When The Light Comes | Bucky x Reader

~19~

You were late by 10 minutes by the time you entered the training room. You tried to look sheepish as you approached Steve, who was standing with his arms crossed, an eyebrow raised.

"This is a first," he chided, looking you over as if he was searching for an excuse.

"I am sorry I won't be late again." Your comment seemed to mollify him when Natasha strolled into the training room, probably to meet Clint for some practice. You tried to spur Steve on and avoid her knowing gaze, to no avail. She stopped in her tracks, and looked you up and down before even greeting the two of you.

"Oh my god you got laid," she blurted and you threw your arms in the air, exasperated. You could feel your cheeks burning as Steve's gaze grew more intense.

"Who got laid?" Clint asked in a singsong voice, barging through the door. "Oh it's written like a book all over her face." You buried your face in your hands to compose yourself before looking up again.

"Why is this your concern?" Nat steered Clint away, mouthing for you to come see her later.

"Well?" Steve looked at you and you blushed furiously. "Oh come on ___y/n___ we're all adults here." You sighed.

"Yes, I did, can we just get started already?" Your shoulders drooped, hoping he'd drop it if you looked smaller. He raised his arms and you followed suit.

"Yeah okay but I will hear about this later." he promised, wiggling his brows at you, putting a smile on your face.

"All I wanna do is kick your smug little butt right now," you laughed, and he lurched at you.

*time lapse brought to you by a sneak attack from nat and clint*

Steve tried to pry information from you the moment your lesson had ended. You didn't cave, but he wouldn't get off your case, and you knew he would follow you right up into your room.

"Okay Steve, I love you, but your best friend is in my bed right now and I should really be getting back," he gaped, and you disappeared in his stunned silence. You went to the tap to fill your water bottle before pushing the door to your room open. The curtains were open and deliciously warm sunlight was beginning to pool on the bed. There was a small table dragged into the room, featuring an array of hot breakfast foods and two mugs of steaming hot coffee.

You put down your things as Bucky emerged from the bathroom, only in his jeans, his hair still dripping from his shower. You closed the distance between you quickly, wrapping your arms around his strong body.

"This looks amazing - you did all this?" You looked up into his eyes in awe.

"Of course I did darling," he smiled brightly. "Man's gotta treat his girl nice and right." He bent and placed a kiss on the top of your head before taking your hand and leading you to sit on the floor across from him at the low table. You clinked your coffee mugs together before digging into the incredible breakfast.

"So Nat, Clint and Steve know." Bucky's eyes widened a little.

"You told them?" You shook your head in response, slouching your shoulder.

"No, Nat reads me like an open book." You sighed. "Not that it's a bad thing that they know, I just feel bad, we hadn't exactly talked about when or if we were going to tell anybody." A smile slid across his face as you got up to grab a container of maple syrup from your wardrobe.

"I don't mind if they know, I was just surprised they figured it out that quickly." He eyed the syrup as you poured it over your pancakes.

"Have you never tried maple syrup?" He shook his head, and you widened your eyes dramatically. "Well today is your lucky day Bucky Barnes, because this," you gestured grandly to the bottle. "Came straight from the great white north. You'll never go back to pancake syrup again I promise you." He took the bottle and tipped a drop of the runny liquid onto his finger before licking it off.

"Can I please put this on everything?" He asked, his eyes twinkling as he leaned across the table to peck your lips. You stood up and cleared the table after a while, doing the dishes side by side, in comfortable silence. You spent the rest of the morning together, watching cartoons on TV and chatting idly. Eventually, though, that had to come to a close as you made your way back down to the training room for your second session of the day. Bucky had reluctantly gone back to his room to change his clothes. He wasn't particularly fond of leaving you for any length of time, now that he'd had you he was afraid of losing you.

Tony was leaning by the door to the gym when you showed up, ready and warmed up. You tried to avoid him, brushing him off with a quick greeting. He wouldn't let you pass, tilting his head curiously at you, gazing into your eyes.

"Shit they were right," a dirty smirk creeping onto his face. "You know, I had a feeling about you and the soldier, how good was he? Are you in love with him?" You simply glared.

"I'm all warmed up do you wanna go? 'Cause I'll take you right now."

"Oh really? You'd take on Iron Man?" You shrugged.

"Yeah I would, but Tony Stark is the one I've got beef with." A smirk reached your lips. "Come on, are you afraid of a little girl?" His featured hardened as he stalked into the gym.

"Fine lets go little girl." Steve backed out of the way, catching on to the situation as Tony cracked his neck.

"You gonna wrap your hands?" Tony shook his head at Steve's question.

"Don't need to." You laughed.

"Don't worry Stevie, he won't land anything anyways." Tony lunged toward you with a right cross, which you blocked easily, followed by a kick to your knee. You didn't budge, and his annoyance grew. He regrouped, and you stepped forward, taking a few jabs at him before sending a right hook into his left forearm, leaving him defenceless, to strike him in the stomach with a push kick. He stepped back a couple steps, immediately striking at you with a swing kick. You caught his foot and swept the one on the floor out from under him with your shin. He reeled as he hit the floor.

"C'mon old man, you're showing me this is how Iron Man wins a fight?" You laughed as he raised to his feet, striking at you again. You patiently defended yourself, dodged, then stepped back, compromising his base as he reached toward you. You aimed a jab at his shoulder joint, then proceeded to fake a right knee before catching him in the kidney with a strong left swing kick. His hand went to his side and you dropped your hands, signalling that you were finished with him.

"Remind me not to get on your bad side...ever." He looked at you with a newfound respect, bringing a pink tinge to your cheeks. He left the training room and Steve came to stand beside you.

"What'd he do to deserve that?" You looked up at Steve.

"What he does best. He was making fun of Buck and I, simultaneously digging deeper into my personal life than I care to let him in." You contemplated your choice of words. "For now, anyways. I can honestly say that as much as I would trust him to have my back in a fight, I don't trust him when he's not in that suit."

"He means well," Steve assured you. "What do you say we go out for drinks tonight?" He proposed, raising his hands as you sunk into your stance, completely grounded. "I'd like to be in the loop you know."

"I'd like that a lot." You smiled, sending a friendly kick his way.