the team doctor || bucky barnes (EDITING IN PROGRESS)

22.

Edited 8/29/25

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜱᴏɴɢ: ɪ ᴄᴀɴ ꜱᴇᴇ ʏᴏᴜ - ᴛᴀʏʟᴏʀ ꜱᴡɪꜰᴛ (A/N this song literally inspired the entire story ok thank u)

"𝐓𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫."

~

And Bucky couldn't stand it. With her curls gone from their usual place around her face, her collarbones were exposed, stark and delicate against her skin. The absence of that protective frame made her look smaller somehow, fragile in a way that unsettled him.

She sat across the table, pen balanced between her teeth, her eyes trained on Tony as he droned on about the mission. To anyone else, she looked focused. To him, she looked unguarded.

"The drill last night went very well," He said. "Our building is insanely secure, to give you all peace of mind. In terms of an impending attack, we just need to stay alert."

"Also, let's not forget, quarterly check-ins with Valerie are tomorrow." Tony cheered. "Yay for mental health!"

"Woo!" She cheered in response. "I'll be in my office starting at 8. Come see me whenever."

Bucky forced his gaze to the table, to the flickering screen behind Tony, to anywhere but her. He'd promised himself distance. No words since last night. No looks this morning. Training until his muscles screamed—anything to burn her out of his system.

So when her foot brushed his leg beneath the table, he went still. He didn't look at her. Not when she lingered there, not when she dragged it higher, testing him. His jaw locked, the muscle twitching in betrayal of the restraint he clung to.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught it—her tiny, knowing smirk. And his anger flared, not at her... but at himself.

Once the meeting was over, she found Bucky in the kitchen making himself a coffee.

"Tired?" She asked knowingly.

"Stayed up late."

"Who's the lucky girl?"

He scoffed. "Some annoying doctor made me talk to her about my feelings."

"What a bitch,"

She approached him, causing him to back up.

"Don't mind me, just need something from the tea drawer."

In the narrow space between him and the counter, she slipped through, her body grazing his with deliberate ease. His breath caught—sharp, involuntary—as the brush of her curves against him lit a fuse he'd been trying to smother. Even through the thin fabric of her skirt, he felt every dangerous reminder of what she had to offer, his jeans tightening in protest.

He frowned, jaw tightening as if he could will the reaction away. But when his eyes met hers, she was already smiling—sweet, innocent... cruelly so.

"You think I'm that easy?"

She opened her packet of tea. "I know you are."

"Says the one who can't resist me."

"I think you're the one who can't resist me." She retaliated. "You say you don't want anything with me, but you stared at me practically the whole meeting."

"You'd have to be looking at me to notice my stare."

"I happen to have excellent peripheral vision."

"Right."

Suddenly, a figure entered the room, whistling some random tune happily.

"There she is!" Cody cheerfully spoke. "Just the girl I was looking for,"