"For fucks sake, just shut up for once!!" [Y/N]'s yelling can be heard throughout at least half of the building.
Sam, Steve, Natasha, Bucky and her have been living in the house for about two weeks now and spent every day to keep training. Steve said he wants them to stay fit because he has a weird feeling because two Infinity Stones had already found their way to the earth in a short time. It is like he knows that something is coming their way and he wants everyone to be prepared for it.
To keep the training fair enough, they were switching partners every now and then. Everyone but Bucky, who was never training.
Today, [Y/N] has the pleasure of training with Sam, who was getting on her nerves way before they had breakfast together this morning. Spending hours with him in one of the training rooms has been simply too much today. "How about I take that stupid wings from you and we'll see what you can do!" she continues to shout at him.
"I am not even wearing my wings!" he shouts back, not getting what her problem is. She simply has to learn to fight without her powers. She won't always be able to use them. And even though she says she has practiced, he feels like she hasn't gotten any better since their last time training together. "How's it possible that you're training with Romanoff and still fail to do what I tell you to do?" he sighs loudly. He feels frustrated because the woman seems to be overly dramatic every now and then and he can't stand that.
"Maybe it's because I am not listening to you! Who said you can give me commandos?" [Y/N] knows her arguments are no longer rational, but she is too angry to hold back.
Bucky has heard their shouting way before the others did and couldn't ignore it any longer because he was scared they're going to kill each other this time, so he had left his room and went downstairs. Just in time, he opens the door to the training room and steps between the two of them, pressing [Y/N] further away from Sam by her shoulders. His right arm begins to block her way whilst talking. "Okay, that's it! I think you two are done for today!"
"Oh, I'm so not done with him!" [Y/N] hisses over Bucky's shoulder, giving Sam a death-glare. The man just sighs and turns to leave the room.
"Better get that woman some ice cream or shit so she finally cools down."
The comment is enough for [Y/N] to start some more trouble but Bucky blocks her way again and Natasha enters the room too, followed by Steve which she was training with. "What's going on in here?" she asks.
With all those eyes on her, [Y/N] feels less competitive and takes a deep breath to calm down. "Just some disagreements" she says after taking a deep breath. Her eyes then wander over to Bucky. His blue-greenish eyes are still watching her closely, ready to block her way once more, if necessary. "You can let go of me now" she says. "I'm cool."
"You're more hot than cool" Bucky answers because he can still sense how mad she is but then he actually realizes what he has just said. Steve and Natasha watch them with wide smirks already. "That is not what I meant!" he says quickly, feeling his cheeks turning red.
[Y/N] smirks as well and pats Bucky on his shoulder and he finally drops his arms, not holding her in place anymore. "Can't take back what you said, Barnes" she says amused and walks past him. "If you all don't mind me now, I'll take a shower."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It is already evening when someone knocks on [Y/N]'s door. Her outburst of anger had probably ensured that all members preferred to stay away from her and avoided her except for Natasha who had stopped by for a short conversation earlier. It is precisely her who knocks on [Y/N]'s door again and enters without waiting for an answer. "You better start cooking, we're getting guests today."
"Guests?" asks [Y/N] with a raised eyebrow and remembers her kitchen duty. The group had decided that it was best to have a shifting duty, otherwise they would order food every day, which in the short or long term would have been very harmful to their health. The advantage of this is that everyone only has to come up with a dish on average once a week. The disadvantage, however, is that the quality of the meals varies due to very different cooking skills.
Natasha's grin is enough for [Y/N] to guess the answer. Vision and Wanda. It's been weeks since she saw them and it's still a little weird for her to spend time with Vision after he was actually fighting for Team Iron Man. But it seems that Wanda is more important to him than his moral attitude because he too has withdrawn from the Avengers compound and went into hiding with Wanda. "Where have they been for so long?"
"You have to ask them yourself. Would you like some help in the kitchen?"
[Y/N] shakes her head. "It was your turn yesterday. I'll do it. Just keep Sam away from me. If he drops one more stupid comment and I am holding a knife in my hand... I guarantee for nothing."
"What's going on between you guys? You always got along well."
Just the thought of training with Sam makes [Y/N] angry again, so that she presses her lips together while she chooses her next words more carefully. She doesn't want to say the wrong things just out of anger. "He's so obnoxious sometimes. Thinks he's able to tell me which fighting techniques I have to master in case I have to fight without my powers. But take his wings off him and he's just an average soldier! Bucky, Steve or you would ram him into the ground within a few seconds but he thinks he has to present himself as the stronger fighter of the two of us!"
"You know Sam doesn't care who's better. He just wants you to be as prepared as possible when a fight comes up again."
"But he doesn't have the right to judge my fighting techniques! Just because his wings have been approved by the government. He doesn't know what kind of fights some of us had to fight."
"To be fair, you never told us. I never asked because it's up to you what you tell us about yourself, but you can't judge Sam for his lack of knowledge."
"Can judge him for his disrespect though."
"Look... Sam is just as much your friend as we are. He sure didn't mean it that way. Wanda and Vision are coming, so how about we all have a drink together tonight? Talk a little and bury the hatchet. I'll inform the others and you will put on something other than jeans and a hoodie. "
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bucky knows that it won't be long until Wanda and Vision would arrive and he decided to join [Y/N] and help her out, setting the table. He would prefer to not join them tonight but he knows that he can't hide in his room forever and has to move on. He has to forget about the last time he met Vision on the battlefield and focus on the man he is now, not the man he used to be. Also, Natasha made it very clear that there's a sit together tonight - no excuses. And it's probably better if someone joins [Y/N] before Sam does, so why not help her out some and check out the mood she is currently in. He would never admit it, but he cares about her. The last time he saw her this upset was when she argued with Steve and even then her anger was different. It had been quieter, while this time she's furious and like a walking storm.
He doesn't pay much attention to her appearance at first and grabs the plates to put them on the table, when he notices that he doesn't know what to say to her. But when he turns around to get some glasses, he actually takes her in for the first time. "What are you wearing?" he presses out, without even realizing it. If he wouldn't know it's [Y/N]'s turn to cook, he wouldn't recognize her.
[Y/N] frowns and stops to finish cooking to turn around and face Bucky. "If this was a compliment, it's the worst I've ever gotten."
Just then, Bucky realizes what he has just said out loud and his cheeks begin to turn red. The second time for today. "I did not mean it like that!"
"Man, you really forgot how to flirt" he hears Steve laugh beside him, making him wonder when he joined them.
"I was not flirting!"
"Can you believe that this man used to get all the ladies?" Steve smirks widely at [Y/N], still amused by the situation and joins her to help serving the food.
"I was not-" Bucky begins but gets cut off when he hears footsteps coming closer and Wanda and Vision join them. He doesn't know if he should be relieved or not about the interruption.
"Hey guys, it's so good to see you!" Steve greets his friends and goes to hug them. [Y/N] joins them, hugging Wanda as well.
"Nice outfit, [Y/N]" says Wanda and winks. [Y/N] turns around to face Bucky whilst answering her. "Thank you, Wanda!" Bucky rolls his eyes, knowing that [Y/N] isn't going to drop that anytime soon. Steve probably neither.
Once everyone has welcomed the guests, [Y/N] heads back to the kitchen to finally serve the food whilst everyone else goes to sit down already. Only Bucky follows and stops right behind her, moving his face close to her ear.
"I didn't mean it like that" he says quietly, his voice sounding husky. He doesn't want the others to hear their conversation because he doesn't want anyone else know about his misstep. [Y/N], who hasn't noticed him, frightens and almost drops the bowl with salad in her hand.
"Are you nuts" she hisses, tightening the grip on the bowl in her hand but Bucky has already grabbed it and brings some distance between them to lock eyes with her.
"What I was trying to say is: you look nice. I just didn't expect you to be dressed up like this."
"Don't know if you're getting any better at this" [Y/N] says, crossing her arms in front of her chest and raising her right eyebrow. She wonders if he can really be that bad at making compliments or if he's just failing completely today.
"Whatever. I'm not going to apologize twice" he sighs and joins the others at the dining table, leaving [Y/N] with her eyebrow still raised but a small smirk forming on her lips.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sometime after dinner, they all move to the living room and make themselves more comfortable whilst keeping the conversations ongoing. It's a nice sit together and the second bottle of wine is almost emptied. Steve, who sits on the couch next to [Y/N], touches her arm softly to get her attention. When she turns to face him, he slowly nods in Bucky's direction, a smirk on his face. "You're really in a mood to mess with men today, aren't you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Oh come on, never before have I seen you two sit so far away from each other. You're like his comfy-buddy."
"His what?" asks [Y/N], smirking.
"He's feeling uncomfortable. Can't you see his whole body being tense? He's more relaxed around you."
"He is?" asks [Y/N] surprised. Steve nods.
"So, what did you do that he keeps his distance?"
"Why is it my fault?" she complains. "You heard what he said about my outfit."
"So that's what it's about" laughs Steve, which draws the attention from their friends on them.
"What's so funny?" asks Wanda, her eyebrow raised.
"Nothing" [Y/N] answers quickly and secretly looks over at Bucky. She can see that Steve is right. Bucky sits there feeling anything but relaxed, eyes avoiding their friends. He's clearly feeling uncomfortable and she's immediately sorry for not helping him instantly. But switching seats would just draw attention and he looks like he doesn't want any. "How long will you be staying with us?" she asks Wanda and Vision to change the subject.
"For quite some time, actually" answers Wanda but Natasha steps in.
"They were supposed to stay nearby anyway... Not... Going on some vacation."
"We already discussed this. Things should be sorted out already" says Vision.
"Oh, absolutely" answers Natasha and takes a sip of her drink.
"How's your training going [Y/N]?" asks Wanda to keep the conversation going but an awkward silence falls over the group. It's not like [Y/N] and Sam have made up already and everyone watches them with tension.
"Good, actually" answers [Y/N], like it's the most normal thing. "Natasha is a good teacher."
Everyone's but Wanda's and Vision's eyes move to Sam, waiting to see if he's giving some response but to [Y/N]'s own surprise, he stays quiet and just raises his eyebrow at her. But as soon as everyone moves their gaze away, he decides to speak up. "I don't think we need some earth bender in our team when we got her" with these words he nods towards Wanda. "But I am not the leader of our group. So..."
Way before [Y/N] can explode, Steve stops her from moving out of her seat with his arm. "Really, Sam?" he sighs.
[Y/N] simply pushes Steve's arm out of her way, gets onto her feet and grabs Sam by his shirt, dragging him away from the others.
Everyone's watching them in tension and surprise, waiting for [Y/N] to lose it completely and just punch Sam but Bucky licks his lips, which doesn't get unnoticed by Steve. In Bucky's eyes, this was hot. He'd never say it out loud but this was the hottest thing Bucky has seen a girl do, right after the night Peggy went to see Steve in a bar full of men, wearing that beautiful red dress. Women like her or [Y/N] are badass and until now, he didn't even know that he loves that.