Imagine If You Assembled the Avengers: Volume 1

Old Habits Die Hard (Barnes x reader)

You had a bad habit, one that you shared with Steve, grabbing the closest person next to you when you laughed. Not just a small laugh, but the times when you leaned back and lost yourself in it, using the person next to you almost like an anchor to keep you steady. Steve's habit was much more pronounced and had come to be known as the 'boob grab', much to his dismay and embarrassment, though that didn't stop him. Your move was to grab the nearest arm, which had always been harmless enough; that is, until the new guy had come along a few months ago.

"Oh no! Oh no, Steve, are you serious?" you gasped as your laughter filled the restaurant, your hand gripping Bucky's left arm and shaking him slightly. "Please tell me that didn't really happen!"

"I'm completely serious! I almost had to shave my head! Can you imagine what that would look like?"

When your laughter began to die down and you had released him to wipe the tears from your eyes, Bucky stood and excused himself from the table with a quiet voice and a straight face. He didn't offer any explanation and now you were worried that you had done something wrong.

"Steve," you said quietly, leaning over the table closer to him, "what just happened? Did I say something?"

"I'm not sure, but do you want me to go check?"

"Nah," you sighed, "I don't want to jump to anything. But it seems strange, right? He looked like he was mad or something." You relaxed back in your chair and looked down at your glass, swirling the remaining ice around the edge and tipping it back to drop a cube in your mouth. "Maybe it was you," you joked.

His eyes widened in surprise, "hey, what did I do?" Steve smirked and casually reached across the table to your plate, picking up a piece of tomato and throwing it into his mouth. "Trust me, doll. If he was mad at me, everyone would know it."

"Well, Rogers, that seems true for more of us than just Buck." You stood and straightened your shirt, smoothing the material purposefully before moving to his side of the table to sit next to him. You turned to face him and took the front of his shirt in both of your hands.

"If you ever stick your fingers in my food again, they'll no longer be connected to your hand, you got me?"

~~~

When the three of you returned to the tower shortly after the strange event at the restaurant, the two men had decided on a quick game of pool before turning in for the night and you made your way to the living room for a movie to help wind down. After changing into a t-shirt and sweatpants, you curled up with a blanket on the couch and began to drift off to sleep faster than you had thought.

"Buck, what happened back there?" Steve finally asked, glancing towards you from the floor above. "I thought you two were getting along?"

"We are. Almost too well," he sighed, leaning down to line up his aim. He pulled the cue back for only a second before shooting it sharply forward, easily pocketing his shot. "Why do you ask? Did she say something?"

His friend looked at him like he didn't believe what he was hearing, as if Bucky had forgotten the events of only a couple of hours ago. "Um, no. You got up and walked away like she pissed you off or something. It was kind of rude, honestly."

"Shit," he mumbled to himself, "I didn't mean for it to come across that way. It's just...she keeps grabbing my arm."

"Oh, no, not that!" Steve gasped, grabbing his chest in mock disbelief. "How dare she!"

"Shut up, punk. Take your shot, already." Bucky watched silently while Steve lined up and completed his shot just as easily as he himself had a moment before. "But she grabs this one," he said, lifting his metal arm in the air, "shouldn't it bother her more?"

"Do you think it should?"

"You don't?"

Steve stood and looked at him, a slight look of confusion on his face. "Buck, if she doesn't have a problem with it, then why are you creating one? Your turn," he nodded at the table and stepped back. As he watched Bucky assess his shot, he wondered why his friend would be so apprehensive towards you and why the fact that his arm didn't bother you was a problem. It didn't make sense. "You like her, don't you? You, like her, like her."

"Don't know what you're talking about."

"Buck..."

Bucky's cue shot forward harshly, sending the ball flying off the table and imbedding in the wall on the opposite side of the room. He threw the stick on the top of the table and rested is hands on the edge, bending over to look at the floor so that Steve wouldn't see the embarrassment in his eyes.

"I'm not the man for her, Steve."

"Don't you think that maybe I should be the judge of that?"

Bucky spun around on his heel to see you behind him with your arms crossed and your hair messy from sleep. He looked back to Steve, but all he saw was a dumb grin on his friends' face and no help at all. "I...I didn't mean...I mean, no...yes, of course you should," he stammered.

"Well, as long as you're sure about that," you smirked, tipping your head at Steve so that he would give you some privacy. You waited and watched him leave, then turned to Bucky with your hand open and reaching for his arm. He recoiled back but you followed, taking it with a firm grip. "Why does this scare you?"

"Why doesn't it scare you?"

You released your grip slightly but didn't let go, instead sliding your hand down the metal joints and plates until it landed in his, intertwining your fingers between the cool metal. "You're safe, I suppose. I don't know how to explain it." Taking a deep breath, you pulled him slightly, leading him to a nearby bench to sit next to you. "Alright, I don't know if I've ever told you this, but I get...anxious...about stuff, you know? I worry all the time, sometimes about stuff that other people don't give a second thought to. I freeze around people that I don't know. Sometimes all I want to do is lay in bed all day rather than face any of this," you paused, waving your hand around the room. "But there are things that ground me. When I met Steve, he really helped me a lot. He gets it. And then he introduced me to you, and I didn't freeze up like I usually do."

"(Y/N), I should make you more anxious than anything else."

"Why? Because of this?" You held his metal hand up in front of him, then pulled it in to hold close to your chest with both of yours. "Bucky, this is something that you survived. This is something that was a terrible thing, but is now a part of you that you've turned into something good. How could this possibly scare me?"

He reflexively tried to pull his hand back but it only strengthened your grip. He looked at you with surprise that slowly turned to exasperation; he couldn't understand it, no matter what you said. He could never associate his metal arm with anything other than something terrible and something to be feared. When you brought his hand to your lips, you heard a gasp escape him.

"Now I know you're crazy," he mumbled, his mouth hanging open in shock.

"Completely."

Bucky gently pulled his hand away and raised it to your cheek, but you could see the hesitation in his movements and his reluctance to touch you with it. His cool fingers traced down your jawline and stopped under your chin as he leaned in to kiss you, but he stopped short of connecting. "I don't know, (Y/N)...are you sure-"

"Jesus, man!" Steve yelled from the floor below, "just kiss her already! They could've thawed me out ten times over at this pace!"

You rolled your eyes and let out a loud laugh, leaning back slightly and grabbing Bucky's left arm out of that darn habit that would likely never go away. When your grip tightened, you leaned forward and pulled him closer, following the Captain's orders without hesitation, proving to Bucky once and for all that he was absolutely the man for you.