You're not wrong. [ She says it with a laugh in her voice and a grin on her lips, feeling lighter and happier than she has in days. Sure, she still physically feels like shit run over, but that doesn't seem to matter as much when the rest of her feels really damn good.
His hand is still warm in hers and she gives his fingers a gentle squeeze, not quite ready to let go just yet. ] So, a table. And chairs to go with it, I'm guessing. Do you want help with that?
[ The corner of his mouth quirks into a smile. Half-teasing: ]
Haven't even had our first real date yet, and we're already talking about meeting your dad and picking out furniture together. Something tells me this really isn't how this sort of thing normally goes, huh?
[ Nudging his hip playfully with her knee, she can't help the laugh that bubbles out at that teasing. Is this really happening? It feels so strange to be this happy. ]
We're superheroes who help save the world on a weekly basis. You seriously expect our dating lives to be normal?
You're part-Inhuman and a SHIELD agent, I'm 107 years old and a former fugitive — I guess it wouldn't ever be normal. Not like I'd want that, anyway.
[ Maybe you'd think that after so long, he'd want a calm, peaceful, banal civilian life — but the truth is that Bucky just doesn't know what he'd do with it. After so many decades, he's been hardwired for a higher pace. It would probably take decades yet to teach him how to settle in and get accustomed to peace instead.
And in the meantime, he likes being around people who understand. Who get it. Who know that frantic pace and adrenaline and danger, and all the baggage that comes with it. ]
[ Though she doesn't mind the occasional vacation in the land of normalcy. A night out without any disasters interrupting or derailing the evening? That would be great. A boring 9-to-5 job pushing papers at a desk? There's no way she'd survive it. ]
And, by the way, you're not the only former fugitive in the room, so don't go thinking you're something special for it.
[ Bucky finally disentangles his flesh-and-blood hand from Daisy's palm, but it's in favour of shoving at her knee, mock-aggrieved. (And then, just for good measure, he leaves his hand on her knee, just because he can. Warm palm splayed against the fabric of her SHIELD-branded sweatpants.) ]
Jesus, you just gotta one-up me at every turn. I thought I at least had the fugitive thing on lock.
[ Her grin is bright enough to light up a room at his banter and that little shove. This is nice; she hopes they always have this, no matter what else happens. And while she immediately misses the feel of his hand in hers, the weight of it on her knee is more comforting than she ever could have imagined. ]
Nope. I've been a fugitive twice with SHIELD [ she holds up two fingers to be sure he heard her right ] at least, where we had to be on the run — and once on my own during my vigilante phase. I didn't try very hard at hiding that time, though, I'd just quake my way out every time the cops or military got too close.
[ Bucky counts off on his left hand to playfully mirror her, two vibranium fingers raised. ] Once from HYDRA, then I was on the run from them and the Avengers and a heap of international governments. But so I guess technically you've got one more on me.
[ He hesitates. Considers the instances Daisy had cited, and the stories that must be sitting behind each of them. He's curious. He's realising that he's always curious about her stories; she's got the most batshit, fascinating history he's ever encountered in anyone outside Steve's crew and the Avengers. ]
The two times with SHIELD. Was that when the HYDRA shit got blown open?
[ That hesitation has her itching to hold his hand again, part of her yearning to soothe and chase away whatever might be bothering him. It's only when he asks the question that she finally rests her hand on his on her knee, rubbing her thumb lightly over the back of his hand. ]
The first time was. The second involved a robot version of me shooting a high-profile general in the head on the orders of a homicidal AI who tried to trap us in a virtual reality. We didn't get out of that mess until after I stopped the world from ending almost a year later.
[ Most days, she doesn't even realize how completely insane her life is anymore. She's just so used to it all that it's not until someone like Bucky comes along and reminds her that it just hits her. Because, yeah, her life really is just a string of batshit stories, one after another. ]
[ His hand flexes beneath hers, his thumb curving against her knee just as hers runs over his knuckles. Bucky sounds vaguely incredulous, but he's been through enough of this with Daisy now that he's not as flabbergasted as he was the very first time; instead, it's a kind of bemused acceptance once he sees her expression. ]
Okay— you're still not shitting me. Jesus. I don't know how to follow that.
[ That happiness that had been buoying her mood dims at the memories of the darkness she'd been drowning in back then. Clawing her way out of the grief and guilt over Lincoln's death, followed by the utter terror that she might have caused the end of the world, and then the real cherry on top with losing Coulson. Her hand stills on Bucky's but stays there, the warmth of his skin reminding her that she's moved past those dark times. ]
[ Both of their pasts were such minefields: the slightest wrong misstep and they could tread all over something sensitive, something raw and vulnerable, something painful. Bucky hates these moments when he walks right into it, accidentally presses the button which makes Daisy's expression fall, that radiant smile of hers dimming. He wants — needs — to be able to do something, anything, to fix that.
So he shifts position. Scoots back to the head of the bed and swings one sleeved arm around her shoulder, swapping the handhold for a sideways hug instead. Someday he'll be able to fold her into his arms entirely, but for now he's sitting side-by-side with Daisy, arm wrapped around her, shoulder against hers. ]
[ Every time she loses his hand, it feels like a piece of herself is pulled away. A few years ago, that feeling would have terrified her and sent her running for the hills in five seconds flat, abandoning any hope of seeing where this thing might go. Now, though, she rides the emotion like a wave, letting it swell and then level out as Bucky moves back beside her and puts an arm around her shoulder.
Okay, this is better. A lot better. ]
It's okay. Really. [ Leaning into his side, she looks over at him with a smile, small but real. ] There's always gonna be things for us. Dark moments, bad memories... We can figure out how to get through them together. Right?
[ She hopes he sees it that way too. That he's not overwhelmed by the idea of learning each other's rough patches and weathering the storms that come with each one. ]
[ Part of him is still frightened by the prospect; skittish and wary, and convinced that no one who ever gets to know the real him will stick around or should stick around. His hands too bloody, his guilt too heavy. Convinced that the last hope of real friendship and acceptance — his anchor, his lodestone, the man who inspired him to be better — had left.
But Sam's turned out to be a more than worthy replacement, and as much as Bucky bristled against his therapist, she'd been having an effect over time regardless. It might be a fucking cliche, Barnes, but it's true: no man is an island, she'd said, and those words kept running in a loop in his head at inopportune moments.
So maybe it wasn't the end. Maybe he could work through it with more people. New friends. New... whatever-Daisy-was. Whatever she could eventually be to him, maybe, even if he didn't deserve it. ]
Right, [ he says, simply. ] As long as that's— something you're okay with. Sharing that part of you.
[ Being alone is one of the worst things in the world. Daisy's experienced far too much of it in her life, that feeling of being adrift in the middle of the ocean, so close to drowning in loneliness, desperate for any kind of real connection. She wouldn't wish that feeling on anyone, especially not someone as undeserving of it as Bucky Barnes.
Her expression is open and maybe a little bit nervous as she looks at him, taking in what he's said before finally nodding with certainty. ]
I am. If you're okay with seeing it. It's not always my prettiest side... [ She starts to say something else, stops, then tries again after a moment, hesitation laced through the words. ]
Up until now, I haven't pushed for you to share things about yourself and I'm not going to start. But if you want to, you can. Always, anytime. No topic is too heavy — I will always listen and I won't judge you. I'll only ever run because of my own bullshit, never yours. I promise. You're stuck with me, Barnes, for better or worse.
[ Those words twinge something in him. To the end of the line, he thinks. Except the line ended a while ago. And he's been— functioning, mostly but barely— since then. Bucky Barnes is affable and friendly enough these days, but he's also bristling with cheerfully defensive edges, constantly deflecting. He's been more honest with Daisy because it's absurdly, surprisingly easy with her, but those last hurdles are going to be trouble. He wonders what'll finally kick him over the edge. ]
Thanks. The same goes for you.
[ Is all he can manage for now, as he eases back against the pillows with an exhaustion partially from yesterday's parking lot collapse, partially from— this. These conversations. The delicate, stubborn work of prising open that shield over his heart.
But he looks back over at her: that hesitant, nervous look from her, those dark waiting eyes, and with a quirk at the corner of his mouth, he just says it because he can't resist. She practically tee'd it up for him. ]
[ It doesn't matter how long it takes to peel back those protective layers and discover the man underneath; Daisy is in this for the long haul. However long Bucky will let her be by his side, she'll be there — hell, she'll even fight herself if that's what it takes, do her damnedest to resist the inevitable urge to run. Because this is important, this is real, and she wants it. Bad.
Just when she worries things might have gotten too heavy, he steers them back onto the safe course, laying out the kind of line that has her raising her eyebrows and then bursting out in a laugh. ]
Oh my god, did you really just— [ And there's another laugh, deep enough to shake her body and rattle her arm. She only winces a little though, the pain meds starting to kick in. ]
Oh, c'mon, I tried. I was being earnest. [ But even Bucky Barnes' earnestness was often such a tongue-in-cheek thing, so he can't help his own laugh as Daisy just cracks and dissolves into laughter.
Even with Sam, he kept vacillating back and forth between teasing and genuinely wearing his heart on his sleeve. Pretending he hadn't been paying attention to the other man's heartfelt speech (Sorry, I was texting), before delivering the best compliment he could think of to give, even simple as it was: Nice job, Cap.
So it's the same with her. He couches it with teasing, with laughter, then with the occasional heartfelt compliment. ]
[ Damn, it feels good to laugh, and it feels even better to hear Bucky laugh with her. She would bet good money that he doesn't get to do that nearly enough these days, and it's not as if he doesn't have a lot of time to make up for. If she can help him have more moments like this... ]
You're a dork.
[ The words come out practically dripping with affection and there's no stopping the smile she wears. She's happy, and she has a feeling that he might be too. Scooting down so she's a bit more comfortable, she shrugs with her good shoulder. ]
Oh, well, as long as you like it, then you're stuck with it.
[ She's slumped down and curled against his side, and Bucky's eased back against the jumble of pillows and the wall, too. The morning dose of painkillers have had their time to start kicking in again, although they drag more on Daisy's edges, their kick more potent. ]
Bet you wouldn't've guessed from the history books and the Wall of Valor and the Smithsonian that I'm actually one entire idiot.
[ The outsize reputation — for better or for worse, the war hero or the cold-blooded assassin — had always sat wrong and uncomfortable with him. He hated when people looked at him with mistrust, but also hated when they looked at him with starstruck awe. So being able to puncture some of that rep and have Daisy just see him as good ole dorky James— well, that's better. ]
[ Like so many other times in the hours they've spent together, Daisy knows this physical closeness should feel weird or awkward... but it doesn't. These moments with him have felt completely normal and she can count on one hand how many people she's this naturally comfortable with. So while the pills make the edges of the world a little fuzzy like fluffy cotton being wrapped around her, she curls a little closer into the warmth that radiates from his solid body, feeling a bit like a cat gravitating toward a sunbeam. ]
My impression of you has been thoroughly corrected, don't worry.
[ He's a ridiculous, incorrigible dork who will make jokes and tease at every possible opportunity, and he's also more than a little nerdy with his love of space and Lord of the Rings. Those are things she hadn't known about him before but none of those facts make him less of a hero in her eyes — it's quite possible that nothing ever will, despite his best efforts. ]
What about me? How has your impression of me changed since we first met?
[ It's an easy question, posed lightly with the expectation of a less than serious reply. ]
[ On a regular date between regular people, maybe that question would've seemed like a trap: fishing for compliments, digging for him to say something aimless and nice about her. Petting the ego. But they've both been far more honest with each other throughout, and so his answer, when it comes, is sincere even while the corners of his eyes crinkle in a smile. ]
When we first started working together? I thought hot, capable SHIELD agent. [ A flicker of a grin. ] Now: still a hot, capable SHIELD agent, but who can make me laugh and who's got seriously unexpected hidden depths.
[ Daisy certainly isn't fishing for compliments with the question. If anything, she's expecting him to absolutely roast her, pointing out some quirky flaw that she could be comically offended about. But, of course, he defies expectation and decides to flatter her with what she's discovered is his characteristic charm.
Well, she can't just sit and take that sort of treatment. ]
Hmph, more like seriously unexpected trauma. [ Because accepting genuine compliments is hard, okay? Smirking, she glances over at him with humor in her eyes. ] I am pretty hot though, you're not wrong about that.
Trauma, depths, what's the difference? [ It felt oddly refreshing being able to be so open and flippant about it: not having to tiptoe around it or walk on eggshells or try in vain to pretend either of them were completely 100% well-adjusted. A semi-stable 100-year-old man, he'd joked once, and that summary still held true. Part of what rankled so much was the gaping disparity between the man he'd been before the war and the man he was today, so acknowledging it felt like a small weight off his shoulders. ]
Just wait until this black eye goes away, [ which would be faster for him than for anyone else without his serum-overhauled system, ] and then I'll be back to my extremely dashing handsome good looks, too.
[ Is there really a difference? Maybe for other people but definitely not for them. And it really is nice to be able to admit that and not be completely afraid of the other person finding that the biggest turn-off. They don't know all of each others traumatic depths but they understand each other and that's a damn good start to whatever this is. ]
Yeah, I guess you're alright in the looks department. [ She grins and nestles down even further against the pillows, not intending to get up any time soon. ] For an old guy.
[ A second passes and then she grins at him, leaning hard into the teasing as inspiration strikes. ] Hey, do you get the senior discount at restaurants? That'd be real nice for a date.
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His hand is still warm in hers and she gives his fingers a gentle squeeze, not quite ready to let go just yet. ] So, a table. And chairs to go with it, I'm guessing. Do you want help with that?
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Haven't even had our first real date yet, and we're already talking about meeting your dad and picking out furniture together. Something tells me this really isn't how this sort of thing normally goes, huh?
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We're superheroes who help save the world on a weekly basis. You seriously expect our dating lives to be normal?
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[ Maybe you'd think that after so long, he'd want a calm, peaceful, banal civilian life — but the truth is that Bucky just doesn't know what he'd do with it. After so many decades, he's been hardwired for a higher pace. It would probably take decades yet to teach him how to settle in and get accustomed to peace instead.
And in the meantime, he likes being around people who understand. Who get it. Who know that frantic pace and adrenaline and danger, and all the baggage that comes with it. ]
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[ Though she doesn't mind the occasional vacation in the land of normalcy. A night out without any disasters interrupting or derailing the evening? That would be great. A boring 9-to-5 job pushing papers at a desk? There's no way she'd survive it. ]
And, by the way, you're not the only former fugitive in the room, so don't go thinking you're something special for it.
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[ Bucky finally disentangles his flesh-and-blood hand from Daisy's palm, but it's in favour of shoving at her knee, mock-aggrieved. (And then, just for good measure, he leaves his hand on her knee, just because he can. Warm palm splayed against the fabric of her SHIELD-branded sweatpants.) ]
Jesus, you just gotta one-up me at every turn. I thought I at least had the fugitive thing on lock.
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Nope. I've been a fugitive twice with SHIELD [ she holds up two fingers to be sure he heard her right ] at least, where we had to be on the run — and once on my own during my vigilante phase. I didn't try very hard at hiding that time, though, I'd just quake my way out every time the cops or military got too close.
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[ He hesitates. Considers the instances Daisy had cited, and the stories that must be sitting behind each of them. He's curious. He's realising that he's always curious about her stories; she's got the most batshit, fascinating history he's ever encountered in anyone outside Steve's crew and the Avengers. ]
The two times with SHIELD. Was that when the HYDRA shit got blown open?
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The first time was. The second involved a robot version of me shooting a high-profile general in the head on the orders of a homicidal AI who tried to trap us in a virtual reality. We didn't get out of that mess until after I stopped the world from ending almost a year later.
[ Most days, she doesn't even realize how completely insane her life is anymore. She's just so used to it all that it's not until someone like Bucky comes along and reminds her that it just hits her. Because, yeah, her life really is just a string of batshit stories, one after another. ]
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[ His hand flexes beneath hers, his thumb curving against her knee just as hers runs over his knuckles. Bucky sounds vaguely incredulous, but he's been through enough of this with Daisy now that he's not as flabbergasted as he was the very first time; instead, it's a kind of bemused acceptance once he sees her expression. ]
Okay— you're still not shitting me. Jesus. I don't know how to follow that.
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[ That happiness that had been buoying her mood dims at the memories of the darkness she'd been drowning in back then. Clawing her way out of the grief and guilt over Lincoln's death, followed by the utter terror that she might have caused the end of the world, and then the real cherry on top with losing Coulson. Her hand stills on Bucky's but stays there, the warmth of his skin reminding her that she's moved past those dark times. ]
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So he shifts position. Scoots back to the head of the bed and swings one sleeved arm around her shoulder, swapping the handhold for a sideways hug instead. Someday he'll be able to fold her into his arms entirely, but for now he's sitting side-by-side with Daisy, arm wrapped around her, shoulder against hers. ]
Sorry. I shouldn't've brought this one up.
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Okay, this is better. A lot better. ]
It's okay. Really. [ Leaning into his side, she looks over at him with a smile, small but real. ] There's always gonna be things for us. Dark moments, bad memories... We can figure out how to get through them together. Right?
[ She hopes he sees it that way too. That he's not overwhelmed by the idea of learning each other's rough patches and weathering the storms that come with each one. ]
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But Sam's turned out to be a more than worthy replacement, and as much as Bucky bristled against his therapist, she'd been having an effect over time regardless. It might be a fucking cliche, Barnes, but it's true: no man is an island, she'd said, and those words kept running in a loop in his head at inopportune moments.
So maybe it wasn't the end. Maybe he could work through it with more people. New friends. New... whatever-Daisy-was. Whatever she could eventually be to him, maybe, even if he didn't deserve it. ]
Right, [ he says, simply. ] As long as that's— something you're okay with. Sharing that part of you.
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Her expression is open and maybe a little bit nervous as she looks at him, taking in what he's said before finally nodding with certainty. ]
I am. If you're okay with seeing it. It's not always my prettiest side... [ She starts to say something else, stops, then tries again after a moment, hesitation laced through the words. ]
Up until now, I haven't pushed for you to share things about yourself and I'm not going to start. But if you want to, you can. Always, anytime. No topic is too heavy — I will always listen and I won't judge you. I'll only ever run because of my own bullshit, never yours. I promise. You're stuck with me, Barnes, for better or worse.
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Thanks. The same goes for you.
[ Is all he can manage for now, as he eases back against the pillows with an exhaustion partially from yesterday's parking lot collapse, partially from— this. These conversations. The delicate, stubborn work of prising open that shield over his heart.
But he looks back over at her: that hesitant, nervous look from her, those dark waiting eyes, and with a quirk at the corner of his mouth, he just says it because he can't resist. She practically tee'd it up for him. ]
Also, I dunno, I think you're always pretty.
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Just when she worries things might have gotten too heavy, he steers them back onto the safe course, laying out the kind of line that has her raising her eyebrows and then bursting out in a laugh. ]
Oh my god, did you really just— [ And there's another laugh, deep enough to shake her body and rattle her arm. She only winces a little though, the pain meds starting to kick in. ]
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Even with Sam, he kept vacillating back and forth between teasing and genuinely wearing his heart on his sleeve. Pretending he hadn't been paying attention to the other man's heartfelt speech (Sorry, I was texting), before delivering the best compliment he could think of to give, even simple as it was: Nice job, Cap.
So it's the same with her. He couches it with teasing, with laughter, then with the occasional heartfelt compliment. ]
Can't blame a guy for trying.
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You're a dork.
[ The words come out practically dripping with affection and there's no stopping the smile she wears. She's happy, and she has a feeling that he might be too. Scooting down so she's a bit more comfortable, she shrugs with her good shoulder. ]
But I like that in a guy.
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[ She's slumped down and curled against his side, and Bucky's eased back against the jumble of pillows and the wall, too. The morning dose of painkillers have had their time to start kicking in again, although they drag more on Daisy's edges, their kick more potent. ]
Bet you wouldn't've guessed from the history books and the Wall of Valor and the Smithsonian that I'm actually one entire idiot.
[ The outsize reputation — for better or for worse, the war hero or the cold-blooded assassin — had always sat wrong and uncomfortable with him. He hated when people looked at him with mistrust, but also hated when they looked at him with starstruck awe. So being able to puncture some of that rep and have Daisy just see him as good ole dorky James— well, that's better. ]
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My impression of you has been thoroughly corrected, don't worry.
[ He's a ridiculous, incorrigible dork who will make jokes and tease at every possible opportunity, and he's also more than a little nerdy with his love of space and Lord of the Rings. Those are things she hadn't known about him before but none of those facts make him less of a hero in her eyes — it's quite possible that nothing ever will, despite his best efforts. ]
What about me? How has your impression of me changed since we first met?
[ It's an easy question, posed lightly with the expectation of a less than serious reply. ]
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When we first started working together? I thought hot, capable SHIELD agent. [ A flicker of a grin. ] Now: still a hot, capable SHIELD agent, but who can make me laugh and who's got seriously unexpected hidden depths.
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Well, she can't just sit and take that sort of treatment. ]
Hmph, more like seriously unexpected trauma. [ Because accepting genuine compliments is hard, okay? Smirking, she glances over at him with humor in her eyes. ] I am pretty hot though, you're not wrong about that.
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Just wait until this black eye goes away, [ which would be faster for him than for anyone else without his serum-overhauled system, ] and then I'll be back to my extremely dashing handsome good looks, too.
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Yeah, I guess you're alright in the looks department. [ She grins and nestles down even further against the pillows, not intending to get up any time soon. ] For an old guy.
[ A second passes and then she grins at him, leaning hard into the teasing as inspiration strikes. ] Hey, do you get the senior discount at restaurants? That'd be real nice for a date.
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yrs to wrap?
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