Electric / Steve Rogers x OC x Bucky Barnes ✓

Chapter 156: Keeping the Outfit

BUCKY

I'm standing at the bar when Madeline and Tony puts on that ridiculous theme-song Steve used to perform to in the 40's. 

I watch how mortified he is and it makes me chuckle as I take a sip of my drink. 

He always hated that song. He hated that uniform, too. 

I remember him telling me how he felt like a dancing monkey for them - how he didn't get to do any of the stuff he really wanted to. 

I also remember asking him if he was keeping the outfit. And I remember how annoyed he got, but I also remember how that outfit was simply too hilarious and how I wasn't ever going to let him live it down, no matter what. 

Of course, none of that really matters anymore. I was taken by Hydra before I ever really got a chance to make fun of him. 

I remember all of that despite Hydra's programming, but I mainly remember because of the work Shuri did on my brain. 

All of those memories feel fresh and vivid to me - I remember being in the bar with him before going to war. I also remember seeing his face as Peggy walked in. 

Those memories aren't foreign, or old, to me. They're still fresh and new. Sometimes I'll look at him, or something in our surroundings, and I'll get hurled right back to the 1940's. But I also know none of it is real. 

I know he didn't want that title, back then. Well, yes, he wanted it, he wanted to fight in the war. And he eventually got to do that. But for a long time he didn't get to be the hero he was made to be, he had to do a lot of things to get there. For a long time he didn't get to fight the battles he wanted to. 

But now he does, even though it's so different from back then. Back in the 40's we went to war, we were fighting one particular enemy. Right now it feels like we'll never stop fighting. There's always a new enemy, there's always someone else. 

And ever since New York it's not just people we need to look out for - ever since then it's become clear that there are bigger forces at play, stronger enemies to worry about. 

But at least he's happy now. And I am too. 

And even though it feels like I'm always fighting, kind of like it did with Hydra, at least right now I also get the time in between. I don't just go straight from fight to fight. I get to live my life, I get to be with the people I love, during the time that I'm not fighting. 

I watch Steve's expression carefully and I can tell he's already thinking of all the ways to punish Maddie later for this. It makes me chuckle again. 

When she practically skips excitedly over to me by the bar I smirk at her, "You know you just got yourself in trouble, right?" 

"I know!" She answers cheerfully with a grin on her face, "I can't wait." 

I raise a brow at her as she orders a drink, and when she smirks back at me I narrow my eyes a bit, "What do you have planned?" 

"Nothing," she replies innocently, "Nothing at all. I'm just having fun, enjoying my birthday. You need to stop being so serious, Buck." 

She nudges my shoulder gently and grabs her drink. My eyes follow her movements and when I see her walking up to Thor to talk, I shake my head lightly. 

Oh, she's definitely up to something. 

...

It only takes a few minutes of Maddie talking to Thor for me to realize that I was right about her being up to something. 

I've been watching her like a hawk ever since our interaction because I was sure she was going to stir up trouble. 

And when I see her drag Thor onto the dance floor, I know I was right. 

Steve walks up next to me as I'm leaning against the bar.

"She's doing this on purpose," he says as he watches her and Thor dance, leaning against the bar just like I am. 

"I know she is," I reply as I take a sip of my drink, watching her above the rim of my glass. When I see her glance to the both of us, smirking, I chuckle, "Yeah, she is definitely doing this on purpose." 

Steve takes a sip of his own drink as he watches them dance before he calmly says, "She's expecting a reaction out of you." 

I glance at him quickly, "She's expecting a reaction out of the both of us," before I turn back to watching her and Thor on the dance floor. 

Steve turns his body towards me slightly, "You gonna live up to her expectations?" 

"Yes," I say as I take another sip, watching them intently, "Just not in the way she wants." 

... 

After a while, Maddie finishes her dancing with Thor, and the party has started to die down a bit. 

She walks over to Steve and I at the bar, grinning at the both of us.

"Did you have fun?" Steve asks as he hands her a drink.

"Yes!" She replies, giggling before taking a sip of the drink, "Thor's a good dancer." 

"I'm sure he is," I reply as I watch her, my eyes boring into hers. I watch her from above the rim of the glass as I take another sip of my drink, and I see her smirk at my reaction. 

When I don't say anything else, she cocks a brow at me teasingly, "Oh, sorry. Did you guys mind me dancing with another guy?" She looks between Steve and I as she says it. 

I shrug, "Not at all. You're free to do whatever you want, doll." 

She furrows her brows in response, narrowing her eyes at me, "Oh really? So that didn't bother you? At all?" 

"Nope," I say before taking another sip, "Do whatever you want." 

She eyes me suspiciously as I say it before turning her sights to Steve, "Is he mad at me?" 

Steve chuckles, "He's not mad, sweetheart. He's just being supportive." 

She looks back at me, the crease between her brows growing deeper, "I don't believe that." 

I chuckle deeply, "You don't have to. Do whatever you want tonight, it's your birthday. And then we'll see if you made me upset by the end of the night, when we all go back to our room." I smirk at her, taking another sip of my drink as I finish my sentence. 

Her eyes widen slightly, "I don't know what that means." 

I smile smugly, "Maybe not. But you will, doll."