AN: I wrote this while on a road trip last week. I apologize if it makes no sense.
I don't own anything, if I did, Bucky would get his plums.
Enjoy!
Operation Ducky
Tony had had it. Lewis and Barnes had been making goo goo eyes at each other for months now. Both had refused to admit their feelings to the other and both had angsted over the fact that they weren't together. Frankly, it was annoying and pathetic.
Since the wanna be love birds had yet to get it together, Tony had deemed it time to take matters into his own hands. He had spent weeks trying to decide the best way to get Bucky and Darcy together and now it was time to put all that effort to use. Operation Get Bucky and Darcy (or Ducky as Tony had taken to calling them)Together was a go.
X-X-X
Ok, so Tony's first attempt at Operation Ducky had failed. He'd tried to get them alone in the right atmosphere, which would result in a confession of romantic feelings. What happened instead was a mess.
Tony had invited the two to a 'party' that the others would most definitely be 'attending' but he really had just set up the common room with candles and streamers and fluffy pillows. Tony had double checked that none of the others would be around that night for the soul purpose that Barnes and Lewis would be alone.
When they arrived, Tony was there to greet them, but quickly excused himself with the promise of returning in a minute. He snuck away to his lab and instructed Friday to pull up the camera footage of the common floor so he could spy on them.
Instead of admitting their undying love for each other, they apparently got bored of waiting for the rest of the team to show and started a pillow fight. At first it was pretty cute and Tony was sure at some point during the fight they would accidently kiss or something, but instead of anything romantic happening, a stray pillow landed on a candle and the next thing Tony knew, his tower was on fire. Pepper was going to kill him.
The fire alarm went off and Tony raced up to the living room. Steve, Thor, Wanda and Vision met him there and together they put out the fire. The crisis had been averted but the alarm had triggered flash backs for Bucky, and Darcy, thanks to the smoke, was coughing up a storm. Obviously, there was no getting together that night.
X-X-X
Tony's second attempt was no better. He'd figured that girls liked tragic back stories right? That's why thousands of teenage girls wrote fanfiction right? That's what girls wanted out of their boyfriends, so they would be able to lovingly care for them right? Well, apparently not Darcy Lewis.
In an attempt to expose Darcy to Bucky's tragic past and show her that Bucky could be sensitive and all that mushy stuff, Tony had taken them to the Smithsonian. Of course, he didn't flat out tell them that was where they were going.
Tony had disguised it as a trip to SHIELD HQ. The team really did have a meeting scheduled with Hill and Fury, but Bucky wasn't an official member of the team. Tony had convinced Darcy to go along with them so she and Bucky could keep each other company.
Once they got to D.C., Tony dropped the pair off at the museum, ordering them to have fun, before taking off again. As he was leaving he saw Bucky and Darcy heading up the stairs out of the corner of his eye and counted that as a win, even though Bucky clearly wasn't as excited as Darcy.
When Tony went back to get them, the sight that greeted him was far from romantic. Bucky was sitting at the base of a tree, head buried in his hands and his shoulders were shaking. Darcy was massaging his back with one hand and petting his hair with the other, all while whispering comforting words to Bucky.
As Tony approached, Darcy turned the second (only to Pepper) scariest glare Tony had ever seen on him. Tony gulped, once they made it back to the Tower, he made himself scarce.
X-X-X
Tony's third plan was to take Operation Ducky to the park. He had overheard Bucky's therapist telling Bucky that it would be good for him to be outside more, that he needed social interaction outside of the Tower. Honestly, Tony wholeheartedly agreed. So when Tony suggested a picnic as a team bonding experience, Bucky had no choice but to agree.
Tony had packed sandwiches, chips, fruit, and sodas in the traditional picnic baskets. He'd even packed a few cliché checkered blankets. Thor and Vision were a bit perplexed at the idea, but were willing to give it a try.
The park that Tony had selected was small and secluded, perfect for their ragtag family of crazy superheroes. There was a picnic area, two slides, monkey bars, and a set of swings. After they had finished eating, Darcy had taken one look at the swings and made a break for them. Wanda laughed and ran off to join her.
Once the two girls were settled, Wanda, who thanks to her telepathy, was in on Tony's schemes, called Bucky over. "Come push us, Yasha!"
"I don't think that's such a good idea, Wanda." Bucky called back.
"Come on Barnes, please?" Darcy called from her motionless swing.
"Go on, Buck." Steve said, nudging Bucky closer to the girls, "go on and have some fun."
Bucky looked back at Darcy's pout once more before making up his mind. Tony mentally fist pumped when Bucky gave in and made his way over to the girls. His fist pump quickly turned into a horrified shriek as Bucky's left arm sent Darcy sailing through the air and into a puddle of mud.
Everyone stared dumbfounded at a very mud covered Darcy. Darcy herself sat in shock for all of five seconds before grabbing a handful of mud. "You're in for it now, Barnes!" she shouted as she ran at Bucky with mud in both hands.
"Run, Bucky, run!" Steve laughed as Bucky stood frozen in place. Tony face palmed as an all-out mud war started up between his teammates.
X-X-X
This was it. If this didn't work, Tony was going to give up. Both Barnes and Lewis could live distantly ever after for all he cared. And Tony didn't care. Not one bit. And if anyone accused him otherwise, Tony would deny it to his grave.
Tony's fourth and final try at Operation Ducky was to lock them in the elevator until they got it through their thick brunet heads that they were madly in love. Tony didn't care if it took hours or days; they were staying in there until they kissed.
By now, just about everyone was in on Operation Ducky. Tony had convinced everyone to avoid the elevator until further notice so that when Bucky and Darcy did get in, Ducky would be alone with no one to interrupt them.
The plan had seemed to work, Bucky had gotten on first, presumably heading to the common floor for breakfast. Then the elevator halted at Darcy's floor and she too got on. Tony allowed them to proceed to the communal floor before halting their ride just below it, in between the levels.
Bucky and Darcy both stared in wonder at the panel on the wall. Tony had bragged on a daily basis that nothing in his tower could break and yet here they were, stuck in a broken elevator.
"Friday?" Bucky called, but the AI failed to respond.
"I got this," Darcy declared as she moved to the panel. "Four years of working with Jane should've taught me something."
Bucky shrugged and decided to let her figure it out. Darcy made a few annoyed grunts before proudly announcing, "Aha!"
Bucky patiently waited for whatever she did to work, but the only thing that changed was the light flickering off.
"Oops." Bucky eyed Darcy as she shrugged. "I guess now all we can do is wait."
Bucky huffed as he sank down to the floor. Darcy joined him with a laugh.
"How are you not bothered by this?" Bucky asked.
"What's the matter, Barnes? Don't like the dark?"
"You spend seventy years going in and out of cryo freeze and then we'll see how much you like small, dark spaces." Bucky snapped.
Darcy's eyes widened at the verbal attack.
"I'm sorry, Darce. Sometimes I just…" Bucky chocked out a sigh.
"Hey," Darcy said, scooting closer to Bucky. "It's totally fine. You're not the only one to snap under stress."
"A man shouldn't snap at a lady Darcy. And I shouldn't have snapped at you."
Darcy didn't allow herself to think before giving in to an urge that had been growing for weeks. Fumbling slightly in the dark, Darcy grabbed Bucky's collar and dragged him in for a sloppy kiss. Bucky made a surprised grunt and cradled Darcy's head with his hands.
The two were so engrossed in the other that they failed to notice both the light coming back on and the elevator surging to life. The door opened to the common room, giving the rest of the team quite the show.
"You happy there, Buck?" Steve laughed at the same time Jane let out an irritated "Darcy!"
The new couple jumped apart, Bucky slightly pink and Darcy completely unfazed.
Tony let out a completely undignified shout of "YESSSS!"
Operation Ducky was a success.
The End
Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment!
Special thanks to my beta, You'remyFriend and to my sister who provided a lot of the plot.