Eunoia [Bucky Barnes]

chapter 1

Ava first made friends with Steve and Bucky when she arrived in Brooklyn four years ago. It had been a definite change to her quieter lifestyle, and she was grateful that the two boys had attempted to make her feel welcome. The three quickly became an inseparable trio and would spend their days walking around the dirty streets or wandering after Steve, as he would try again and again to be listed for the war. It would often cause Steve to be picked on after the humiliation of being turned away, which is where Bucky would step in.

Another friend Ava had made, simply by bumping into each other in the street on their way home from work, was Peggy. Peggy had also shown Ava the ropes for living in Brooklyn, and had even offered Ava a new job as an assistant at the SSR, which was accepted quickly. Working at the SSR turned out to be exactly where Ava had dreamed of working all her life. She listened in on talks about past, present and future projects, including one which she found most exciting, the Super Soldier serum.

In the evening, the trio would always try to spend time with each other if work had taken up most of their day. As Ava jogged up the steps to Steve and Bucky's apartment, she quickly knocked on the door before letting herself in.

"Hey, Steven, I'm back." Ava spoke into the mostly quiet hallway. When there was no immediate answer, she took her hair out of the tight bun and shook her head slightly, running her fingers through the few knots that had formed. Ava then knelt to untie her shoelace, before a thud accompanied by a small yelp was heard from behind her.

"Avalanche, if it ain't my favourite girl!"

Ava turned around to see the cocky smile she knew all too well, staring up at her from the floor.

"It's good to see you too, Bucky." She laughed softly as she leaned down to mess up the man's hair, moving through to the next room to see what Steve had planned for the itinerary that night. A moment later a less disgruntled looking Bucky joined them before falling into a seat at the kitchen table.

"So I was thinking a movie, seeing as we haven't seen one in a while.." Steve started trailing off to meet the eyes of his friends to see if they agreed.

"Yeah, definitely. It would be nice to do something relaxing for a change." Ava agreed, as she eyed Bucky in the seat across from her where he simply raised an eyebrow and shrugged away her dig at his past ideas of a fun night out.

"I hate to disappoint you two but I'm going to have to give this one a miss." Bucky looked away sheepishly as he waited for the conversation to continue.

"What? Why?" Steve questioned, frowning at the sudden change of plan.

"I got a hot date, these days that's kinda rare so I had to take the chance, I'm sure you understand." Bucky answered, and shrugged once again like it wasn't a big deal.

"Yeah, I guess." Steve replied and went to score out Bucky's name on the piece of paper in front of him to find the new total of the tickets. "As long as Ava's okay with it." Bucky's eyes moved now to look at the brunette who had sat quietly in her seat.

"Yeah, of course it's fine, why wouldn't it be?" Ava stared back and flicked her eyes between the boys so to see their reaction.

"Well, it's just.. you know.. when Steve once cancelled to go on a date, you were kinda upset that he'd set it on our usual evening." Bucky answered her as he tried not to make eye contact.

"You set me up on that don't-" Steve started before Bucky lifted a finger, telling him to stop.

"Yeah, well, things happen, I guess. I can't expect everyone to always be free." Ava managed a small smile at a grateful looking Bucky.