I am not Marvel and so claim to own nothing but my own OC and plot.

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It was exactly seven minutes to noon as Claire stepped into the communal kitchen in Stark/The Avenger's Tower, and immediately started to make coffee. She had learned two days ago that it would be the first thing her boss went for, and she was here to make his life easier, after all. Or something like that.

She was abruptly pulled from what she was doing by a bang, and as she spun around in surprise she saw a man with longish, dark hair in the doorway, seemingly having dropped a cup in shock at her presence.

"You should not be here," he told her in no uncertain terms, voice cold. A minute movement on his part drew her eyes downwards, and she saw that one of his hands were metal. This must be lieutenant James Barnes, then.

Looking up again, she noted that he seemed even more agitated at her scrutiny. "Yes, that's right," he snapped out at her. "I am a dangerous monster. Now get out of here. I am sick of people whispering and hiding!"

"Let me be honest with you then." She turned around to flick the switch and turn the coffee maker on. "I am Mr Stark's new lab assistant, so yes, I am meant to be here. Now, are you safe for me to be around?" When she turned back, she saw his expression had changed entirely. Where he before had been aggressive, he now seemed almost relieved.

"Yeah," he said with a small smile. "Should be. You seem pretty harmless, so there should be nothing to set me off."

"And if something happens? What should I do?" she asked, figuring that blunt, but not unkind, questions clearly were the way to go with this man. He didn't like unvoiced suspicion or to be threaded lightly around, she concluded. She had a feeling that if she'd become used to that sort of behaviour from people, she'd tire of it too.

The next second, he was pushing her up against the wall. Hasty as the action was, he wasn't actually being all that rough about it, and he didn't hurt her or anything. By instinct, she went still, waiting for him to get over whatever it was which had disturbed him. To say that she was surprised to see him smile just then, would have been an understatement.

"Excellent," he complimented her, "you're a natural. Most people try to fight in a situation like that. That might make me hurt you without meaning to. If something ever startles me, just do exactly what you just did, and it'll be fine."

Claire was nodding, still pressed up against the wall though not as strongly, when there was a shout from behind James Barnes. "Bucky! Let go of her right now!"

"It's alright, Steve," Barnes replied calmly, "we were just..." He didn't get any further, before there was another shout.

"Barnes! Unhand my lab assistant, now!" That was Tony - his voice she recognised, even though she couldn't see much over lieutenant Barnes' shoulder.

"Jesus," she said instead, making all three men look at her; Steve and Tony moving to be able to see her face. "What is with all the shouting?" She gently placed a hand at Barnes' back, having felt him tense at the loud sounds. He relaxed a little after a moment. "It cannot be easy having PTSD with you people around!"

Tony and Steve both looked shocked at her outburst, while James Barnes merely rested his head against the wall next to her, laughing. "No," he told her, humour in his voice, "no it isn't!" A moment later, he was moving to let her get away from the wall.

"And you can call me Bucky," he told her with a smile, actually winking before turning away. He then looked over to the large well-built blonde who had entered the kitchen before Tony. Claire guessed he must be Captain America. "This is my childhood friend, Steve Rogers. Steve, this is..." he frowned as he realised he did not know her name.

"Claire Thomas," she supplied, reaching out to take the hand Steve Rogers was already offering. "I am Mr Stark's lab assistant."

"Tony!" said man cut in, his tone implying he was very near the end of his patience. "And what on earth happened here?!"

Smiling and reaching for a cup, which she filled with coffee and handed over to her boss, making him look a little bit less grumpy, Claire merely shrugged. "Just a private conversation; nothing you need to worry about, Sir... Tony."

As she turned around, she noticed Bucky watching her with a warm expression, clearly appreciating that she didn't let them snoop too much. She had a feeling that the man was sick and tired of being watched, of being endlessly cared for by people who were afraid anything might set him off. She resolved to treat him honestly and without worrying too much. After all, he seemed nice enough to her.

Bucky could not think of one single person who had ever surprised him this much. As that small, blond girl, who held her shoulders in a way that made her look vulnerable, handed him a coffee cup with a friendly smile and poured another one for Steve, he could still not believe what her reaction had been.

Most people - possibly with the exception of Stark, and the man was known for his bluntness (not to say insanity) - tended to talk in endless circles around any question that was actually important. So many, even here in the tower, avoided or feared him. It was obvious that she knew who he was - he had caught her looking at his metal hand with those large eyes of hers, after all - but she treated him exactly like... well, like you would treat anyone.

Some people did that, of course. Talked to him like he was just any other person. Those people often poorly hid fear, though, and they never actually got to the heart of what mattered. Merely ignoring any issues didn't make them go away, and none of them had ever asked him honest questions like she did. As she waved goodbye to follow Tony down into the lab, still smiling, Bucky found himself effortlessly smiling back.

"Are you alright? Buck?" Nodding and cupping the coffee cup with his normal hand, Bucky leant into the strong, warm shoulder offered by Steve. Smiling again as his best friend - more than that, lately, though they had yet to actually talk about it - gently kissed him on the head.

"Pepper seems to have outdone herself this time," Steve noted as they separated to start and make breakfast, just like they did every morning. "That girl might actually manage to keep up with Stark. Did she seem a little... fragile to you, though? What were you two doing?"

"She seems strong, to me. But damaged, somehow," Bucky replied, reaching in and grabbing some bacon from the fridge. "And honest. I liked her." While they settled into cooking together, he told Steve the whole story of what had happened that morning. He ended by owning up to his own reckless experiment.

"She sounds interesting," Steve agreed, just as Bruce Banner entered the kitchen.

"Yeah. I look forward to getting to know her," Bucky agreed, adding for Banner's sake, "Tony's new lab assistant. She's a bit... special. In a good way."

"Lucky for her," Bruce noted with a slight smile in the direction of the two of them, "Tony is very special".

Bucky smiled; liked Doctor Banner. "Yeah," he agreed, turning to watch Steve flip pancakes - he had always loved watching him do that, even back in the sixties. "Best of luck to her."