Imagine If You Assembled The Avengers: Volume 2

National Anthem (Barnes x reader)

Song lyrics: National Anthem by Lana del Rey

Money is the anthem

Of success

So before we go out

What's your address?

It was becoming difficult to surprise Bucky with anything with each passing day that he had been living at the compound, as he grew comfortable wandering the grounds and learning the layout, both the open common areas and the nuanced hideaways. He was ever-present lately, finding himself now getting a little listless without a mission for weeks and the need to burn off his building energy; he was always in the gym, or in the pool or running laps around the grounds. You had watched him every day, trying to find something that would ease the cabin fever that was plaguing him, when suddenly a perfect opportunity came to light, and you couldn't believe that you hadn't realized it sooner.

"Tony, I need you," you announced, bursting into his workshop with a bit too much enthusiasm, which he readily returned.

"Well, sweetheart, I thought you'd never ask. Can't say that I haven't thought about it."

"Oh my god, Tony, no," you cringed, "not like that."

"Then you should be more specific," he waved you off dismissively, "and maybe a little less offended by the idea if you're about to ask for my help."

"I'm sorry," you continued, following him when he tried to walk away. "But please, seriously, I do need your help. Have you finished working on that old motorcycle that you found in your dad's storage?"

"Yeah...why? I didn't think you rode one?"

"I don't," you smirked, "but Bucky does."

~~~

After promising Tony not only that you wouldn't hurt the bike in any way, you also promised to work as his lab assistant for the next month, which included delivery of morning coffee, lunch and dinner as a part of the deal. He also insisted that he be able to track your whereabouts with his property, and once you had forced him to agree that he wouldn't be spying on you, you shook his hand and had a contract settled. Now all that was left was to plan how to get Bucky to go along with it when the two of you had been no more than new friends to this point.

"FRIDAY, can you tell me where Bucky is?"

"Mr. Barnes is in the gym, miss."

"Right," you muttered to yourself, "should've known." With quick steps you hurried down the stairwell and to the gym doors, rushing through much the same as you had done in Tony's shop only a short time before. It was as if you hadn't learned anything.

"Bucky, I need you."

He grabbed the punching bag to settle its weight, smiling coyly as he held it steady and glanced your way, "hot damn, darlin', I ain't gonna say no to that."

This time, your response wasn't a cringe, and you barely even flinched. This time, you felt a sudden surge of confidence and a bit of playfulness; maybe it was the way he was looking at you, as he never had before, or maybe it was the way his shirt was clinging to his chest in just the right way. Whatever it was, it was fully welcomed.

"Well then, Mr. Barnes, it's your lucky day."

Now it was his turn to carry the shock in his eyes, looking back at you with a clear shift out of his own confidence and into something much more restrained. He swallowed thickly, coughing slightly to clear his throat with an evident nervousness that you took a little too much joy in. "Um...okay...sure," he stammered, slowly removing the tape from his hands, "what did you...what...did you have in mind?"