InsaneJournal

Natasha popped an eye open as the first notes of I Want You Back from the Jackson 5 started to play. She'd been sleeping, dreamlessly for once, and there was no ache at her wrists from early years of handcuffing herself to a bedframe. She rolled over, sun barely slipped through the slats on the blinds. It was six in the morning. She didn't usually sleep in, but the last few weeks had loosened her up, calmed her, reminded her of better things.

The music was good, no doubt, and Natasha could roll with the punches. Even if her hair was a mess and she was naked beneath the sheets. She'd been trained not to feel that kind of shame anyway. Her arched her back, stretching out on the bed before slipping over the side to retrieve some semblance of clothing. One of James's shirts would do, even make a nice surprise when he got out of the shower.

For a few minutes she simply did a quick pick-up of the room. They were notoriously sloppy about where their clothes dropped. Sometimes they hit the wall first, sometimes they dangled precariously off the edge of a dresser or chair. In the end, they always ended up in Natasha's laundry basket. When Hot Chocolate came on, though, Natasha found herself in a good enough mood that she started to shake her hip just a little as she made the bed.

Bucky was growing used to the weird occurrences that happened at the Avenger’s house. It was more odd if something didn’t wind up happening during the week, but music this early in the morning and blaring through the house didn’t fall into the usual shenanigans that happened. Not many would try to mess with everyone else’s sleep schedules and he was fairly certain that most of the group were early risers, Bucky doubted that all of them were up already.

There were several new arrivals to the house, making the enormous place feel more claustrophobic than usual, and so he didn’t hurry out of the shower. Whatever was going on could be dealt with by the others.

Except the music continued to play, one song to the next, and he toweled off his hair before pulling on the few pieces of clothes he’d brought into the bathroom with him. He spotted Natasha’s movements as soon as he exited the bathroom, lips twitching at the way she swayed to the music, before looking for an appropriate exit.

Despite the music, she could still hear the shower turn off, things rattle around in the bathroom, the door open. She looked over her shoulder, but did not stop swaying to the music. He looked ready to spring for the door. Deer in headlights. It wasn't a particularly good look on him, but it was still endearing. He may have been a dangerous time bomb, but he was her dangerous time bomb now.

Natasha began to lipsync along with the song, giving a crooked smile as she gave a little chasse in his direction, just fast enough to catch his hands before he could bolt. She leaned in, pressed her lips to his ears and whispered, "Dance with me."

Before the war and Bucky would have easily slid into this role, would have pulled Natasha along with him, and danced numerous songs away. But that was a different life, he’d been a different person then, and while he was healing, less fractured than he’d been before...he would never be who he was before the war. No one could be. Not with all that they had done and seen, even before Hydra had gotten to him.

“You were doing a fine job of it on your own.”

She withdrew just a little, the smell of soap lingering in the air and a few droplets of water from his hair at her temple. Natasha brushed the hair behind his ears and leaned in to kiss his cheek. She folded her fingers through his, moving his hands to her hips. Then she moved her hands up his body to rest around his neck, the perfect picture of teenagers at a formal dance, despite their clothing.

"Just a little bit?" She knew it was hard to shake off the past; she could recognize it in his eyes when things weren't "normal" or "typical" or "the usual." He'd gotten used to being around people, he'd gotten used to living with people. Maybe this would be another step. "I promise not to step on your toes."

It was clear to Bucky that she really wanted to do this and while he was wary of it, he truly hated letting her down. Hadn’t he done enough of that in the last few months? A dance wasn’t that hard and while it might have been a reminder of who he would no longer be, that didn’t mean it had to be sequestered to only that part of his existence. “One dance.”

Surely he could step his way through that. And maybe if he managed to do so without stumbling it could turn into two, but if nothing else he could give her one.

Natasha gave a warm smile in return, something most people never got to see. She kept her arms around his neck and shifting them away from the door of the bathroom. The room was a little colder without his warmth next to her. "One dance. That's all I want."

The song was still Hot Chocolate, which wasn't really that great for slow dancing, but that never stopped her. She didn't need some peppy number in which he tossed her around. She just wanted to be close to him, share even stupid things with him. Natasha moved slowly, much slower than the tempo of the song.

He echoed her movements, slowly relaxing with each swaying step that they made together. The tension was still there in his body though, wariness over the entire situation still evident, but at least he was actually making some effort and trying now. A few months before and he would have bolted without giving her an answer….not that he would have been in her shower in the first place.

“I guess this isn’t too bad.”

She slipped her fingers into the back of his hair, stroking lightly. If there was one thing that Natasha wanted in this whole world, it was for James Barnes to realize that he was worth standing here in the middle of her room, swaying to music that had no business being swayed to. That she was right where she wanted to be.

Her smile widened, as the song continued. "What do you know? I might believe in miracles now too."