Save Us First (Bucky)

14

Ivy and Bucky tried to spend every free second with each other, even though it was really hard to do that without anyone noticing.
Especially on New Year's Eve, when they had to kiss secretly, in a dark corner away from the others, but they both enjoyed each other's company too much to even really care.

It was a cold march day, a few days before bucky's birthday, in the morning, they were sitting in the kitchen with Loki, Steve and Nat, having breakfast.
Sometimes he secretly took her hand for a second, and every time she had to bite her cheek not to smile like an idiot.
"Soo...what's the plan for today?", Ivy said slowly and looked at Steve.
"We're gonna prepare for the new mission. It's big. Could take months to complete. You need to train, Ivy. We need you, okay?", he said and looked at his watch.
"Yeah, I know. I'm training literally every day Steve", she said and rolled her eyes.
Bucky chuckled.

The last time they should've trained together had ended with them making out in the gym locker room. Not exactly productive. But he had taught her a lot of his knife tricks and some ways to take out guys way bigger than her.
Steve stood up and grabbed his jacket.
"Meeting in 20 minutes. And I want you all there, okay? All of you."
"Yeah, alright", Bucky said, Loki rolled his eyes but nodded and Nat got up.
"I'll come with you right away."

When they had left, Loki stood up and sat on the counter, with a grin.
"Soo, since when are you two together?"
Ivy almost choked on her cereal and Bucky coughed.
"W-what?"
"Oh come on. I'm like - the OG liar. And I know you really well, Ivy. You can't hide something like that from your best friend. I've been suspecting it for like two months now."
"Damn it. Mischievous scamp", Bucky said grinning and Ivy giggled.

"Well, now that you know we can stop pretending", she said and lay her head on Bucky's shoulder.
"And to answer the question: since Christmas."
"And you haven't told me yet? I'm very disappointed my dear", Loki smirked and she threw a fork after him, which he caught and threw back.
Ivy squeaked, but before it could hit her, Bucky's vibranium arm suddenly appeared in front of her face and caught it.
"Not gonna let anything happen to you, doll", he said with a smile, and she gave him a kiss.
Loki smiled.

"What, no 'hurt her and I'll kill you'?", Bucky asked.
"Oh, I thought we were clear about that", Loki said and winked at her.
She winked back and he jumped off the counter.
"But I want you to be happy, and if he makes you happy, then good for you."
Ivy stood up and gave him a hug.
"Thanks, Loki. I knew I could count on you."
"Don't be too sure, love", he said with a smile, and then left the room.

Ivy sat down next to Bucky again and leaned her forehead against his.
"Well, now it's already three people who know", he said.
"Honestly, I don't even give a fuck anymore. We've been doing this for months now ", she mumbled, and he smiled.
"I know you don't give a fuck."
"Do you?"
"No."
"Should we tell them, then?", she asked.
He started playing with her hair and gave her a kiss.

"I don't know. I don't think we need to talk about it. We're both old enough to sleep with anyone we want."
"I know, but...is that all we are?", she said softly, and he shook his head, taking her face into his hands.
"No, doll. We're way past that", he smiled, and she chuckled.
"So I'm your girlfriend, Barnes?"
"Maybe. And we don't have to explain that to anyone. We can just stop hiding it if you want to", he said and she kissed him again.

"Good. 'Cause I'm totally in love with you and it's getting really hard to hide it."
"Same. I'd love to show you how much, but we have to go to the meeting, doll", he murmured.
"Well, maybe you should take your hands off my thighs then", she mumbled and kissed him.
Bucky growled and pulled her closer, gently biting her bottom lip.
She smiled into the kiss, stroked over his face for a second and then let go of him.
"Come on, love. We'll continue afterwards."
"You promise?", he said and looked at her with his big blue puppy eyes.
She sighed and gave him another kiss.
"God, you're so adorable. Yes, baby, I promise."
"Okay. Then let's go."

-
"Ivy, did you take your meds today?"
Steve's voice woke her up from a daydream and she blushed.
"Uhm...no actually. I-I forgot."
"Okay. Then here's the short version: Hydra is now actually, pfficially back and they will probably try to come for us. We will split up in teams and follow clues. Okay so far?"
She nodded.
"Thank you", she said and meant it.
"I'm sorry, I'm confused", Peter said and looked at her.
"Meds? And what has that to do with her not listening?"
"She has adhd, kid", Tony said impatiently and waved his hand.
"She sometimes zones out when she forgets to take her meds. Not her fault. And we're mostly used to it. Go on, Steve."

Peter nodded and gave Ivy a look that said 'sorry for asking'.
She just smiled at him, showing that it was okay and she didn't really care.
Bucky reached into his pocket and suddenly pulled out her ritalin.
"You left in on the counter. I wasn't sure if you'd already taken it", he whispered.
Ivy looked at him surprised, then she gave him a kiss.
"Thank you."
She grabbed her water bottle, took the tiny white pill and then noticed that everyone was looking at them.
Well, Loki, Steve and Nat immediately shifted their attention back to the mission, Tony, Peter, Sam and Thor just stared at them.
Then, Sam slowly opened his hand and Thor pulled a 10$ bill out of his pocket that he gave him grinning.

"You guys placed bets on us being a couple?", Ivy said laughing and Bucky shook his head, grinning.
"Yeah, I've been suspecting it for like two weeks now", Sam said and Bucky chuckled.
"Well actually we've kind of been a thing since christmas, so...y'all are late."
Peter smiled like a kid whose parents got back together after a long break and Tony just said:
"You guys serious?"
"I - we don't know yet..it's..still kinda fresh...we're taking it slow", Ivy stammered and noticed how Bucky next to her got really tense and shifted in his seat.
He furrowed his brows and she saw his jaw muscle moving.
Damn. He was obviously hurt.
Again. She panicked and said something wrong and now he would be mad at her and they would lose what they had.
As always.

"Can we focus back on the mission?", Steve said annoyed, Bucky nodded and Ivy tried to listen to what he explained, but most of it was a blur.
She would ask him later about it.
But before that she would have to talk to James.