Diamond Juncture {one shots}

Unexpected Karaoke

hello friends. today's prompt: Lucy is caught singing.

I live for days of serenity and laziness. You don't get very many of those in my line of work. That's why I was so excited to have the day off. No training, no missions, nothing. Just pure, unadulterated nothingness. It's noon, and I haven't even put pants on yet. This is wonderful.

I'm just sitting in the living room, sketchbook and watercolors sprawled out in front of me, blissfully painting away. It's odd, though. The base has been oddly quiet. I guess everyone is taking advantage of their day off by sleeping in or going out. I haven't even seen Steve today. While I enjoy being alone, I don't like how quiet it has gotten. There aren't even birds chirping in the trees surrounding the base. Odd.

I don't think too much into it, it's normal to have quiet days like this I guess. But sometimes silence is deafening. And the less I hear, the more I begin to think. While lazy days aren't common as a superhero, dark thoughts of those you couldn't save are.

My brain replaces the utter silence with the screams of the Sokovian people. My heart rate quickens and my hands begin to shake. Pretty sure I'm about to have an anxiety attack.

I can't deal with the silence anymore, and I'm afraid that if I don't move from this position, I won't be able to for the rest of the day. I launch myself up and grab my phone, pressing play on my 'calming' playlist. The soothing music starts to come out of the speakers in front of me and my body relaxes slightly.

Natasha made me this playlist after my first attack. I may or may not have been moving between timelines, almost causing problems that I would have a hard time reversing. I was so stuck in my head that I didn't even notice the change in scenery. So now when I feel like I'm gonna lose it, I drown out my thoughts with jazz.

Billie Holiday is my favorite. My grandma used to sing me to sleep with whatever Billie Holiday song she had listened to while making dinner that night. So now as I stand in the living room, sans pants and the one person that is usually able to calm me down, I sway to the rhythm and focus on the lyrics.

"I'll be seeing you
In every lovely summer's day
In everything that's light and gay
I'll always think of you that way..."

I take a few deep breaths and continue to sway. My muscles are no longer tense and my heart doesn't feel like it's going to beat out of my chest. Crisis averted. Thank you, Billie.

I glance around the living room just to see if anyone had shown up in my brief moment of panic. I don't see anyone. Still weird, but at least I can get back to enjoying my day off.

I hum along quietly with the music, but soon it gets the better of me and I begin to sing. Obviously I am nothing compared to Ms Holiday, but a girl can try.

"I'll find you in the morning sun
And when the night is new
I'll be looking at the moon
But I'll be seeing you..."

My eyes are closed now as my steady sway becomes more of a flowing spin. I can't help it, I just let the music take over completely.

Suddenly, large hands snake their way around my waist from behind.

"You have a beautiful voice," the owner of the hands coos in my ear.

Steve! I tilt my head to the side, allowing him to kiss my neck gently. "I bet you say that to all the pretty girls, soldier," I whisper back.

He chuckles as he begins to sway with me.

"Well a pretty voice to match that pretty face of yours, I'd say that makes me the luckiest man in the world."

I smile and finally turn to face him. He keeps his hands around my waist while I move mine up around his neck.

"I missed you today. No one was here, so I just painted." I motion towards the sketchbook on the table.

"You seem to have gotten along just fine without me," Steve chuckles again before pausing, "Though this is from your calming playlist... Did you have an attack?"

I nod, "Almost. It got too quiet, my brain started going places it shouldn't have. I managed to get the music on before it got bad."

Steve pulls me to his chest and strokes my hair. We stay like this until the song ends. He makes me feel so safe, any bad energy that remained drains from my body.

"I'm ok, Stevie. Promise."

"I know, you're strong. If I'm not around to help like this next time, please call? If it had gotten any worse I'm not sure Billie Holiday would've been able to pull you out."

I stand on my tiptoes to kiss him. This man is too good for me. After pulling away he takes a step back and looks me up and down. He smiles and points at my bare legs. I shrug. I see nothing wrong with my outfit. I'm in a huge T-shirt, you can barely tell I'm not in pants.

He sits down on the couch and glances at my paintings, smiling once more. Steve motions for me to come sit by him and I gladly move onto the seat right next to him, placing my head on his shoulder.

"Hey, now that your secret is out, I expect to be serenaded every night before bed." He remarks.

I roll my eyes and playfully hit his chest as the next song on my playlist starts.