BEFORE YOU START READING: THIS STORY HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
This story follows the events of my one-shots The Adventures of Bucky Bear and The Trials of Captain Ameribear, which you don't necessarily have to read to enjoy this story, although you might want to just so you understand where everybody is at this point. And I originally said I was not going to continue that storyline, but well, I couldn't help myself, frankly :3
This story will be a combination of some slightly ridiculous situations but hopefully still in-character characters, and knowing myself there will be plenty angst and hurt/comfort and such.
This is really just for fun, because there are just some situations that I wanted to see Steve and Bucky try to deal with ;3
Chapter 1: Two Left Feet
It was date night—Bucky and Steve were going dancing. And they were running late.
"Steve!" Bucky called, banging on the bathroom door with his right hand. "Come out already! We've got to go!"
"I'm working on it!" came the muffled reply from inside.
"What's taking you so long?" Bucky demanded in irritation. "It's not like you've got long hair to deal with or anything, it shouldn't take that long for your hair to dry."
"Hey, I haven't gotten all dressed up like this since the 1940s!" Steve protested from inside, talking loudly over the sound of the hairdryer.
"Steve," Bucky said warningly, standing back to glare at the door and cross his arms. "If you don't get out of there this second, I am knocking with my left hand. And you know how I have trouble moderating the strength of the metal appendage sometimes."
"Okay okay!" came Steve's voice, flustered, as the sound of the hairdryer turned off. "Let me run a comb through my hair though..."
"Steve, I'm knocking," Bucky warned, raising his left hand towards the weak plywood door, which suddenly swung inwards, so that Bucky's metal fist almost connected with Steve's face instead.
Bucky stopped his hand just in time, grinning triumphantly.
"How do I look?" Steve asked self-consciously as he stepped out, somehow managing to look up from under his combed and slightly damp blond hair at his best friend, despite being taller.
Bucky looked him over; Steve was wearing gray dress pants with a matching gray suit over a white dress shirt, with a crooked light-blue tie.
Eyebrows raising in mild surprise at Steve's groomed appearance, Bucky gave a smirk, saying, "Wow, you must really think Sharon's cute."
Steve flushed.
"However, there is a problem," Bucky continued seriously.
"Oh?" Steve asked, slightly nervous. "And what's that?"
"Your tie is crooked," Bucky answered, coming right up to Steve and straightening it, then clapping Steve on his muscular shoulders and grinning. "All fixed."
Chuckling, Steve said, "What would I ever do without you, Buck?"
"Go on dates with your tie crooked?" Bucky guessed, as he grabbed Steve's arm and began dragging him out of the apartment. "Actually, scratch that—you wouldn't be going on any dates at all."
As they came out into the well-lit living room, Steve saw that Bucky was wearing a black suit and dress pants, plain black tie, white gloves, and had his long dark hair slicked back; Steve snorted.
"Really with the Loki hair, Buck?" he asked, as the two of them practically ran down the stairs.
"Loki hair?" Bucky asked in confusion, and Steve suddenly remembered that Bucky hadn't been there for what the alien invasion of New York—he'd been frozen in a Hydra cryo-tube.
"Nevermind," Steve muttered.
When they got outside, Bucky made a dash for the driver's seat of Steve's silver station wagon, but Steve put on a burst of speed and beat him to the door.
"Nuh uh," he said, pointing Bucky to the other side. "You sit shotgun. After what happened last time I let you drive—"
"Come on," Bucky said, lips pouting slightly. "I didn't mean to nearly rip the steering wheel off..."
His voice dried up at Steve's pointed look, and, heaving a sigh, Bucky vaulted himself over the front of the car to the other side and swung himself into the shotgun seat.
"Don't slam the door," Steve warned from the driver's side, and Bucky, who had been about to slam the door, caught it at the last moment and closed it gently, and Steve guided the vehicle out onto the streets of Washington DC.
Bucky started out the drive fairly relaxed, as they drove through the streets listening to the 'oldies radio.' But as the drive went on, his body became more tense, and he began scanning the city out the car windows, glancing behind the car, craning his head up as if trying to see the tops of the buildings, or snapping his head around suddenly to stare at the other side of the street.
"Is something the matter, Buck?" Steve asked, casting a concerned glance over at his friend.
"Nah, nothing," Bucky said, attempting a casual drawl, but his shifty eyes said something completely different.
"We don't have to go if you're uncomfortable—" Steve started to offer, but Bucky quickly cut him off.
"No," Bucky shook his head, "We can't let the girls down. At least," he glanced at the clock, which showed that they were already five minutes late. "Not anymore than we are already."
"Well, just let me know if dinner didn't agree with you or something," Steve said as he pulled up to the dance studio they were taking the ballroom dancing class at, letting Bucky know that he could make up an excuse to leave if he started freaking out.
Bucky shrugged him off with a, "Guess it's a good thing I haven't eaten dinner yet, then," and opened the car door to step out.
"Don't slam the car door!" Steve called as he stepped out as well, and once again Bucky caught himself at the last moment.
"We really need to work on your door slamming problem," Steve told him, as side by side they entered the building, Steve grabbing the door and holding it open, gesturing Bucky through with a quipped, "Ladies first."
"Beauty before age," Bucky answered with a smirk as he strode through the door and let Steve fall in behind him, though he kept glancing back over his shoulder as if to make sure Steve was still there.
"Doesn't that saying go the other way around?" Steve asked, furrowing his brow as he tried to remember.
"Nope," Bucky answered assuredly.
They came into a fairly large room a bar running along one side, and mirrors covering the three other walls.
"Is this a ballet studio?" Steve asked, looking around at the room and the group of men in suits and ladies in long dresses.
"A dance studio," Bucky corrected, spotting their dates and waving the girls over with a grin. "And that includes ballroom."
Coming over to them, Sharon stood with her arms crossed, narrowing her eyes at Steve. She was wearing here blond hair down, wavy around her shoulders, and was wearing a red dress the hugged closer to her torso and then flowed down to just below her knees in the kind of skirt that fans out and ripples when spun.
"You're late," she accused.
Steve swallowed, blinking and glancing down.
Bucky came to the rescue. "Sorry ladies," he said with an easy, charming grin, as he held out his right elbow for Sharon's friend—who just happened to be a different woman from their last date—and continued, "But we wanted to make sure we looked our best for you."
The woman placed a gloved hand in the crook of his elbow, giving a small smile. She was wearing a long black gown with a slit that exposed some of her right leg, and her brown hair was pulled up in a bun at the top of her head.
"Bucky Barnes, I believe?" she asked, as he began leading her towards the circle of couples lining up. "Just want to make sure I signed the right man in on the sheet," she said, nodding to the table at one side of the room.
"Indeed," Bucky smiled his winning smile. "And you are...?"
"Maria Hill," the woman answered.
Both couples integrated themselves on the dance floor, beginning to followed the instructions of the dance teachers as they demonstrated the waltz.
One two three, one two three, one two three... Bucky kept to the beat and slid his feet across the floor, even as his eyes were constantly flitting to the different mirrors, analyzing.
"Looking for the best way to escape?" Maria asked, lips tilting, as she watched his face.
Bucky laughed. "Nah, you're a great dancer," he smiled at her, though his eyes were still on the mirrors. "Something tells me you've danced before."
"I could say the same about you," she answered, left hand on his right bicep and right hand held high in his left, his right hand against her shoulder blade. "So I'm assuming you aren't watching the mirrors to make sure you're doing everything right."
"Okay, you got me," Bucky said, still smiling, as he led her into a girl-under. "I'm trying to see how Steve's doing, make sure he isn't stepping on Sharon's feet."
Maria glanced at the mentioned couple, noticing that Steve actually was dangerously close to stepping on Sharon's feet, and he kept missing the beat.
"He needs to slide his feet along the floor," Maria agreed.
"Yeah, who knew Captain America had two left feet," Bucky said, shaking his head. "I think somebody ought to tell him."
And with that, Bucky waltzed Maria over to Steve and Sharon, falling into dance-step beside them.
"Hey Steve," Bucky said, continuing to dance as his friend looked over at him, and, distracted, stepped on Sharon's foot.
"Sorry!" Steve apologized to her, eyes wide.
Sharon just smiled thinly at him. "It's fine," she said, "There's a learning curve for everyone."
"It would help if you slid your feet on the floor," Bucky offered, nodding for Steve to watch what he was doing. "You keep trying to step like you're walking, but you're not. You're dancing."
"Right," Steve said, trying to mimic Bucky's moves.
Some of the other dancers were watching them too, and seemed to be trying to figure out what beat Steve was dancing to, because it was still erratic and not to the beat of the music.
And Bucky found himself very grateful for it.
"You're very tense," Maria remarked, and Bucky's gaze snapped to her face.
He tried for a charming laughe, but it sounded tight and forced even in his own ears. "It's just been a while since I've danced, I guess I'm a little out of practice."
And with that pronouncement, his legs suddenly tangled up and he tripped, dragging Maria to the side and crashing into Steve at the same time just as several bullets whizzed by where'd they'd just been standing.
Chaos broke out.
The Hydra agents that been concealed among the dancers had suddenly pulled guns from their jackets and were firing at the supersoldiers, civilians were crying out in alarm and running for the door, but then Sharon and Maria had pulled guns from under their skirts and were shooting back, and Steve and Bucky were in action like a deadly ballet of graceful and precise arms and legs that dropped Hydra agents to the ground like flies.
"Dammit, I think I tore my jacket," Bucky muttered, as the last of the enemies fell and the four of them stood there on a now-blood dance floor. "And I ruined my gloves. I guess that's what I get for wearing white."
The satin white fabric was now stained incarnadine.
Pulling them off, Bucky reached into his pocket with his left hand and pulled out his phone, plugging in a number and holding it to his ear.
"We should go before the police get here," Sharon remarked, glancing around at the dead bodies.
"Yeah, once we deal with the couple snipers on the roof across the street," Bucky said, holding out his right hand for a gun even while he still held the phone to his hear with his left.
"Gimme," he ordered, and after a moment Maria handed him one.
"Bucky..." Steve said, but Bucky waved him to silence.
"Stay here and hold that," he ordered as he handed Steve the phone, and then ran outside, crashing through the doors.
"BUCKY!" Steve shouted, dashing after his friend, as the sound of gunshots rang through the air.
There was a clanging of metal as Bucky raised his left arm up, blocking the bullets with his forearm while he raised his right and, with two well-placed bullets, shot the snipers straight through their heads.
"Bucky!"
The phone in Steve's hand stopped ringing.
"Hello?" came a voice, and as the ladies came outside, Bucky grabbed the phone from Steve's hands.
"Hello Fury," Bucky greeted, winking at Maria when she raised her eyebrows at him. "I'm calling you to take you up on that offer, on one condition."
A pause as the soldier listened, before Bucky stated his condition.
"Steve comes with me."
Another pause, and then, "Roger that." and Bucky hung up.
"Buck—" Steve started, before Bucky turned to him and clapped him on the shoulder, offering him a dark smirk.
"Thank you, Steve," he said.
Steve blinked. "For what?"
"For having two left feet. Made it a lot harder for those agents in there to try to get a hit on you."
Furrowing his brow, Steve asked, "Is that an insult or a compliment? And what went on between you and Fury?"
"We're meeting him at a safehouse for mission details," Bucky said, starting towards the car, opening the door and slipping into the driving seat. "We're going to take Hydra down."
He glanced at Steve and the girls, raising his eyebrows. "Are you coming?"
After a moment of hesitation, Steve sat shotgun, and Maria and Sharon climbed into the back, Bucky pulling away sharply from the curb as sirens became audible in the distance.
Steve's head was flung back against the headrest.
"Bucky," he said.
"That is my name," Bucky agreed, hitting the gas to make a yellow light before it turned red, and turning the car sharply to the left, throwing the passengers roughly to the right.
Eyes flicking to the review mirror, Bucky muttered to himself, "Gotta shake 'em off our tales..."
Steve clenched his jaw, knuckles white as he gripped the handle in the inside of the door. "Please, please don't crash and kill anybody."
"Remember that time you made us slide down a zipline and land on that train?" Bucky asked.
Steve suddenly felt not only nervous about Bucky's driving, but what felt like carsickness, something knotting in his gut and making him nauseous.
"Yeah," he hazarded, voice thick.
"Well this is payback," Bucky grinned darkly, skidding the tires as he turned right, eliciting a honk from the care he cut off as he sped down the road. "Except that you're not allowed to die in the process."
This chapter came from me wanting to see how a ballroom dancing class would turn out with Steve... but of course Hydra has to come in and ruin the party x.x
So Bucky got most of the attention and saved Steve this chapter, but don't you worry - Steve will get his fair share of attention and saving Bucky as well ;) And Bucky was pretty stable in this chapter, but he won't always be that way... there will also be some volatile and breaking-down Bucky as well as badass Bucky ;3