Holiday Spirit

Notes: Part 1 of a 3 part holiday-centric Bucky/Original Female Character story. I don't own Marvel or any of its characters. Emily is all mine.

"C'mon Buck, where's your holiday spirit?" Emily asks, her hands on her hips. She is standing in the doorway of her bedroom, giving her boyfriend of several months her best puppy dog eyes.

"No," the man replies flatly, standing in the same pose as Emily. The only difference is the scowl on his face instead of a pout like her.

"Pleeeeaaaaassssseeeeee, Bucky," Emily continues, drawing the word out.

Bucky Barnes lets out an annoyed huff as he rakes his right hand through his shoulder length brown hair. His blue eyes are stormy – a tell-tale sign that he is annoyed – as she watches on quietly. He knows the young woman expects him to cave to her demands; he's not ashamed to admit that he's putty in her hands the moment she pulls out that doe eyed look of her. But not this time. This time, he was putting his foot down. "No," he says again as he approaches Emily slowly.

Emily sighs dramatically as he closes the distance between the two of them "It's Hallowe'en, Bucky. You have to wear a costume," she tells him.

"Not a chance in hell am I wearing that!" he tells her, his voice low and dangerous; it's the voice Emily affectionately refers to as his "Winter Soldier" voice (mostly because she knows it drives him crazy). He reaches out and rests his hands on her shoulders before slowly running them down her arms. "I love you, but I'm not wearing that," he adds, his voice softer, before he leans in and kisses the young woman lightly.

With a sigh, Emily returns the kiss before moving out of Bucky's way. "Party pooper," she throws at his retreating form.

"Still not doing it!" he calls over his shoulder, smirking victoriously.

Emily rolls her eyes and slams the bedroom door shut to change into her own costume. She had been looking forward to Hallowe'en; it is her second favourite holiday, after all. While she is far too old to go trick-or-treating, Emily loved throwing on a costume to hand out candy to all the kids that come through the neighbourhood. She adored seeing their faces when they saw that she – a grown-up – dressed up like they were year after year. Emily isn't going to let her boyfriend throw off her Hallowe'en game this year she vows before stripping down to squeeze into the costume.

As the bedroom door slams shut, Bucky starts making his way to the living room. His plan is to plop himself on the couch in front of the television set while Emily gives out candy. He's come a long way in his recovery but he feels weary about giving candy out to small children; he's not sure he trusts himself around them just yet. Just as he grabs for the remote, the doorbell rings. Bucky's brow furrows as he glances at the clock on the living room wall; surely it's still too early for trick-or-treaters, right? The sun hasn't even started setting yet. Just to be safe, Bucky grabs the bowl of candy that is set out and cautiously makes his way to the door. He hasn't even had the chance to grab a sweater to cover up his left arm; having it exposed around children made him feel anxious.

"Bucky? Emily? You two in there?" came a familiar voice from the other side of the door. Bucky lets out a sigh of relief as he sets the candy bowl down before opening the door.

"Hey Stevie…. What the hell are you wearing?!" Bucky's eyes go wide as he takes in his best friend. Bucky gives Steve an appalled look while the blond haired super soldier just grins. "You have got to be fucking kidding me. Emily put you up to this, didn't she?!" groans Bucky as he rubs his face with his flesh hand.

Steve steps into the apartment, his blue eyes twinkling with laughter. He knew before leaving the new Avengers' facility that Bucky was going to be less than impressed with the costume Emily had insisted weeks ago Steve wear. He had been willing to go along with it because the young woman had been so excited as she regaled Steve with her Hallowe'en ideas. "Pretty great, huh Buck? Stark helped with the arm," Steve asks Bucky as he flexes his metal-coated left arm.

"The two of you deserve each other."

"Hey, where's your costume?" Steve asks as he shuts the front door behind him. He raises an eyebrow as Bucky just grunts out a few unintelligible words as he walks back over to the couch and drops down on it heavily. "The kids will get a real kick out of it, you know," continues the original super soldier as he follows Bucky to the living room.

"You two have a twisted sense of humour," Bucky just says darkly as he grabs the remote for the TV.

"You don't think I make a convincing Winter Soldier?"

"Not with that head of hair you don't, ya punk," Bucky answers easily. Steve grins at him and pulls something from his back pocket. He quickly puts it on his head with a little "ta-da" and it takes everything Bucky has not to throw the remote at his friend's head. "Stupid," he mutters instead.

"Nah, that's all on the couch with you," jokes Steve, his voice filled with laughter.

"Steve! You look great!" Emily's voice makes both Steve and Bucky turn to the bedroom door. She stands there, her eyes sparkling as she takes in Steve's Winter Soldier costume; Emily feels ridiculously delighted that one of her two super soldiers is joining the Hallowe'en fun. Emily takes several steps closer to the two men who are just staring at her as though she's sprouted an extra set of arms out of her head. "What?"

The two men both start stuttering out words she can't even begin to make out, their expressions similar. The only difference between them is Steve's face is redder than a tomato and Bucky looks like he wants to ravish her. "Your… your costume is very… realistic," the blushing super soldier finally manages to stammer out.

"You think so? Natasha leant me one of her old suits for tonight," Emily informs Steve before doing a twirl to show off the entire outfit, her red wig bouncing with the motion. She had to have some alterations done to it, of course, but it was otherwise more comfortable than she imagined it being. Until that evening Emily had always wondered how Natasha had been able to move the way she did in such a tight, confining suit. Emily smiles at Steve before turning to face her boyfriend. His eyes were stormy again though with unabashed desire instead of annoyance. "What do you think Bucky?" she asks softly. Emily begins to chew on her lower lip nervously as she waits for the original Winter Soldier to speak.

"I think Steve needs to stop ogling my gal," Bucky finally says, growling slightly. Steve coughs and turns away quickly as Bucky rises from the couch and closes the distance between Emily and himself. "Look at you, Doll," he murmurs as he takes in the sight of her. "You know what you're doin' to me?" he asks you as he reaches up to cup her face with his hands.

Emily blushes but flashes him a cheeky smile. "Inspiring you to put your own costume on?"

Groaning, Bucky ducks his head until their foreheads are touching, his brown locks mingling with the red strands of her wig. "I'd much rather get you outta yours," he tells her.

"Will you put your costume on if I let you?" Emily asks.

Bucky just pecks you on the lips before stepping back. "There is no way in hell I am putting on that spangly monstrosity," he says, ignoring Steve's indignant "Hey!" as he backs away from his girlfriend.

"Well then, I'll just have to have some fun with the new and improved Winter Soldier model," Emily huffs before marching over to Steve and grabbing him by the fake metal arm. "You ready to impress some kids, Rogers?"

"You bet I am," chuckles Steve, ignoring the sour look Bucky gives the both of them.