Summer didn't often wake up screaming from nightmares anymore, but it didn't mean they didn't still come. They did, and when it happened one night while she slept in Bucky's bed, she awoke from it silently but no less disturbed than if she'd awoken thrashing and crying out.
Lying on her stomach with both arms under her pillow, she closed her eyes and blinked the dream away with a tired sigh. It was getting old, having dreams that started normally but would then end in wherever she was and whoever she was with blowing up the way that her house had. It didn't happen every night, but a few times a week was more than enough to be burdensome.
Remembering where she was, Summer turned slowly to her back and squinted through the darkness to find the other side of the bed empty. She frowned and then began to sit up, which was when she saw Bucky, sitting on the bed a little further down, his bare back to her and head bent like he was holding it in his hands.
Though she knew very well by now how restless and light of a sleeper he was, it had been awhile since she'd found him like this. She sat up the rest of the way slowly, glancing down and gathering up a sheet over herself before shifting closer to him. He didn't move or acknowledge her until she reached out and put her hand on the back of his shoulder, then trailed it to his flesh arm as she asked quietly, "You okay?"
His hand ruffled through his hair and he raised his head a bit, though his eyes stayed fixed in front of him as he nodded. "I'm fine."
She laid her head sleepily on his shoulder and let her arms wrap loosely around his middle in a light hug. "Dream?"
He nodded. "Did I wake you up?"
Stifling a yawn, she closed her eyes and muttered back, "Nope. You're not the only one with stupid dreams."
He took a deep breath, and as he exhaled, she could feel him relax against her a bit. She kept her tired eyes closed as she kissed his shoulder, which seemed to help him relax more, so she trailed little kisses to his neck. She felt his hand cover one of hers as he turned his head her way, and she drew back an inch or two look at him as clearly as she could in the dark room. "You're not gonna be up the rest of the night, are you?"
He shrugged slightly. "I usually am."
That's what she figured, but it still made her frown all the same. She could usually fall asleep within an hour after her nightmares, but she also put hers on an entirely different level than the kind she knew that Bucky had. His were surely in a class all of their own.
After looking at her for a few moments, he leaned forward slowly and placed a light, barely-there kiss on her lips, which gave her an idea. She'd gotten him to sleep once already that night, so surely she could do it again. After he pulled away, she kissed him again, gently but with more purpose than his had expressed. He didn't object or hesitate to kiss her back, though she did detect a flicker of surprise on his face when she shifted to the side so she could gently lead him back down to the bed before crawling in top of him. The sheet was still annoyingly in the way, but she didn't think much about it as she kissed him again, more insistently this time as his hands went to her waist.
It might have been a bandaid on a problem that went far beyond her ability to fix, but if it bought him a few more hours of the paltry sleep that he was used to, then there was little that she wouldn't do to see it happen. And besides, after a week or two of getting used to the new intimacy between them, she knew how he was in the middle of the night - slower, lazier, maybe a little sweeter too, and it was more than worth losing sleep for.
He peeled away the unnecessary sheet from between them as she broke away to take a breath after the kisses grew dizzying with his growing desire, and then he flipped them over easily, making her smile as he kissed her again and again, her attempts at distracting him apparently a great success.
"If you're trying to help me sleep, I don't know that this is the best way," he murmured between kisses.
She smiled and pulled him closer, suddenly not feeling all that tired anymore. "Oh well. Can't hurt."
At breakfast the following morning, Bucky found himself leaning back comfortably in his chair at the table, coffee in hand, watching Summer playfully convince her son to eat by pretending his fork was some kind of enemy alien spacecraft and eating the food on it was the only way to conquer evil. She was dressed for work, in a knee-length pale yellow dress that looked both youthful and professional, and though half of her hair was up, one errant piece kept falling into her eyes, and he found it entirely too distracting. Just a few hours ago, the same lock of hair had been falling into her eyes under much more... strenuous circumstances, and somehow now, that small detail was the one to bring all the others together and leave him in a state of awe.
This woman, who he credited with saving his life, was utterly incredible. Not only was she a big part of the reason why he was where he was in life, but she was so much more than that, and he knew she didn't see it. But, to Bucky, falling asleep tangled up with her every night and then watching her rise with the sun, put herself together, cook a breakfast that usually fed him as well as herself and her son, and function the way that she did while balancing so much on her plate - it was nothing short of amazing.
He just wished that she'd believe him when he told her.
After a bit, she leaned away from David, happy with the amount of food that he'd eaten, and glanced Bucky's way. As their eyes met, he took a sip of his coffee, and her smile slowly softened as a blush came to her cheeks. He loved that she still blushed like that sometimes seemingly without a clear trigger. He hoped she never stopped.
"Any plans today?" she asked, working on her own coffee after brushing aside the hair that had again fallen into her eye.
He shrugged slightly. "Not sure yet."
"Well, I have a short shift today, so maybe when I get off -"
Summer trailed off when the loud ding of an elevator across the room alerted them both to the building's owner making an appearance. Bucky set his cup down and took to staring at it, knowing that Tony Stark still barely tolerated his presence - and for very understandable reason - and keeping his head down and mouth shut was usually what he did around him.
"All right Avengers and Aveng-ettes - well, Aveng-ette singular - who wants to hear the good news?"
It was then that Bucky realized how much more crowded the room was than he'd originally noticed. It was out of character to not have a head count of who was in the room at any given time - had he really been that wrapped up in watching Summer just feed her kid?
"Aveng-ette?" Natasha repeated incredulously from the kitchen, peeling an orange on the counter. "Really?"
"Yeah, trying it out," Tony shrugged, looking entirely too hopped up and energetic for the hour that it was. "So. Big news. As of today - in exactly two hours - I am closing a deal with the city that will make it the first clean energy city in the world. What I did for the building, we're doing for all of New York City. This is huge, obviously. World changing stuff here. History in the making and all that."
"That's great," Steve said, a few feet away from Natasha, though he seemed a bit confused as to what this news had to do with them.
"I know I am, thanks," Tony smiled back. "So, naturally, in light of this, I'm throwing a party the size of Manhattan itself. And you're all invited. It's in a week. Bring a date. Or don't. Just come and help me celebrate... me."
While that got a collective groan and laugh from everyone, Bucky glanced at Summer and found her chuckling but also noticeably anxious now. While the others continued to talk, Bucky asked her quietly, "Whats wrong?"
"Nothing," she answered far too quickly to be truthful. Then she paused and added quietly, "It's just... I work here now and I've never been to a... work party, you know? And this means I probably have to go buy a dress and then I'll have to actually go to this thing and... talk to people..." He grinned as she visibly shuddered at that.
"Did I hear you say 'buy a dress'?" Natasha asked, suddenly dropping herself down across the table, in the seat next to David. The boy glanced up at her and then shrunk as far away from her as he could while still remaining in the chair - apparently, he still found her terrifying.
"Yeah," Summer frowned. "Dress shopping is the worst."
"Why? You've got an easy figure to dress."
Summer scoffed. "Are you kidding me? With these things?" She gestured to her chest and said, "They're either about to fall out or they're smashed and I can't breathe. It's miserable."
Bucky stifled a grin, finishing his coffee to mask it. Natasha shrugged and said, "Then you're not trying on the right things. How about I come with you? I need to pick up a few things anyway."
Summer's eyes widened a little and she briefly stuttered, "Really? I mean - really? You don't have to if you don't want -"
"Take it easy. I offered," Natasha pointed out, standing up from the seat. "Besides, I thought maybe you're ready for those pointers we talked about before."
Pointers? Bucky caught Natasha's eye as she walked away, then turned to Summer and asked, "Pointers?"
"Yeah, it's... nothing," Summer shrugged unconvincingly, cheeks suddenly flushed again. But Bucky was no fool; there was only a limited number of things that Natasha would offer Summer "pointers" on. "Just um... girl... stuff."
He raised an eyebrow. "Girl stuff."
"Girls who... date... super soldiers with super stamina... stuff." She then cleared her throat, smiled overly brightly, and said, "Okay - I've gotta get David downstairs before I'm late."
Though Bucky was suddenly a bit concerned as to what kind of "talk" such a thing entailed - maybe some kind of variation on that highly awkward but very entertaining conversation he'd had with Steve on the subject? - he let it go for now, leaning back when she got up and leaned down to give him a quick but sweet kiss goodbye.
"Love you," she whispered before she pulled away, and he smiled before repeating the words to her just as quietly and letting her go. He wasn't used to those words yet, and for that matter, he wasn't used to the new level that they'd taken their relationship to, but it wasn't a bad thing. Feeling that little twinge of surprise and warmth every time he heard those words or woke up to the feeling of her body entwined with his with nothing in between was something he wasn't ready to lose yet.
He watched her gather hers and David's things with a practiced ease, hustling them both to the elevator and then disappearing, leaving him to whatever his own day held in store for him. He didn't know what that was yet, but he got an idea of it when he got up to rinse his cup in the kitchen sink and was asked by Steve, "So, are you gonna go?"
"Go to what?" Bucky asked, turning off the water and setting the cup aside.
"Stark's party. With Summer."
He stared at Steve blankly for a moment before muttering, "Am I supposed to?"
Steve laughed a little and said, "I know you've gotten enough of your memory back to know the answer to that question."
"Yeah, but... I figured... because of Stark..."
"He said everybody was invited," Steve pointed out.
"I can't cover this up very well anymore," Bucky pointed out, holding up his metal hand and letting it drop. "Might stand out a little."
"Actually... guess what kind of holographic gizmo Natasha brought with her back to the tower yesterday."
Bucky sighed. "I just... I don't know. Crowds aren't my thing."
"No, but Summer's going. And you can just imagine the kind of attention she'll get, especially if Natasha's taking her shopping later."
"You heard that," Bucky muttered.
"I did," Steve nodded. "And speaking of that - I'm guessing you'll need a few new things too."
Bucky very nearly paled at the mere mention of shopping again, after his last retail experience. "I'll figure something out."
Steve shook his head. "You have... jeans and... leather... things. You don't have a suit."
"I'm not shopping again."
"Why? It wasn't that bad."
"It was that bad," Bucky argued. "And I'm sure you have something that I could fit into."
"That's beside the point," Steve shrugged. "Come on. It'll be fun. Shopping day for everyone."
"Shopping day?" a voice boomed from behind Steve, and Bucky almost rolled his eyes as Thor strolled up and injected himself into the conversation. "What is this shopping day? Is it another Midgardian holiday?"
"No," Steve chuckled. "I was just convincing Bucky here to go shopping with me today. For Stark's party."
"Ah, yes, the party," Thor grinned. "Would you mind if I came along? For this... shopping?"
Steve looked at Bucky, who momentarily panicked at the thought before realizing there was nothing to panic about, and after Bucky shrugged, Steve replied, "Sure!"
"Wonderful!" Thor grinned brightly. "I must look my best, since I plan to invite my lady to this party. When shall we depart?"
"Uh..."
"Depart where?"
Now Bucky really did roll his eyes, this time at Clint's sudden interruption. The archer seemed to show up once weekly now, and he'd been at the tower since the night before.
"Shopping," Steve replied.
"Sweet. I'll tag along."
Steve paused, however, and looking around the group, said, "Is this a good idea? I mean, we could be pretty conspicuous just walking around town, going to store to store."
Thor's expression grew mildly more serious and Bucky thought Steve had a point, but Clint merely glanced around them before plucking a pair of sunglasses from the pocket of his shirt and slipping them on before asking, "You were saying?"
"I can still recognize you," Steve replied.
"Says the guy who thinks a baseball hat is a legitimate disguise," Clint retorted.
Bucky wasn't sure if he could take an entire day of this, without the peace and quiet of his room to retreat to when it started to grate on his nerves, but a voice in his head - one that was rather linked with his recently recovered memories and his old self - instantly reminded him that he was acting his chronological age, not his age in actual years lived. He could do this. It might not be fun, but he'd do it.
"All right, well, we need to look... normal. Let's try to just get out and get back with as little incident as possible," Steve decreed, ever the Captain whether in uniform or not.
"Whatever you say, Cap," Clint said, walking away, while Thor followed him with a confused expression before asking what a baseball hat was and if he could have one.
Alone again, Steve glanced at Bucky and shrugged. "Well. This should be fun."
Bucky just grimaced and muttered, "As long as we don't go back to that one store, I'm fine."
Steve nodded solemnly, not needing any further elaboration. "Right. No problem."
Ignoring the urge to check her phone for what was already the thousandth time, Summer took a deep breath and tried to focus on the task at hand: shopping for a party dress with one of the world's most skilled assassins. Because that was totally the sort of thing that was normal for her life now.
David was back at the tower, still in the childcare room as per his usual routine at this time of the day, and she had reluctantly decided to leave him there while she shopped. It was best for everyone involved, especially David, but being so physically far away from him was not pleasant or helpful to her anxiety levels. Still, she made her best effort to put it out of her head and stop checking her phone as Natasha led her into the first store.
"Ready to meet your doom?" Natasha asked over her shoulder as they walked inside.
"I get the feeling you've said that before under much less mundane circumstances," Summer replied, though she very much felt like she was indeed meeting her doom.
"Maybe," Natasha shrugged, stopping to survey the store that lay before them. "So, I'm not really a fan of shopping either. I like to get in, get what I need, and get out. Did you have anything in mind for what you want?"
Looking around helplessly at the clothes that surrounded her vision, Summer sighed and gave a shrug. "Honestly... I don't know. I guess I'd like to look... nice, since I've got a guy to impress now and all, but..."
Natasha turned and furrowed her brows. "Nice?"
Summer met her gaze and muttered, "Okay.. sexy, I guess. But not too sexy. Professional sexy."
"Easy," Natasha grinned. "Follow me."
Doubting that it could possibly be easy, Summer followed her towards the middle of the store, hoping that the store was even in her budget. She was terrified to even glance at the price tags, because the place seemed pretty nice.
"What's he like on you?" Natasha asked as they walked.
"Um... you know, as far as clothes, I'm not really sure. Besides that he likes them off." She then paused and quickly added, "He's got a thing for shoes."
Natasha looked back at her, expression mildly intrigued. "Really?"
Summer nodded. "And my hair. But the shoe thing is... yeah. Leather boots, high heels. He loves it. It's almost weird. But good weird."
"Interesting. I'll keep that in mind."
Then, Summer watched nervously as Natasha started looking through a rack of dresses, and she thumbed through a few herself, trying to make the effort but failing for the most part. Oh, how she hated shopping. A few numbers caught her eye, but they were either too expensive or too... not her for one reason or another.
A familiar sense of frustration was setting in, but before she could give up, Natasha suddenly said from behind another rack, "How about this?", and then Summer looked up to find the woman holding up something that she at first thought for sure had to be a joke.
... It was a joke, right?
Apparently not. Natasha handed it to her and said, "Try it on."
"I... but... you're serious?" Summer asked incredulously, looking from the dress to Natasha and back again. "This is..."
"Sexy, but still appropriate for a company party at Stark Tower," Natasha remarked.
"But... I'm... my boobs are gonna be... like... out, basically."
"Just try it on before you start panicking," Natasha sighed, physically taking her arm and steering her towards a fitting room.
"But..."
"Try it first," Natasha smiled before stuffing her into the dressing room and closing the door on her. Summer sighed and looked down at the dress in her hands, holding it up to inspect it more carefully before shaking her head and putting it down so that she could try it on and get it over with.
"It's like the typical 'little black dress' on crack," she muttered, quickly undressing and discarding the pale yellow dress she still wore. "This is so not gonna work."
Once the dress was on - which was not something that came without a fair amount of struggle - she turned around and looked in the mirror, and then almost laughed at her reflection. She was too busy staring with a slightly open mouth to laugh.
Behind her, the door opened after there was a brief knock, and Natasha glanced inside first before grinning and opening the door wider. "See? I know what I'm talking about."
"I... can't... wear this," Summer shook her head. "I'm a mother, I'm... me. I don't look like this."
"Really? Because I'm pretty sure you do," Natasha pointed out. "And besides, there's no rule against mothers being sexy."
"But..."
"Just think about the look he'll have on his face when he sees you in this," Natasha said. "Especially with a great pair of heels."
"... Are the boobs too much?" Summer asked a little timidly, looking at Nat's reflection in the mirror.
"Absolutely not," Natasha assured her. "Still perfectly tasteful. Which I'm sure he will agree with, just in a different way. Now get dressed, because I know just the place to find you some heels at."
And just like that, Summer was buying a dress that she never would have thought she'd ever wear - which turned out to be on sale, lucky for her wallet - and then following her new shopping buddy to a shoe store that made her nearly salivate from the moment she stepped inside.
Summer was used to having only what she needed as far as her wardrobe went, after years of living very frugally and always putting her son's needs first, so she'd never been the girl with a closet full of shoes. This store, however, suddenly made her see the appeal in such an idea, and in suffering for the sake of wearing the sort of fabulous footwear dazzling her eyes.
"Oh man... if only I could wear this stuff without my feet falling off..." she said dreamily, mostly to herself. She owned one pair of black heels that she'd bought for her job, but they weren't over three inches, and she had a hard enough time staying upright in those.
"You can," Natasha said, eyeing a number of shoes displayed on one of the walls of the store. "You just have to know how."
"Well," Summer sighed, eyes currently feasting on a pair of glittery black platform heels, "I definitely don't know how."
"I can show you. It's easier than it looks."
"I find that hard to bel-... oh, my gosh..."
Sitting innocently and all alone on top of a little glass display table was one of the most gorgeous pairs of shoes Summer had ever seen before, and they just so happened to go perfectly with the dress she was toting under her arm. Ivory, rounded toe platform pumps with a black lace detail over the toes of the shoes, and heels that were nothing short of sky high.
"These are... perfect..."
Next to her, Natasha inclined her head as she looked over the shoes and agreed, "Perfect for a girl dating a guy with a shoe fetish."
Summer laughed and picked one of the shoes up delicately. "These are so high, though. I'd break my ankle."
"Try them on," Nat replied. "I'll give you a quick lesson in how to not break your ankle."
She doubted that she could be taught to walk in remotely the same way that Natasha regularly did in her heels, but Summer dutifully and gratefully went along with it and put her things down before slipping the heels on. It was a bit hard to even stand in them and stay steady.
"Okay, so walk naturally, so that I know what to correct," Natasha instructed.
Summer nodded and started walking. Three steps in, she nearly tripped over her own feet, and Natasha said, "First of all, you're keeping your legs bent. Walk like you would in anything else and straighten your legs with each step."
"Okay," Summer said, finding the advice easier said than done as she turned and kept walking.
"Also, posture. You're not an ogre."
She laughed and kept going. "Okay,"
After a few more seconds, Natasha added, "You've got to sort of swing your hips as you go to balance the heels."
"Swing my - seriously?"
"Seriously. Trust me."
Grumbling internally because hip-swinging was not something she considered herself even a novice at, Summer took a breath and tried to do as Natasha said, feeling ridiculous but wanting to do whatever it took to make the shoes work. Once she got over the self-ridicule, however, and began really trying, she realized that she was actually doing it, and walking halfway decently in shoes that she never would have suspected she could actually pull off. A bit more time to break them in, and she might actually be able to do this.
"Holy crap, Natasha - you're a miracle worker," Summer grinned joyously, sitting down to take the shoes off now that she felt confident enough to actually buy them. "Thank you!"
"Well, that's a new one," Natasha chuckled. "But you're welcome."
"This has actually been fun," she smiled, standing up after slipping her flats back on and gathering her things back under her arm. "I thought it would be torture."
"Like I said," Natasha said as they began walking to the front of the store, "my shopping trips are efficient."
"It's great. I should shop with you more often."
Summer said that as an afterthought, but Natasha glanced at her and replied, "I wouldn't mind that."
"Really?" Summer asked in surprise before she could help it. "I mean, I still didn't think that you liked me very much. Not that I think you're a jerk or anything, but -"
"I never disliked you," Nat replied, thankfully shutting her up. "All I ever did was try to remind you - and Steve - that you weren't exactly stepping into a safe or stable situation. He's very... idealistic sometimes. And he's got a blind spot the size of the Atlantic when it comes to Barnes. I try to be the voice of reason."
Behind a few customers who were paying for their items, Summer nodded. "Yeah... that makes sense. I would have thought I was insane too."
Natasha chuckled softly. "Sanity's relative. That wasn't my concern. I guess you could say that I've more than had my fill of watching bad things happen to good people. You seemed like a good person. Actually reminded me of Steve a little bit."
Summer's eyes widened. "Really?"
"Neither of you trust easily but you want to see the best in people," Natasha explained. "Especially one person in particular."
Summer nodded. "He wouldn't have thought that he had any kind of good in him at all if he didn't have us telling him so. I know that what I did for him could have gotten me killed and probably would have if it had been anyone else from... you know where," Summer said, unwilling to say HYDRA out loud in public. "But he just... seemed like he needed a break for once, you know? And a chance to be... himself. Better."
"Yeah," Natasha said lightly, but judging by the contemplative look on her face, Summer suspected that Natasha knew quite a bit about second chances. "Still curious though as to when it turned into more than that."
Summer tried to stop herself from grinning and said, "Well, he did like to walk around my house shirtless and wet sometimes, and I hadn't been around an attractive male since before my kid was born." At the roll of Natasha's eyes, Summer laughed and said, "No, I'm really not sure myself. It was gradual. Kind of snuck up on me, actually. The first time he saved my life, I was in shock after and I wasn't really aware of what I was doing completely... he was cleaning a couple of cuts I had and I just... kissed him. I didn't think it would lead to anything. I thought he'd go with Steve and I'd never hear from either of them again."
"And now here you are," Natasha replied.
"Here I am," Summer sighed, looking around the store, finding it all truly remarkable. Getting here hadn't been easy or without a good amount of loss, but so far, it had all been worth it. She'd gotten miraculously lucky.
"So," Natasha said casually as they continued to wait for the line to move, "need any of those pointers yet?"
Summer laughed a little nervously and then said, "Well, unless you have any suggestions for how to stay quiet besides almost suffocating myself with a pillow..."
"Just ask Stark to soundproof your room," Natasha shrugged. "Where's the fun in staying quiet?"
"I... well," Summer shrugged, unable to come up with an answer for that. "True."
"One thing I've noticed," Natasha said as they stepped forward after another customer was done, "Steve doesn't always sleep so well either. And with the serum they both have, from what he's told me, the energy levels are ridiculous. That's why they both work out so much even though they technically don't need to. They have to burn the energy."
"Okay," Summer said, following quietly.
"So, for Steve, a particularly... vigorous workout before bed helps him sleep better," Natasha said quietly with a slight grin. "Maybe you could try the same thing."
Blushing a little, Summer managed to reply, "Well, I mean, Bucky's pretty... 'vigorous' as it is. Much more vigorous and I'm pretty sure I'd end up paralyzed."
"That's not necessarily what I mean. What I'm saying is, take it out of the bed. Be adventurous. You've got a super soldier with incredible strength and skill - take advantage of it."
Face approaching roughly the color of a nearby pair of strappy red heels, Summer half-whispered, "You mean like... against a wall and... stuff like that?"
Natasha chuckled as they came up next in line to finally buy the shoes. "You really do have a lot to learn."
"Told you nobody would recognize us," Clint said smugly as Steve led the way into a busy menswear shop on a busy street corner. Bucky followed next, and finally Thor, who seemed mostly content just to be there and to watch the city around him like it was something fascinating and not just a hugely populated city full of people who didn't care enough to spare any of them a second glance that particular day.
"Well, guess I'm harder to recognize when I'm not wearing red white and blue," Steve shrugged, holding the door open.
Thor, the last one through, nodded to Steve and then said, "Yes, though I have noticed a fair number of young maidens looking at me strangely. But they do not seem to know who I am."
Clint turned around, still wearing his sunglasses, and said, "Women here tend to check at tall, well-built guys with hair out of a L'Oreal commercial when they see them."
"Hair out of a what?" Thor asked with brows furrowed as Steve sighed at the prospect of having to explain yet another reference to the Asgardian, though he did secretly enjoy having someone around who was more clueless than him on a regular basis.
Ditching the others, Bucky started wandering around the store on his own, heading towards a section that held the sort of nicer clothes that he was looking for. It felt strange having his left hand out without a glove over it, but Natasha's unexpected supplying of another holographic cover for it was a welcomed development. Now he just had to get used to looking down and seeing his hand as it should have looked.
He walked past a few mannequins, one wearing a dark blue suit and another wearing a black one, but before he could give much thought as to what color to try, he heard a very familiar, slightly high voice come wafting from a few feet away into his ear, and he stopped in his tracks. Could he really be that unlucky?
"Hi there, what can I help you find tod-... wait a minute, I remember you!"
Did this guy work at every men's store in New York City?
Bucky turned around, not bothering to hide the confusion on his face as he and the sales associate he remembered as "Esteban" came face to face yet again. The man held up his hands and smiled as he said in his spicy foreign accent, "I know what you're thinking, and yes, I work too much. But who in this economy can get by with only one job, yes? But enough about that - what can I help you find today? I never forget a face, and yours is especially memorable. How was the date?"
Unsure which question to answer or if he should just ignore them both and run as fast as he could, Bucky floundered for a minute before Steve and his impeccable timing showed up at his side. "Hey, Bucky, there's a..."
Steve trailed off as Esteban's eyes grew larger and full of delight just before he said, "Ah, so the date went well, I take it? Of course it did - look at you two, how could it not?"
A few racks of clothes away, Clint slowly turned his head towards the scene and dropped his sunglasses a bit down the bridge of his nose to get a better look at what he instantly knew was the funniest thing he'd seen all day. Thor was too busy trying to figure out what a fedora was and how one was meant to wear it to notice anything.
"Oh... yeah," Steve began awkwardly, blinking too much as Bucky merely fought giving the biggest eye-roll of his life, "we're not - we aren't - uh..."
Looking vaguely like he'd just discovered that his favorite band had just called it quits, Esteban's face fell. "No? This is true? But I always have such a good eye for these things. Are you sure?"
Clint choked and covered it with a cough, and Bucky sent him an icy glare as Steve laughed uneasily. "Pretty sure, yeah."
"I see. Ah, well, c'est la vie, I suppose," Esteban shrugged. "Score one for the ladies, yes?"
Seeing his way out as Steve continued to stand there and chuckle, Bucky tried to turn and dart away, only to be foiled by Esteban instantly scolding, "You cannot leave until Esteban works his magic again, darling!"
Stopping once again in his tracks and cringing, Bucky cursed the day this man emigrated to the United States and turned around with a forced smile on his face, pointedly ignoring Clint, who needed a bag of popcorn to complete his utterly entertained visage.
Best to just get this over with. And the guy really did know what he was doing. "I need a suit. For a party."
"What kind of party?"
"A... work party. Not my work."
"Are you a plus one?" Esteban asked.
Bucky stared for a moment before muttering, "It's a Tony Stark party."
"Ah!" Esteban exclaimed. "Say no more! Follow me!"
After giving Steve a look that was a mix of resignation and irritation, Bucky followed the man deeper into the more formal section, and before he knew it, Esteban was invading his personal space like he had the first time to measure him again, and when he turned his eyes around the store just to glare at anything that he could, he found that Clint was following at a distance, that entertained by it all. He liked the archer, but at the moment, he wouldn't mind an arrow of his own to fling at him.
"Okay," Esteban said after measuring, walking around a couple more mannequins, "here is what I am thinking... you like the dark look, yes?"
"Uh... I... guess," Bucky shrugged. The black jeans and dark blue shirt he wore - both of which were from his initial encounter with Esteban - seemed to confirm that.
"Right, so I am thinking, let's try something different. Let's try... this."
Bucky glanced up at the mannequin Esteban was gesturing to, and he saw an ivory suit with a white shirt beneath, and a bright purple tie under the collar. It was very... not dark, to be sure.
"But since you're going to a party by the legendary Tony Stark, and we all know what kind of party he throws, we will leave the tie off. What do you think?"
Before he could formulate an answer or even start thinking of one, Esteban had grabbed all of the needed pieces and was strutting ahead of him towards the dressing room. He followed, assuming that the suit would be fine so long as that purple tie wasn't a part of it, and at least this time he wasn't stuffing himself into leather pants and boots that he could barely move in.
But, on the way to the dressing room, a particular blonde patron who was staring at a small box containing cuff links as if it contained a great unknown mystery caught Esteban's attention, who asked without breaking his stride, "Can I help you, sir?"
Thor looked up and put the box down, looking from Esteban to Bucky and then back again before smiling brightly and shaking his head. "Oh, no, I am fine, but thank you."
Esteban opened his mouth to reply, but then he took a second look at Thor and then came to a stop. Stopping as well, Bucky looked up at the man and then glanced at Thor, who was also seemingly caught in the odd three-way glances, and just as the silence and the looks started to get quite awkward, Esteban suddenly slapped a hand to his chest and gasped dramatically. "Oh my God."
Bucky, Thor, Clint, and a little farther away, Steve, as well as several other customers, all stopped and held their breath for whatever would come next.
What came next was a flurry of words in Spanish that came so fast that all Bucky could catch was "alien sex god" and "best day of my life". By the time Esteban reverted to English, Thor looked rather alarmed and Steve had suddenly reappeared at Bucky's side, as if this meant his presence was suddenly needed.
"You - you are Thor!" Esteban whispered before clapping his hand over his mouth and looking at Steve. "And I know you too! You're -"
"Trying to fly under the radar," Steve said very quietly, "if you don't mind."
Nodding enthusiastically, Esteban smiled and started fanning himself with the employee badge around his neck. "Of course, of course! I can't believe I didn't recognize you before!" He then turned back to Thor and said reverently, "But you... you are my favorite!"
Now it was Bucky's turn to sit back and grin, as one of Thor's biggest fans advanced on him while whisper-talking a mile a minute and making him smile nervously and squint in an attempt to actually understand what was being said. Clint had long surpassed being entertained and was possibly filming everything on his phone, and even Steve was pretty amused by this point.
"... And it is just incredible! I am beside myself!" Esteban rambled. Then he gasped shortly and said, "Let me dress you! It would be an honor for me, please! In fact, I already know exactly how I would dress you - I would -"
Clearing his throat slightly, Bucky said, "So, can I just... walk in one of the dressing rooms and..."
Esteban waved dismissively without looking behind him and said, "Yes yes, of course. Anyway - so you wear this glorious red cape, and it is absolutely gorgeous - what's it made of? Never mind - and I was thinking, we just got this brand new, beautiful long burgundy coat in, and it would look absolutely divine on you..."
Quite thankful for Thor at the moment, Bucky grinned at Steve before heading to the dressing room as planned, while Esteban dragged Thor towards a different corner of the store to show him the coat he spoke so highly of.
"So from now on, we bring Thor so he can take the attention and we can get what we need done," Steve said as Bucky walked past him.
"Agreed."
And maybe, since the ivory suit ended up being perfect and Thor ultimately found the red coat just as divine as Esteban had, if the Avengers ever needed to find a personal stylist, they'd know where to look.
Just before they left the store, after the purchases had been made and Esteban was wishing his new favorite people good luck and a good rest of the day, he eyed Clint a bit suspiciously and asked, "Don't I know you too?"
Clint merely pushed his sunglasses up and looked ahead as he walked away, not wanting any part of fangasms that the others had endured. "Nope."
Once they had left, Esteban turned and slumped slightly against the cash register, looking up at the ceiling and saying dreamily in Spanish, "Now, when I die someday, I shall die not only the most fabulous man who has ever lived, but also the happiest."
A bit later that day, after Summer and the rest of the shopping Avengers had returned to the tower, Summer grabbed David from the childcare room only to immediately lose his attention to Steve and receive a call from her brother.
"Yeah, yeah, now hang on, because my phone's about to die and I have to go get my charger," Summer said into her phone, leaving David in the living room as he fought an intense sword battle with Steve, who was ever the eternal good sport. She smiled at the sight and then headed down the hallway, towards Bucky's room, where she was fairly sure the charger was, since she'd been spending most of her nights in his room these days.
"Uh huh. So how are things?" Paul asked cheerfully.
She rolled her eyes a bit, reaching Bucky's door and grabbing the doorknob. "You mean am I pregnant yet."
"Well, yes. Are you?"
"Nope, and I'm not gonna be anytime soon," she informed her brother as she stepped inside the empty bedroom. As far as she knew, Bucky was downstairs in the gym with Sam and possibly Thor, so she didn't think twice about running in to look for the elusive charger. It took her a moment to remember that she'd actually left it in his bathroom, which was where she'd showered that morning.
"That's what you think," Paul replied. "Did you know Sarah was on the shot when she got pregnant with our twins? Nothing is 100% reliable."
"Yeah, well, nobody in the world is as fertile as her," Summer pointed out, heading across the floor towards the bathroom, "so I think I'm good."
"What kind of kid would you guys have, anyway? Some like superpowered baby who would literally punch its way out of you?"
Her eyes widened a little as she reached for the bathroom door. "Uh... you know, I don't know, but I sure hope not."
"Might want to find that out."
She opened the door and walked in. "I'll make a mental note to ask, although I'd bet nobody has a clue one way or the other."
Quickly locating the charger on the spacious bathroom sink, she walked to it and reached out to grab it. As her hand closed around the charging port, however, she heard a wholly unexpected splashing sound come from behind her, and she quickly glanced up at the mirror and promptly squeaked - loudly - as she realized that the bathroom wasn't nearly as empty as she thought.
Her mouth dropped open a bit as she watched Bucky's head pop up from the water, his eyes closed at first as he brushed his soaked hair back with his hand, and then his eyes opened and immediately landed on her. He looked confused for a split second, maybe more surprised than anything, but a grin quickly spread across his face. "Hey."
"... Hi," she said quietly, smiling back a little, and while she couldn't remember why she was there, she was suddenly glad that she was.
On the other end of the line, Paul said, "Hi. I thought we'd gotten past that point of the conversation."
"Oh, that wasn't... for you," she muttered, locked helplessly in a mutual staring contest with the man in the tub, who had reclined his head against the edge behind him and hand an arm dangling casually outside of the tub. His grin hadn't left his face, and she was vaguely aware of how she was chewing her lip as she stared shamelessly.
"Oh ew, I know what that tone means. I'll be hanging up now."
"Seriously?" she asked in mild exasperation. "How could you possibly know -"
"You have a certain way of speaking when you're... yeah. It's pretty obvious, actually."
She rolled her eyes, breaking the eye contact. "Oh please. I could have totally just been saying hi to a janitor just now."
"You know who's gotten a job as a janitor now? Cool. Better than his last gig for sure."
Then she heard the water rustling again, and she looked up to see Bucky sitting up and away from his reclined position. He still had his eyes on her, and she had the feeling that there was a bit of purpose in his gaze, but all thoughts went out the window and into oblivion when he unexpectedly stood up from the water.
Her jaw resting comfortably on the floor, her eyes shot down and away from his face almost immediately - though surely nobody could blame her - and then proceeded to shoot up and down the length of his body as he causally stepped out of the tub, without a hint of shame anywhere to be found. She heard Paul saying something but the words meant nothing to her short-circuiting brain, because not only was Bucky wet, naked, and staring at her, but he was walking right towards her, and she suspected that this may, in fact, be how she died.
"Helloooo, Earth to Summer."
She never got to respond to her brother's chiding, because Bucky was then in her personal space. He reached up and took her phone from her hand, hit the "end call" button, carefully plugged it into the wall without dripping water on the phone or the charger, and all the while, his eyes never left hers. And her mouth never closed.
"You ought to close your mouth before something ends up inside of it."
Oh, how she both loved and hated the ever-growing return of his old personality.
In any case, it did the trick of making her mouth close, because she choked slightly while he grinned at her reaction.
"Except you seem to like it when that happens."
On the verge of screaming, she laughed nervously instead and said, "Are you actually trying to kill me? Because you're - hey, what are you..."
She looked down as he started casually undressing her, starting with her jeans. "You're getting in with me," he informed her, leaving no room for negotiation.
"But..." the jeans came off, and then he was tugging on her shirt, which she let him pull from her without protest. "David's..."
"With Steve, right?"
"Well, yeah, but..."
He reached behind her and then off came her bra, which he tossed to the floor as he said, "Exactly. So I'm not giving you a choice."
"Uh... okay," she said dumbly as he pulled away the last bit of fabric from her body and then made her squeal again by picking her up and carrying her to the bathtub.
The tub, which was huge and resembled the old fashioned kind that she'd never had the good fortune of taking a bath in until now, was the perfect size to accommodate them both. He set her in first, and she drew a breath at the hotter-than-expected water as he slid in behind her. She barely had time to process any of it before he pulled her back against his chest and pressed a kiss to the side of her neck.
"I thought you were working out," she said, closing her eyes as the arm around her waist loosened and a warm hand slid up and over her stomach in favor of getting a handful of an ample breast. He always went there first, and she kind of loved it.
"I might be about to," he said, trailing his lips up near her ear, and she groaned while he just grinned.
Then he was taking her hair down from her ponytail, and as the ends of the dark strands hit the water, he said, "You should keep your hair like this all the time."
"Half wet and plastered to your chest?" she guessed, leaning back and glancing up at him as his hand began a slow journey downward.
"I was gonna say down, but yeah, that works too."
"Mm hmm. So how was shopping?" she asked, closing her eyes and letting herself relax.
"... Let's not talk about it," Bucky muttered, which made her chuckle.
"Oh, come on, it couldn't be that bad," she smiled, but he showed no signs of relenting, and his hands were starting to get particularly distracting. She let out a sigh and said, "I don't know what you'll like more... the dress I got or the shoes..."
She felt light stubble brushing her cheek as his lips pressed a soft kiss to her jaw, and then another. "Show me later and I'll tell you."
She shook her head. "Nope. It's all a surprise. But I will tell you one thing," she said, leaning back to give him a smile. "The heels are super high. Higher than those boots you liked on me so much."
He didn't bother to hide his responding light groan, and he began kissing just under her ear as he replied lowly, "Tease."
She chuckled, and then his metal hand reached around to angle her head back for him to kiss her. He wasted no time in kissing her deeply, making her head spin with the skilled sliding of his tongue with hers, and she hoped that she never got used to any of it, that nothing he did ever failed to pull such instant reactions from the depths of her being.
With little prompting from him, she gave in to the desire she'd felt from the moment she'd watched his head emerge from the water, and turned around to face him and straddle his lap in the water. His hands went to her hips and hers tangled in his wet hair, her heart thudding as he moaned into her mouth in the heat of the kiss. His hands grinding her down against his need for her, she smiled and broke away for a moment, breathing, "I love how you're never quiet."
"Neither are you," he pointed out with a small grin before dropping his head and directing his kisses to her breasts, which made his point for him as she gasped at the sensation.
Unable to argue, she held his head close and closed her eyes, relishing his hungry mouth and trying hard to keep the noises inside just to prove to him that she could stay quiet if she really wanted to. It wasn't easy, but she managed to rein it in even as he started pulling out all the stops, doing all the things he knew would make her moan that he could do in their current position short of pulling her fully down on him. But she kept her mouth shut, and eventually, he looked up at her in surprise.
She grinned and said, "See? I have self control."
"Oh," he chuckled, "do you?"
She nodded, though something in his eyes suddenly made her a bit nervous, in a good way. Maybe she'd stepped a bit too far, because she knew full well that the last thing she said was completely and hilariously untrue.
He looked her up and down before flexing his fingers slightly on her hips and saying, "I'm gonna have fun making you scream and proving you wrong."
And sure enough, he did, and she loved and hated him all the more for it.
Meanwhile, in the living room, Steve dodged an incoming assault from a foam sword as Natasha reclined on the couch, reading something on her phone as she said, "She's been gone awhile."
"Yeah," Steve replied as David hit his knee with the sword and he faked a terrible injury by clutching his knee and crying out in pain. After, he added, "This has been happening a lot lately."
"I wonder why," Natasha deadpanned.
A moment later, both of the adults in the room stopped what they were doing and looked towards the hallway as the distinct sound of some kind of strangled mix of a moan and a shout hit their ears. Steve covered David's ears with his hands as Natasha smirked and then settled back against the couch, remarking, "Stark should really look into soundproofing that room."
Steve sighed, continuing to protect the poor child's ears as he heard yet another noise, this time a lot more masculine. "If he doesn't, I will."
"Stay still."
"I am."
"No, you aren't, you're squirming. And stop blinking."
"I'm sorry! I just haven't had anyone else do my makeup since like seventh grade."
Attempting to contain her anxiety and actually sit still despite the nervousness making her fidget nearly uncontrollably, Summer stared up at the ceiling as Natasha put the finishing touches on her eyes. She'd been surprised when Natasha had offered to help her get ready for the party earlier that day, but she welcomed the help with open arms, and she knew she was in absolutely capable hands. If she came away looking half as put together as Natasha did every day of her life, then Summer would be 100% satisfied.
As of that moment, she had gotten into her dress and, also with Natasha's help, fixed her hair into a curled, side-swept style pinned back on one side so that her curls laid over one shoulder. She'd done most of her makeup herself, but Natasha had taken over for the eyes, thus placing her in her current position, which was half-sitting on her bathroom sink while Natasha peered down at her and worked her magic. David was lurking near the doorway, quite suspicious of it all, and very disapproving if his expressions were any indication.
"Are you sure I can pull this off?" Summer asked one last time, closing her eyes as Nat began expertly blending eye shadow on her lids.
"For the last time, yes."
"I know I'm being annoying, I just..."
"Have confidence issues," Natasha surmised. "I understand. But pushing through your comfort zone will help with that."
Summer paused, almost taken aback by that very simple statement, but when she really thought about it, she realized that of course it was true. Years of virtually no social life and her only previous relationship being spectacularly terrible had indeed led to her confidence levels being rather low in general. Bucky and his very clear and sincere appreciation for just about everything about her helped, she supposed, but it was difficult to grasp how incredibly attracted he was to her when she still couldn't quite see why he was.
It wasn't that she thought herself unattractive. She just didn't see herself on the same level as, say, Natasha, or Bucky himself. And it took someone of that level, she thought, to pull off the look she was aiming for tonight.
"Done," Natasha said, interrupting her thoughts, and Summer almost jumped in surprise. She then nodded and slid down from the sink, turning around to examine her reflection and immediately deciding that Natasha must have once been a makeup artist at some point in her very interesting life.
"Is there anything you can't do?" she asked with a grin, making Natasha chuckle as she packed her supplies back into a small bag while Summer tried to get used to how she suddenly looked.
"Well, you have me beat at cooking," Natasha admitted. "But generally, no, there isn't."
Summer smiled and touched the ends of her hair spilling over her shoulder, adjusting the dress and trying to shake off her stubborn anxiety. She needed to carry herself like the woman standing next to her, who was absolutely killing a dress as fiery red as her short hair and looking like she walked straight out of a James Bond movie. It just sucked that she still had no clue how to do such a thing.
"The boys are waiting, so we'd better get going," Natasha said, turning to head out of the bathroom. "We wouldn't want them to fossilize any more than they already have."
Summer laughed nervously, taking a breath and realizing that her shoes were the last step that remained. Taking one last look in the mirror, she turned to follow Natasha out, saying, "Thanks again for all your help. I definitely needed it."
"Not really, but you're welcome," Natasha said, glancing over her shoulder. "You're not as much of a mess as you think you are. Usually."
"Yeah, but... all of this," she gestured to her dress and overall current self, "is not my thing."
"You should make it your thing, then," Natasha shrugged. "Confidence has to come from your own self, nobody can give it to you. And looking your best, putting the extra effort in whether it's a new dress or a pair of heels - doing it for you is what makes the difference. Don't do it for him or anyone else. Do it for yourself. Do what makes you feel good."
"And if it feels more weird and kind of uncomfortable than good?" Summer asked.
"Well, everyone has to start somewhere," Natasha replied. "For now, just get your shoes on and worry more about how you're going to keep a certain metal hand off of you for the next few hours."
"I do love that hand," Summer said absently before turning and locating the shoebox in her closet, noting along the way how David was still lurking and giving Natasha the stink-eye from a different corner of the room. On her way back, he looked at her like a space alien had taken over her body and left an imposter in place, and she couldn't blame him.
Once the shoes were on, she was out of reasons to stall, and after taking a deep breath, she decided it was now or never. Time to be brave.
"All right. Ready."
Steve was pacing, out of boredom rather than anxiety, and Bucky was leaning against a wall, alternating between staring at the clock, watching Steve piddle about, and looking down at the odd brightness of the suit he was wearing himself. He hadn't quite realized until now how very dark every piece of clothing that he owned was, until every time he looked down he saw the ivory of the suit and the white shirt underneath. But the false image of his left hand underneath the hologram was still more unnerving.
When exactly had it become easier to see the hand as it really was rather than as the flesh that it had once been, in his previous life? Not so long ago he had despised the very sight of the metal and would cover it up even at home, away from prying eyes.
Staring at the hand, he wondered if it was Summer that had caused the change. She had never been shy about her affection for the limb, and now that they had finally stopped forcing abstinence upon themselves, he knew on an even deeper level now how far her appreciation for it ran. He had to admit, it was strange but also sort of fascinating to watch his metal hand cause something other than damage or pain, and even stranger to see - and hear - how much she loved to be touched by it. And she thought he was weird for having a thing for shoes.
"Maybe one of us should go check on them," Steve said after making another lap around the living room.
Bucky shook his head and tried not to roll his eyes. "They'll be ready when they're ready. Stop pacing."
"I'm not pacing."
"You're pacing."
"I'm bored," Steve shrugged, straightening out the jacket of his dark blue suit before sitting down on a couch and sighing. "Sort of want to get this over with."
"Big plans later?" Bucky asked, raising an eyebrow, not really wanting to know the answer.
"Just not a fan of Stark's parties. Not that I've been to one before. But I've heard stories."
Bucky doubted a business-focused party would be that raucous, but then again, what did he know about things like that.
He looked up at the clock again and stifled a sigh. Everyone else had already headed upstairs long ago, including Thor who had been elated to be reunited with Jane Foster, leaving them here to wait for their women. Bucky didn't care much for the party, but he was growing quite anxious to see the dress that Summer had insisted be a surprise. He had no idea what to expect, but he suspected that the night would involve quite a bit of self control on his part and enough glares to keep the eyes of other men off of her.
Just when he was about to give up and maybe try to take a nap to ease his own growing boredom, there was a slight commotion from the hallway, and he heard Natasha's distinct voice quietly admonishing, "Shoulders straight," and a smaller, familiar voice muttering something back. He glanced at Steve, and then they both kept their eyes on the hallway.
Natasha walked out first, dressed in red and putting one high-heeled foot in front of the other like she owned the place, and Bucky couldn't help but glance at Steve just so he could poke fun later at the idiotic look he knew would be on his face. His predication wasn't wrong, but his urge to make fun of him wasn't as strong as he thought it would be. Instead, the moment reminded him of another one long past, where another woman in a different red dress had walked with similar purpose into the room and taken Steve's breath away. The man that Bucky had once been, the one who still existed and was making himself more and more known as more memories were uncovered, was nothing but purely happy for Steve. Even if Bucky could still usually only tolerate Natasha on a good day.
Then there was another noise from the hallway, more clicking of heels against the smooth floor, and Bucky looked up once more. And when another woman stepped out of the hallway and into view, with less confidence than the one before her but with the power to reduce his entire world to just that single moment and nothing else, suddenly, nothing else mattered. Now he understood why she had wanted it to be a surprise.
Her dress was black and short, but not too short. It fit her like it had been sewn directly on her body, and it was no simple black dress: the neckline was low, plunging even, yet tasteful, and on a woman of her... proportions, borderline sinful with the teasing sight that such a neckline provided. But that was far from all; next his eyes travelled lower, to where the fabric cut at the sides to reveal pale, soft skin, then met in the middle and ran down to the bottom of the dress, hitting somewhere near mid-thigh.
He wanted to look back up and stare for as long as it took for all of it to sink in. Instead, he let his eyes keep trailing down her legs, until he got to the shoes, and if he clenched his jaw any tighter, he would potentially risk breaking a bone. Immediately, he had plans for those shoes. He had plans for the dress too. Plans that he wasn't sure he could sit through an entire party to wait for.
Finally, as she approached, he looked back up and took in everything - her nervous smile, her hair that begged for his touch, the determined but clearly strained straight posture she was trying to maintain, and once again, the dress that was already a device of pure torture for him. The whole time, he'd barely moved an inch, hardly even breathing, and the only thing that shocked him back into normal mental function was her sudden onslaught of rambling.
"Is it too much? It's too much, isn't it? I can change if you think -"
"What?" he blurted, snapping his eyes to her face and furrowing his brows as she stopped in front of him.
"The... the dress, it's..."
"It's perfect," he blurted again, the words flying from his mouth almost of their own accord. "You're perfect."
Her alarmed expression softened and she searched his eyes as she said, "Really? I wasn't sure... I thought maybe it wasn't... me, you know..."
He shook his head vehemently, taking a step closer to her. "You're..." he searched for the right word, floundering momentarily before settling on a word, "stunning."
She smiled a little shyly, clearly happy with that word, and then her eyes began a travel of their own down him. "You're wearing... white. Wow."
"Ivory," he shrugged, recalling how strict Esteban had been about the supposed very important difference between white and ivory.
"Ivory," she repeated, nodding and placing her palm on his chest, over his suit jacket. "Yeah... holy crap..."
He couldn't even crack a smile at her words, because he was still utterly stunned. He simultaneously wanted to take her and show her off to world and also hide her away and not let a single other adult male aside from Steve look at her.
"You should wear white more often," she said, taking her hand away slowly. "Because... yeah."
He almost frowned at that, but only because it seemed so inherently wrong for her to be complimenting him when he felt as if he had yet to even truly express how utterly perfect she was.
A throat clearing to their right ended the moment, and Bucky and Summer both glanced to Steve and Natasha as they started heading for the elevator.
"See you both there," Natasha said as they walked away. Bucky looked away to resume staring at Summer, who smiled back a response before stifling a choked laugh once the other couple's backs were turned.
"Did they... color coordinate to look like the American flag?" Summer asked in a whisper, only looking back to Bucky when the palm of his right hand skimmed over the strategically exposed skin of one of her sides.
He didn't say anything, and neither did she, and for one moment, he was seriously considering forgoing the party entirely and simply picking her up and hauling her into his room. But then, a little brunette head appeared from behind her legs, and Bucky realized for the first time that there had been a five year old in the room the whole time.
"I need to drop him off downstairs before we go," Summer said after clearing her throat, a faint blush on her cheeks hinting that her thoughts hadn't been too far from his a moment ago.
He nodded, taking a breath to re-center himself as she reluctantly took a step back, and he moved his hands into his pockets as he watched her take her boy's hand and lead him towards the elevator. Bucky followed them silently and at a safe distance, and he stayed on his very best behavior even as his mental plotting and planning continued on without a hitch.
He didn't say a word during the elevator ride down to the childcare room, which was open that night for a few hours due to the party, and he stayed quiet after she dropped David off and they headed back to the elevator. But, once they were back inside of it and surprisingly alone for the ride up to the top floor, he only waited until the doors closed to drop his feigned calm and do what he had wanted to do since she'd first stepped out of the hallway.
With the ding of the elevator doors and the number above them slowly starting to rise, Bucky turned towards the woman standing at his side and gave her a fraction of a second's worth of warning before sliding his left arm around her waist and using his right hand to carefully slip under her hair and cup her face as he pushed her against the wall behind them. She let out a small noise of surprise as her eyes widened and then closed when he kissed her, the sheer force and drive behind it telling her the same message that his body was as it pressed tightly against hers and held her to the wall. But, just in case that message didn't quite make its way to her, he decided to verbalize it, but not until after he'd thoroughly kissed her into oblivion and left her panting softly as he pulled away.
He didn't go far, his nose grazing hers and their lips a breath apart as he looked down at her slightly wide eyes and parted, dark rose-colored lips. He let his eyes wander further downward and then back up to her eyes before he kissed her one more time, then let his lips trail to her ear where he planned to say something that would leave her anxious and desperate for the end of the party and the start of their night together.
The problem was, as his breath washed over her ear and made her shiver with anticipation, he found it nearly impossible to find the words that could satisfactorily express what he wished to.
"Later," he ended up finally saying, more gruffly than he'd intended to, but his tone only made her shiver all the more. He drew away far enough to look into her eyes before repeating more softly, "Later."
"Later?" she echoed, voice small and laced with anticipation.
He nodded. He thought that would be the end of it. It wasn't.
She licked her lips and then said, "Because if you asked me to get on my knees right here in this elevator, right now, I totally would."
Jaw slackening and eyes widening, the tables turned as it was now his turn to flounder at her words. His idea had utterly backfired, and he loved her all the more for it, especially when she grinned a bit proudly at his reaction.
And then, he suddenly remembered where they were when there was a loud ding and the elevator doors began to open, making them unwillingly spring off of each other and realize as they looked out that they'd arrived on the top floor and that the party was literally in front of them. A sea of people dressed in their best and not-so best, toting champagne flutes and various drinks as they laughed and mingled, paying no attention to the couple straightening out their outfits and trying to calm their respective heart rates.
Recovering, Summer slipped her arm into Bucky's and looked up at him almost shyly as she smiled and asked, "Ready?"
He gave her a subtly pointed look before nodding and heading into the party. She was a tease, a shameless tease, and though she'd clearly emerged the victor in this particular case, he could still have the last word and maybe snag the upper hand right back from her.
As they stepped into the crowd, he leaned in near her ear and murmured, "You'll pay for that later."
"You have no idea how much I want to," she whispered back.
He grinned, hoping the next few hours passed by rather quickly.
They did, but not at all for the reasons he, nor any of the fellow partygoers or Tony Stark himself, would have expected.
A/N: so this was written at the end of my writing slump awhile ago, so I feel like this one isn't my best and kind of... boring, but in my defense, the next chapter is not boring in the least, so it should make up for it lol. Also, I was going to update yesterday but I've been busy and forgot, and almost forgot today again lol, but I finally managed to do it :p Thank you guys so much as always, every week that goes by that I update and you guys keep reading and not getting bored and leaving is just an extra brightness to my day, and I seriously appreciate it so much. Also, my gratitude to midnightwings96 for helping me when I went like a month without writing anything and needed help getting back into the swing of things. I shall see you all again in a week! :D