Ordinary (A Marvel Fanfiction)

Chapter Twelve

"She can't be here, Barnes! It's okay for you to do whatever on your free time, but business and pleasure don't mix."

I cringed at Stark's voice, pressing closer to Bucky's back. I hadn't thought I would get him in trouble for my irrational decisions, but here he was getting lectured while he hid me behind him.

Slowly, I moved out from behind until I was right next to him. He didn't have to face their judgements on his own. He shot me a look, but didn't say a word. All of their eyes shot to me.

"Who even are you?" Bruce Banner asked. I looked over at him, kind of in shock. I knew Stark knew who I was, so I just kind of assumed the others knew as well.

"I'm--" 

"None of your business." Bucky cut me off, reaching over to make sure the mask was still in place over my mouth. I shot him a glance. His team had a right to know who I was, especially since I could have basically ruined all of their hard work today by running into a middle of a battle simply because I was feeling neglected. 

Bucky shot me a look making it apparent that he wanted to keep me and the avengers separate. While I didn't personally have a problem with that -- I was perfectly happy with my ordinary life -- I wanted to know his reasoning behind it. 

I stayed silent.

I saw Banner look me up and down, taking in my waitress uniform. A sudden smirk grew on his face. "What, did you order food to-go?" 

I bristled at that, I'll admit. Bucky simply stared at him from his spot next to me.

"She's just some waitress." Stark snorted.

I glared at him. Subconsciously, I knew he was only trying to distract the other's from my true identity, but my pride had taken a hit.

"Some of us have to work for a living!" I snapped, glaring at the two of them.

They simply ignored me. I narrowed my eyes and clenched my fists. Natasha took a step towards me in warning, and Bucky grabbed a hold of my upper arm to hold me in check, but other than that, I was ignored.

I could hear Stark making snarky remarks about my uniform and I impulsively took a step forward. It seemed as if everyone broke into motion at the same time. 

Natasha had her gun out and pointed at my face.

Bucky threw me behind his back. 

Tony turned to stare at me, suddenly silent. 

"Romanoff, put the gun down." Bucky said lowly, his eyes narrowed on his companion.

"She could be a threat." Natasha replied simply, shrugging with the casualty of a trained assassin...which I supposed she was.

"You and I both know she is not a threat." Bucky practically growled. "You're just trying to scare her. So lower the gun before I have to do something I really  don't want to do."

Everyone seemed to sober up at his words. If they didn't know anything about me before, they at least knew one thing now: I was important to Bucky.

Natasha seemed confident in her ability to fight Bucky, but she lowered the gun anyway, understanding flooding her eyes. I wasn't sure what she thought she understood, but if it kept a gun out of my face, I was perfectly happy with letting her believe whatever she wanted.

I grabbed the back of Bucky's shirt in my hand, keeping him close to my side. He seemed to straighten a little at my touch, but he did not show any other reaction to my presence. 

"I want to go home now, please." I whispered into his back. 

He nodded once and started leading me away from the others without another word. At first I thought they would let us go without another fights, but my hopes were dashed when Stark called out to us.

"I told you nothing good would come out of this." 

I froze. His words could have applied to both of us, but I knew he was targeting me specifically. I turned to look at him with hard eyes, showing him my determination.

"This is the exact opposite of what we wanted." He continued, refusing to break eye contact.

I didn't say anything for a second. I knew he was not actually expecting a response, but my nerves were fried from the events of the morning. I wanted to show him that I knew what I was getting into; that I was not afraid to be around Bucky, even though I had more than enough reason to be.

So I could not stop myself when I opened my mouth and replied, "It must be so frustrating for you to know a simple, sleep-deprived waitress with no money can fuck up your entire plans."

I did not stick around to see his reaction, instead grabbing Bucky's metal hand and pulling him after me as I marched down the street in the direction of my apartment.