Coffee, Courage and a Captain

Chapter Four: Starting The Day With a Job

"Buck, I swear to god, if you could make it sound less like a herd of elephants was invading my house to rearrange my furniture, it would be greatly appreciated."

Steve's exasperated voice was the first thing that Charlotte heard when she woke the next morning.

"What, you afraid I'll wake Sleeping Beauty?"

"Bucky-"

"Well, she's a beauty, that much is true."

"Well, she's not sleeping anymore," Charlotte said dryly from where she stood in the doorway to Steve's bedroom.

"Good morning Charlotte," Bucky said cheerfully from where he stood by the kitchen bench, in his uniform. Charlotte narrowed her eyes at him, and he looked a little disconcerted.

"Good morning, man who makes a lot of noise at ungodly hours."

"Good morning Charlotte," Steve said, still in his pyjamas- presumably from waiting for Charlotte to be awake to get changed. He poured some coffee into three mugs. "I made you coffee."

"Thank you, Steve," she said brightly, picking up the faded green mug he pushed toward her.

Bucky gawked. "Why didn't I get that kind of greeting?"

Charlotte took a sip of her coffee, staring at Bucky over the top of her mug. "Because he wasn't the reason I am awake right now, and he gave me coffee."

"That's not fair." Bucky pouted at Steve, who chuckled.

"Make the girl coffee, Buck, and she'll be your best friend."

"Noted," Bucky said, watching as Charlotte sipped happily on her coffee as she took a seat on the couch and started poring through the discarded paper from the previous day. Steve took a sip of his coffee and walked into his room to get changed.

"I'll probably be back at around seven tonight- we're doing some kind of fitness testing," Bucky called to his friend through the door.

"Are you doing dinner with us?" Charlotte asked from where she was seated on the couch, browsing job adverts from the paper. Bucky realised she was still in her pyjamas and stared as she sipped her coffee and began scribbling on the paper, and chose to answer her question with his own.

"What made you like this, Charlotte?" he asked, tilting his head at her quizzically as she looked up.

"Like what?" she asked, her eyes meeting his as she scrutinised him.

"So... unapologetic," he managed to work out. "You yelled at a police officer. You don't try and keep a house. You're a pretty dame with a good personality, so why aren't you married? Or- at the very least- have a man who would come looking for you?"

Charlotte snorted. "I'm only nineteen, Bucky. I've got a bit of my life to go before I settle down. Plus, have you met most men my age?"

"Hey!" he protested lightly, realising she included him in that assumption. "We aren't all bad!"

Charlotte smiled softly, her eyes darting toward Steve's room quickly- so quickly that Bucky nearly missed it. "There are some exceptions."

Bucky smirked to himself. "Good to know, doll. To answer your question, I'll probably check in when I get home. If I don't see you before seven-thirty, then just assume I won't be."

He drained his coffee in one gulp and ran his fingers through his gelled back hair. "How do I look?" he asked Charlotte, who grinned.

"Like a lady killer. We'll see you tonight."