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Janie has been working in the cafeteria of Avengers tower for several months now. It's a good job and most days she just sees the regular people who work for Stark Industries. But if she is lucky one of the Avengers will come in to eat. When she went through orientation they were told to treat them like any other person, after all Avengers Tower is not only where they work, it’s where most of them live too. If she is having a really good day Bucky Barnes will come in on her shift. Something about the brooding best friend of Captain America has caught her eye. The first couple of times she saw him she noticed he didn't look anybody in the eye, just kept his head down as he waited for his food. After a few months of this she decided to make a point to say hi to him each time he came in.
Of course, after that she didn't see him for about a month. She knew they had some private kitchen up there and their own apartments, so there really was no real reason for any of them to come to the cafeteria. But it sure did make the employees’ day. They would all talk about the Captain’s blue eyes or what had Hawkeye done to himself now or were he and Black Widow dating or were any of them single.
When Bucky finally did come in, it was the same thing. Head down, quiet voice asking for the special. But this time Janie asked how his day was. He looked up at her for the first time and she almost dropped the serving spoon. His blue eyes stared into hers, as if searching for what it was she was after. Then as if finding nothing wrong, he simply answered her with a quick “fine” and looked down again. Well it was better than nothing she figured and handed him his plate. Again she didn't see him for a few weeks and when he came back they had moved her to the register. She asked how he was and got the same response. “ Well ,” she thought, “ he didn't tell me to fuck off so that's something. ”
It was the same thing for several months until the day Janie walked in and Sarah came up to her.
“Hey Bucky was in yesterday and he looked a little down,” Sarah told her.
“He always looks down unless he is here with the Captain,” Janie replied.
“No. You don't see how his eyes follow you when you aren't looking. He was definitely not happy when he came in and you weren't here.”
“ That's interesting” , Janie thought. “ Maybe I am a bright spot in his day.”
Later on she looked up and Bucky was at her register. He never came in two days in a row.
“Um I didn't see you yesterday. Everything okay,” he asked her quietly.
“I just had a doctor’s appointment. No big deal,” she answered.
“But you're okay, right,” he asked.
“Yup, healthy as a horse,”Janie answered with a smile.
“That's good to hear.” Bucky rubbed the back of his neck and looked down for a minute.
“Do ya think you might wanna grab a cup of coffee with me sometime?” He asked. “You know you don't have to…”
“I'd like that,” she interrupted. “I get off at 3 today.”
He looked up at her, a smile in his eyes for the first time and said “I guess I’ll see you then.”
It was one of those really good days today because she did see Bucky Barnes and she saw him smile for what was hopefully the first of many times.