The Birth(day) of a Revolution
Summary: The team realizes Bucky hasn't had a proper birthday since before the war. They're determined to change that.
Pairing: Bucky x Speedster!Reader
Warnings: Language, Use of Bucky’s New Comic Codename ‘Revolution’. Sorry if your name is Catrina.
A/N: This fic is based on an idea gifted to me by @euphreana . Also I’m thinking about making a permanent Taglist so let me know if you wanna be tagged whenever I post.
You were part of a team of new recruits brought in by Val to work as effectively as the B-team for smaller-scale missions so that the New Avengers could focus on missions that inevitably would take precedent. The press had deemed you guys the Avengerlings. Which you personally kinda loved.
There were currently six of you Avengerlings. You were an inhuman, who acquired super speed after terrogenesis. Petra, a former Black Widow who was one of the many freed by Yelena and her sister Natasha. Your best friend, Max, was a rehabilitated Deathlok soldier. Catrina, another inhuman, who was as much a bitch, as the hurricane her name originated from. And then the twins, Iris and Ivy, are both reformed graduates of the Hydra Academy.
Each of you was given a mentor. Petra was with Yelena(unsurprisingly). Max was with Alexei. Catrina was with John, her twin flame, in their shared haughtiness. You were assigned to work with Ava. And the twins were mentees to Bucky, a fact to which you were utterly jealous.
You did your best to hide your schoolgirl’s crush, but every time you were around him, your body would start vibrating like you were a fucking alarm clock. Being a speedster was the best, but one of the downsides was that sometimes, when your emotions were heightened, your molecules couldn’t help but move, and unfortunately, the former Winter Soldier turned Congressman turned De Facto co-leader of the New Avengers seemed to have a heavy effect on your emotional state.
You and Max were stretching each other out when the entire New Avengers team showed up, almost frantically.
You could hear the clacking of Valentina’s heels as she walked in a circle; you thought she looked rather like a shark searching for her prey. “Hi everyone, I am here to tell you that you have all successfully completed your training and will be fitted for your customized suits within the next few hours.
Catrina immediately raised her hand, tapping her foot until Valentina pointed to her, signaling she could speak.
“ Why so soon? John said we had weeks, if not months, to train.”
Yelena immediately stepped forward, not even allowing Valentina to reply, “ Well, John isn’t the leader of this team, and the decision isn’t his.”
“Yelena’s absolutely right,” Valentina said with a smile, yes, definitely a shark. “ You all are more than capable of taking on missions, which is good news since there is one coming up,” Val finished, gesturing for her assistant to hand her some kind of tablet.
“ There are two missions that need to be completed asap. And we have decided that this would be the right time to utilize our B-team. So, Mel here will take you all to be fitted in your uniforms, and you’ll be on your way.”
Once Val left, the vibe of the training facility immediately changed for the better.
Ava came up to you, surprising you with a hug. “ I’m so proud of you, love, you’ll do great.”
You were practically buzzing with excitement and a ton of honest fear, but that was nothing when Bucky came up to you, putting his hands on your shoulder before wishing you luck.
Yeah, you were so screwed.
Getting fitted for your suit was surreal. It finally hit you that you were a real hero.
Everyone's suit was different except for each having the New Avengers logo.
You were being fitted for a deep blue skin-tight suit made of spandex, which the person fitting you said would ‘provide you with the necessary stretch and full range of motion required for you to use your powers effectively. Your favorite part of the uniform was the tinted glasses you got to prevent debris or any other material from getting into your eyes while you ran.
Max’s suit seemed to be inspired by John’s, with the key difference being that his was green. Petra's suit was a plum color and came with a vest allowing her to keep all of her weapons in it. Although you saw her with a sword that obviously could fit into the vest, you decided against asking where she put it, cause you really didn’t need to think about it. The twins had matching suits in order to confuse targets. And finally, Catrina’s suit was burgundy, and the first thing she said was a complaint.
“ Why are all our suits such drab colors?” She groaned.
“ It’s probably a way to keep us low on the radar of enemy turfs,” Max replied.
“ I feel like super bright colored suits will look tacky as hell,” Ivy quipped.
“ Yeah, and I mean all the members of the actual team have dark colored suits as well,” Iris said.
Petra was quick to say, “ We are members of the real team, and muted colors solidify that fact.”
“ And Y/n, you got something to add?” Catrina asked, turning towards you.
“ Uh. Well, I’m just grateful to be here. Plus, my ass looks great in this suit.”
You were met with a raucous of laughter, well, besides Catrina, who just said a ‘hmmph’.
Your first mission was to neutralize a group that was making weapons for chemical warfare.
Regardless of how you felt about Catrina, she was efficient in the field, able to use her sonic scream in close quarters as well as against larger groups of perps.
Max seemed to be everywhere, using his artificial hand and leg as a shield.
Petra was the one handling getting the information from the hidden files.
The twins were a sight to be seen as they destroyed the dangerous weapons. Iris’s chakras were like extensions of themselves, and Ivy’s axe, well, there’s no way you wanted to get on her bad side.
And you were assigned to look for any human experimentees and bring them to safety. And you did, in fact, find a few children who were being experimented on. And boy oh boy did you want to kill the scientists you found in the lab, but that was against protocol, and the last thing you needed was to get canned after only one mission.
After it was all over, you guys all hugged each other, extremely proud of completing your mission successfully. And you couldn’t lie, you were beginning to see your fellow Avengerlings as a second family.
A few months after that very first mission, the Avengerlings had become fully integrated into the watchtower.
You each were given your own suites. And were surprised with company cards from Val after she announced she ain’t no Nick Fury and her team would be taken care of financially.
Since the B-team was a backup team, you were allowed more time off than the original members, so each of you had hobbies. But you, well, before terrogenesis, no one warned you that a side effect of being a speedster was that you can’t sit still for very long.
You had built a community garden for the team to use. Although the only person who came out with you was Bob, whose company you truly enjoyed.
Besides the community garden you volunteered at the homeless shelter, you worked at a part time at a mom and pop bakery, you had taken to bedazzling, you had several cookbooks including Julia Child’s that you experimented with recipes from, you were a part of a softball league, you worked at the Boy and Girls club, you were an avid Netflix Binger, and Tik Tok challenges hated to see you coming.
You’d gotten the nickname Hummingbird from Alexei after he saw you flitting around the chapter, and it stuck. You wouldn’t have minded if not for the fact that Catrina had taken to calling you ‘Bird Brain’ whenever she was annoyed with you, which was often.
You’d hoped that after the success of your first mission, you and Catrina would develop a kinship as the only Inhumans on the team, but no luck. Catrina, with her petite frame, blond hair, pointed ears, and Sonic scream, thought she was every bit better than you and your windblown curls and inability to sit down.
It didn’t help that you and Catrina shared a crush on Bucky, and while you were a vibrating mess around him, Catrina was a smooth operator. You’d wanted to knock her out when she was gushing ridiculously hard about Bucky’s new codename ‘Revolution’. The good news was that Bucky seemed not to be interested, usually preferring the company of you, Max, and the twins whenever he trained with the Avengerlings.
It was actually one of your training sessions where you’d asked Bucky what he’d want for his birthday since it was coming up. He’d simply said he was expecting anything, with his plan for his birthday being just spending time alone reading, as it had been since he’d been unprogrammed.
“ Wait, what? You haven’t celebrated your birthday since the 40s!!” You’d exclaimed.
“ Well, yeah, I mean, it’s not really a big deal. Just any other day,” Bucky said, rubbing his flesh hand behind his neck.
“ Dude, it’s not just any day. It’s your birthday, and you deserve something nice.” Max replied.
The twins had made their way over to y’all after hearing your screech.
“ Yeah, after all the things you’ve done for the people of the world, they should—”
“ Have a celebration in the streets for you like they do in New Orleans,” Ivy added, interrupting her sister.
“ Are you suggesting he has a New Orleans funeral procession?” Petra asked, looking like she was holding back a laugh.
“ That’s what it sounded like,” Catrina said, in the higher-pitched tone she used whenever she was around the former congressman.
“ While that would be a great idea. I think cake and ice cream could be good, don’t cha think Bucky?” you asked, nudging his shoulder.
“ Yeah, I guess that could be cool. I think I’d like it. But right now I just got a text from Bob, they need my input on a game night dispute. So if you excuse me,” Bucky said, putting down the weights he’d been using, before walking out. And as soon as he was gone, Catrina opened her stupid mouth,
“ You guys, how about we do cake and ice cream and maybe like brunch or something. I mean, he’d love that,” she said, already taking over the planning.
Everyone else started to agree, but you sped off so that you could get some air. You knew that Catrina would try to take over the planning and earn Bucky’s favor. And while you didn’t want to consider yourself a jealous person, there was no way in hell you were gonna let Bucky’s party become Catrina’s attempt at being Bucky’s girlfriend.
Rather than butting heads with her in the gym, you opted to text Ava, hoping your mentor could pull some strings to get the members of the original, well, newly original six, to meet with you with your idea of Bucky’s party.
“ Wait, so what exactly is the theme again?” John asked from his position at the ridiculously long table in the conference.
You, with the help of Max, had created a presentation with ideas for Bucky’s party.
“ The theme is ‘Bucky’. ”
“ What does that even mean?” Catrina added indignantly. She had been beyond pissed when you were able to take over the planning of Bucky’s birthday party, feeling as though you cheated her by going above her head.
“ It means just that. The goal is to have the different things that Bucky likes at the party to guarantee a good time.”
“ Exactly,” Matt added, “ Bucky doesn’t tend to share his interests, but we’re planning on using what we do know he likes.”
“ We know he enjoys The Hobbit, sushi from that place Izze in Brooklyn, and 40’s music. So that’s all going to be incorporated for him. And Iris, I know you and Ivy had an idea of your own, if you wouldn’t mind sharing it,” you said getsuring to the twins.
“ Yeah, so Ivy and I thought it would be cool if we all dressed up as Bucky, but like different iterations. Like maybe we could get replicas of his uniform from the war, or suits with American flag pins.”
“ Or pretty much any combination of leather jackets,” Iris added.
“ It could just be a fun tribute,” the twins said at the same time. Everyone seemed to like that idea, except for one glaring exception.
Catrina raised her hand, and before getting anyones ok, she said, “ This is a cute idea, but don’t you think reminding him of his Winter Soldier days could be triggering?”
“ Of course it could be. But no one was suggesting we dress up like the Winter Soldier. If the theme is Bucky, I doubt it occurred to anyone to dress up as a version of him that was brainwashed,” Petra replied, crossing her arms against her chest, although you could’ve sworn Alexei looked a bit sheepish, clearly still on his Winter Soldier fan girling bs.
“ So what do you OGs think?” you asked, silently crossing your fingers that they’d like the idea. The first one to speak was thankfully your mentor; Ava definitely had developed a sweet spot for you, and you knew she’d cosign.
“ I think it's an absolutely brilliant idea. But there is the question of funding the event. I’m sure it’ll be expensive.
“ Oh, we don’t have to worry about that, I’m sure Valentina would love to fund this party,” Yelena replied in a manner that made you question what dirt she might’ve had on the New Avengers founder.
“ I also think this great idea. Bucky should have a party for the ages,” Alexei added.
“ Yeah, it would be a really cool thing for us to do for the big guy,” Bob said, giving you a small smile.
“ It could be good, but if things go bad, I’m definitely throwing you Avengerlings under the bus,” John said, leaning back into his chair.
You were grinning from ear to ear before you remembered your other idea, “ There’s actually one idea I had I forgot to mention. I was thinking we could do a “ Man of the Hour’ type thing. But instead of roasting Bucky, we make toasts, sharing kind words and maybe a story or two about positive impacts he’s had on each of us. What do you guys think?”
Max seemed like he was going to reply, but Catrina beat him to it, “ I think that is actually a good idea.” You were shocked by Catrina’s agreement, although her emphasis on the word actually didn’t go unnoticed by you.
You were then met by various agreements amongst the group. You were getting excited at the buzz that was being generated, with some of your teammates already planning their outfits. Yelena and Bob were talking about potential cake flavors, and Catrina had joined the twins in their search for gifts. Everything was peachy keen until there was a knock on the door. You could all tell that it was Bucky’s shadow outside the door, and in a flash, you made the presentation and the various info packets disappear before opening the door for the super soldier.
“ Hey, Buck. We weren’t expecting you until tomorrow,” Yelena called.
“ Yeah, I was able to finish the mission early. I was gonna head to my room, but I heard noises. So what’s going on?” Bucky asked expectantly.
“ Well, actually, we were just planning your welcome home dinner. But since you ruined the surprise, what would you like?”
“Pizza, I guess,” Bucky said, his tone suspicious, since you’d never called a team meeting for anyone else’s post-mission arrival.
“ Pizza it is,” Yelena said, taking over the conversation, as co-leaders should do. The rest of the team disbursed, letting Yelena and Alexei distract Bucky from whatever theories his cyborg brain was forming. You and Max were about to start discussing when you’d give out everyone's info packet again, with you saying right now, before speeding off to put the packets in the mail slots that everyone had on the doors of their suites. When you came back, Max was still mid-sentence, god, how you loved your power, “ You already did it, didn’t you?” Max asked with a crooked smile.
“ Yessir,” you replied, giving your bestie a salute.
Ava made her way over to you, shooing Max away, before she said, “ Love, this was a really good idea. I know Bucky will love it. Although I think you might have ulterior motives for planning this shindig.”
“ Uh… what do you… What do you mean?” You said, mentally face-palming at your obviousness.
“ I think everyone knows about you and Catrina’s crush on Bucky. This wouldn’t be a way of turning the odds of his affection in your favor.”
“ No its not,” you said with a shake of your head, “ It’s just when Bucky told us that he hadn’t properly celebrated his birthday in about 90 years, Barftrina was already planning a party that would be about winning his affection. And I… careabout him too much to allow his birthday to just be a hollow attempt at making her look like a doting girlfriend.”
“ Hmmm, well, okay then. Although it wouldn’t surprise me if, regardless of your purely platonic attentions, Bucky wouldn’t see you as his doting girlfriend,” Ava replied.
“ What’s that supposed to mean?” you inquired, confused.
“ Oh, nothing. Good luck with your planning, Champ,” Ava said, nochnatly giving you a pat on the shoulder.
You would’ve spiraled trying to figure out what she meant, if your thoughts hadn’t been interrupted by your phone ringing. It appeared as though your contact at S.W.O.R.D. wanted to talk to you about the very special birthday gift you planned on giving Bucky.
A few weeks had passed before the eve of the party. The team had agreed that the surprise party would be more likely to surprise Bucky if it were a few days before his actual birthday.
You’d all reconvened in the conference room to iron out last-minute details and confirm everyone was able to do their parts.
“ So again, I want to reiterate that the man of the hour toasts should be positive. We don’t need anyone “forgetting it’s not a roast. I’m looking at you, John,” you gave a pointed look at the blond-haired man.
“ Don’t worry. I’m way too scared of pissing off Bucky to forget,” John said, being surprisingly vulnerable in front of the members of the B-team.
“ Okay, good. Um, status report from everyone?” You asked, looking through the tablet you’d tactically acquired from Val’s office.
Bob perked up, “ I’ve downloaded all of the 30s and 40s music I could find on Spotify, and I have the audio set up ready to DJ the event.”
“ We’ve confirmed with the team designer that all costume requests have been completed,” Ivy said.
“ And we have backups if god forbid something happens to any of them,” Iris added.
“ I went to Izze and was able to get some sushi catered. And made sure not to mention who the part was for,” Petra said, making pretty much the whole room shiver at the disaster that would be caused if the workers of the sushi restaurant figured out it was for Bucky.
“ Me and John secured Middle Earth themed utensils and decorations,” Ava said.
“ The cake is also secure,” Yelena said.
“ And what uh, flavor did you decide on?” You asked since none of you were certain what favor of cake Bucky liked.
“ I got a cake with eight tiers of various flavors, so hopefully Bucky enjoys one, if not more, of the flavors,” Yelena said with a shrug.
“ And if that goes wrong, I got various pies and cupcakes,” Catrina said, smugly.
Initially, you’d been happily surprised that Catrina was letting you take the reins, but then you found out that she was using her free time to flirt with Bucky every chance she got. And you couldn’t lie, it was starting to seem like she’d win his affection, you shook your head at the thought, reminding yourself, your goal wasn’t to win Bucky’s affection, but to make him happy.
Marcus interrupted your thoughts, saying, “ I was able to get Joaquin Torres, Sarah Wilson and her boys, and a few of Bucky’s other connects from his time in congress, Wakanda, a couple of living Howling Commandos members, and just some folks who knew him around Brooklyn…”
“But?” You asked, already knowing what he was going to say.
“ Sam refused the invite. And is now ignoring my calls and texts, he’s adamant that he won’t be in attendance.”
The whole room became silent, with everyone knowing that since Steve was gone, Sam had become best friends with Bucky.
“ That seems unfair, no?” Alexei pointed out before adding, “ Whatever problems he has with the team shouldn’t stop him from attending.”
“ But dad, it is a bit of an awkward situation. The whole, ‘Which team is the real Avengers?”
“ Yeah, it is, but he should still show up for his friend,” John replied.
“ You know what, I’ll handle it,” you said, trying to alleviate the tension in the room.
“ Oh, and how are you going to do that?” Catrina asked.
“ I don’t know. But I will somehow.”
You’d run around the entire states of Louisiana and DC. Before you were able to find Sam walking out of his office, which, in hindsight, you should’ve checked first.
You waved him down, but he seemed to be determined to ignore you, which you weren’t allowing to happen. Opting to run around in circles, creating an unescapable vertex around him that you only stopped when you saw him on his knees, struggling for breath.
Once you’d stilled yourself, you helped the Falcon turned Cap, up.
“ Why… the hell… did you do that, kid?” Sam asked, trying to catch his breath with every word he said.
“ Because you were ignoring me. And you’ve been ignoring our invitations to attend Bucky’s surprise party.”
“ That’s because I’ve already RSVPed no.”
“ But why? Why can’t you come to celebrate your friend?”
“ Can’t a guy just be too busy to socialize?”
“ I mean, yeah, but other people you’ve recruited are free, so I don’t understand the problem is—”
“ Because I just don’t want to,” Sam said, cutting you off.
“ But why, Sam. After everything he’s done for you, I’d think—”
“ And what about what I’d done for him!” Sam screamed, causing you to jump back.
He smoothed down his shirt, trying to gather his composure so as not to attract onlookers.
“ Look, Y/n. I love Bucky. I went to the Raft to help the guy escape his wrongful conviction. We lived together; he was my brother. And when he said he wanted to retire from fighting all the time, and run for Congress to help out from the administrative side of things, I supported him. And when I needed help fighting the Hulked-out president, I didn’t pressure him to come to the fight. But then another team was formed, one where he got to be a leader; he jumped at the chance. All the bullshit about not wanting to fight goes out the window.”
“ I don’t think it was bullshit, Sam. I think he just can’t refuse the call to serve.”
“ Oh yeah, I know that’s true, believe me. But still it hurts that he, the guy who backed my claim to take on the mantle of Captain America, would join a team that delegitimizes my own, without even talking to me about it first,” Sam said, his shoulders sagging.
“ Sam, I’m sorry. It was tactless of my friends and me not take that into consideration. And your anger is justified, but you and I both know that if you don’t go to his party, you’ll regret it. And he’ll be devastated. I doubt that Bucky would ever do anything with the intention of hurting you. Maybe you can settle things with him. Plus, if things go wrong, you can just drink until the pain goes away. I’ll take you home safely myself,” you said with a noncommittal shrug to which Sam chuckled.
“ Alright, kid, I’ll tell ya what. I’ll think about coming, genuinely. And if I do, I already have a Bucky-like leather jacket in mind.”
You couldn’t stop yourself from giving him a hug at that; you truly hoped he’d show up.
The day of the party was a bit hectic, mostly due to your own anxiety.
John and Alexei had left after helping bring in the throne for the man of the hour event and other super-heavy stuff into the banquet hall, which you’d procured. Their job was to keep Bucky away with an invitation to lunch, which Alexei made sure he couldn’t refuse.
Everyone else was on top of their assigned roles, but you couldn’t help but flit around fixing barely crooked banners and rearranging different decorations. It didn’t help that you were still waiting for the call confirming your gift from Bucky was ready for you to pick up. It got so bad that Max and Ava grabbed you mid-run, setting you down and holding you there while they reassured you.
“ Girl, everything is fine. Stop worrying,” Max cooed.
“ Bucky’s gonna love, well, at least not hate it. You did a good job.”
“ I know, but what if he doesn’t like any of the flavors in the eight-tiered cake. Or if he thinks us dressing like him is weird and cringe, or what if any of this stuff triggers him, I just don’t know if I could handle it.”
“ Even if he hates everything about it, he’ll appreciate the thought you put into it,” Ava said, putting a hand on your shoulder.
“ Plus, if he’s really mad, you could distract him with a lap dance,” Max added with a smirk.
“ I’m pretty sure that would violate like dozens of hr mandates. Plus, I’m sure he’d much rather prefer a lap dance from Catrina.”
“ Hmmm, really? Odd, it's not Catrina’s ass that his eyes are glued to during training.”
“ Wait a sec, Max, are you saying that—”
“ Oh, look at that, I think Bob needs help with his audio equipment. I’d better put my AV club training to good use,” Max said, running off.
You definitely could’ve caught up to him, but whatever plans you had were cut off by a text saying to go to S.W.O.R.D. headquarters.
“ So you were really able to make it work?” You asked the lab tech, Beck, one of your friends from the old days.
“ Yes, I was able to get one of our unused watches to house it. Basically, all he has to do is press this button right here,” Beck said, pointing at what should’ve been the time reset button, “ And then it’ll turn on.”
“ And you’re sure it’ll sound like the real thing?”
“ Absolutely. We have enough media footage, plus I was able to make it voice-activated, so anytime Bucky wants to use it, it’ll turn on and respond appropriately.”
“ Oh, thank you, Beck,” you said, jumping into your friend's arms, “ I don’t know how I can repay you.”
“ Well, bottomless wine coolers at this event would be a start.”
“ You got it. And it's costume optional just for you.”
“ Oh, please. I got a Bucky costume like three years ago.”
“ Wait a minute. I only gave you the invite a few weeks ago—”
“ Oop, would you look at the time. You should probably head on out of here to change into your costume, yeah?” Beck replied, practically throwing you out of the lab.
By about 3 p.m., everything was set up, and everyone donned their respective Bucky costumes.
A few that stood out were: Max, who was dressed as Congressman Era Bucky. Alexei was wearing a black ski jacket with the left arm cut out, and a tinfoil arm. The twins had matching black bomber jackets and aviators. Catrina claimed to be wearing Bucky’s current ‘Revolution’ uniform, but you could’ve sworn his uniform didn’t include Daisy Dukes and waist-length hair extensions.
And you were wearing an all-black outfit consisting of a black tee, tight leather pants, a motorcycle jacket, and shades, and you had put in the work with your wash n go, making sure your curls were as bouncy and shiny as possible.
“ Ooh, would you look at you,” Max said when you stepped out in your fit.
“Alright, settle down, Congressman. The leather makes it harder for me to run away or, you know, vibrate uncontrollably as I’m known to do around Bucky.”
“ Well, you look great,” Iris said, walking in with a chocolate-covered strawberry which she’d clearly sneaked from the snack table.”
“ Yeah, leather suits you,” Ivy added.
“ Well, I think you look like you’re going to squeak every time your thighs rub together,” Catrina said with a smirk.
Max looked like he was going to step in, but Petra came out of nowhere and beat him to it, “ Cat, we all know that you’re just jealous that Bucky likes Hummingbird more than you.” Everyone was nodding in agreement
While flattered, you still cringed at the pet name. “ Catrina, I’m not competing with you. Today’s not even about the two of us, it's about Bucky and his good time.”
“ Regardless, he might enjoy that party. But I promise you, after I give him my gift, he’s gonna enjoy the private after-party I’ve planned way more.”
No one could miss the innuendo in Catrina’s words. But rather than knocking her teeth in, you took Michelle Obama’s advice and took the high road.
“ I’m sure he will,” you said before walking off to do a final double check of everything.
About half an hour later, Yelena announced that Bucky had texted her that he’d got all the crap she’d asked him for to keep him busy all day and that he was heading to the place she claimed they’d pick up dinner, which was, of course, the banquet hall you’d all tirelessly set up.
Even though your outfit was a bit of a hindrance, you were still able to find Bucky about two minutes away from the venue, able to be faster than even his enhanced sight could catch you.
After what felt like ages, he finally came inside, immediately groaning. Muttering something about Yelena being childish and it not being funny. When you saw him pull out his phone, you gave the signal, running to turn on the light right as a huge “Surprise” was rung out by everyone, causing the usually almost stoic Bucky to drop the boxes he was carrying.
“ Its your surprise birthday party. And I’m not that childish dingus,” Yelena replied as everyone went over to him.
“ It was my idea,” you admitted sheepishly, “ It’s just you said you hadn’t celebrated your birthday since the 40’s, so I thought we could plan something for you.”
“ You… uh… did this for me?”
“ We did it. You like it?” You asked, now worried you’d fucked up.
“ Its ok. But why are you guys dressed like that?”
“ To honor you, Bucky!!!” Alexei boomed.
“ Yeah, your mentees roped up into dressing like you,” John said, totally throwing the twins under the bus.”
“ Hmmm. Well, I guess, if my star pupils came up with the idea, who am I to hate it?”
“ Wonderful, now let me tell you all about what we have going on?” Alexei said, pretty much kidnapping Bucky to show him around.
Throughout the party, Bucky seemed to be in awe. You were elated at how things turned out, yet you couldn’t bring yourself to chat the birthday boy up like Catrina and really everyone else was.
You were practically hiding in a corner, enjoying a red velvet cupcake, when Ava appeared out of nowhere, causing you to let out an embarrassing squeak, “ Jeez, Ava . You know how much I hate it when you sneak up on me.”
“ Well, I always find your reactions to be quite hilarious, which is why I keep doing it.”
You shook your head at her before taking another bite out of your cupcake. You both sat in silence for a moment before Ava turned to you, “ You know, for someone who planned the whole party to get his attention, I haven’t seen you talking with the birthday boy once. You’re really gonna let that vile Catrina take away all his time?”
“ I didn’t plan this party to get Bucky’s attention or make him like me or whatever other reason you and the rest of the team have thought up. I just believe that after everything he’s been through, all the trauma, the sacrifices, he deserves to be celebrated like the hero he is. And look at him. Catrina makes him laugh, and he seems so happy. If she’s who he wants, then I can bow out; it's no big deal.”
“ Oh my god. You really don’t see it,” Ava said, sounding shocked.
“ Y/n, sweetheart. Bucky likes you. Honestly, I was surprised, just given how different the two of you are. You’re chaos, always bursting with energy, and yet he always gravitates towards you. I think somehow you calm him down, almost like an upper.”
“ Of course you don’t, Hummingbird,” Ava said, shaking her head, “ All I know is that there have been way too many times when I’ve looked over at him, and he was laser focused on you, to be a coincidence. So don’t count yourself out. Now c’mon, I need a dance partner for the horrid 40’s music the man of your dreams loves for some reason.”
You rolled your eyes, but let her take you onto the dance floor.
Eventually, you were able to get out of your head and bring over a whiskey neat for Bucky, who was enjoying his sushi, appearing to somehow tune out everything going on around him.
“ I uh, brought you a drink,” you said, sliding the glass next to him as you sat down.
“ Thanks, Bird. Appreciate it. And you.”
“ Oh its no problem, I was headed over to the bar already for a Roy Rogers, and we have tons of whiskey since it's your favorite, so it was really no problem—”
You stopped yourself when Bucky put his hand on top of yours. “ What I meant was that everyone, well, everyone, besides Cat. Said that this whole party was your idea, and you know you made sure all this stuff was done right. And I gotta say drinking my favorite drink out of a tankard is something I’d never dreamed I could, but it's perfect, all of it.”
“ I’m glad you’re enjoying everything, Bucky. I actually have something I wanted to give you,” you said, about to pull out the watch, when Bucky’s head swiveled around, and he broke out into a grin before rushing out of his seat to greet Sam.
You smiled, glad you’d been able to convince Sam to come, although a bit put out to have your moment interrupted. Rather than take pity on yourself, you decided to get up and take Sam’s nephews' offer to joust with them, another fun medieval, if not Middle-earth, activity you had set up.
Somehow, the 40s music that Bob had started out with had become a free-for-all. You and Max were krumping to Tamborine by Eve, when the song was cut off by microphone feedback. Catrina had found her way on the stage and was demanding everyone’s attention.
“ I know, we are all having a great time, but I think it’s time to move on to the Man of the Hour portion of the night. So Buck, if you would do me, well us, the honor of joining coming on stage, this throne is waiting for ya.”
You turned to Bucky, who had been standing next to Sam, reminiscing at god knows what, who now looked like he wanted to be anywhere else.”
“ Everybody give it up for Bucky!!” Joaquin yelled through cupped hands, with everyone joining in with an applause that inevitably forced the birthday boy to set down his beer and get up on stage.
The speeches varied from heartful, to hilarious, to full on embarassing, when Alexei decided to talk about a time he’d finally been able to get the former Winter Soldier drunk, he’d gotten to the part of them steeling four wheelers when you cut him off, dashing on to the stage, grateful for the frizz control spray you’d put in your hair that afternoon.
“ Okay. Thank you, Alexei, but I think your time is up. Let’s have someone else go. Uh, Max?” Knowing your best friend would have your back.”
“ Nah, I’ll wait. I mean, you’re already up there,” Max said, waving his arms. So much for having your back.
“ Bastard,” you muttered, or it would’ve been a mutter if the mic wasn’t in your hand.
“ What was that?” Max called out.
“ Nothing um… where do I start. Sorry, everyone, with all the planning, I seemed to have forgotten to write a speech. I guess I’ll keep things short,” you said, looking at Bucky, doing your best to soothe your racing molecules, when you gazed into his baby blue eyes and good-natured smile.
“ Ok, so I came up with the idea for this party. And I know everyone has had their opinions on my reasoning, but the truth is, all I wanted to do was give the man sitting on the throne, who in hindsight might’ve been over the top, a party. With everything he’s done in his life and being a true hero, I think it can be difficult to see him as a person. Just someone with feelings and experiences who deserves to be celebrated. Many of us wouldn’t be here today without him. We have former widows, lab experiments, etc., many of whom wouldn’t be where they are if it weren’t for the, well, the terrible Hydra experimentations. But the point is that we all have gotten second chances to be better, and we’d be a pretty much floundering hot mess of a team without his leadership and guidance. And since it's such a privilege for me to even be in his presence on a regular basis, it felt like no trouble at all to celebrate the day that Winnifred Barnes gave birth to her baby boy. So yeah, I’m now.”
You sprinted, you were proud to say, at a normal pace, from the stage, not even looking at anyone, including the birthday boy.
After the Man of the Hour bit was done. It was time for cake and then presents.
Sam had bought his friend a first edition copy of The Hobbit( leading you to speculate that he was probably always planning on showing up).
Sarah and her boys gave him noise-canceling headphones.
The twins got him a brown leather jacket, saying it was one of the few colors he didn’t have.
John gave him a bunch of Under Armour brand merch.
Yelena and Bob handed him a big bag of cat food, and when Bucky gave them a questioning look. They told him they adopted the kitten, Alpine, that he’d been eyeballing during the PR event at the pound, and she was now being kittysat by some of the lab techs at the tower.
Alexei bought him bourbon that he claimed was over fifty years old.
Ava got him a Dyson Airwrap.
Joaquin got him a record player and a set of 40s hits.
Max got him cleaner for his vibranium arm, claiming it should work better than dishwashers.
Petra got him a set of knives.
Catrina handed him a gift bag that made Bucky’s ears turn pink when he looked inside it, before she winked and let him know that it was only a preview, to everyone else’s discomfort.
And finally, it was your turn. “ I didn’t have time wrap it,” you said, handing him the watch Beck hooked up for you.
“ That’s ok, Bird, I love it. I’ve been in the market for a new watch.”
“ Well it’s not just any watch,” you said, bashfully, as you sat back down on your seat, “ Press the button on the right side.”
And when he did, a hush fell over the room, because now all of you were met with a hologram of Steve Rogers, clad in civilian clothes that you’d found a video of him wearing.
“ Happy Birthday, Buck. I wish I could be there with you, but since I can’t, I wanted to remind you of how much I love ya, buddy. And I hope that at the very least you were able to enjoy some cake, Punk. And remember I’m with you till the end of the line,” hologram Steve said before the watch turned itself off.
Bucky seemed to have tears in his eyes when it was over. And he wasn’t the only one; everyone seemed to be moved by your gift, but you were still nervous that you’d overstepped.
“ It doesn’t just say happy birthday, you said. It’s voice-activated, so anytime you wanna talk to it, it’ll respond of you tap that same button twice. I know it's not as good as the real thing, but I hope you like it,” you said expectantly.
“ I…um… I don’t know what to say right now. But thanks,” Bucky said, rushing to throw the watch into one of the other gift bags.
And now you were nearly in tears. He hated it. You’d practically sold your soul to Tyler Hayward to get the tech needed to make it, and Bucky practically threw it away like garbage. And the whole room seemed to look at you with pity on their faces, well besides Catrina, who looked rather pleased.
You had to get out of there, so you took off as fast as your feet could take you, which you know was pretty fast.
You’d run all the way to California, sneaking into Disneyland after you bought new shoes from footlocker, because apparently motorcycle boots didn’t take too well to running nearly 3000 miles in 10 minutes.
You’d been walking around the park and riding rides for hours, not accounting for the time zone difference. It was probably after midnight back home when Max called you.
“ Oh, thank god, why haven’t you been answering your phone?”
“ I didn’t feel like talking,” you said, shrugging to no one in particular.
“ Yeah, we figured. But turning off your location made everyone worried sick about you. Which kinda defeated your idea of making sure the day focused on Bucky.”
“ Yeah, well,” you sighed, “ It doesn’t really matter now, does it. I’d already fucked up by giving him that stupid hologram. I’ll just apologize tomorrow, maybe in the evening, since I’m sure he and Catrina will be busy all day,” you remarked, wiping the tears that had begun to fall.
“ I wouldn’t be too sure ‘bout that sweets. From the way Catrina walked, practically shaking with rage by the way, from Bucky’s room after like two minutes in there leads me to believe she’s not who he wanted to end his birthday with. Although given the fact that he’s left you like a hundred voicemails since you took off, knocking several people out of their seats, including me, thanks for that, I think he might want to talk to you.”
“ Probably to yell at me,” you muttered.
“ Just check your damn messages and bring yourself home.”
“ Fine, fine. I will,” you said, your tone clipped as you ended the call.
You opened up your voicemail, and one of the many messages from Bucky started with the words, “ We need to talk…”
Since you were already in enough distress, you opted to delete all of them before running back to the tower, with a giant turkey leg in your left hand and the stuffed animal you’d bought in your right.
When you’d made your way back into the tower, it was silent, which wasn’t a surprise since it was about 4 in the morning.
You’d whooshed towards your bedroom door, changing into your pjs and ready to pass out in your bed, when there was a knock at your door. Thinking it was Max, you quickly went over to it, prepared to cuss him out, only to be met with the blue eyes of Bucky.
“ Look, I’m really sorry that I gave you that stupid watch. So if you’re mad at me, I underst—” You were cut off by Bucky pulling you into a hug, a wonderful, warm, perfect hug, that was over much faster than you would’ve liked, you could barely form thoughts.
“ What… uh… what was that for?”
“ You didn’t listen to any of my voicemails, did you?” He asked, before pulling you into your bedroom.
“ No, I was a bit busy,” you said, fiddling with the hem of your tank top.
“ Carnival?” He asked, looking at the giant stuffed bear on your bed, before walking you both over to take a seat next to the toy.
“ No, well technically yes, I went to Disneyland.”
“ You… you ran to Disneyland, really?”
“ Yeah. I was beyond mortified, and Disneyland is the Happiest Place on Earth,” you said with an awkward shrug.
“ Well, ok then. But to sum up my voicemails. I wanted to apologize for hurting you. I loved your gift. You have no idea how amazing it was to see and hear Steve; it made me feel at home.”
“ But your reaction was…”
“ I was experiencing a lot of emotions. You have to understand, today was awesome, but it was also a lot. And it was hard to regulate my emotions.”
“ Jeez, again I’m sorry, Bucky.”
“ Don’t be sorry. It was a great party. Especially since I haven’t had one for decades. But maybe next year we can do something more lowkey.”
“ Yeah. I’m sure the team can—”
“ No, not the team,” Bucky said, cutting you off, “ We, meaning just the two of us.”
“ Why would it… Why would you want it to be the two of us?”
Bucky sighed before replying, “ I wanted to be smoother when I did this. I mean, I figured since you asked, you’d probably give me some amazing gift, and then I’d kiss you and—”
“ You were gonna kiss me?” You asked, shocked.
“ Yeah, I mean, you like me, right?” Bucky asked, rubbing the back of his neck, clearly getting anxious.
“ Yeah, I mean. Yeah, I like you. But I didn’t think. I mean, you never said…” You’d lost your train of thought, barely able to comprehend what Bucky was saying to you.
“ Look. I’ve been attracted to you since the second you dumped coffee on Walker’s shirt, when he would not shut up, about being a model of physical fitness.”
“ I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you answered quickly.
“ You sure?. There was no coffee in the training room, and I could’ve sworn I saw a dark cloud of curls out of the corner of my eye when it happened.”
“ Alright, you got me,” you admitted bashfully,” But that still doesn’t explain why you never said anything.”
“ I kept my mouth shut while you were in training because I was your superior, and it felt inappropriate to try to make a move on you. And then when you were officially recruited, you buzzed off, anytime we were alone. I would’ve thought you hated me if it wasn’t for all the group outings we had, where you did in fact talk to me.”
“ Yeah. I have trouble not running off when I’m nervous, and you make me nervous.”
“ Yeah, I figured. Anyways, I wanted to be sure that it wouldn’t be against some sort of no fraternization policy Valentina might’ve made up, but when she finally got back to me, she let me know it wasn’t. And made it clear she, herself, wasn’t equipped for a relationship, having just finalized her divorce,” Bucky admitted with a bit of a shudder.
“ Hey, you can’t really blame her, you’re hot, man,” you said, nudging the man you’d been so scared of disappointing earlier.
“ Yeah, your friend, Catrina, said as much when she ambushed me earlier.”
“ Catrina is not my friend. She hates me,” you said with a light chuckle.
“ Well, you'd better be prepared for her to hate you even more. She was, let’s say, less than pleased when I rejected her, letting her know that I wanted you, not her.”
“ You really told her that?” You asked, barely containing your shock and awe.
“ Dammit, Bucky. She’s gonna try to blow out my eardrums every chance she gets now,” you said with a groan.
“ Welp, you can borrow my noise-canceling headphones, as well as anything else you’d like if you want.”
“ Ok,” you replied, dripping with sarcasm, “ Thanks for the offer, but normally girlfriends are the ones who…” You trailed off when you saw Bucky's expectant face.
“ Are you… Bucky, are you asking me to be your girlfriend right now?”
“ Yeah, sweetheart, I am,” he said with a crooked smile.
“ Oh my god, I’d love to,” you said, hugging him, “ But are you sure? Because you have options, you know, I mean, so many women and men would love to—”
Your rambling was cut short by brushing his lips against yours. It should’ve been a quick peck, but apparently your bodies had a different plan, with your arms wrapping around his neck to deepen the kiss, as you felt his flesh hand pull you closer. By the time you were finished, you were both pulling away breathless.
“Whoa,” you sighed, your cheeks still warm.
“ Yeah. So I think that’s my new favorite way to stop your, albeit very cute, rambling. What do ya think?”
“ I would have to agree, totally, definitely, agree,” you said, nodding your head.
“ Great. Well, I should probably let you get some sleep,” Bucky said, moving to rise from your bed before you grabbed his hand.
“ Wait. I’d really like it if you stayed.”
“ Oh, sweetheart. You know I’d much rather take you to dinner first.”
“ That’s good to know, but I was actually just hoping you’d sleep in here, just, sleep.”
“ Ok, yeah, I can do that,” Bucky said, taking off his coat and shoes before pulling you down with him to lie down. next to him.
You almost went to sleep immediately, but before you did, your heart was melted by Bucky, your boyfriend, kissing your forehead as he wrapped his arms around you.
The next morning, the two of you walked into the communal kitchen. Being met with the usual morning foolery. But everyone quieted down when they saw the two of you entering hand in hand.
“ Ooh, what’s this?” Ava asked with a smirk.
Bob was frozen with his spoon in his hand, Yelena was grinning as she looked up from her position at the stove, and everyone else, well, you could barely pay attention to anyone but the man at your side.
“ We, uh, Bucky asked me to be his girlfriend last night.”
It took two seconds for everyone, minus Catrina, who hurriedly made her way out of the kitchen, to rush the two of you with a bunch of ‘Congratulations’ and ‘Finallys.’
“ Wait, this isn’t gonna be an issue with HR, is it?” John asked, leaning back into his seat.
“ No. I’ve already checked, Walker,” Bucky said with a bit of bite in his voice.
“ Well, in that case, Ava, can we make this thing we have going on official?”
Everyone’s jaw dropped at that, and Ava stood practically frozen.
She cleared her throat, finally ready to respond, “ We can talk about it more, later, privately,” Ava replied, before taking her seat next to him.
Eventually, everyone got back to what they’d been doing before your announcement.
That night, the team had an impromptu movie night.
Everyone was in their PJs as you watched ‘We’re the Millers’
And in that moment, sitting on Bucky’s lap, wearing one of your boyfriend’s Henleys, you were content.
No, you were more than content. You were happy and in love. And you knew that this was only the beginning.
