New Year's Day

Chapter 1

March 4th, 2015

I woke to the soft click of my bedroom door and the sound of heavy footsteps attempting to disguise themselves as far lighter than I knew them to be. Most days JARVIS would set off an alarm from the speakers in the ceiling corners of my room to wake me, but judging by the undeniably human sounds coming from a few feet away from my bed, I knew this could only be one person.

"Morning, doll," said a gruff voice. Bucky.

I groaned and slowly opened my eyes.

"What time is it? My alarm hasn't even gone off yet."

"Good to see you, too. It's 6:30, but I'm making you get up. We have a meeting with the team at 9 and I know how long you take to get ready."

"I do not take that long," I announced more defensively than I meant to. I rolled over and sat up to face him. He was standing just inside my door with his arms crossed and a wide grin on his face.

It's too fucking early for this.

"You know you do. Come on, get up and I'll make us both breakfast when you come downstairs" he answered, turning around to leave.

"You're the worst!" I huffed, grabbing one of the extra pillows from my bed and tossing it at his back.

He turned and caught the pillow before it could make contact, "You know you love me!" he said, tossing it back at me. He stepped back through the door and closed it, and I could hear his unintentionally loud stomps as he walked down the stairs toward the kitchen.

I grabbed my phone off the nightstand and scrolled through my messages. There was nothing too important, a few updates from friends, a message from my dad. That could definitely wait. Slowly I pulled myself out of bed and onto the cold hardwood of my bedroom floor, making my way into the bathroom. I winced when I saw my reflection- I looked like I hadn't slept in years. I turned on the sink and let the water stay cold, splashing some into my face in a last-ditch effort to look somewhat awake. Since we'd only be meeting with the team, I wasn't too concerned with how I looked, so I brushed my teeth, washed my face, and braided my hair before making my way over to my closet, where I threw on random leggings and a sweatshirt and made my way down the hall.

Right as I reached the staircase Bruce opened his door, looking far more tired than I did. Suddenly I didn't feel too bad.

"Morning, Bruce," I greeted him.

"Hey, kid," he yawned. "You going down already?"

"Yeah," I replied. "Bucky forced me to get up so I figured I might as well head down."

"I'll see you down there in a bit. I have to go over some things with Tony before we meet with the team."

"See you," I said wearily before making my way down the rest of the stairs.

At the bottom of the stairs, I could see Bucky through the living room sitting alone at the kitchen island, drinking his coffee. He must've heard me because he turned in his chair and smiled.

    "Glad to see you finally made it down," he joked. "I was starting to worry that you went back to bed."

    "Shut up," I retorted, "it's early."

    "I know, that's why I made you coffee," he said, pushing a mug in front of me as I sat down next to him.

    "How sweet," I smiled. He was nothing if not thoughtful. "Have any idea what this meeting is about?"

    "New mission next week. Tony and Bruce are pretty sure they located the scepter at some Hydra base in Sokovia."

I shivered. We'd been looking for the scepter since SHIELD fell last year, and it was a little bit of a sore subject amongst the team.