Siren

A Misunderstanding

His date had been a disaster. The whole night had felt forced and while they initially had a bit of fun playing Battleship and drinking some beers there just wasn't a spark. Bucky had been surprised that Leah didn't seem to know who he really was and her questions about himself had him hesitant to answer if that was the case. How did one go about explaining his particular life story with someone who he didn't have any shared life experience with and be sure they'd not freak out? It had him thinking about how easy it had been with Juno from the beginning.

She'd already known about his past having been friends with Steve for years before she'd even met him and gotten the skinny about his life. Not to mention her job as a SHIELD agent and then Avenger gave her access to his files as the Winter Soldier. Even just being friends with her had been as easy as breathing. She had been right that day he'd first come back to New York with Steve after they'd officially been pardoned, her words almost seemed prophetic looking back.

Gracefully Juno sat in the chair next to the couch he'd plopped down on, loudly scooting it over until it was pressed right up against the side. Propping her elbow onto the armrest she rested her chin on her cupped palm and gave him the biggest doe eyes he'd ever seen. Pushing out her bottom lip in what he assumed she was going for was a cute pout had him suddenly looking at her mouth in a way he shouldn't be.

"Friends?" She asked, clearly wanting to make this easier on Steve by offering this olive branch. All Bucky could think about as she spoke that one word was if her lips were as soft as they looked.

Snapping back to himself after glancing up at Steve who was giving him a hopeful expression he rolled his eyes at her. He couldn't exactly just give in so Buck scooted down on the couch crossing his arms over his chest and tried to ignore her, but she wasn't easily ignorable. With a grin at their mutual friend who snapped their picture, to which he was not amused in the least, she shifted to sit up on her knees and leaned over him until she was looking at him upside down. As he stared up at her his hard ass act softened for a second before he went back to glaring at her. Undeterred and determined to win him over, she told him boldly, "Bucky Barnes, you and I are going to be almost as close as you and Stevie, if not closer."

The eager and almost breathless manner in which she spoke to him had him feeling red faced. So much so that he could feel the tips of his ears burning at her closeness. He tried to sound unaffected, but a slight tremble tinted his voice when he replied, attempting to sound disbelieving. "Oh yeah and how's that?"

"I'll wear you down until you love me." Quick as a flash she kissed his freshly shaved cheek before jumping up and grabbing her coat and purse telling them to get a move on as she rambled to Steve. "Tony's throwing a welcome back party that I made sure to plan so it'll be just the team and a few outside friends who've missed you." All he could do was stare at her as his heart felt like it was filled to the brim with butterflies. 

And truth be told it hadn't taken very much for the tiny woman to wear him down. Just a few beautiful smiles and genuine friendship really and he was a goner from day one. Groaning as he parked his bike in the Compound's garage, Bucky killed the engine before trudging his way back up to the team's floor. He ran into Peter when he entered the elevator greeting him he double checked the button for his floor had been pressed "Hey kid, how's it going?"

"It's fine. Everything is fine. How are you?" A strained smile and shifty eyes let him know something was up, but he didn't press. If Peter wanted to tell him he would.

A non-committal smile was his only answer because he seriously doubted he could rehash the trainwreck that had been his evening. Getting lost in his thoughts Buck leaned against the back of the small box they called an elevator. Right on cue Peter breaks about two floors from their stop. "I don't know if you know, but I saw Jun today."