Title: She
Rating: PG/K+
Originally posted: 22nd January 2022
Originally written for: schifaroo
Characters/Pairings: Bucky/Nat & Clint
Notes: for Seasons of Drabbles Exchange, Winter 2022 at Dreamwidth and AO3.
"Oh, I know that look."
Bucky might have been self-conscious about being caught out, if it were anyone but Barton.
"You think I'm crazy?" he asked, as his friend stepped up beside him, both of them staring down through the glass into the room below.
"Sure." Clint smiled, a good-natured joke. "But not for thinking of Nat that way."
Bucky sighed, watching Nat execute every flip, jump, and punch-kick combo with the ease of a machine and the grace of a dancer. She was incredible, beautiful, and amazing, not to mention the smartest, sharpest, most dangerous woman he ever met.
"I love her," he said aloud, a complete revelation to him, yet somehow, not to Clint.
"Yep, saw that comin," he said easily. "Maybe it's time you told her that."
He slapped his friend on the shoulder then walked away, leaving Bucky to ponder.
"Tell her?" he considered, feeling uncertain yet. "Tell her," he tried again, with just a little more confidence.
Out of nowhere, Nat came to a perfect halt right beneath the high window, looked up, met his eyes, and smiled a secret smile.
Bucky smiled right back. "Or maybe, just like with everything else, she already knows."