#ryleewrites

It can also be pretty hard to tell what music will attract Natasha, but he knows she'll eventually wander in unless she absolutely hates what he has playing. If that's the case she'll turn it to something she considers less annoying. If it changes songs or genres randomly without Clint having touched it that's a pretty good indicator that his girlfriend is about to make an appearance.

They both have bad days and good days and the music can sometimes be used to tell them apart. When Clint is having a bad day he tends to play songs that are considered sad while Natasha will put on heavy metal in an effort to ignore her feelings. Sometimes they stay in the same room, but sometimes they don't. It can be kind of weird to listen to two different genres at the same time. Clint speaks from experience.

It's a pretty good day and Clint is playing Boombayah by Blackpink to try to see how long it takes to summon Natasha. Surprisingly, it's already summoned half of the team. Bucky was first, followed by both Bruce, then shortly after Wanda and Tony. Clint had been surprised, but didn't mind the company. It's the first time he's played kpop music in the tower, but he's sure it won't be the last.

When Natasha finally makes her entrance, by dropping out of the air ducts no less, Steve and Sam have also joined them. Clint glances at her as she approaches, grinning at the look on her face.

“All of them? Really?” She rolls her eyes as she signs the words.

Clint shrugs, greets her with a kiss. “I can't believe you were the last one to get here.”

She doesn't answer, instead grinning and pulling him into the middle of the room. She doesn't dance in front of the others often, but Clint loves to watch her do something she loves so much. He loves it even more when she dances with him, which almost never happens when they’re in the presence of other people.

None of the others seem to mind, but Natasha doesn’t care so Clint doesn’t either. They’re having fun and that’s really all that matters.

Later, after the others have gone back to their own rooms, Clint is curled up with Natasha on their bed. She’s smiled today more than he’s seen in weeks and for that, he’s happy. If he said anything about it, though, he knows she would deny it and tell him to shut up.

Maybe it’s weird how well they know each other, but at this point it’s just a part of their relationship and something that makes it stronger. It’s not something that either of them would change even if they could.

Clint’s been dozing peacefully for longer than he cares to admit before he becomes aware of Natasha carding her fingers through his hair. It’s probably at least half the reason he’s been on the edge of falling asleep for however long.

When she realizes he’s awake, she presses a kiss to his forehead and lightly boops him on the nose with her finger. “Hey, sleepyhead, you awake?”

Groaning, Clint turns his head and buries his face in her shoulder. “No.”

She laughs, lightly brushing her fingers over his cheek. “Sleep talking? That hasn’t happened in awhile.”

Clint grumbles something unintelligible, and even he’s not sure what he was trying to say, but somehow Natasha does. She’s always been able to know what he needed even when he didn’t.

She shifts her weight, pressing a kiss to his forehead, before pulling him even closer and wrapping her arms around him. It takes them a second to get comfortable, but once they are it doesn’t take long for either of them to fall asleep.

As it turns out, they aren’t important at all, but they can fire guns with fairly good aim. At least, good enough aim to hit Natasha in the shoulder without really trying. Either that, or they’re really lucky.

As soon as the shooting starts both Clint and Natasha have their weapons out, guns for both of them, even though Clint would really prefer his bow. Natasha provides cover fire as Clint knocks over the table they were sitting at to provide at least a little bit of a shield for them before he joins her in shooting their assailants.

Clint just barely ducks down before getting shot in the head, receiving an annoyed look from Natasha in the effort. “What?” He asks, giving her a goofy grin. “My head is still intact.”

She rolls her eyes, takes another shot at someone right before they duck behind a wall. “For now.”

He pulls her down a fraction of a second before a bullet hits the table where her head would have been had he not reacted so quickly. His mouth is a grim line now, although there’s a hint of humor to his words. “You were saying.”

Sometimes Natasha wonders why she doesn’t just shoot him and tell Fury she’s not taking any more partners. Instead of voicing that thought, she shoves his shoulder and tells him to focus.

The firefight doesn’t last much longer. Clint is the best marksman S.H.I.E.L.D. has ever seen and Natasha’s one of the most dangerous spies in the world. Not to mention they would both do whatever it takes to keep each other safe. There’s a reason Fury partnered them up and anyone who tries to split them up always regrets it.

Their job isn’t safe, and sometimes they both hate it, but at least they always have each other’s backs.

When the shooting finally stops Natasha stands up with a wince, pressing down on her shoulder, which is, unfortunately, still bleeding. Clint hasn’t seemed to notice her wound yet, but she knows it’s only a matter of time. For the moment, though, he’s distracted making sure no one else was injured in the fight. She starts to help, only to be startled when another gunshot goes off.

She doesn’t register it for a long moment, until she sees Clint running towards her. He catches her just before she hits the ground, gently cradling her in his arms. He’s speaking, she’s pretty sure, but she can’t hear the words. Neither can he, technically, she thinks somewhat disjointedly. His hearing aids hadn’t been on before the fight started, since they had both thought they were relatively safe and his ears had been hurting.

She doesn’t even realized she’s lost consciousness until she blinks open her eyes to see a dark ceiling overhead and feels some kind of blanket beneath her. She moves her limbs experimentally, just to make sure she’s still intact, and groans when the movement jolts her injured shoulder.

Clint is there in seconds, telling her to quit being an idiot and stop moving. It’s kind of ironic, considering usually she’s the one taking care of him after he’s gotten injured. Distantly she notices a bandage on his upper arm and wonders when he got hurt and how long she’s been out. She starts to ask, but he shushes her quickly.

“You’re fine, Tasha, but… it - it was touch and go for a while.” He swallows, looks away. “The shooter, he only pretended to be down. Thought he could kill you before I got to him, I guess.”

Ignoring his protests and the tightness in her chest, she sits up, gently pressing her fingertips against his cheek. She doesn’t say anything, but she doesn’t have to. It’s been a long time since they needed to voice their thoughts to understand what the other was thinking.

“It’s not your fault.” Her voice is soft, quiet. “It’s also not the first time I’ve been shot. I’m okay.”

The words are more for his benefit than hers. She’s in pain, sure, but she’s had worse and making sure he knows he couldn’t have done anything differently is important.

He reaches up and covers her hand with his own. He needs the contact just as much as she does, maybe even more if the look on his face is anything to go by.

Eventually, Natasha does get tired enough to go back to sleep. She pulls Clint down to curl up next to her, their fingers entwined. As exhausted as they both are, it doesn’t take long for either of them to fall asleep.

Ever since they decided they’d be going to Tony’s party they had been trying to get Clint to tell them what he had planned, but to no avail. He usually wasn’t very good at keeping secrets from any of them, but he had refused to budge on this. He was surprisingly adept at keeping secrets when he needed to, and usually only to surprise his partners.

Natasha was leaning back against Steve’s chest with her feet in Bucky’s lap when Clint finally decided to join them, plopping down in Natasha’s lap from seemingly out of nowhere. Fortunately, she had seen him coming and braced herself for the chance that he was going to do exactly what he had.

“Having fun?” Steve asks with a smirk. “I don’t think Tony’s enjoying your New Year’s Eve shenanigans.”

“Shenanigans?” Both Natasha and Clint ask at the same time, a hint of sarcasm in her voice and shock in his.

Bucky snorts and gives Steve a “you walked right into that one” look.

Steve opens his mouth to respond, but before he can someone yells something about a countdown. Natasha hadn’t realized it was already that late, but she can’t really find it in her to mind because at least that means they’ll be able to leave soon. This party hasn’t done much to change her mind about attending any of Tony’s parties in the future.

Steve seems excited about midnight approaching, though, and he looks so cute grinning and pulling them all to their feet that she doesn’t have it in her to protest.  

Clint looks almost as excited as Steve, but that could be more about Tony coming back into his line of sight than the idea of the new year approaching. He starts to raise the nerf gun in his hand - and she really wants to know how he snuck it in without any of them noticing, but that question can wait until later - but before he can properly aim and pull the trigger Bucky is leaning close and pulling Clint in by the front of his shirt.

Natasha snickers at the shocked look on Clint’s face, but is quickly silenced by Steve doing almost the exact same thing to her. She rolls her eyes at the smirk on his face when he pulls back before shoving him towards Bucky with a muttered, “What a gigantic dork.”

Clint grins and waggles his eyebrows when she turns towards him. “You gonna let me go after Tony?”

“Sure. I’ll even help.” She grins, stepping forward into his space. “After midnight.” She wraps her arms around his neck and presses her lips against his, silencing any protest he could have made.

He pouts when she pulls back, which earns him a quick kiss on the nose before she’s trading places with Steve and looping her arms around Bucky’s neck this time. “Miss me?”

He snorts, seeming more amused with this whole thing than he probably should be. “Always do, Tasha.”

“Sap.”

“Been accused of much worse in my time.”

Instead of trying to come up with a response to that she kisses him, effectively ending that conversation.

She does end up making good on her promise to help Clint troll Tony and it takes less time than she would have thought to get Steve and Bucky to help.

Clint somehow produces three more nerf guns and it doesn’t take long for them all to find different hiding spots and lure him into various traps. They even get Sam and Wanda to help, the both of them playing innocent any time Tony glances their way. Bruce refuses, but she sees him laughing with Thor at Tony’s expense more than once.

They get Tony annoyed enough that they can tell he’s considering going for his armor and banning all four of them from the tower before they leave, which Natasha takes as a compliment. Clint does, too, if the grin on his face is any indication. Bucky enjoys irritating Tony in any and every way and Steve? Well, even he looks like he’s having fun.

If not for Tony’s boyfriend, Stephen, showing up Natasha’s pretty sure he would have gone for the suit even with all the bystanders. Stephen gives both her and Clint a disapproving look, which earns him a raised eyebrow from her and an unimpressed look from Clint before they finally decided to back off and leave Tony alone.

Maybe these parties aren’t so bad after all.

It was a thing Steve liked to do at some point every day, usually in the morning unless they didn’t see each other until later. He would stop Nate and ask him what his pronouns of the day were, and then usually pass it on to their other two boyfriends if they hadn’t been present at the time he asked. It was nice and way more than he had expected when they had all gotten together.

“He/him.” He said with what could only be called his sappy “One of my boyfriends is being adorable and I love it” smiles.

“Good to know.” Steve smiled his own version of the sappy smile and pressed another soft kiss to his lips.

Nate was asexual and demiromantic while Bucky was asexual and biromantic while Steve and Clint were bisexual. It wasn’t something that came up a lot, and Nate and Bucky were pretty good at letting the others know when they were uncomfortable with something. Steve used to always ask before kissing either of them, but they eventually broke him of that habit. Clint had never been as bad, but he had occasionally freaked himself out thinking he offended one of them and they had to calm him down.

Nate made eye contact with Bucky while leaning into Steve’s touch and pulling his boyfriend’s arm around his shoulders. Bucky was well aware of Nate’s fondness for getting Steve as flustered as possible and at this point they could pretty much communicate solely through glances if they had to. There was also sign language, but Steve was fluent and would more than likely figure out what they were saying.

Bucky looks like he’s going to say no for a moment, until Clint presses up against his side and gives him what can only be described as puppy dog eyes. Nate hadn’t discussed the whole flustering Steve thing with Clint yet, but he had always been good at reading his partners and Nate was no exception.

Bucky sighed and ruffled Clint’s hair, which got him a happy grin before they both turned their sights on Steve. Steve was too busy being cuddled (read: distracted) by Nate to notice the other two approaching until Clint practically glued himself to Steve’s side while Bucky settled against Steve’s back.

Steve looked up when he felt a pressure against his back, smiling softly as he twisted around to meet Bucky’s gaze. “Hey there.”

“Hey yourself.”

Surprisingly enough, Clint is the one to start off the flustering Steve thing. He squeezes in between Nate and Steve and slides his hands over Steve’s chest. “Damn, babe, what is this shirt made out of?” He pauses just long enough that Steve looks like he’s considering answering before opening his mouth again. “I bet it’s boyfriend material.”

Nate snorts loudly before covering his mouth while Bucky rolls his eyes. Honestly, Nate’s more surprised Clint hasn’t used that one before now. But now that he’s started it Nate and Bucky might as well follow it up with cheesy pick up lines of their own.

Nate grins and leans forward, draping his arms over Clint’s shoulders, speaking before Steve has enough time to protest - and he will, there’s no question of that. “Are you a parking ticket? ‘Cause you’ve got fine written all over you.”

Steve groans, trying to hide his face with his hands. “Nate no.”

The look on Clint’s face is nothing short of mischievous. “Nate yes.”

Bucky wraps his arms around Steve’s waist, leaning forward to rest his chin on their boyfriend’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Stevie, I’ll protect you from these heathens.”

Nate does his best to look offended while Clint outright pouts, leaning closer to Nate and away from Bucky. Nate honestly can’t say whether it’s all for show or not. “Heathens?” Nate raises an eyebrow. “This coming from the man who pranked Tony Stark by convincing him he had somehow pulled your arm off and you were dying?”

Bucky’s grin speaks volumes of how bad he feels about that particular “incident” as Tony now referred to it as. “It’s not my fault he tried to drink both of us under the table.”

“One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.” Bucky and Clint say at the same time before dissolving into laughter.

Sometimes Nate really wonders if he’s dating toddlers.

Just when it looks like Steve has escaped his face resembling a tomato and he thinks he’s safe Bucky leans in close and whispers, “I must be in a museum, because you truly are a work of art.” before he turns and runs for it.

Nate and Clint aren’t far behind him, which turns out to be a good thing when Steve chases after them and starts throwing pillows at the three of them. They would have thought he couldn’t catch all three of them but they really should have known better than to underestimate Captain America and how much he hated cheesy pick up lines and puns. Except not really because he loves all three of his partners even when they’re ganging up on him and they know it.

Steve hadn’t stopped there, though. There were so many other times he had done something similar and they never really seemed to stop. Like the time he had kissed Bucky on live television, not seeming to care that the whole world would see it. Or when he posted cute, sappy things, but never gave any context to who they might be for.

All in all, pretty much everyone was losing their shit over the whole situation. Except maybe Steve, who probably wasn’t even aware of how much chaos he was causing.

Bucky hadn’t been up very long when Clint stumbled into the kitchen, narrowly avoiding a wall in his search for caffeine. Smiling, Bucky held out a mug for his boyfriend to take once he was close enough. It was almost amusing how quickly Clint latched onto it like he would die without it and practically inhaled the coffee. It had been worrisome the first several times Bucky had seen Clint do that, but after a while he just stopped being surprised.

After sitting the mug down on the counter Clint looked slightly more aware of his surroundings. He wrapped his arms around Bucky and buried his face in Bucky’s neck. He mumbled something that sounded a lot like, “Mm. Thanks. Love you.” and Bucky couldn’t help but chuckle and press a kiss to the top of Clint’s head.

Bucky wasn’t sure if Steve and Nat were still asleep, but before he could ask Clint or go and find out for himself the two people in question were joining them. Steve leaned against Bucky’s left side, resting his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder while Nat slid in next to Clint, taking one of his arms and wrapping it around their waist.

Bucky couldn’t help but think it was kind of amusing how cuddly they could all be when first woken up. He wasn’t even surprised when Steve pulled Bucky’s arm over his shoulder before taking his phone out and snapping a picture. Surprisingly enough, he managed to catch all of them looking happy, even if none of them had expected the picture.

Almost immediately after realizing a picture had been taken Nat swiped the phone and had it hidden away so fast none of them caught the movement until it was too late. Steve frowned, but Nat kissed it away before he could protest the loss of his phone.

Bucky snorted loudly as Clint made a face and wrapped his other arm around Nat’s waist before pulling them back against himself, as if to say “No, mine”. It was amusing to all of them except maybe Nat themself and far from the first time it had happened. Clint had done it to all three of them at some point during their relationship (even before they had all gotten together, if they were being honest).

Nat just rolled their eyes and patted him on the back while exchanging amused glances with Bucky and Steve. It was always interesting dealing with Clint before he’d had more than one cup of coffee to wake up. In one of the many pictures Steve had uploaded to Twitter Clint had been leaning against the counter with his arms wrapped around a pot of coffee like he would die without it while Nat sat on the counter with a grin and had thrown up a peace sign just as Steve took the picture.

There were so many random shots of all three of them in Steve’s photos that Bucky was honestly surprised no one had figured out who Steve was dating. Of course, not many people would expect Captain America to be anything other than straight and monogamous. Sometimes Bucky wanted to laugh at those people, but he would never out Steve like that.

Bucky hadn’t really been sure how to bring up the whole confusing the fuck out of people on social media thing, but after talking to Nat about it and getting an eye roll for his trouble he had decided to not say anything at all. If they look they were giving him meant anything they were all about to find out for sure what the hell Steve thought he was doing.

“So,” Nat leaned forward as much as they were able to while still being trapped in Clint’s octopus-like grip, giving Steve a meaningful look. “Are you trying to break the internet?”

Steve stared at them for a long moment, blinking slowly, and Bucky couldn’t help but think it was a good thing he hadn’t been drinking anything. “I. Um. What?”

Nat rolled their eyes, but before they could speak, Clint beat them to the punch. “The pictures, babe. You got everyone wondering who you’re dating.”

Steve blushed bright red and Bucky would have laughed if Steve hadn’t looked so damn embarrassed.

As it turned out, Steve really hadn’t been trying to break the internet. He was just really oblivious - or he was really good at pretending to be oblivious - and wanted to show everyone how much he loved them.

Nat was already out to the internet about being genderfluid and really couldn’t give a fuck who knew who they were dating. Bucky and Clint hadn’t had any complaints about Steve coming clean either, so it ended up being a really easy choice. Bucky was sure Fury was going to have a coronary when he found out, but he couldn’t bring himself to care enough to stop it from happening. Besides, Tony would have a field day with all of it.

The way that everyone found out wasn’t as dramatic as anyone had thought it would be. He just posted the picture he had taken of them not even half an hour before and captioned it, “A beautiful morning with the people I love”.

This time they had decided to go out to a club and go dancing, hoping they could avoid the paparazzi. There were already enough rumors going around in the media over who Steve Rogers could possibly be dating after having been spotted with all three of his partners. And there were always those people who seemed to think he and Tony were seeing each other, too. Natasha always laughed when she heard anything about that, but mostly because Tony loved to play it up and never denied it. He knew about their relationship and did it just to fuck with the media, Natasha was sure.

So far they hadn’t run into anyone they knew or anyone with cameras, but Natasha was sure it was only a matter of time. She didn’t have time to get too worried, though, because Steve pulled her out onto the dance floor and kept all of her focus on him.

They didn’t get much downtime and they definitely didn’t get to go dancing very often, so Natasha wasn’t sure how much fun the two of them would have, but she was willing to try anything once and she knew how much Steve loved to dance. Once upon a time she had loved it just as much, but years of being an assassin had stripped that away.

As if sensing her hesitation, Steve didn’t waste any time taking her hand and dragging her to the dance floor. It didn’t take long for her to end up flush against Steve, his chest against her back as they moved in time to the music. It was easy to lose herself in it and if the elated look in Steve’s eyes was any indication he was having just as much fun as she was.

Both of them were flushed and laughing by the time they made it over to a section of the wall where there were slightly less people, both of them needing a break from the mass of people. Steve still couldn’t get drunk and Natasha didn’t drink much while out in public, so they hadn’t really seen the point in getting anything. Natasha grinned as she leaned against Steve, pressing a kiss to his lips. He smiled back, tucking a wayward lock of hair back behind her ear, and returned the kiss.

With the next song change, something upbeat that she vaguely recognized, Natasha was the one dragging Steve back out onto the dance floor.

She had no idea how long they kept at it, but it was well past midnight when they finally stumbled out the door. They didn’t head home right away, instead choosing to take a walk in the cool air for awhile first.

Natasha twined her fingers with Steve’s and gave him a wry smile. “That was fun. We should come with Bucky and Clint sometime.”

Steve’s answering smile was almost too bright to look at, and smiles like that were the reason Clint had dubbed Steve “Sunshine” and refused to let go of the nickname. Personally, she found it adorable and had called him it in many different languages. Bucky was usually the only one who understood what she was saying and almost always smirked or laughed, leaving Steve and Clint wondering what was so funny. They had yet to figure it out and Natasha was endlessly amused by the whole thing.

“I’m sure they would like that.” He huffed out a small laugh that she couldn’t help but think was adorable. “Doubt Buck’s gone dancing in a long time.”

They walked in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Natasha snorted loudly and added, “We would have to keep an eye on Clint, though, or he’ll fall on his face.”

Steve chuckled, giving her an amused look. “You’d think a guy who grew up in a circus would be less clumsy.”

“You would think.”

Clint had walked into walls and dropped things so many times over the years Natasha had lost count, and hardly anyone who had seen Hawkeye in action ever believed she was talking about the same person when she mentioned it. The first time he’d dropped a pot of coffee, said “aw, coffee, no” and just stared at the floor forlornly for a good five minutes in front of Steve and Bucky the look on Steve’s face had made her laugh so hard she had almost fallen out of her chair. Bucky had just rolled his eyes and started cleaning up the mess. Steve had looked like he couldn’t quite believe this was his life, which in all honestly had only made Natasha laugh harder.

Natasha wasn’t sure what time it was when they finally made it back to their apartment, but she had expected Bucky and Clint to be asleep. Really, she should have known better.

Bucky and Clint were curled up on the couch together, Bucky laying flat on his back while Clint was on top of him, his head on Bucky’s chest. It was easy to see Clint was fast asleep, but Bucky was still awake, even if he didn’t look like he was happy about it. If Natasha had to guess she would bet he had just woken up moments before they walked in.

She grinned as she leaned over the back of the couch to press a kiss to the tip of his nose. “You couldn’t convince him to go to bed?”

Bucky shrugged as much as he was able to, looking more asleep than awake.

She exchanged an amused glance with Steve. It wasn’t often that they got to see Bucky this relaxed and they loved it each time it happened.

The couch really wasn’t big enough to fit all of them comfortably, but that had never stopped any of them before. She settled herself along the top of the couch while Steve lifted Bucky’s feet (and Clint, although the extra weight barely seemed to faze him) and got comfortable underneath their boyfriend. Clint mumbled something incoherent and Natasha reached down to run her fingers through his hair, knowing it would help him to stay asleep.

She pillowed her head on her other arm, smiling fondly down at her boys. Steve’s head was resting against the cushions on the back of the couch and he looked more content than anyone else under the weight of two grown men would have. Bucky had fallen back asleep within seconds of Steve settling down and Clint was dead to the world, her touch seeming to have helped him to stay that way.

She smiled, closing her eyes. It wouldn’t take long for her to fall asleep, too.

Written for polyshipweek for this prompt.

Roy just gave Wally an unimpressed look, crossing his arms as Kaldur joined them, Zatanna right behind him. "Hello Roy," Kaldur said with a smile for his boyfriend. "It is good to see you again, Dick, Wally, Artemis."

Artemis grinned as she waved at him before getting enveloped in a hug from Zatanna. "So where's M'gann and Conner?" Roy asked with a frown. "They're the only ones not here." Dick chuckled. "It's not like we planned this, Roy. We were each hanging out with whoever we made plans with today. Me and you ended up here because you insisted I not pay for everything today." He shrugged. "What about you guys?" "Baywatch said something about freaking out Roy," Artemis answered with a shrug. "And I thought it sounded like fun so I agreed to come along." "Zatanna insisted the two of us hang out without our 'significant others'," Kaldur said with a shy smile directed at Zatanna. "I suppose we should not have come into this bank after all." Wally grinned, throwing his arms out dramatically. "It must be fate! We were all meant to hang out today!" Artemis smacked him on the back of the head. "You don't even believe in magic." She rolled her eyes as she turned to Dick. "And I'm absolutely certain that Jason is behind this somehow." "Jason?" Roy asked, arching an eyebrow in confusion. "Your little brother? Isn't he with Tim today?" "He's always with Tim," Dick answered with a shrug. "And yes, he could very well be behind this. As you pointed out just last week he is king of the little shits." "Oh, you mean when you almost got robbed and we got invited to the dinner party from hell?" Artemis asked with a smug glance at Roy, who she had "forgotten" to invite to the so-called "dinner party from hell". Dick smiled. "Oh, it wasn't that bad." Wally made a noise of protest at that, glaring at Dick. "Not that bad, my ass! I almost died!" Dick arched an eyebrow at that. "Alfred never would have allowed that, no matter what Jason says." He shrugged. "Besides, you all made it out alive. Bruce will kill us if we ever do that again, but you're all still alive." Zatanna rolled her eyes. "I don't think any of us would ever volunteer to go to another dinner like that, Dick." "Yeah," Wally was quick to agree. "Dude, I love you, but there's no way in hell that's ever happening again." Artemis chuckled. "I'm sure you must get invited to dinner over there all the time." Wally glared at her. "We don't talk about that." Before he could elaborate or Artemis could ask anything else there was a gunshot and several screams, one of which might have come from Wally. Dick whirled around while Roy narrowed his eyes, muttering, "What the hell?" "Down!" Artemis whispered harshly at them, pulling Dick down to the floor with her. "I swear to Batman, Dick, if this is somehow about you..." "Could be. Bruce Wayne's ward, Artie. Remember?" Artemis did not look impressed. She gestured to her expression. "Does this face look happy to you, Dick? This is not my happy face." "It's not." Wally agreed, earning a glare for the effort. "What? It isn't your happy face, blondie." While the two of them were arguing Roy dropped to the floor next to Dick, Kaldur and Zatanna right beside him. "So where's the culprit, Dick? I'm sure you've already figured their entire plan out." Dick flashed his friend a smile. "Of course I have. What do you take me for?" Roy rolled his eyes. "Just get to it. What's their plan and how do we stop it without outing ourselves as superheroes?" "Well, first of all, we can't move without drawing attention to ourselves," Dick explained with a grimace. Roy should have known that much, at least... "Artemis, Wally, and Zatanna can do some attacking without outing themselves. Artemis and Zatanna are in self-defense classes so that won't seem too suspicious and Wally played football in high school." "We're in what?" Artemis asked with a glare before turning to Wally. "You played football?" "Focus, Artie," Dick said, nudging her shoulder with his own. "I signed you guys up after you saved me from those guys last week. You don't really have to go but Bruce paid off the owners and we set it up so it looks like you guys know some fighting moves." Artemis gave him a speculative look at that and he shrugged. "What? We couldn't have anyone suspecting the truth." Artemis sighed. "I suppose that's fine, then." Zatanna smiled tensely while checking her phone. "M'gann just texted me. She says Batman and the Flash are outside and that we shouldn't do anything stupid." Dick scoffed. "As if! Bruce should know better than that." He froze as one of the guys with guns walked past them. "Anyways," he continued in a whisper. "There are seven guys in all. Two are walking around this part of the bank, three are in with the tellers, and the remaining two are covering their getaway." "I don't understand how you do that." Wally said in astonishment. "Years of practice, Walls." Dick grinned. "On the next pass I'm going to try to make an escape. That's when Artemis and Zatanna come in. Artemis, you grab the guy that just passed and knock him out...quietly. And then Zatanna, I need you to get the other guy. He won't be too far behind this one." They both nodded so Dick continued. "While they're focused on me, I need Roy and Kaldur to get into the next room and take out those three guys. Are you good to do that?" Kaldur nodded while Roy rolled his eyes, muttering, "Of course, Dick. Who do you take me for? Oliver Queen?" "Yes," Dick said with a smirk. "I think you're Oliver Queen. Whenever did you dye your hair red, Ollie?" Roy glared at him. "Fuck you." "That's not very nice." "Do I look like I care?" Roy asked with a blank expression. "Because I don't." "Guys," Artemis warned. "The guard's almost here. What's Wally's job?" "While you guys are taking care of that, Wally and I are going to take out the guys covering the exit." Dick glanced at all of them. "You good to go?" No sooner than they had all nodded the guard walked past them. Dick jumped to his feet and started running, ignoring the surprised shouts behind him that were quickly silenced. Before long, he was making his way to the rear exit, easily keeping pace with Wally, who was being careful to appear as normal as Dick, though either of them were anything but. "So what's the plan?" Wally asked in a whisper. "You disappear and leave me to fight the bad guys?" Dick rolled his eyes. "That was years ago. You have got to get over that." Wally grinned. "Not gonna happen, babe." "Yeah, okay, Kid Mouth, just focus on the task at hand." Dick pulled Wally to a stop just shy of where they would be spotted. "You can't let on that you have super speed, just like I can't let on that I'm Nightwing. Please be careful. I don't want to lose anyone today." Wally leaned forward and kissed Dick on the lips. "Don't worry about me, Boy Wonderful. You'll never get rid of me." Dick couldn't help but smile at the old nickname. "Alright, Kid Idiot. Just don't get shot." They turned as one and ran into the next room. The two guys turned towards them, startled. Dick threw himself on top of one while Wally attacked the other, moving at a nice slow pace. Dick didn't have time to watch Wally, though, because in the next moment the guy he was on top of shoved him off and pointed his gun at Dick's forehead. "Give me one reason not to shoot." "Ever heard the name Richard Grayson?" Dick said with a smirk. "Might not want to kill me just yet." People did like to take him hostage, after all. Not that he was going to let that happen. If he got taken hostage there was a good chance his friends would get hurt, maybe even killed. And that was a chance Dick wasn't willing to take. He didn't care if he got hurt, or worse. Dick was willing to sacrifice himself if it got everyone out alive. In the grand scheme of things, Dick Grayson didn't matter one bit. The guy hesitated just long enough for Wally to knock out the other robber and shove Dick out of the way before the gun went off. The next moments were nothing but a blur of fear and blood. Not fear for himself, but for the person he couldn't stand to lose. "You idiot," Dick muttered as he sat next to Wally on the floor, his white t-shirt turning red on the shoulder. "I can't believe you took a bullet for me." Wally just smiled. "I love you." Dick leaned down and kissed him. "I love you, too, but if you ever do that again I'll kill you myself." Of course he didn't mean it. But Wally didn't need to know that.

Read on AO3

Bucky sighed, saved their document and closed the laptop before setting it aside. “It’s not a big deal.” Which was a lie, but Bucky could imagine what her reaction to the truth would be. Not that they thought she would let them get away without telling her what was really going on.

Natasha gave them a look that said “oh, is this how you’re going to play this?” but she didn’t look like she was going to say anything until they did.

Suddenly, Bucky was sure she knew exactly what was bothering them and had been playing nice on the off chance they would tell her before she had to call them on it. Again, the spy thought resurfaced.

Bucky sighed, running a hand through their hair. “I’ve never…come out to anyone.” The last few words were mumbled, but there was no doubt in Bucky’s mind that Natasha would hear them.

Natasha was silent for a moment, before she reached over and laid her hand over theirs. “Believe me, I get it. You know I have a boyfriend, right?” At Bucky’s nod, she smiled and tilted her head, studying them for a moment. “Well, what you might not know is that I’m aromantic and asexual. I don’t advertise it, but all the important people know.” The way she said it left no room for argument that Bucky was now one of those people.

“You think I should just tell Steve and get it over with?”

Natasha shrugged. “It’s your decision. I think you might be surprised by his reaction. Give him a chance instead of psyching yourself out.”

She was right. Of course she was. They had to give Steve the benefit of the doubt before immediately jumping to conclusions. Sometimes they needed someone to remind them of that, and most of the time they were glad Natasha had elected herself that person.

Natasha squeezed their fingers before moving her hand back to rest on her lap. She gave them a knowing smile before she stood up and stretched. “I’m going to shower, but if you want to hang out later Clint is coming over for a movie night.”

“You mind if I invite Steve?”

Natasha smiled. “Not at all.”

About an hour later, Steve texted Bucky to say he was leaving the library and headed back to the dorm. Bucky couldn’t help but get anxious all over again. Luckily, Natasha was sitting next to them on their bed and smacked the back of their head when it looked like they were freaking out. “It’s going to be fine, Bucky.”

They couldn’t bring themselves to look at her as they rubbed the spot she had smacked. “What if it isn’t?”

“Well, then I’ll kick his ass and we’ll go get ice cream. I’ll even watch that stupid superhero show you like with you.”

“Hey, Flash isn’t stupid!”

Natasha smirked at their outburst and they had to roll their eyes and shove her shoulder. She was trying to calm them down and it was working. They liked how easy it was to talk to her, like they had been friends their whole lives even though they’d only known each other for a few months.

“C’mon,” Natasha said as she got to her feet, pulling at Bucky’s metal arm. “Let’s go outside and wait for Steve to get here.”

Bucky still found it hard to believe how casually she touched their prosthetic and how much she seemed to just not care about it. There were even a couple nights they woke up with nightmares that she had helped them calm down from.

Bucky sighed, but let her drag them out of the room and downstairs. They were leaning against the brick wall of the building outside when Steve walked up with a taller blond guy next to him that Bucky recognized as Natasha’s boyfriend. Bucky had been smoking a cigarette, occasionally passing it to Natasha, but now they dropped it on the ground and snuffed it out with their boot.

Steve’s face lit up when he saw Bucky, hand raised to wave at them. Bucky had to smile at how happy Steve looked to see them, those blue eyes of his practically shining. Natasha nudged them with her shoulder, tilting her head towards Steve when they glanced over at her. Rolling their eyes, they nudged her back before shoving off the wall and walking towards Steve.

They would’ve said something to Clint, but he only had eyes for Natasha as he rushed past Bucky and practically tackled his girlfriend. Bucky heard Natasha curse in what sounded a lot like Russian, but couldn’t focus on it as he pulled Steve into a hug. “Hey.”

Steve stood on his tiptoes to press a kiss to Bucky’s lips for a long moment. “Hey yourself.”

Bucky smirked. “That’s some greeting.”

Steve rolled his eyes, shoving at Bucky’s shoulder. “I missed you.”

Bucky pulled Steve close and kissed him hard enough to leave Steve breathless when they pulled away. “I missed you, too.”

Steve smiled as Bucky wrapped an arm around his shoulders and they started walking towards where Natasha was standing with Clint wrapped around her. Bucky couldn’t help but think she looked like an annoyed cat dealing with an overexcited puppy. They said as much to Steve and had to grin as Steve fought back laughter.

“And what are you smiling about?” Natasha said as they approached, gaze sharpening into a glare.

Bucky just smirked as they ignored her and directed their next words at Clint. “That’s a pretty good octopus impression you’ve got there.”

Clint grinned, pressing a kiss to Natasha’s cheek. She still looked ready to stab someone, but if her expression was anything to go by it was more likely Bucky would be the one getting stabbed. “She’s secretly a big softie.”

“Let go of me and I’ll prove otherwise.”

“Aw,” Clint practically cooed. “Isn’t she adorable?”

“I know where you sleep, Barton.”

Bucky grinned as Clint’s gaze fell on them. “Adorable.”

Natasha’s glare refocused on Bucky. “I know where you sleep, too, Barnes.”

Bucky smirked. “Yeah, but if you kill me you’ll have to find a new roommate.”

Steve snorted, but immediately tried to cover it up with a laugh. It didn’t quite work, but Natasha was glaring at Bucky too intently to bother glaring at Steve.

Bucky just grinned and blew her a kiss, getting a middle finger for their effort. Clint just laughed and started to drag her back into the building. He gave Bucky a knowing look and then glanced at Steve before they disappeared from view. Not for the first time, Bucky wondered if Clint and Natasha could read each other’s minds.

Steve, apparently having seen the look turned towards Bucky and raised his eyebrows, a curious look in his eyes. “What was that about?”

Bucky sighed, resisting the urge to back away and run. They weren’t sure how this conversation was going to go, and no matter what Natasha had said, they still weren’t feeling confident about Steve’s reaction. They just had to hope everything would turn out okay. If not…well, Natasha had dubbed herself Bucky’s protector and they didn’t know of anyone who would want to go up against her.

“I. Um. There’s something I need to tell you.” Bucky took a step back, the anxiety starting to get to be too much to keep standing so close to their boyfriend. “I, um - “ They looked away, forcing themself to take a deep breath before turning back to Steve. “Sorry, I’ve just never really told anyone this before.”

Steve smiled encouragingly, nodding for Bucky to continue.

Before they could psych themself out, they blurted out, “I’m nonbinary!”

Steve blinked slowly, almost like he couldn’t quite believe what he had heard. But then he smiled and pulled Bucky in to hug them. “I’m glad you felt like you could tell me.”

Shocked, it was all Bucky could do to return the hug. Of all the things they thought Steve might say, that wasn’t one of them. To be honest, they had expected something more along the lines of “What does that mean?” or maybe “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

Steve pulled back and pressed a kiss to Bucky’s lips. “That doesn’t change anything for me. I still lo - adore you.” He blushed, ducking his head. “Besides, it’d be a little ironic if I had a problem with you being nonbinary.”

Bucky wasn’t sure what that meant, but the look on their face must have given away their confusion because Steve immediately rushed to explain. “I’m…well, transgender. I was born a girl.”

Well, that explained that.

Bucky must have stayed silent for longer than they realized because Steve started to look worried and maybe a little uncomfortable. They couldn’t help but feel a little guilty, even though they hadn’t meant to make Steve feel uncomfortable. That was the last thing they wanted to do.

“Shit, Steve, I’m sorry. I’m just not used to getting that reaction. Everyone that’s found out has taken it badly.”

Steve relaxed, taking Bucky’s hand and twining their fingers together. “It’s okay, Buck.” His eyes widened almost comically, surprise evident in his expression. “Wait. Do you want to be called something else? Oh! And pronouns? What pronouns do you prefer?”

Bucky had to stifle a laugh at his words, but couldn’t quite hide their smile. “Bucky is fine, Steve. Don’t worry about that.” They leaned forward to press a kiss to his forehead. “I prefer they/them and I’d prefer if you called me your partner instead of boyfriend. If that’s okay?”

“Of course that’s okay!” Steve squeezed Bucky’s fingers, before he continued speaking. “I just want you to be comfortable around me.”

“You’re one of the few people I’ve always felt comfortable around.” Bucky lifted their joined hands and pressed a kiss to the back of Steve’s hand. “That’s why I had to tell you. It felt like lying.”

Steve was grinning like an idiot, but Bucky couldn’t help but feel happy. Their boyfriend was okay with who they were and weren’t acting any differently around them. No matter what happened next, at least they’d finally been able to be honest about who they were with one another. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell you I’m trans since we met. I can’t tell you how much better I feel now that you know.”

Bucky could definitely relate. “I don’t think you have to.”

“Yeah,” Steve said with a cute little laugh. “I guess that’s true.”

They stood there smiling at each other for long enough that Natasha would have smacked one or both of them and called them sappy idiots if she’d been there.

As if thinking about her had summoned her, Bucky’s phone rang, startling them enough that they jumped. Steve, hiding a smile behind a cough, stepped back to give Bucky room to answer the call. “Hey, Nat. Get bored of your boyfriend already?”

They could practically hear her rolling her eyes. “We would be having sex on your bed if I wasn’t asexual.” Bucky choked on air, but before they could catch their breath, she had continued talking. “Now, are you two idiots coming up here to watch movies or not?”

Bucky rolled their eyes. “Yeah, we’ll be there in a minute, Princess. But, hey, remind me why I like you again?”

“Because I put up with your bullshit and I haven’t killed you in your sleep for calling me ‘Princess’.”

“Why do I feel like you’re leaving the ‘yet’ unsaid?”

Instead of answering him, she ended the call.

Bucky glanced over at Steve, who looked amused. “Did she threaten your life again?”

Bucky grinned. “Keeps life interesting.”

Steve rolled his eyes, taking Bucky’s hand and dragging them back towards the building. “I think we’ve got a movie date to get to.”

“Yeah, okay.” Bucky grumbled. “But when she tries to kill me you’ve gotta protect me.”

“Sure, babe. I’ll protect you from the big, bad Russian assassin.”