𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐑 | 𝐁. 𝐁𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐒 |

eighteen

A/N: Thank you guys sm for 1.3k you guys are literally the best xoxo

ONCE again, Madeleine finds herself regretting the decision to play card games with Tony and Thor. As she watches the two of them bicker, Tony is stubbornly insisting on his own rules of Go Fish, which Thor—confused but unyielding—staunchly denies.

"Look, Stark," Thor's voice booms, "if you have not the cards I request, you must draw from the pile."

"No, no, no," Tony argues, shaking his head with exaggerated impatience. "You're totally missing the point of the game! The pile is a backup—not the first resort."

Madeleine sighs, barely resisting the urge to rub her temples. They'd been at this for nearly twenty minutes, with no end in sight. She's about to interject when her phone buzzes, and she glances down to see a message from Bucky.

Come down to the training room.

A small smile tugs at her lips as she types back a quick reply.

Be there in a sec.

Madeleine tries to excuse herself from the game, looking between the two men still locked in their heated argument. "Hey guys, I've gotta go."

Neither Tony nor Thor registers her words, both too preoccupied in proving their respective points. With a shrug, she decides to slip away, leaving them to their clash of Go Fish philosophies, and heads down to the training room.

The moment she steps into the training room, her eyebrows raise slightly. Standing in the middle of the room, shirtless and glistening with sweat, are Bucky and Steve. Their muscles are taut, each of them looking like they've just been through a workout that could break an average person in half. Madeleine leans against the doorframe, a smirk playing on her lips.

"I walk into a gym to find two sweaty, shirtless super soldiers," she says, voice laced with amusement. "Is it my birthday?"

Bucky rolls his eyes but walks over to her, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her in close. He gives her a knowing smirk, his possessive nature on full display. 

"If it were your birthday, you'd be getting a lot more than this." He murmurs, just low enough for her to hear.

She chuckles, glancing over at Steve, who's stretching his arms, pretending not to notice the flirtatious exchange. "So, what's the deal here?" she asks, looking between them. "Why am I being summoned?"

Steve grins, crossing his arms as he explains, "Bucky refuses to believe you could beat him in a fight. Thinks you're all talk."

She quirks an eyebrow, turning to Bucky with a playful tilt of her head. "Is that true, soldier? You really don't think I could take you?"

Bucky smirks, crossing his arms defiantly. "I'm just saying-" He says, his voice dripping with challenge.

Before he can blink, Madeleine sweeps her leg out, hooking it behind his ankle and knocking him right off his feet. He lands on his back with a thud, momentarily stunned as he looks up at her, wide-eyed.

She grins down at him, crossing her arms in a triumphant stance. "What was it that you were saying?"

"Hey, that's cheating!" He protests, scrambling to his feet, clearly annoyed but also impressed. "I wasn't even ready. That was a cheap shot, and you know it."

She laughs, shrugging. "Cheap shot or not, you're the one on the floor."

Steve chuckles from the sidelines. "You walked right into that one, Buck."