Pushing Daisies [BUCKY BARNES]

6

They walked back to the tower quietly, not a word being said till they could see the top of the giant A peeking over the tops of abandoned apartment buildings. "She already knew so much about the rest of the Avengers and I."

Wes smiled at this, keeping her gaze trained on the sidewalk and the tiny cracks that wove through it. This one had just been repaved a little over two weeks ago. "She's been in love with the scrawny Irish kid from East Brooklyn who threw himself over a dud grenade since she was six. Don't let her fool you."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah," She laughed, "when we first met she had me down in Washington with her every single weekend so she could see your exhibit in the Smithsonian. She could list off close to everything about you. Sure she's head over heels for Captain America like most girls are, but she's more in love with the midget from Manhattans East Side."

It fell silent again, Steve desperately wanting to ask why she knew about the tiny coffee shop in the outskirts of Harlem's slums, he wanted to know why Tony hired her in the first place.

He wanted to ask why the aforementioned billionaire had been pacing the house all last night muttering about not knowing who Wes actually was.

Instead, he asked a simpler question, one she had avoided before. "So where do you live?"

She tensed up at this, and even though it was tiny he took notice of it. "Near Jules' shop. A few blocks over."

He tensed at this too, having just witnessed how dangerous that area was. "You live down there?"

She nodded quietly, making it clear she wanted to drop the subject, but he persisted. "Do you live with Jules?"

She shook her head, now determined to avoid verbal answers, but every answer she gave him opened up the doorway to her life just a teensy bit more, but Steve wanted nothing more then to learn more about Wesley Powers, and to shut the playboy up.

"Do you live in one of those apartments down there? They don't look too nice."

She shook her head again, trying to find a way out of the conversation that was happening. She knew what direction it was sure to be headed, Steve Rogers was a smart man.

In her absence of clearly paying attention to the conversation, she muttered an adress under her breath, and you can sure as hell bet that Steve heard everything she said.

"884 Jacobs street."

He had no idea where that was, but he knew he would find it. He had only known this girl for less then a day but he already felt an attachment to her, something that was harder to find nowadays then it had been back in the forties, and she definitely brought out that vintage side of him. With her eccentric words, her forties reminiscent style of dressing, and her knowledge of everything World War II he just clicked with her.

Knowing by her silence he had already pushed the conversation too far over the line, he opted to change it. "So how much cleaning do you have left?"

She shrugged, some of her tension leaving her body as she relaxed at the subject change. "Nothing. We finished the last two floors. I think I need to throw in another load of laundry though."

"Another? Didn't you say you did a ton of it yesterday?"

"Yeah," she nodded, turning to walk through the rotating doors, Steve at her heels. "But there's probably more collected there by now."

"True."

"JARVIS?" The small girl looked up at the ceiling, almost as though she was looking for the AI.

"Yes Wes?"

"What does Mr. Stark want me to do now that I'm finished?"

"Mr. Stark requests your presence in the labs, Wes. Should I inform him of your arrival?"

She shifted now, slightly uncomfortable. She hadn't seen her employer in days, much less spoken to him. "Sure, JARV."

"Very well Wes."

Steve watched her warily, seeing her step back and forth from foot to foot. "You okay?"

She shook her head, her hands quickly lacing together as she started wringing them. "Not really. I'm just nervous."

He chuckled, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Don't be, Tony may act all big and bad but he's just as scared of everything in the world as you are, Wes."

"I'm not scared of everything." The raised eyebrow sent in her direction automatically made her break, "okay okay maybe I am, but that's irrelevant."

"Just go," the slight push Steve used to send her out into the hall where the elevator stopped made her pause, and when she turned and hugged him it sent him into a bit of a shock.

"Thanks for today, Stevie. It was the best one I've had in a long time."

Smiling, he just patted her on the back. "Me too kid." She turned and ran off down the hall in search of the labs, "me too."