maybe he was having an off day. He did have therapy yesterday.

“Well, I’ll be in my office if anyone needs me.” I said. “Oh and Steve there’s a stack of paperwork on your desk and virtual training modules that need to get done by the end of the day. Get it done please.”

With that I was out.

Third Person’s POV

“She’s in a good mood.” Natasha said.

“I don’t think she’s the only one.” Sam said.

“That was a really cute skirt.” Wanda said.

“She’s still not talking to me.” Steve said.

“She was just talking to you.” Natasha said.

“About work.” He said.

“What did you expect, she’s your boss and you’re not together anymore.” Natasha said.

“At least she’s not yelling at you.” Rhodey said

“She did get you pretty good yesterday.” Sam said.

“He had it coming.” Natasha said.

“Natasha I don’t know how many times I can say I’m sorry.” Steve said.

“I don’t need you to apologize I need you to stop being an idiot.” She said before walking out.

“You really have to get it together.” Sam said.

“I don’t even know what I did wrong.” Steve said.

“They keep telling you…” Sam started.

“Morning…” Sharon said walking in.

“Hey Sharon.” Steve said.

“Hi, I uh… I was in town and I got you a mini apple pie from the bakery.” She said.

“Oh thanks.” Steve said while everyone at the just shook their head at how stupid he was being.

“I should go, I’ll see you later.” Sharon said.

Steve smiled as he looked at his pie before he looked up and saw everyone staring at him and shaking their heads.

“What?” Steve said.

“Dude…” Sam said.

“You’re just digging yourself even deeper.” Rhodey said.

“Idiot.” Wanda said in Sokovian as she walked out with Vision for training.

“What?” Steve said confused as to what he did wrong.

One tedious meeting with Ops to get a run through as to how things were done before adding in a few suggestions as to how they organized their system, and also reassigning extra work to a slacker who was playing Galaga very badly before I headed to accounting to run some numbers see if we could stretch the budget a bit more. I got us a bit of wiggle room in a few departments but diverting a quarter of the research budget. Doctor Cho funded herself which meant that medical research and it’s staff was safe. Selvig has a genius grant was going to be teaching part time so he didn’t need any big projects funded at the moment. He could make do with the equipment available at the compound.

I was in my office when someone knocked at the door. I was doing some walking while I running numbers and reading up some Interpol files on drug related crimes in Europe.

“Come in.” I said not stopping what I was doing.

“Oh, I’m sorry I think I got the wrong office.” She said. I turned and saw Sharon.

“Who are you looking for?” I asked looking back at the screen and getting back to work.

“Uh the new boss. I was told this is her office.” She said.

“It is. That’d be me.” I said.

“Oh, I didn’t know you worked here.” She said.

“Just started. Did you want something?” I said correcting an error on a spreadsheet with my left hand while typing in code with my right hand on a projected keyboard.

“Yes I wanted to see about getting an independent investigation started.” Sharon said offering me a file. “I’ve been looking into…”

“Friday bring up the file.” I said and Friday brought up another projected screen. I glanced at it not needing more than a second to get through it all.

“New drug that…” She continued.

“Permission denied. Funding for any new investigations are temporarily on hold.” I said swiping the projection signaling Friday to close it.

“But…” She started.

“All decisions are final. We have open investigations that are higher priority.” I said.

“If you read the file you’ll see…” She started.

“I read it, the FBI or DEA can handle it.” I said not even bothering to look at her. “Is there anything else?”

“No. Thanks for your time.” Sharon said before walking out of the office.

I finished up what I was doing before going to look for Bucky. He was in the common room reading a book. I think it was the Martian.

“Hey, you ready to go?” I asked.

“Yeah.” He said marking where he was in the book before standing up.

“You hungry? I was thinking we could stop by that food truck that’s always packed and get a bite to eat after the market?” I said.

“Okay.” He said staring at me. I debated asking about it but decided to wait for him to say something.

We headed out like we always did. Bucky told me about the book he was reading an recommended some other scifi novels I thought he’d like. He listened to me very attentively. I wasn’t really sure when it happened but we actually started holding hands. We were walking and our hands touched and next thing I knew we were holding hands. And I was also getting some mixed signals from Bucky’s mark. One minute he was anxious, but we were in a crowd which totally made sense. Then he’d get this warm fuzzy feeling and I’d catch him staring at me. Not like he normally did sometimes when he was trying to figure out if I was being serious or sarcastic but warmer, not as stern. He seemed to be smiling more. Not just the cute small smile he’d give me sometimes but like an actual smile. I can see how he used to be a ladies man back in the day. He’s a natural flirt.

Once we were back in the compound we somehow ended up holding hands again. I wasn’t complaining. Though I could tell he purposely switch sides sometimes to make sure I wouldn’t hold his metal hand. Or maybe it was because he heard about the dragon lady being back but he hadn’t asked. Then again he was really deep in thought most of the day.

Oh well, he’d tell me when he was ready.

I got back to my office and went back to work. I answered a few emails when Steve walked in.

“Do you have a minute?” Steve said staring at me in shock as I worked with all eight monitors at high speeds even he couldn’t keep up with.

“I can multi-task.” I said typing away.

“I feel like we should clear the air.” Steve said.

“I’m going to stop you right there. We can talk if it’s work related, if it’s personal I said all that needed to be said on the matter.” I said.

“I feel like our work is going to be affected by our personal issues.” He said.

“I know how to compartmentalize.” I said.

“Hayley can you at least look at me when we talk?” Steve asked.

“Like I said I’m multitasking.” I said. “Have you finished your paperwork?”

“No but…” Steve said.

“It’s three o’clock and they’re due at five so I’d get on it.” I said. “Accounting’s going to need them tomorrow.”

“I’ll get it done.” Steve said. “The team’s having a dinner and game night…”

“I have date night with Clint and I need to make a call to Hong Kong so it’s going to have to be another time but thank you.” I said.

“Okay.” He said leaving disappointed.

Paperwork just kept coming in. I was planning on going home early and helping make dinner but I didn’t have the same set up at the house and it annoyed me that everything was so slow.

“Boss it’s the end of the day.” Friday said.

“Right.” I said snapping out of my zone out. “Anything we forgot to do that I should take care of?”

“No ma’am you’re actually ahead of schedule.” Friday said.

“Good, I’m sleeping in tomorrow. Might take Clint and Lucky on a hike, how’s the weather looking.” I asked.

“Perfect sunny day but if you’re going in the morning you should wear a jacket.” Friday said.

“Will do. Did everyone complete their paperwork?” I said.

“Captain Rogers is about to finish.” She said.

“Alright then, let Clint know I’m on my way please.” I said as I grabbed my things and headed out.

Getting home at the end of the day was a great feeling.

“Honey, I’m home.” I said as I walked in.

“Hey.” Clint said kissing me.

“How was work?” He said.

“Good just a lot of paperwork.” I said before I smelled something amazing. “Something smells good in here.”

“Glad you think so I made fettucine alfredo.” Clint said. “And a salad and breadsticks.”

“Yum.” I said. “Anything I can do?”

“Nope, just sit down and relax.” He said pulling out my chair.

“Why thank you.” I said kissing his cheek before I sat down.

That Night- Third Person’s POV

Bucky was in bed… dreaming.

It was the 1940’s again in a familiar looking apartment. He recognized it as the one he shared with Steve in Brooklyn. Everything looked exactly as he remembered it. It was small, there were water marks on the ceiling, the floor creaked but there was music… soft jazz playing.

He looked down at himself and saw that he wasn’t wearing the clothes he normally wore or any uniform. Instead he was in the clothes he used to wear. Brown slacks and a button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up. And he didn’t have a metal arm it was flesh and blood. His hand.

“How about that one?” Someone asked him.

He turned around and saw Hayley wearing the same clothes she had worn that day. She was holding a few records as she browsed through them.

“Hayley.” He said but she just stared at him with a smile.

“Cat got your tongue?” She teased as she stood up and walked up to him. “Thought you were going to show me some moves?”

“Yeah?” He asked as she put a hand on his shoulder.

“Are you backing out Sarge?” She whispered in his ear.

“Wouldn’t dream of it Doll.” He said taking her hand and moving his other hand to her waist.

Slowly they started swaying back and forth before he swung Hayley out and spun her bringing her back so her back was against his chest as they swayed to the music for a few beats before he spun her around again but when he caught her he dipped her. Their faces were right next to each other. The tips of their noses touching before slowly he pressed his lips to her and she kissed him back as he brought her back up.

He leaned down pressing his forehead against hers, looking into her bright green eyes. She brought her arms up around him. She could feel her fingers running through his hair as she pressed up against him slowly reaching up to kiss him again.

Bucky pulled her as close as he could, his arms around her waist slowly moving up and down her back. The kissed deepened and Hayley moaned. Bucky’s hand moved lower to her hip as slowly he moved her against the back of the couch.

“Mhmm.” She moaned into the kiss as Bucky threaded his fingers into her hair.

“Like my moves Dollface?” He whispered into her ear.

“Uh, yes…” She said as she kissed his cheek before bucky kissed and sucked on her neck as he picked her up and sat her on the edge of the couch. “Bucky!”

“Mh… you make such pretty noises baby.” He said kissing her as one of his hands was on her back keeping her from falling and the other hand slowly moved down her thigh to her knee as he lifted it up over his hip. “Looked so sexy baby, tight little skirt…”

Slowly he moved his hand under her skirt feeling the lace trim of her stockings on her thigh. Finally feeling skin as he continued kissing her neck and she moaned throwing her head back.

“You’re wearing stockings and a garter belt baby…” He whispered. “No fucking ideas how much I like that.”

“I wore it for you sarge.” She said.

“Oh baby.” Bucky said stepping between her knees spreading her legs further apart letting him get closer pressing himself against her core. Her skirt riding up even more, giving him a better look. “Fuck doll. No idea what you do to me.”

He rocked himself against her with every word.

“Ah!” She gasped.

“Can you feel how much I want you doll face?” He said rocking harder as he nuzzled her face into her neck. “Got me so fucking hard.”

“Bucky….

“So fucking sexy Doll.” He said.

“Ah… Bucky!”

“Love hearing you make those pretty sounds.” Bucky said kissing down her neck. “Want to see you wearing nothing but that garter belt and these stockings baby. Want your legs wrapped around me tight…. Clinging to me while I…”

That’s when he woke up gasping for air.

Bucky looked around and realized he was back in his room in the compound. He was dreaming and now he was awake. He moved to sit at the edge of the bed when he realized that some parts of him were a lot more awake than normal.

“Shit.” Bucky cursed.

“Sergeant Barnes do you require assistance?” Friday asked.

“No!” Bucky answered quickly. The last thing he needed was someone coming to check on him right now.

The Following Morning- Third Person’s POV

Bucky sat on the couch of his therapist’s office like he did three times a week, every week for over a year now. His therapist Doctor Robert Ellman specialized in treating prisoners of war and helping them assimilate back into civilian life. He was compassionate but was not afraid to call Bucky out when needed.

Part of Bucky’s therapy was that he had to keep a dream journal so that they could work through weather it was a new memory or past trauma.

Today the journal did not have any new notes but it was pretty obvious they were torn out.

“So want to tell me about this?” Doctor Ellman said showing what remained of the torn pages.

“There’s nothing there.” Bucky said.

“I can see that. Was it a bad one?” he asked.

Bucky was quiet staring at the wall with a strange look on his face.

“No.” he finally said.

“So it was a good memory?” he asked.

“It wasn’t a memory.” Bucky said but then stayed quiet.

“Bucky I understand dreams can be very personal but considering you were the one that insisted on an earlier than scheduled session and rather urgently at that I’m sure there’s something you wanted to talk about.” He said.

“I had a dream. About Hayley.” He said.

“Really?” He said. “What happened in this dream?”

Bucky just stared at the floor.

“Did you… hurt her?” he asked,

“No.” He said. “It wasn’t like that.”

“Then what were you doing in this dream?” Doctor Ellman asked.

“I was in my old apartment in Brooklyn. The one I shared with Steve. I wasn’t in uniform or had a metal arm. I was me before the war. Wore my old clothes. There was music and Hayley was there, we were dancing and then… we weren’t.” he said.

“What were you doing?” He asked.

“We got closer.” Bucky said slightly blushing.

Doctor Ellman looked at him confused before he realized what he meant by closer.

“Oh.” He said. “And how do you feel?”

“I don’t know.” Bucky said.

“You don’t have anything to be ashamed of.” He said. “It’s perfectly normal. You and Hayley are very close and she is your soulmate and you are a young… ish man. It’s perfectly normal to have sexual desires.”

“But should I be having them?” Bucky said. “We’re not like that.”

“Do you want to be like that?” he said.

“I don’t think that’s an option.” Bucky said.

“Have you asked her?” he asked.

“No but… I don’t think she sees me like that.” Bucky said.

“Didn’t she say that she told you you were hot?” Doctor Ellman said.

“Yes.” Bucky said blushing.

“And you two spend a lot of time together. You spend more time with her than with anyone else including Steve.” He said.

“Yeah but that’s a whole other thing on it’s own.” Bucky said. “Steve and Hayley aren’t together…”

“You and Hayley are completely separate from Hayley and Steve.” He said.

“Do you think he’ll see it that way?” Bucky asked.

“How are things with Steve?” Doctor Ellman asked.

“We talk.” Bucky said. Small talk or Bucky just sat in the room while Steve talked about anything mostly the way things used to be.

“But you don’t talk about him as much as you talk about Hayley.” He said.

“It’s different.” Bucky said.

“Different how?” he asked.

“Steve still sees me as who I used to be, Hayley never knew me before, she doesn’t have any expectations of who I’m supposed to be I’m just… me.” Bucky said.

“Have you talked to Steve about this?” He asked.

“No.” Bucky said. “Hayley said I should.”

“She’s not wrong.” He said. “You should talk to them both.”

“And say what? I know things have changed but I don’t think they’ve changed so much I can tell Hayley about my dream.” Bucky said.

“Well maybe not right now but why not start by asking her out on a date?” he suggested. “Go see a movie or go dancing.”

“I don’t think I’m ready for dancing.” Bucky said.

“Okay, take it slow and see how it goes.” He said.

“Alright.” Bucky said.

“And if you need help talking to Steve maybe you could bring Hayley and Steve to therapy. From what you’ve told me they probably need it.” He said.

“We’ll see.” Bucky said.

Later that day- Hayley’s POV

I was in the common room getting my mid day coffee when Bucky walked in.

“Hey Bucky.” I said.

“Hayley.” Bucky said looking at me strangely. I looked down to see if there was something wrong with what I was wearing. My outfit wasn’t anything out of this world. I had picked out a red pencil skirt with black accent buttons running up the left of it and a cream pagoda half sleeved blouse with red heels. I had also chosen to wear red lipstick so it was a little more color than I usually wore.

“It’s a fresh pot if you want some.” I said.

“Yeah.” He said. I looked at him and he was being weird again.

“Bucky?” I said walking closer to him and slowly raising my hand to cup his cheek and see if he had a fever. I felt him tense. “You feeling okay? You don’t have a fever. At least I don’t think so. I know Steve runs a bit warmer than normal not sure if you do too?”

“I’m okay.” He said his voice cracking a bit.

“You sure?” I asked.

“Yeah.” He said staring at me really intensely. His hand gently coming to rest on mine. I never noticed how blue his eyes were. Not at cerulean as Thor or Steve’s or blue green that almost seemed grey like Clint’s it was more of a Steel blue, like winter… that was probably a really bad way of putting it.

“Oh!” Steve said walking in. “Am I interrupting?”

“No, I was just getting coffee.” I said smiling at Bucky, his hand following mine before he realized I was moving away and that Steve was there.

“I’m going for a run.” Bucky said walking out as fast as he could.

I waiting until he was out of earshot before asking Steve.

“Did he seem off to you?” I asked.

“Uh no why?” Steve asked.

“Huh, no reason.” I said grabbing my cup of coffee. “There’s more paperwork on your desk.”

“Okay. How was the phone call to Hong Kong?” Steve asked.

“It was a dead end.” I said taking a sip of my coffee.

“Was it about your mom?” He asked.

“Dragon Lady,” I corrected “more or less.”

“Oh.” Steve said. “Can we talk?”

“Business or personal?” I asked.

“Personal.” He said.

“Yeah I think we said all that needed to be said on that matter.” I said. “And I’m really not in the mood to fight, I have a list of things that need to get done.”

“I’m seriously trying to talk to you about us, trying to fix things and you won’t even give me a chance.” Steve said.

“Steve I already know how this is going to go. You’re going to say I’m sorry even though you don’t even know what you’re apologizing for. You’re going to ask for another chance, say it’s going to be different but it won’t be because you still haven’t even made an effort to work through your issues and nothing’s changed.” I said.

“I don’t know what you want from me.” He said.

“I’ve already told you what I want you just won’t listen.” I said.

“I can’t just stop loving Peggy.” Steve said.

“Did I ever ask you to?” I said and he just froze. “Exactly. Until you sort yourself out there is no us to talk about.”

With that I grabbed my coffee and walked out.

I went back to work for a few hours and I was back in the zone with all eight screens going at full speed. I was so into what I was doing I didn’t see or hear when Bucky came in, not that I usually did when I wasn’t hyperfocused on what I was doing.

“Krasivaya.” Natasha gently put a hand on my shoulder snapping me out of it.

“Oh hey.” I said smiling before noticing bucky was standing across the desk from me. “What’s up guys?”

“It’s lunch time.” She said.

“Oh good I’m starting to get hungry.” I said. “You okay bucky?”

“Yeah… is that… normal?” He said gesturing at the screens.

“It’s a thing I do.” I said with a shrug. “Did you need something?”

“uh no I just… I was passing by.” He said putting his hands in his pockets. Natasha arched an eyebrow.

“Oh well lunch time, we should go. Who’s turn is it to cook?” I asked.

“Sam’s.” She said.

“Cool.” I said. “You coming?”

“In a minute.” Bucky said looking at me strangely again. Seeing me hyperfocused did have that effect on people.

“Okay.” I said walking out with Nat.