The first time she saw him was in the bar. It was girls night and she was at her usual place waiting for Nat to get off work and Peg to take over her shift. Her eyes seemed to be acting on their own accord as she watched him saunter through the room, slowly sizing him up from the way his jeans fit tight around his thighs and hung tantalizingly low on his hips, up to his broad chest covered by a very well fitting leather jacket hanging open to show off the tight red shirt underneath. His black hair was long and pushed back behind his ears, a few shades darker than the light stubble gracing his sharp jawline.
"Well, well, well, look who finally noticed tall dark and handsome". Nat's voice was low and teasing as she leaned over the bar, handing her friend a new drink, stronger this time than the last. She pulled her eyes away from the sinfully gorgeous man and back to her friend.
"What are you talking about? He just walked in" her eyes where furrowed in confusion now. Natasha let out a small laugh, filling a shot glass all the way to the brim with vodka before taking the shot herself, earning a disapproving look from her friend.
"Darce, he's been in here every Saturday night for the last month and half" she leaned farther over the bar, empty shot glass dangling in her loose fingers.
"I get off in 5. Don't give me that disappointed look. It's alright to start a little early" nat wiggled her eyebrows at her friend and went to refill her shot glass.
"What do you think you're doing, Natasha?" A new, authoritative voice questioned from behind her. The voice was enough to make anyone else freeze and immediately try to look innocent, but Nat didn't even blink.
"Grabbing a drink for girls night. Want one? Your shift hasn't technically started yet, Peg." Nat grabbed 2 more glasses and filled them both to the brim handing them out to both women. They clanked their glasses together and with a loud "cheers" threw them back expertly.
"One more" Peggy said, handing her glass out to Natasha to refill, looking at Darcey expectantly until she too held her glass out to refill. One more round of shots turned into two and Nat was trying to get a third in when Peggy finally ushered her away forcing her to clock out and get out from behind the bar.
"Yes ma'am" Natasha teased, giving her boss a mock salute and sliding over the bar and into a chair next to Darcey rather than walking around the bar.
"So, Peg. I noticed they're back. Again." Natasha wiggled her eyebrows at Peggy over the bar and leaned around to causally point out the table of guys in the corner. There were three of them, sitting at a booth near the pool table and Darcey's breath caught for a second time as she realized the man she had seen earlier was one of them. She tore her eyes from him to study the other two, both gorgeous as well, the blonde one obviously the tallest and build like a brick house, his muscles bulging out of the tight plain white shirt he had on, the middle guy was darker skinned and shorter than the other two, muscular in a more wiry way than the bulkiness of his friends.
Her eyes went back to Peggy and she noticed the slight blush covering her friends face.
"Woah. Peg, do you have a crush?" Darcey couldn't help but tease the woman who normally had such a good hold on herself.
"He is quite the work of art, isn't he?" She muttered, more to herself than her friends as she gazed at the men across the bar, biting down slightly on her bottom lip.
"They all are" Darcey agreed as she dared glance back over at the three, "but which one has your attention?"
"The blonde one" she practically sighed her answer, a small dreamy smile on her lips. Darcey shared a look with Nat, sharing a smirk that their friend completely missed.
"Hmmm. I'm gonna see if I can get the other two then" Natasha smiled wickedly, standing up suddenly and spinning around.
"Natasha, get your ass out of my bar this instant!" Peggy called out before she managed to get more than five feet from them, gaining the attention of a few people in the bar, including the men in the back.
"Come on, it's just a little flirting, what's the harm?" Natasha called back, shrugging her shoulders and taking a few more steps. Darcey sighed and stood up, hurrying to her friends side and pulling her toward the door.
"I got her Peg, I'll make sure she stays good. See ya at work on Monday!" She called out to the woman at the bar, trying to will her brain to skip over the table at the back, but of course, it wouldn't listen. She locked eyes with the dark haired man, his steel blues staring into hers intensely before she turned her eyes back to Natasha, focusing on where she was walking.
Every Saturday they were there. At their usual table in the back. Natasha didn't try to talk to them again, though she did tease Peggy endlessly for her interest in the blonde man, who they had learned was named Steve. The other two where still nameless and Darcey preferred to keep it that way. Peggy threatened Natasha multiple times with telling her husband she was trying to flirt with the men but Natasha only laughed and said Bruce wouldn't care. Which they all knew was true. Natasha's husband was a mousy scientist who knew Natasha in and out and was the least jealous, possessive person Kathryn had ever met. He never had any doubt that Natasha loves him with her whole heart and would just shake his head and laugh whenever she got that signature smirk that signaled her flirty ways. Darcey was endlessly jealous of Natasha and Bruce's relationship. Her few forays into the dating world had not gone so well.
It had been another 6 weeks since she had first noticed him before he talked to her. Her week had been shit. They had gotten a few new recruits at work and it was her and Peggy's job to whip the little shits into shape and these little shits were the biggest shits they'd had in a while. Her and Peggy were good. Very good. Both having served multiple tours over seas and been in plenty of leadership roles through their military careers. They had been given the opportunity to run a basic training camp near their home town after their 10 years were up and they had both jumped at the chance. Darcey had realized quite quickly that all of the administration stuff that came with running the camp was not for her, she was far too antsy for sitting around most of the day and had instead chose to work directly with the cadets. Which, on the one hand, kept her moving, but on the other hand, she had to work with idiots all day.
So she was not in the mood for girls night tonight, but it was a tradition and she felt like she just couldn't cancel it. Tonight was busy though, keeping Nat working overtime and making it hard for either Peggy or Nat to come keep her company.
She felt him slide onto the bar stool beside her, catching him looking at her out of the corner of her eye.
"Can I buy you a drink?" His voice was low and velvety smooth, sending a shiver down her spine.
"Not interested" her voice was flat, she didn't even look at him, just continued to sip her drink. She saw his hand go up, signaling one of the bartenders.
"No problem" he practically whispered in her ear before ordering himself and his friends another beer and sliding more cash than necessary across the bar.
"Get her other of what she's having too, please. She looks like she could use it" he told Natasha, winking at them both before taking his drinks and walking back to his friends. She watched as he winked to a pretty blonde a few tables down, getting him a flirty smile in response. Darcey sighed.
"Dude! That was your chance!" Nat smacked Darcey across the shoulder lightly, admonishing her. She shrugged and downed the rest of her drink.
"Been a shit week. Just not in the mood for it." Natasha continued to frown at her before refilling her drink.
"Courtesy of the man across the room, staring at you right now" she said as she put the drink down, looking over Darcey's shoulder. Darcey sighed again and turned. Sure enough, he was looking their way. When he saw her turn he lifted his beer up to her and slowly she lifted her drink in return before turning back and downing it in one go.
"Night Peg, night Tasha." She called over her shoulder as she walked to the door.
"Night Darce. Try not to be such a damned grouch next week!" Nat called to her, grinning from ear to ear. Darcey stopped in the doorway, spinning to face Natasha and lifting both hands to flip her off with before walking backwards out the door the laughter from inside the bar following her down the street.
He bought her a drink every Saturday night for the next few weeks, yet didn't try to talk to her again. Every time, he would lean over the bar next to her, flash her a smile, order his drinks and tell whichever bartender was working to get Darcey her regular drink on him, then would retreat to his table, lift his beer to her and nod as she lifted her drink in response. It became a sort of ritual for them, one she rolled her eyes at, yet still gave him a small smile for. Neither of them seemed to pay any attention to the other for the rest of the night after that and both Nat and Peggy teased her about using the handsome man for booze. Tonight was different though. She was in no mood for friendly gestures or flirty smiles as she plopped herself down at the bar, already slightly tipsy from her own alcohol at home. She was 4 shots down by the time he sauntered over, leaning over the bar once again, but not signaling the bartender when he glanced at her face.
"Hey, you okay, sweetheart?" His voice was gentle and low, different than the suggestive tone he had used before. She smiled bitterly and shook her head at him, making the room spin slightly. She finally looked at him and saw the concern in his gaze, but she was soon distracted by the tight gray under armor shirt hugging his upper body. Dear god was he a sight.
She stood up, spinning around to face him, their bodies almost pressed together in the small space between the stools. Placing one hand on his chest she leaned forward, up on her tip toes until her lips were as close to his ear as she could get them.
"My place or yours?" She whispered lightly. She could feel him shiver slightly under her fingers and his eyes caught hers again as she leaned back.
"Mine's right down the street sweetheart" he murmured back to her, taking a step back and pulling her with him, one hand on her lower back as he directed them towards the door. She saw him direct a mock salute to his friends over his shoulder, throwing them a cocky grin and rolled her eyes. Normally it would have been enough to make her turn on her heel and walk away, but tonight she was drunk and couldn't make herself pretend that his cocky attitude didn't do it for her. She stumbled slightly, almost tripping over a bit of uneven sidewalk before his hands were on her, righting her and holding her up.
"Damned heels" she swore, wrenching the skinny heel out of the crack it had gotten stuck in. The man behind her chuckled at her and she felt herself frown at him.
"This way sweetheart" he directed her with one hand again at the small of her back. It was when they got to the door of his apartment and he struggled with the keys that she dimly realized he was just about as drunk as she was. He swore for the third time before getting the right key and swinging the door open, a victorious smile lighting up his handsome face.
The fresh air and exercise seemed to have sobered her up a bit and she hesitated before following him over the threshold.
Her doubts disappeared however as he was pressed up against her, using his own body on hers to press the door closed behind them. Her hands slid under his shirt and up the hard muscles she found underneath it. He sucked in a breath as her hands followed the ridges of his abs, his cocky smile gone from his face. She barely had time to admire the intense expression on his face before his sinfully delicious lips were claiming hers hungrily.
She moaned low in her throat as he lifted her legs out from under her and wound them around his waist, holding her up with his body pressing hers against the wall as he pressed himself into her.
"Bedroom. Now." She demanded, breathlessly as he moved from her lips to kissing and nipping down her neck, sucking gently over her pulse as the cool leather of his still gloved hands stroked gently down her sides under her shirt. He growled into her neck lightly as she rolled her hips up into his as he worked his hand under her bra. He pulled back from her reluctantly at her words and she expected him to put her down, but instead his hands slid down her sides and cupped her ass, grasping firmly, pulling her against him harshly as he moved her from the wall, carrying her through the apartment. The bedroom door was kicked closed behind them, none too gently, before he was dumping her on the bed, following her down before she had the chance to release him to fall back all the way. Her jacket had been lost in the kitchen, somewhere on the floor, and now her shirt was being wrenched over her head and thrown to the side, her bra following soon after, but he was still fully clothed. She pushed the jacket off his shoulders pausing as his kisses trailed down her neck again and farther this time, until his face was pressed between her bared breasts. His hands working at the waist of her pants, pulling them down her hips as far as he could get them without moving off of her.
"Are you gonna get naked or what?" She ground out, frustratedly trying to pull his shirt over his head, which didn't work so well with his jacket still pooled around his arms. He chuckled lightly before sitting up and pulling off his jacket, then slowing pulling off his gloves. His hands hesitated on the hem of his shirt as he watched her watching him. She reached up and started pulling it over his head and he let her, watching her face intently as the silver of his arm was uncovered. She sucked in a breath at the sight and he was suddenly self conscious. His arm was a sore spot for him. But before he could say or do anything about it, his back was hitting the mattress and she was straddling his waist, pressing kisses down his body.
It could have been the alcohol or the late hour but the night didn't last as long as either of them wanted it to before they were both passed out. Naked, sweaty, and tangled in sheets and each other.
"Hey" the voice, accompanied by a gentle nudge on her shoulder woke Darcey from what had to have been the deepest sleep she'd had in years. She groaned and batted at the hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, doll. I gotta go to work in the morning, you should get going" the voice tried again, nudging her shoulder again. She groaned again and looked up at the gorgeous blue eyes staring down at her in the darkness of the room. She scanned the room, eyes blurry, until she saw the blinking red numbers of the alarm clock on the bedside table.
"Fuck off" she buried her head in the pillow again before her shoulder was once again nudged.
"What time do you work?" The question seemed to take him by surprise, and she was actually surprised he even understood her with her face half pressed into the pillow.
"8:30?" He questioned, unsure of her point. With that she pushed her head up angrily, scowling at him.
"It's 3 in the damned morning. If you can't sleep with someone in your bed then take your ass to the couch. I assume you know where it is." She pressed her face back to the pillow and started mumbling to herself. "Trying a kick a drunk chick outta your bed at 3 in the morning after inviting her back to your place the night before. What an asshole."
"Hey, you propositioned me, lady" he argued, trying to sound offended, but his lips quirked up at the corners.
"Fuck off" she repeated, grabbing the pillow next to hers and smacking him in the face with it "go back to sleep". He pulled his pillow from her grasp with a chuckle and laid back down, grabbing her waist and pulling her into his body ignoring her groan of protest. She settled back into him easily and they fell back asleep with no problem.
She woke the next morning curled into his side, using his chest as a pillow, with his metal arm slung over her waist. She took a few moments to admire him in his sleep before she was extracting herself from his grip and padding down the hall, looking for the bathroom. She found it easily enough and was happy to find it stocked with actual hair products and not the usual 3 in one products men usually use.
A quick 10 minute shower was all she needed to clean herself up from the night before. She quickly found her panties and slid them on, but grabbed his white shirt he had been wearing the night before and tossed that on instead of dressing fully in her clothes.
She was standing in the kitchen, grabbing things out of the fridge and putting them on the counter when she heard the lock on the front door turn.
"Umm. Hi?" She turned to see the man standing in the doorway. His blond hair was damp with sweat, gray sweatpants slung low on his waist, white under-armor shirt clinging to his built frame like a second skin. He had obviously just gotten back from a run.
"Hey there. Steve, right?" She questioned, continuing to make breakfast.
"Umm. Yeah." He nodded, looking at her strangely.
"I hope you both are hungry. I tend to make way too much food when I'm hung over. And damn am I hung over this morning" she couldn't actually be sure she wasn't still drunk actually. She started cracking the eggs into the bowl in front of her, turning to check the heat of the skillet she had started.
"How does he like his eggs?" She asked, pointing to the bedroom where they heard a soft thud and muffled cursing.
"You know what? Never mind. He'll get what I make him." They heard another thud and more cursing "is he always this graceful in the morning?" She questioned, laughing as the heard another thud.
"Kind of. Though he does seem to be having a harder time this morning than normal." Steve shrugged, finally relaxing with her there, leaning lightly against the counter and watching her cook.
"I'm just gonna do some omelets this morning. Normally I'd do a whole breakfast feast with people to cook for, but James was an asshole last night, so he's lucky I'm cooking him anything" she told Steve as she started pouring the egg and vegetable mixture into the pan. Darcey realized they had never actually introduced themselves to each other, so she used the name she had been sure she had heard a few women call him in the bar, when Steve didn't correct her she figured she had gotten it right.
The bedroom door clanged open behind them and James stumbled out, holding his head with one hand.
"Water and Advil on the table for ya" Darcey called softly as he managed to finally reach the kitchen. He grunted out his thanks, slumping down at the table. He was wearing nothing but a pair of black sweat pants hanging so low on his hips she wondered if he hadn't even tried to pull them up all the way. His chest and back were bare, showing off the hickies and scratches she had left on him from the night before. She smiled and hummed approvingly at the sight, before winking at a blushing Steve. Yup, she must still be a little tipsy.
She finished cooking in silence, or at least as silent as Darcey could be. She hummed to herself as she cooked, sometimes mumbling out lyrics under her breath, completely ignoring the two men watching her. When the food was on plates, she held one plate in each hand and balanced one on her forearm, recalling fondly her time as a waitress. She dumped the food in front of the boys, placing her own in the middle seat between them and returned to the kitchen, coming back with 3 steaming mugs of coffee all clutched in one hand and a small plate with a bowl of sugar and a small carafe of creamer.
"You're lucky I feel sorry for how crappy you look this morning. Otherwise you wouldn't have gotten coffee." She directed at James as she sat down, stirring some cream and sugar into her coffee.
"Thanks sweetheart, everything looks amazing" he murmured, reaching across the table and catching her chin in his hand, leaning over and pressing a soft kiss against her lips. She smiled sweetly at him.
"Flattery will get you everywhere" She giggled and winked. He smiled flirtily back at her.
"So, Steve. When are you gonna ask Pegs out?" Darcey directed her attention to the other man at the table, who had been blushing slightly at their display and who was now turning ten different shade of red.
"What?" He squeaked out in what was probably the most adorable embarrassed display Darcey had ever seen.
"Come on! Anyone with eyes can see you two fawning all over each other. It's a little gross, to be honest" Darcey rolled her eyes, thinking back on all the times they had stood there very obviously flirting. And all the longing looks they shot each other when the other wasn't looking.
"Just ask her out! I promise she'll say yes." Steve cast his eyes down at his plate, fighting a smile. He nodded, not trusting his voice to say anything and Darcey beamed at him.
"I can't wait to hear all the sappy details about your super romantic date" she teased.
Breakfast was finished and she was fully dressed in her own clothes not long after. Both men were still seated at the table, on their second or third cups of coffee watching Darcey go through the pockets of her coat to make sure she hadn't dropped anything.
"Alright. I'm on my way now" she swooped down to land a light kiss on Jame's lips before walking the few steps to Steve and landing a kiss on his cheek.
"See ya when I see ya, John."
"Um. It's James"
"Whatever" she rolled her eyes and started out the door, peeking her head back in after a moment.
"Oh, and next time, if you're gonna try to kick the drunk woman out of your bed at 3 in the morning, maybe just go to her place instead." Darcey was delighted to see Steve's shocked face turn to James, who at least had the grace to look sheepish about it. She grinned wickedly at him and closed the door.
She could still hear Steve's "you did what?" Halfway down the hall.
"You did what?!" Bucky flinched slightly at Steve's tone.
"I, uh, may have told her she should be getting home a bit earlier than I should have" he offered, rubbing the back of his neck and shrugging slightly.
"And how did she react?" Steve's face was set in his 'eyebrows of disappointment' face. One that could make almost anyone immediately feel regret for their actions. Bucky hates when Steve used it on him.
"Told me to fuck off and sleep on the couch if I couldn't sleep with her there" he shrugged again, but couldn't quite hold back the smile at remembering how feisty she was. Steve's face broke into a smile too and he laughed. Full on, leaning back, cackling, laughter and Bucky couldn't help but join in.
"You're pretty damned gone on her, aren't you?" He asked, still laughing.
"Yeah, yeah, I think I am" Bucky replied.