"Are you guys watching…hoarders?" Skye asked tentatively as she walked into the lounge area to see Hunter, Trip, and Lucy relaxing on the couch watching a man with 47 cats navigating through his house filled with immense clutter. Bucky was in the armchair near them, but he had headphones in and seemed to be enthralled with whatever was on the tablet in his hands. Towards the other side of the room, Fitz, Simmons, Bobbi, and Mack were gathered around the table playing Risk. Which at the moment seemed to be more so of an argument over who had rightful control over Greenland.
"Don't look at me." Hunter said from where he lay slouched in his usual position, one leg on the coffee table. "Shrink wrap picked it."
Lucy rolled her eyes, having gotten used to his nickname for her. "You said you liked this show!" She said defensively.
"Well when it was a choice between this and that weird child beauty pageant thing, you didn't leave me too many options." Lucy and Trip shuffled sidewise on the couch, making room for Skye to take a seat.
"It's not that bad, is it Trip?" Lucy asked, trying to get someone on her side. She leaned forward and grabbed another handful of popcorn.
Trip raised his hands in a surrender. "Oh I am so not getting into the middle of this." He said with a laugh.
"We can change it if you hate it that much." She said to Hunter with a smirk. "Watch some Pro Bass Fishing or whatever the hell you guys are into these days." Reaching over she picked up the remote and scanned over the buttons.
"No it's fine." Hunter replied, resting the beer bottle on his leg. "I feel like I need to know what happens to Mr. Snuggles now." He said with feigned enthusiasm as he motioned to the screen where two workers in face masks were attempting to wrangle an emaciated and wild eyed tabby cat from a series of ceiling rafters. Lucy made a face at him and hurled the remote at him, making him chuckle.
"There was no way you had that many armies in Iceland last turn." Fitz accused as Simmons moved her yellow game pieces around the countries she had conquered.
"Yes I did, you just weren't paying attention." She quipped back, picking up the dice again.
Fitz grumpily took off the armies he had lost and dropped them back into his container. "And I suppose I have to just accept the fact that somehow you managed to get Japan, Mongolia, and China all in one turn?"
Simmons raised her eyebrows at him. "What are you implying, that I'm cheating? Or that I'm influencing the dice when I roll, like you do."
"Well excuse you, I would never do something like that!" He retorted, looking offended, but no one was convinced.
"Right, because dropping them on the floor almost every single time is totally normal." Simmons answered back with a knowing smirk.
"Do you think it's always like this?" Bobbi said to Mack quietly as they watched from their side of the table.
"I really don't want to know." Mack answered back before taking a drink.
"I'm pretty sure we both remember the monopoly incident of 2008." Fitz said, and Simmons didn't seem to have a rebuttal. Instead she just turned away trying to hide the color creeping up her cheeks.
"I just really wanted Park Place okay." She mumbled quietly.
Meanwhile, a huge grin had begun to take over Bucky's face as he watched whatever was on his screen. Lucy raised an eyebrow, wondering what he was watching, but then turned her attention back to their show. Half a minute later, his smile had turned into a few chuckles until finally he was giggling uncontrollably. The four on the couch each kept looking over at him wondering what on earth had captured his attention.
Finally, when it looked as though he was never going to be able to compose himself, Lucy retrieved the remote from Hunter and paused the show. "What are you watching?" She asked Bucky, confused.
Still grinning from ear to ear, he took out the headphones turned the sound all the way up. Before pressing play he asked, "Hey Lou, what does the fox say?" Lucy had no clue what he was asking her, but she heard several groans from around the room. Within seconds, the sound of the video filled the room. "Ring-ding-ding-ding-ding-da-ding-da-ding!" Confused by the strange lyrics, Lucy stared at him with a mildly terrified look on her face. "Hatee-hatee-hatee-ho."
"What it the name of all that is good and holy is this?" Lucy asked, unsure if she wanted an answer. Bucky, however, couldn't seem to formulate a reply as he was laughing so hard he could hardly breathe. She didn't understand the song, but his laughter alone was enough to make her join in. Hunter, however simply turned and glared at Skye.
"I swear on my life, it wasn't me." She said genuinely, both of them remembering when the song had first come out and Skye had deemed it necessary to play it no less than three times per day for over two weeks. She would embed the song into emails, web browsers, and even made it May's log in noise so that every time she opened her laptop it would start playing endlessly. Eventually everyone got annoyed with it and Coulson had to threaten to take away the wifi.
"Alright, who am I going to have to kill this time?" May said grouchily as she stepped through the doorway and into the room looking none too pleased. Everyone hushed, but the song still continued to echo through the room. Bucky and Lucy shot glances at each other, both trying desperately to keep their laughter contained.
The voice in the song did an imitation of a wolf howling at the moon and both of them busted up laughing, unable to keep it in any longer. May tried to remain serious, but she couldn't help a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. She hated to admit it but she was glad to see them both happy, it wasn't a sight she got to see very often, especially as of late.
"Coulson is ready to talk with you two now." She said, commanding her expression to return to its natural state.
Bucky nodded and stopped the video. Both took deep breaths trying to calm themselves back down and Lucy ran a finger under her eye wiping away the tears her laughing had produced. Shaking the past few minutes off
, Bucky rose from the arm chair, and then offered his hand to help Lucy up, which she gladly accepted.
"Good luck." Skye said as they passed her. It hadn't taken long for the news that the two of them were planning to leave the team to spread, but Lucy had been surprised how supportive most of them had been. Coulson of course hadn't been too keen on the idea, but the fact that the majority of the others were on their side gave Lucy hope. The meeting with him now would be the deciding factor on if they really would get to go or not.
"He's in a pretty good mood today." May commented as the three of them made their way towards Coulson's office. "Just don't say anything too crazy and you should be fine."
Lucy nodded in acknowledgement and rolled her shoulders back. She felt like she should be nervous, but for some reason she really wasn't. Bucky walked silently beside her, his hands clasped behind his back, and she wondered what he was thinking.
Phil was standing at one of the windows, a tablet in his hands, when the three entered the room. Seeing them come in, he walked over to his desk and took a seat behind it. "Do I seem like an ignorant man?" Coulson asked, looking up from the screen.
"N-no sir, not at all." Lucy said politely, as she and Bucky took the seats in front of the desk.
Coulson nodded. "So you know I understand the level of risk it would require for me to send two entirely un-tested agents out on an extensive mission."
Lucy glanced over to Bucky and she could tell he was already starting to get disappointed. Coulson didn't seem as apt to the idea as May had made it seem. "Well yes, but—" She said, hoping desperately that he would at least give the idea a chance. Based on her track record with such things as convincing Coulson, however, she wondered how much of a chance she really had.
Coulson just brushed away her answer and seemed to change to topic. "I hope you don't feel like we've made you unwelcome, or that we've done anything to make you want to leave."
"Oh no, of course not." Lucy answered quickly, "Bucky and I couldn't be more grateful for everything you've done for us, and the team is just wonderful."
"But…" Coulson trailed, sensing she had more to say.
Lucy bit her lip, then replied, "But, it's just, we don't exactly feel like we're that useful around here." She said, looking up at Bucky who nodded encouragingly. "I mean, we understand that we're not part of the team in quite the same way as everyone else, but it still just feels like we're in the way more than we're not." She hesitated a moment before continuing. "I know you all want to see HYDRA fall as much as we do, but the fact still remains that you have a lot of other things to worry about, which doesn't leave a lot of time for going after HYDRA directly. We just think that if we're not doing anything here, then why not go be productive there."
Coulson simply nodded. His eyes were focused on the screen and he seemed to be intrigued with what he saw. After a few minutes of stifling silence, he responded, "I guess it's good I'm not sending just anyone to take on HYDRA, then." He stood from his chair and let the tablet lay face up on the desk. Lucy and Bucky both leaned forward to see what he had been looking at so intently. Lucy blushed when she realized it was the recording from when her and May had been fighting in the training room a few days earlier.
Bucky just smirked as he watched as Lucy ducked under May's punch and slid smoothly across the floor, regaining her stance on the other side. May lunged again to attack Lucy, but she had been faster and with a flick of her arm had a solid grasp on May's wrist. With the precision that could only be present when in a state of calm and control, Lucy pulled May's wrist to the side, forcing her to turn her back to Lucy. Once that was done it was just a matter of pinning both arms back until May had no choice but to give in. It was the move he had taught her, and he couldn't help but feel proud.
"Wait, so you're saying we can do it? We can go?" Lucy asked, turning to follow Coulson as he strolled around to the other side of his desk. She glanced over to Bucky in disbelief, wondering if she had heard correctly. She hadn't thought it would be as simple as that.
"Do I feel entirely at ease about the situation?" Coulson commented. "No, but the thought of it does not seem as absurd as it once did. I'll be the first to admit I was skeptical at the mention of your proposition, but after evaluating things, I'm beginning to see that it isn't as irrational as I had first thought. It hasn't always been the easiest road with the two of you joining the team, but you've both proven yourself incredibly valuable to the team and you deserve more credit than you've received."
Lucy sat in shocked silence, listening to Coulson's accolades. He wasn't usually a man of so many words, and she was unaccustomed to his praises directed towards the two of them.
"I hope you understand that if we are going to do this, we have to be able to do things our own way." Bucky said, wasting no time. Lucy fought the urge to hush him. She was still surprised Coulson had agreed and she didn't want to risk him changing his mind now. Still, she restrained herself and bit her lip. "We would have to go completely dark, no communication with S.H.I.E.L.D. or the team whatsoever. And I'm not just saying that because we want to make our own decisions, but because it's strategic. We all know HYDRA won't hesitate to go to whatever lengths are necessary to extract information. If we for some reason got into a bind, they could get your location whether we choose to give it to them or not. That's not a risk either of us are willing to take." Lucy nodded at his statement. They had talked about it just the day before and she had been adamant on the fact.
"I figured you'd say that." Coulson replied simply, his mouth a thin, straight line. "Agent May and I have discussed it ourselves and both came to the same conclusion as the two of you. That's why I've taken the liberty of arranging the necessary funds and documentation you will need to get started." Lucy couldn't help but raise her eyebrows in surprise at his words. She watched as he rifled through his desk drawer and pulled out passports, identification cards, and various foreign currencies. She glanced quickly over at Bucky, who seemed satisfied, but not at all surprised by Coulson's response.
"We'd need to get started as soon as possible." Bucky said, his mind already churning with ideas.
Coulson nodded, "Yes that would be best. We will be stopping down in Madrid tomorrow, which should give you enough time to get everything sorted."
Coulson and Bucky continued talking logistics and making a plan, but Lucy couldn't hardly keep her attention on the conversation. Her heart was already beating fast with excitement. She was finally going to have the chance to repay HYDRA for everything they had done to her and she couldn't help but feel like for once her life was finally heading in the right direction.
Hello all, a huge thank you to everyone who has reviewed! I hope you enjoyed this chapter I cracked myself up so hard writing it because I'm dumb like that. Aaanywho, I've started on a sequel that will go up to and throug Civil war, since apparently I can't leave this story well enough alone. I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with it, if Ill post it or not, so just let me know what you think, anyone interested in something like that?