The Mimic

100

"Yeah, just land it right here."

Y/n had managed to convince Natasha to pick Peter up on the way back to the compound. Bucky had promised the kid that they'd pick him up after school, and he didn't want to break that. Especially after seeing how Flash took every chance he could to bully Peter. Only he and Sam could bully Peter, nobody else. It was definitely a weird sight to see, y'know, a quinjet casually landing in front of the school. But, it was normal for the team. They didn't seem to care at all.

Y/n and Bucky stepped out of the quinjet, both still covered in gooey alien guts. It was gross, very gross, but they'd gotten used to it. Well, as used to it as they could be. Y/n was still complaining about her wet socks. "It's your fault for taking your shoes off! You can't blame anyone but yourself for that." Bucky chuckled, holding onto y/n's hand as they strolled closer to the school. She still had no shoes on. There were spares on the ship, but y/n called it a 'violation' to wear shoes with wet socks. "Yes I can! I can blame Tony! He was the one that made the boots. Maybe if they weren't so uncomfortable, I wouldn't have taken them off." Y/n hummed with a smug smile, proud that she'd found a loophole. Bucky raised his eyebrows, glancing over at y/n with a fond smile. "No, you would've taken them off either way. I know you, you're stupid. You never take missions seriously." He teased, gently elbowing her in the side just to annoy her. Bucky loved the fact that y/n never took missions seriously. It made them fun. Plus, if it ever came down to something serious, y/n would actually focus , but on smaller missions it was always fun. The amount of little arguments she caused over the earpieces was amazing. He'd never forget the time where they had a mission in a library, and y/n and Sam read through a joke book whilst fighting. The jokes were terrible, absolutely terrible, but the fact that they were reading it just made it funny. They even got the bad guys involved when it came to the knock knock jokes. There was nothing Bucky could do but adore y/n. He wanted to tell her how much he loved her. It didn't need to be a grand gesture. Just something sweet. Maybe he could find some time alone with her once they arrived back at the compound. 

Peter had the shock of his life when he walked out of school. He'd had a long day, and didn't actually expect y/n and Bucky to pick him up. But, there they were. They were covered in something gross, and y/n had no shoes on, but they were there! "Hey, I'll call you later!" Peter exclaimed to Ned, who was walking right beside him. He didn't even wait for a response as he begun to jog toward y/n and Bucky, a confused smile on his face. "Do I want to ask?" He asked with a laugh, motioning to the blue goop that was practically dripping off of the pair. 

Bucky shook his head with a chuckle, moving so Peter could walk in the middle of himself and Bucky. "No, no you don't." He hummed, beginning to walk back to the quinjet. Y/n dug her hand into her pocket as she walked, pulling out Peter's earphones. "Oh, these are yours. I borrowed them." She hummed, holding out the alien-gut covered earphones for Peter to take. At least they weren't broken, though! Well, y/n wasn't sure if they were broken or not. They had been in her pocket for a long time. 

Peter stared over at his earphones with a grimace. He reached out to take them, almost gagging at the disgusting texture of the goop. "Y'know what? You can keep them." He said with a forced smile, setting them back into y/n's hands. He quickly wiped his own hands on the sides of his jeans to get the goop off, grimacing at the sticky residue left on his hands. But, he quickly became distracted by needing to tell the pair everything about his day. Usually he told Aunt May, but this was too important to wait. "Oh! I got an 'A' on my project!" He exclaimed excitedly, beginning to ramble to the pair about how it went.

Y/n smiled fondly as she listened to Peter ramble, humming every now and again to make sure that Peter knew she was listening. She glanced up and over to Bucky, managing to catch his eyes. They both had the same warm grin, just happy to hear Peter so excited about the little details of his day. Bucky slowed his pace slightly, letting Peter walk ahead as he moved to take y/n's hand. He smiled, pressing a kiss to the side of her head as they walked together. "I love you..." He murmured, not even thinking about what he'd said until it was too late. His eyes widened, opening his mouth as if to explain himself. This wasn't how it was supposed to go, he was going to do something sweet for it.

But, y/n was smiling at Bucky, a finger on his lips to stop him from talking. It wasn't a teasing smile, it was a loving one. Almost as if she'd been thinking of saying the same thing. She didn't care that it wasn't how Bucky planned for it to go, she didn't care that they were covered in gunk, or outside of a high school. None of it mattered. The only thing that mattered was Bucky. He could confess his love in a dumpster and it would still mean everything to y/n. "I love you too." She admitted, her smile just seeming to widen.

Bucky's shocked look quickly turned into one of relief and happiness, moving to cup y/n's face in his hands. "Really?" He asked, not breaking eye contact once. He could feel is cheeks heating up as y/n nodded, god, he felt like a giddy teenager again. All of the adrenaline and excitement, all of the butterflies in his stomach, everything. He loved her. He loved y/n. Y/n loved him back. He felt like he was on cloud nine. 

Y/n watched Bucky with an adoring smile, resting her hands on his chest. She could help but laugh slightly at how giddy he looked, despite her feeling the exact same. "Come here." She grinned, pulling Bucky closer as she leaned in for a kiss. She could feel him melt into the kiss, slowly moving her arms up to wrap loosely around his neck. The pair kept accidentally breaking the kiss with their smiles, causing them to give up after a few moments. Y/n rested her forehead against Bucky's, a warm smile plastered across her face. "I love you, Bucky Barnes." She repeated in a whisper.