Doll and James

Is Barnes with you?

"Where exactly are we going?" Bucky asked, looking out the window and at the part of town he'd never been to before. At least not in this century.

"We're picking up some stuff for William," Lana explained casually, shifting the gears of the Audi she had borrowed from her dad, who probably wouldn't even notice.

"Hey, I know that building! That was there last time I was here!" Bucky exclaimed suddenly, turning his upper body towards the window to look at the old building.

"And last time you were here was?" Lana asked, smiling at his happiness.

"Around 1940, I guess. And even then it was pretty shit. A wonder they haven't knocked it down yet," he added, leaning back into his seat.

"I think it's kind of pretty," Lana disagreed with a slight shrug, not wanting to take her eyes off the road for too long. The car's control screen lit up and emitted noise, signalling a call to Lana's phone, which automatically had connected to the system. Bucky immediately reached inside his jacket, ready to protect the pair.

"Relax, it's just my phone," she told Bucky gently, glancing worriedly at him. He swallowed and nodded, but didn't utter a word. She sent him one last look before accepting the call on the steering wheel.

"Hello?" she said, unable to recognise the number. It wasn't a contact in her phone.

"Hey, it's me, Natasha," Natasha greeted casually; "I got your number from Jarvis."

"Oh, that's fine," Lana replied, trying to sound peppy.

"I know we haven't really had a chance to talk properly yet with everything that's been going on, but I figured now's the chance. Any chance you'd want to get ready for the party Friday together?" she suggested, sounding hopeful, no doubt having decided to keep her guard down in a gesture of friendliness instead of her usual emotionless tone.

"That's so sweet, but I'm not really going to be dressing up," Lana replied apologetically.

"You're not?" Bucky joined in, looking at her confused.

"Is Barnes with you?" Natasha asked, sounding annoyingly sly.

"Uh, yeah, he's helping me with some stuff. And I wasn't really planning on dressing up, but I'd definitely be down to hang sometime," Lana told happily, trying to ignore Bucky's stare.

"Great! It's a date, then," Natasha agreed, saying a quick goodbye before hanging up. Lana tried ignoring Bucky's fastened look on her as she parked the car in the big car park. Quickly, the heavy boxes were placed in the back of the car and they were back on the road, only a few minutes from William's place.

"What?!" Lana finally asked, growing tired of the eyes constantly focused on her.

"What the hell did you mean you aren't dressing up?" Bucky asked immediately.

"I thought I explained it pretty well," Lana mentioned with a slight shrug.

"I think you should dress up," Bucky decided. Lana rolled her eyes and turned the blinker on, making a left shortly after.

"Why?" she challenged.

"It's a party," he just said.

"I know that, but five seconds ago you did not care about said party. Why do you care if I dress up?" she asked annoyed. Bucky shrugged, crossing his arms in front of his chest and looking solemnly out the side window in a highly dramatic manner.

"I'm serious, James. Why do you care?" Lana repeated.

"I don't," he claimed quickly.

"Make up your mind, you weirdo," she scoffed, catching sight of the right building.