Work Text:
Bucky hated the gym. He knew he needed to go – his job as ‘personal security’ meant that he had to be at his best both physically and mentally – but he hated the gym.
Around him there was the usual mix of people, young women in pink who talked as they cycled their way through the entire session, older guys flexing their arms in the mirrors and trying to hit on the girls working out on the mats (never to any success) the older women who walked for miles on the treadmills, and the guys who tried to cram everything in to their routine as quickly as possible, ignoring the health risks.
Bucky hated the gym, but at least he wasn’t letting his hatred colour his ability to work out properly. He’d started with stretches and a brisk jog before alternating between cardio and strength. His headphones were plugged into the phone he had strapped to his arm and let the beat of the old swing bands keep his pace – he wasn’t rushing, he had a precise method and he was sticking to it.
Every morning at 6am he walked into the white and chrome room and every day ay 8am he walked out. His company was popular and they had their regular clients, but that didn’t mean that they were always working. He started the company (Red Room Security) with Natasha Romanov and Clint Barton – two of his best friends. He met Clint in the army – snipers tended to get around, and Bucky and Clint were the best at what they did. Natasha wasn’t even working for the US, but the joint missions with foreign operatives had them crossing paths enough for her to develop a close friendship with both Clint and Bucky, and when they’d gotten out of that life, she’d only been a few months behind them.
Red Room hired a few other people, experts at in their own fields, which made their business grow in the years they’d worked. Anything from event security to missing children, they had someone who knew what they were doing at all times. The only problem was, they were now short a guy.
Brock Rumlow didn’t quite understand what ‘Back the fuck off’ meant when he’d started hitting on Natasha. Or Jemma Simmons. Or Jane Foster. They were all quite capable women who were more than able to handle his brand of harassment, but every single time he said something inappropriate, Bucky saw the clenching of fists around the room. So he’d been ‘let go’ – even though it put a lot of strain on their current contracts. Natasha was adamant that she could look after herself, but the fact that Jane and Jemma (both who were not field trained and kept to the home base) were obviously more comfortable without him around was worth it.
His mind was normally blank when at the gym, all he needed to think about was the beat and the burn – anything else could wait – but with Brock gone, he was left with a hole in his organisation, and it weighed on his mind. Clint and Natasha wanted him to hire someone else, had even given him a shortlist of people they’d worked with before, but Bucky was dragging his heels. He knew everyone he worked with – the exception being Fitz, but Jemma had known him ‘forever’ and basically told them that letting Fitz slip through their fingers would be ‘an idiotic move’.
The list was short. Wade Wilson was on there, and Bucky liked him well enough as a buddy, but the idea of working with him made his palms sweat – the guy was a livewire and completely unpredictable. Grant Ward passed everything but the ‘skeeve’ test (Tash and Jane said he gave off a vibe, so he was out) and he seriously doubted that Logan could be sober long enough for a regular job. The other guys (who he’d hire in a second if the issue wasn’t that they needed muscle, and Parker was a skinny little shit for all he was good at what he did) just weren’t viable.
His head was full of all of this so he wasn’t quite paying as much attention as he normally would to what he was doing, until he glanced over to the machine beside him and saw a literal wall of muscle. He was sweating through his grey tank, the skin of his exposed arms gold and slick with damp – blond hair plastered to his head as he worked the machine with a steady flow. His headphones were plugged into a tiny iPod clipped to his training pants. Bucky couldn’t help but notice they were working out to the same steady rhythm.
There was nothing worse than being checked out at the gym, Bucky fucking hated it – he was there to work out not get laid – but a moment he seriously considered breaking his own rule and saying “Hey.” The guy on the rowing machine though, wasn’t looking anywhere but dead ahead and Bucky respected his determination.
He was there the next day too – working on the mat as he cycled through his morning stretches and routine. Bucky was trying not to be a creeper, he really was, but the guy looked all kinds of hot as he worked up a sweat – crunches, lunges, squats, everything with perfect form and steady, solid movements. However, Bucky still had to work out what he was gonna do with the problem at work – especially now that they’d found out that Brock was trying to take his regular clients with him to his new job at Hydra. They had a lot more people working for them and a lot more resources, but their ethics were almost non-existent. They would take any job, regardless of what it was – and Red Room always made sure that every job they took was vetted carefully. They turned a lot of jobs down because of that, and Brock was telling their customers that this was due to the fact that they had bitten off more than they could chew – that they’d over-extended and would soon be out of business.
A fucking lie, but a lie that could cost them if they had to turn any more work away because they’d let Brock go. He ran through the list of potential replacements again as he changed from the weights to the running machine – and let his legs take him for a few miles while his brain worked overtime.
It was getting to be a habit that about half way through his session at the gym, he’d sync up with hot blond. Although they worked out to different training plans (Bucky focused a little more on cardio and hot blond on strength) about half way through they always ended up working out next to one another. It wasn’t bad, and it sure as hell beat getting stuck between two people who were at the gym to catch up with their friends, or an asshole who offered ‘advice’ on his workout. Hot Blond worked out solidly and without a word, and Bucky actually found himself enjoying the familiarity.
It came with a price though – because hot blond was actually stronger than Bucky, and marginally faster too. He wasn’t sure why, but that totally pissed him off, and whenever they were side-by-side, Bucky would subtly increase his speed to match. He was getting a harder work out, that was for sure – but his thighs were fucking killing him after a week.
“You look like you’ve left your horse behind.” Natasha said as he walked gingerly into the renovated warehouse they’d bought as a base. “I at least hope you got a name this time.”
This comment got a whoop from a few people, Clint over at the gear, Thor standing by Jane pumped his first in the air – although Fitz was far too busy mooning over Jemma to pay attention to anything else. “I was at the gym.” He shot back, “Pushed myself a little too hard.”
“Yeah?” She said, striding over. “Suck it up,” in her hand she had a manila file which she slapped against his chest. “Holly Schmitt.” She said, “Recently left an abusive relationship – her husband isn’t paying a lot of attention to the restraining order.” He opened the file and looked at the picture and information. “Her brother hired us to keep an eye on her until she was able to relocate to be nearer him in Iowa.”
“Multiple hospital visits over a pretty short space of time,” He noted. “I’ll go see her now – get things set up. I’ll take Fitz and Simmons, they can do the holding hands and comfort thing while I check out the property.”
Holly Schmitt was a small, scared woman with a livid bruise over her jaw. Fitz sat on her couch looking soft and safe while Simmons ran through the information that they’d need on her, and her husband, in order to ensure her safety. Bucky, well aware that his height and build could be rather intimidating, smiled as softly as he could and performed the security checks.
Red Room was well known for this type of work, and Holly’s brother – a lawyer – had picked them due to world of mouth. He didn’t trust the local law enforcement to keep his sister safe. He walked around the property, nice, not too big, easily defensible, and made a list of all the things that he’d need to increase the security. Some motion sensor lights, fix the gap in the fence – big enough for a dog or a man willing to squeeze. Change the locks, check the windows to make sure that none of them could be jimmied from the outside. It wasn’t a long list, but enough to keep them busy for a few hours. He fished in his pocket for his phone and dialled the base. “Tell Stark and Banner to get me some motion lights,” He told Clint. “New locks, some chicken wire for a fence gap.”
“Got it,” Clint said. “Did Tash mention that you’ll be on your own on this? Fitz can cover for a couple of hours this afternoon while we’re setting up, but then Thor’ll need him back for the Carter job, and Simmons has to head over to Coulson’s with me in like… half an hour.”
Shit. Bucky thought. He’d forgotten that Brock was normally the guy that rotated shifts like these with him, and with no Brock, he had no-one else to cover. Coulson’s business was one of the reasons that the Red Room had done so well, Shield (his company) was huge and although they very rarely ran into security issues, when they did, he always called for them. The business was big enough that they’d hired Skye solely to keep an eye on the digital security – and once a week Clint would spot check the property and physical security. They always made sure that Shield got the priority over other clients, just because it was their main source of income. “Yeah, okay.” He said, and thought about the list of potential replacements to Brock. There was no fucking way he’d want Wade on a job like this. He wasn’t a bad guy, but he absolutely no verbal filter and he’d end up saying something stupidly inappropriate. “I can deal.”
Three days later, after shadowing Holly Schmitt to and from work, keeping her home secure and not one case where her husband tried to pass the security Tony and Bruce had put in place, Bucky took her to the airport and shook her hand. “I just want to say thank you.” She said, looking at her feet.
“It’s not a problem.” He smiled. He knew he looked a bit unapproachable, with his scruff and long hair – but his mamma had raised him right. “I just hope that you get what you’re looking for.” He smiled. “Stay safe, Holly.”
After the first full night’s sleep in three days, Bucky trudged into the gym. He hated the gym – but at least he knew that had Schmitt shown up, his training and physicality would ensure that he’d be able to protect Holly. So he struggled through the hatred and started his routine.
He was just about to finish on the mat when a shadow fell over him. Looking up, hot blond was standing, holding his earbuds in one hand. “Um, hi.” He said, pulling his own headphones out. “You need the mat?”
Hot blond looked a little confused and then nodded. “Uh, yeah. Sorry. Take your time.” His voice was deep, but soft too – the kind of gentleness that was missing from Bucky.
“Just finished.” He said, getting to his feet. “It’s all yours.”
“Taking it easy today?” The hot blond asked, “Easing back in?” He didn’t move to take Bucky’s place on the mat, just stood a little awkwardly in his jogging pants and tank top. When Bucky didn’t immediately answer, he blushed a deep red. “I mean, because you had a few days off. I noticed you weren’t here.” He paused. “Never mind,” and pushed his earbuds back in, and didn’t look at Bucky as he started his stretches.
“I had a job – I work private security.” Bucky said later, when they were both wiping down the exercise bikes. He wasn’t sure if the guy had heard him, but his spine stiffened and he turned around, pulling out his headphones from his ears.
“Oh, okay.”
“I couldn’t get to the gym cause we’re a bit short staffed and I didn’t get relived until last night.” He wasn’t quite sure why he was even bothering to tell this guy, but it kinda felt… like he should.
“Oh. Yeah, no. It was just… I noticed you weren’t here and… um… That sounds pretty cool.” His smile was nice, welcoming and warm, and Bucky felt himself shrugging a little.
“It pays the bills, you know? After the army, figured I could still do some good.” He didn’t mention the injury to his arm that got him discharged, or the depression that came from not having a purpose – those dark days were behind him.
“I wanted to join the army, but, ah, they wouldn’t take me.” The hot blond said, and Bucky took a few seconds to look him over rather pointedly.
“You look exactly like the type of guy they’d take, buddy.” He said, and liked the blush that stained the cheeks of the other man.
“I failed the medical.” He admitted, looking at his shoes. “I may have forgotten to tell them about my allergies. Or my colour blindness. Or um, my heart murmur.” He paused. “But I totally told them about my, um, childhood asthma.”
Bucky couldn’t help it, he found himself laughing. “Jesus, forgot to tell them?”
“I may have forgot to tell them a few times.” Hot blond shrugged. “I really wanted to do my bit, you know? And I look the part, so they kinda didn’t think to check right away.” He blushed again. “Steve Rogers.” He said, holding out his hand. “Lied on my enlistment papers and got yelled at by several people.”
“James Barnes. Everyone calls me Bucky though.” Bucky grinned, shaking the hand that was offered to him. “Special forces sniper – also got yelled at by several people.” He grinned. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Someone looks happy.” Jane said, as Bucky walked into work. She was on her way out, folders in her arms. He held the door for her as she squeezed past.
“Indeed.” Thor said, shifting his grip on the duffle that had all of his gear inside. “A smile like that can only mean one thing.”
“You guys heading out for the Selvig job?” Bucky asked, derailing that particular conversation.
“We are.” Thor grinned. “A full week by the coast with my beautiful wife – and getting paid for the pleasure.” He smiled. “I do often wonder why I work here, and then I recall.”
Jane tutted as she packed the car. “Don’t think anything is happening.” She shot over her shoulder. “It’s a job, not a vacation. Doctor Selvig is expecting us to be professional.”
“And we shall be!” Thor exclaimed, big bright voice filling up the air. “Skinny dipping.” He whispered to Bucky as he passed. “Possibly smores.”
Bucky grinned at them and helped Jane pack the car as Thor returned for the last of the heavy gear. It was a good job, and paid well. “Don’t tell him,” Jane said, nodding over her shoulder at her husband. “But I’m going to surprise him with skinny dipping.” She winked at Bucky and he grinned at her.
“Oh, I’m sure he’ll adore that.”
“We’re chasing our asses.” Clint said, as they sat at the massive desk that was tucked away in the corner. It was technically the boardroom, but they’d never gotten around to putting up walls around it – and the open plan office worked just fine for them. “With Brock gone, we’re just not gonna be able to keep up with the new clients we’re getting.”
“He’s right,” Natasha said, and pointedly ignored Clint’s crow over her words. “For a change.” She tacked on the end. “We were lucky with the Schmitt job that he didn’t actually show up, with just you there. You can’t take jobs without backup – and although I adore the boys, you know that Tony is a walking liability outside of this building and you know Pepper would kill him if he tried to do anything heroic,” Pepper was Starks long suffering wife – a total firecracker of a woman and the only person on the planet who could control Tony, “Bruce won’t do field work and Fitz… he’s just not ready yet.”
“I’m not trying to be difficult,” Bucky said, leaning back. “But you’ve got to admit, the list… the list is a bad list.”
“Yeah.” Clint shrugged. “But Hydra’s paying more that we can, and they can snap up all the best people faster than we can.”
“I’m not happy we included Ward.” Natasha pointed out.
“Peter Parker would be a good addition.” Bucky said, “If he wasn’t a damn kid.”
Which left Wade Wilson.
“You know I love the guy.” Clint said.
“He’s a pain in the ass.”
“A walking disaster.”
“I um…” Bucky said. “Maybe have an alternative?”
“So…” Bucky said, pulling out his headphones and touching Steve on the shoulder. He waited until the other man had removed his own headphones and smiled. “You said you wanted to help people?”
“Do my bit.” Steve agreed, nodding.
“It’s just, we’re really short staffed right now, and I know you’ve not got a lot of experience – but would you like to perhaps come down to the base, I mean the office, and see if you’d like to try it out?”
“This is Clint Barton, he was black ops – a sniper like me, before.” He said, as Steve shook Clint’s hand earnestly. “And this is Natasha – don’t ask what she did, trust me, you don’t wanna know.”
“And I’d have to kill you.” She deadpanned, before smiling at Steve’s expression.
“Thor and Jane are on a job, and Tony and Bruce are over there being nerds.” He waved a hand to the left, taking in the maps and tech the two men were currently bickering over. “And over there is Fitz and Simmons.”
“The nerd herd.” Clint joked, wincing when Tash smacked him on the back of the head.
“Obviously we’re not going to just throw you into the deep end.” Bucky said, ushering Steve to the big table. They’d even remembered to put out a jug of water and some glasses. “Just maybe have you ride along for a few things, see the kind of thing we do, test the waters a little.”
“Sounds good.” Steve said, nodding.
“He’s a fucking brick house.” Clint commented as Steve shut the door as he left. “Like, damn.”
Natasha nodded, looking over the paperwork that Steve had filled in. “Heart murmur?” she said after a while. “That’s not ideal.”
“He does more cardio that I do.” Bucky pointed out. “It’s obviously not an issue.”
“Obviously. Like damn.” Clint repeated. “He’s bigger than Brock.”
“He’s nicer than Brock too.” Tash pointed out. “If he’s any good he’d be great at stuff like the Schmitt job. Nice and warm, not getting any skeevy factor.”
“He’s adorable.” Jemma agreed. The whole team was sitting at the table – minus Jane and Thor of course – to talk it over.
“He’s not adorable.” Leo mumbled, face falling – only for his smile to return when Jemma patted his arm consolingly. “He seemed nice though.”
“Not sure how I feel about another guy up in here though,” Tony argued. “I thought we’d decided the next guy would be a smoking hot-”
“I will tell Pepper if next words out of your mouth are sexist, racist or elitist.” Bruce cut in.
“Smoking hot dudes are fine too.” Tony saved, quickly. “I’m all for hot dudes. Although,” He winked. “Not as much as the ol’Buckaroo here.”
“Pepper.” Bruce warned, picking up his phone and threatening to dial.
“Which I am in total support of, you go boss! Get as much dick as you like.”
Steve, who had been working freelance as a cartoonist, fit into the Red Room like he’d been made for it. Client’s loved him (Coulson was in love, Bucky was sure, and had already told the Blond that if things didn’t work out he could count of a job at Shield) and so did everyone else. He got on well with Clint and Natasha, stayed professional throughout his run-arounds and generally looked like a great addition to the team.
Which was why Bucky was absolutely floored when Steve declined the job.
“Oh.” He managed, hand hovering in the air where he’d been offering a ‘welcome to the team’ handshake. “Um, okay.” He said, hoping he didn’t look as confused as he felt. “Would you mind letting me – us – know why?”
“It’s nothing personal.” Steve rushed, colouring again – Bucky liked that he was quick to blush – before running his hand through his blond hair. “I mean, it is personal, but it’s not… um, personal.”
“You know, Clint, I think you wanted to show me this thing over here.” Natasha said, getting to her feet and all but dragging Clint away.
“I don’t remember tha – ow!” he yelped. “You kicked me!”
“You tripped.” She said, sweetly. “And if you don’t show me that thing you were going to show me, you’re going to trip down a flight of stairs. Twice.”
The privacy of the open-plan office wasn’t much, but it was the best he could do. Jemma and Leo were currently concentrating very hard on something over by the computer bay, although Bucky got the feeling that they were concentrating very quietly over at the computer bay so they could try to hear what was going on. Bruce and Tony were bickering over on the other side of the warehouse floor, so they probably didn’t even know that something was going down at the boardroom – and Clint and Natasha were currently grappling on the mat – he wasn’t sure if that was Tash carrying out her threat or Clint’s idea of fun times.
“I don’t want you to think that, um, I don’t want to work for you.” Steve said, looking uncomfortable and red. “It’s just… um… I don’t wanna work for you.” He paused. “Specifically.” He paused. “It’s not personal.”
“Sounds pretty fucking personal.” Bucky managed. He’d been nice to Steve. Hell, he’d been too nice to Steve, if he heard Tony making a remark about his obvious crush on Steve one more time he was gonna call Pepper personally. But to hear that he was the reason Steve didn’t want to work for Red Room… shit, he was actually pretty hurt. “But, no – it’s cool.” He said, because he was a fucking professional, he even managed a smile. “Well, the job offer is there should you change your mind, and I’m sorry that it’s not what you were looking for.” He held out his hand again, and Steve shook it firmly.
Bucky changed his work-out schedule, moved his morning gym sessions to late afternoon and ignored the stupid feeling in his gut that wobbled unsteadily whenever he saw a muscular blond in the passing.
Three weeks later, he had two options. He needed to either man up or get a new gym. The afternoon workouts were killing him, completely ruined his day – he didn’t wake up right, and he’d been missing sessions because mid-afternoon was a great time for meetings.
Natasha had made it quite clear that she’d laugh at him for all eternity if he moved gyms just so he could avoid one guy – and Clint backed her up. “It’s kind of pathetic man.” He said, mouth full of pizza as they had another late night arguing over who to hire. Bucky knew that they were dragging their heels now because Steve had been fucking perfect, and now everyone else looked even worse than they had before – and Grant Ward had been hired by Hydra while they dicked around trying to make a decision.
The gym was always less busy in the morning, so it was a lot easier to spot Steve – already working on the rowing machine. Because he knew how long Steve spent on each machine, he was able to work his own routine so that at no point would they sync up.
Considering that he was the reason Steve didn’t want to work at Red Room, he didn’t think the guy would seek him out.
He’d been wrong.
“Hey.” Steve said, just as Bucky stepped up to the treadmill. He knew fine well that Steve always worked the rowing machine before he touched this side of the gym, so he was a little taken aback when Steve got on the machine next to his. “I, um, I haven’t seen you around.” He smiled. Fuck him and his sunny smile, Bucky thought. “Did you have a big job?”
“Changed my time slot.” Bucky grunted, and upped the speed on his machine. Steve wasn’t even running at half his normal speed, just jogging easily along while Bucky ran flat out. His legs were going to kill him later, but right now, he needed to get the anger out of his system.
“Oh?” Steve asked, like he had no fucking clue why Bucky would perhaps want to avoid Steve at the gym.
“Yeah.” Bucky snapped, and put his headphones in – blocking Steve completely.
He was sweating like a horse in no time, running far too fast to maintain a good pace – when he glanced over at Steve. The other man was running too – not as fast, but still, making good time. He hadn’t put his headphones on, and when he saw Bucky look over, he smiled.
He followed Bucky around the gym, working on the machine next to him and smiling any time Bucky glanced in his direction. His arms and legs felt like jelly – he’d pushed himself far too hard, he was already starting to hurt in places – when he took out his headphones and pulled his water bottle out for a long drag. “So,” Steve said, appearing at his side. “Um, I was wondering if you wanted to get some breakfast maybe? Um – there is a really good place near here. Does great… um…”
Bucky wondered if it was the utterly incredulous expression on his face that had Steve falling over his words, or the sheer force of Bucky’s will.
“Are you fucking serious?” He said, when Steve didn’t seem to be able to talk. “You’ve got a hard fucking neck, dude.” He found himself snapping. “You don’t wanna work with me, you’ve got some kind of personal fucking issue with me, specifically, but you think it’s cool to just ask me if I wanna get breakfast?” He glared. “Are you having a fucking laugh?”
Steve looked like he’d been slapped, which was kind of satisfying, because Bucky really wanted to slap him. “No!” He said, and then looked a bit… sheepish. “I mean, um, maybe I didn’t word it right?” He said, and it managed to sound like a question. “I mean, I’d want to work for Red Room, yeah, of course I would, it was great, it’s just I didn’t think it would be appropriate.”
“Appropriate for what?”
“Well… I, um… I had been um… you know… a bit…” He waved his hand vaguely and looked mortified. “Flirty?” He said after a break. “And… um… I thought… you’d be my boss?” He blushed harder. “It’s not, you know… I thought I’d rather, um, maybe take you out? Rather than work for you?”
“You turned down a job because you wanted to date me.” Bucky said, flatly.
“Yes?”
“You’re a fucking idiot.” Bucky said.
“Married?”
“Yes, married.” Bucky said, mouth full. “4 years. She wore a dress, he cried, it was all very beautiful.”
“Natasha and... Bruce?”
“Yup.”
“Oh,” Steve said, looking at his plate. They’d managed to work their way through one giant serving of pancakes and bacon and Steve was hitting the second plate hard. “I didn’t know that.”
“Well, it never came up in conversation.” Bucky shrugged. “If you’d have maybe mentioned that the reason you didn’t want to work with me because you wanted to sleep with me, I could have cleared it up – you can do both.”
“I didn’t say I wanted to sleep with you.” Steve blushed, a deep red that made Bucky smirk.
“Yeah, like you don’t want some of this.” He grinned, waving his hand over his face. “You want me.”
“Maybe.” Steve mumbled, and Bucky grinned wider.
“I’ll take Steve with me,” Clint said, as he packed up his gear. “He’s good at this kind of thing, Nat’s going to show Hill the ropes, get her settled in a bit.”
Bucky nodded. Steve had joined the company a year ago and they’d recently moved in together – Steve’s idea of taking things slow meant that everything had gone at glacial pace – and he worked more often than not with Clint or Fitz, who was taking more field work. He was still working closely with Jemma, although Bucky had been careful to split them up more now that they were dating. It had taken Leo so long to work up the guts to ask her out that Bucky wanted to make sure that they weren’t in each other’s pockets 24/7. The downside was that Clint and Natasha did the same with him and Steve.
They’d needed to hire Maria Hill when Natasha peed on a stick and it turned blue. She wasn’t currently showing any signs of pregnancy, but it was only a matter of time. Hill was a good fit, she was as snarky as Clint, quick to learn like Natasha and was a person friend of Pepper, which meant that Tony was pretty much always on his best behaviour – at least around Maria.
Steve grinned as he walked past, carrying the rest of the gear out to the car, and Bucky resisted the urge to goose him as he left.
Things were definitely looking up.
He still hated the fucking gym though.