shield | b. barnes

"Not all of us are super soldiers."

[Corinna]

My feet hit the pavement to the beat of my music as I jog down the streets of New York City. I check my phone to see how far I've ran and decide to stop when my app tells me that I've run 6 miles.

Not bad.

I stop running and walk over to the side so that I won't be blocking any pedestrians as I bend over to catch my breath. I close my eyes as I softy bob my head to the beat of the music and stand back up when my breathing is back to normal.

I take my hoodie off and tie it around my waist as I walk back to my apartment, enjoying the cool, spring weather. Just as I'm about to open the door to my apartment building, I feel my phone vibrate. Opening the door, I look at the screen and frown when I see that it's Steve.

"Steve?" I ask with a frown as I begin to climb the steps.

"Uh - it's me, Bucky." I hear a familiar deep voice respond.

"Bucky? Is everything alright?" I ask, digging through my pockets for the keys to my apartment.

"Yeah, I just um - I wanted to know if I can come over. Tony is having a celebratory party about raiding the Sokovian HYDRA facility and I really...I just don't like being surrounded by a lot of people." Bucky explains uncomfortably that I can imagine him saying this with a scowl on his face.

"Oh, I forgot it was today. Yeah, you can come over. I'm surprised you called, you usually just...appear." I reply as I take my trainers off and walk into the kitchen to get a glass of water.

"Steve said that it wasn't polite," Bucky says simply.

"Ah, gotcha. Well, I'll be here waiting for you, Barnes. Don't take too long," I tease.

"I'm already here, Doll." Bucky deadpans.

"What?" I reply incredulously as I walk over to the door to open it. "What was the point in calling then?" I ask rolling my eyes at Bucky as I disconnect the call and step to the side to let him enter.

He looks over his shoulder and smirks while giving me a half shrug, "like I said, Steve thinks it's impolite."

I scoff, shaking my head as I close the door.

"Of course."

I walk past Bucky into the kitchen and fill my glass up with more water before turning to lean on the counter. I silently watch Bucky enter the kitchen as I bring the glass to my face. He stops right across from me, arms crossed over his chest as he quietly watches me, his face devoid of any emotion.

"You stink." Bucky finally says.

My eyes widen in surprise as I begin to cough on some water that's gotten stuck in my throat. I wasn't expecting him to say that.

Bucky fights back a smile and walks over to pat my back.

"Don't die on me Core, we don't want your cause of death to be choking on water."

I scowl at him as I try to clear my throat. He was using my joke against me, not cool.

After the coughing subsides, I walk over to the refrigerator to see if there's anything I could use to make dinner.

Seeing that I only have a half a loaf of bread and some carrots,  I close the fridge door with a sigh and turn around.

"Oh, sorry," I mumble as I bump into Bucky; his hands gently steadying me.

I look up at him, waiting for him to move but he doesn't. Instead, he stays rooted in his place. His gaze holds an intensity that makes it hard for me to look away.