Bucky in Brooklyn

1 - Brooklyn.

"Oh yeah, just like that." I honestly can't believe how much my life has changed in the past 10 months. I went from living as my mom's shadow to being totally alone in the world overnight. My mom went to the hospital after collapsing at work. Within a few hours, her body began to shut down, and she was being kept alive by a tube. There wasn't anything anyone could do, I suppose these things happen, right?

"Yes, right there. Don't stop." I took it hard. Me and my mom did everything together. It had always just been the two of us. She owned a billion dollar fashion company called De Marco, our shared surname. She built it herself from the ground up and won multiple awards for her research in recycled and sustainable materials and for fighting for fair pay and working conditions for overseas factory workers.

"Oh my god, yesss." She was the best. She was training me to one day take over the company and continue fighting the good fight. I feel like I'm letting her down by taking some time out, but I just can't face it yet, not without her. About a week after her death, none other than Tony Stark turned up at my door, I knew he and mom were friends in college, but apparently, that wasn't the whole story. He handed me a letter, a handwritten letter by my mom.

Apparently, it was instructed to be delivered to him in the event of her death. It stated that he was my biological father and that she never told him because she knew that wasn't his path at the time, and that's why she left him. She went on to talk about me, telling him the things that I do that remind her so much of him, about how I don't know he's my father and this is his choice if he wanted to meet me or if he wanted to continue living his life without me.

Obviously, he chose the former. After the news broke, fashion house heiress is actually Tony Starks daughter, he had me pack my shit and move into the Avengers compound with him and the team and now I can't even go for a piss without some form of security detail. Don't get me wrong, Tony is great, but he's taken the whole protective dad narrative to a whole new extreme. Which brings we to now, my Tuesday afternoon massage.

"Oh god, harder. Yeah, that's it." I say all this for the benefit of James Buchannan Barnes. My designated bodyguard for the day. His eyes have been narrowed, and staring at me for an awful long time now, I swear the cyborg doesn't need to blink. "All done, Miss De Marco." I let my eyes roll back as I hum appreciatively. "Frankie, your fingers are fucking magic. Thank you." Frankie, the 6ft Italian who keeps me loose, smiles and leaves the room.

"You're fucking ridiculous, you know that?" Comes the voice of happiness in the corner. I get up from the table and stand, letting the towel that was covering my ass drop to the floor, watching Bucky have a momentary panic attack before he spins and faces the wall. Ha. There is no length I won't go to to make this man uncomfortable. "That! That right there is why you are ridiculous!" He practically yells at the wall, his arms gesturing in my direction.

"What's the problem? It's just a naked body. Is my body really that offensive?" I say slyly, grinning to myself as I grab my clothes and put them back on. "No! I mean, yes!" I love it when he's flustered. "Well, maybe next time you should wait outside? You know, like a normal bodyguard." He makes a sort of growling noise. "I am not your bodyguard. I'm doing a favour for your dad, and he was very clear not to let you out of my sight." I'm shaking with silent laughter. "Well, I suppose you owe him. You did kill his parents after all."

As Bucky starts going into a huge rant at the wall as to how he was mind controlled, I silently exit the room. I'm already waiting at the elevator by the time he joins me. "You're an asshole." He mutters as he slides up beside me, making me giggle. "And you're too easy." He grunts, and we get into the elevator and head to the SUV parked out front. I sit in the back just to remind Bucky that he's a bodyguard and chauffeur. "Where to now, Buckaroo?"

I meet his eyes in the rear view mirror, I swear he has a constant frown on his face. "Don't call me that. We're going straight home." Yeah, your home. My home is on the other side of Manhattan. "Fine." I reply, pulling out my cell and scanning through my emails. Despite me not actually going to work, I still technically work. "So Buck, you looking forward to the party on Friday?" True to his reputation, Tony is constantly throwing parties for any reason.

"Sure." He says, sounding totally the opposite of sure, I don't think I've seen him attend a single one. "Come on, it'll be fun! There'll be plenty of hot women there. You could take your pick if you, you know, learned to smile." Bucky rolls his eyes. "I do smile." I scoff. "I have never seen you smile. Not once." Bucky is perpetually miserable. Steve says it's because of all the shit he went through with Hydra. Personally, I just think it's a lifestyle choice at this point. "Because you're an asshole."

I climb over the centre consol and sit in the passenger seat. "What about this, I could be your wingman? Talk you up to anyone you think is hot." He side eyes me. "Put your damn seatbelt on. And no." I sigh and buckle up. "Why not? Don't you wanna meet someone?" He grips the steering wheel a little harder."I'll meet someone when I want to, and trust me, I don't need some trust fund kids help." I smile. "Ahh, so you hate me because I'm rich? It all makes sense now." He shakes his head, and we continue our journey in silence.

You see, I never started this fued with Bucky. He did. As soon as I arrived, he avoided me like the plague, only spoke to me in various forms of grunts, and looked at me like he knew who I was before actually getting to know me. Sure, I come from money, but I worked hard to get my business degree and various other qualifications that would allow me to take over my mother's company and succeed. I've always had a job and paid my own way, that's just how my mom raised me, and I've always wanted to make her proud.

I spent my time at college working various roles at De Marco, from receptionist to design and even cleaning. Sure, if my life ever went to shit I had my mom as backup, and even now, my inheritance sits untouched, and it will until that day comes. And that's why I give Bucky such a hard time. He judged me before he knew me and hasn't taken the time since to even try. So fuck him.

When we arrive back at the compound, I head straight to Tony's lab. "Hey honey, how was the massage?" I frown. "Strange question, but heavenly as always. Although one thing, can you please get the Terminator to wait outside in future? All this, eyes on me 24/7 crap has me feeling like a prisoner." Tony stops what he's doing and turns to me. "Brooklyn, it's for your own safety. Now the world knows you're my daughter, it's put a huge target on your back." I roll my eyes.

"You remind me so much of your mom." He chuckles, his comment startling me some. He come towards me and picks up a strand of my pure white hair. "Your mom's hair was so blond it was almost white. But let me guess, you're a natural brunette?" He smirks. I always hated being a brunette, I always wanted to be just like my mom. "Your eyes though, they are all yours." He's referring to my amber eyes. I'll give that, they are pretty unique.

When I first met Tony months ago, I asked him if he wanted to do a DNA test to make sure it was right, and he outright refused. "Your mother wouldn't lie to me." He stated. "You have nothing to gain. You're already rich. She just didn't want you to be alone." Which was swell, until someone leaked it to the media and then I suddenly became the paparazzis new target. But it was when one of them managed to break into my home that this madness started.

"Thanks? But can you please stop with the 24/7 harassment?" He thinks for a moment. "Nope. Oh, and by the way, Bucky will need to take you for your dress fitting on Thursday. The Secretary of State is coming into town for a meeting." And that was me being dismissed. I growl my annoyance and leave, heading straight to my room and slamming the door. F.R.I.D.A.Y is probably informing him as we speak. Nobody understands me here. I just want to go home.