"Captain Rogers!"

At the sound of his name, the tall blond turns around. Natasha Romanoff, code-name Black Widow, jogs towards him, a serious expression set on her face. Of course, that doesn't mean very much. Steve learned it was her default expression a week after meeting her.

"Natasha." He greets her with a nod as she draws up in front of him.

"Fury wants to see you in his office, ASAP." She tells him before walking down a different corridor, presumably to find her husband. Steve sighs and turns to make his trek to Fury's office. As he ascends in the elevator, he let his mind drift to a warm cup of coffee, a warm bed, and an even warmer boyfriend.

"Captain Rogers. You're late." Fury greets him after he steps out of the elevator. Steve represses an eye roll.

"Sorry, sir." He apologizes. "Agent Romanoff said you wanted to see me?"

"I have a mission for you." Fury explains, picking up a folder from his desk and handing it to Steve. "HYDRA is planning an attack on SHEILD. We've discovered the location of their top Agent, code name the Winter Soldier. I'm sending you after him."

Steve opens the folder and looks through the information. His eyes widen when he sees the dates of the assignment.

"Sir, this starts tomorrow." He points out.

"I realize this Captain. I trust this won't be a problem?" Fury 'asks'. Steve clenches his jaw.

"Sir, I had hoped to have the day off. I'm sure you're aware of what day that is." He protests. Fury levels him with a stern look.

"Captain Rogers, are you suggesting we put off an important mission, one that might determine the success of HYDRA's plans to dismantle SHIELD, because of a personal obligation?" Director Fury asks him. Steve cringes and ducks his head down.

"No sir. I will have to reschedule, this is more important. I'll prep and leave first thing tomorrow morning." He responds. Fury nods at him and turns back to his paperwork.

"I expect you to be here at 0900 sharp. Dismissed." Steve nods and turns, leaving the Director's office.

'Stupid Fury, stupid SHIELD, stupid HYDRA, stupid spy-work. I just wanted to go home and spend my anniversary with my boyfriend, but no! Now I have to go out on assignment, and Bucky is going to kill me because I can't tell him what I do.' Steve rants to himself as he storms down the halls of SHIELD, a scowl fixed firmly on his face. People part as he walks, ducking into rooms and pressing against walls to avoid the path of a furious Captain Rogers, code-named Captain America.

"Woah, Cap, what crawled up your ass?" Tony Stark, one of Steve's friends, code-name Iron Man, asks as he passes.

"Not a good time Tony." Steve grits out. Tony falls into step with him, because he obviously can't tell that Steve needs a moment to fume.

"Did Bucky cancel?" He asks. It wouldn't be the first time that's happened, but this time it's not the case.

"No."

"Did you cancel?" He presses set clenches his jaw tighter. "Ah. Fury give you the Winter Soldier assignment?" He guesses. Steve falters in his steps.

"How did yo- No. Never mind, I don't need to know." Steve shakes his and keeps walking, knowing not to question how Tony does anything anymore. He quickens his pace and Tony has just enough sense in him not to follow. Finally Steve reaches his destination.

As he suspected, Natasha and Clint are sparring in the gym, working on Clint's close-range combat skill. There's a reason his code-name is Hawkeye, and it isn't because of his right hook.

"Nat!" Steve calls out, harsher than he meant it to be. Natasha drops Clint with a roundhouse kick and strides over to where Steve is leaning against the wall, looking menacing with a scowl on his face and arms crossed over his chest.

"Yes?" She prompts once she reaches him.

"Did you know about the Winter Soldier assignment?" He demands. She shrugs and crosses her arms.

"I knew Fury was probably going to give it to you." She answers lightly.

"And did you know about when it starts?" He asks. Natasha shakes her head.

"No, when?" She cocks her head slightly in interest. Steve's jaw clenches tighter.

"Tomorrow." He grits out. Nat's eyes widen in understanding and her mouth falls open.

"Oh. Steve, I'm so sorry. I know how much this anniversary means to you." Natasha apologizes. Steve shakes his head and lets the tension drain from his shoulders.

"No, it- it's alright. I'll just have to reschedule or- or something. It's fine." He sighs and wipes his hand down his face in exasperation. "I'm going to head home. I'll see you tomorrow I guess."

"Yeah, I'll see you then." Natasha sends him one last Look and he smiles.

"Bye Clint." Steve calls, waving toward the rafters, where he knows Clint has scurried off to.


"Honey, I'm home!" Steve calls out jokingly as he enters the house. Bucky ducks his head out of the kitchen, a grins stretched across his face.

"Hey Stevie!" He greets him cheerfully before ducking back into the kitchen. Steve smiles at the childhood nickname and drops his things at the door. He pads across the floor, having kicked his shoes off already, and leans against the doorway to their kitchen. He watches Bucky cook for a few seconds before sliding up behind him and wrapping his arms around him, resting his chin on his shoulder.

"What'cha cooking?" He asks, watching Bucky's hands as they stir whatever it is he's cooking.

"Brains." He answers dryly. Steve hums against his ear.

"My favorite." He responds, just as dryly. Bucky chuckles and elbows him away.

"Shut up. I'm making pasta." He answers seriously. Steve laughs and leans against the counter. He looks down at their checkered floor and clears his throat.

"Hey, um. So, I know it's our anniversary and everything tomorrow, but, uh, one of my coworkers is in the hospital and they need someone to cover their meetings. And, um, mybossassignedthemtome." Steve breathes out the last part in one breath, squeezing his eyes closed. The tongs clatter to onto the stove and Bucky curses.

"Seriously?" He explodes. Steve opens his eyes and cringes at the look of anger on Bucky's face.

"I know, I know! I tried to get him to give it to Nat or someone, but he said I was the only person who knew their material well enough to run their meetings." Steve rushes to explain. Bucky clenches his jaw and takes a deep breath.

"And there's no way you can plead off it?" Steve shakes his head sadly. "Damn." Bucky curses again. "How long are they out?"

"I don't know. Anywhere from a day to a week, maybe longer, depending on what the doctors find." Steve responds. Bucky curses again.

"We'll have to reschedule then. Damn. We've had these reservations for months." Bucky mutters to himself as he turns back to the stove to work on dinner. Steve wraps his arms around him and kisses his neck.

"This is why I love you." He mutters against his neck. "Well, this and your ass." He amends with a smack to the previously mentioned asset. Bucky laughs and smacks his arm.

"Stop. I have to cook, and if you keep distracting me, I might burn something. Like you." Bucky threatens playfully.

"I don't think it's possible to burn something this hot." Steve replies. Bucky laughs and smacks him away.

"Shut up! I still remember when you were a hundred pound asthmatic. Now go and set the table, it's almost ready." Bucky says, swatting at Steve when he leans in to kiss his cheek. Steve laughs as he walks away, grabbing plates and silverware as he goes. Once his back it turned away the smile falls from his face, a crease forming in his brow. He hates lying to Bucky, even if it's a matter of national security. He sets the table quickly and sighs, leaning over it with his head ducked down. Two hands settle on his shoulders, Bucky's metal one cool against his skin. Steve sighs and relaxes as Bucky works on his tense muscles.

"Thanks Buck." He breathes, moaning when Bucky starts in on a particularly stiff muscle. "I've had a really tough week."

Bucky hums and stops massaging his neck, resting his hands on Steve's shoulders and gently pushing him into a chair.

"Sit down, we can talk about it over dinner." Bucky tells him gently. Steve nods and relaxes into the chair, turning his head slightly so he can give Bucky a peck on the lips.

"I love you, Buck." He murmurs. Bucky smiles and kisses him again.

"Love you too, ya big lug." He chuckles, messing up Steve short hair. Steve smiles at him and watches as he walks back into the kitchen. "Eyes front soldier!" Bucky yells back, knowing exactly where Steve was looking. Steve laughs and turns back to the table.

Bucky reenters a few moments later, holding a serving bowl full of spaghetti in his left hand and a plate of garlic bread in his other. Steve hums as he sets it down and Bucky quickly settles into his chair. They both reach for the food at the same time, Steve going for the spaghetti and Bucky going for the bread. They move in sync with each other, Steve portioning out spaghetti onto his plate then handing the bowl over to Bucky as Bucky hands him the plate of garlic bread. They both dig into the food, habits formed in the Army taking over as they try to shovel in as much food as possible as fast as they can. They both catch themselves at the same time and laugh silently, chewing and swallowing the bites in their mouths before slowing down and eating at a more normal pace.

"So, you said you were having a tough week?" Bucky questions as he takes a break from eating to take a sip of his red wine. Steve hums and reaches for his own glass, not really registering that Bucky intends to talk about it. "And?" Steve looks up at him and sees Bucky's raised eyebrows and amused expression.

"Oh. Well, you know, just the regular stuff. Tony and Bruce broke the lab again." What Steve fails to mention is that Tony and Bruce exploded the lab after they accidentally tripped the countdown on a HYDRA bomb. "Nat was freaking out about Clint being in the hospital again." Clint fell twenty stories from his perch atop an office building and landed on a SmartCar. He was trying to avoid a group of 'DoomBots', miniature robots created by one of SHIELD's enemies, Dr Doom. (Yeah, he really called himself that.) "Oh, and Wade dropped by to mess with Peter. Again." Wade, aka Deadpool, wasn't necessarily a SHIELD agent, yet he was constantly there, hanging around, 'helping' the other agents, and relentlessly taunting/flirting with Peter Parker, aka Spiderman.

"Does Wade even work there?" Bucky asks him, mouth full of spaghetti.

"Y'know, I'm not even sure anymore." Steve answers, shaking his head. "I had a pretty tough meeting on Wednesday. Another company was there to discuss a merger, but they ended up giving us a pretty bad virus. Tony spent the rest of the week moaning about how he had to completely wipe the system and reboot it using the backup drives." One of Stark's old 'acquaintances' started up a group called AIM and infiltrated his computer system with a virus called 'Extremis', which then spread to his 'Iron Man' suits and he had to blow them all up and he's only recently begun to rebuild them.

"Sounds like a crazy week." Bucky comments.

'You have no idea.' Steve thinks. "Yeah, I guess it was. And then I get this dumped on me, right before our anniversary." He says out loud. Bucky leans over the table and rests a hand on Steve's shoulder.

"Hey, it's okay. I would have had to leave early anyways." Steve's head snaps up and his brow furrows. Bucky rolls his eyes. "Yeah, they told me right before you got home. Some new training thing they just instated. Mandatory for all senior management personnel, of course. They're flying us out to some mountain retreat or something. Total bullshit if you ask me, but they're still making me go, despite the fact that I had the next few days scheduled as vacation time."

"And you were going to tell me, when?" Steve asks him testily. Bucky laughs and raises his hands in appeasement.

"I was going to tell you when you got home, but you beat me to the punch. Guess the whole 'plans' thing was doomed from the beginning, huh?" Bucky jokes. Steve huffs a laugh and shakes his head.

"Yeah, guess it was." Steve grins at Bucky and laughs. "C'mon, I'll do the dishes tonight since you cooked." Steve says, standing and gathering their now empty plates. Bucky stands and helps him clear the table.

"Y'know you keep saying how lucky you are to have me, and while I agree, because I am a pretty good catch, I'm pretty lucky to have you too." Bucky says after Steve's cleaned off their plates and loaded them into the dishwasher. "Can't believe it took us so long to actually realize we were in love with each other." Bucky mutters, shaking his head.

"Hey, I resent that!" Steve throws back. "I knew I was in love with you since I was ten years old! I just didn't realize you loved me back." Steve corrects him smugly. Bucky laughs and hip checks him. Steve laughs as he flings water onto him. They start attacking each other with water and suds, laughing until Steve picks up the pullout hose and douses Bucky with it.

"Oh that's it Rogers!" Bucky growls, throwing himself at Steve and rubbing his wet hair all over him. Steve squeals (but in a manly way) and laughs as they crash to the floor. Bucky pins him down and straddles his waist. He gathers Steve's wrists into his metal hand and commences to tickle him mercilessly.

"Uncle! Uncle!" Steve pleads, his stomach hurting from the laughter Bucky is forcing out of him.

"Apologize first!" Bucky commands.

"I'm sorry!" Steve manages to choke out as tears begin to form at the corners of his eyes. Bucky releases his wrists and Steve curls in on himself, tucking his elbows into his sides to protect himself from any more tickles from his boyfriend. "I h-hate you." He breathes, trying to catch his breath. Bucky grins down at him and sits back smugly.

"You're just pissed because you know I'm not ticklish." He announces proudly. Steve glares at him and sits up suddenly, causing Bucky to crash to the floor. He smirks at the indignant look on his lover's face.

"Go take a shower, I need to finish up the dishes, and I'd get done a lot faster if you weren't here to distract me." Steve says as he stands, offering Bucky a hand. Bucky takes it and Steve helps him up, slapping his ass as he turns to take his shower. Bucky flips him off and laughs as he makes his way down the hall. Steve finishes the dishes and puts the leftover spaghetti into a container.

Steve stands in the middle of the kitchen for a moment, his hand shoved in his pocket, fiddling with the velvet box he picked up on his way home. He shuts his eyes and curses Nick Fury, SHIELD, and HYDRA one last time before making his way to the bedroom he and Bucky share.


Hope y'all liked the first chapter! Please leave reviews!