A/N: Requested by Lark-Cale. This story is set in the same universe as 'Ever I Saw' and 'First Kiss'.


Jane got a call from Steve in the middle of an uneventful work day. If it had been anyone else, she would have sent it straight to voicemail, and maybe listened to it a day or two later if her mailbox was full. All of her important messages went to her email. Other than Steve, the only people who regularly rang her was her mom and the telemarketers. Since it was Steve, she answered on the second ring.

They went through the motions of 'hellos' and 'how are yous', made a bit of small talk about Jane's new data and the nice older lady Steve had assisted during his morning run, and then finally got to the part she'd had been waiting for.

"There's this new sushi restaurant Buck and I found the other day. Their nigiri is delicious. We were heading over there again tonight, and I was just wondering if you wanted to come with us? If you like sushi, that is."

Jane was pretty ambivalent to sushi, and most kinds of seafood for that matter. This wasn't about the food, though. She knew that, and she knew that Steve knew she knew that.

"I'd love to," she said. "What time?"

An hour later, she was entering a small, but chic Asian style restaurant ten blocks away from the tower. It wasn't quite packed on a Wednesday night, but enough patrons populated the tables that she had to stand on her tiptoes to find a hint of blonde or longish brown hair. She spotted the latter at the bar. Bucky was alone with two empty stools on either side of him. He had a glass of water near his hand that looked untouched. His head was slightly bent, like he was deep in thought and unaware of his surroundings, but he looked up at the sound of his name.

"Hey," he said. "Good to see you."

"You too," said Jane, sliding onto the stool next to him. "Sorry I've been so busy lately."

"Nah, I haven't had much free time either."

She looked around, but she couldn't see Steve anywhere. That didn't set off red flags; he could've been in the bathroom or outside taking a call or any number of places. A waitress came by and took down Jane's drink order She returned with it moments later as Jane picked up her menu and read through the long list of sushi rolls and sashimi plates.

"So was Darcy busy tonight?" Bucky asked.

"Huh?" Jane said. "I don't know. Tonight's her night off, why?"

Bucky shrugged. "Just wondering why she isn't here yet."

"Oh, did Steve invite her, too?"

"Steve? Steve's in DC for the week."

"DC?" Jane's brow scrunched together. "But he called me three hours ago and said you guys were coming here tonight. He said you've been here before."

"I've never eaten here in my life, but Darcy told me that you and her come here every week. Is that not true?"

"Definitely not. I didn't even know this place existed before today." Jane shook her head as a laugh built in the back of her throat. "Bucky, I think we've been set up."

He blinked. "Set up? You mean… like on a date?"

She should've known this would happen. Darcy had been nudging her about it for weeks, ever since the birthday cake incident. Every so often, she'd start into these long tangents about how super cool Bucky was and how his old fashioned sensibilities made him a perfect gentlemen, or how noticeable it was that he was eating proper foods and gaining weight in all the right places. That she hadn't tried anything like this earlier was the only shocker. That, and the fact that she managed to talk Steve into going along with it.

Unless this had been his idea. Jane could not in good conscience rule out that possibility.

'…then again, maybe it isn't a bad thing,' Jane thought as she looked in Bucky's bright blue eyes and returned the sheepish grin he gave her.

"Sorry about this," he said. "Steve's an idiot. He's been bugging me to ask you out for months, and I guess he got tired of waiting."

"I know what that's like, believe me," Jane said. "I swear, tomorrow, I'm making Darcy reorganize all my flies AND oversee the system updates. That'll show her."

Bucky chuckled. The sound sent heat shooting down Jane's stomach and made her toes curl.

"Well, since we're already here, might as well make the most of it. As long as you don't mind."

"Not at all, Mr. Barnes." Jane grinned. Her hand came to rest on top of his. "Next time though, let's pick the place ourselves."