If you're a fan of FRIENDS, then you'll noticed the borrowed lines...
"(Y/N), you're staring again," Sam smirked, nudging you with his elbow. "I think he might notice if this gets much worse."
"Mmm hmm."
"I mean, I get it. Barnes is definitely sexy. And with that arm...my god, he's totally worth completely ignoring your best friend."
"Mmm hmm," you murmured again, your eyes still fixed on your target of Bucky and Steve sparring on the far side of the gym. You were supposed to be doing the same with Sam but the distraction had taken your focus early, leaving your friend standing alone with a look of amusement rather than the frustration he should have been feeling.
"Ya know what, I'll just do us all a favor and tell the guy that you've got the hots so we can finally get a little work done."
"Mmm hmm...wait! No!" You were jolted from your trance when he crossed into your path and his words finally sunk in; if anyone would follow through on that kind of threat it would be Sam. "Wilson, get back here!"
"Oh, now I've got your attention," he laughed, "now that pretty boy over there might actually find out what's been going on in that head of yours for months now. Maybe if you'd get off your ass and just talk to the guy, some of those thoughts rattling around up there might come true."
"If you say one word to Bucky, I'll murder you in the most violent way you could imagine. Then, I'll take your cold and lifeless corpse to the roof of the tower, cover it in birdseed, and hang it over the side to let your winged brotherhood pick away until there's nothing left but your bones. I'll take those to the pound, where I'm sure there are plenty of dogs who would just love to chew out some of that pent up aggression of a caged animal."
"Son of a bitch," Sam replied quietly with his eyes filled with horror as he backed away slowly, "you're terrifying."
"So we have an understanding then?"
"Yes, ma'am. Understood."
~~~
A few hours later you had decided that you had a little pent up aggression of your own, no thanks to Sam, but more so from your feelings about Bucky and how you were too afraid to say anything to him. You hadn't known him for very long, but it was definitely long enough to know that you were in a pretty serious crush and he had easily become the only thing you could concentrate on if he was anywhere near you, which was more often than not given the confines of the tower.
Natasha had shown you a small ballet studio when you had moved in, once she had realized that you used dancing as a stress reliever much as she had. Tony knew about her skill when he built the tower, but she found that it gave her too many memories of the red room and hadn't used it since those first few days. She was one of only three people who knew about it, and you wanted to keep it that way so you had time to yourself when you really needed it. Today, however, you would learn that it was four.
Bucky stood in silence for over an hour, watching from the door as you moved to each rhythm, duking down if he saw your eyes shift towards his direction at all. He marveled at the ease with which your body moved and the the effortless twists and contortions as the music changed; you moved with fluidity from ballet to jazz, to hip-hop and back to ballet, then to a music he could only think to call 'Tony's kind of noise' and back to ballet before something caught his heart and he couldn't stop himself from pushing the door open.
You stopped when you saw his reflection in the mirror, spinning towards him with wide eyes and about to speak when he raised a hand to talk first.
"Keep going," he said quietly, taking even steps towards you, "please."
"How long have you been there?"
"This music reminds me of home...my real home...I mean...Brooklyn home," he stammered slightly, avoiding your question. "Will you dance with me...if you don't mind? I haven't danced to this in forever."
"Um...sure, I don't mind at all."
You felt everything in your body tense when he put an arm around your back and took your hand in his, suddenly feeling like you forgot how to dance at all, much less remembering how to breathe.
"Relax, I won't bite."
"Sorry, it's just...I haven't had a partner in a while."
"Would you like one?" he asked with a quiet but deeper voice, and you could tell that he wasn't talking about just dancing so much anymore. At least, that's what your mind and body were telling you, and you hoped it wasn't just your misinterpretation from your serious crush on the man. He began to sway you gently to the music and pulled you in close, smiling down at you when you found the courage to look up.
"I think I would like that very much."
"Good." Bucky wrapped his arm around you as tightly as he could, so much so that you could feel his heart beating against yours, and his breath gently warming your hair. As if it were the only natural answer, you rested your head against his chest to feel a deep hum of contentment within in.
"I've never watched anything so beautiful before," he whispered. "I had no idea that you could do that, and I've been watching you for a while now."
"Wait," you paused, pushing back from him slightly, "you've been watching me?"
"Yeah? I thought Sam would've told you by now."
"Sam..." you groaned, "I'm definitely murdering him now."
"I heard," Bucky laughed gently, "birdseed and angry dogs?"
His laughter immediately relaxed you, and you joined him in the wonderful sound while still dancing to the music that was close to being finished. You didn't want this experience to end, feeling like you were both stuck in a moment in time and everything around you was standing still. When he leaned down to kiss you, just as you had wanted for so long, the feeling was broken with a fast rap of knuckles against the door and a widely smiling Sam Wilson waving at you both.
"I'll get the birdseed, you grab the rope," Bucky growled as he pulled away, mumbling a string of what you assumed to be Russian curses as he barreled towards your frantically running and soon-to-be dead friend.
~~~
For a few months, you and Bucky had managed to keep your new relationship quiet and away from the rest of the team with an easy success. Even Sam was on board to keep the secret for you, though he had nearly slipped several times with Steve. Your only real concern was keeping it from your dad, Tony, but for that to work, it was best to keep everyone in the dark. This morning, however, it would be the start of the cascade that could ruin all of your plans.
"Hey, (Y/N), suit up. Meet in the hangar in twenty."
"Right behind ya, Cap," you nodded. Standing up from the breakfast table with a final swallow of your juice, grabbing his plate along with yours. "Done?"
"Yeah, thanks." Steve tipped his glass back quickly and held it out with a smile, "this too?"
"Wait, don't move." Balancing the two plates precariously on one arm, you pushed your hand into your pocket to retrieve your phone, swiping your thumb over the screen to open the camera and point it in his direction. A quick snap of his face filled your phone, alight with a confused looking Captain sporting a very full milk moustache. "You look great, Steve. I think you should grow a real one." You tossed your phone down in front of him and turned to the sink, setting the plates down before turning back for his reaction.
"Oh, you didn't..." he whined when he realized that you had sent it to everyone on the team.
"Oh, I did."
Steve continued to stare at the embarrassing image of himself for several minutes before looking up to see that you were gone, but he was still holding your phone. When a message came in and covered the picture, he couldn't help but see it. "Nat, can you give this to (Y/N) when you head upstairs...oh...what...woah, what is this?"
"What?" She yanked the phone from his hand and smiled, "would you look at that? It would seem our baby Stark isn't so innocent as she would have us believe."
"I don't think we should say anything. We weren't supposed to see that." He tried to pull the phone back but she spun away, turning back with a mischievous twinkle in her eye that immediately sent a panic and a chill up his spine. "Nat, no."
"Come on, you old fuddy-duddy. Have a little fun."
~~~
"Hey, babe, I've got your pack ready," Bucky greeted you as you entered your room. "I see you got my message," he winked, pulling you close for a breathy kiss along your neck. "We have time if you want to try it."
"I didn't get a message?"
"But it says that you read it, look," he pulled back and held his phone up for you to see, "at 12:43."
Your eyes widened and you held your breath, seeing both the time he was showing you and that his message was uncomfortably colorful and embarrassingly suggestive. "Oh, shit, Buck! I left my phone in the kitchen...with Steve, oh god...he read that!"
"Trust me, doll, he's not as innocent as you think."
"No! It's not that! He's going to tell everyone about us now."
"He wouldn't," Bucky scoffed, but then paused with an introspective look in his eyes, "would he?"
You backed out of his grip and paced back and forth, trying to decide if you should run and grab the phone away or if that would only draw more attention. Steve probably wouldn't tell anyone what he had seen, and would likely just give you a little scolding when he gave you the phone back. On the other hand..."oh, no," you groaned, slapping your hand over your eyes, "Natasha was there too."
"Well in that case then yeah, we're screwed."
~~~
You and Bucky timed your arrival to the jet to be several minutes apart to levy the suspicion that you were certain Steve and Nat would now have, trying to diffuse anything that they would try to throw your way. Sam and Clint entered the bay right behind you, and when you saw him, you grabbed Sam and dragged him away with a bewildered Barton looking on.
"Do they know?"
"Who? Does who know what?"
"Don't try to be cute, Wilson. Do they know?" you asked again, this time much more firmly and with a pinch of your fingers against his skin. He winced and tried to pull away, but he couldn't shake your grip.
"Yeah, they know."
"Know what?" Clint joined in. "About you and Barnes?"
"Jesus! Does everyone know? News travels at the speed of light around here with all of you gossip queens!"
"Well, your dad doesn't know," Sam whispered, "but if you keep on hollering about it he will. And if he hears about that text that Cap read, you'll be grounded for the rest of your life, young lady."
Clint breezed behind you but paused long enough to lean in closely for a whisper that failed in staying as quiet as intended. "Yeah, I don't know if I'll be able to sleep at night after reading that. You guys are freaks."
With that, you were now completely mortified and could do nothing but walk away. You entered the jet and to take your seat quietly, hoping that the current focus would die down quickly, but you really should've known better. Bucky had already boarded and was securing his harness, with Natasha next to him. Your eyes drifted down from the painfully uncomfortable look on his face to the awkward straight posture he was holding, and finally to the hand that was moving gently over his thigh. Natasha didn't laugh out loud too often, so this time when her voice echoed through the jet, it was like nails on a chalkboard to you.
"Hey, guys," you greeted the pair coolly, shifting in your seat across from them. She hadn't removed her hand and had barely acknowledged you, but you knew she was trying to get one of you to break. Bucky's eyes were filled with fear when he looked up at you, but you gave him a reassuring wink and he visibly calmed, though you could see that he was still completely uncomfortable with what was happening. "Nat, you seem a little distracted. You ready for this or would you two like a few minutes to get it out of your system?"
"Not distracted at all," she cooed gently, her gaze still on him, "how about you, Barnes?"
"No," he coughed nervously, "not distracted. Nothing that can't wait until we get back."
"Great. Because we still have time before takeoff if you want to...you know..." you whispered just loud enough for Nat to hear, finally getting her attention with a well chosen hand gesture to show her what you were suggesting. It may have been the first time in recorded history that anyone had successfully flustered the Black Widow.
"Um...yeah, no...is Barton on board yet?" she faltered, standing awkwardly to find him and leaving you and Bucky alone. He stood and crossed the jet to sit next to you, strapping in for takeoff and avoiding your eyes.
"You're cold, making me do that. Her hand was really close to things that belong to you, if you hadn't noticed. I'm surprised that she's still alive, honestly."
"Hello, children," Tony greeted as he took the seat on your other side, "or my child, I should say." He leaned in for a quick kiss on your cheek and waited for one in return, leaving Bucky to straighten his posture and make a weak attempt at appearing professional. "What are we talking about?"
"Business," Bucky replied matter-of-fact. "I think it would be best to have (Y/N) stay with Sam, Steve and Barton to the north while you, Nat and I take the building from the south entrance. I think we could take them by surprise and speed this whole thing along."
Tony nodded along as Bucky continued with his talk of strategy, immediately boring you with erroneous details that no longer involved you, so your attention was turned to a lively discussion at the tail of the jet between Natasha and Sam.
"They know you know."
"Well, shit," she groaned, "so much for having fun with this." Nat grabbed her pack and stepped heavily to her seat, pausing before snapping the final latch on her harness and giving Steve a suddenly excited look, "they don't know that we know they know we know. Sam, you can't say anything."
Sam groaned in disbelief, rubbing his eyes in frustration that she insisted on continuing her plan, "couldn't if I wanted to."
"No, Nat, let's just leave it," Steve added. "Now enough of us know, that we can just tell them we know, so the secrets can be over and I can go back to knowing absolutely nothing!"
~~~
Bucky couldn't wait for the day when he didn't have to hide his feelings for you, and when he could be open about saying goodbye to you before you split for missions like this. He hated not knowing what was happening at all times, and that you were okay. He knew that you could handle yourself and that you were extremely capable, but it didn't silence the worry in his mind. He hadn't been in a relationship since so long ago, that he had no idea how to deal with this; he had never been with someone whose job was just as dangerous as his own.
"Buck," Steve called out over the comms, "we need you at the jet."
"Not a great time," he replied with a grunt, between hits, "I'm kind of in the middle of something over here."
"(Y/N) needs you."
"Why?! What's going on?" Bucky replied with an immediately urgent voice, making much faster ends of his targets and no longer caring about Steve's no-kill preference. "Is she okay?"
"She's gonna be fine, Buck. She's just in a lot of pain and-"
"Tell her I'm on the way." He broke into a sprint, reaching you within minutes that felt like hours to both of you. When he arrived at the jet, you were sitting on the small table at it's center, with Steve kneeling in front of you as he wrapped a bandage around your leg. Each movement of his hand made you wince aloud, and Bucky responded by hurrying to your side. "What happened?"
"I'm an idiot," you groaned, trying to not kick the Captain in the face as you jumped in pain, "I got in the way and took a hit from the shield."
"You got lucky," Steve replied, "if you had been any closer to me, your leg would've been shattered. You're probably going to need surgery as it is to straighten the bones. You'll be on leave for months."
"Don't worry, doll. I'll take care of you." Bucky carefully climbed up on the table next to you and wrapped his arm around your waist, allowing you to rest your head against him. He took one of your hands into his metal one, giving it to you to grasp while Steve continued his work. "Breathe, baby," he whispered into your hair so that he wouldn't have to watch what his friend was doing to you, "just breathe through it."
"I'm sorry, I pulled you out of the fight. Buck, you can go, I'm okay." You tried to release him and push yourself up, but he wouldn't release you. Instead, he turned to pull you closer and into a kiss just as Steve gave your leg a quick pull to straighten it. Your scream of pain was muffled, and his hold tightened in response.
Tony burst through the jet door as your yell echoed through it, stepping out of the suit and hurrying to your side but stopping short at the sight of Bucky attached to your lips.
"Uh, maybe I missed the memo," he asked quizzically with a point around the room, "but is this how we're administering pain meds now? Because if so, I'm not okay with the male to female ratio being this far off."