A/N: Here's a part 2 for Late Night Intros! Everyone seemed to love the first one and I haven't gotten so much feedback from any of my other imagines. I hope I don't terribly disappoint you with this part! ALSO, I used 20s and 30s (not only 40s) slang as well because I needed a lot of slang words. Some of them are still used nowadays. If I used some of them wrong, please tell me so I can fix it.
Warning(s): some strong language, SO MUCH 20s-40s SLANG (there will be translations at the end of this imagine)
You and Bucky had been hanging out with one another a lot ever since you met. Bucky hadn't grown so comfortable with anyone since he was freed from HYDRA's hold. You never treated him like a fragile little kitten you'd found in a box in a dark alley one night who you had kept and fed and just taken care of. You treated him like any other person and he really appreciated it. He never felt like the broken person he used to be when you were around. It was like he never even was that person.
From the day that he met you, he had grown keen on you but he just didn't admit it. He kept denying having feelings for you. He tried to make himself believe it was just a phase and that he didn't actually like you that way. He wasn't the only one he tried to convince.
"I don't like her!" Bucky yelled out in frustration as he hit the punching bag that quickly flew across the gym. He wiped his sweaty forehead with the back of his hand and went to get a new punching bag since he had destroyed the previous one.
"Buck, you can tell us anything. We're friends and—" Steve started but got cut off.
"You and I are friends. Me and him aren't." Bucky corrected as he pointed at Sam who was stood beside Steve.
Sam rolled his eyes, "Look, I hate you, sure. But I just want to help a love sick super soldier out." He said with a mocking pout.
Bucky glared at Sam as he grabbed a new punching bag and stalked over to the two again. "Why can't you just let it go?" He asked with a sigh.
"If you don't make a move soon, somebody else is going to snatch her from you." Steve warned.
Bucky scoffed, "Yeah, let them try." He muttered to himself.
Sam was just about to open his mouth but decided to stay silent as he heard you yelling from behind him.
"Hi-de-ho!"
The three men turned to look at you in confusion. You just shrugged it off and walked over to Bucky who had now stopped throwing punches at the bag. "You ready for our training session?" You asked and he nodded. "Good. Be careful, you're going to have a nice goog on your face if you're not careful." You smirked and headed over to the other side of the gym, ready for some sparring.
Bucky was taken back in time by the word goog. Suddenly he was back in the forties, telling Steve he was stupid for getting into fights with guys twice as big as him.
"Bucky?" He was awakened from his train of thoughts. "You coming?" You called out.
He nodded before heading over to you.
***
The next morning Bucky got out of bed, pulled a t-shirt over his bare chest and pulled sweats up his legs. He walked out of his bedroom, running his fingers through his slightly knotted hair and yawned.
He walked over to the kitchen and saw you in front of the coffee pot. He walked in further inside and saw Natasha and Sam sitting by the dining table.
"Morning, Barnes." Natasha said without taking her eyes off of the paper she was reading.
You quickly turned around and smiled widely as you saw Bucky standing in the doorway. "Morning, sunshine." You sang which caused Bucky to glare at you. "We had a great chin last night. Would you like some noodle juice? Or do you prefer a cup of joe?" You asked with a grin which made the ex-assassin freeze on the spot.
He recognised the slang again. His eyes narrowed as he eyed you suspiciously. "Uhm... Coffee would be nice, thank you." He said quietly and moved over to sit at the table with Sam and Natasha.
You poured some coffee for him, took your own drink and sat beside him at the table, handing him his coffee.
"I'm going shopping today. Does anyone want to come with me? Nat? Sam?" You asked. Natasha completely ignored your question and a smug smile appeared on Sam's lips. "I'm sure Bucky would love to go." He said and turned to look at Bucky who was already glaring at him. "I'm sure he'd love to help you out."
"Sure, I'll go." Bucky shrugged. He saw Sam's smile grow from the corner of his eye but decided to ignore it for now.
"Well aren't you an eager beaver?" You rolled your eyes. "It's duck soup but if you insist." You laughed and patted his shoulder.
Bucky was very confused by your choice of words. He wondered what in the name of hell had gotten into you. Even Steve and Bucky himself didn't talk like that anymore.
After you ate your breakfast you stood up from the table, told Bucky you were leaving in half an hour and told him to be jiffy.
"Is it just me or is Y/N acting weirdly?" Bucky whispered to Natasha and Sam as he was sure Y/N couldn't hear him anymore.
Natasha shrugged and took a sip of her coffee. "She seems normal to me." She said.
"Yeah, I didn't notice anything different." Said Sam.
Bucky shook his head, placed the dishes in the sink and went to his room to get ready.
***
"You should have brought your cheaters!" You said while nudging Bucky's shoulder with yours.
Bucky had his hand over his eyes to block the sunlight. "It's hotter than I thought it would be." He said, ignoring your scolding.
"I told you it was going to be hot!" You groaned as you noticed him wiping some sweat off of his forehead and you yanked the sleeve of his coat. "Just take that damn flogger off! And those gloves off your flippers, are you out of your mind?"
Bucky yanked his hand away from you and asked you loudly, "What's the matter with you?"
"What? You're going to get a heathstroke!"
Bucky turned his head away from you and continued his way to the shopping centre you were about to enter.
"Do you need some glad rags for the party Stark's throwing next week? I sure do." You decided to change the subject.
"I think I'm good." Bucky's answers had been quiet and short the whole day. He didn't know how to react to you using slang from the old days. He wasn't sure why you were doing it.
"You're still coming with me." You said, grabbed his hand in yours and pulled him into a store.
You kept your hand in his as you looked through some clothes. "I'd rather hold your mitt without those leather gloves." You told him and now he took them off. You sent him a smile before taking his right hand in your left one again.
You finally found a dress that you liked, you took it and headed over to the changing rooms. Bucky sat down to wait for you and you went to try on the dress.
You jumped out of the changing room and posed with your hand on your hip, "Does this dress show off my gams?" You laughed as you gestured to your legs.
Bucky looked at you with slightly wider eyes and a smile formed on his lips. He looked at you up and down and let out a small chuckle. "It sure does." He said and smiled at you.
"Now I need to find some stompers to go with this dress." You said and went back to the changing room.
Bucky let out a groan and slumped back on his seat.
***
After you were done shopping, you were about to head home. You didn't really want to stop hanging out with Bucky so you decided to ask him, "You wanna dip the bill real quick? I feel like I could use some giggle juice. Let's hit the gin mill!"
Bucky muttered something under his breath but didn't fight back. He knew if he did, you'd curse at him and call him a crumb or something.
"You got a fin or a sawbuck? No, I'm not on the nut but all I have right now is centuries. I'd rather not use them. Sometimes it's hard having the bees..." You said as you sat down at the bar.
"Sure..." Bucky muttered while digging some money from the pocket of his jacket. "Here's a sawb– I mean ten dollars." He corrected himself. Although he did not want to admit it, the slang was contagious.
You smiled and thanked him before ordering a drink for the both of you.
"Hey," you started and turned to Bucky. "Who was that bim Sam set you up with? How did that date go?"
"Oh, uh..." Bucky rubbed the back of his neck. He didn't actually go on that date.
"Was it a flat tire?" You asked and he nodded. "Yeah, I've heard she's kind of a Weak Sister, you don't want that."
"Okay, what is up with you?" Bucky snapped. "Why do you keep talking like you came from the 1940s?"
"Are you getting sore?" You asked with a smirk. "Hey, you want to go cut the rug?"
"I'd go cut the rug if it was the 1940s but it's not the forties anymore!" Bucky snapped. He growled something under his breath and stood up from the stool. "Don't dust out like this!" You yelled after him as he walked away.
***
Right the second Bucky parked the car at the Tower, he sighed and let his head drop down against the steering wheel. He cursed under his breath and took his phone out of his pocket. He scrolled through his few contacts until your name popped up. He tried to call you, a couple of times.
He cursed to himself again. He decided to head back to the bar. Although he knew you could take care of yourself, he couldn't help but get worried whenever you were out of his reach.
He kept telling himself that he was overreacting and that you were probably fine. He tried to convince himself you were definitely fine but somehow definitely always turned into probably in his mind.
Bucky got back to the bar very quickly. He got out of the car, slamming the door closed and rushed into the bar. He looked around as he made his way to the counter, making sure he got a good look of every inch of the dim bar just so he wouldn't miss you.
He walked up to the counter and called a bartender to ask him if he had seen you. He described your looks, told him every single feature to give him the most specific picture of what you looked like. "She might have been talking some 1940s slang." He also said.
"Forties slang?" The bartender asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, not many people do that nowadays, huh?" Bucky chuckled, making the bartender look at him in confusion. "Anyway, have you seen her?"
"I don't know about the slang but yes, a girl like that was here with two guys. One was tall and blonde, very muscular. The other one was also very buff and had darker skin. She kept calling him birdie or something."
"Sam and Steve." Bucky whispered to himself. "Okay, thank you." Bucky said before heading back to his car.
Bucky took his phone again and called Steve who answered only after a few calls. "Hello?"
"Steve, are you with Y/N?" Bucky asked as he got in the car once again.
"Yes, Sam is here too."
"I didn't ask about him," Bucky rolled his eyes. "Where are you?"
"In some bar. Not far from the one you two were in before we showed up."
"Tell me the address, I'm coming." Bucky put the phone on speaker and began driving. Steve stayed quiet which made Bucky frown. "Steve?"
"I don't think that's a good idea."
"What? Why?"
"Bucky, we got her. She'll be fine. Just go home."
"But—"
"There's nothing to worry about." Steve said and finally hung up, not without saying goodbye.
Bucky sighed, throwing his phone on the passenger seat and drove back to the Tower and went straight to bed.
***
Bucky woke up late at night, hearing something crash in the hallway. He got up from bed immediately, exited his room and saw you leaning on the wall, shushing the vase you accidentally pushed over the table. You lifted up your gaze as you heard footsteps approaching you and smiled widely, throwing your arms up and yelling out, "Bucky!" while almost falling over. Bucky quickly rushed to your side, grabbed a hold of you to keep you on your feet. "I was hoping I'd see you." You slurred out.
Bucky raised his brow and turned to look at you, taking in your appearance, even though you were drunk out of your mind, you still managed to look gorgeous in his eyes although, slightly ruffled up. "Yeah? Why's that?"
You brought your hand in front of your mouth and giggled, looking up at Bucky through your eyelashes. "Some slightly sauced fellas told me something interesting tonight." You bit your lip, trying to stop yourself from laughing.
Bucky rolled his eyes, thinking to himself, Great, she's still using forties slang. "What did they tell you?" He said as he led you to your bedroom. "Watch out for the glass." He warned.
"They told me a certain former soldier carries a torch for this tasty dish," you smiled and ran your hand down your side, flicking it out from your thigh.
Bucky froze for a second but shook it off quickly. "Really?" He asked, pretending to be clueless, imagining how he would make Steve and Sam pay for telling you that he had feelings for you.
"Yeah, I mean people have told me that before but I never really believed them."
"What made you believe them now?" Bucky asked, curious about what made you finally believe all the things that he hoped you thought were just jokes. He opened the door to your room and guided you inside. He sat you down and asked you the same question again.
"I don't know," you shrugged. "I guess I just finally accepted the fact that it might be true." You said quietly and started changing your clothes into something more comfortable to sleep in and Bucky turned away from you.
He frowned at your choice of words. "Don't worry about it," he said and started walking towards the door. "It doesn't have to change anything." He muttered under his breath, he wasn't even sure if you heard him.
"Wait," you called out as he was about to step out of the room. "Where are you going?" You asked with a whiny voice. "Stay with me, please? You can leave after I've fallen asleep."
Bucky sighed and turned back towards you. He made his way to your bed and lay down next to you. You snuggled up to him, draping your arm over his stomach and rested your head on his chest, enjoying the warmth of his body.
Bucky stayed with you until you fell asleep. He lay awake, staring at the ceiling as he thought about what you said a while before. "I guess I just finally accepted the fact that it might be true." That really sounded like you were hoping it wasn't true.
Bucky had harboured a crush on you, he knew that now. As much as it hurt him to keep his feelings to himself, he had to do it. Your friendship was too valuable for him to lose. He brushed your hair away from your face and let his hand linger on your cheek a little too long before he finally got up and went to his bedroom to get some sleep himself.
***
When Bucky woke up the next morning, he went through his morning routine just like he usually did and went to see you. Knowing you were out drinking the night before, he assumed you were in bed, trying to drown out all the noise that might make the headache you were carrying even worse than it already was.
He knocked on your bedroom door with painkillers and a glass of water in hand. "Y/N?" He yelled out and in return, he got a muffled groan back. Bucky took that groan as a sign to open the door and he stepped inside. You were hiding under the duvet, clearly trying to block any light that was shining your way. Bucky closed the door as quietly as he could and made his way over to your bed. He set the painkillers and glass of water on your nightstand and sat down at the edge of the bed. You let out another muffled groan and turned away from Bucky.
"I brought you some pills to help with your hangover." He said quietly. You peeked your head from under the duvet and turned your head to the side and saw that he indeed had brought you some pills. You sat up and quickly gulped down one pill with the help of water.
"Thank you, Buck." You said with your croaky voice. "You're too sweet." You sighed and lay back down on the bed.
You two stayed quiet for a while. Bucky swung his legs on the bed and lied down next to you. He stared at the ceiling while you tried to bury yourself far beneath the sheets. It seemed like you were trying to bury yourself as far from the real world as possible.
"I'm sorry about what happened last night." Bucky said after few minutes of silence. "I didn't mean to... Dust out like that." He found himself smiling at the usage of 40s slang.
You smiled under the duvet and lifted it off of your eyes, still hiding the smile on your face. "Don't worry about it. I was just trying to impress you. I guess it was more annoying than I thought."
Bucky's brows furrowed and he looked at you, "You were trying to impress me?" He asked. "You don't need to bring the 40s back to me to impress me. All you have to do is not treat me like I'm Bucky from the 40s or like I'm still the Winter Soldier. I'm neither of those two anymore." He told you softly, careful not to raise his voice too much.
"I know you aren't Bucky, I just thought—" you stopped yourself from raising your own voice and pinched the bridge of your nose between your forefinger and thumb. "I don't know what I was doing, I'm sorry." You muttered and turned to face away from him.
"What's eating you?" Bucky asked worriedly. He wasn't used to see you like this. You were rarely this quiet. You never hid yourself from him or anyone else for that matter. Bucky placed his hand on your duvet covered arm which made you turn your head to look at him. Bucky saw your slightly watery eyes and how you kept hiding the rest of your face under the duvet. Slowly, you saw the realisation finally hit him.
"You—," he started stammering, "Do you like me?" He asked, immediately regretting it. Because to him, it sounded ridiculous.
You covered your face with your hands and dived under the duvets once again, hoping the mattress would swallow you whole so you wouldn't have to have to talk to Bucky about your feelings towards him. You were feeling so embarrassed.
Bucky pulled the covers off of you harshly which made you whimper slightly. He turned you around to your side so you were facing him but you still avoided his gaze. "Do you like me?" He asked, now with more confidence in his voice
"Yeah, you're a great person and—"
"Y/N," he said in a warning tone. "Stop with the applesauce. Do you like me or not?" As you still refused to give him a straight answer, he grew even more anxious about your answer. He needed to hear it. "You're not getting the heebie-jeepies, are ya?" He teased you playfully.
You punched his arm with all the strength that you had and your face burned with embarrassment. "Stop!" You whined as Bucky let out a loud laugh. "I'm so embarrassed you don't have to make this worse than it already is." You rolled over to your stomach and buried your face in your pillow.
"Hey now, don't go into decline," Bucky said, trying to stifle a laugh as he moved his hands to your shoulders, shaking you slightly. "I can't blame you, though. I've been told I'm quite the dreamboat." He didn't even try not to laugh at the last word.
You let out a muffled growl and picked up the pillow and started beating Bucky with it. "You fucking asshole!" You yelled as he tried to shield himself from the fluffy pillow you were 'assaulting' him with. He continued to to laugh, he found this situation very amusing, you, on the other hand, did not.
Bucky took the pillow from you and threw it on the floor and before you could reach for another one, Bucky placed his hands on your arms and kept you still, looking into your fury filled eyes. "Answer the question." He said. "Do you like me?" He asked slowly.
"Yes, you fat-head!" You yelled out as you pushed his hands away. "And by the way you've been acting I thought the feeling was mutual."
"What do you mean?"
"You can't keep your peepers off of me! Whenever we bump gums, when we're chinning you keep checking out my kisser!" Bucky smiled, hearing you speak 40s slang again. "I guess I just read too much into it. I'm going to kill Steve and Sam."
"Before you snap your cap, you should listen to what I have to say. Keep your mouth clammed up." Bucky smiled at you but you only glared at him. "I'm going to kill them first. I didn't actually think they'd tell you that. I'm going to make those ossified jerks pay." He chuckled and you did too. "Can I ask you something?"
You shrugged, "Sure."
"Why do you like me?"
You looked at him with your eyes slightly widened. "Are you serious? You're going to make me suffer even more?" You let out a dry laugh, not believing he actually wanted to torment you like this, make you even more embarrassed than you already were. "Fine," You sighed. "I'll tell you." You said and moved yourself to the backboard, taking a pillow and placing it against the hard surface before leaning your back against it.
"Remember two nights ago, when I found you in the kitchen late at night and I asked what was eating you?" You started and he nodded. "You told me about the nightmare you had. About you turning into the Winter Soldier again." Bucky clearly tensed up at the mention of the nightmare but he just pursed his lips and nodded again. "You also said something about not getting rid of the Soldier for good. You said you still had the blood of your victims in your hands and you couldn't get rid of it no matter how hard you tried to scrub it off. You said you don't know how anyone could ever love a murderer like you."
Bucky was avoiding your gaze, all the memories of that nightmare came to mind and his mood dropped faster than you'd ever seen it. You felt bad for reminding him of his terrible nightmare but you had to remind him to say what you needed to say.
"I don't care how many people you've blipped off, I've got no beef with that and even if you flip your wig in the future, i still won't hate you because I know that's not you. It's the other guy that was a Button Man. It wasn't you, Bucky." You went back to using the slang words, hoping to lift up the mood a bit.
"Also, whenever I'm with you, I have a gas. You're an amazing, sweet person. You're funny and you crack me up like nobody else does."
You saw a small smile forming on Bucky's lips as he looked up at you again. "Did you just call me a Button Man?"
"No, I called the other guy a Button Man."
"I know you might think this is embarrassing for you." Bucky said and moved to sit next to you and he wrapped his arm around your shoulders. "Don't be embarrassed. If it makes you feel any better, I like you too."
You shot your head in his direction faster than ever. You looked at him with your eyebrows raised, searching for a sign of bluff in his face but failing. "Are you serious?" You asked quietly and he nodded, sending you a small smile. "And you let me believe this was unrequited?" You yelled out and pushed yourself up from the bed. "You asshole!" You yelled again and started hitting him with the pillow that he threw on the floor.
"I never denied anything!" He said as he tried to cover himself from your hits once again.
"That is so cruel!"
Bucky grabbed the pillow once again, throwing it away, grabbing you and making you fall on the bed. He climbed on top of you so he could keep you still.
You couldn't prevent the laugh from coming out of your mouth. You couldn't really stay mad at him for long. "You do know I'm going to make you pay for this, right?" You asked.
He lifted up an eyebrow, "Oh, really?"
You nodded, "And you'll never know when I'm about to strike."
"You're probably right. I couldn't even figure out you had a crush on me."
You both stared at one another for a while before you burst into laughter. You moved your hand up to brush his hair behind his ears to see his face. You let your hand linger for a while before you pulled it away. You were waiting for him to make a move and kiss you and it seemed like he was about to do it.
"Cash or check?" He asked and you rolled your eyes.
"You just ruined the moment." You groaned and he looked at you as if he had no idea what you were talking about. "You don't ask me if I want to kiss or not. You just grab me and kiss me when the moment is right."
Bucky sat up and ran his fingers through his hair, "How can I know when the moment is right?"
"That, right there!" You frustratingly said and stood up, pointing at the bed. We were lying on the bed, just gazing into each other's eyes, I was caressing your goddamn cheek, Bucky. If you can't see how that was a perfect moment to just kiss me, you must be blind."
"You could have just played along! You didn't have to let me know this moment was ruined."
"I can't do that. I like pushing your buttons way too much."
Bucky crossed his arms and pursed his lips to prevent a smile from making its way to his face but he didn't succeed. He shook his head as he wrapped his arms around you, pulling you closer to him. "You are a pain in the ass, woman."
"But I'm your pain in the ass." You cringed at the cheesiness of that sentence, hoping he knew you said it ironically.
"You're a pain in the ass for a lot of people."
"You're no better!" You laughed as you pulled away from him.
"Okay we're both pains in the ass. But I'm sure we'll learn to tolerate each other." He said and stepped closer to you, brushing his knuckles against your cheek.
You brought your hand up to his and slowly pulled it away from your face. "We'll never get the moment back. It's ruined, we'll just have to live with it." You said and started to head towards the door.
"So now you're not going to let me kiss you at all?" Bucky asked with his hands up at his sides, staring at you in disbelief.
You turned around with your hand on the doorknob and smirked when you saw his face, "I guess my answer to your question is 'check'."
"You're such a tease." He growled and made his way over to you.
"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet." You smiled with a wink and exited the room.
Bucky groaned and shook his head, placing his hand on his forehead. "You're gonna be the death of me, doll." He muttered to himself before following after you.
***
Hi-de-ho! = hello!
goog = black eye
chin = conversation
noodle juce = tea
cup of joe = cup of coffee
eager beaver = enthusiastic helper
duck soup = easy, piece of cake
jiffy = quick
cheaters = sunglasses
flogger = overcoat
flippers = hands
glad rags = fancy clothes
mitts = hands
gams = woman's legs
stompers = shoes
dip the bill = have a drink
giggle juice = Liquor (when I wrote this I just thought it meant alcohol)
gin mill = bar
crumb = jerk, no fun
fin = $5 bill
sawbuck = $10 bill
century = $100 bill
have the bees = to be rich
bim = woman
flat tire = a disappointing date
Weak Sister = a push-over
get sore = get mad
cut the rug = dance
dust out = leave
sauced = intoxicated
carry a torch = have a crush on
dish = pretty woman
What's eating you? = What's wrong?
applesauce = nonsense
heebie-jeepies = the jitters
don't go into decline = don't get depressed
dreamboat = beautiful/handsome person
fat-head = stupid/foolish person
peepers = eyes
bump gums = to talk about nothing worthwhile
chinning = talking
kisser = mouth
snap ones cap = get angry
clammed up = close-mouthed
ossified = intoxicated
blip off = kill
to flip ones wig = to lose control of oneself
Button Man = professional killer
Cash or check? = Do you kiss now or later?
If I missed any, please inform me.