OC + Bucky Homecoming:

"I've got a mission next week." Bucky told Ivy as she nodded, biting her lip as she looked away from him.

"How long for?" She asked and he looked away this time.

"I don't know. Could be a month, could be a year." He revealed and Ivy's eyes welled up with tears. She couldn't help but sniff as she tried to hold them back. "I know you don't like it, but I'll be fine." He reassured, putting his hand on her face to turn it back to face him. "Okay?" He asked softly and Ivy nodded again.

"I know, I just… worry." She finished with a small laugh as Bucky joined in. "Keep me updated please?" She begged and he simply stayed silent. Ivy laughed at his reaction, still trying to hold back the flood of tears and emotion. "Of course not." She whispered with a sigh. They both smiled at each other before getting up and walking back to Stark Tower. It had become their normal routine of going for a run. It was a running joke between the two of them. He'd met her on her first day running as she'd tried to be healthy but they'd ended up abandoning it to go to a café for a breakfast date which wasn't properly a date.

It was certainly an experience.

"Come on, come on." Ivy pleaded as she pressed play on her earphones. She only had a limited amount of songs but they were so addictive and mainly guilty pleasures. But the music wasn't the problem, it was the earphones. They had previously been crushed underneath her paperwork and now they only worked from certain angles which was incredibly annoying. Her music kept cutting out at random moments but Ivy knew she couldn't make it through the run without any music.

So she'd taken a chance on them and it had worked until a few seconds ago when she'd stopped in Central Park and began to try to fix it. But when her hands got all tied up in the strings, it became hard to keep it in her hands. "Shh- sugar." She stopped, trying to catch the phone as it slipped through her fingers and onto the floor.

"Are you alright Ma'am?" A man asked as Ivy had fallen to her knees, trying to pick it up. She had been trying to untangle her fingers before he had come and untangled them with one pull.

"Fine thank you." Ivy smiled, looking up to see her phone and attached earphones in the hands of a man with a look in his eyes that captivated her. It was something out of a book and instantly, Ivy felt inspiration fill her as her smile widened into a genuine instead of a polite one.

"Here you go. I'm not entirely sure what this is but it seems important to you." He joked, giving her phone back as Ivy took it, vaguely aware that they were both kneeling on the floor.

"It is kind of important yeah. My boss might call me at any moment. She usually does." Ivy laughed as she pocketed them before getting up and holding out a hand to Bucky who let her pull him up.

"I'm guessing you're not very happy in your job?" He chuckled as Ivy grinned.

"No, I am. I just can't stand to be on call all the time. I just can't do anything without getting a million texts or calls." She reasoned with a smile.

"Are you a doctor?" He asked, not quite familiar with the lingo.

"No, I'm just a carer. I look after people who employ my company. It's usually people who have a certain disability or who have just come out of hospital." Ivy explained, both of them walking together, neither realising that they were going a bit further than intended. While Ivy talked, Bucky was watching with keen interest. He found her very interesting. He'd never met anyone like her. "But this was just me trying to be healthy. Didn't really work, can't go one mile without getting bored. I need some music or company." Ivy laughed as she tied up the earphones properly. "What about you?"

"I go for a run every morning." Bucky spoke simply as Ivy nodded, carefully watching him through her peripheral vision. It was obvious he kept in shape, Ivy could see the muscles.

"A mile every morning?" She asked and Bucky hesitated.

"More like 10." He told her truthfully as she laughed, obviously not believing him.

"Yeah right." She dismissed as he went silent with only a smirk. "What, seriously?" She asked, getting only a wider smirk as an answer. "I don't believe you. It's not possible." Ivy replied, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Anyway, would you like to have breakfast with me? It seems like the right time." He asked, checking his watch as Ivy laughed at his question. So direct and blatantly changing the subject. It was actually kind of cute.

"Sure." Ivy agreed with a shrug. Why not? "But on one condition." She smirked, folding her arms as they stopped, Bucky watching her carefully. "You tell me your name. I can't have breakfast with someone I don't know the name of." She reasoned as Bucky laughed.

"You first." He replied as she bit her lip, trying to decide whether she would tell him or not.

"Ivy." She finished, trusting him as she sucked in a breath. "You?" She asked, trying to move on.

"Not saying." He grinned as Ivy gasped. Her gasp twisted into a smirk. She tried to portray the anger but just seeing his face just made her lose all anger again.

"You tricked me!" She stated with a laugh as Bucky carried on grinning. "How dare you!" She jokingly slapped his arm before pulling her hand away with a hiss. It was like metal. "Ow! That hurt!" She told him as he pulled his arm away.

"Sorry, I'll go." He apologised as Ivy pulled him back.

"Wait, you asked me for breakfast and then you bail? So much for a gentleman." She joked, sensing that there was something else going on. She didn't want to offend him, she actually rather liked him.

"You still want to have breakfast? I thought you had that condition." He asked, not sure on whether he even wanted to go at this point.

"Well, who cares about names or even knowing each other at this point? We had a chat, if we were in a bar and me in a sexy dress, we'd be in bed by now." She shrugged, making Bucky laugh as he looked at this strange woman. She was very confident. And clever. It was obvious she had a brain, so he decided to test her. It was the most comfortable he'd felt with someone that wasn't Steve in a long time. Names were a bother and what was the point of denying himself her company?

"So you want to go to bed?" He asked suggestively and she raised an eyebrow.

"Buy me breakfast first and then I'll see if I have time." She replied, walking into the closest shop. They had just opened and the place was pretty empty by the looks of it. Ivy walked in and sat at a table, wondering if he would follow. To her inner delight, he did.

"Mind if I sit here?" He joked, gesturing to the seat next to her.

"Be my guest." She grinned as they both picked up the menus and tried to decide what they wanted. "So what do you want?" She asked and he pretended to think comically before answering.

"Just a classic English breakfast." He replied as Ivy nodded, checking out the option on her menu. "You?" He asked and Ivy sucked in her cheeks as she thought, propping up her head on her hand.

"Probably the Hangover." She finally answered, nodding as she spoke. "Yeah." She determined as Bucky smirked, raising an eyebrow at her option. She flicked her eyes to look at him before realising what she'd said. "I'm not hungover, I'm just… hungry." She finished, a smile on her lips as they both started to laugh. "Okay, you caught me. I'm had a little sip of wine. It was just a little though, just to finish the glass from last night." She defended and Bucky grinned at her, finding her excuses witty. "Okay, I should probably change that." Ivy decided, shaking her head. She didn't want to shout out her current state to the entire café.

"What would you like to eat today?" A waiter asked politely, holding his notepad and pen in front of him as he smiled.

"I'll have the Hangover." Bucky smirked, speaking in a lower tone as Ivy gaped at him.

"And you Miss?" He asked and Ivy began to stutter a little as she looked back at the menu.

"Um, one classic English and a continental. Or maybe a dirty burger?" Ivy ordered before second guessing herself.

"So which one?" He asked and Ivy pressed her lips together, trying to order quickly so as not to annoy him.

"Um, both?" She asked before receiving a weird look. She smiled awkwardly as he sighed, walking away. "Damn." She whispered once he'd left. "I only meant to order one." She rolled her eyes, putting her chin back onto her hands.

"How are you going to eat it all?" He asked with a laugh, looking at her defeated face. But his words seemed to invigorate her and she sat up straighter.

"Is that a challenge?" She asked and Bucky smirked, nodding.

"Maybe." He spoke, wanting to see what she would do. "Can you do it?"

"Easily." She replied confidently, cracking her fingers and stretching as if preparing for a marathon. The food was brought over and Bucky began to eat, watching as she took a deep breath before tucking in. She got through one tray and blew out a breath, pushing it to one side and glaring at the next as if going to box it. She then began to eat that while Bucky smirked, pulling his 'phone' that Tony had given him. He brought up the camera and took a few pictures as she posed with a spoonful of beans before shovelling them into her mouth. He then tried to take a video and was confused when something called a fast burst started and it took a load of pictures of Ivy eating and trying not to laugh with the food in her mouth as she saw Bucky trying to turn it off.

He moved it down and it showed her hand reaching for the napkin on the seat as she tried to wipe away the food crumbs from her hands and mouth to try and help him. "Do you need some help?" She asked, once she'd swallowed. He nodded as she laughed and took the phone from him, setting it back to normal. "There you go." She told him as he smiled before accidentally pressing on his photos in the corner of the screen and it showed Ivy all the photos of him and Steve and various Avengers. He'd even managed to get one of Fury who was sighing with a dead look in his eyes.

Ivy laughed when she saw this and clicked on them, going through them as Bucky held his breath, wondering if she knew the Avengers well enough to recognise them without any special suit or armour. He didn't want her to treat him differently because he was Captain America's best friend, he actually liked how normal and quirky she was. He liked that the women of today actually showed their emotions and didn't care about looking ridiculous sometimes. It made him at ease around them. He didn't have to pretend when they didn't. "Aw, these are adorable. Are these your friends?" She asked, grinning as she flicked through them, an expert with the small devices as her finger delicately tapped the screen like Bucky would with a gun.

"Yeah, he's my best friend." Bucky smiled as a picture of both him and Steve popped up, both trying to figure out how to take the picture.

"I can tell." Ivy laughed as she entered a gallery basically filled with pictures of Steve and Bucky doing weird stuff together. One was a video of Steve trying to swallow a raw egg in a glass. Another was Bucky asleep while Steve braided his hair. "You look so good with braided hair!" She exclaimed, laughing as she zoomed in with her two fingers to see the lovely pink ties that Steve had used.

"Yeah, his pranks have gotten much better." Bucky agreed, a smirk of his face as he remembered what had happened the next morning. Both Bucky and Ivy stayed there much longer than supposed to and only left when Ivy got a call, taking her back to work.

"Hello?" She asked, putting a finger to her lips as she looked at Bucky, trying to listen to her boss. "1 hour? Sure, I can get there. Yeah, no, it's fine. Don't worry about it. Just send me the details and I'll get there." She spoke, taking small intervals as she listened with a business-like face. "See you." She smiled before hanging up and smiling at Bucky. "Sorry, I have to go. My boss called." She sighed, biting her lip as she quickly gathered her stuff and went to put some money down to pay for the food before realising she had no idea how much it cost and asked for the bill.

The waiter came over with the bill and she inserted her card, paying for the entire meal which was much more expensive than she'd thought. She sucked in her cheeks, looking at the steep bill and hesitating for a moment while Bucky quickly got out his own card that Tony had given him, consisting of a million. He barely had any idea how to use it but he was sure he could do it. "I can pay." He smiled kindly and she shook her head, reasserting herself and straightening her shoulders as she quickly paid before he could.

"It's fine." She smiled in return, putting everything away and picking her things back up. "This was really fun, it was nice to talk to you mystery man." She laughed as Bucky remembered that she had no idea who he was.

"Um, I know a lot more places like this. We could go sometime." He suggested as she stopped, looking back at him with a small smirk, wondering if she should before pulling out her phone and pulling up a new contact profile and giving it to Bucky.

"I'd like that." She nodded as Bucky grinned, pulling out his own phone and using his metal arm to hold that on the table while entering his number and putting his contact name as Breakfast Buddy on her phone. It gave him an excuse not to use his metal hand so he didn't have to take off his glove from that hand. He handed it back and Ivy laughed at his contact name and smiled at him. "I'll text you later, Breakfast Buddy." She told him, waving before rushing out, getting late for work.

Ivy smiled as she remembered, washing up the dishes for a client. It was one of her tasks before she had to sit down and talk to the client. She had Alzheimer's and sometimes remembered her and sometimes didn't. But she had training to deal with it so it wasn't too bad. But right now, she just had to focus on cleaning these dishes. After this call, she would be done and she could go to the Tower for a party Tony had invited her to. It was more of a, "Hey I'm fine guys." Outing rather than an actual want to go and socialise. It was a lie of course but the Avengers had come to accept her as one of their own and in turn come to worry about her as one of their own. She loved them the same as well but she couldn't face their constant checking up without actually breaking down.

She was starting to break now. She had gotten news from the mission through a letter that had a million stamps on it so it wouldn't be traced that Bucky had been hurt. It was from Steve, Bucky would never send a letter like that but after Bucky had refused, Ivy had gotten Steve to promise to keep her updated through whatever means necessary. The thing was, that letter had taken months to get to here judging from the date on the letter. Bucky could be dead by now and she wouldn't know. His wound could be infected and she wouldn't be able to help. And the thought was killing her slowly.

She sniffed, wiping the tears away with her shoulder. It had been 6 months since he'd gone and she'd coped but it was still difficult. The water ran over the last plate and the soap washed away, leaving it free to put on the rack. She couldn't see for a moment, using her arm to wipe away the tears before drying her hand. She took a few deep breaths before regaining a sense of control. She dried everything and cleared up before going for a chat with the client. "So, what do you want to talk about today Mrs Carter?" She asked, a smile on her face.

A month after their meeting:

"So, if you won't tell me your name, what about some other stuff? A game of 21 Questions?" Ivy proposed, whispering as she texted. She sent it off, eagerly waiting for his reply. On the other side of the phone, Bucky started to freak out, rushing to Steve's room, finding Natasha sitting in it as they talked.

"Buck? What's wrong?" Steve asked as he crashed in, holding the phone in his hands as if it was a dangerous bomb about to explode.

"What's 21 Questions?" He asked, not entirely familiar with the concept. Steve shrugged, not knowing himself as Natasha spoke up.

"A game. It's a game." She told them as she laughed at their blank stares. "You two really have no idea do you?" She asked and received still, only blank stares. She sighed, rolling her eyes and putting her head on her hand. "It's a game where you ask each other questions and you have to answer them. Usually, there's an objective but people just use it to get information out of each other now. Comes in useful in interrogations." Nat mused as Steve raised an eyebrow. "When they don't really know that they're being interrogated." She added, making Steve smirk.

"So a girl usually asks these questions?" He asked, not really understanding the concept.

"A girl?" Steve asked, latching onto the meaning as he quickly got up and took the phone from Bucky's hands, throwing it to Nat who scrolled through the messages and gasped.

"Oh my God, Bucky's got a girlfriend!" She laughed as she showed Steve who was still trying to jokingly restrain Bucky.

"A girlfriend?" Steve asked, taking the phone for himself and looking through them as Bucky sighed, giving up and letting them know.

"She's not my girlfriend." Bucky spoke half-heartedly.

"You want her to be though." Nat smirked, giving him the phone back. "Thank me later." She told him as he quickly checked his phone, knowing she must have done something. He was right. She'd replied to her text with a casual 'sure'. Quickly enough, a reply made its way to him and he threw it to Steve as the phone beeped.

"What did she ask?" He asked reluctantly.

"How old are you?" Steve read off with a laugh. "How are you going to explain that one Buck?" He challenged while Nat rolled her eyes in the background.

"Just ask her what her age is and say you're about there." She told them, taking the phone off of Steve and typing in that he was 30.

"Okay, next question." Ivy whispered, labelling them 1 and 2 as she went along. "Do you do this a lot?" She smirked, sending it off.

"Do what?" Bucky asked, looking at the text and sending his own off.

"Pick up girls' things and ask for their numbers?" Ivy bit her lip, waiting for a reply. He told Steve who laughed, taking it off him and typing in a reply. Bucky wrestled to get it off him but he was too late and the text had already been sent. "All the time?" Ivy whispered to herself as the phone beeped and she quickly tapped on the notification to see his answer. She stopped for a moment, an unsettling feeling settling in her stomach like a stone. She bit her lip, staring at the message until her eyes blurred before a beep made her blink again.

"Sorry, that was my friend Steve. He was trying to make you think I was suave." It said and Ivy felt a small smile grace her lips at that. Then it broke into a grin at the next message. "Which I am. I've just fallen off my game." It read and she raised an eyebrow. "Just off my game." It beeped again and Ivy couldn't help the laughter bubbling up inside her.

"Sure, of course. Just off your game. Nice correction." She smirked, putting the winking face with the tongue out. It was one of her favourite emojis. It was funny, flirty and encompassed her daily moods. Of course, it did waver, based on her moods but it was definitely her most used. The rest of the conversation went smoothly, Bucky only using words and phrases that he properly knew rather than these 'new' phrases that were better in Natasha's opinion.

"Hey, um what was the name of that other breakfast bar?" She asked, knowing she probably had to go to sleep otherwise she might not be able to face the next day.

"Steve, quick! A breakfast bar's name!" Bucky asked as Steve flirted with Natasha. Ever since Steve found out that Clint had a wife and family, he'd finally plucked up the courage to ask the super spy and they'd gotten together, constantly flirting and always together. Bucky teased Steve constantly but no one dared to even broach the topic with Natasha. They all knew she could kill with less than a look. No one had a death wish.

"Oh, he's finally talking to us again is he?" Steve asked, Natasha's sass rubbing off on him as well.

"Take her to the one down the road. What's that one's name?" Natasha asked, trying to think of it as Bucky nodded, quickly typing down the name.

"The Big Ben's?" Ivy asked, shock in her voice as she raised an eyebrow.

"Bit expensive isn't it?" Bucky read off and Nat remembered that normal people weren't exactly as wealthy as heroes and they had no idea what financial state this lady was in.

"Offer to pay for her." Steve suggested, ever the gentleman as Bucky typed it in.

"I can't let you do that."

"I insist." He added and over the phone, Ivy bit her lip. Bucky got worried when she didn't reply, wondering if he'd gone too far when Ivy replied.

"Only this time. If you insist." She wrote and Bucky let out a sigh of relief, sitting down on the bed.

"She reply?" Nat asked, slightly sick of his constant pacing.

"Yeah." He grinned and both Nat and Steve rolled their eyes. He texted her the details and both of them smiled through the phone, laying on a bed as they waited for the day they'd meet again. And although Ivy wasn't stupid, she knew that it could be dangerous meeting up with a guy she barely knew, there was something slightly attractive about the danger of that situation.

It felt the same for Bucky. He didn't know who Ivy was, he didn't know if his time as the Winter Soldier had affected her in any way or if she didn't like prosthetics for some reason. He didn't know a thing about her but at the same time, there was something slightly attractive about the danger of that situation.

He remembered that day with a smile. It had taken him a month of constant texting before he had finally managed to gather up enough courage to ask her. But with that conversation and the mixture of crazy feelings he felt afterwards, he knew enough to know he was infatuated with her. He could only hope it was returned and that it would last. Thinking back on it, he laughed as he realised she probably had. It was a memory that just got better the more he thought about it. "You alright Buck?" Steve asked, passing him a can of dried peaches. It was all they could afford but they didn't mind. They had lived through the war on rations after all. This was mostly the same, except both of them had distant lovers this time.

"Yeah, just thinking." He replied, taking a bite as Steve opened his own can.

"About Ivy?" He confirmed and Bucky simply nodded, a smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that just wouldn't go away. Like a light had been turned on in his life and it was brightening up everything else as well. "You did good there Buck. She's special." He agreed, both men smiling as they realised the day that neither of them had expected to come, had come. They were both happy and fulfilled. Now, they just had to close up the distance between their lovers.

"Thanks."

Two months after their first meeting:
(The Big Ben's)

Ivy smiled as she got up. It was time for her morning run. Only this time, her schedule was slightly different. She went to the bathroom, as usual. She put on her leggings and vest with the jumper tied around her waist as usual. She took a piece of buttered toast and the bag that was always packed for her day's work, as usual. So what was different? Ivy ran to Central Park, her trainers having a new bounce in them despite being old. She stopped once she got to the spot where she met Bucky that day, and sat on the bench closest. She sat, and waited and pretended to call someone after a few minutes. It felt awkward when she was just sitting there with nothing to do, it was easier to pretend she was calling someone. However, that did backfire on her when she saw her Breakfast Buddy.

He sat down next to her, simply sitting as he waited for her to finish her imaginary call. She smiled at him, mentally cursing as she carried on her murmuring of "Hmm, yeah. Okay." Before ending it and putting the phone back away to look at him, trying not to blush as she realised that he had the look on his face that told her he knew exactly what she had been doing.

"You ready to go?" He smirked and she smiled, nodding as he started to chuckle, holding his hand out for her to take as she burst out into laughter as well, both of them grinning as they walked hand in hand to their breakfast bar which was very near to the Tower. Ivy couldn't help but consider the choice and the photos she'd seen yesterday. She didn't know much about the superheroes, not into that sort of news. She was in the medical world, what she cared about were the horrific cuts to the medical funding in England and the rise in costs of healthcare in America. That was her topic of conversation, not whether Captain America was going out with the Black Widow or whether Iron Man had updated his suit. But it seemed that she would have to because this man, her Breakfast Buddy had some connection to that world. She was sure of it.

"Do you know of Captain America?" She asked and Ivy nodded.

"He's a great man." She complimented, Peggy laughing as she agreed.

"He is. He's also happy, like I was. That was all I wanted for him. My only regret has been fulfilled." She revealed as Ivy smiled, placing her hand on top of hers for comfort. "Do you have a partner?" She asked, watching as she blushed and smiled, trying to keep the tears back.

"Yeah… but he's away right now." She added, making Peggy smile.

"But he's still your partner." She finished, speaking the unspoken truth and Ivy nodded.

"Of course."

"But there's something else." Peggy deducted, watching Ivy's face and she looked away for a moment.

"He's been injured. I got the letter a few months ago, I'm not sure what's happened since then. I only got the news through Steve but I can't communicate with him because I could jeopardise the mission, I just have to trust he will communicate with me." She explained, blurting it all out before realising she may have said a bit more than she should have. She stopped abruptly and Peggy let out a weak laugh.

"It's okay. I know your partner is James or more commonly known as Bucky. Sharon told me everything, I am one of the founders of SHIELD." She pointed out and Ivy laughed, tipping her head forwards in relief as her hair thankfully stayed back in a bun. "I'm going to slap Steve when he comes back. There's no point sending a letter just to worry you." She promise as she shook her head.

"No Peggy, I'm glad he did." She smiled before it faded and the elderly lady raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong?" She asked, worried for her carer.

"You sound like him. He didn't want to write either, didn't want to worry me." She revealed, the words making Peggy smile fondly.

"Steve's a hypocrite. He would've done exactly the same had his partner not been allowed to know anything like you. Luckily, Natasha Romanoff can get her hands on anything she wants. Including Captain America." She replied as Ivy laughed again, smiling at her client who patted her hand again. It may have been the same sort of conversation she'd had for a few visits now, it still helped all the same.

Two months after their first meeting:
(At the Big Ben's)

"Hey, are you okay? You seemed a little off today." He asked as she nodded with a smile. She had just remembered he was Bucky, more commonly known as the Winter Soldier. She wasn't scared, mainly just shocked. She didn't blame him for not telling her, he probably thought she would freak out but if she told him that she already knew, he would probably feel betrayed and that she didn't trust him. The whole situation was kind of messy and it took up quite a bit of her mind. She couldn't help but think about it and it had taken away from the conversation a little. Bucky could tell she was distracted and he could only wonder what it was and worry slightly that it might be what he thought.

"I'm fine, I'm just thinking about a client." She lied, not able to tell the truth at that moment.

"You work too hard." Bucky laughed, his worries slightly soothed as Ivy smiled, breaking into a laugh when she saw his face.

"Thanks." She replied, taking it as a compliment as she watched his face with a soft smile. She didn't realise that their relationship with each other had progressed further than they'd expected. It hadn't been love at first sight, nor had it been friendship. But it definitely seemed to be progressing into love, and Bucky's next question just confirmed it.

"How about taking a night off with me?" He offered, his hand still entwined with hers. He had made sure to always use his 'human' hand so she wouldn't know and waited patiently as she turned to look at him and almost survey him before smirking and nodding.

"Alright then." She agreed with a smile as they both nodded.

"Alright." He replied and she grinned.

"Alright." She whispered, both of them a little shaky after their secrets but going forwards with a sort of apprehensive optimism.

Bucky took another bite of his peaches, leaving his friend to wait before laughing and pushing him gently on the shoulder. "Of course I think Natasha's great as well. Don't worry, I think you two are great for each other." He reassured as Steve rolled his eyes, taking a deep breath. Bucky may have a metal arm but he was still the jerk who always joked around that he knew from the 40's. And Steve was still the not so little anymore punk who was always so eager to put his life in danger.

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