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has anyone done this yet?

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Chapter 2. (lowkey short :()

The next few days she spent in and out of his office. She knew quite a bit about him already, but he still gave her small bits and pieces of information as she asked.

“So you only drink wakandian coffee?” She asked, eyes shooting up to his, ready to jot down anything he said

“Yeah,” he scratched the back of his neck, “it was never something I enjoyed prior, but Okoye makes one hell of a cup.” He smiled softly before returning to his own paperwork.

She nodded and rushed out of his office as someone called for her.

Bucky began to notice how she never lingered, she’d be in and out of his office, she didn’t stay and watch, ready to spring out of the room at something he may say or do, like his past assistants did. He enjoyed that she didn’t hover, treated him…well, normally.

He began to ask her questions about herself, countering her own.

“Just to make sure we are clear, you have security detail around your apartment from eight in the morning to eight at night correct?” She asked, tapping the edge of a pen against her clipboard.

“Correct. Although i’m not sure why I need security detail.” He grumbled, flexing the fingers on his vibranium arm. She smiled softly in response, jotting that down in her notes.

“Where did you graduate?” He blurted out and her eyes shot up to him. He never knew the correct timing to as to when to ask her anything in general, as much as she told him he could.

“MIT.” She replied, running a hand through her hair. She graduated only recently, having to jump through many loops due to the blip. “computer engineering.” she continued after a beat of silence.

“Ah, so you’re smart.” He countered, crossing his legs as he leaned back in his chair, to which she immediately looked away and nodded. Compliments about her intelligence always made her squirm, as she never considered it a gift.

“Yeah you could say that.”

“You’re what, like twenty?” He asked, leaning his head into his hand.

“…five,” she finished, “about to be twenty five.”

“Jesus,” he muttered with a half laugh, rubbing a hand down his face, “I’ve one got a century on you.”

That was incorrect. She made a sound and shifted her weight, her brain always repeated a statement when someone was incorrect, she never knew why but it was uncontrollable to fix

“Actually,” she paused, and he raised a brow, realizing she probably should keep her mouth shut. “Actually due to Cyrostasis, you’re closer to your forties..” she trailed off as he stared at her.

“How do you know that?” He asked, tipping his head a degree to the right.

“Well,” she shifted her weight, almost unnoticeable. But not to a former assassin trained to read a twitch like a confession.

“I-I mean it’s common knowledge that HYDRA used extreme measures to prolong the life span of their..assets.” She avoided his eyes, unsure to how he’d react to this knowledge.

He just watched her, his steel blue eyes never leaving her and she wished she could melt into the floor.

“Still quite the gap,” he replied testing her, seeing how she’d answer. Why did he care? Why was he attempting to validate their numerical difference.

She met his eyes and gave him a half shrug, “Not by much,” and with that she smiled at her clipboard, now held in front of her again, and disappeared from his office.

————————————————————————

“He can’t stand certain members of the house, remember that, he doesn’t like the sound of a phone ringing, he won’t ever say it but i’ve seen him leave a room due to it, monitor the number coming in and out, we don’t need anyone suspicious trying to reach him. Trace them if you have too,” A man about her height recited to her, handing her manila folder after folder, her arms getting heavy.

“Got it,” she replied with a quick smile and added it to the ever growing mound on her desk. She never saw that man again, she wondered if he was some sort of secret service, or agent of some kind.

She was given every schedule, his meetings, court appearances, mandated thearapy, phone appointments, dinners, even down to a lunch and workout schedule.

Which was pretty intense, almost two solid hours, pushups, sit ups, something called a dumbbell fly? trying not to let her mind wander to that, she jogged up the stairs to her apartment.

She cross referenced her own intel, years of compiled files, secret encrypted ones scrounged from corners of the internet, recordings and debriefings both HYDRA and SHIELD had left unattended. Well, she says unattended but really it just took some mild coding to get past their security.

Besides all of the loads of information she shuffled through on a daily, she integrated several of her own devices into his schedule.

She’d have a seating chart rearranged if she knew he’d be sitting besides a hostile coworker at a dinner, or she’d make sure there were no cameras in hotel rooms he’d stay at.

She’d never touch stuff in his office, as everything was perfectly placed and she knew he’d get overwhelmed if something was out of place. She didn’t raise her voice, annoyed with him or not, and she made sure to always give him space.

The next week she ran through his schedule with him as soon as she’d come in in the mornings, seven am sharp, coffee, black, in hand. She’d set it on his desk as he rubbed his temples, and she’d go down the list for the day.

He enjoyed her company, more than he’d admit out loud, she sorta…lit up the room, she cracked jokes and when he wouldn’t laugh she’d awkwardly say “ohh kayyyy” and continue speaking. That would make him laugh, to which she’d just stare blankly at him.

Bucky wasn’t insanely conversational, he was actually pretty quiet, she wondered if it was because of his past, only speaking when spoken too, and learning to break it.

She wanted to break it.

[cupinoid]

Hello everyone! This is sorta a debut post, and also an official fic i’m finally getting around to posting.

It’s been a MINUTE since i’ve written fan fiction, but since the release of thunderbolts my obsessive bucky barnes phase is back. That being said i’ve seen a lot of requests and mentions for assistant x congressman fics, specifically age gap ones…

so I figured i’d give it a shot!

Please bear with me! Like I said I haven’t done this in a long time, and I’ve never done an age gap romance!

I decided to base buckys character as a mix of his healing process in the time period of thunderbolts, but also his naturally quiet demeanor from the comics! I think bucky would be super hesitant to allow someone in romantically, hence their constant back and forth and slow slow slow burn.

Alex is an OC, I genuinely cannot write a fic using “you” or “i” or “y/n” so unfortunately she’s an oc, THAT BEING SAID, I kept her as vague as possible so she still feels like a self insert!

The idea is they’re dynamic is meant to be messy, and weird, and confusing, as he’s healing and coming to terms with the fact that his biology may be overriding years of walls built, and she’s just really oblivious to it all, and hyper focused on her work.

It’s messy, I know, I wanted it to feel like your in their minds with rhe back and forth and uncharted territory, liking someone is an overwhelming jumble of emotions and never really has a flow! But also I tried to keep it funny and some of that playful banter we love to see in fics!

(Takes place during thunderbolts so it’s his congressman arc, but it’s mainly meant to be fluff so there’s no crazy action or other characters really mentioned!)

This is kinda a test run to see how well it does or not, please feel free to lmk ur thoughts! Here it is:

Coffee, Black.

It was a nice day in Washington DC, not too many people, not too much noise. All things considered, it was the nations capitol, and an earth threatening event could quite literally happen at any moment.

Alex putted around her apartment, nervously glancing at the open laptop on her kitchen counter. The cuticles around her nailbeds were sore from chewing and her hair starting to grease with how much she was touching it.

She had finished up her bachelors degree only three months prior, applying to any and all agencies around the city for personal assistants.

That’s where she had to start. If she wanted to work her way up, she’d have to work her way through. Simple.

Except she didn’t know who she’d been assigned too, not until this email came in. The company she partnered with was meant to give her an open spot when one arrived, and she could decline or accept.

She took a breath, closing her eyes for a minute when that familiar whoosh sound emitted from her laptop.

Her heart sank

She slowly approached the counter, seeing the new email to the left.

‘Congratulations on your application!-‘

She opened it, skimming through the meaningless information and then-

Congressman James Barnes.

She just stared for a minute, the information flooding her instantly, every minute detail

She’d memorized over the past few years, since the explosion in vienna, to the grainy images of him on the run with a vigilante Captain America. Sites after sites, logs and paperwork and files shed scanned and committed to memory, every interaction ever recorded with him, letters from nurses, mentions in museums.

She remembered seeing him on screen the first time, when the UN meeting for the Sokvia accords had been bombed. She had sat on the edge of her couch with a few of her highschool friends, hands covering faces as they watched the feed.

When he was framed.

He had shown up on screen and almost instantly she’d recognized him from a tribute to Steve Roger’s long ago visited as a kid.

Since then he’d become a minor obsession, nothing crazy, just absorbing any and all information found on him, tabs on blogs across the internet, access to confidential files.

She had interned with Stark Industries for a bit, which she was often left unsupervised, and maybe a few times she tested her sleight of hand with the logins to company files. And from there he was a fascination to her, from his brainwashing to his rise to heroism.

She knew all of it.

James Buchanan Barnes. Bucky Barnes.

She sat back in her chair with a mildly suprised huff.

Because why would it be anyone else?

———————————————————————

Alex was perfectly on time to the fundraising event. As she always was, arriving only twenty six seconds before seven, not a minute more, not a minute less.

She tugged her dress a little, attempting to fix the way it stretched across her stomach. It was a pretty pearl color, a simple dress really, tied around the neck and an open back, just touching the floor. Her hair was pinned back, out of her face, and silvery jewelry dotted her neck and wrists.

She was invited by a friend, another personal assistant to a senator, her name was Alyssa, and she was definitely sleeping with said senator.

‘It might be a good opportunity to meet Bucky before officially working with him yknow?’ Alyssa had said with a shrug, applying mascara in the bathroom at dinner a few nights ago.

She really wasn’t even sure this was a good idea, it was an excuse to get out, to…network, as some people put it. But she hated the noise. Everything was so loud. She let out an exhale and strutted through the main doors.

Alex’s eyes searched the event, a grand staircase in the middle, various officers and government officials lined the railings. The lighting cast a warm glow over everyone, the dress code an easy black and white. A pretty jazz tune fluttered through the crystal chandeliers above her and circled the few couples dancing across the tile.

She weaved between people, muttering polite apologies as she attempted to spot the familiar face she’d seen through screens and documents all these years and-

There he was.

Standing at the top of the staircase, surveying the crowd like she’d seen him do in surveillance footage a hundred times.

Shoulders back, the slope of them almost calculated, jaw set and eyes scanning. His hands were carefully flexing by his sides, the gleam of the black vibranium not hard to miss, long sleeves or not. Between the chunks of metal she could see a sort of bronze color, she wondered what type of metal was used. Probably something noconductive. He had stubble coming in, a sign of his age, and his hair slicked back, revealing a growing out undercut.

She definitely ignored the way her stomach did some sort of weird twist at that detail.

She swore she could hear Lana Del Rey playing somewhere in her mind, her eyes lazily trailing down his tuxedo.

Steel blue. His eyes were a steel blue, she’d never noticed that detail before. They met hers for just a moment and time itself seemed to stop, her heels planted to the marble of the gala floor.

And then he was gone, disappearing behind a few people and then steadily making his way down the steps. His eyes locked on someone behind her as he quietly pushed through the crowd, the expression of laser focus etched into him. The way he moved was so clearly practiced. He weaved between bodies and didn’t so much as touch them.

It was fascinating to the point that she was still rooted to the spot, and when he got close enough she stepped to the side, his eyes on hers again and she took the cue.

“Hello! Congressman Barnes,” she started, taking a step to block his path, which was hard considering he was much larger up close. Bucky paused for a moment, his eyes flicking between hers and somewhere past her shoulders. He shifted his weight, clearly switching out of the focus he was just in to spare a second of time. Media training. Her heart was racing, here was the man she could quite literally recite an entire documented history too, standing less than two feet away.

“I’m Alex,” she continued as the smile he offered seem to be his only response. “I was wondering if I could speak to you? For a moment?” Her voice got a bit quiet as he had quite literally no expression, and faltered completely.

“Listen,” His voice was deeper than she imagined it being, sharp on the edges. “I’m sort of in the middle of a,” a split second of hesitation, her fingers tightened their hold on eachother in front of her, she noticed that. “There’s just someone I really gotta catch before they leave, um…h-here’s my card,” He dug in his coat pocket and handed her a small white card, and was pushing back through the crowd before she could get out another word.

She blinked. Had she just been..dismissed?

He most likely didn’t know she was to be his new assistant, she’d seen him in interviews, his mind always seemed to be elsewhere.

But that’s okay, right? He wasn’t rude, he even gave her his card. The pointed edges of it digging into the pads of her pointer and thumb.

But it would have been nice to converse a bit before she started on Tuesday, and now she realized how awkward that would be.

She exhaled out of her nose and watched as he walked up to another girl who looked around her age, staring at a warped version of the Avengers A. The girl, Mel, she believed, was the assistant to Director Valentina, which made her nose scrunch a bit in distaste.

Maybe she shouldn’t have interrupted. She wondered why he was in a rush.

She probably would find out soon enough as all of his personal information would be in her hands starting next week.

As if it wasn’t already.

——————————————————————-

7:00 AM

On the dot.

Alex walked into the office building, led by a secretary at the front desk, down carpeted hallway after hallway, frames of past congressmen and current hung along the walls. They passed several other people rushing about, wearing jeans and blazers, mumbling into their phones or holding clipboards to their chest.

“This is Mr. Barnes office,” the pretty blonde girl came to a stop at one of the many cream colored doors they’d passed. She eyed the handle and then turned to Alex.

“Good luck, the past two assistants have quit,” she said, like it was no big deal, Alex blinked and immediately her face shifted in question to which the girl quietly laughed before she could speak.

“They claimed it was because he was too quiet and never needed anything,” she looked around and leaned in a little. “But I think it was hard to be alone in a room with him without wanting to be pinned to a wall,” she giggled behind her hand. Alex went to respond but was cut off by the door swinging open.

There he was again, his face a mixture of boredom and suspicion as he froze misstep. His eyes landed on hers and recognition crossed his features.

“Mr Barnes,” the blonde girl Alex had already forgotten the name of said, “This is Alexandria Wyvern, she’s your new PA.”

“Yes we…we met,” Bucky breathed, shoving his hands in his pockets, then yanking one out to stick into the air for a handshake.

“Yeah we did,” Alex cracked a smile, looking between the two before shaking his hand. His eyes were looking into hers like he could read her intentions, a quick flick up and down her outfit before his shoulders relaxed.

“I was just…heading to go grab some coffee, if you’d like to join,” he offered, his eyes not leaving hers. His voice was the same, polite but edged, she wondered if it was a sign of his age or his torment.

“I can grab it!” Alex chirped, “I mean…” that’s my job. “How do you like it?” she asked, her head tilting slightly to the side.

“Black,” he replied, it looked like he was going to respond again, but he withheld, like he was figuring out what they’d want to hear.

She nodded sharply and turned, only to realize she had no clue where to go, the blonde immediately caught up, shooting bucky a flirty smile over her shoulder to which he just stiffly waved and went back in his office.

The blonde showed her the main break room, where several others were bustling about, she was pointed towards the several coffee machines and mentioned that bucky liked a specific blend, one imported from Wakanda.

That made sense, since he spent quite a bit there, she realized as she scooped some out. Wakandian imports were rare, mostly only with deeply known partners, but, it made sense they’d ship this out to him, she decided. Adding that small detail to the filing cabinet of information of her brain.

She was debating how much to reveal that she knew, would he ask her?

Did she want him to?

His door was open when she came back, she took that as an invitation, knocking softly to which he immediately stood.

“It’s nice to meet you officially, sorry about the other night,” He started, watching her as she approached his desk with the cup of coffee. His office smelled faintly of wood, a warm spice and old books.

So he remembered their minor interaction.

“Oh no worries, I was just going to introduce myself but, I suppose I could do that now, I’m-“

“Alexandria,” he finished, gently taking the cup from her.

“Just Alex.” She replied with an awkward smile, standing up straighter. No one had called her Alexandria in a very long time, she always felt it was too many syllables. But the way he had said it, almost a hint of a russian accent, buried deep under years of practice learning English again, made her take a breath.

Bucky motioned to the chair across from his desk, a pretty large oak one, there wasn’t much on it, a computer and keyboard, a few pens scattered about and a photo. As she sat she let her eyes linger for a moment, it was from, well what she could assume was a while ago, since his hair passed his shoulders, one arm around steve roger’s and the other..sam wilson.

Her mind raced with information about the avengers, the countless documentation she’d read on all of them.

Bucky cleared his throat and she shot him a smile, this was insanely awkward, he was so familiar to her yet he had no idea who she was.

“Um…I can assure you my past assistants they..” He paused, waving his arm around, the metal glinting from the windows. “There was nothing weird going on, they simply left, I was never told as to why…” he trailed off and she busied her hands in her lap, studying the way he avoided eye contact.

Bucky sighed and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. “There was nothing going on between my assistants and I prior to their absence.” He rushed out and she tilted her head, confused as to why he was telling her this.

Oh…

“Oh!” she replied, “you heard the comment earlier-“ She started, through a laugh, heat creeping up her neck. She hoped he didn’t think that was…on her mind.

“Well it was right outside my door-“

“You have heightened senses.” She jumped in, and he froze for a moment.

“You are aware of that?” He raised a brow and she actually almost laughed. Aware of it? She had memorized his skill set, his symptoms due to the serum, his training was different from captain americas, different senses were stronger than others, considering his line of work. Different than majority of the super soldiers S.H.I.E.L.D had documented.

“Of course,” she nodded, running her palms down her pant legs, as she was sweating, already, and he hadn’t even done anything but sit there. “I did my research, if I am to work as your assistant I needed to know as much as possible.”

She played it off as that, and totally not years of stalking. Because that would be weird.

He noticed the way she avoided his eyes, the way she lingered on the photo across his desk, the way her fingers twitched when he spoke, how the nailbed around her thumb was red.

“Right, so you’re aware I didn’t have a choice as to who I worked for,” his tone was bored, like he’d said that statement more times than he wanted.

“Yes, I know about your time as The Winter Soldier,” she replied, carefully choosing her words, she didn’t say ‘with HYDRA’, but a title.

“But I also know you fought alongside Captain America, I know you were in Wakanda to override your sleeper code, and I know you helped defeat Thanos.” She said the most basic information she knew, her eyes locked on his. “I am aware of what I signed up for with this job, and I am not scared to work along side you Mr Barnes.” She had wanted to make that clear from the start.

After years of watching his transformation, she had seen the way he almost flinched when people raised their voice in interviews, or how his eyes always looked tired. He was…timid, besides how tense his shoulders always seemed to be. She didn’t want him to think she would run in fear if he ever snapped.

Bucky didn’t respond right away, he studied her, the way she spoke with such factual evidence of his heroism that he never really…considered. He fought because he didn’t want to be a killer anymore, he fought because steve did, he fought because he finally had a reason too. His expression remained unreadable, a training that was now second nature. He almost stopped her after the Wakanda comment.

She had slipped. That piece wasn’t public knowledge. He noted that.

“Bucky.” He replied simply. “Please, don’t use formalities, i’m old enough,” he let out a soft laugh and she seemed to relax an inch.

Their age gap wasn’t massive, she was close to turning twenty five, and if she calculated correctly, he was somewhere around his late thirties early forties.

Not anything…crazy.

Alex nodded, standing up. “I will leave you alone now, I have to gather your schedules for the next few weeks and create a calendar.“ She said, pushing the chair in and he watched, standing with her as she left his office, gently closing the door behind her.

Then she let out a breath, pushing off the door and down the hallway. Superhuman hearing, she sure as hell didn’t need him knowing that her heart was racing.

<a href=“https://www.tumblr.com/cupinoid/784038499821191168/chapter-2-lowkey-short-the-next-few-days”>Chapter 2</a>

[cupinoid]

no because it’s really really important to me that in a world where we’re so used to the heroes punching and shooting their way to victory, thunderbolts* went out of its way to show us that the void is still very much a part of bob, and bob is their friend, so they’re going to accept every facet of who he is and give him a soft place to land, even if that means they’ll have to be the ones to pull him back from the darkness every single time. because that’s what friends family will do for each other, no questions asked.

[cupinoid]

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thunderbolts tweets cause i love them (+ one extra at the end)

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Bucky Barnes in Thunderbolts* New Avengers’ end credit scene (2025)

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say hello to the new white boy of the month

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making bucky a politician is one of the most insane choices the MCU has ever made but you know what. sure. i'm here for it

(commission info // tip jar!)