New Year's Day

Chapter 3

March 9th, 2015

"Are you excited to leave tomorrow?"

    Bucky and I were on the front lawn of the compound soaking up the sun. It was unnaturally warm for so early in March and seeing as we were already packed for Sokovia, there wasn't much else to do other than hang around the compound.

    "Doll, in the nicest way possible," he began, "that is the dumbest question ever."

    I scoffed and looked up at him. I was laying on my back in the grass, and he was sitting up next to me leaning back on his arms with his head raised toward the sun. His long hair blew slightly in the wind and I was mesmerized by the way his skin seemed to glow and sparkle in the mid-afternoon sun. Against my will I found my eyes lingering on his muscular figure.

    "I was joking, I know this is still a mission," I said, "but if you want to be that way," I swatted his arm, "then I just won't ask."

     We both laughed and sat in comfortable silence for a few more minutes, perfectly content in the manicured grass of the compound's lawn. Finally, Bucky said, "I've never really been to Europe."

    "What do you mean 'really'?" I asked, opening my eyes and turning towards him. He was already looking down at me.

    "Well, the first time I ever went was during World War 2, which was hardly a vacation.  Any time after that was while I was...," he trailed off. He didn't want to finish that sentence.

    "Well, sadly this mission won't be much different, but," I paused, "maybe we'll manage a trip someday when all this HYDRA business dies down," I said hopefully.

    There was sadness in his eyes. We never talked much about Bucky's time as The Winter Soldier. When he came to the compound, the whole point was for him to put the past behind him and move on. I wouldn't pressure him to talk about it unless he really wanted to.

    "Yeah," he managed a smile. "Maybe we will someday." Bucky laid down next to me and pointed his arm up into the sky.

"What do you think that cloud looks like?"

    I opened my eyes again and shielded them from the sun.

"Hmmm," I said, thoughtfully. "A cotton ball."

    "What!" he scoffed.

    "Yeah, it looks like a cotton ball."

    Bucky turned his face towards me, faking surprise. "You do understand that the purpose of cloud watching is to think outside the box, right?"

    "Well," I hummed, "what do you see, Mr. Barnes?"

    "It's a sheep, obviously."

    "Obviously?!"

    He let out a genuine laugh that vibrated into me where our arms touched and sent chills throughout my body. "Here," he said, grabbing my arm and pointing it to the sky with his, "let me show you."

    He took hold of my index finger and outlined the shape of the cloud, pointing out the head, body, and legs of the "sheep".

    "Okay, fine," I admitted, "then that one is a lion," I moved my arm directly above his face to block his eyes, pointing at nothing.

    "You know," he let on, moving my arm back to the grass and turning his face toward me, "I actually kind of see that."

    "Of course you do," I said matter-of-factly. "I am literally always right."

    He laughed again and laced his hand into mine, saying nothing. I blushed and smiled sheepishly, turning my head back toward the fluffy white clouds. I could feel his eyes on me, which only furthered the red hue spreading over my face.

    Oh my god. Butterflies.

    He stared at me thoughtfully for a moment, "If you say so, Alex."

We laid there for about 15 more minutes pointing out clouds, joking, and making ridiculous connections before he finally suggested we go back inside.

"If we stay out here any longer, we'll both look like tomatoes," he joked.

"Well, Buck, I don't know about you, but I wear sunscreen. I don't want to get too shriveled up when I'm old."

"I'm sure you'll age beautifully, doll."

I blushed again. Why did he have to be so flirtatious? I was flustered, but I wouldn't let him know that, so I sat up.

"That reminds me," I started, "you look really good for 98. What's your secret?" He laughed and regarded me for a second, finally standing up and offering me his metal hand.

    "I'll never tell," he winked and pulled me onto my feet.

    We walked inside together and joined the rest of the team, who were all sitting on couches in the living room watching Friends.

    "Ah! Lady Alex," Thor boomed, "Sir Bucky, please join us!"

    Bucky and I looked at each other sideways and muffled our laughs, walking over to join Steve on the largest couch.