Grace stared at her phone, re-reading the text message for the 100th time. It'd come from a number she didn't know, yet she wasn't surprised to see it.
Hi Grace. Its Pepper Potts here, I hope you're settling in well. Tonight is team dinner night in the common room. Everyone brings a plate and tonight we're doing Italian. If you could do something for dessert that would be great. See you at 7!
There was no option to say no. Grace let her head fall against the window with an audible bang. She was sitting on the floor, laptop in her lap and legs stretched out in front of her. Behind her, Bucky was in the exact same position. If it wasn't for the glass between them, they'd be back to back. Bucky was furiously writing in his third book in as many days.
"Well, shit." Grace pursed her lips and she dropped her phone in her lap. While she'd been going up to her apartment to sleep and shower, she hadn't left the room. Sam had been down here a few times every day. But other than that, Grace had been left alone. Bucky had been quiet, caught up in his writing and had done little else but write, eat and sleep. It might have been boring for Grace, except for the first book Bucky had filled in her lap. His penmanship was perfect cursive that made Grace very self conscious of her own chicken scratch handwriting. It was disjointed memories, often starting back in World War 2 or Brooklyn then suddenly they'd be in another time and place without warning. Grace was going through the book and making notes on her laptop, trying to put everything together in some kind of order. It was a slow process, but fascinating at the same time. Grace had finished the first book and was having a small break before getting into the second one.
Grace's fingers hovered above her phone screen, ready to knock back the invitation. But she hesitated. There was no reason for her to refuse except for feeling awkward. She knew she needed to integrate herself into the team dynamics sooner or later. Bucky wouldn't be her only patient. Besides, Bucky could contact her through JARVIS if he needed anything. So far he hadn't, leaving Grace able to get a solid 8 hours of sleep every night.
"Bucky, would you be all right by yourself for the rest of the day?" Grace asked, looking over her shoulder. She still didn't like leaving him alone for any longer than she had to.
"Of course." Bucky didn't look up from his writing. His pen paused for a few seconds. "Where are you going?" "Dinner, apparently," Grace said dryly. "I have to bring dessert."
"What's for dessert?"
Grace turned so she was facing Bucky. It felt rude to not be talking to his face even though he couldn't see her.
"Something Italian, I was thinking tiramisu," Grace said with a small smile. Even though he didn't talk much, these bits and pieces of conversation throughout the day were all good little steps. "Want me to bring you some back?"
"I don't think I've ever had tiramisu," Bucky said, almost absently as he continued to write. "Are you making it or buying it?"
"Making it. If I can find a good recipe." Grace opened a new tab on her internet browser to start searching. "I've never made it before. So it could be hit or miss."
"We had an Italian neighbour," Bucky said suddenly, his pen stopped midair. "I think. She used to make spaghetti for Steve and I sometimes."
"Steve said it was your favourite food." That was one thing Grace could confirm. Everything else she was going to have to sit down and talk out with Steve. "Do you want some for dinner?"
Grace felt a twinge of guilt for going up and having a nice dinner while Bucky was stuck down here. He was in no condition to leave the room just yet. But Grace was hopeful that maybe in a week or two, she could start interacting with him face to face. If he stayed on the path he had been the last few days, everything was looking promising.
"I'll have whatever is given to me," Bucky said gruffly. "I'm clothed and fed here. I'm not going to argue on my choices."
Food was one thing that was still a bit touchy with Bucky. He ate everything given to him, but never asked for more or suggested what he'd like to eat. Still, Grace wasn't going to complain because he was eating whatever was given to him. His clothes were fitting him a little better and despite his scraggly beard, Bucky was looking infinitely better in a relatively short space of time.
"I'll bring a selection down afterwards then." Grace didn't press, idling flicking through Google to find a recipe that looked a little bit more fancy than usual. It never hurt to show off good cooking skills when you wanted to impress someone. Or an entire team of superheroes. Adding the world 'classic' into the search engine brought up a recipe that looked very good. Grace went through the ingredient list, biting her lip. While there was food in the fridge in her apartment and there was food always on hand to be had with asking JAVIS, Grace had no idea where to go shopping. It was just after lunch, she'd need to give the tiramisu plenty of time to set. Another recipe caught her eye and before she knew it, Grace was making a list for ingredients for cannoli as well.
"JARVIS, where can I find a good food store to get what I need for tonight?" Grace asked once she was finished. It may have been a bit ambitious, but Grace hadn't had the chance to bake anything good in ages. She asn't going to pass this opportunity up. Bucky was still writing and judging by the frown on his face, deep in thought. He looked like he was about to be in one of his long silent moods.
"If you read the list out, I shall have it delivered to your apartment within the hour," JARVIS answered promptly. "Mr Wilson saw that your apartment was well stocked with baking appliances. If there is anything additional you require, please let me know."
Grace had a good look through her cupboards last night when she was trying to find a pan to make an omelette. She'd been surprised to find that her every baking whim had been attended to. There was even a top of the line cake decorating kit. She'd wondered at the time who had been the one doing it. She should have known it was Sam's idea. She was dying to give the KitchenAid a good work out. Reading out the list, including a tentative asking for cannoli forms which JARVIS assured her would be easy to find, Grace found herself a bit lost. For the first time in days she didn't have much to do except sit back and wait. There was no point in starting to second book with being promised her ingredients would be delivered in 45 minutes.
"Bucky, I'm going to head up and start cooking." It was a small lie, but Bucky looked like he didn't want to be disturbed. "Let JARVIS know if you need me for anything."
All she got was a grunt in reply. Grace wasn't offended, Bucky did look like he was concentrating hard. Grace went up to her floor and instead of going to her apartment, she went straight to Sam's. His door swung open automatically for her. As soon as the door opened, Grace inhaled a deep breath. Whatever Sam was cooking up for tonight smelt delicious. He was a pretty good cook himself, but didn't have Grace's patience for fiddly recipes.
"Smells good Sammy," Grace called out as she walked into the lounge room. His apartment was nearly a mirror image of her own. Except his looked lived in and had homely touches, like a few plants and photos.
"Oh good, a taste tester." Sam was in the kitchen, peering into the oven. "Come and try this and tell me if its shit or not. I wasn't going to make a huge batch unless they tasted good enough to feed the horde."
Grace laughed at his description and obediently went into the kitchen. Sam busied himself getting what looked to be 2 small pizzas out of the oven. Grace stuck her hand in the bowl on the counter as she went past, snatching a fig out it. The fig was sweet and juicy on her tongue, making her briefly close her eyes in bliss.
"Figs are good," Grace commented, licking the remaining juice off her fingers. "This is very fancy for you. I excepted store brought pasta and bottled sauce."
"I'm trying to beat Natasha's cooking," Sam explained, grabbing a handful of mixture out of the bowl where the fig had come from. He carefully placed it on the still hot pizza base, frowning down at it. "It sounded really weird when I looked it up. But one the fancy Italian restaurants in New York does this so I'm giving it a try too. Here." Sam finished arranging the fig, prosciutto, salad and cheese mixture on the pizza base. He handed one over to Grace, looking cautious. Grace took a bite into the pizza, wincing at the still hot base burnt her tongue a little. But the combination of fig, prosciutto and buffalo cheese exploded in her mouth. Some of the oil and balsamic from the salad and the creme fraiche on the base dripped down her chin, making Grace quickly wipe if off. She nodded her approval while chewing.
"It's really good Sam," Grace said around her mouthful of food. "Really, really good. You need to do about 100 of them. Then take me to this restaurant that serves this."
"Yeah?" Sam looked incredibly pleased with himself. He took a bite of his own pizza, chewing silently for a few seconds before closing his eyes. The contented sound he made before he swallowed made Grace laugh. "Yeah I agree. Fuck I'm good. That restaurant was one of the ones with no prices on the menu. I think I'll stick to my homemade ones."
"I'll shout you one night," Grace said before taking another bite. She'd gotten paid last night and was feeling like she had cash to burn for the first time in her adult life. With no rent, student loans of living expenses to pay, the amount of money in her bank seemed a little grotesque. She was struggling between being a responsible adult and saving a good chunk of it. Or going and blowing it on some really inappropriately priced shoes. It was a hard call.
"So what are you cooking?" Sam asked, with a sly grin. "I hope you checked your cupboards for your new toys."
"I did and once I'm not covered in olive oil and other juices, I owe you a hug." Grace laughed, wiping her chin again. "Thank you, I really appreciate the little touch. I'm making tiramisu and cannoli."
"Marscapone or Ricotta filling for the cannoli?" Sam asked, popping the last of his pizza into his mouth.
"Marscapone or course," Grace said with a little wiggle of her eyebrows. "Gotta be over indulgent if I'm trying to impress my boss. Well, technically bosses. I think I have more than one."
"Make sure you dip the shells in chocolate then," Sam suggested. "Nothing impresses Steve and Tony more than over rich stuff with chocolate."
"I'll definitely keep that in mind." Grace had no shame in licking her fingers clean. Sam had done an excellent job on the topping for his pizza. "How about that hug?"
Sam launched at Grace, making her giggle as he squeezed her in a tight bear hug. She put her arms around his neck, hugging him back with all her strength. Sam didn't flinch at Grace's hug at all. Still, she smiled. It was so nice to have a light hearted moment with Sam. Their lives had been far too busy for too long.
"So why are you trying to beat Natasha?" Grace asked as they both pulled away.
"After we all moved in, Natasha was the worst cook of us all. If Barton didn't know how to cook I'm sure they both would have starved to death, or they'd both weigh 300 pounds each," Sam said with a small chuckle. "So she's made a mission to learn to cook and gotten really good in the process. It's a bit of friendly rivalry we have going on to see how we can outdo each other every team dinner night. Mama's fried chicken won last week but she beat me the week before. I'm determined to get a streak happening for at least 2 weeks."
"That's because your Mama does the best fried chicken I've ever had in my life." Grace's mouth watered at the thought of it. Though she was mildly surprised at the casual mention of Natasha and Clint living together. She had a lot to learn about the team dynamics. "I'll still beat you with my tiramisu though."
"That I have no doubt about," Sam chuckled. "I said to Pepper you'd love to show off your dessert skills. And we all get to taste it. It's a win, win situation for everyone."
"Smart move." Grace wasn't offended. Sam had done her a favour by making her dish a dessert one. If she was doing a main meal she might have been a little more stressed. "Do you want to come over and help me when you're finished?"
"Sure, I'll just put some more dough on to rise and then I'll head over," Sam agreed. "Why do I get this horrible feeling you want my muscles for something?"
The cannoli dough Grace wanted to make needed 15 minutes of solid kneading. But she wasn't going to tell Sam that.
"I just want my best friend's company," Grace said innocently. "What's wrong with that?"
Sam gave Grace a suspicious look, not buying her story in the least.
"Besides, I need you to fill me in on who's sleeping with who so I don't make a fool of myself," Grace hastily added. "And I'll let you lick the spoon and bowl."
"And the beaters," Sam negotiated, a sly little smile on his face. "And I get first taste of everything."
"Slave driver," Grace heaved a dramatic and overly fake sigh. "Fine. You win."
"I'll be over soon." Sam laughed, looking extremely pleased with himself. "Shoo. Go wait for your delivery."
Grace did as she was told. As she walked into her apartment she jumped in fright at the sight of a Stark Industries employer putting food away in her fridge. By the empty bags on the counter, he was nearly done. It had been a lot quicker than Grace had anticipated.
"Your order Dr Anderson." The young man said pleasantly, putting the last item on the fridge shelf. "If there's anything else you need, please don't hesitate to ask."
"Thank you…" Grace trailed off, looking for a name badge. His employer ID tag was out of her sight.
"Josh," he supplied. "I do the personal shopping for Mr Stark and his guests. I've left my business card on the bench if you want to contact me directly instead of JARVIS relaying the message. You didn't specify brands. So if anything isn't up to standard please call me and I'll get it replaced right away."
"Thank you Josh," Grace said again, feeling a little uncomfortable. Having someone shopping and catering for her every whim felt very strange. "I'm sure everything will be fine."
"Some people are fussy," Josh said with a small laugh, gathering up the shopping bags. "Have a good day Dr Anderson."
Grace's feeling of being uncomfortable didn't disperse until the young man had left and closed her apartment door. If she had walked into her apartment a few minutes later, she would have never known someone had physically come up and put her groceries away. Shaking off the feeling, Grace walked into the kitchen and started pulling out the ingredients she needed for the tiramisu first.
Sam came in as soon as Grace had finished making the custard part of the dessert. Instead of lecturing him on the dangers of eating uncooked egg, Grace obediently handed over the beaters. While she cooked, Sam filled her in on the team's relationships. Clint and Natasha had been work partners for over a decade, but had only recently decided to stop skirting around the issue they'd both been avoiding. Namely their love life instead of being fuck buddies. Pepper and Tony were together. Sam was sure it was some sort of hypnosis and someone would say the trigger word one day and Pepper would wake up screaming in horror about being in love with Tony. Grace couldn't stop laughing for a solid 5 minutes after Sam's whacky theory. Jane was the one who'd discovered Thor when he'd been banished to Earth a few years ago. He'd gone back to Asgard afterwards but returned to Earth after London was attacked by Dark Elves. Darcy was Jane's assistant and constant shadow. Where ever Jane was, so was Darcy. Bruce was single, as well as Steve. The suggestive wiggle of Sam's eyebrows when he mentioned Steve was single made Grace throw a ball of dough at Sam's head. His teasing about her lack of love life was a very regular thing. But Grace did not need him meddling in something as absurd as her and Steve. The rest of the afternoon passed quickly as the pair bantered back and forth. As Grace finished the last cannoli tube, JARVIS' voice chimed overhead.
"Dr Anderson, Mr Wilson. Mr Odinson is at your apartment door looking for your assistance. May I let him in here?"
"Of course." Grace looked to the door, a hint of nerves hitting her quickly. She was about to meet a Norse god. She was covered in flour from baking all afternoon. It was nearly as bad as meeting Captain America with frizzy hair and coffee breath. No sooner had the thought hit her, Thor was walking in the door. Grace momentarily gaped at the mountain of a man in front of her, but quickly snapped her mouth shut. While Steve was all muscle, Thor took is to another dimension. Grace wondered if she'd be crushed by his one his hands.
"Lady Grace!" Thor's voice boomed across the room, making Grace wince a little at the volume. "It is my greatest pleasure to finally meet our wonderful healer."
Thor crossed the room in a few easy strides. Before Grace could get her mind to work, Thor picked her up in a bear hug. He hugged firm enough to squeeze the breath out of her. Grace froze in his grip, unsure whether to hug back or what to do. He dropped her a few seconds later, holding her at arms length with a radiant smile on his face. Grace felt herself melt a little at the easy, charming smile. Thor was incredibly handsome. It did a girl's confidence the world of good to have an attractive man look at you like that.
"It's lovely to meet you as well Thor." Grace felt her face heating up in mild embarrassment. It wasn't helping that Sam was standing behind her snorting with barely contained laughter. "What can I do for you?"
"I am in a bind of sorts," Thor's smile didn't diminish, despite his words. "My beloved Jane and her friend Darcy had their flights delayed so she won't be home in time for this evening's feast." Grace had to quietly clear her throat so she didn't laugh at Thor's use of the word feast.
"I, myself are a terrible cook and was hoping Sam would be able to assist me in preparing something suitable for this evening," Thor continued with his beaming smile. "Would it be too much trouble to ask for your assistance as well?"
"Not at all." Grace was absolutely powerless to resist the request. It helped that he spoke like a Disney Prince, and looked like one as well. "Did Jane or Darcy have something planned?"
"I will be forever in your debt, thank you Lady Grace." Thor bowed a little, taking Grace's hand and kissing it. Grace thought she might swoon on the spot. "You have saved me from what could have been quite an embarrassing endeavour. I believe Darcy had meatballs planned? Someone else was bringing the other dish that goes with it."
"You're very welcome." Grace fought back the urge to fan her now flaming face. Thor was far too princely for his own good. "Meatballs I can definitely help you with."
"Miss Lewis had all the required ingredients delivered to her apartment this morning," JARVIS chimed in helpfully. "I believe they are still in the fridge."
"Then I shall go forth and retrieve them." Thor made sounding getting a few grocery bags sound like he was going on an epic quest. "I shall be back."
"I look forward to it." Grace couldn't stop herself putting a little bit of flirtation in the situation. With another beaming smile and slight bow, Thor strode out of Grace's apartment.
"Oh my fucking god, do you need a moment alone after that?" Sam burst out laughing as soon as the door clicked close. "I have never seen you go so red in my entire life."
"He's like a real life Disney Prince," Grace pointed out, joining in the laughter. "What girl wouldn't enjoy that kind of attention? He kissed my hand and everything."
"We need to find you a boyfriend so you don't go drooling after the real life Prince." Sam's laughter died down into quiet chuckles. He had a mischievous glint in his eye, giving away exactly what he was about to say to Grace.
"Sammy, I swear if the next words coming out of your mouth have anything to do with Steve, I will kick your ass," Grace threatened. "And there would be no cannoli for you."
"Consider my lips sealed." Sam made a zipping motion to his lips. "I better go start finishing off these pizzas anyway. Don't forget to shower and attempt to look pretty for tonight. I'll pick you up at 1850 on the dot."
Grace rolled her eyes, but didn't bother with a come back. Sam was only trying to get a rise out of her and she wasn't going to take the bait. Thor came in the door just as Sam was leaving, making Grace smile again at his arm full of groceries.
"Shall we?" Grace asked.
Thor was surprisingly good company and a keen student as Grace helped him prepare the meatballs. He was very easy to keep a conversation with and was an attentive listener, especially when Grace was describing her journey through college and medical school. In return, he kept Grace fascinated with tales of him growing up on Asgard. Grace found it very hard to wrap her head around that he was an alien. Though there was very solid proof of aliens existing after the Battle of New York, Grace never expected to be standing beside one. Especially showing him how to make meatballs and better ways of cutting up vegetables. He left munching on a spare cannoli with 2 huge baking dishes stuffed full of meatballs and sauce a little after 6pm. It gave Grace enough time to finish filling the cannoli, have a shower and agonise over what she was wearing.
Grace wasn't vain by any stretch of the imagination. She liked nice things, which extended to clothes and shoes. But having a vague dress code for the evening, plus wanting to impress the people she worked with. She finally settled on a dress she'd worn to a dinner date, what seemed like months ago now, with some strappy heels. Grace was putting the final touches on her makeup when Sam came back into the apartment.
"I'm dressed. Come see if I meet your approval," Grace called out from the bedroom. The apartment smelt divine from Sam's pizzas. It made her stomach growl, even though she'd been picking on food all afternoon. A few seconds later Sam appeared in her doorway and Grace could see him running his eyes over her critically in the reflection of the mirror.
"Your ass doesn't normally look that perky, who are you trying to impress?" Sam said cheekily.
"It's called shape wear and thank you for pointing out I need to go to the gym." Grace rolled her eyes, capping her lipstick. "That's not a helpful opinion."
"You look nice," Sam said with a small laugh. "I didn't say your ass looked fat, I only said it looked perkier than normal."
"Thank you for your helpful and unhelpful opinion all rolled into one," Grace said dryly, but smiled. It did wonders for her confidence to have Sam tell her she looked nice. He'd be the first person to tell her that she looked stupid in something, or she was dressed inappropriately.
"That's why you keep me around." Sam flashed her a cheeky grin. "Lets go. Pepper likes to have pre-dinner drinks."
"Should I bring something?" Grace asked, stalling mid step. She hadn't thought to get anything for drinks at dinner. There was a few bottles of wine in her kitchen, but she hadn't actually looked to see what they were yet.
"Pepper like's to drink wine that even your new pay check will cry at," Sam was quick to reassure her. "You can tell when she's had a bad day because it's when the really expensive stuff gets brought out. Come on, get your dessert otherwise we'll be late."
Grace gave herself a quick spray of perfume and followed Sam out of the room. The both grabbed their trays of food and headed out of the apartment.
"I hope everyone likes it," Grace said, a little quieter than normal as he nerves kicked in while waiting for the elevator.
"Grace you can make ramen taste like a gourmet meal," Sam chuckled, shooting her a reassuring smile. "You'll be fine."
"Until last week, I was still making ramen taste like gourmet food," Grace chuckled with Sam. Though it did little to stop the butterflies in her stomach tap dancing. The elevator door opened and Grace squared her shoulders. She got through medical school and a residency from hell. She could do this.
The elevator ride and walk to the common room was quiet between the pair. As soon as Grace stepped in the door, she was assaulted by a lot of noise. Everyone looked to already be there and well into the full swing of appetisers and wine. Probably more wine than appetisers.
"Grace!" A tall, elegant strawberry blonde called out her name and came over to greet her. Grace didn't need to be introduced to one of the most powerful CEO's in the world. Pepper Potts looked every inch of the power woman she was. "So glad you could make it. Would you like a glass of red or white?"
Pepper friendly smile put Grace immediately at ease. Pepper looked to still be wearing her work clothes, but had taken off her jacket.
"White, please." Grace immediately felt a lot more at ease at Pepper's friendly smile. "Where can I put these?"
"Fridge or bench, whatever it needs." Pepper waved towards the expansive kitchen off to the side. "Put it down and come drink. I'll introduce you to Natasha."
Thor using the word feast wasn't an understatement. The kitchen bench was covered in dishes. Grace felt her mouth water at all the delicious smells as she put her dessert in the fridge. As soon as her hands were empty, Pepper was at her side again handing her a glass of wine.
"Thank you for coming to dinner," Pepper said, looking a little relieved. "I feel rude I haven't been down to meet you. I've been so busy."
"Don't worry, I have to," Grace said, taking a sip of wine. She couldn't place what it was, but it was a very nice wine. "Thank you for the job."
"We needed someone who wasn't going to be too intimidated by this crowd." Pepper absently waved a hand over to the group of men congregating around the bar at the opposite side of the room. "Besides, Sam won't tell us anything about him. I was hoping to get some gossip on him to tease him."
"Next time I'll bring baby photos, naked ones." Grace grinned. The last of her nerves quickly dissipated. "You should have seen the afro he tried to grow in high school. It was embarrassing."
"I heard embarrassing photos, where are they?"
Grace looked to see a slender, red headed woman sidle over towards them. Bright green eyes looked up Grace with a lot more scrutiny than Grace was comfortable with. It seemed like an eternity before she stuck a hand out. "Natasha Romanoff."
"Grace Anderson." Grace took Natasha's hand in a firm grip. It must have been the right thing because the tiny smirk on Natasha's face grew at the handshake. In one simple gesture, Grace felt like she'd passed some sort of test. "I was just telling Pepper about the afro Sam tried to grow in high school. I'll have to find the photos."
"Once you do, we should have a margarita night," Natasha said casually, taking a sip of her own wine. "If we get Jane drunk again, we can hear all about her sex life with a Norse god and them breaking furniture."
Grace had just taken a sip of wine as Natasha spoke. For a horrible second, she was sure the expensive wine was about to come shooting out of her nose. But Grace managed to swallow it back with a strained cough.
"Natasha has no boundaries." Pepper didn't even try to apologise. "You get used to it."
"So I get to ask you if Clint's biceps are good for holding you up against the wall during sex?" The words spilled out of Grace's mouth before she could stop them. She mentally cringed, but hoped she was keeping a cool face on the outside. Being a psychiatrist had given her a very good poker face. But the Black Widow could probably see right through that.
"I can give you a very good description about what those biceps can do." Natasha's grin was contagious. She held out her glass to Grace. "Welcome to the Ladies Club."
Grace grinned back even wider, clinking her glass with Pepper and Natasha. It felt good to be included on the inner circle. She was very glad she'd come up for dinner now.
Dinner itself was noisy and full of a lot of laughter and people talking over each other. The food was mostly amazing and Grace was thrilled on being complimented for the meatballs and desserts. Thor had sung praises about Grace saving his cooking from being ruined. Sam's pizzas had won over Natasha's gorgonzola gnocchi, but it had been a very tough decision. It had been a fun night as she watched the team dynamics bouncing around the table.
Tony Stark was everything the media played him out to be. Larger than life, terribly obnoxious but it was obvious he cared for the people around him. Pepper well and truely had him hooked around her little finger. It would only take a look in his direction and Tony would be behaving himself. For about 5 seconds. Bruce was quiet, only speaking when spoken to but he paid attention to everything around him. Grace knew if something needed to be recalled from dinner, he'd be the person to ask. His intelligent brown eyes always took in everything around him, though he was very good at not letting it show. Steve was also quiet, though he was quick witted and not afraid to bite back when the teasing started. He and Sam were often the source of banter around the table, usually with Clint chiming in. Thor was loud, but always polite. Clint could go from being quiet to being the life of the table within seconds. Natasha was like Grace, she mostly stayed quiet and watched the antics going on around her. Like Bruce, she never missed anything.
By the time she excused herself, Grace was stuffed full and feeling a little tipsy. Pepper had kept their wine glasses topped up the entire night. Grace wasn't sure how much she'd drunk, but she was definitely feeling a little buzzed as she went down to Bucky's room. True to her word, she'd kept a selection of everything aside for him in takeaway containers. The kitchen had a food warmer, so she was able to keep it warm the entire night. The only thing she hadn't brought down was the slightly burnt garlic bread that had been Tony's doing.
She was about to leave, but Steve came over to her just before she got to the door.
"Can I come down with you?" Steve asked.
Grace wasn't surprised by the request. Steve had been very good about keeping his space. But she thought it would be killing him on the inside to not be able to be with his best friend.
"Of course." Grace smiled easily. "I won't stay long if he doesn't need me. I'm nearly ready for bed. But you're welcome to come down there any time."
"I didn't want to be in the way." Steve's returned smile was crooked. "Here, let me take something."
She didn't protest as Steve relieved her of most of the takeaway containers. It had been quite the armful and Grace didn't trust her coordination after so much wine.
"Thanks."
The walk out to the elevator and down a few floors was silent. Grace couldn't think of anything to say and small talk with Steve seemed a bit too daunting for her current state. As they stepped into Bucky's room, Grace had an idea.
"Why don't you give these to him?" Grace suggested, pointing to the containers. "He said earlier that he thinks you had an Italian neighbour."
"We did." Steve looked surprised. "Mrs Bianchi. She used to look after us as kids when our moms would go to work. Does this mean he's remembering?"
"I have a lot of notes to go over with you, when you're free of course." Grace shrugged, not wanting to commit to a solid answer. "It's a start but I obviously don't know whats real or not from his early life. Some of the things from World War 2 and his HYDRA missions I can cross reference, but not everything."
"I'm more than happy to help, I said that before." Steve said, looking distracted as he stared at his friend through the glass. "What do I say to him?"
"Anything you want." Grace took a step aside to give Steve some room.
Steve stood in the middle of the room, looking very lost. He swallowed a few times, staring at his friend through the glass. Grace waited patiently, watching the range of emotions go across his face. Steve was nervous and excited all at once. If he was anyone else, he might have been vibrating with all the contained feelings.
"There are no right or wrong things to say," Grace said gently after a full 2 minutes of silence. "Whatever you want to say to him is fine. Hi, is usually a good start."
Steve nodded, swallowing hard as he stared at the glass. Grace could see the smallest of tremors come over his hand. But Steve steeled himself, pulling himself upright and cleared his throat.
"Hey Buck, I brought some dinner down."
Bucky instantly paused in his writing, looking up through the glass. His face twisted in confusion, frowning in the direction of Steve's voice.
"Steve?"
Steve visibly sagged in relief.
"Yeah, it's Steve." Steve still looked a little lost for words. Grace gave him an encouraging nod and a thumbs up. "Do you remember Mrs Bianchi? She used to look after us as kids."
"She made us spaghetti and meatballs." Bucky nodded slowly, like he unsure about his answer. "Grace said she was making tiramisu. We never had that."
"No, we didn't." Steve looked down at the containers in his hands. "Though I'm sure if Mrs Bianchi could have made it for us, it wouldn't have been as good as the one Grace made tonight."
Grace was happy to blame the wine for the flush that came over her face at the praise. Everyone had been very vocal about how good dessert was. But coming from Steve again was very pleasing.
"I brought you some spaghetti and meatballs as well," Steve continued. "Well, Grace brought you down a lot of food but I carried it."
Bucky snorted, but said nothing else. He idly tapped his pen against the book, looking like he was trying to find the right words for the situation. After a few seconds of silence, he simply nodded and went back to writing.
Steve's face visibly fell as the obvious dismissal.
"Don't worry about it." Grace soothed him instantly. "He remembered you and something from his past. That's a good thing."
"I was hoping for more." Steve huffed out a frustrated sigh. "I guess I shouldn't have got my hopes up. Did I do something wrong?"
"No." Grace reached over and gave his arm a reassuring squeeze. "I'm lucky to get a grunt out of him sometimes. He's very focused on his books and memories at the moment. How about you come down here tomorrow morning and we can start going over the first of the notes I've put together?"
"That would be great." Steve smiled, the disappointment draining from his face. He looked over to Bucky who was writing, oblivious to everything else around him. "Am I allowed to be disappointed I didn't get more out of him?"
"You are." Grace reassured him again. "I know how much he means to you. But this isn't going to be fixed overnight. It's going to be a long, slow road with lots of bumps. I wish I could give you your best friend back in a week. Super Solider or not, the brain doesn't bounce back from years of brainwashing overnight."
Steve sighed and stared sat his friend for a long minute. Grace took the opportunity to take the containers out of his hand and put them into the room for Bucky. She wasn't surprised to see Bucky drop his pen and book straight away when the food went through. Food was about the only thing that would make him stop what he was doing. Much to Grace's surprise, he went straight for the tiramisu. Grace watched carefully as Bucky closed his eyes, pausing mid chew as if he was really enjoying the food. It was gone quickly, but Bucky shovelled another few mouthfuls in just as fast. He looked a bit like a chipmunk with his cheeks full of dessert.
"Did you want me to bring breakfast?" Steve asked suddenly, breaking Grace's concentration. She looked over to him as Steve fumbled with his words. "I mean, I can have breakfast sent up or…"
"Do you know any places that do good bagels?" Grace cut him off gently before he could get too embarrassed. "I could really go a creme cheese and salmon bagel for breakfast."
It as a little white lie. Grace was so full she couldn't think of fitting another morsel of food into her body any time soon. But she didn't want to get Steve flustered, or work himself up for their meeting in the morning. After all, it was just a meeting and going over Bucky's memories. There was no reason to get embarrassed over it. She hoped. Grace caught herself staring a little longer than was considered polite at Steve. Either he was too polite to notice it, or he was a little distracted himself. She mentally smacked herself, cursing the wine and Sam's teasing words from earlier. That was not a thought she needed to entertain. It was preposterous to even consider it. Steve was simply distracted by Bucky.
"I know just the place." The smile on Steve's face was well worth the little lie. Grace found herself smiling back and was suddenly looking very forward to breakfast tomorrow.
Authors Note
Ok guys, this is going to be the last of the updates for this for about 3 weeks. I have a lot of university work coming up that I need to concentrate on. Biochemistry will be the death of me, I swear it. But in saying that, I hoped everyone enjoyed it!
Thank for you all of your love! I love every review, favourite and follow I get. I'm really thrilled by the attention this story is getting.