Doll. // Bucky Barnes X OC

FIVE

Only a few hours passed since the rest of the team left. FRIDAY was sending Tony's suit to the hotel they were holed up in. She was sitting in the lab, watching the suit be packaged up in its compact suitcase form. She didn't have to be in there to keep track of it, but she needed to be somewhere Bucky wasn't.

She had been avoiding Bucky since the rest of them left, after the incident with the pen ink, she wanted to avoid him as much as she could.  She knows she promised Steve she'd give Bucky a chance, but she didn't feel like she could yet.

Bucky had been texting Steve some not too long after they'd left. He wanted to give Melany space, but if he was being honest, he really didn't want to. He wanted to be close to her. He felt this need for her to trust him.

Steve: She'll lighten up soon, Buck. Just give her time. I want you two to get along as much as you do.

Bucky: I'll win her over, don't worry.

Bucky meant this in more than a friendly way, obviously. Steve, on the other hand, thought he meant specifically as her friend.

Melany was looking at Bucky's file when she heard a knock on the wall. She looked up, seeing Bucky. "Didn't mean to interrupt." He walked in, looking at where the suit was being suitcased. "New suit?" A black hoodie covered his torso and jeans covered his legs. He wore his usual boots. She could see the collar of his grey t-shirt peeking from the collar of the hoodie.

Melany nodded, swiping away her screen. She looked down at her lap, avoiding his gaze. She saw his metal hand lean against the table she sat at. She wanted him out.

"I'm getting tired of you avoiding me." He muttered, pulling her face up between his flesh thumb and forefinger. "What can I do to make you trust me?"

"I don't know." She lied. She knew exactly what could change things. She wanted to be sure he wasn't the Winter Soldier anymore. She wanted to say the words she'd been memorizing for a week and a half when they found out he'd be coming to the compound.

He let go of her face, swiping his tongue across his bottom lip. "Come have dinner with me." He demanded. He pushed himself off her desk, walking to the door. He looked back at her, seeing she was still planted at her desk. "If you don't come, I'll drag you." He chuckled, turning back to her.

"Fine. Just tonight." She gave in and he smiled. She scooted off her stool, following him out. She locked the lab behind her. She could smell something delicious from the kitchen. Did he cook us dinner?

"Sit." He instructed as he got a plate from the cupboard. He used a pair of tongs to put the baked chicken on the plate. He scooped her up a spoonful of rice next to it. He grabbed her a roll and placed it on the plate as well. "Lemon Chicken with white rice." He muttered, handing the plate to her over the granite island.

She took it, carefully setting it on the island. "You made this?" She asked, hesitantly taking the fork and knife he'd handed her. She cut the chicken, taking a bite. The lemon and herb accents complimented the chicken well as it melted in her mouth. He replied with a yes. She hummed in response.

"Thank you, Buck."

"Of course. I hadn't seen you eat all day - Bruce said something to me before he left." Bucky admitted. He took his seat across the island from her and dug into the food.

The two of them ate in silence. It was hard for her not to be distracted by how nice he was being. She wanted to like him, she wanted to be nice to him. He was being so nice to her. She wanted to trust him, but she couldn't yet unless she said the words and nothing happened.

"What's on your mind?" Bucky asked her. She'd been staring at the table as she thought, slowly chewing.

She swallowed her bite, looking up at him. "Just worried about Steve." She lied.