"I'm throwing a little thing tonight," Tony says, and you look up surprised. For the last twenty minutes or so the two of you had been sitting in silence as he scrolled through a tablet and you munched on last night's leftover pizza. "The security footage wasn't the best, so I'm sure you'll be fine, but it's probably a good idea to change up your look a little bit."
You glance down at today's variant of the sweats and tank top combo you had been rocking since you arrived several weeks ago. "This is pretty much the extent of my wardrobe Stark."
"And that is where I come in," Wanda sweeps into the room and drops an arm full of shopping bags on the table. "Would you mind helping me carry these up to your room? Then we can choose something nice for you to wear."
"You went shopping for me?" Your voice was somewhere between amusement and horror, "You really didn't need to do that."
"Next time we will go together," She smiles warmly and you stand up, grabbing as many bags as you can, "Besides I'm sure you are getting tired of borrowed clothing."
"A bit," You admit as the two of you walk up to your room, "But this looks like more clothes than I've owned in my entire life."
"Well I was not sure exactly what you would like so…" She lays the bags on your bed, "This one here is for tonight, if you like. I'll let you look through it all."
"Thanks Wanda, I don't even know what to say."
"My pleasure," She beams, "I'm sure we will be good friends very soon."
You spend the next hour neatly putting all of the clothes away in the dresser and closet, trying to force down the emotions the simple action triggered; you couldn't remember the last time you had an entire dresser full of belongings, and definitely never anything this nice. With the bed cleared besides the bag Wanda had indicated was for tonight you lay across it.
You hadn't realized how out of shape you really were until you started regularly exercising again. It was completely exhausting, and you quickly drift off.
You wake up to the sound of soft music drifting up to your room, and you quickly sit up, head spinning as you tried to remember where you were. Right. Your bedroom. For some reason you had been dreaming about your parents, which was a topic you were not interested in thinking about.
You open the bag Wanda left, and your mouth falls open. You pull out the bundle of fabric, and lay the dress across your bed. You had definitely never worn anything like this before. Wanda had left you a emerald green ball gown with a matching pair of shoes.
You shimmy the fabric up your body, sighing in relief when it fits almost perfectly. In the bathroom you brush out your hair, leaving it down around your face. At the bank you had been in a hoodie and jeans with your hair back, and looking in the mirror you could barely recognize yourself. You looked healthier and more content than you had been in years, and you could only hope that it would be enough for you to fly under the radar.
The scene you walk in on is worse than you hoped for but better than you expected. Thirty or so people milled around the area, and you were relieved to find that your dress didn't stand out amongst the rest of the patrons. You would have to thank Wanda again later. You smooth down the front of your dress and scan the room, looking for a familiar face. Tony finds you before you find him, excusing himself from his conversation and slipping his arm around your shoulders to steer you towards the bar.
"There you are, thought we were going to have to send out a search party-" He turns as the bartender hurries over, "Two martinis sweetheart."
"Two parties in one place might be a little much," You smile, taking the glass as it's passed over the bar to you, "Thank you." You take a sip, and it's delicious, of course. "So who are all these people?"
"Mostly some key members of various governments," Tony's voice drops, "After the accords and the subsequent breaking of those accords it's important that we schmooze with the right people while avoiding stepping on toes of others; which, and this probably will not come as a surprise to you, most of the team is abhorrent at."
"Mm," You take another drink to hide your smile, "I suppose that's not terribly surprising."
"Speaking of which, I think I see the secretary of state over there-he absolutely hates me. I should probably say hi. Relax, enjoy, drink." You down the rest of your drink as he walks away and order another. Leaning against the bar, drink in hand, you feel a little more confident as you glance around the room. You spot Natasha and Steve dancing, their footwork sure and steady as they move to the music.
"Isn't it horrible?" You look to your right where Dr. Banner has slipped into the spot next to you to look out into the crowd. You try not to gape.
"Not your choice of scene?" You guess, looking back towards Natasha and Steve; Natasha is peering over Steve's shoulder to look at Bruce, a flirty smile on her lips.
"There are some upsides," He admits, the corners of his mouth tilting up, "But no, not really."
"I'm sorry, I need to get this out. Can I just say that I am like so stoked to meet you Dr. Banner, I mean your thesis on quantum chromodynamics changed the way that we understand particle physics-I mean it was incredible."
"Thanks-wait-how do you-Your file lists you as having dropped out of high school." It's less a statement than a question, and you sigh.
"Oh. I have a file," You frown, "Should've expected that I suppose. Yeah, I was on my own at that point and needed cash, so I was working full time. I studied a lot though, audited classes at various colleges-I moved around a lot. I mostly studied epigenetics and microbiology but then I sat in on this particle physics class at MIT and it just blew me away. I'm actually reading-well was reading I guess I'll have to get another copy, Perturbative and Nonperturbative Aspects of Quantum Field Theory by-"
"Latel and Schweiger-great choice, I actually have a copy in my lab if you wanted to borrow it."
"That would be amazing!"
"Just stop down tomorrow and grab it-I actually have a few other recommendations if you're interested."
"I would literally love nothing more," You grin, before your eyes meet Bucky's across the room. He nods and holds the bottle in his hand up in a toast. "Excuse me for a second."
"Of course, we'll have plenty of time to talk later."
He watches you approach as you cross the room and take the seat across from him. Like Steve the man across from you was one that you had learned about in school and there was something surreal about being face to face with him when he had barely aged from the photographs in your textbooks. "I was under the impression that enhanced individuals such as yourself couldn't get drunk," You say wryly as you eye the bottle in his hand.
"Doesn't mean I can't enjoy the taste," The corners of his eyes crinkle up when he smiles, and you get the sense that he's happy you approached him. With everything that had happened you imagined that he was probably pretty used to people avoiding him
"So what are we drinking?"
"A Macallan 1939," He hands you the bottle and you glance at the label.
"Almost as old as you, huh?" You joke, before taking a swig, "Oh," You lick your lips, "That tastes expensive."
"It's from Stark's hidden stash-I'll show you where it is sometime." You laugh and pour some into your now empty glass before handing the bottle back.
"I'll hold you to that." He settles back into the sofa, obviously not planning on moving much for the rest of the night. You wondered if pre-HYDRA Bucky would've been out on that dance floor, a pretty girl in his arms. You thought that he would. Underneath his semi-gruff exterior you could see traces of a ladies man, especially when he gave you that eye crinkling smile. "I'm going to go out on a limb here and say parties aren't really your thing?"
"What gave it away?"
You smile, "The general sulking in the corner by yourself with a bottle of liquor. You know, Dr. Banner isn't a fan either, maybe the two of you should bro down."
"Bro down?" Bucky shakes his head and chuckles, "I'll have to pass on that; I've smiled and nodded through one too many conversations on thermodynamics and nuclear radiation. You two seemed to be hitting it off though, what were you talking about?"
"Er-quantum chromodynamics-" You admit, earning another laugh, "To be fair, I did bring it up."
"Oh god, you another science geek? Just what we needed."
"Hey, pretty sure most people in this place owe a lot to science, you included," You laugh, "How'd you get your abilities again?"
"Huh," Bucky leans forward to top off your glass, "You know you are a lot feistier than your demeanor suggests. Must be the fire," He winks. Is he flirting with you? Maybe there was more of a ladies man left than you had previously thought. "Does it hurt having flames on your skin like that? Obviously it's not burning you, but it's got to be hot right?"
"Not really, it feels...kind of nice actually. Like a warm tingle." As you speak you roll a small ball of flame across your knuckles, "You don't think it's weird?" You look up as he laughs.
"I'm sorry, let me get this right: you're asking the 100 year old ex-brainwashed assassin with a metal arm if he thinks that you're weird?"
"I guess when you put it like that…" You tuck a strand of hair behind your ear and his eyes follow the motion like a cat watching a mouse, "You are pretty weird."
He laughs again, and the sound warms you more than the liquor the two of you are drinking does. "Need a top off doll?"
"If I didn't know any better Sergeant Barnes, I would think you were trying to get me drunk," You hold up your glass and he pours a generous amount into it.
"If I was it's definitely harder than I imagined-you had what-two martinis before you came over here?" So he had been watching you, you filed that away for future reference. "And about half this bottle. You should be on the ground."
"Trade secret." Bucky rolls his eyes and you laugh, "Alright, you got me. I metabolize at around three times as fast as a normal human. I used to use it to hustle guys at bars between jobs, drinking contests, pool-you get the picture."
"Bet no one ever expected it, sweet little thing like you," Bucky shakes his head, "Poor guys. What else can you do?"
"I mean, I heal a little faster than normal people I think. Naturally a little stronger. Nothing like you and Steve of course, it's definitely subtle. I never even noticed it until someone pointed it out." Until Justine had pointed it out. You quickly take a drink as if to wash away the thought of her, and if Bucky notices the emotion that flashed across your face he doesn't mention it.
"I think you're being modest. There's not a lot of that around here," Bucky chuckles, "I think you'll like it here."
"Me too." You hadn't realized that you had been subconsciously leaning forward while the two of you talked until Tony falls onto the couch beside you, startling you back into an upright position.
"(Y/n), Barnes," He says in greeting, "I thought we might toast in honor of our newest member. Champagne?" You down the rest of your glass and hold it up to the older man who glances as Bucky as he pours, "Barnes, I'm going to pretend that's not my Macallan 1939 in your hand right now."
"Cheers," Bucky grins, bumping the bottle into yours and Stark's glasses.
The champagne is good, and you happily accept another glass when Stark offers it. Across the room Bruce has been pulled onto the dance floor by Natasha though the way she presses her body to his leads you to believe that he doesn't mind all that much.
"Do you dance?" Tony asks and you laugh.
"The last dance I went to was in middle school. I've only seen dancing like this on t.v.," You admit, "Totally out of my element here."
"Come on then," Tony stands up, holding out his hand, "Let's make it your element."
"Oh, no, I'm good Tony, really."
"I'm not taking no for an answer," Tony smirks, and you sigh and clap your hand into his, allowing him to pull you to your feet.
A few seconds later he leads you into a gently swing number, his footwork confident and you easily follow him.
"I don't think I ever properly thanked you," You tell him as the two of you dance, "If you hadn't picked me up that day I'd probably be in a government prison. Or doing a much different kind of dancing in some skeevy city until I got back on my feet if I was lucky."
"That bad huh?"
"Not always, but jobs are hard to find, especially when you roll into a new city and you're a high school drop out. I've always made do though."
"Well, not anymore." Tony smiles, "You're safe now."
You stumble up to your bedroom a couple hours later, despite your body's ability to quickly metabolize the liquor the warmth of the alcohol was buzzing wildly in your veins. After Tony, Sam had insisted on dancing with you, and then Steve had taken a turn. You thought the earlier flirting might had led Bucky to approach you again that night, but maybe you had misread the situation.
As you approach your door Bucky is down the hall opening his own; your eyes meet and you can feel the teasing tension from earlier spike once more, sending a new heat spiraling through your veins. There was no misreading the way his hand retreated slightly from his door handle and his body almost imperceptibly began angling towards you.
You almost jump when you hear the footsteps coming up the hallway, and Bucky lets himself into his room before you can even begin to turn your own door handle. Stepping inside your room you take a deep breath, examining what had just happened. It was probably for the better; sleeping with one of the Avengers when you hadn't even been there a month was probably a terrible way to start out your time here. You fall onto the bed, your stomach lurching with the motion, and cover your eyes with your arm, praying that the room would stop spinning soon.