Lost and Found - Bucky Barnes x OC

The Cavalry

A/N - here we go! Finally get somewhere...excuse the long chapter but a lot goes down!

**

Frankie was on the worst date of her life, and that was saying something.

It was 9pm and she sat in a booth with Dexter the App Guy, in a chic cocktail bar. She had made a big effort – shedding her daily overalls for a short figure hugging black dress, it cinched in at her small waist and flattered her large bosom and wide hips – drawing attention to her hourglass figure. She'd paired it with black Mary Jane heels and silver jewellery. Her black hair had been curled and styled rather than left to dry naturally like she usual. She had spent ages on her make-up too, carefully applying her winged eyeliner and a touch of pink lipstick alongside her carefully blended foundation and blush.

Although never the most confident woman in the room, Frankie knew she scrubbed up well when she wanted to – enjoying the rare opportunities to glam up and embrace her femininity. People often thought of her as a tomboy, but in truth she never saw herself as that easily defined. She felt just as much herself in dresses as she did her work boots. Women contain multitudes, after all.

Dexter had looked at her approvingly when she arrived, taking her jacket and ordering her an Old-Fashioned from the waiter as she had requested. He was cute in person, short blonde hair, very clean cut and all-American looking. 

It had all gone quickly downhill after that. Their flirty back and forth over text messages had seemingly disappeared completely. After taking brief sanctuary in the bathroom, Frankie even went back over their messages to check she hadn't imagined the version of Dexter she'd expected to meet.

He barely let her speak, droning on about his job in Finance and how hard he worked, how much money he made, how hard it was to make your mark nowadays. He rarely asked her questions and if he did, she could see him waiting for his turn to speak again. He kept putting a clammy hand over her thigh as he spoke, which made her skin crawl. She felt annoyed that she had been so excited to finally meet him and it was all such a let-down.

Frankie struggled with dating. She attracted men alright but many of them were put off by her job...or just her. One jealous ex hated that she spent all day working with other men, so he didn't last long. Other dates had felt intimidated by the fact she ran her own business and were strangely competitive, asking about how much money she made or trying to prove their car knowledge to her. She had no patience for ego stroking, and didn't like people who felt they had something to prove. She had been told she was too opinionated, too quick to chastise. It seemed she was too much in one way or another.

She was only half paying attention to Dexter's latest monologue, wondering if she should just be upfront and telling him she wasn't feeling it – but often men like Dexter didn't respond well to that, no matter how polite you were. She umm-ed and ahh-ed about her next move as Dexter suddenly used the term "woke brigade", which caused her to visibly eyeroll. He didn't seem to notice.

Frankie's phone started buzzing in her handbag. Picking up the device, she saw a number she didn't recognise lighting up the screen. Normally she would never be so rude as to answer a call on a date, but this was exactly the respite she needed.

'So sorry to be rude' she said to Dexter mournfully 'but I need to take this in case it's work'.

He laughed. 'Do you get many mechanic emergencies at 9pm on a Saturday then?'.

She shot him a strained half smile. 'Oh, you'd be surprised'.

'Frankie here' she said into the receiver, moving away from the booth and hovering near the bar.