Earlier That Day
Nina's POV
Sunlight glinted into my room; I squinted and tolled over, my hands coming into contact with Bucky's chest. I smiled, trailing my fingers over his abs, stopping at the edge of his boxers. Dare I go further? It would be a nice wake-up call for him. I moved my hands back up towards his jaw, rubbing my thumb over the light stubble coming in. Better to wake him in a sweeter way. I propped myself on one elbow, carding a hand through his hair. Bucky let out a soft sigh, his lips parting open. I repeated the motion for a few moments before placing a kiss on his lips. He stirred and opened his eyes.
"Good morning, Nina," He said.
"Morning. Did you sleep well?" He nodded and pulled me down for another kiss. His tongue swiped over my bottom lip, asking for entrance; I granted permission, letting the kiss go deeper. His hands shifted my body to straddle his hips. He sat up, our naked chests nearly pressed together, continuing to kiss me. The kissing turned into a make-out session; more passion infused into it. His thumbs grazed over the outward curves of my breasts. I gasped, my hips grinding against him.
"Captain Rogers has requested you both for a training session," FRIDAY alerted us. So much for some morning sex.
"Thanks FRIDAY," I said. I reluctantly pulled myself off Bucky to change into workout clothes.
"Don't get ready just yet," Bucky said. I hadn't heard him move to stand behind me. His hands glided over my body before he turned me to face him. He lifted me up onto the dresser, spreading my legs and rubbing a finger between my folds. I arched up, my head falling back.
"Steve's expecting us," I reminded him. Bucky slipped a finger inside me and I let out a moan. Fuck, I really need him inside me.
"I'll be quick. Then we can head down to meet Steve," He moved his finger faster inside me, adding another to slick my folds. Satisfied with how wet he wanted me, he pumped his cock a few times and pulled my body to the edge of the dresser. Bucky sheathed himself inside, both of us moaning as he did so. He thrusted hard into me, the roughness causing my walls to clench tight around his cock; he let out a moan, going faster to get us to our climax. I came first, crying out his name, my nails digging into his back. Bucky soon followed, holding me close as we came down from our high.
He pulled out of me, helping me down; he kissed me, changing into his clothes from the night before and left to put on workout gear of his own.
We met in the training room finding Steve alone.
"Where are the others?" I asked.
"Upstairs. It's just the three of us. I want to train just the two of you. You're close to each other. Perhaps too close. I would like for you both to get more in sync with each other. Be able to defend not only yourselves but also each other. Especially if you decide to date," he explained. We nodded and he ran us through various drills that played to both our strengths; some highlighted certain weaknesses we needed to work on for next time. We went through them over and over until we were both dripping sweat, resting for 20 minutes and then running through them again, only with Steve acting as a villain.
"Great job guys. This is what I want to see going forward into missions," Steve said. We both had pinned him against the wall using a combination of my calming ability and his combat training. Bucky tossed me a towel to wipe off with, taking a sip of water to cool down. He made the mistake of kissing the top of my head, his arms wrapping around me; it caught Steve's attention.
"I knew you were super affectionate with each other. I just didn't know you were that affectionate. Is there something you need to tell me?" he asked. We shot each other a look that said, 'Maybe we should tell him' and turned to face him. We would have told him all of it, the whole truth. We knew he would have been excited about it. We would have…if it weren't for the fact, we had a date planned. We wanted to tell everyone at the same time, but later in the afternoon.
"No. We've always done this. Though it's usually been behind doors. No need for Loki to mock us. We're headed out to get breakfast and I feel like you have more people to train. See you later," Bucky said. We didn't give him time for a response, leaving to change into clothes that weren't soaked in sweat.
"We are going to tell him, right?" Bucky questioned. We stood in line at a crepe bistro downtown. I had piled chocolate chips on top of fresh strawberries I had already placed in the thin pastry.
"Yes, but I thought it might be easier to tell everyone at the same time. Less hassle to tell everyone separately," I answered.
"When would that be? Not that I'm in any rush. We have different schedules sometimes,"
"When we get back to the compound. We've going to be getting together tonight. You know, for the annual 'let's go out drinking' night. I figured everyone will be hanging out in the lounge before getting ready," I told him. We continued down the line, waiting patiently as the cashier rang up our crepes and beverages. Bucky went to pay, but I swatted at his hand.
"You paid last time. It's my turn to cover things," I said. I figured if we were dating, that it would be equal terms; trading off paying for future dates we went on. We sat down at a table to eat – his coffee and my London fog tea latte to wash it down with.
"Good plan. Oh, you've got a little whipped cream here. Let me get it," Bucky leaned over and kissed me, licking it off my lips. I held him in place to steal another kiss, before letting him finish his crepe. It seemed like a good plan at the time. All hell would break loose when we returned to the compound.
Present Time
Bucky and I had just returned home and heard yelling coming from the living room. The voices were unmistakable; Loki and Stephen were at it again.
"Do they ever stop fighting?" Bucky asked.
"I thought it had gotten better. Turns out it hasn't," We continued our path to see what all the commotion was about. We wouldn't expect the reveal.
"She's not meant to be played with. You can't mess around with her feelings or her heart. The competition is over. That's final," Stephen snapped. Now I was confused, but still curious to what they were arguing about. Is that why they were always at each other's throats? Is this about a girl?
"What competition?" I asked. The room went silent. You could drop a pin and hear it hit the floor. Stephen's body went rigid, setting off alarms in my head. I looked around the room and no one could meet my eyes. I tried to turn things into a joke.
"Oh, come on. You can tell me. Are you trying to figure out whose magic is superior? Who can make better balloon animals? Is this a surprise for some girl? An apprentice, maybe?" I said. No answer. Stephen didn't relax his posture. Loki stepped around him, an icy grin on his lips.
"No, this actually concerns you," he said.
"Me? Oh, are you trying to impress me with new tricks you've learned? I'd say Stephen-,"
"No, no, sweet Nina. It's more of a way to see who could win your love. We both like you. Tell me, love. Do you want to be with me or Doctor Wizard over there?" Loki interrupted me. My blood went cold. They were fighting over me. These last few months. The sabotage, the times they crashed my hangouts with Bucky. It was all to…win my heart. The cold dissipated and turned to anger. I linked my fingers with Bucky's.
"I choose Bucky," I answered. Loki laughed sending chills through my bones.
"How do you know he wasn't in on it?" I froze. No, Bucky wouldn't have done this. Would he? I thought.
"I didn't know anything about a competition. This is all you and Strange's doing. If I had, I wouldn't have bothered to compete. I would rather do things the old-fashioned way. It's how I did things anyway. Because I love her," Bucky snapped. Relief spread through me.
"You're no fun. Strange, we wasted our-," Loki's head whipped to the side; I didn't stop with him. I repeated the same thing with Stephen, both slaps echoing through the room. Everyone looked up at me then.
"I take it the rest of you knew about this. Bucky and I appear to be the only ones who were in the dark about it," I said.
"I'm sorry. We wanted to see how things played out. We didn't think they would take it this far," Tony said. My anger spiked.
"You elected not to share this with us. Did everyone have fun messing with our head. Did you honestly think it was all fun and games? Save it,"
"I meant to come in here to tell you all that Bucky and I are dating. I fell in love with him. It's always been him. We thought we'd surprise you with the good news," I stated. Tears pricked my eyes. I forced them back, turning my rage on the sorcerers.
"I am not a prize to be won. The fact that you can stand there and be proud to have participated in a competition over me is disgusting," I turned to Stephen, feeling betrayed by him. I thought he was my friend. "How could you do this to me? I thought we had formed a great bond," I told him. He opened his mouth to speak, but I shook my head and returned to Bucky's side.
"Nina, at least tell us who would have won. Me or Strange?" Loki said. It took all my strength not to slap him again. I whirled around, the tears escaping as if a dam broke.
"No one wins. I just said I'm not anyone's trophy. Bucky had my heart all this time. Not you, not Strange. I've been lied to people who I believed was family. I'm not joining any of you tonight. I can't stand to see your faces, especially those two," I spat out. I continued my path to Bucky, who told me to meet him in his room. Once there, the tears I had been holding spilled forth and wouldn't stop, even after a pair of familiar arms wrapped around me.
Bucky's POV
I've always been in love with Nina. She made me feel comfortable and calm; she had quickly become one of my favorite people to be around. The last couple of months, I had been trying to spend more time with her, to get closer to her more than I already had. I wanted her to be mine, hoping one day I could marry her.
I found it odd when Strange and Loki had showed up to a couple of hangouts. I thought they were also trying to be good friends to her. Although, the constant arguing confused me, but I shook it off thinking they had always been at war with each other. At one point, I grew tired of their meddling; as did Nina, who would call me to get out of situations she preferred not to be in.
I never dreamed it would end up like this. I didn't want to see Nina hurt. Ever. It took a lot for her to break her calm exterior. She always managed to keep her composure, holding together for us on missions. After the reveal of a competition for her heart, that composure broke. I don't think a person could've been so hurt and angry at the same time.
She had slapped the sorcerers hard, the echo surrounding the room. Handprints were visible on their cheeks – red and inflamed from the force of it. The question of who would've won made things worse. Tears had escaped to roll down her cheeks. I clenched my fists. They hurt her and didn't care. She didn't pick either of them, instead snapping at the rest of our friends before coming back over to me. I was surprised Strange had let this go on. I thought they had become rather good friends. I told Nina to meet me in my room in a few minutes, before turning my attention on everyone else.
"What were you thinking?" I growled.
"Buck, maybe you should-," Steve began.
"Don't tell me to calm down. I think I deserve to know why a competition was held over Nina. Why no one told us. Why you didn't tell us," Steve flinched and looked away.
"It's not Steve's fault. He wanted to say something, but we would let him. We didn't think they'd last this long. We thought it would fizzle out because they were arguing so much," Natasha said.
"It shouldn't have happened at all. Nina is hurt because of it. Because of them. Her feelings are not meant to be played with. She's not a trophy to display or to flaunt before another person, just because they can," I snapped.
"I'm sorry. I should've stopped it from the beginning. I really started to like her as more than a friend. I should've stepped back-,"
"She trusted you Strange. She was happy to have you as a close friend. All while a stupid competition was underway. You're both idiots. Excuse me, while I go comfort my girlfriend from the mess you've made," I cut him off. Strange paled, averting his gaze to the floor.
"You're overreacting. Nina's a strong woman. She'll get over it. We were only having a little fun," Loki chimed in.
"Wrong choice of words, reindeer games," Tony stated.
"I doubt he'll do anything. Nina wouldn't want that," I turned around and stormed over to the god. I punched him, Loki stumbling back, caught off guard.
"I'm not going out with the group. I think a night in would be a better idea," I said. I headed to my room to find Nina sitting on the bed crying. I held her in my arms, trying to sooth her with comforting words until her sobs subsided.
"Want to watch a movie? We could put on a horror movie and you can contemplate which method to tear Strange and Loki with," I said. She nodded, leaning back into my chest.
"I should probably tell you that I decked Loki for saying you would get over this quickly," I said. She laughed and looked up into my eyes.
"I want to go home. To get away for a week. Do you want to come with me?" she said. I guess she needed time to relax. I knew it would do some good to be away from those who hurt her the most.
"I can come down for the weekend. Make sure you tell Tony. He'll know not to schedule you for missions. I'll stay to make sure they don't need me for anything. Besides, I'd like to see them squirm with guilt," I said. This earned me another laugh. She got up to turn on a movie as we discussed plans for her to have a break from being a support system to everyone around her; me being excluded from them.
To say the sorcerers screwed up big time would be an understatement. They royally messed up how Nina saw them at the current moment. Within the next week, Nina would be in her hometown, away from them. She needed time to collect her thoughts, to relax. Bucky would arrive on the weekend, meet her parents and attend a festival with her.
Stephen Strange would work on a way to apologize to her, to win back Nina's trust. He would be sincere about it and with time, she would accept it. Loki would take a little while to admit he was wrong, earning the cold shoulder from her. The guilt would get to him and he would beg for her forgiveness. As for everyone else, Nina would slowly come to terms with their apology and they would promise not to keep anything from her in the future.