BUCKY POV

After Director Fury had complimented Eden on how well she had done sparring with Marston and Grayson, she left to take a shower before Brooke arrived to pick her up. I watched her carefully as she made her away across the training area. I could tell she was sore but she was trying really hard not to let me see it. Each pained step she took towards the locker room pissed me off more and more.

When Natasha had informed me that the Director wanted to see Eden's progress, I had assumed he meant for her to spar against Clint or maybe even Natasha herself. I never imagined he was going to recruit two SHIELD agents to go up against her. I had a hell of a lot of respect for the man but putting my girlfriend against two experienced fighters made me want to punch him in his damn face. Standing there on the sideline watching as Eden fought the two of them had been one of the hardest things I had ever had to experience since my days as the Winter Soldier. I could understand why Fury had asked Steve to come along too...the first time Marston laid a hand on her, I had freaked out. The switch in my head had flipped and I had gone on alert, full Winter Soldier mode...he would have been a dead man if it wasn't for both Steve and Clint holding me back. I knew they weren't there to hurt her intentionally, but the fact remained that they were trying to lay a hand on her and every part of me was against letting that happen. Eden was mine and it was my job to protect her...no matter who it was attacking her.

As disturbing as it was for me to see, she was still amazing to watch. In the one week Natasha had been training with her, she had progressed to an entirely different level. The training sessions had always been private...Nat hadn't allowed me or Clint to attend while the two of them trained. After seeing what I had just seen, I could only thank Natasha for what she had done.

She gave me a nod, "No problem, I'm glad I could help while I was here"

When she saw my confused expression she motioned towards the door Director Fury was now exiting through, "I've just been given my next assignment. I'm leaving tonight for Russia"

She gave us a brief rundown on her next mission while we waited for Eden to get done with her shower and rejoin us. When she finally came out of the locker room and heard the news, I could tell she was disappointed to hear that Natasha was leaving so soon. The two of them walked off to the side to talk and say their goodbyes. When I knew they were no longer paying attention to us, I turned to Clint.

"Are you ready for tonight?" I asked him quietly, glancing briefly in Eden's direction.

He nodded, "Packed and ready. I got the tracking device on Brooke's car just in case I lose them"

Steve bit his lip, "Bucky, the two of them are going to be pissed if they find out we sent Clint to follow them"

I turned to him, "Would you rather we let the two of them go off alone without anyone there to make sure they stay out of trouble?"

Steve looked unsure, "Of course not...I'm just saying...Tommy and Blake are going to be there to keep an eye on them and we promised them we wouldn't..."

I interrupted him, "We promised them WE wouldn't follow them...that's why we are sending Clint to look after them. These two guys may be capable but I don't know them. I want someone I trust to look after the girls" I pointed at Clint, "I trust HIM to keep them safe"

Clint grinned and then chimed in, "Thanks for the vote of confidence" He turned to Steve, "I'll stay out of their sight. They'll never know I'm there"

I looked up and saw that the two women had finished talking and were making their way over to us. While we were saying our goodbyes to Natasha, Eden made her way over to me and slipped her arm around my waist. I leaned down to kiss her forehead and smelled the fresh soap scent coming from her skin.

Steve's right you know, Eden is going to be pissed if she finds out you sent Clint to spy on her.

He's not SPYING on her...he's protecting her...keeping her safe!

I looked down at the blonde in my arms and felt a small sense of guilt for what I was planning. Technically I was keeping my promise because I wasn't the one going, but I knew I was walking a very fine line.

What she doesn't know won't hurt her. Besides, you know you will feel better knowing Clint is keeping an eye on her and Brooke.

Clint decided to leave with Natasha and I threw him a look before he left...he returned it with a quick nod of his head. Luckily, Eden didn't notice the exchange between us.

"Brooke won't be here for another 15 minutes. Do you guys mind if go practice my knife throwing?" Eden asked, looking up at me with her big, blue eyes before turning to Steve.

After we both nodded our approval, she gave us a big smile before heading over to a table to set up the throwing knives. I watched her slip her IPOD out of her gym bag and put her earphones on. She smiled when she heard the song that started to play and picked up her first knife.

Steve watched in awe as she threw knife after knife, hitting the target dead center almost every single time. He kept looking over at me and I couldn't help but grin back at him...Eden was a very quick learner. After I had shown her how to do it, she had simply taken it a step further and proceeded to master it. Further and further away she stepped back and still she was nailing each shot perfectly. Steve finally tore his eyes away and looked at his watch...I knew Brooke would be arriving any moment so he left to go wait for her outside.

Eden was so engrossed in her music that she didn't notice Steve had left and that I had stepped closer to her. She had just retrieved all the knives and laid them back on the table to start again. I watched her pick up a knife and flip it expertly in her hands, her motions both quick and graceful. I had never shown her how to flip the knives like that so she must have taught it to herself or Nat had shown her. She finally noticed me watching her and a smirk quickly appeared on her face when she saw the surprised expression on my face. She raised her eyebrow at me and then picked up four of the small, thin throwing knives. She turned away from the target to face me, three knives in her left hand while she flipped the one that was in her right. She winked at me before quickly turning around and throwing the knife she held in her right hand. The other three knives followed just as fast, one after another until all four were stuck to the target in a perfect square around the red circle in the middle.

Holy shit! She's almost as good as I am.

Eden turned back around and a smug smile appeared on her face when she saw that my mouth had dropped open. She pulled her ear phones out and made her way over to me. My hands immediately snaked around her waist when she reached me and I pulled her in to my chest.

"You're sexy as hell, you know that right?" I said, before leaning down to kiss her softly on her lips.

She chuckled softly, "Is that a turn on for you Bucky Barnes? Hmmm...Who knew knife throwing was the way to get man interested in you"

I let hands drift down further until I gave her ass a gentle squeeze, "Your knife throwing skills aren't the only thing that's a turn on. Pretty much everything about you does it for me"

She let out a laugh and pushed away from my chest before shaking a finger at me, "Down boy...no time for that" She pointed to a chair sitting near the table, "You just have a seat and enjoy the show" She gave me a wink and turned to retrieve the knives still sticking out of the target.

I took a seat and watched her as she pulled them out before turning and walking back to the table. She gave me look before putting her ear phones back in and pushing a button on her IPOD. She got fully engrossed in throwing her knives again and I just sat back and watched her. She was now practicing with her left hand and was surprisingly still pretty accurate. The more she threw, the better her aim got until she finally picked up one in each hand.

She was staring at the target preparing to throw both knives at the same time when Brooke and Steve walked through the doors. Eden had her music up pretty loud and her back was turned from them so she didn't notice them enter. Brooke knew about Eden's training but she had never actually seen her in action. She glanced over at me with a smile on her face and then up at Steve. They quietly made their way over to where I was sitting to watch.

Eden finally raised both hands and threw the knives with both deadly speed and amazing accuracy. The knives hit the target with a loud thump. She picked up two more knives off the table and reared both arms back before letting them too fly. I glanced over at Brooke and Steve and laughed at their reaction. It was about that time that Eden turned and saw that we were no longer alone. As soon as she turned, I saw her smile when she noticed the two of them standing there.

Eden laughed at Brooke and Steve's shocked expression, "Surprised?"

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EDEN POV

When both knives hit the target exactly where I aimed for, I felt a surge of pride inside of me. It had been a great shot and I was glad Bucky was there to see it. I picked up two more knives and pulled my arms back to fling them at the target...they too hit with dead on precision. I turned around and saw not only Bucky there, but Brooke and Steve too. The expression on Brooke's face was priceless and I desperately wished I had a camera at that moment to take a picture. It wasn't easy to shock Brooke and I laughed out loud at the look on her face. Steve had nearly the identical look plastered on his face.

"Surprised?" I asked laughing.

Brooke shook her head in amazement, "When the fuck did you become such a badass?" Before I could answer she turned to Steve, "Can you make me a badass like her?" She didn't give him a chance to answer either because she quickly turned to Bucky, "I want to be a badass like her" she said, pointing at me.

The three of us just stared at her in silence for a few moments before we all broke out in laughter. Steve threw his arm around Brooke's shoulder, "If you want to learn, I'll teach you"

Brooke nodded her head enthusiastically, "Oh yeah, definitely"

I wagged my finger at her, "Next time you try and sass me, you remember this moment. I can easily whip your ass now"

The red head held up her hands in her defense before sticking her tongue out, "You ready to go bitch?" she said, glancing at her watch.

I bit my lip and looked over at Bucky. I noticed the frown that had suddenly appeared on his face. I was excited about going home for Jill's bachelorette party but I was going to miss Bucky this weekend. At the last minute, Brooke and I had decided to stay at Jill's until Sunday morning so that we could go out tonight and Saturday night. I knew it wasn't normal to feel this way, but I didn't want to spend that much time away from Bucky. Maybe it would be a good thing that he and I got some time away from each other.

I doubt that, you're going to miss him like crazy!

"Yeah, I just need to put all this stuff away and grab my overnight bag from the SUV" I said.

She nodded her head, "Give me your keys and I'll get your bag and put it in my car"

Bucky reached in his pocket and handed her his set of keys, "I'll help her pack up all this stuff and we'll meet you at your car"

Once Brooke and Steve had left the training room, I looked over at Bucky. He was still frowning but when he noticed me looking, he gave me a half-hearted smile. He walked over to the table and started picking up the knives and placing them in the case. I made my way to the target and pulled the knives sticking out of it and walked back over to him. He had already placed the other knives in and barely looked at me when I handed him the ones I was carrying. He finally shut the case but kept his head down, looking at the table. I stepped closer to him and placed my hand on his until he finally looked at me. I couldn't quite determine the look he was giving me but I figured it was because he was worried something would happen to me while I was away from him.

"I'm going to be fine Bucky...I promise I'll stay safe" I told him reassuringly.

He shook his head, "I'm not worried about that"

He's not worried? That's a first!

I looked at him suspiciously, "Really? Why wouldn't you be worried about that?"

He looked up at me quickly, "I just mean I know you can take care of yourself...look at you" he said, motioning at me, "You're a regular bad ass now"

I stared at him suspiciously for a few moments...he kept a straight face but there was something in his eyes that made me think something was going on.

"You aren't planning on following us to Jill's are you?" I said. I had asked him the same questions multiple times over the last week and he had given me the same answer each time: No

There it is again!

I caught a flash of something...it was so quick that I almost doubted that I had really seen anything, "No Eden. Steve and I both swore that we wouldn't follow the two of you"

Bucky had indeed promised me that very thing so I let my suspicions go and asked him, "So, what's wrong then?"

He shifted his body uncomfortably, "I'm going to miss you. We haven't been apart a single night since...you know..."

I did know. We hadn't been away from each other since those few days he had left to go stay at Steve's...the time he thought he was keeping me safe by staying away from me.

He kept talking, "...and I haven't had a nightmare since then"

I bit my lip again. I remembered the nightmare Bucky had the night he came back from that mission he had went on. I had woken him up and he had flipped me over and raised his fist like he was going to hit me. I wasn't scared...hell, it didn't change how I felt about him at all. I don't know how, but even then, I knew that he wouldn't hurt me. Thinking back, I couldn't remember a time since we had been sleeping in the same bed that he had a nightmare. He always slept so soundly and I never realized that it might be because of me.

"So when I'm around, you don't have them?" I asked. I hated the idea that while I was off having fun with my friends, he might be having those awful nightmares he had told me he had experienced in the past.

He nodded his head, "Everything is better when you're around"

He must have noticed the sudden sad expression on my face, "Hey, I didn't tell you that to upset you. I want you to go and have fun...I will be fine for a couple of days without you. Steve and I are going to spend the weekend hanging out like old times"

I looked up at him and he gave me that sexy smirk and a wink, "Maybe we'll even find a couple of nice gals to go out dancing with like we use to do back in the old days"

A sudden image of Bucky on a dance floor surrounded by a bunch of woman popped into my head and I punched him hard in the shoulder, "You better not"

He rubbed his arm playfully like I had actually hurt him, "What? You don't like the idea of me dancing with a bunch of other people?"

I folded my arms across my chest, "No I don't actually"

He grabbed my arms and pulled them apart before placing them around his neck. I intertwined my fingers behind his head and stared up at him.

"Well, how do you think I feel? I get to spend the weekend imagining how many assholes are going to be hitting on my girl" he said before kissing me.

I laid my head on his chest, "Trust me, they can try to hit on me all they want. At the end of the day, it's only you babe" I looked up at him, "Always you"

He nodded his head and kissed my forehead, "Come on, I bet Steve and Brooke are wondering what's taking so long"

I finally pulled away from him and reached down for my gym bag...he quickly snatched it up and threw it over his shoulder with a smile. I took his hand and we made our way out of the training room and into the parking lot. I easily spotted Brooke's red mustang parked only a few spots away from my SUV. I smiled when I saw her and Steve carelessly making out against the driver's side door. They were so wrapped up in each other that they didn't hear us approaching. I grinned at Bucky and cleared my throat loudly to get their attention. They broke apart quickly and I chuckled when I saw how red Steve's face got. He reached his hand up to his mouth while Brooke adjusted the sweater she was wearing.

She threw me a dirty look and I merely shrugged my shoulders at her, "What?"

It was cold outside but Brooke had already started the car and had the heat running. While her and Steve said their goodbye, I turned to Bucky. He placed the gym bag on the ground and reached out for me. I wrapped my arms around him and he did the same, pulling me close to him. I felt his breathe against my neck and then heard him whisper, "Promise me you'll be safe"

I turned my head slightly until my lips nearly touched his own, "I promise"

"Call me every night"

"...and every morning" I assured him.

"I love you" he said as he brushed his lips against mine.

My hands trailed from his waist to his chest, "I love you too"

I stared at him for a minute before I finally pulled away and smiled. Brooke and Steve had said their goodbyes and she was now climbing into the car. I took Bucky's hand and squeezed it tightly once before turning to open the passenger side door. Once we were settled in the car, we waved at the two men who were now standing next to each other. I watched them in the rearview mirror until we finally exited the parking lot and turned onto the street.

The ride to Jill's went by surprisingly fast since Brooke was driving like a bat out of hell and we spent the entire time talking. She filled me in on her and Steve's progress in their relationship over the last week and I talked to her about the upcoming trip to visit my family. On and on we went as we got closer and closer to our old hometown. I was the one who finally brought up the topic of what to tell Jill about her and Steve. The wedding was in a week and Brooke was planning on bringing Steve as her date. Jill and every other guest at the wedding were going to recognize him as Captain America. We figured we should probably give her some warning and since Brooke was telling Jill about Steve, I had decided to tell her about Bucky as well.

When we finally arrived, it was well after 5:00. I knew the plan for tonight was just to go out and have dinner to catch up and I was glad for it. My training session today had been a tough one and the shower earlier had only eased the pain temporarily. The long car ride had made my body feel stiff again and it hurt to move around too quickly. Jill ran out to meet us the instant we pulled up and I had to grit my teeth when she threw her arms around me tightly and squeezed. Brooke had noticed though and she smiled sympathetically at me. She had told me during the drive that Steve had let her know about my sparring session that day.

Jill ushered us inside the house and once we put all our stuff away, we plopped down on the couch in her living room to talk. Brooke and I both looked at each other nervously and Jill noticed...she knew something was up. We decided to get it over with quickly and told her absolutely everything. As the story continued, her mouth dropped open. She said almost nothing as we told her about Steve and Bucky, only interrupting a few times to ask questions. We left out everything about Milton Kaine...there was no point in scaring Jill. When we were finally finished, Brooke and I glanced at each other and then back at Jill.

"So let me get this straight...the two of you get super hero boyfriends and I'm stuck with Dave" she said slowly.

I looked at Brooke in bewilderment and she had the same look reflected in her face...we both glanced back at Jill who was still trying to wrap her brain around it.

I nodded my head and said, "Yes? I guess"

Brooke finally spoke up, "You okay sweetie?"

Jill shook her head, "No, I'm definitely not okay" She got up from the couch and disappeared into the kitchen.

Shit!

I heard the fridge open and then heard the clink of a glass. I looked over at Brooke and she just shrugged her shoulders. We could hear Jill making her way around the kitchen but both of us were too chicken shit to get up and check on her.

"Is she mad?" I mouthed at Brooke.

Brooke shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know" she mouthed back.

A few moments later, Jill came back into the living room carrying a wine glass and an open wine bottle.

She threw herself down on the couch between me and Brooke and took a huge gulp of wine. She closed her eyes and smiled as she took a smaller sip. She finally looked over at Brooke, "So you're dating Captain America?"

Brooke gave her a cheeky smile and nodded her head, "Yes"

She turned her head to look at me, "...and Bucky is THE James Buchanan Barnes?"

I nodded my head, "Yes"

Jill finished off her wine and then placed the empty glass on the coffee table. She leaned back on the couch and let out a sigh, "So...how's the sex?'

I imagined about a dozen different things Jill might say but that was definitely not one of them. She busted out laughing first and Brooke and I followed.

"How's the sex?" I said between giggles.

Tears were streaming down Brooke's face, "We just told you that I'm dating fucking Captain America and that Eden's living with a former HYDRA assassin turned good guy and you ask how the damn sex is?"

Jill was still laughing as she refilled her glass, "Just curious to know what it's like to sleep with an old guy. I mean they are both nearly 100"

I snorted and snatched the glass out of her hand to take a sip "I can't speak for Brooke but there is nothing old about Bucky"

Brooke grabbed the wine bottle and took a swig directly from it, "Ditto for Steve"

We let Jill ask the more personal questions she had and we answered each one, breaking down in a fit of giggles each time we had to talk about something dirty.

By the time we were done talking, there were two empty bottles of wine sitting on the coffee table.

"So is there anything else I should know...any other secrets you bitches need to tell me?" Jill asked.

I looked at Brooke and saw a wide smile on her face. I raised my eyebrow at her curiously and she spoke up, "Well...Eden's a fucking badass now. She's been getting trained to fight by Clint Barton" When Jill looked at her with a confused expression Brooke rolled her eyes and continued, "You know him...Hawkeye. He's the Avenger who uses a bow...he was in New York"

Jill's eyes widened as she realized who Brooke was talking about and she glanced over at me, "Really?"

I nodded my head, "Yeah, he's pretty awesome. He's taught me a lot...him and Nat both"

Of course, I had to explain to her who Natasha was and I laughed as her eyes grew big. I filled her in on my training and all the cool things I had learned over the last few weeks. It was nearly 8:00 before we finally finished talking about everything and decided it was time to eat. Jill called Tommy and Blake to let them know we were ready to head out and we agreed to meet them at the restaurant. Brooke and I quickly changed into some nicer clothes and then the three of us piled into the mustang. While we drove to dinner, I pulled my phone out and texted Bucky. Even surrounded by my two best friends, I couldn't help but miss him. I told him I missed him and let him know what our plans were for the night. I figured if I kept him updated on what we were doing, he wouldn't worry as much. When we finally reached the restaurant, I texted Bucky one last time and told him I loved him.

Dinner that night was full of laughter...I'm surprised we didn't get kicked out of the restaurant. It had been a while since I had seen Tommy or Blake and I had almost forgotten how much fun the two of them could be. They told the funniest stories and the more we drank, the louder we got. The two of them decided against having any alcohol and instead let us girls have our fun. We were still talking and drinking long after our food was gone. Knowing that the boys were around made it more comfortable for me and I relaxed enough to keep drinking. At the end of the night, it was Tommy who drove us home in the mustang while Blake followed in their car. Once the two of them had us settled into the house for the night, they said their good byes and left, promising to see us tomorrow.

The party didn't end there though...Jill found another bottle of wine in her kitchen and we piled onto the couch again, ready to finish swapping stories.

It's going to be a long night!

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