"You need to slow it down a bit, yeah?" Bucky whispered in your ear. You slammed your glass on the bar counter and gave him a drunken smile over your shoulder.

"You told me to stop being such a mud in the stick. Well," you flung your arms out, accidentally hitting the blonde guy that was sitting next to you in the head, "here I am. Having fun."

"It's stick in the mud."
"Whatever."

Bucky went to reply when the guy you smacked turned around. The irritated expression he had slowly disappeared as he realized the psychical abuse he'd just endured was by the hands of a beautiful young woman...that was very drunk.

"Hey."

The blond gave you a glittering smile and you latched onto his arm. Never mind that you were seeing two of him, fluttering your lashes prettily.

"Where've you been all night, good lookin'?" You conjured the most seductive voice you could in your drunken state.

You knew it would piss off Bucky, and by the gods, did it.

"I could ask you the same. My name's Vince. Care to dance?"

Looking at Bucky, he swore that the small glare you threw at him was about as sober as you were gonna get that night and you turned back to "Vince."

"I'd love to dance."

Bucky groaned in frustration.

What the hell did he do wrong?

———————-

A FEW HOURS EARLIER

You were sitting on the couch, quietly watching the guys play pool while waiting for everyone else to get ready. Steve and Bucky against Tony and Clint. It was an intense atmosphere between them, all except one because he couldn't take his eyes off of you. From the moment you walked through the door in your elegant black dress, the edge of the material brushing right above your knees, Bucky was absolutely speechless.

Of course, he always thought you were beautiful, no matter what you wore or how you looked, but if he was being completely honest with himself, watching as you sat down and crossed your legs with lithe ease, that black dress might be the death of him. Steve had to jolt him back to the present a couple of times when his mind wandered down the path of explicit thoughts.

And even at the club, when he watched you sit at the bar and nod along to the conversation between Bruce and Wanda, sipping at your drink with an almost serious expression on your face. Come to think of it, Bucky had never seen you really let loose and have fun, stop worrying about things for awhile.

Sure, you were serious about your job and enjoyed saving the world, but there was a lot more to life, right? And he also knew there was a lot more beneath that quiet exterior of yours.

The trouble was he'd never seen it, but he was more than curious to see what pushing you would do.

—————

PRESENT

"She just blew you off, hard core, bro."

Sam clapped a hand on his shoulder. Steve came up on the other side of him with a slightly worried look at how furious Bucky was. His jaw was clenched as tightly as his fists and his eyes had turned into shards of dark blue glass.

"Buck, what happened?" Steve asked his friend.

When he got no response, he sighed and looked out at the dance floor. His eyes suddenly grew wide and he shuffled on his feet uncomfortably.

Steve knew how clubs went. He'd dealt with the occasional young woman that liked to dance all over him and you were doing exactly that...except on a totally random stranger that his best friend looked about ready to attack.

—————

REWIND

"Come on, doll. Don't you want to have fun?"

You were growing annoyed with Bucky trying so hard to get under your skin. Going clubbing wasn't your favorite activity in the world, but you enjoyed going out with your friends. As the designated driver, of course you didn't indulge in any alcoholic substances, preferring to drink a Coke to keep your mind clear. But, when Bucky showed up with six shots of tequila with Nat and Tony behind him fighting to get to the glasses, you knew he was up to something.

"Bucky, leave me alone."

It came out harsher than you intended and Bucky rolled his eyes, clearly irked by your lack of adventure.

"You're such a stick in the mud, I'm surprised you even came out tonight."

Natasha and Tony disappeared as quickly as the words had left his mouth.

He didn't apologize.

Instead he quirked a brow, challenging you with his eyes.

You calmly laid aside your Coke and, keeping direct eye contact with Bucky, downed all six shots in a row before delicately wiping the corners of your mouth. He looked impressed, but that didn't phase you.

He wanted a challenge, he'd gotten it.

"Child's play."

—————

PRESENT

"I'm gonna kill him."
"What we're not gonna do is that."

By now, all of the team had gathered around Bucky just to watch the show. You were twisting and turning, dipping up and down and gyrating so seductively around Vince that even Tony was beginning to feel bad for Bucky.

"How much did she drink?" Bruce asked.

"Honestly," Pietro grimaced at the mental image in his head of their table covered in shot glasses, "I stopped counting after about eight."

"Well," Steve put down his glass, "guess this means I'm not drinking tonight."

Vince was looking like he was having the time of his life.

He was running his hands down your shoulders, to your elbows, spanning your waist before—

"Yeah, okay. No."

Bucky slipped through the crowd easily, his metal hand grabbing Vince's wrist and twisting it to its breaking point. The man cried out in pain and you stumbled from his side.

Clint appeared, gently dragging you out of the way as Bucky's nostrils flared in anger. He brought his face close to Vince's.

"You're lucky. A few more inches and I would've snapped your wrist in two. Now get out of here."

He shoved Vince away.

"What the hell, man?" Vince demanded. "We were having a good time!"

"Don't care."

When Vince went to protest, Bucky held up a hand.

"If I have to tell you again," his voice lowered, "you're not gonna like it. Leave."

Bucky immediately arrived by your side at the bar and seeing you reach for more shots that Tony was trying to pry your hands off of, he grabbed you by the elbow and pulled you into the empty hall leading to the bathroom.

"I can take care of myself." You scowled.

"Clearly you can't. You're drunk off your ass and you were rubbing yourself against the first guy that showed a spark of interest in you!"

His voice grew into a shout and you winced. Bucky thought you were going to cry when you puckered your lips and he suddenly felt bad for yelling, but oh, was he wrong.

Smack!

"Shit!"

"Don't tell me what I can or can't do, jerk off!" You spat, pulling your fist back.

"What the hell did you expect me to do? Let you act like a fool in front of everyone?" Bucky touched his jaw tenderly before grimacing in pain.

"How about stop being an asshole for once?!"

You went to shove him when he yanked you into his chest, so close you could feel his hot breath fanning across your face. The close proximity of Bucky's lips sobered you up for just a moment.

A moment in which his eyes glittered dangerously as they held you in place.

"Yell at me again," he dipped his head lower to whisper into your ear, making you shiver in response, "and I'll give you a reason to scream."

Pulling away, but keeping close enough to inhale the scent of his cologne as it rose in the air, you mimicked the raising of your eyebrow and the mischievous smirk he had only hours ago when he first began to tease you. The sensual tension was thick, your heart pounding harder than your head and your hands exploring the muscled ridges of his chest before pausing. His hands slowly gripped your waist as you tilted your head to the side, watching as Bucky bit his bottom lip. You might have been intoxicated with a great deal of alcohol and you could blame your next choice of words on such, but that would be lying.

"Is that a challenge?"

"Doll, that's a promise."

—————

Bonus

"Why is she crying?" Sam demanded.

Bucky had brought you back to the bar before the both of you got too carried away and once you'd sat at the counter, you slumped over, put your head in your hands and sobbed.

Wanda and Nat were trying to console you with Thor standing beside them holding the role of "go grab this" and "Bucky you asshole" messenger.

He shrugged helplessly. Bucky had tried to talk to you, but you glared at him so evilly he backed off with his tail between his legs.

Nat whispered something to Thor and he nodded before walking over to the men who waited on the outskirts of the women barricade for news. He cleared his throat loudly and put a hand on Bucky's shoulder.

"My friend, Y/N seems to be extremely devastated by the harshness of the words you'd chosen to lash out at her with."

"What? What the hell is she talking about?"

Thor gave him a pitiful look.

"Natasha said you called her a...a mud in the stick. Whatever that's supposed to mean, it has greatly affected her."

Tony and Clint burst out with such voluminous laughter that Bucky swore under his breath as Sam joined in, Steve shaking his head with a little grin.

"Remind me to never try and get her drunk again."

"I suggest you apologize to the lady. Being a "mud in the stick" has caused her to have very violent thoughts." He shifted uncomfortably. "Preferably with knives."

"It's stick in the mud! For the love of—"

"WHATEVER, BARNES! YOU KNOW WHAT YOU SAID! I'M NOT GONNA FORGIVE YOUR STUPID ASS EVEN IF ITS NICE TO LOOK AT!"

Tony, Sam and Clint were rolling at this point, Steve was coughing to hide his amusement and Thor, seemingly forgetting his duties, was throwing back shots and chuckling at the mocking faces the girls were giving Bucky.

"You'd better get her home." Steve suggested.

"That's your girl, Buck." Sam hooted.

Bucky felt a flutter in his heart at Sam's words and he smiled softly as you crossed your eyes and stuck your tongue out at him.

"I sure hope so."