Agent Stark || BUCKY BARNES [1]

001 ― The First Meeting

1943 ― New York

Howard Stark was in his element, commanding the stage at one of his signature exposés, this time unveiling the latest of his innovations—a car that, if he had his way, would no longer require roads at all. The crowd gathered around him was thick with anticipation, murmurs of curiosity filling the air like static. Cameras flashed. Men in suits leaned forward. Women clutched their purses, eyes wide. And just beneath the glare of the stage lights, Holland Stark stood at the edge of it all, half in the shadows by choice.

Howard had wanted her up there beside him. She knew that. He always wanted her to be part of the spectacle, to lend the Stark legacy a polished unity. But Holland wasn't about to let herself be paraded in front of a crowd that would only whisper questions about her skin tone and wonder if she truly belonged. She had her pride, and she wasn't going to be humiliated just to feed her brother's ego.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Howard called out, his voice smooth and charismatic, "what if I told you that in just a few short years, your automobile wouldn't even have to touch the ground at all?" The audience gasped in unison, just as the women on stage moved to remove the wheels from the sleek prototype car. "With Stark Gravitic Reversion Technology," Howard continued, "you'll be able to do just that."

Holland rolled her eyes from the sidelines. Theatrics were Howard's favorite part. But even she had to admit, as the demonstration began and the car slowly began to rise off the ground, it was... impressive.

Then, from just behind her shoulder, she heard someone murmur, "Holy cow." She hadn't even realized someone was standing that close. Turning slightly, Holland's eyes landed on the speaker, and whatever irritation she felt melted away in an instant.

The uniform caught her attention first—she'd always had a soft spot for a man in uniform—but it was the man wearing it who held her gaze. His presence was easygoing, effortlessly charming, and his crooked smile struck her harder than she expected. For a beat too long, she simply stared.

Then she cleared her throat, snapping herself back into composure. "Don't get too impressed yet," she said. The man's eyes met hers with a mix of interest and amusement. Though he had clearly arrived with a date, his focus had shifted entirely. The moment she smiled, his own smile deepened. He took a step closer, pulled in like gravity itself had realigned.

"And why is that?" he asked.

Before she could answer, the sparks began. On stage, the source of the car's levitation started to sputter and glow erratically. Holland turned back just in time to see it malfunction. A loud pop echoed through the air, and then the car crashed unceremoniously to the floor.

She looked back at the soldier, a knowing smirk tugging at her lips. "That's why," she said with a soft laugh, unable to contain it.

James Buchanan Barnes watched her with something like awe. Her laughter lit something inside him he hadn't expected to find at a tech expo. He laughed with her, not because the failed demonstration was funny, but because she was.

"I did say a few years, didn't I?" Howard quipped from the stage, brushing off the failure with practiced charm. Holland rolled her eyes again, shaking her head as she continued to chuckle at her brother's antics.

"I'm James... Barnes," the soldier said, stepping in front of her now, his expression open and sincere. "But you can call me Bucky."

Her eyes flicked to his hand as he offered it, and she reached for it without hesitation. "Well... Bucky," she said, slipping her hand into his. "I'm Holland Stark. And unfortunately, yes—the idiot on stage is my big brother. We have the same father."