Working late on a Friday night was a normal routine for me, vacuuming up dog hair off the classroom floor until it was spotless. What made it last until almost nine o'clock was the mopping of the floor, scrubbing up the crushed treats dropped during the Monday to Thursday classes.
Working late wasn't the problem. It was the sense of paranoia that I'd get robbed or possibly kidnapped that came after; also the fact that it was every Friday that I had to work late. There were no classes, which was ideal but it was the fact that I had to help my coworker the entire day, well at least until the last dog was picked up. Then there was the extra work I had to do before vacuuming and mopping and the exhaustion that I felt once I got home. The months with daylight savings time weren't as bad since there was still some daylight when I was done and had to lock up before heading to my car. The winter months, however, were a little scary.
Tonight was no different after I finished up and began my walk back to the groom room to put back the vacuum but as I opened the door to the daycare, a familiar face greeted me with a smile.
"Steve? What are you doing here? Not that I'm not glad to see you of course." I greeted him, putting down the vacuum and closing the door behind me.
"I came to pick you up so I could bring you to the tower. I wanted to test a theory and also grab some dinner on the way over. I'd thought you'd be at your apartment by now but it seems you're still here. Do you always work this late?" he answered me, walking towards me and grabbing the vacuum, picking it up with ease. I pointed to the groom room and he followed me to the door.
"Only on Fridays. I have to vacuum and sometimes I also have to mop. It takes about an hour to vacuum which why it's a little late by the time I leave. Mopping doesn't take as long but I do have to set the classroom back up for classes on Monday. On Fridays there are no classes, making it easier to keep it fresh before classes resume during the week," I told him, unlocking the groom room and opening the door to let Steve step inside. I showed him where to place the vacuum after turning on the lights. After turning them back off, we exited the room, locking it before returning next door to retrieve my things and leave.
"You don't go out on Friday nights? No plans at all?' Steve asked once I locked the daycare up.
"Not usually unless it's a late movie or something. Whenever classes end, I don't have to work so late, so I could make plans to see friends but a lot of them aren't available most days. I usually just tend to grab dinner, go home and curl up with a book or watch a movie," I answered, unlocking my car, placing my purse inside.
"I see. Actually, Natasha is with me and I've asked her to take your car back to your apartment. I want you to ride with me to the tower," he informed me. I watched as a pretty redhead got out the passenger side of the car Steve had arrived in and offered a smile before grabbing my purse. She held her hand out for my keys and I gave them to her before joining Steve at his car. I got in and we both pulled out of the parking lot.
"So what's this theory you're testing?" I asked as we drove down the highway on the way to grab dinner.
"The other night when you called me to help Bucky, I noticed you seemed to completely calm him. I've never seen anyone handle a panic attack like you did. You're not an empath are you? Gifted with anything related to emotions?" he answered me.
"No, I don't think so. I have a friend who has anxiety though. One night she had an attack that hit her pretty hard and I just happened to be there, but she's not the type of person that would let you touch her. She would rather for someone to just be there for her and just talk to her until she calms down. Bucky seemed okay with the physical touch though. I did ask permission fist before I laid my hands on him just in case he didn't want me to touch him," I replied, replaying the event in my mind.
"Hmmm. Maybe you have a calm effect around people. Even riding with you now it seems you give off a calm energy. I feel relaxed around you and I don't really know you all that well. It's nice. Anyway, I wanted to see how well you could handle nightmares. Bucky has them a lot and I get the sense that you could comfort him while he's having them or maybe after he wakes up from one. Also everyone wants to meet you," he commented, turning into a drive-thru. We ordered our food and left the fast food restaurant and rode to a building I didn't recognize but I assumed it was the avengers tower. We got out and he led me to the entrance of the building, opening the door and we stepped inside. Taking the elevator up to the fifth floor, we got off and continued down a hallway.
"The main room is this way. Oh, hey Nat. This is Abigail, the girl whose car you just dropped off at her apartment. Abigail, this is Natasha," he told me, greeting the red head that I met earlier. She smiled and looked me over as if to make sure I wasn't a threat.
"Seems innocent enough. The others will probably like her. She's got that sweet personality that draws people in," Natasha stated, walking with us to the main room. We entered a giant room with three large couches and one smaller one as well as a huge flat screen TV mounted on the wall. A medium sized coffee table sat in front of one of the large couches. Behind the couches was an open concept kitchen and bar area. On one of the larger couches sat a three men; one with long blonde hair and blue eyes, one with black hair that had touches of gray and dark eyes, and one with dark skin, a neatly trimmed beard and dark brown eyes. On the couch on the left side of them sat a man with short dark brown hair, a goatee and dark brown eyes. Beside him sat Natasha. I looked towards the kitchen to see a girl with long brown hair and green eyes; a man with purple skin and blue eyes and on the counter sat a man with short light brown hair and blue eyes. In another corner of the room, I also noticed a man with shoulder length black hair and green eyes.
As we entered the room all of them looked up at me and I suddenly felt a little awkward, my face growing warm from the stares.
"Everybody this is Abigail, the woman I told you about a few nights ago. I thought she might offer some help tonight and since everyone was so eager to meet her, I thought I'd bring her over for tonight's activities," Steve introduced me. They all waved and soon returned to their own conversations. I sat down on the smaller couch and started eating. Halfway through my second taco, I noticed Steve ask one of the guys a question and jumped as a booming voice greeted me.
"Sorry to startle you. I am Thor and this is my good friend Banner. Welcome to the tower. I hope we can also become good friends as well. You're very pretty by the way," the blonde… and very muscular man greeted; the man with the black hair with touches of gray standing beside him.
"You can just call me Bruce. You know there's something different about you. You're so calm and I feel like I have nothing to worry about around you. Any special abilities we should know about?" the one Thor called Banner stated.
"No. I don't think so. It's nice to meet you. I'm sure we can all be great friends," I stated.
"Abigail? You're here? How…" A familiar voice called out. I turned to the other side of the couch to see Bucky standing there wearing a black t-shirt and dark blue jeans and white socks on his feet.
"Hi, Bucky. Steve brought me over. How have you been? It's wonderful to see you," I greeted him. He lingered for a moment before deciding to sit down beside me.
"I'm good, thanks. Are you staying over tonight? You don't have to of course but…" he replied.
"If you'd like me to, I'd be glad to stay here tonight," I answered, smiling and taking his right hand in mine. He smiled back and over the next few minutes, I got pulled into a conversation with those in the room. I found the names of Steve's friends and fellow Avengers, Wanda and Natasha becoming fast friends with me. I even received a smile from Thor's brother Loki. Hours passed and soon people began retiring to their rooms, Clint leaving to go home to his family.
Having told Steve, Tony, and Natasha good night, I followed Bucky to the spare room, which was next o his and wished him good night. He hugged me and then retired to his room. I closed my door and found a dresser that had spare pajamas and laid them out before jumping in the shower to rinse off sweat and grime from work. Getting out of the shower, I dried off and changed into the clothes before finding a book on the bookshelf next to the bed and settled in under the covers. While reading, I could feel my eyelids getting heavier and before I knew it, I drifted off into sleep.
About what felt like an hour later, I was woken up by screams coming from somebody's room. I shot out of bed and opened by door to find out who it was. The screams continued and I realized that they were coming from next door.
Bucky, I thought and quickly walked down to his room. I slowly opened the door and saw him tossing and turning in the bed, sheets tangling around his body as he screamed at whatever was tormenting him in his dreams. I sprinted over to him and knelt by the bed.
"Bucky! Hey, wake up! It's just a dream. Bucky, come on wake up! Please, just listen to my voice. Wake up!" I told him, not touching him yet. At once he shot up in his bed, breathing hard, sweat glistening on his chest and forehead.
"Bucky, may I turn on the light?" I asked him gently. He turned to face me and slowly nodded. I eased up and turned on the lamp on the nightstand to create dimness to the room. Turning my attention back to him again, I held up my hands slowly.
"Are you alright? Do you mind if I place my hands on you?" I asked him. He shook his head and I put my hands at my sides and asked if it was okay if I sat on the bed with him. He nodded and I sat down across from him, careful not to touch him yet.
"Tell me when you're sort of calmed down," I stated and I waited until he caught his breath and laid back down before sitting closer to him, still not touching him.
"Do you want to tall about it? Can I get you anything? Tea? A wet cloth?" I asked. He shook his head no, but reached out with his right hand to me. I took it in mine and started rubbing soothing circles in his skin.
"Stay with me. Please," he stated, turning to me. I nodded and slid down beside him, angling myself to face him. Bucky slid down a bit and pulled me close so that his head was resting against my neck. He then took my hands, placing one on his head and the other he linked with his own. Releasing a deep breath, I ran my hand through his hair, placing a delicate kiss on the top of his head. After a half an hour, I noticed he had fallen back asleep and reached over and turned out the light. I continued stroking his hair until I too fell asleep.
The next morning, I awoke to find myself against Bucky's chest, one hand still linked with one of his, the other draped across his waist. I looked up at his face and saw that he was still in deep sleep. A knock at the door sounded and I slowly unraveled myself from him and stood up to see Steve standing at the open door. I walked over to him and we stepped into the hallway, leaving Bucky's door cracked open a little.
"I heard the screams last night. You went to him didn't you? To comfort him?" he greeted me. I nodded and Steve smiled.
"I couldn't get back to sleep for a few hours but I noticed that there were no more screams. That's good. You're good with him, a calm effect for him. For everyone it seems. When you talked with us, there was less tension in the room. I felt it, as did everyone else. Are you sure you don't have an enhanced ability?" Steve asked, waving to Sam as he passed us.
"I'm sure. I was being gentle with him. I didn't touch him until he felt comfortable and I didn't press him into talking about it. I'm not completely sure I'm a calm effect but I feel like people are just naturally drawn to me. Maybe it's just my personality," I commented.
"Maybe. Listen, what are you doing today? You could come with us to the beach for the day. We all need to get away for a little while. You look like you could use a day to relax. Get to know everyone a bit more. Spend time with Bucky. You two are starting to become wonderful friends. He seems to open up more when you're around," Steve suggested.
"Sure, that sounds fantastic. I just have to go home and get a bathing suit and a few other things if that's alright," I stated.
"Good morning Abigail. Hey, Steve, are we still going to the beach today?" a sleepy voice greeted us from behind. I turned to face Bucky and smiled.
"Yes and I've invited Abigail to join us. That okay Buck?" Steve answered Bucky's question.
"That's ok. I'd be glad to have her come along. Besides Natasha is really starting to enjoy having her as a friend. I'm sure she'll be glad she's coming with us," he replied before heading down the hallway to the kitchen. I went to my room and changed into my work clothes from last night and placed the pajamas in the hamper beside the dresser. I opened the door to find Natasha waiting for me. She took me home to get a bathing suit and other supplies and we met the others at the beach. As I hung out with everyone, a thought occurred to me at that moment. The thought, as I looked at Bucky laughing at something Steve said, was that I was starting to develop feelings for Bucky and the more I spent time with him, the harder I was going to fall in love with him.