"Where exactly are we going?" Bucky asked, looking out the window and at the part of town he'd never been to before. At least not in this century.

"We're picking up some stuff for William," Lana explained casually, shifting the gears of the Audi she had borrowed from her dad, who probably wouldn't even notice.

"Hey, I know that building! That was there last time I was here!" Bucky exclaimed suddenly, turning his upper body towards the window to look at the old building.

"And last time you were here was?" Lana asked, smiling at his happiness.

"Around 1940, I guess. And even then it was pretty shit. A wonder they haven't knocked it down yet," he added, leaning back into his seat.

"I think it's kind of pretty," Lana disagreed with a slight shrug, not wanting to take her eyes off the road for too long. The car's control screen lit up and emitted noise, signalling a call to Lana's phone, which automatically had connected to the system. Bucky immediately reached inside his jacket, ready to protect the pair.

"Relax, it's just my phone," she told Bucky gently, glancing worriedly at him. He swallowed and nodded, but didn't utter a word. She sent him one last look before accepting the call on the steering wheel.

"Hello?" she said, unable to recognise the number. It wasn't a contact in her phone.

"Hey, it's me, Natasha," Natasha greeted casually; "I got your number from Jarvis."

"Oh, that's fine," Lana replied, trying to sound peppy.

"I know we haven't really had a chance to talk properly yet with everything that's been going on, but I figured now's the chance. Any chance you'd want to get ready for the party Friday together?" she suggested, sounding hopeful, no doubt having decided to keep her guard down in a gesture of friendliness instead of her usual emotionless tone.

"That's so sweet, but I'm not really going to be dressing up," Lana replied apologetically.

"You're not?" Bucky joined in, looking at her confused.

"Is Barnes with you?" Natasha asked, sounding annoyingly sly.

"Uh, yeah, he's helping me with some stuff. And I wasn't really planning on dressing up, but I'd definitely be down to hang sometime," Lana told happily, trying to ignore Bucky's stare.

"Great! It's a date, then," Natasha agreed, saying a quick goodbye before hanging up. Lana tried ignoring Bucky's fastened look on her as she parked the car in the big car park. Quickly, the heavy boxes were placed in the back of the car and they were back on the road, only a few minutes from William's place.

"What?!" Lana finally asked, growing tired of the eyes constantly focused on her.

"What the hell did you mean you aren't dressing up?" Bucky asked immediately.

"I thought I explained it pretty well," Lana mentioned with a slight shrug.

"I think you should dress up," Bucky decided. Lana rolled her eyes and turned the blinker on, making a left shortly after.

"Why?" she challenged.

"It's a party," he just said.

"I know that, but five seconds ago you did not care about said party. Why do you care if I dress up?" she asked annoyed. Bucky shrugged, crossing his arms in front of his chest and looking solemnly out the side window in a highly dramatic manner.

"I'm serious, James. Why do you care?" Lana repeated.

"I don't," he claimed quickly.

"Make up your mind, you weirdo," she scoffed, catching sight of the right building.

"I just... I don't know, okay? Maybe I just want to see you dressed up," he admitted in a mutter.

"Dressing up isn't the same as wearing something revealing," Lana told him annoyed, fully well understanding that this was just him being a horny guy and not him caring about her looks.

"Never said it was," he claimed flatly.

"So you just want me to look good? For no reason?" she challenged, blinking and swerving the car into a parking space surprisingly close to the correct building.

"You always look good, Doll," Bucky teased, running his eyes up and down her, not bothering to hide it. Lana considered, pursing her lips.

"I'll wear a dress, as long as you shut up about it," she decided, unfastening her seatbelt and getting out of the car. Bucky smiled satisfied as he did the same.

Not bothering to knock, Lana opened the front door with her elbow, her hands occupied by the heavy box. She yelled a quick hi as she entered, quickly reaching the small living room where William was sitting by the dining room.

"How far along are you?" she asked curiously while placing the box on the floor with a thump and helping Bucky put his down.

"Not far along at all. We're never gonna make it," William told her, not even looking up from his computer.

"We're gonna have to, I already have three stores that want to carry the locks," Lana told him, handing Bucky the car key so he could get another box, making him roll his eyes dramatically before leaving.

"Wait, really?" William, looking at her.

"Yep. Don't worry, the actual system will be b2c, but I thought this was a cheap way to get some publicity and be noticed, the stores will want to advertise that they're carrying the lock," she explained, grabbing one of Will's box cutters to open the boxes on the floor, sitting down next to it.

"Alright," William said, smiling; "When and how many?"

"Day of the launch, thirty each store," she told, pulling up plastic-wrapped trinkets from a box.

"What?! You're saying that I have to make ninety?! That's impossible!" William exclaimed with a horrified expression.

"Impossible isn't an option. Why can't you make 90?" she challenged, trying to figure out what exactly she was holding so she could cross-reference it with the list and make sure they'd gotten everything they'd paid for.

"Because I don't even have a balcony, much less a factory stuffed in the back of this flat!" William tried explaining.

"Well, how many hands will you need to get it done?" Lana asked, abandoning her project to look at William.

"I don't know... Three people, at least," he estimated with a grimace.

"How good do they need to be at stuff?" Lana asked, William shaking his head slightly.

"Not at all, I literally just need someone to put things together to make it go faster," he explained, running a hand through his messy and unruled hair.

"I'll get an employee," Lana decided, going back to the boxes.

"An employee? Are you crazy? We can't afford that!" William said, standing up from his chair and taking a few steps to the side, clearly stressed.

"Will, we won't have to give them a set amount of hours, relax. Some freelancing students are plenty for now," she assured, looking at Bucky as he entered, managing to carry two boxes at once. She quickly jumped to her feet, grabbing the one on the top to put it on the ground. He smiled thankfully at her, making her smile shyly as she looked away.

"And after the ninety?" Will continued panicked, pulling Lana out of her trance; "What will they do then?"

"Either they just won't get more hours or they'll stick around. We got orders of ninety in like a day, and we haven't even begun properly looking at chains and the presale isn't even started yet. Bloody hell, the website isn't even up yet," she added, making a mental note to get to that. Will just took a deep breath, turning to the window.

"Hey, James?" Lana said, smiling excessively at him.

"No," he replied quickly.

"I just have a small favour to ask of you," she continued unaffected.

"I'm in the middle of the last favour you asked me," he reminded her, gesturing at the pile of boxes on the floor.

"I know, and if you would finish that first that would actually be great, but after I need you to help out with-"

"No," he interrupted, shaking his head.

"James, please! I'm going to be finding someone to help ASAP, it's just for now! We are so far behind schedule already," she cried, trying to look sad.

"Are you really going through with this business thing?" Bucky asked quietly, glancing at Will's back.

"I invested too much to not," Lana mentioned, pointing at the living room full of boxes and discarded plastic wrappings from products that had been opened.

"Fine. Invest in someone to help you, then," Bucky suggested.

"I am, but until then, I need you," she explained honestly.

"Oh, that's flattering," Bucky scoffed with an eye-roll.

"Please, James," she tried again.

"No."

"What do I have to do to get your help?" she asked with a sigh.

"Nothing you can do, Doll," he informed, sending her a cold smile. Lana bit her lip before taking a step closer to James, standing with her front to his side.

"I'll wear a dress to the party," she offered quietly.

"You already agreed to do that," Bucky reminded.

"I know, but you know how we agreed on not revealing? Maybe I'll make it a little revealing," she told even more quietly, placing a hand on his elbow as his headshot to the side, enabling eye contact. Lana had to hold her breath to not show how shallow it otherwise would have been.

"You think you can bribe me with promises of sexy outfits?" Bucky asked, matching her quiet volume so William wouldn't hear and raised a single eyebrow.

"Depends. Is it working?" Lana questioned, biting her lip while waiting for his reply. Bucky licked his lips as he looked back ahead with a look of annoyance on his face.

"Get a replacement as soon as you can," he told her strictly before muttering something about getting the rest of the boxes and leaving her to look after him.