Pre-Author's Note:

Hey y'all! Quick tip if you'd like, this fun drabble one-shot is a semi-sequel to my fan fic "Partners". If you'd like to understand this context a bit better, I would highly recommend checking that one out first! Anyways, or if you've already read it, hope y'all enjoy!


In all honesty, Yelena had no idea where she was going.

Sitting in the passenger seat of Sam's old pick-up, she looked out the window over the vast area of swamp and trees surrounding them. A beaming stream of afternoon Louisiana sunshine glistened against the drooped trees along the edges of the dirt road. Despite only knowing their state and semi-location, she had no clue where Sam was taking her.

"Mind filling me in why we're in the middle of nowhere?" she finally asked after nearly half-an-hour of silence between the two. It wasn't that they weren't on good terms with each other compared to how it started back when they first met, more so she still wasn't quite comfortable opening up completely. That was more reserved for…someone else.

"You could call it a pit stop" Sam shrugged, though a small grin was pulling back at his lips. "To me, it's always been a lot more than that."

She didn't have to look at his face to know what he meant. "Home sweet Louisiana, is it?"

"Born and raised."

Yelena nodded and returned her attention to the car window. Between the glimpses of trees, she spotted what looked like the edge of a coast line spreading out as far as she could see. Her brow furrowed with slight confusion, but she didn't comment, even when Sam turned the car and headed through an even marshier land area.

"Are you sure you aren't taking me somewhere to bury a body?" she clarified. She held back a smirk when she saw him roll his eyes.

"We'll get there when we get there," Sam replied. "Man, for someone who was trained to watch and listen, you sure like to talk a lot."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Yelena snapped, a low warning in her voice. Sam only chuckled and shook his head. "What?"

"Still weird to think I'm the one stuck babysitting two mini super soldiers," he exclaimed. "One's got a staring problem, the other likes her vodka more than some people…"

"Well, you're not wrong there. Vodka doesn't argue or talk back; seems like a good companion sometimes." Yelena muttered, though she made sure to be loud enough so he could hear. Adjusting the jacket she had recently bought for herself, making a mental note to add a few of her own adjustments later, Yelena released a sigh she hadn't known she had been holding as the two carried on into another, now-comfortable, silence.

Over the past month or so, Yelena had gone from what she considered a fairly quiet life to entangling herself in the latest criminal conspiracy - both figuratively and literally. From breaking a Sokovian Baron out of prison and eventually visiting her favorite criminal capital of the world, Madripoor, she had been running from place to place always on her toes with her two newest partners for weeks now. She had to admit, when they had finished up in New York, the last thing Yelena had expected was to find the new Captain America on her doorstep telling her to get changed and that they were heading out for a trip. That, and that the trip would consist of finding herself quite literally in the middle of nowhere.

Yelena was about to turn to Sam again and ask for the hundredth time that afternoon where they were going when the words became lodged in her throat. Out ahead of them, a long open boardwalk stretched out onto the edge of a dock. Water completely lined either side of her and out far past the horizon that she could see. As the old pick-up rolled its way out onto the open stretch of wood, she noticed people stopped to turn and wave at Sam as he drove by. He returned every one with a smile, a nod of the head, or a wave in return.

Sheds that Yelena quickly realized were actually shops (majority seafood) lined almost the entire perimeter. At the center of it all, people gathered around a multitude of tables, some filled to the brim with people, others completely topped with food. Sam finally pulled into a stop on the edge of the wood-to-concrete platform.

"Welcome to the party," Sam exclaimed, pushing open his door and hopping out. Yelena's look of bewilderment was enough to make him laugh as he shut it behind him.

The tops of two heads of dark curly hair ran towards Sam and seemingly jumped on him from what Yelena could see from where she was on the passenger side. He leaned down to give them each a hug, both shouting with obvious joy that, "Uncle Sam, you made it!"

"No way was I about to miss your mom's cooking," Sam replied, rumpling the shorter one's hair. "She probably burnt the entire house down while trying to remake Grandma's pie."

"Almost," one of the smaller voices giggled. Their attention was snapped away when the other side of the truck's door closed with a rather loud slam.

Yelena slowly made her way around the front of the truck and came to a stop in front of the hood. She watched Sam with a look that could only be described as "Why the hell am I here?"

"Oh, uh, this is my co-worker, Yelena," Sam introduced, gesturing to her with a quick wave of his hand. "Yelena, these are my nephews AJ and Cass."

"Hey." the two boys said simultaneously, each raising their hands in an awkward wave. The older of the two shoved his hands into his pockets and puffed his chest out a little further.

"Hi," Yelena replied, digging her hands into her pockets and trying to give a smile that she hoped seemed friendly. She was relieved when neither of them looked at Sam as if she had just handed them a knife. "Do you mind if I talk to your uncle real quick?"

The two boys nodded and ran back off towards the large crowd of people in the center of the dock. The second they were out of ear range, Yelena opened her mouth to throw out a retort.

"Look I know what you're about to say, but before you do, first off, know that this wasn't my idea, but the bionic staring machines," Sam cut in before she could even get a word in. "Second of all, come on, Yelena. Since New York, both me and Buck know you've got nothing better to do. You've already talked to both of us about getting into your own life for the first time, and you never know…this could be a small baby step."

"Coming to a family slash neighborhood reunion with the new Captain America and an ex super-soldier is a baby step?" Yelena asked, raising a brow at Sam almost daring him to ask if she was really that dumb.

"People need people skills," Sam shrugged, jutting his own hands into his pockets. "You never know, you could actually have something we like to call fun."

Yelena rolled her eyes and scoffed. Looking up and over his shoulder, Yelena looked through the crowd of people and saw the only other person she really would have been here for. Bucky was lost in conversation with a few of the dock-men, a wide smile spread out across his face over something she couldn't quite make out. She quickly looked back to Sam when she noticed AJ and Cass come up from behind him and motion in their direction to which Bucky immediately looked up and nearly caught her staring.

Releasing another sigh, Yelena closed her eyes for a moment before asking, "Do you guys have anything to drink?"

She didn't have to open her eyes to know Sam was smiling. "We might have a few things stocked away."


Yelena covered her mouth with her hand to keep herself from spitting out an array of alcohol over the members at their picnic table. Forcing herself to swallow it back, Yelena finally released the laugh she had held back and clinked her bottle with the woman across from her who she quickly discovered was Sam's sister, Sarah.

Taking a moment to regain herself, Yelena looked back over her shoulder at the still full crowd of people around the dock. The sun had set far past an hour ago, but the dock was still buzzing with life. Lights had been strung over the sheds, a few more bottles of beer had been passed around, and even an old radio had been drug out from Sarah's house, with the obvious classic stations. A few of the older couples had even started the routine of dancing, or slow swaying.

Nearly all the food had been stripped clean of the table at least twice now, but each time she looked back at it, Yelena saw either a newly fresh-baked pie, some homemade goodies, or a fresh wrack of fish off the grill. Even now, Yelena wasn't sure whether or not she could even get down another drink before her stomach would explode.

Glancing back towards Sarah, she caught out of the corner of her eye a quick movement. Following her gaze there, she saw Bucky making a quick duck underneath AJ's incoming fist and stumbling back a bit before Cass could knock him solid in the jaw. Rearing back, he imitated his metal arm coming down over him, and Cass fell to the ground with a dramatic grunt. All three had beaming smiles across their faces, and from where she was sitting, Yelena could still hear their laughs echoing out across the docks. Yelena didn't notice her own smile until Sarah snapped her thoughts back to them.

"They do really seem to like him," Sarah exclaimed, glancing back at her sons. "Bucky seems like a pretty nice guy."

"I suppose you could say that," Yelena agreed, taking a sip of her beer. "Not much for humor, though."

"No?" Sarah asked, trying to sound surprised. "Well he certainly seems like the happy type."

"I would personally call it a staring problem, but I suppose that works, too," Yelena replied. "James has a knack, though, for going to find trouble where he doesn't really need it."

"I can say the same for Sam," Sarah nodded, taking a second to take a drink of her own. She let out a slow breath before looking up to Yelena to Bucky and back again. "I'm sorry if I sound like I'm digging, but are you with anyone right now?"

"What?" Yelena asked, thrown off by the sudden question.

"You know, going out with anyone," Sarah clarified. "Because I was going to say, if you aren't, and like I already said…Bucky seems like a pretty nice guy."

Yelena's sudden shock at her indication must have been evident, because a small, sneaky smile crept up onto Sarah's lips. "What, you really haven't noticed?"

"No, I - no me and Bucky, we're just - he and I - we-we're just friends is all," Yelena rambled, looking down at the peeling paint of the picnic table like it was the most interesting thing in the world. What was wrong with her?

"You sure about that?" Sarah inquired, raising a brow at her and taking another drink. "From what Sam told me, you two are pretty close."

"Well, yes, I mean…" Yelena took a minute to try and piece her own jumbled thoughts together before trying to give Sarah a reasonable answer. She could already feel her cheeks heating up, and she didn't need an embarrassing comment to go with it. "Me and James have gotten a lot closer since we first met, but I highly doubt he's looking for a relationship right now. And even if he was…I doubt it would be with me."

"You really think that?" Sarah asked, pausing with her drink midway to her lips. Yelena was vaguely reminded of an incredibly similar conversation and situation she had a few weeks back with Bucky in one of his favorite bars in Brooklyn.

Just a coincidence. Definitely.

"Yeah, I mean, not many people are looking to go out with a Wid - " Yelena immediately cut herself off and drained the rest of her drink in one swig. She didn't notice the sad sort of smile come over Sarah's face.

"It's okay, Sam already told me a little," she said. She quickly amended it by continuing when Yelena gave her a look of near horror. "Not much, just what he needed to like he had done with Bucky."

"You two seem to have a lot more in common than you might think," she continued. "I think he's gone through similar things. Sam told me you and Bucky have talked a lot more than you've probably looked at him. What I'm trying to say is, Yelena….You never know what you might find with someone, and Bucky seems like the type you could start a someone with."

Yelena didn't answer Sarah, only stared over her shoulder at the bionic staring machine talking with the new Captain America. As the two continued, a slow grin spread out across Bucky's face, soon turning into a full on smile she had only seen on a few, extremely rare occasions. Even then, it didn't last for very long.

She had seen him grin and smirk a few times before, but that smile, his real smile, was one she knew she would never be able to forget. She could feel the tip of her lip lift as his eyes traveled away from the water and back towards her and Sarah.

Returning her attention to the woman across from her when their eyes were a second away from meeting, she gave Sarah a small smile and finally replied, "Maybe. Just maybe."

"Hey, if you ever want me to set you two up, I could probably get Sam to - "

"Woah, woah, woah, what are you saying about me Sarah?"

Sarah chuckled and turned to see Sam and Bucky standing behind her. Looking up at her brother, she finished her sentence, playing it off pretty well to the extent Yelena tilted her head in approval.

"Before you and your big ears came over here, I was saying I could probably get you to set her up with a new job somewhere, you being the new big man with a plan now." Sarah glanced back at Yelena, and her teasing grin was enough to know Sarah had done this plenty of times before with a nosy brother.

"Sure, sure," Sam muttered, his eyes narrowing in on Sarah for a second. It didn't last long before he broke out into a smile again.

Yelena was looking between the three, finally resting her eyes on Bucky as he looked out towards the radio. His brow was furrowed in concentration as if he were mind-willing a song to play. She couldn't help but snort to herself under her breath as she went to take another drink. She stuck her lips out in a disappointed pout when she realized it was still empty.

Behind her, she heard the crowd suddenly erupt in a low murmur.

"Oh yeah, here we go baby!"

An older man with a head of thick, white curls and a wide smile stepped towards the radio and turned the dial up as far as it could go. From a following silence to a suddenly deafening familiar tune, Yelena found herself whipping back around to look at the radio again.

"A long, long time ago,"

"I can still remember,"

"How that music used to make me smile."

"Good ole' classic right here," she heard Sam exclaim, though she wasn't sure to who. "On the radio almost every morning when Mom and Dad would drop us off at school."

"And you always managed to break everyone's ear drums in the process," Sarah teased. Yelena turned back in time to see Sam give his sister a playful push to her shoulder as she chuckled. She didn't notice the super-soldiers staring from her to the radio to the floor of dancers forming around it.

"And I knew if I had my chance,"

"That I could make those people dance,"

"And, maybe, they'd be happy for a while."

"You know this one?" Sam asked, finally turning his attention to Bucky. He looked back to Sam with an almost dazed expression and took a second before answering.

"Oh, uh…no, actually," he conceded, ducking his head down for a second. "I've never heard this one."

"Come on man, you are missing out!" Sam exclaimed, slapping Bucky on the back. "You didn't like Trouble Man, you only like the 40's, and you don't even know the classics!"

"Are you serious?"

"But February made me shiver,"

"With every paper I'd deliver,"

"Bad news on the doorstep,"

"I couldn't take one more step."

Bucky's steely eyes swung down to meet Yelena's, but rather than filled with the sometimes cold wall she would hit when she questioned or teased him, she found a warm and open door to them. It was shocking to see, and Yelena wasn't sure if she imagined her heart speeding up, or if the heat had just picked up outside.

"What?" he chuckled, his smile returning again as she looked at him with bewilderment.

"You've never heard of American Pie?" she exclaimed, near annoyance growing inside her despite her own smile taking over her face.

"I can't remember if I cried,"

"When I read about his widowed bride,"

Bucky shook his head, a seemingly guilty movement despite the smile on his face. Sarah had risen from the table, and Sam was already directing her towards the dance floor where AJ and Cass were already forced to dance with a few of the older ladies in town.

"How? Just - how?" Yelena shook her head in absolute bewilderment while Bucky slowly made his way around the picnic table until he was standing right beside her.

"Never got the chance," he shrugged. That same easy smile and warm twinkle in his eyes took over again as he extended his hand out towards her, the metal glinting off the lights above them. "But if you want, you can still show me how to dance?"

"But something touched me deep inside,"

"The day the music…died."

Yelena stared at it, unsure whether or not to take it and lead Bucky onto the dance floor to show him what an amazing song he was missing, or whether to turn it away and go back to herself and her drinks like she usually did.

A spark of Widow courage sang through her, and before she could process what she was doing, Yelena was pulling Bucky behind her and onto the edge of the group. It was only when the two finally came to a stop and she turned to face him that it drained out of her in the blink of an eye.

"So bye-bye, Miss American Pie,"

"Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry."

Carefully lifting his hands, almost as if asking permission and giving her a chance to back down, he waited for Yelena to tell him that she changed her mind. He waited for her to say that she didn't want to dance with him. He waited. But she didn't say anything. Instead, a small shy smile lifted the corner of her lips up as she began to mouth the words with the song.

"And them good old boys were drinking whiskey n' rye," she whispered. "Singing this'll be the day that I die…. This'll be the day that I die."

Bucky laid one hand on hip while the other took up her hand with his metal one. For a second, all he could was stare at the intertwined fingers, and it was only when he felt her hand come to rest on his shoulder that he found her eyes looking back at him again. He let his own smile take over as he led them in a slow dance, suddenly contradicting the uptake in music.

Yelena had other ideas.

As the music continued, Yelena's shy grin turned into a worthy smirk. He suddenly found himself following her lead as they picked up the pace. All the while, Yelena sang along with the words, her eyes sometimes closing in bliss as a wide smile completely overtook her features.

With every spin out, and every twirl back in, both of their grins seemed to get wider and wider. Finally, by the time they, along with the crowd around them, finally settled down again for the last bit of the slow chorus, Bucky and Yelena were both trying to regain their breathing.

The slowing piano found their rhythm again, and it was only when Yelena started singing the words again that she noticed they hadn't gone back to their original dance. Both his hands were gently placed on her hips, hers were wrapped around the back of his neck. His eyes were swimming with something she couldn't quite place.

"I met a girl who sang the blues, and I asked her for some happy news," Yelena began. "But she just smiled and turned away."

Yelena took a breath to sing the next verse of lyrics, but her smile fell away into surprise when Bucky picked it up for her.

"I went down to the sacred store, where I'd heard the music years before," Bucky sang, his voice only a low whisper with the laughter and quiet murmurs around them. "But the man there said the music wouldn't play."

"I thought you said you didn't know the song," Yelena muttered, half-tempted to look away and half-tempted to simply stare back into his eyes forever. "You're old-school, or something like that."

Bucky chuckled, and from how close the two were - nearly chest to chest - she felt it vibrate down her arms. She held back the blush threatening to break out.

"And in the streets, the children scream,"

"The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed,"

"But not a word was spoken, the church bells were all broken."

"I haven't danced since 1943 actually, so my moves are a little rusty," he exclaimed. The smile fell from his face as he glanced down at her again, and for a brief second, Yelena was worried she had done something wrong.

"If I said I may have mentioned that to get a dance, would you hit me?" Bucky asked, actually seeming cautious and on the verge of a grimace. His hands had hesitantly tensed on her waist, and she couldn't help the small smile that tugged at her lips.

"No," she conceded. "But I would do something."

"And the three men I admire most,"

"The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost,"

"They caught the last train for the coast,"

"The day the music…died."

Yelena wasn't even sure how she had gotten the courage to do it.

She wasn't even sure for a second she had done it at all, or if it was just in her head.

One second she was staring him in the eyes, the next, she was leaning up on her toes and had placed a gentle kiss against his cheek. She lingered for only a split second before pulling away, her hands still wrapped around his neck, though like his, suddenly stiff with nerves.

He looked as if someone had just told him Steve Rogers was coming back from the 40's.

Starting as absolute shock, Yelena watched over the course of five seconds it contorted from open-mouthed shock, to closed-mouth shock, to nothing at all. She was relieved when the corners of his mouth lifted in a goofy grin, and her eyes closed in a moment of bliss when he leaned his head forward and pressed his forehead against hers.

"And they were singing…"

The entire crowd around them joined in as the two began to quietly sing with the last verse of chorus.

"Bye-bye, Miss American Pie, drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry. Them good old boys were drinking whiskey n' rye, singing this'll be the day that I die…"

"This'll be the day that I die."


Hey y'all!

Summerwinds here, and I really hope you guys enjoyed this little drabble I wrote after getting inspired by watching the last episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier...again. Again, if you haven't checked out my other fanfic "Partners" which takes place before all of this, and a good ole' hurt/comfort fic, "Little Lights", which takes place after this fic, feel free to check those out too!

Anyways, and as always to all the lovely readers out there, I hope you have a fantastic morning, afternoon, evening, or night!

-Summerwinds