The Mimic

92

Aunt May was in shock. It was almost six in the morning, and there were two Avengers in her apartment. (Well, there were three, but she didn't know about Peter yet.) She wished that she'd dressed a little better for the occasion, but she wasn't really expecting them to turn up. There was too much to process. How did y/n even know her name? "Uh... Hi?" She responded, standing frozen in the kitchen. May had her hair up in rollers, a nice robe wrapped around herself and a pair of slippers to top off the look. She was planning on having a relaxing morning before work started, but she guessed that wasn't happening now. She had a spatula in one hand, and a glass of orange juice in the other. "Anyone want breakfast?" She asked, gesturing toward the frying pan where bacon and eggs were sizzling away. 

"Ooo, yes please!" Y/n smiled, finally letting go of Bucky's hand once they were inside. Peter had told her all about Aunt May, so it almost felt normal to talk to her. She'd forgotten that they'd never actually met. "Go help Peter grab all the things he needs, I'll set things up out here." She cooed to Bucky, rolling her eyes at his grumpy face. "Go. Or I'll tell Sam all the corny things you say to me." She lightly threatened, pressing a kiss to Bucky's cheek before she watched him walk away. Y/n smiled as she made her way into the kitchen, clearing all the things off of the dining table so they could work there. "Don't worry about him, he's not as grumpy as he looks." She grinned, looking up to see May still frozen in place. Y/n's eyes widened in realisation, her face falling slightly in surprise. "Oh, right! We've never met! I'm y/n, and that's Bucky. We know Peter through his internship at Stark industries. He's a good kid." Y/n hummed happily. God, nobody would even notice that she'd only had a few hours of sleep.

Bucky sighed as he strolled into Peter's room, leaning against the doorway as he watched the kid rush around. He should probably be helping, but he didn't want to. "I can't believe you dragged me into this." He frowned, rubbing his eyes tiredly. He was looking forward to having a nice sleep once they got back to the compound, but that didn't seem to be a possibility now. Peter's eyes widened slightly as Bucky accused him. "Hey, I didn't ask for your help! It was y/n that persisted." He huffed, dropping a bunch of random materials into Bucky's arms. Peter was right, it was mostly y/n's fault, but Bucky didn't want to blame her. "Well, you know how she gets when she thinks she can help. It's still your fault." He argued, the pair bickering like children. 

It didn't take long for them all to be sat or stood around the table. Y/n was half-focusing on her breakfast, half-focusing on the project. She had no clue what Peter was making, it was far too science-y for her or Bucky to understand. They didn't really have projects like this back in their day. God, that made them sound so old. Y/n was still getting used to the modern world, usually she just went along with what everyone else did, but there were still things that baffled her. A prime example of that was the first time she saw a pair of light up sketchers. It was almost as if her mind had exploded, which was funny because she'd been exposed to technology that was far more advanced than that. But they looked so fun. She was desperate to get her own, but Tony refused to buy them. 

Bucky was slowly beginning to warm up to everything, helping Peter with whatever he could. Now that he'd had his coffee and eaten something, he was beginning to feel a little more awake. Plus, as much as he didn't like the kid, he didn't want to see him fail. But, his main focus was y/n. It was nice to see her so determined with the project, and, he'd never admit it, but it was quite nice seeing her in a homely environment. It sounded weird, but the compound never gave off 'home' vibes. It was too big, too empty. He'd never thought that he'd want to completely settle down, but seeing y/n like this was just... He didn't know how to explain it. But, he didn't know if y/n thought the same. She wanted to travel the world, she wanted to fight, he doubted she'd want to settle in a house in the suburbs. 

However, he was quickly ripped away from his thoughts by May waving a hand in front of his face. "You're staring, bud." She grinned, picking up his empty plate to take over to the sink. Bucky felt his cheeks begin to heat up, his yes wide in surprise as he quickly look away from y/n, not wanting her to notice. Aunt May sat down beside Bucky once she'd put the plate down, a fond smile on her face as she watched Peter and y/n work on the project. "You're head over heels, aren't you?" She grinned, keeping her voice low so the other two couldn't hear her, but the music was loud enough anyway. Bucky turned to face May with a shocked look on her face, surprised that she'd even said that. They didn't even know each other. "Is it that obvious?" He asked, almost whispering. He couldn't be that obvious, could he? Bucky always thought he was good at hiding his emotions. "Oh, so obvious." May laughed, taking a sip of her coffee. "You should tell her." She hummed. It was obvious she was used to having this sort of talk with Peter, but she never expected to be giving dating advice to an Avenger. Bucky quickly shook his head, a shocked look on his face. "No, I can't do that. She'd probably just make fun of me for it." He rushed out, his cheeks an obvious shade of red. Aunt May raised her eyebrows, leaning back in her chair as she looked at Bucky. "Oh please, she looks at you with the same lovey-dovey eyes." She smiled. God, they were both Avengers, yet love was still the scariest thing for them.

But, maybe May was right. Maybe Bucky should tell y/n that he loved her. It was a big leap. A big leap. But what if it was time to make that jump?