The Bet

Chapter 2: February

"Hell yea! And another bites the dust." You say as you erase your old number and write down thirty-eight. "Look at that Barnes. Thirty-eight, twenty-five. Y/l/n." You laugh.

"Well, I hate to break it to ya, but I'm about to go on a mission with Steve. A big one too. I predict that I'll take down at least... oh I don't know... twenty agents. Give or take." Bucky playfully smirks at you.

You narrow your eyes as he blows you a kiss and walks out of the room. "Damn it." You say under your breath.

*-*-*

Two days later, you walk into the conference room for a meeting and see the score board has, in fact, changed. "Ooo. Look at that." You feel someone behind you and recognize the voice to be Bucky's. "Forty-eight, thirty-eight, Barnes." He whispers behind your ear.

You softly elbow him, making him chuckle. You sit down, and Bucky sits across from you. The two of you say nothing as everyone starts to filter in.

"Alright." Steve says once everyone enters. "I called this meeting to say that y/n and Bucky need to call off this bet."

"Absolutely not." You and Bucky say in unison.

"Bucky nearly got shot because he was counting how many agents he was taking down." Steve says.

"But he didn't get shot." Fury says as he walks into the room.

"Fury it's a matter of their safety." Steve says.

"He didn't get hurt so what's the damn problem soldier?" Fury raises his voice.

Steve sighs deeply, "They're going to get themselves killed because of this stupid bet."

"Then they'll get killed taking down agents." Fury says.

"We'll be fine Steve." You say. Steve turns his gaze to you. His eyes soften. "I don't want you to get killed." He says.

Bucky notices the way Steve looks at you. A grin tugs at the corner of his mouth. "Why Steve?" Bucky asks. Steve looks at him.

"Why are you so concerned about her well-being. You had faith in her before this bet. Now you want her to call it off. Why?" Bucky asks.

"It's distracting her—both of you." Steve says.

"Well I hate to break it to you soldier, but y/n has a solo mission she needs to go suit up for. Right. Now." Fury says.

Steve looks at Fury with pleading eyes. "She's gonna get herself killed." Steve says.

"She can handle herself." Bucky says.

"She'll be fine Steve. She knows how to fight." Nat says.

"Yea she took your ass down. And Bucky's." Sam says.

"Okay hold on. I let her win." Bucky defends. You snort a laugh. "Sure you did." Bucky rolls his eyes.

"Go suit up y/l/n." Fury says. You stand up and look at Steve. "I'll be fine Rogers." You say.

Before you leave the room, you look at everyone and salute to them.

*-*-*

You weakly open your eyes and see a bright light. "Ah what the hell?" You groan and look to your right to see a bunch of machines. You look to your left and see Nat asleep.

"Nat." You whisper. Nothing. "Natasha." You say a bit louder. Still nothing.

"Hey you're awake." Steve says as he walks into the room. "What happened?" You ask.

"You got shot in the abdomen. It was through and through." Steve says. Nat slowly opens her eyes.

"How long was I out for?" You ask.

"Only two days. This is what I was talking about y/n. You need to call off this bet with Bucky." Steve says.

You slowly nod and look at Natasha. "I took down thirteen." You softly whisper. She smirks and stands up to leave the room and write your new number down.

"The bet will end next year." You say. Steve rubs the back of his neck before walking away.

A few minutes later, Bucky peeks in. "Hey doll." He says with a smile.

"I'm at fifty-one." You say with a smile.

"Wow. You're ahead by three. Such a huge accomplishment." He says as he sits down in the chair Nat was in.

"Hey I got shot. Have some sympathy." You say.

Bucky reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a bag of m&m's. "This is my sympathy." He says as he softly tosses you the bag.

"You're the best." You say as you open the bag and pop an m&m in your mouth. "I love you so much." You mumble.

"Are you talking to me or the candy?" Bucky asks.

"My answer will probably disappoint you." You say with a frown. Bucky chuckles and steals an m&m from you.