Summary: Darcy has always been a fan of K-pop, but not once did she think that it would lead her to the other half over her soul. Darcy/Bucky

Author Notes: This came about when one night I was chatting with one of my betas, Yasmania, and she mentioned that her personal headcanon is that Darcy is a fan of K-Pop. And when she was musing aloud which of the other Avengers would be fans, I piped up and said Bucky, because the thought of the Winter Soldier being a K-pop fan made me giggle. And thus, this was born. For Yasmania.

Bring the Boys Out

"Awkward," Darcy muttered under her breath, casting an uncomfortable glance at the kissing couple in front of her.

Not that Jane or Thor noticed.

They were far too busy trying to steal each others tonsils to even notice that she was in the room any longer. And yeah, it'd been a couple of months since they'd last seen each other; and Darcy and Jane had just gotten into a spot of trouble that had been more worrying than usual, but geez. At least wait until people cleared out before you went at it like cats in heat.

"So, yeah. I'm just gonna...I'm just gonna go see a man about a thing, or something. You two have fun with that and, you know, be safe," Darcy said when it became clear that neither was going to come up for air anytime soon, and then turned tail and fled.

"Hey J man," Darcy muttered, addressing JARVIS as she entered the elevator, feeling only mildly envious when JARVIS responded immediately to her voice and anticipated her need by closing the doors. Tony had all the best toys. "Take me away."

"Is there anywhere in particular that you'd like to go to, Miss Lewis?"

"Darcy." she corrected absently, knowing it wouldn't do any good.

Darcy paused and thought on that.

Usually Tony was her go to whenever Thor and Jane got like this. Being a night owl like herself, they had spent many a late night bitching about the very loud, rambunctious symphony she was subjected to every time Thor and Jane reunited in their 'blissful union of love.' Or really, she bitched while Tony fed her candy, shots of the alcohol dujour and laughed at her pain.

But that was okay because she got her revenge when Tony's lovers were out of town, and he spent the entire night whining about it like the sap that he was. Few people knew that Tony was actually a big softie at heart. And that he was deeply in love with the two people with whom he shared his life. All they saw was the carefree, playboy attitude and dismissed him as lacking the ability to love at all, never mind that deeply.

Which was just plain stupid in Darcy's very undervalued opinion.

Anyone could see that while Tony didn't wear his heart on his sleeve, he was actually the most vulnerable out of the three of them.

However.

Steve had been on the very same week-long SHIELD mission that extracted Jane, and subsequently Darcy herself since Jane was the walking disaster Darcy had been reluctantly entrusted with, from a sticky situation that involved AIM, several large mutant squirrels and a kraken.

Don't ask. No seriously. Don't. Ask.

Even she wasn't sure how this shit kept happening to her.

But she digressed.

So, Steve had been embroiled in a mission for over a week, rescuing herself and Jane from the deranged idiots that thought it'd be a good idea to kidnap Thor's sweetie. (Which no. Just don't. Seriously. That is just asking for trouble.) And Darcy was quite certain that Tony and Pepper were currently welcoming him home. Enthusiastically. And while that would be all kinds of sexy to watch, she didn't think Steve would be open to an audience.

Tony would. (Oh, would he ever. That man had an exibitionist streak a mile long.)

And Pepper might; because she was a kick ass, sassy HBIC under that prim exterior. (One who Darcy secretly worshipped as the Goddess that she so obviously was.) And Darcy could certainly see her taking it in stride. (And damn, wouldn't she love a piece of that. Seriously, the woman was hot, and if she thought it would lead anywhere, Darcy would have hit it like you wouldn't believe. But soulmates. She couldn't do that to Tony or Steve.)

Steve, on the other hand, tended to be shy. And while the blush was adorable, putting him in that awkward position would be like kicking a puppy.

"It doesn't matter to me, J," Darcy replied with a wave of her hand. "Just anywhere but here. If I have to witness any more of that..." Darcy gestured to where she assumed a still passionately embracing Thor and Jane were, "I just might vomit."

"As you wish, Miss Darcy," JARVIS said, setting the elevator car in motion. Darcy rolled her eyes at the honorific. Leave it to Tony to create an artificial intelligence as snarky as he. "Sir currently has the main lounge on lockdown…"

Darcy quirked a brow at that announcement. Didn't even make to the bed. Kinky.

And she couldn't help feeling a tad envious. She wished she had someone to greet her so enthusiastically.

"...will the small lounge do?"

"Sounds good, J baby; hit it," Darcy agreed as she shook herself out of her thoughts, and then fell into silence as the car continued ascending to one of the more private, and quieter, areas open only to the Avengers and their loved ones.

It wasn't that she was bitter that everyone around her had found their soulmates, while she continued to search for hers. (Envious, yes; but not bitter.)

It's just that, in this particular case, it's Jane. And watching that is akin to watching her sister, (if she had one), in the throes of a great love story - while tooth-rottingly sweet, it made her feel a touch nauseous no matter how hot Thor looked without a shirt. Plus, soulmates. It was considered bad taste to witness the reaffirming of a strained bond. That sort of thing was private.

Especially if one of the parties was unbonded; it was stupidly archaic, and usually, Darcy didn't stand on ceremony when it came to stupidly archaic rules just on principle, but, again, Jane. That is something she just does not want to see.

Humming to herself absently, Darcy exited the elevator and slipped into the small kitchenette to grab herself a soda and a few snacks, and then made her way into the main lounge area.

"Gimme some tunes, J," she called as she set her snack down.

"Anything in particular you wish to listen to, Miss Darcy? Or would you just like a small selection from your usual playlists?"

Darcy pursed her lips and hummed. She tended to listen to a little of everything, from country (she grew up in a small, Southern town, okay; you can't escape that stuff down there) to show tunes to rock to punk to...well, you get the picture. She has music from all over the globe, and in several languages, because she didn't discriminate when she wanted to get her groove on.

But right now, after the blatant reminder she was still unbonded, she needed a pick me up and some girl empowerment to remind herself that while being bonded would be nice, (and it would), she was kick ass in her own right and didn't need a man to make her happy.

"I think I'm in a K-pop kind of mood, J."

"Audio only? Or would you like video as well?"

"Pop up some video as well, J. That's the best part. Those girls always give me some serious shoe envy."

"As you wish," JARVIS said, lowering a screen from somewhere above her. "On that note, Ms. Potts has asked me to remind you of tomorrow's lunch and shoe excursion."

"God, I love that woman," Darcy replied happily, visions of Christian Louboutin's Pensamois - magenta, 120-millimeter dorcet, with crystal-encrusted flower at the ankle - dancing in her head. Pepper was one of the few people who shared her shoe addiction and they'd spent many an afternoon trying on and spending Tony's money on said addiction. (All with Tony's permission, of course, since he benefited greatly from feeding Pepper's shoe fetish.)

Natasha did as well, and often joined them when she was in town, but the spy tended to look at them as potential weapons first and a guilty pleasure second. And while Darcy understood that given Natasha's line of work, it kind of took the shine off the purchase.

Pepper, on the other hand, was a woman after her own heart; she simply enjoyed pretty things and liked owning them.

"Set me a reminder for an hour before will you, J?"

"As you will, Miss Darcy."

Darcy smiled as the artificial intelligence fell silent and her music filled the room. She bopped her head along with the music as she snacked on her cheese, crackers and fruit, but as always, the urge to get up and move to the infectious beat came over her. And yes, she does know all the moves to every Girls' Generation song, thank you. It's a thing, okay.

Jane often teases her about her obsession, but Darcy is completely unrepentant and feels no shame in knowing the routines. Besides, Jane has two left feet and couldn't keep a beat to save her life, and Darcy knew she was just jealous of Darcy's moves.

"I can tell you're lookin' at me," Darcy sang along with her favorite song, unconsciously falling into beat with the girls on the screen. "I know what you see any closer and you'll feel the heat."

Getting into it, Darcy closed her eyes and moved to the beat effortlessly, not paying much mind to her surroundings or her moves. She just let go and enjoyed the music, letting it wash away all thoughts of Thor and Jane and missing soulmates. And she was just really getting into the song when a voice asked out of the blue.

"So, were you upset when Jessica left the group?"

... ... ... ... ...

James sighed and sank wearily into the over-stuffed leather chair. (And could he just note that Stark had the best shit?) He was bone tired and aching, gritty and just done in after a week spent, first infiltrating AIM. (And the idiots never even realized the Winter Soldier was among them. Credit mostly due to Stark's ingenious work on his arm, which was covered with a synthetic material that looked and felt so much like real skin, even he would have been fooled if it hadn't been his own damned arm.)

Followed by a close to six-hour battle taking down said idiots, in order to rescue Thor's soulmate, Jane Foster, and her assistant Darcy Lewis. Although, it wasn't due to the AIM itself. As he said, idiots. (That couldn't be emphasized enough. Anyone that incited the wrath of a god by stealing their soulmate was an utter moron.)

It only took thirty minutes to take them out.

No, what took the remaining five and a half hours were the ten-foot mutant squirrels, all fifteen of them, and the kraken, that one of the scientists had unleashed in an attempt at being helpful before he too was taken down. And just what the hell AIM planned to do with mutant squirrels and a kraken, he didn't want to know. He'd given up trying to make sense of the super villain mindset around the time that the White Rabbit unleashed her legion of genetically engineered, killer rabbits and razor carrots on Manhattan.

Who even looked at a bunny and thought to themselves, 'I will make you my evil minions and it will be great!' Insert mad cackle here. He was just thankful that Spidey got stuck with that mess. Someone liked Alice's Adventures in Wonderland just a wee bit too much.

Was it just him, or were villains losing their touch these days?

Shaking his head, James sunk deeper into the chair, a low groan of appreciation slipping past his lips as he closed his eyes. God, that felt good. He felt like his body was one giant bruise after being rammed into a wall by one of the kraken's tentacles. (And really, a kracken? What the fuck AIM?) And the way the soft, buttery leather molded to his body was a God send. He could get used to this. Stark had excellent taste in furnishings.

In everything really.

Look at him and Stevie for instance.

Stark certainly couldn't have done any better if he'd tried.

Not that Pepper was any slouch in that department either. He wasn't contesting that at all. She was quite the dame, who didn't put up with anyone's shit and was exactly the firm hand that Stark needed in his life. Add Stevie to that and the man had lucked out two-fold in the soulmate department.

It was just, it was Stevie, and Christ, James couldn't help feeling a bit envious.

Ignoring a twinge in his gut, James ran a weary hand over his face and sighed. He didn't begrudge Steve his newfound happiness. Not at all. Especially given how long it had taken him to even find his soulmates; that he even had a soulmate at all; let alone two was nothing short of a miracle.

Steve had been born without a name; a very rare occurrence that left him stigmatized. Not because it wasn't there. It was a common enough occurrence when you were the first born of a pair or triad, but usually a name appeared within the first five years of life. That it hadn't, and Steve had remained unmarked well into his twenties, left him feeling broken and undeserving of love no matter how many times James and his mam tried to tell him otherwise. Even thinking about the way Steve used to stare after mated pairs broke James' heart to this day.

He deserved this hard won happiness.

It was just, Christ, he missed the little punk something fierce.

For the longest time, it had been he and Stevie against the rest of the world. They'd stuck to each other like glue from the moment they'd met, when their mams ran into each other at the grocery store. And when their mams died, they were all each other had. He was the brother he'd never had and nothing had mattered to him so much as having Steve by his side. He knew that he could do anything if Steve believed in him. And the sure, calm steadiness that marked everything Steve did had been James' anchor, and now...

And now Steve didn't need him.

He'd become superfluous.

And God, did that ache.

James had known that back then, the first time he laid eyes on Steve after the serum, and saw that it had given him a new body, one better able to encompass the attitude he'd been born with, that Steve didn't need him to fight his battles any longer. That Steve could take care of himself. And then, when Steve giddily pointed out the names that adorned his body...well, something inside him nearly broke because Steve wasn't just his anymore. Add that to coming out of HYDRA's programming and seeing Steve shacked up with Tony and Pepper...

Well, it was a bitter pill to swallow.

Not that it was any of his business.

He had no say in it at all.

He knew that.

It was just...yeah, while he was perfectly aware that he'd eventually be replaced as Steve's sole support, James still couldn't help the flare of jealousy, burning bright and fierce in his gut, when he watched the three of them together. That had once been his place.

Exasperated with himself, James swiped at tired, gritty eyes and sighed again, shunting the thoughts aside. He needed to stop this. It was what it was and no amount of whining was going to change the fact that he was on the outside looking in once again.

At least until he found his own soulmate.

Absently covering the words on his right bicep, James wondered once again when their owner would to appear. (If they appeared; if he hadn't already met them and...) The words were the only thing keeping him even remotely sane in this bright, ultra-modern world where he felt useless. Despite the fact that they weren't the ones he'd been born with.

His first words had appeared when he'd been just months old according to his mam, and had wrapped around his left wrist. They had been written in a neat, feminine hand that proclaimed 'well, at least you got the tall, dark and handsome right; but don't think that your playboy charm will work on me, buster.'

Steve had laughed himself silly when he'd seen James' mark, delighted that his future soulmate would see through his act, and told him, whoever she was, she was a keeper based on that alone. James just rolled his eyes and amped up his act knowing that at some point the owner of his words would call him on his bullshit and no one would have been happier than he.

Those words were lost to him when he'd lost his arm; he didn't even know if the person was dead or alive at this point.

His second set of words, written in a bold, loopy hand, (in purple ink for Christ's sake), appeared twenty-four years ago according to his official file. HYDRA had tried to burn them from his skin on multiple occasions, (apparently he'd gotten too curious about the mark), but the serum they'd pumped into his veins healed the skin and the mark reappeared the following day as if nothing had happened. After the dozenth attempt, they'd finally given up for lost rather than take far more drastic removal measures.

Apparently wiping his mind repeatedly was enough for the bastards.

Dropping his hand, James opened his eyes and then startled when he heard someone moving around in the kitchenette. Turning his head slowly, he watched the door warily. He hadn't even heard the elevator door open, and that wasn't like him. Usually he was hyper vigilant about his surroundings at all times. It was the only thing that had kept him alive for many years.

Tensing as footsteps shuffled on the tile, James held his breath and then released it in a shallow rush when Darcy popped out, humming under her breath. The tension coiling under his skin released slowly as she came into the room, completely unaware of his presence, and James couldn't help studying her curiously.

Although he'd seen her on this last mission, between his needing to focus on taking down AIM and her trying to talk down a far-too-curious-for- her-own-good Jane, he hadn't actually had the chance to talk to Darcy. Then, the two of them always seemed to just miss the other while they were cleaning up and he hadn't seen hide nor hair of her since returning; and James couldn't help wondering about the other girl after seeing her hold her own against AIM.

And this without super powers.

"Gimme some tunes, J," Darcy called as she entered the room and set her snack down on a low table. James drew further into the shadows and remained quiet.

"Anything in particular you wish to listen to, Miss Darcy? Or would you just like a small selection from your usual playlists?"

Darcy scrunched up her nose and tilted her head to the side thoughtfully, her lips pursing as if considering her options, and then nodded to herself as if coming to some internal decision.

"I think I'm in a K-pop kind of mood, J."

James grinned. Few people knew it, but once he'd been released to the Avengers on probation, (and after SHIELD mucked about and poked around in his head to make certain there was no lingering HYDRA programming), he'd thrown himself into learning everything he could about the years he'd missed much to Steve's combined amusement and annoyance. Unlike Steve, who'd taken his lessons as a grudging necessity, James had fully embraced this bright, bold world, loving the diversity in...well, everything from music to food to...well, everything.

K-pop was one of those things he'd secretly embraced. Introduced to him by Clint, of all people, James found the music fun and infectious even if he didn't understand it all the time, despite his rudimentary understanding of the language due to things best left unsaid. When Clint pulled up a couple of songs by some group called Girls' Generation during one of their sparring sessions, James had made a mental note and went exploring.

The rest was, as they said, history.

"As you wish," JARVIS said, lowering a screen from somewhere above. And James still couldn't get over the technology of this time. "On that note, Ms. Potts has asked me to remind you of tomorrow's lunch and shoe excursion."

"God, I love that woman," Darcy replied happily, nearly clapping her hands in glee. James was tempted to comment on how women never changed no matter the year, but he didn't want to make his presence known just yet.

Not to mention that he'd heard that this slip of a girl had taken down Thor with nothing more than a taser, and while he was fascinated by that, he also had a great deal of respect for a strong woman that could take care of herself. To lessen that with a sexist comment, no matter how joking, would do neither of them justice.

"Set me a reminder for an hour before will you, J?"

"As you will, Miss Darcy."

The music poured through the speakers, and James' grin broadened when the brunette closed her eyes and began to bop her head along to the music, mouthing the words as she shimmied to the beat. A few songs played while she ate her snack in relative silence until a familiar song started playing, one he recognized as one of the two Clint had played, The Boys by Girls Generation. And then Darcy let out an excited little squeal and jumped to her feet.

James had to stifle a laugh as Darcy began to move along with the girls in the video, her moves fluid and sensuous and damned if she didn't do it even better than the professionals. James licked his lips and dragged his eyes over the pretty brunette, something warm coiling low in his belly as he watched her. (And damn, he hadn't felt that in a long time.)

"You don't have to pretend that you didn't notice me. Every look will make it hard to breathe. B-bring the boys out," Darcy sang under breath and James couldn't help agreeing.

And then he began to feel guilty, because it was obvious that the girl thought she was alone and here he was peeping on her like some kind of creeper. Squirming internally, James cleared his throat pointedly and asked, "So, were you upset when Jessica left the group?"

Darcy let out a screech, pitched high enough that James winced in sympathy for dogs everywhere, and then smiled sheepishly when the girl whirled around, ready to pour on the charm, and then hastily ducked, narrowly missing being smacked in the face by the remote the brunette launched at his head.

Okay, so maybe that hadn't been his best move.

Really, what had he been thinking? He'd heard enough tales out of school about the brunette's trigger happy reactions with her taser. He should have seen that coming. Raising his head, James grinned to find an out of breath, flushed Darcy standing over him with her hands planted firmly on her hips and a murderous frown on her face.

James knew he should probably feel some sort of contrition for scaring her, but well, he wouldn't be him if he didn't tease the girl a bit.

"Sorry about that, doll. Couldn't resist. Although, I think you got that one move, the little shimmy thing, wrong; I could show you if you'd like?"

Darcy stilled, her eyes widening a touch before they narrowed and she looked him over contemplatively. Then her lips curved into a saucy little smirk as she winked.

"You can show me any move you want, soldier."

And then it was James turn to still, his eyes widening in wonder as his words spilled from her lips, and bugged further when she lifted the corner of her shirt to reveal her words, written in his familiar chicken scratch just above her right hip. James stared at them for a long moment, completely dumbfounded, and then looked back at the smug slip of girl before him and threw his head back with a disbelieving laugh. Once he stopped, he grinned and tipped an imaginary hat.

"I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship," he smirked.

"If you think I'm settling for friendship," Darcy snorted, an amused twinkle in her eyes. "You obviously don't know me at all, sweetheart."

Oh yes, James did love this century.