Get Lost, Hood

The Look

After they had ordered and retrieved the refreshments, Natasha and Bucky went back to their seats. They received the same callous and curious stares on the way back as they did on the way there. When they returned to their seats, the movie was coming to an end. Peggy and Steve appeared to be getting along well. They shared many laughs. Bucky and Natasha merely exchanged glances every once and awhile.

When the movie ended, Natasha and Peggy seemed a bit finicky. Like they wanted to say something, but couldn't. Bucky was growing increasingly curious. "Well, I'm sure we weren't your first choice, but thanks for hangin' out with a couple of Greasers," said Bucky with a wink. The girls both laughed a bit. "It was our pleasure," said Peggy with a nod to Steve. "It was nice to actually hang out with some dames here for once. Usually Wanda and Hela don't want to come to these things and if they do, they end up blitzed," said Steve with a small laugh. "Well, we gotta sack out. I don't suppose either of you need a ride, do ya?"

Peggy and Natasha exchanged worried glances. Natasha sighed before saying, "That'd be great, but we can't be seen by our friends in a Greaser's car." Bucky and Steve now looked at one another. There was a hurt behind Steve's eyes that Bucky couldn't ignore. In that moment, he was tired of these stupid gangs and this stupid separation. Sure they had some perks, but what if they didn't exist? These girls wouldn't have to worry about getting a ride home from two guys at the risk of losing their friends. Or worse.

"I understand. If you really need a ride, we can just try and make sure no one sees." Peggy and Natasha looked at each other one more time. They then shared a nod. "A ride would be wonderful," said Peggy. With that, the four trugged all the way up the lot and back to Bucky's truck. Natasha let out a chuckle. "This rust bucket is yours," she asked. Bucky glared at her. "This rust bucket is a 1950 Chevrolet ½ ton that I worked on myself," he said with disdain in his voice as he opened the door for her. Natasha just laughed. "You're cute when you're mad," she said as she climbed into the car. Bucky stood momentarily still before he told himself to shake her little teasing off. The amount of joy he got from hearing her say that was more than he'd like to admit.

Bucky climbed into the driver's seat and turned on the radio. Sam Cooke came streaming into the car and Bucky tapped the steering wheel to the beat. They pulled out of the lot in silence. Bucky could feel the girls' stiffness in the back of the car. He glanced at Steve and he could tell they were thinking about the same thing. "So where am I taking you girls," asked Bucky. The girls shared their addresses and went quiet again.

Bucky had a bit of an idea. As he tapped to the beat, he began to sing. Everyone in the car raised their eyebrows for a moment, but Bucky just grew louder. He then shoved Steve in the arm. "Come on, square. This is a good song," Steve then got what he was trying to do and began to sing as well. The girls began to laugh, but they soon began to sing as well. The singing wasn't great, but it was fun. It was what everyone needed. When the song faded out. The car erupted in laughter.

It went just as quickly as it came, however, when headlights turned on behind them. They saw the bright teal paint of the convertible and panicked instantly. "Quick, get under the seats," said Bucky in a hushed tone. "Are you bloody kidding," said Peggy. "The only thing worse than being found here in the first place would be them finding us hiding, which they would." The girls sighed. "A little birdy told us some Greasers nabbed our girls. Get out of the car and we can settle this." Tony's voice boomed from behind them. Bucky turned around quickly. "If they ask, Clint introduced us and we made the two of you come home with us. Understood?" The girls only exchanged a glance and stepped out of the car with the guys.

Tony was in the car with half his crew. Virginia sat in the passenger seat, while Thor, Rhodey, and Loki were squeezed in the back. Most of them looked somewhat uncomfortable with what was happening, especially Virginia and the Odinsons. Loki was glaring at Tony and Virginia was fidgeting in her seat. "You two, get in," Tony said firmly. Natasha rolled her eyes. "I ain't driving with you, Tones. You're always drunk on nights like this. You're always drunk every night. You gonna wind up killing somebody, and it ain't gonna be me," Natasha yelled. Tony cast her a withering stare. "I said get in!" he shouted even louder. Peggy put a hand on Natasha's arm. Natasha clenched her jaw and then she and Peggy cast one last glance at Steve and Bucky. Bucky saw all the emotions Natasha was trying to hide. It was mostly anger, but there was sadness hidden behind it. Bucky had a strong urge to run to her and protect her from...well he didn't know. He just wanted to protect her.

When the girls climbed into the car, the other passengers moved and looked at them sadly. Virginia grabbed Peggy's hand and Thor put an arm around Natasha and Loki exchanged knowing looks with the girls. Tony continued yelling down to Bucky and Steve. "So what? Thought you could steal our girls?"

"They ain't yours. They ain't nobody's," Yelled Steve. Tony guffawed. "Well they may not be property, but they are Socs. Socs with dignity who would never go with you Greaser scuzzes." Bucky glowered. Before he could say anything, Loki spoke up in the other car. "Lay off, Anthony. Can we please just get outta here? I think we've had enough fun for one night." Tony scowled at him. "Whatever. I don't even know why we let your brother talk us into letting you tag along. You aren't even a real Soc." Even from a distance, Tony could see the hurt as Loki pursed his lips. "Fine. Thor, tell mom I'm staying with Hela tonight," he said as he made his way out of the car and began to walk toward Bucky and Steve. "Oh, and Tony," he started. Tony raised an eyebrow. "Try not to be a complete douche and lay off the girls. I know none of them will say anything," he said, gesturing to the others in the car, his voice rising steadily as he did so. "But we're all pretty fed up with you dragging us to places just so you can spite Barnes and Rogers. And believe me, I love doing things out of spite, but you're just petty."

The night was silent as Loki walked to the truck. He got into the back, and Steve followed suit. Bucky flashed one last look at Natasha. Her eyes had not moved from him. They shared a look of...something. Neither of them really knew what it was. Steve then called Bucky to get into the car and he was snapped from their little moment. He got in the car and started it up, his mind flooding with thoughts he couldn't hold back. All three of them were silent on the way home. Steve and Bucky would both occasionally look back at Loki, but he was usually just looking out the window.

While they both wanted to ask him questions, neither could find the words. Everyone knew his story was a tragic one. The story traveled so much, it was hard to know what really happened. Everyone just knew he was damaged. He may have been Wanda's age, but he'd seen things beyond what most adults could handle. Bucky knew his sister was never the kindest to him. As they pulled into the Greaser's part of town (the worse part), Bucky turned to him. "You want to stay with us tonight," he asked softly. Loki gave an understanding look before he put on a face of disdain. "I can take care of myself," he said as he slid across the seats and opened the door. He stopped momentarily before he got out. "Thank you for- for the ride." There was a sadness to his voice that he was desperately trying to hide. Bucky and Steve nodded. "Anytime," they said. Loki left and began to walk towards his sister's old apartment building.

Bucky then pulled away. Steve and him sat in silence the rest of the way home. When Bucky finally pulled up to the house, he exhaled. He felt like he'd been holding his breath the entire ride home. Now that he could breath, he could think. He then realized maybe he didn't want to. Bucky was consumed with rage over Tony's actions, sadness over Loki's, and he didn't even know how to feel about Natasha. His heart fluttered when he thought of how she'd called him cute. How she'd exchanged that inexplicable look with him. How long had she been looking at him like that before he'd noticed? He didn't care. It wasn't like Bucky to get stuck on some girl. Of course she wasn't just some girl. She was Natasha.