Chapter eighteen
Bucky paced back and forth, his footsteps making a rhythmic pattern as he did. He was glaring at the ground and running his hands over his face and through his hair. He stopped, grabbing fistfuls of his brown locks. He groaned. He had to do this. He was going to do this. He just had to make sure no one was around to mess it up. He huffed and headed out of his room and to the elevator. He knew she was on the top floor. JARVIS had told him. Why? He didn't know. His guess was Steve and Natasha asked him to.
He exhaled deeply as the elevator rode up. His heart was pounding. Images of him asking girls out in the forties flashed through his head. He was confident back then. So why was he practically sweating and having a heart attack now? He sighed, running a hand through his hair right before the elevator opened.
He froze when he stepped off. Yes, Tracey was there, but so was Thor, Sam, Steve, and Barry. They were all in the living room and Barry and Sam were facing each other from each end of the coffee table. They gripped each other's hands leaning against the table.
He groaned. Of course she's not alone.
Steve looked up and smiled at him. "Hey, Buck."
Everyone else looked over at him, everyone except Sam and Barry. They settled on a quick "Hey" as they glared at each other. Thor greeted him with a boisterous greeting and Tracey smiled brightly over at him.
"Hey, Sergeant. Did you come to join the competition?" she asked.
Bucky quirked a brow. "Competition?"
"We are having a competition of strength called wrestling of arms," Thor said, a large grin on his face. "I am surprised that we never tried this in Asgard. The others would enjoy this very much."
"You mean arm wrestling?" Bucky asked.
"Yes!" Thor grinned.
"You remember the time you challenged Dugan?" Steve laughed as Bucky sat next to him.
Bucky laughed. "Oh man yeah. That was an interesting night. He was drunk out of his mind."
"Which is how you won," Steve jabbed.
Bucky scoffed. "Please, I could have taken him down even if he wasn't drunk!"
"Yeah right!" Steve said, shoving his shoulder.
"Punk."
"Jerk."
"Damn it!" Barry shouted as a loud thud sounded through the room. He threw his hands in the air as Sam grinned victoriously at him.
"Maybe next time, man," Sam laughed.
"If he can grow some muscles next time," Tracey said with a smirk.
"Shut up, Trace!" Barry snapped. "Let's see you take on one of us."
"Okay, I'll take Steve down with my broken arm," she said, wiggling said arm.
Bucky chuckled. "I bet you could."
"Let's see what you can do, Sergeant," she said with an eye roll.
"I would like to test out your strength, Bucky," Thor said, a challenging glint in his eye.
"Bring it on, Goldilocks," Bucky smirked.
He and Thor situated themselves in the same spots Barry and Sam had just occupied. They set their elbows on the table and raised their arms. Bucky smirked at the god and received a smirk right back. The two began the arm wrestle contest, their arms shaking as they struggled to beat the other.
"You are a worthy opponent, Bucky," Thor said, gritting his teeth.
"Same to you, but I will win this," Bucky gritted.
"Come on, Thor!" Tracey cheered as Steve, Barry, and Sam chose their own person to cheer for.
"Thanks for the support, Trace," Bucky laughed, never taking his eyes off of Thor as the god and him glared at each other in good nature.
Tracey blinked. "Did you just call me Trace?" she said a small smile on her face.
Bucky blanched. "I uh…I-" His hand made contact with the wooden table, snapping it in half.
It was quiet. Everyone stared at the broken furniture, mouths agape. It was Sam who broke the silence.
"I don't know about y'all, but I'm not getting blamed for that."
"You were a witness and contributed to the game," Barry protested.
"Doesn't mean I broke it."
"What just happened?" Pepper's voice shouted.
Everyone's head whipped around to see the ginger woman standing in the middle of the room. Her mouth was practically on the floor and her eyes were wide and trained on the broken table. The group looked among themselves.
"What happened?" she repeated.
Barry pointed to Tracey.
"Wha-" Tracey scoffed. She smacked her brother in the back of the head receiving an "Ow!" in response.
"What just happened?" Pepper repeated once more.
"Uh…Pepper," Steve said cautiously. "This was an accident. We were just having an arm wrestling contest. This was in no way on purpose."
"Why the hell would it be on purpose?" Bucky hissed.
Pepper sighed, shaking her head. She placed a hand on her hip, a pile of folders in her other hand. "You know what? I've had worse with Tony's experiments. It'll give me an excuse to look for a new table."
Tracey chuckled lightly. "Sorry, Pepper."
"It's fine." Pepper turned to Sam. "Tony wanted to see you. He said he had something he wanted you to test. Apparently he created you a new set of wings," she said with a smile.
"No way," Sam said in disbelief. "He actually made me new wings?" He stood up. "I'm on my way then."
"I'll show you where his lab is," Pepper smiled, leading him to the elevator.
Barry let out a breath. "We lucked out on that one," he said, looking at the mess of a table.
"I am sorry about that," Thor said, looking like a kicked dog.
"No worries, big guy," Barry said, patting his arm. "Like Pepper said, it's no big deal."
Tracey looked over at Bucky and laughed lightly. "You called me Trace didn't you?"
"I uh…I," Bucky stuttered. He rubbed the back of his neck, looking down hoping to hide the blush he could feel forming on his face. "Uh yeah?"
Tracey giggled. "You've never called me that before."
"You don't mind…do you?" Bucky asked.
"Of course not. Everyone calls me Trace every now and then. I don't mind at all," she said, smiling at him.
He smiled back. He inhaled, breathing out slowly as he watched her turn back and comfort Thor as he continued to stare at the table with a sad look. She really was there for everyone. She was an incredible person. He caught Steve smiling over at him. He rolled his eyes when the blond grinned.
"Hey, Buck," Steve spoke up, the grin still on his face. "Can I talk to you over in the kitchen?"
Bucky rolled his eyes again as he stood up. "What do you want, Steve?" he asked as they got to the kitchen.
Steve looked over at the other three. "Are you going to ask her?" he whispered.
Bucky looked over at Tracey as she punched Barry's arm after some comment he made. He chuckled. He loved the fight in her. He turned back to Steve with a small smile. "Yeah. I'm hoping to."
Steve grinned. "I can get Thor and-"
"Sorry guys," Tracey said, rushing past them. A smile was on her face as she turned a knob on the oven. Barry soon followed her, pulling things out of the pantry. They had similar smiles spread across their faces. "We're making s'mores!" she grinned up at the two soldiers.
Steve chuckled and patted Bucky's shoulder. "Good luck, pal," he whispered. "Hey, Thor," he said, walking over to the god. "Why don't we go to the store and look for a new table for Pepper?"
Thor's face lit up and it brightened when he saw Steve nodding his head towards Bucky. "Sounds like a wonderful idea, Steve!"
Barry looked up at the dark haired super soldier, holding out a skewer with a marshmallow on it. "Want one?"
Bucky nodded, a smirk on his face "Yeah. I haven't had a s'more since I was ten."
"Well we're about to change that," Tracey beamed. She was sitting on the floor in front of the open oven. "Stove doesn't have flames so the oven's the next best thing," she said laughing when she saw Bucky's puzzled look.
He chuckled and sat down next to her and Barry. He rolled his eyes as he saw Tracey attempt to fix a marshmallow on a skewer. He chuckled as he took it from her hands and helped her.
She laughed. "Thanks," she said, taking it from him.
He smiled as he watched her roast the marshmallow. Barry elbowed him, raising his eyebrows with a grin. Bucky rolled his eyes, shoving his shoulder. He was glad that Barry wasn't that over protective of Tracey. Hell he was still shocked that he was so adamant that he asked his sister out. He laughed when Tracey started setting up her s'more with one hand.
"I think you need to stop trying to do things by yourself," he said as he helped her.
She rolled her eyes. "You try doing things with a broken arm. I feel even more useless."
"You're not useless though," Bucky said, ignoring the grin from Barry.
"Thanks," Tracey smiled. "But right now I definitely feel useless. I can't wait to get this thing off!" She took a bit of her s'more, her eyes going wide when some marshmallow got stuck on her nose. She giggled, wiping it off. "So, Bucky, did you and Steve make s'more when you were little or just you and Rebecca?"
Bucky smiled fondly, thinking back to his childhood. "Steve and I went camping a few times growing up. The last time was when we were ten. Making s'mores was our favorite thing to do while camping."
"Lucky," Barry said. "I always wanted to go camping. The only thing close to it was whenever I went on a mission and I had to spend nights in forests or wherever I was."
"We never really went because we wanted to go camping with our dad, but he never really had time," Tracey said. She stared into the oven as she roasted another marshmallow.
Bucky frowned. He placed a hand on her back, rubbing a soothing circle. "I'm sorry," he said.
Tracey smiled up at him. "It's alright. I got to do a lot of other things with him. Camping was on the list, but I preferred to see him in general."
"I think he'd be proud of you two."
"Thanks, Buck," Barry said, smiling at him. He caught Bucky staring at Tracey again and smiled to himself. He quickly fixed his last s'more and stood up. "Well," he said, stretching his arms over his head. "I'm going to head out to the gym. I'll see you guys later."
"See you later, Barry," Tracey said, standing up as well. She headed to the couch and turned the TV on. She looked to Bucky. "Feel like watching Big Bang Theory?"
"Sounds good to me," he said, sitting down next to her.
"Awesome," she said, smiling up at him.
His heart rate picked up when he saw her smile. Just one smile for him made his heart skip a beat. He couldn't remember ever feeling like this with any other girl. He remembered most of the dates he had in the forties, but none ever made him feel like the way he felt whenever he was with Tracey. He glanced down at her as she laughed at the show. He loved hearing her laugh. He loved the way her eyes shined and crinkled when she did.
God he sounded like a love sick puppy. He never thought he'd feel this way about any girl. Although, he was glad he did. He remembered always dreaming of growing up, finding the right girl, getting married, starting a family. He always dreamed of coming home from work to his kids running to greet him and his wife with them giving him a smile.
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. Would he ever get to have that life? The only thing he could think of that would help was finding the right girl. Dating would be the only start. He looked down at Tracey.
It's now or never, Buck.
He took a breath, heart racing again. He shouldn't be this nervous. Flashes of the times he asked girls out flashed through his mind again. He was always confident back then. What was different? He took a breath again.
"Hey, Tracey?"
"Yeah, Bucky?" she asked, smiling up at him as she paused the show.
He smiled back at her. Her smile may make his heart race, but it also made him feel better. "So Steve told me that Natasha pointed out a swing club that he and I would enjoy and I was wondering if you'd like to go with me."
Tracey raised an eyebrow, smirking. "This isn't just so you can prove that you know how to dance is it?"
"Well, there's that reason." Bucky grinned when he watched Tracey roll her eyes, a smile gracing her face as she did so. "But it's because I want to take you on a date."
Tracey blinked. "Me? You want to take me on a date?"
"Well I figured a pretty dame like yourself would like to have a fun night out dancing." He smiled his charming smile that he used to flash to girls making Tracey blush.
It felt weird to be smiling like that again and calling a girl a dame, but it was good. Tracey made him feel at ease and had helped him while he was recovering from the Winter Soldier and regaining his memories. She had helped with the small memories of Linda just because she reminded him of her and she was her great niece. However, Tracey was different. She was kind, but stubborn and didn't take anyone's crap. She was strong and could hold her ground. He liked that about her and smiling at her like he used to with the girls back in the forties was a relief and a reminder of who he was before everything. She helped bring out the good in him. She helped bring back James Buchanan Barnes.
She stared at him stunned, mouth slightly open. It slowly turned into a smile. "I…I'd love to," she beamed making him smile bigger.
Bucky's face broke out into the largest grin he had in a long time. "Really? Th-that's great!" he said as Tracey blushed. "I know that you're healing so uh we can wait 'til you're better."
"Right, sorry," she said still smiling.
He chuckled. "No, I want you to rest and feel better. Don't apologize."
Tracey smiled up at him, her cheeks a bright pink. "Thanks, sergeant."
ooOOoo
"She said yes?" Steve practically yelled when Bucky finally told him. "Buck, congrats!"
"Yeah, it took a few tries, but you were right," Bucky said. The grin hadn't left his face since he asked Tracey.
Steve laughed. "Third time's the charm?"
"Ain't that the truth?" Bucky laughed. "Thanks for the help, Steve."
"I did nothing. You were the one who asked her," he said with a laugh, patting his shoulder.
"Yeah, well, you've been putting up with me this whole time," Bucky smiled.
"Til the end of the line, pal."
"Til the end of the line."
"So where are you going to take her?" Steve asked, the grin back on his face making Bucky laugh, holding his face in his hand.
And let the summer and winter romance begin! I hope this was a good chapter and that you guys are relieved to have Trucky finally happening. Also sorry for the really short chapter. I got lost as to what else to write. I'm really sorry
Feel free to ask Tracey, Barry, and the Avengers on my Ask the Avengers blog on tumblr
winter-is-ending
Oh my god guys! 107 reviews? What is life? I love you guys! You are all amazing and the sweetest people ever! I love seeing all of your messages! They literally make me smile for hours on end! Thank you again!