Found ⭑ A Bucky Barnes Love Story

32 - Woah, easy there, tiger

*Timeline where Bucky and Nat trained together in the red room*

Bucky cleared his throat and kept his eyes fixed on the floor. "Tony."

Tony drew his lips into a tight smile and clapped his hands together, rubbing them quickly and then leaning back on the balls of his feet. He swirled his finger out in front of him and wore a smug grin, "So, this is your little friend?" He gestured to Hazel, who was clinging onto Bucky like a koala. Tony shoved his hands into his pockets and began to move eagerly from foot to foot.

"Should, should I say friend?" His grin grew and he raised an eyebrow. "Because wow, that is hella friendly right there. You seeing this Romanoff?" He tilted his chin up and slightly to the right, directing his voice to the quickly approaching ginger.

"Apart from you harassing our guests no, I don't see anything," she adjusted her collar as she neared Bucky. After exchanging a warm smile with him, she ushered the man to the second level of the complex, desperate to get him and Hazel somewhere where they could relax.

The compound was full of twists and turns. It had taken Natasha months to memorize the entire layout of the place, even after spending days back to back in its facilities. She guided the couple up a ramp and then around a corner, taking them up a flight of stairs and then through a long hallway, before reaching a shiny silver elevator that would take them to the second level.

She glanced over at Bucky and decided to finally make conversation.

"So, how you been holding up, Barnes?" She spoke in a slightly gravelly voice.

Bucky blinked quickly and cleared his throat. "Well," he adjusted his arms to hold Hazel better, slightly grunting as he hoisted her up. "We've had better days," he exhaled and watched as Hazel's arms relaxed around his shoulders.

Natasha smiled warmly, lips parted as she watched on in awe. Bucky had trained her back in the red room, back when they were young and naive. He was the person she'd known the longest and in all the years she'd been around him, she'd never, ever witnessed him holding something so gently and with so much love. For years, he didn't trust himself. He wouldn't even allow himself to touch Natasha with his metal arm, and here he was, holding a girl.

"What?" Bucky knitted his eyebrows together and studied Natasha's expression.

"We?" She smirked and raised an eyebrow, watching how protectively Bucky held the small girl. "Cute." She elbowed him lightly, careful not to disturb Hazel.

"Who? Me? Her? Both of us? Don't just throw that word around without clarifying, Nat." He spoke in a tone more defensive than intended. Natasha widened her eyes and held her hands up in front of her body.

"Woah, easy there, tiger. What do you think I meant."

"I don't know," he rolled his eyes and then stopped walking abruptly, cocking his head to the side and staring down at Natasha, "that's why I asked."

"Usually," he leaned to the side in expression, "when someone asks a question," he leaned to the other side this time, trying to get his point across without using his arms which, were becoming numb, "it's because they don't know," he straightened back up. 

"Please could we just get this over and done with, my arms are getting numb and she's going to wake up," he muttered.

"We're almost there." She exhaled and fixed her ponytail quickly before dropping her arms to her sides, "And, I meant this," she swirled her finger out in front of her and grinned.

"This?" Bucky groaned and tilted his head back in annoyance, shuffling on his feet.

"You and the girl, dipshit."