Series Summary:She was done and retired. After Thanos and after the battle of a lifetime, she had called it quits and had distanced herself from the Avenger lifestyle. But word finds her that someone from her past is in danger. What the journey entails was never one she wanted to face nor one she saw becoming her reality again. The rollercoaster that comes with fighting evil odds arrives on her doorstep not leaving much room for a no…
Series Summary: She was done and retired. After Thanos and after the battle of a lifetime, she had called it quits and had distanced herself from the Avenger lifestyle. But word finds her that someone from her past is in danger. What the journey entails was never one she wanted to face nor one she saw becoming her reality again. The rollercoaster that comes with fighting evil odds arrives on her doorstep not leaving much room for a no…
Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader
Word Count:4900+
A/N: I’m so sorry about this being late! My wifi went out the other day and I’m just now getting to posting since then. In saying that, I briefed through this chapter once, so please don’t pay mind to any typos! I’m going to fix them asap. Besides that, ENJOY and as always, let me know what you think!!!!! xoxooxo
Chapter 9:
A week had gone by.
A week where Bucky felt like he was completely and utterly out of his realm.
He wanted to lend a hand, but everytime he would build up the courage to make his way to Y/N’s room, Nat would answer the door or be coming out saying she needed rest or just some time alone.
She had become really protective over Y/N in the time and turned down missions, which led Steve to jump back in on them. Though Steve wanted to be there for her as well, Nat really tried to help Y/N get the space from others that she knew she needed. So it was just easier for him to take on other tasks and check in with Nat over the phone for updates.
However, he saw Clint go in on a few occasions, even Sam went in at one time. He wasn’t sure how long they stayed, but from what Sam had told him, she wasn’t very responsive and still hadn’t healed herself.
Apparently, Sam was only invited in because Nat knew he had the therapy background to help, and with how close he was to Y/N, she was hoping that she would open up some.
The most recent time he went over, he hid behind the corner of the hall overhearing what the doctor who had stopped in said to Nat.
“She’ll be fine. Right now it’s more so the grieving process more than anything. She does heal faster than most even without her intentionally healing herself. She should be back to normal minus a little soreness by the end of the week.”
“Thanks, Doc. I appreciate it,” Nat nodded before he walked away, and he watched as she thought she was alone, somewhat holding back a tear. She took a deep breath and somehow plastered on a gentle smile before going back into the room.
He wanted to help. He did. But this kind of help and going and punching a guy for stealing government information were two very drastically different types of help.
It’s not like grief was anything new to him. Hell, he grieved a lot given his past. He grieved the life he could have had, the innocents he harmed, the families he affected, the choices he could have made… The list went on.
But helping someone else navigate grief when you’re still trying to solve the impossible equation yourself, seems impossible to do.
The only thing Nat had really let him to help with, given the multiple times he had offered, was to take care of Ryker.
Y/N was never in the mood to leave her room and the poor dog hated to leave her, but he still needed fresh air himself and bathroom breaks regularly.
Bucky had seemed to be the only person besides Y/N that he would let take him out and hang out with when he wasn’t wrapped up in her side.
He would take him on walks, feed and water him, take him to the bathroom early in the morning, late at night, and a few times during the day when Nat would lure him out of the room.
They had bonded actually pretty well and Ryker had taken a close bond to Bucky.
Currently, Nat was helping Y/N to go take a shower, so they were lounged out in the living room. Bucky had put a movie on for background noise, and Ryker was laying against his side on the couch while they waited for the all clear to come back.
The rottweiler had been sad and mopey the past week, so when he perked up and stared at the doorway of the living room, Bucky sat up some.
“What is it, Ryk?” Bucky asked, looking in the same direction then back at the dog whose nose started to twitch. “Ryker?”
The dog jumped up and barked, running straight in the direction of the kitchen without any warning.
Bucky was quick to his feet, shouting the dog’s name hoping he wasn’t about to attack someone. He slid past the threshold of the kitchen from just wearing socks and lounge clothes and caught himself before turning into the room where Ryker was jumping up on someone.
“Ryker!” he shouted, rushing to aid the person before seeing who it was.
“It’s ok,” a giggle came out from the red head. “I missed you too, pal.” She cooed at the giddy pet.
“Wanda?” Bucky quirked his head to the side, finally taking in the person’s presence.
She turned around showing her face now. She was slightly bent down, accommodating the dog jumping up and down, before he finally settled to nuzzling her knees with his nose and making happy noises at her.
“Hey, Barnes,” she grinned softly. “Long time no see.”
He let out a small chuckle and walked over to her giving her a big hug of which she returned.
“How are you kid?” he chuckled some at seeing the friendly face.
“I’m good. We’re good,” she corrected, with a small laugh.
Vision came into view with a few bags in hand and Bucky smiled at the other friend.
“Oh God. It feels like it’s been forever since I’ve seen you two,” he smiled going over and giving Vision a brotherly hug as well.
After the whole accords thing, Bucky and Wanda became somewhat close being on Steve’s team during it all. Unfortunately, they didn’t get to know each other much after Wanda went into hiding and Bucky went to Wakanda, but after the snap and after the final battle, they made a motive to get to know each other more and it worked.
Wanda, Vision, Sam, Steve, Nat, and Clint all were rather close. Not that the whole Avenger group wasn’t, but that group all had a connection somewhere along the way.
When they weren’t hanging out with one, they were hanging out with the other.
“Wait,” Bucky stopped looking at them and taking in the fact they looked like they had been traveling. “What are you guys doing here?” He looked between them.
“For unfortunate reasons, but I think you can deduct why,” Wanda said with sad pursed lips. “I wish we were coming on better terms, but Nat called and I knew I needed to be here for her.”
“I see…” Bucky nodded knowing what she meant.
“How, um, how is Miss. Y/L/N?” Vision stepped in wrapping an arm around Wanda’s shoulder.
“I wish I could say,” Bucky scratched the back of his neck as he looked down where Ryker had positioned himself next to Wanda, effectively getting small head scratches from her. “Nat hasn’t really been letting me in on her recovery besides helping out with Ryker here,” he nodded to the dog.
“Right…” Wanda shook her head up and down looking at the pet for a second before back at Bucky. “She kinda updated me with everything. Is it true you guys didn’t know each other before all this? I figured Steve would have mentioned her or you would have at least heard of her.”
“Uh, yeah. It’s a new…” How did he word this? Bond? Relationship? “Friendship. Unfortunately it’s all been through mission based things, but I’d like to think we know each other enough to call it that. And I’m a little shocked too. I wouldn’t doubt if Steve or someone else has mentioned her and it’s gone over my head as just some friend from their past.”
Wanda smiled at that. “Well, it’s not hard to grow an attachment to Y/N. She makes it rather easy to bond with her. But either way, thank you for being there for her. I heard what happened in Slovenia. If you weren’t there, I’m not sure we would have Y/N here today.”
Bucky bashfully nodded knowing he should accept the praise, but not feeling worthy as she seemed to be taking more of a hit now than she would if he just let her do what she wanted when everything turned to shit.
However, Wanda was right. If he hadn’t hauled her out of the falling building, their friendship most likely wouldn’t have had a chance to grow any more.
“Are you guys staying in your old room?” Bucky turned the conversation away from him.
“Uh, yeah. I’m going to go put my bags up and then-”
“I’ve got it, darling. You go and check on Y/N,” Vis interrupted her. “I’m going to go check in with Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner.”
There was a quick exchange of silent nods and questioning looks, before Wanda agreed and patted Bucky’s shoulder before heading off to Nat and Y/N, taking Ryker with her as he followed her tail.
Once again, Bucky was left alone and out of the loop of everything. He looked toward the empty doorway and back at the kitchen before deciding, might as well make a meal for everyone.
Wanda had to be starving from travel and Nat had barely taken time to take care of herself during this week, so they deserved the home cooked meal. And maybe, if they were lucky, they could get Y/N to eat a full meal.
______________________
In Y/N’s room, Nat was cleaning mindlessly. Dusting, reorganizing, finally getting to the laundry that had stacked up from the mission to today and sorting them by colors in hopes to do a load soon.
She had lit a candle, made Y/N’s bed around her, the balcony door was open letting in fresh air, but was however the only form of light coming in as Y/N had grimaced when Nat tried to open all her other windows.
She hadn’t left her side, and feeling like she was running out of techniques on getting Y/N back to normal, all she could seem to do that felt like she was doing something, was making sure the room was cleaned and comfortable.
It’s like Bruce had said when they had first set out on bringing her back home, “Well, when she feels something, she feels it hard to say the least.”
Energy was her thing. With her powers, the con of being so intune with all types of energies, is that feelings are something that become magnified.
Apparently, when she got her powers, everything about her was amplified. Her empathy was already something strong for her. Now? With having to feel everyone else’s emotions and tones around you on top of the essence of the world’s constant energy that surrounds a person, every emotion she has becomes heightened in order to make her still human.
The powers were there to make her stronger, but with it came being humbled as well. In order to be the soul that the earth’s energy would connect to, you had to still have a connection to the creatures of the earth. In this case, having a sense of humanity even when you have the power to destroy it. Especially since you have the power to destroy it.
At least this is all what Bruce said when he noticed Bucky’s nerves toward the situation. He was hoping in explaining the prophecy of which Y/N had filled all those hundreds of years ago, would shed some light on why this was all taking such a massive toll on Y/N.
A sound of a soft knock made its way through the thick door of her room.
Nat turned quickly towards it and then when she looked over at Y/N to see a reaction, she saw her unmoved from where she was spaced out looking toward a corner of the room.
She sighed, and put down the laundry for a second before going to the door.
“Hey,” a soft welcome came in and Nat smiled at the friendly face before they shared a hug.
Ryker who was by her side, had now rushed in at the open door and went straight to the bedside of Y/N.
“I figured it was you, and I was hoping she would have sensed you and at least budged somewhat to the door, but nothing, ” Nat held on to her.
“Still nothing today?” Wanda asked as they stayed connected.
“More than yesterday,” she answered, finally pulling back, but staying close as they shut the door and kept their distance for a second. “I got her to drink 3 glasses of water so far today. And I haven’t needed to remind her about bathroom breaks. She’s been getting up on her own.”
Wanda looked toward her friend that seemed a simple vessel for a lost soul. She could barely see her behind the blankets she had cocooned herself into, but from what she could, it was greasy hair and a pale face with some bandages still delicately placed on.
“I’m sorry,” Nat distracted her from where she could see the pain grow in the redhead’s eyes. “How are you? How was the flight back?”
Wanda snapped out of it and looked back to her friend. With everything that was going on, the two hadn’t even greeted each other after 4 months of not seeing the other.
“Um, it was good,” Wanda smiled softly. “We’re good. I have a whole book’s worth of things to talk about and update you on, but I’ll save it for when we have time.” She looked at Nat who shared a sorry look. “It’s fine. Really. I’m glad you called. And I’m hoping I can help.”
“Are you just as upset to be stepping back in these halls as Y/N was when we dragged her ass back here?” NAt smirked.
“I doubt I can reach the level of rage she probably had walking back in here, but I can say it’s a little hard being back,” Wanda chuckled lightly.
“Well this time it’s only for personal reasons. No need to worry about working or getting set up on a mission,” Nat threw her arm over Wanda’s shoulder and pulled her into a side hug. “Your only mission is to help me nourish this hardass back to health,” she nudged her head.
The two laughed under their breath knowing that Y/N would have laughed as well at her remark. Out of the whole crew, Y/N was probably the only other person besides Nat that was more stubborn than a mountain.
Eventually it got quiet again and the two were once again looking at their broken friend.
“She’s been asking about you,” Nat whispered solemnly.
“What?” Wanda turned at hearing this for the first time. “I thought you said she basically has only said 10 words in the last week.”
“Yeah, and at least 8 of those times were for you,” Nat shrugged, crossing her arms and looking at the bed.
Wanda looked with her and then back at Nat one last time, getting a head nod from her, and then walking very carefully up to the bed.
The closer she got, the more in her head she saw. Pain, heartache, no sense of hope. All of those feelings multiplied by a hundred.
Wanda closed her eyes for a second and centered herself, before ever so gently sitting on the edge where Y/N was still staring off in the distance as she laid down. Ryker laid down behind her acting like a body pillow for her as he comforted his human.
Without saying anything, she laid a quiet hand to the blanket that surrounded her.
It took a second, but Y/N turned her head just enough to see what made the movement. With a late reaction, her eyebrows furrowed before realization hit her.
In a groggy and soft voice, she asked, “Are you real?”
The corner of Wanda’s lip lifted although there was no happiness accompanied with it.
“As real as one can get,” she replied.
Y/N’s lips started to take the form of a pout and her chin began to quiver. A tear started to form and before it slipped, Wanda was already encasing her in a hug.
“I know. I know…” she hummed, holding her tight. “I’m so sorry.”
Nat was still standing at the entrance with a sad look. She went ahead and grabbed the laundry she had piled together and quietly left the room so the two could have a moment.
There was a long stretch of silence that passed with Y/N sobbing into Wanda’s arms and Wanda crying with her. The two took the time to let their grief out together and with understanding from another person who knew Marley, it was a lot more weight lifting.
After about 45 minutes, Y/N finally looked up at Wanda. Eyes swollen, nose running, hair disheveled, and clothes all askew on her body.
“I tried so hard,” she let out in a soft breath.
“I know you did,” Wanda nodded, grabbing a tissue and handing it to her. Though Y/N took it, she didn’t pay mind to it. “She knew that too.”
Y/N let out a bitter laugh and sniffled, deciding to use the sleeve of her sweater instead of the tissue. Yet, again, her mind wasn’t in the moment.
“She fought me. She fought me so hard even though we just got her back,” Y/N shook her head.
“Sounds like someone else I know,” Wanda shrugged looking at Y/N with unphased eyes. “Maybe she gets that from a special someone.”
Y/N shook her head as she started to space out again.
“Hey.” Wanda, grabbed her hand, pulling her attention back to her. “You did what you could, putting in a 110% effort. You found her in less than a week compared to the months it took Fury and Stark to get anything on this whole case.”
“And yet, I was still too late,” Y/N huffed. Wanda sent a shock through Y/N’s body and she jumped at it giving Wanda a glare.
“Ow, what was that for?” she gripped her wrist from the shock.
“You know why!” Wanda rolled her eyes. “Since when has thinking of all the things we could have done in our lifetime, done anything but hurt us?”
“I want to hurt right now,” Y/N mumbled. Another shock hit her. “Ow! Stop it!”
“You are causing yourself pain outside of grief,” Wanda said.
“You don’t know that,” she replied under her breath. When she looked up seeing the redhead’s blank face, she looked away. “Stop looking in my head.”
Wanda let out a sigh, scooting closer to her in the bed and getting comfortable. Lastly, grabbing both of Y/N’s hands and making her mentor look her in the eyes.
“When someone dies, they don’t want you to spend every waking moment of the rest of your life thinking of all the things you could have done to prevent it. What’s done is done.”
Still not fully convinced of change, Y/N didn’t answer and looked down at their hands. Wanda let out a centering breath and then continued.
“Think about it this way,” she started. “That mission we went on just a few years before the blip, the one where you got distracted trying to help Sam and someone got a lucky jump on you. I thought I was going to lose you right there in the middle of a field in Taiwan .”
“I told you I was going to be fine,” Y/N sighed.
“We both know that wasn’t true.” It was now Wanda’s turn to laugh bitterly. “Someone stabbed you all the way through your sternum with a katana.”
“Well…”
“And then twisted it before pulling it out and lashing you in the side for extra measures. Whether you can heal yourself or not, you were fading fast,” Wanda spoke up. “And we both know that you can only heal yourself when you have the energy to do so. So despite people thinking you are practically immortal, I know that could have been your last moment on earth.”
“But it wasn’t.” Y/N’s annoyance was becoming clear at Wanda getting to a point that Y/N had tried to avoid the whole time.
“That’s not what this is about. What I’m getting at is, and you know it,” she sighed, taking a second to calm herself down. “If you were to have died, and I went about the rest of my life harboring on all the things I could have done to make sure what happened didn’t happen, even if it wasn’t fully under my control, how would you feel?”
“I don’t know. I’d be dead,” Y/N said morbidly. When Wanda didn’t react, but instead held a bitch face, she rolled her eyes and brought her knees closer to her, wrapping her arms around them. “Fine. I’d be disappointed in you.”
“And why?” Wanda continued.
Y/N sent the bitch face back hating how reasonable her friend was being when she didn’t want to be reasonable.
“Because you’d be wasting away the little time you had left on this God forsaken earth morning, something that couldn’t be fixed,” she replied quietly.
Wanda smiled knowing she got the rational side of her to finally come out, but that was just one step out of the multiple they needed to take to get her back to health.
“Now reverse the situation. If I know Marley, which I do, I know for a fact she would want you to accept her choice and move on. Now, I’m not saying by tonight you have to be ok and accepting of it all, but no more of this moping around and thinking of what could have been,” Wanda stood up and went to the edge of the bed. “It’s time to take care of yourself now. Please.” She offered her hand.
Y/N shifted her gaze to the hand that had pulled her from some many time of trouble and helped her from the pit.
Eventually, she nodded.
“Can I take a shower first?”
“I’d actually prefer you’d take a shower,” Wanda teased.
“Haha. You’re a riot.”
“Maybe a nice sugar scrub while you’re in there too,” she smiled as she helped Y/N out of bed. A shock went through her arm and it wasn’t Wanda’s doing that time. “Hey!”
“Taste of your own medicine there, doctor,” Y/N chuckled, standing up with a sigh. “Whew. I feel a touch weak.”
“Maybe because you haven’t eaten in almost a week,” Wanda furrowed her eyebrows. “Yeah, Nat filled me in on her caretaking. You’re the worst kind of patient there is.”
“Shut up. I’m fine,” Y/N waved her off, moving toward the bathroom door.
Ryker let out a bark that if it was english, she was sure that it would be him shouting at Y/N.
“Yeah and I’m the queen of England,” Wanda shouted her way.
A nice middle finger was thrown her way as Y/N shut the bathroom door behind her.
“There’s that attitude,” Wanda smiled to herself.
_______________________________
“Nothing, still?” Steve asked as he helped Bucky set the table.
Steve had just come home from a mission he and Sam had left on earlier the day before. After hearing that Wanda was back, he decided to shift all missions to other agents and go back to staying in the compound for a bit.
He had come in seeing Bucky finishing up the meal and offered to help set up dinner after he unpacked. Sam was doing the same, but he was finishing up debriefing first.
“Haven’t seen but a glimpse of her from dropping Ryker off in her room. And even then, I just saw a lot of blankets in a bundle on the bed. Couldn’t even tell you if she was under it or not,” Bucky responded.
“Any news from Nat since Wanda’s been back?”
“She’s been here for 2 hours, maybe 3. From what I can tell, Nat is giving them space and taking the time to take care of herself some. Well, at least I made her take time for herself. She was about to start a second load of laundry and was doing research for Y/N, when I finally got her to go take a nap. Not sure the last time she had any form of rest that didn’t involve Y/N’s couch within the last week.”
Bucky placed a basket of bread fresh out of the oven on the counter, which Steve placed a cloth over to keep them warm.
“Good. Knowing her, she wouldn’t do it on her own. I’m glad you redirected her,” Steve nodded.
“I’m not sure how much was me redirecting and how much was begging slash bargaining with her,” Bucky shrugged, stirring the soup now that everything was set up. “I finished her chores.”
“Which brings me to ask, have you been taking care of yourself?” Steve stopped in his motions and turned to his friend.
“I’m fine. Remember? All healed up and just been helping with Ryker where I can,” Bucky answered.
“But I’m asking if you’ve been taking care of yourself. Not if you’re healed.”
“Steve. Promise. I’m ok. Honestly, if anything,” he turned to make eye contact with him, “taking care of Ryker has helped me feel like I’m doing something and kept me from going crazy.”
“Yeah?”
“I mean, I’ve thought about diving back into the whole mission of it all because something just doesn’t seem right, but Tony’s got that covered. I’ve seen how late he’s been up the past week in his man cave. And even though I’ve been stressing about Y/N, Nat’s reassured me that lending a hand with Ryker has been helpful,” he sighed. “So yeah. Surprisingly for once, I’m taking care of myself and not overdoing it.”
Steve smiled at that.
“Well, I’m glad to hear it.”
“You on the other hand…” Bucky hummed, before grabbing the ladle and pouring some of the baked potato soup into a bowl.
“What about me?” Steve countered, watching him carefully.
“You’ve been on missions nonstop. Have you been taking care of yourself?” he shot back.
“I’m fine.”
“Sounds a lot like my kind of I’m fine.”
“You saying your last ‘I’m fine’ wasn’t a real one?”
“No, I’m saying I know the difference between a real one and a fake one.”
“Well, it was real,” Steve took the bowl that he noticed Bucky had extended to him. “I needed to get my head in another playing field since I couldn’t do anything here to help Y/N. Plus, that way Nat could stay here and help and I could help her by being out there.”
“If you truly mean that and it really does help you cope, then I have nothing else to say.” Bucky nodded his head and moved to take his bowl to the table.
“I do mean it,” Steve assured.
“Great. Then let’s catch up and hope that maybe Wanda can-”
Before he could finish the sentence, Wanda stepped through the threshold into the kitchen with a kind smile.
“Wanda can, what?” she asked with a smirk.
“Hey!” Steve placed his food down and ran over to her. “Long time no see… Or talk for that matter.”
“Hey, Stevie,” Wanda chuckled in his embrace. “It’s good to see you.”
They stayed in an embrace for a moment and only had about a minute of talking before Bucky noticed the figure coming in from behind Wanda.
He froze in his actions and stood quickly, but didn’t take any steps toward her. Steve was the next to notice her.
“Y/N,” he said softly, looking at her in shock over Wanda’s shoulder.
“Yeah, I finally convinced her to get some food in her,” Wanda smiled, nodding her over. “Which it smells like you have something cooking already.”
Y/N walked over to Wanda’s side and Steve could tell there was a hint of healing that had happened. She still wasn’t a hundred percent. No. Far from that. But compared to the empty vessel she was as of last week, she looked… Alive somewhat.
Her hair was slightly damp and she smelled like flowers and a hit of pear. How could Bucky smell it from where he was, he wasn’t sure. Well, that was a lie. He had enhanced senses. However, it was an overwhelming scent in a way to remind him of what her lively self smelled and felt like.
“Smells good,” she spoke up. Both the super soldiers were surprised by her vocals considering word had been she had gone mute since the mission.
“Um, yeah. Bucky made it,” Steve answered, motioning to the stove where the pot sat.
Wanda pointed toward it and moved to where the stacks of bowls sat waiting to be filled.
“Do you mind if we-?”
“No, please. I made it for you guys anyways,” Bucky was quick to answer.
“Thanks, Barnes,” Wanda smiled, helping herself.
Y/N started walking toward the counter herself, but stopped next to Bucky and laid a kind and to his shoulder.
“Thank you for everything. Truly,” she said softly just for him to hear, and then he felt it. The waves of thankfulness and admiration that she felt toward him, shocked through his own system.
“Of course,” he mumbled out before she went back toward Wanda.
TAGS:
Everest Tags: (if I missed you in tags, comment on this chapter to let me know:)
Series Summary: She was done and retired. After Thanos and after the battle of a lifetime, she had called it quits and had distanced herself from the Avenger lifestyle. But word finds her that someone from her past is in danger. What the journey entails was never one she wanted to face nor one she saw becoming her reality again. The rollercoaster that comes with fighting evil odds arrives on her doorstep not leaving much room for a no…
Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader
Word Count: 2900+
A/N:Ok friends. I have one more chapter after this that is written and ready to post. After that, it will be a waiting game on when each chapter comes out after. I will try and finish this series up though however before starting any new ones. And I don’t expect this one to be more than 15 chapters if that. So once again! THank you for the support and I would love to know what you guys think of this far:) xoxoxo
Chapter 8:
“What do you mean she won’t heal herself?” Tony shouted. “She’s got a broken collar bone, a gash the size of Florida on her arm, and a head injury bad enough to bench the Hulk for a week.”
“Tony-” Nat sighed, rubbing her temple.
“You think I want to see her like that, Tony? Trust me if I could convince her, it would have already been done,” Steve groaned.
A moment of silence passed with the group of Avengers in the room.
“Where’s the body?” Tony eventually asked.
“There wasn’t one to retrieve,” Bucky answered solemnly. He was turned to the medical bay where they were surveying Y/N as she sat quietly and disassociated from the moment.
“What do you mean?” Nat asked.
“From what I could tell, the nuke that she disabled was done by her own powers of vibration manipulation. The explosion still happened, but instead of some city or town it was going to decimate, she made it go off where it was,” Bucky explained from his rough analysis of the bomb site. “She went with it. There were no remains to take home.”
Everyone lowered their head at the thought. This poor young girl knew she wouldn’t make it out and still did what she did.
“Has she said anything?” Clint asked, stepping into the conversation.
“Since we got on the jet? Not a word,” Bucky shook his head, arms crossed over his chest and eyes still trained on her sat at the edge of the medical cott.
“There weren’t any bombs at the other sites,” Tony thought out loud. “Why this one?” No one answered as no one had an answer for it. When he looked back at the glass wall that divided them from Y/N, his face dropped and became unreadable. “I’ll be back. Keep me updated on her.”
Everyone was either looking through the glass seeing the beat up version of their friend, or looking down, not able to stomach everything.
“I’m going to do some research,” Nat spoke up, leaving with only one last sad look at Y/N.
Steve walked up to Bucky noticing he was upset.
“Hey, you ok? You didn’t let the nurses check you over either,” he asked.
“Y/N healed me,” he slightly bent the truth. Yes, she had, after his first hit toward the wall, but he definitely had bruised ribs from the blast of the explosion.
“Are you sure? You were walking with a slight limp when you brought her in,” Steve questioned.
“It was because most of her weight was on me. I wasn’t trying to manhandle her with her injuries,” he sighed.
“Ok, ok. You know I have to ask,” Steve stood next to him mimicking his stance.
It was quiet in the room for a few minutes and when Steve turned around, he noticed Sam and Clint had both left giving them some space.
“What happened out there?” Steve finally asked one-on-one. His posture slacking some with it just being his best friend.
Bucky sighed, looking down and slowly looked back up. His hands moved to his pockets as he watched a nurse finish stitches on her shoulder, and another cleaned up the last bit of blood on her face leaving just the prominent bruising under her eyes from a most likely broken nose that had been realigned.
“We raided a few places before we got a call from Stark on our way back. We thought it was all a miss until he gave us new coordinates… Getting into the building, Marley put up a good fight. She wasn’t in her right mind though. Looked like some well practiced brainwashing.”
“Anything similar to the kind we’re familiar with?” Steve asked.
“Very similar. If not exact,” he nodded. “But Y/N… She put up a fight herself, and eventually we were able to knock Marley down a peg just long enough for us to hender her. With just a literal touch of her fingers, Y/N snapped her out of it and she was back to being a young girl again.”
“So Y/N brought her back,” Steve added everything up.
“Yeah, and she got maybe two seconds of seeing her like her old self before the building began to collapse above and below us.”
_____________________________
“We have to go back,” Y/N grunted as she started moving around the crumbled building.
“Y/N-” Bucky groaned, as he limped to her.
“She’s in there. I can’t leave without her,” she shook her head in denial.
Bucky already knew what they would most likely find. Either nothing but ashes or something more graphic that would hurt Y/N more in the long run.
“I’ll go look,” he offered, finally catching up to her and attempting to hold her back by grabbing her forearm. “You’re injured. You need to heal yourself before you-”
“I don’t feel it,” she argued, walking up to a small pillar that was still somehow standing.
Placing her injured arm against it and taking in a deep breath, she used the wall to push her shoulder back into place. All that left her lips was a low grunt and quick breaths as she steadied herself.
Bucky looked at her bewildered. That same arm had a gash going down the side where blood was actively flowing out. It was slow, but it was still bleeding. Her nose was slightly crooked from being thrown into the ground at some point in her battle with Marley and blood was dried coming from one nostril. She had other bruises and cuts scattered all over her body and face, yet she ‘didn’t feel it.’
“Yeah, I don’t believe that for a second. Close to being a God or not, you can feel pain,” Bucky scoffed, his tone becoming more serious. “Listen, just let me bandage up your arm real fast and then we can-”
She was already marching away to head to the part of the warehouse they originally were in before everything was shot to hell.
“Jesus,” Bucky groaned.
He was able to get his belt off and ternacate her arm so it wouldn’t bleed out while she sifted through rubble. She didn’t fight him on it, but she also didn’t stay still for him to do it, making it take at least 5 minutes longer than it should have.
They sifted through things for a little while and came up empty. Every other minute he would stop and ask if she would just heal herself, at which point she eventually snapped and shouted that she couldn’t concentrate on it right now. Something about needing to be in the right headspace to do it and she wasn’t going to be until they found Marley. The only time she used her powers was to lift large pieces of concrete and part of the building to move them around in hope of finding something under the sweepings. That and to create a light while the only light in the night was the moon and the dispersed fires around them.
When the slightest glow from sunrise started brushing the horizon, they found a pit in the ground where the bomb had most certainly gone off. That’s when Y/N finally stopped calling out her name.
The last 40 minutes had consisted of non-stop shouting for her in hopes of a response and now complete silence.
The hole was at least 50 feet in the ground. Bucky could look down in it, but there was no way he could have jumped down and got back out without help.
Y/N however, levitated herself down slow and easy as she took in the wreckage. No signs of remains besides shrapnel from the nuke and broken cement and wires that were once bones to a basement.
She turned in a circle studying every single piece of detritus hoping for something to point her to where Marley could have gone cause there was no way that someone could have been in that room and survived.
No… She had to have escaped… Please… That was the only answer Y/N could take, but…
She fell to her knees and let out a blood curdling scream. With it a wave of white energy blasted around her shaking the ground and whooshing up the sides of the pit knocking Bucky back a few steps as the force brushed past him.
She curled into herself and held her broken body close as she folded on top of her knees.
Bucky watched from the top. Her body moved slightly as he noticed her sob quietly to herself. He gave her space, though there wasn’t much he could do… He could make the 50 foot drop but he knew she probably would want a second alone.
15 minutes passed. Her crying had quieted by now and just distant sniffles were heard from the ledge Bucky had settled by.
She looked up and raised both her hands palms up, that same white energy created a beautiful light around her and spread, covering the pain and awful destruction that surrounded her.
Though he wasn’t in the pit himself, a sense of peace and relief hit him like a small gust of wind. She was giving that space that feeling for Marley. Clearly she hadn’t made it out herself, so all that was left for Y/N to do was give her finality in that spot.
If there was any soul there… It was free now.
The walk back to the plane was quiet. Y/N didn’t say a word and her face stayed stoic.
Once Bucky helped her in, he set the coordinates to the compound and turned on autopilot before coming to the back to help with first aid.
She didn’t say a word. Didn’t move. Just sat in silence with a solemn face etched into her features.
Bucky was careful not to impose himself on her, but she needed medical attention and if she wasn’t going to give it to herself, he was going to take it into his own hands.
Her shoulder was back in place and the last second tourniquet was helping from losing too much blood, but he made a quick wrap to help it from infection.
She had a cut on her eyebrow that he gently applied rubbing alcohol to and put in butterfly stitches. She didn’t even flinch and he could see in her eyes that she wasn’t there.
Physically? Barely. Mentally? Light years away.
He did a few quick patch up works to her, just good enough to hold her over until actual doctors were there.
He could ask her again to heal herself, but the few times he had even asked permission to fix a cut or wipe away dried blood, she never responded. It would have been pointless.
Majority of the flight back, he went to the cockpit of the jet giving her space, but he also couldn’t help but come back and check on her ever so often.
She still never moved from that spot. The only movement she made was leaning forward with her face in her hands or her head leaning back on the hard interior of the plane.
Memories and thoughts playing in her head on repeat, but no sound sharing what she was thinking came about.
When they finally landed at the compound, Nat, Clint, Sam, and Steve were at the hanger, quick to take the two to the med bay.
Tony met them in the room over where he interrogated Bucky, but only got the basics from what had happened. Not many details as Y/N wasn’t the only one processing the past few days.
Now with just Steve, he gave him all the information he could, but even then, he couldn’t comprehend what Y/N could have been going through.
To an extent he could, but you can never truly put yourself into someone else’s shoes fully as every experience, no matter how similar to another, is different to an extent. All that including people’s feelings, thought processes, and grieving processes are all so particular to that person.
“I don’t know how she’s going to handle this, Steve,” he finally spoke up after a long pause in the conversation. Watching as the nurses left the room, finished with the bandaging and leaving a broken and beat up Y/N on her own. “I barely know her and yet I feel like…” Steve turned and looked at him with curious eyes. “I don’t like seeing her like this.”
Steve nodded in agreement with his friend. He knew Bucky had only known her for a short while, but he wouldn’t put it past them to have grown somewhat close, or at the very least, get to know each other well on the mission they were out on.
And he knew from experience, Y/N wasn’t someone that you meet and go on with your life after. She had a way of connecting with everyone she met and placing a seed in them that would only grow with each interaction.
He knew that if Bucky and her were to ever meet, his friend would grow to find comfort in Y/N. With everything he had been through, someone giving him a sense of peace and reassurance like she could, wouldn’t be something easily forgettable or easily avoided afterward.
And now seeing her like this… A place where Steve had only ever seen her in when Thanos was here. He knew seeing someone like that hurt, impacted you just as hard sometimes.
“She’ll make it,” Steve placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “It’ll take time and lots of care, but she’ll make it. She’s strong.”
They both looked at her as a doctor came in and checked her vitals one last time. Once again, she stayed still and moved as though she were a puppet to appease the doctor.
“Where’s Ryker?” Bucky snapped out of it and looked around.
“Uh, Parker had him outside a minute ago. But I’ll call him in,” Steve nodded. “Can you help Y/N back to her room? Maybe get Nat to take her. She can help her get changed and get settled to rest.”
Bucky nodded and wiped a hand down his face, trying to wipe away the exhaustion that was starting to settle in on him.
“Hey, I know I’ve asked a thousand times already, but…” Steve moved to where he could see his friend’s face. “Are you sure you’re ok?”
Bucky couldn’t help the small smile that peaked. The two couldn’t not look out for the other.
“I’ll make it another day,” he replied.
Steve knew what he truly meant and nodded before giving him one last pat on the shoulder and then leaving the room.
Bucky turned back to see the doctor discussing a few things, but Y/N was completely disassociated from his words.
He let out a long sigh knowing just how effective anyone talking to her would be. He sent Nat a quick text telling her to meet them at her room and asking if she could help out.
When he walked in, the Doctor was still going on about some bruising and how long it would last for her broken nose, and Bucky kindly waited until he was done.
He seemed to finish up his unneeded rant a little faster with him in the room.
When it was finally just the two of them, he squatted in front of Y/N, but her eyes stayed focused on the tray table in the corner.
“Hey, I’m going to walk you back to your room now so you can get some rest. Nat will be waiting there to help you get ready for bed and what not,” he explained. Nothing. “Ok, well. Do you need help walking or-?”
Why did he even bother asking? Really it was just the gentleman in him not wanting to do anything without warning or asking her first, even if he wasn’t going to get an answer. He would rather her know what was happening.
She finally blinked and looked down at him. He sent her a small, surprised, gentle smile at the first reaction he had got so far.
She took a deep breath and slowly stood from the edge of the bed. A slight cringe took over her face, but she pushed it aside and limped to the door.
If it was anything like him, her muscles had had time to rest now, so soreness was kicking in and it was kicking in hard.
He lent an arm for support and she took it quietly.
The walk back was slow and careful as they didn’t rush to get there. When he opened the door, Nat was already laying out sweats and a sweatshirt for her and paused her actions as she gave her a soft smile.
“Hey,” she said softly, walking to take her from Bucky. “I got it from here. Thanks Barnes.”
He nodded, but didn’t leave just yet. “Uh, if you need anything, just-”
“I’ll let you know,” Nat smiled. “You go get some rest yourself. I know you’re more beat up than you’re leading on to be,” she said with a raised eyebrow.
Bucky let out an awkward huff and waved before heading to the door. He turned back one more time to see Y/N standing there looking blankly at the TV that was off and Nat trying to softly coax her to help her change.
After shutting the door, he looked down both ends of the hall and let out a long breath.
He should feel better that she was in good hands and that they were safe from the outside world, but for once, it wasn’t the outside world that they needed to worry about.
It was the storm that was raging on the inside…
TAGS:
Everest Tags: (if I missed you in tags, comment on this chapter to let me know:)
Series Summary: She was done and retired. After Thanos and after the battle of a lifetime, she had called it quits and had distanced herself from the Avenger lifestyle. But word finds her that someone from her past is in danger. What the journey entails was never one she wanted to face nor one she saw becoming her reality again. The rollercoaster that comes with fighting evil odds arrives on her doorstep not leaving much room for a no…
Pairing: Bucky x Reader
Word Count:3300+
A/N: Here we go ladies and gentleman… Buckle Up!
Chapter 7:
Slowly, he turned to see… Her.
Green eyes. Black hair that looked like it was meant to be brown, but hadn’t been washed due to neglect. Pale skin due to lack of sunlight.
“Marley,” he said softly, raising his hands in surrender. He didn’t want to harm her and he wanted her to know that.
“You see her?” Y/N was breathless in the comms as she started moving toward his direction.
“Marl-”
He was cut off by her raising her hand like she had in all those videos right before taking her victims life.
He immediately flinched away at the movement knowing there was no beating it, before…
__________
Nothing happened. Not even a tickle. He had turned away from the gesture and somewhat curled into himself when there was silence and he felt no different than normal.
He opened his eyes, not realizing he had scrunched them shut. Upon turning back around, Marley was giving him a confused look with her hand still out stretched. He looked down at himself, examining for injury, but he was untouched.
She flicked her hand again, yet all that hit him was a small feeling of discomfort, but it wasn’t anything close to what could have been.
He looked down at his arms and saw the slightest glow had overtaken them. Highlights of the runes Y/N had casted on him showed to be in use.
“Not going to work Marley,” a voice broke him out of his trance.
Y/N was behind them both, staring sternly at Marley’s back.
She turned quickly at the new threat and hesitated. She cocked her head to the side as if analyzing Y/N. Did she recognize her?
Y/N noticed the shift and her serious face dropped some. She put her hands up showing she wasn’t trying to fight her.
“Mars,” she said her nickname. “Please don’t do this. I need you to snap out of it.”
Marley twitched her head again. Trying to put a name or any form of recognition to Y/N’s face, but in the end it only made her more frustrated.
She threw both hands out with practiced movements in an attempt to fight, but nothing happened. Y/N was unscathed.
“I told you. It’s not going to work,” Y/N said, taking careful calculated steps closer. “Snap out of it. Please.”
“There’s nothing for her to snap out of,” a voice came on over an intercom they hadn’t realized worked. “Her brain chemicals have been altered for a more efficient use.”
Y/N looked up at the speakers mounted on the wall, collecting cobwebs and looking as though they had been out of use for years on top of years.
“Who the hell are you?” she shouted in an enraged way, quickly turning back to Marley, not to take her eyes off her.
“Doesn’t matter. Not like you’ll find me,” he responded. His accent a thick russian one. “We’ve already vacated and left our little pet to clean up for us. Though, I must say. I wasn’t expecting a couple of Avengers to be our guest.”
“You’ve killed multiple agents, experimented on a wide group of people, and kidnapped someone very close to me. Are you ignorant enough to think we wouldn’t?” Y/N replied with venom in her voice.
“Lucky for us, even an Avenger level threat doesn’t phase us given our experimentations,” he paused and there was a cockiness in his tone. “Subject 9, terminate threat.”
And as if a switch flipped, her eyes blinked and she was immediately back to killer mode.
She started to levitate in her spot and vibrations started to shake the walls.
“Bucky, get out of here,” Y/N said in an even tone not phased by the power emitting from the young woman. As if she knew what was happening, but fear was still relevant in her voice.
“I’m not going,” he shouted over the loud clanking and shattering of things falling around them.
“If you don’t go now, you won’t make it out,” she said a little more gravely.
“Nice try, but not happening,” he said matter of factly, standing back in combat mode.
“Jesus, you’re hard headed,” she groaned before lifting up and throwing what he could best describe as energy rays at Marley.
It blinded Marley at first, but then she threw back something at Y/N that actually knocked her on her ass.
Y/N slid across the ground hitting and fumbling into a steel table. Bucky watched as it all played out in front of him and the first thing he could think of was to wing the enemy.
He grabbed a revolver out of his thigh holster and aimed for Marley’s shoulder. First shot made the hit. She flinched at the pain and turned her attention to the weaker opponent.
He realized his mistake as it didn’t really do much damage to her, but he shot again, hoping to leave flesh wounds, but by the second shot, she raised a hand stopping the bullet mid air.
“Shit,” was all Bucky got out before she was throwing him now across the room and into a wall.
“Marley! Stop!” Y/N shouted, quickly back on her feet.
Marley turned back to the higher threat and tilted her head down, giving Y/N an evil and sadistic stare.
“I don’t want to hurt you Mars! But if you don’t stop, I can’t let you keep going on like this.” Y/N’s voice was ridden with regret and hurt as she said those words.
“Y/N, she’s brainwashed!” Bucky grunted as he stood up from his spot. He held his ribs as they had crashed into the sharp edge of a table bringing a stinging pain internally with it.
“No,” Y/N shook her head in denial. “Mars, it’s me. Come on. I’m supposed to look after you. I don’t want to do this.” Her hands were now raised in a position which showed she was ready to fight, although reluctantly.
Bucky watched as no emotion crossed Marley’s face. He recognized it all too well. It was the same face he had seen in videos of his old self. People pleading and begging him to stop and give them a chance, and not a single thought besides death was behind his eyes in those moments.
Still floating mid-air, she threw both her hands, palm showing, to Y/N and strong vibration waves tunneled in on her.
She was quick to deflect it, putting up a force field of sorts crossing her arms to block the hit thrown at her.
But Marley saw how well she fought her off and amplified her strength against her. Pulling her arms back and pushing out again with more force.
Bucky watched as Y/N’s knees buckled just a touch at the strength, but still stood.
As if collecting every ounce of energy from Marley’s exertion, she threw her arms back to her side with a grunt sending the force right back to Marley, throwing her off balance.
Marley shot back at the hit and fell against a wall. She was quick to try and regain her balance, but Y/N threw another round of energy at her. Each time Marley tried to bounce back, Y/N was keeping her down with calculated, yet brash hits.
It didn’t look to be hurting her, just stunting her own motives and keeping her at bay.
“Snap out of it!” Y/N shouted with anger as she threw hit after hit and Marley kept coming back for more.
“Y/N!” Bucky shouted, trying to get her to snap out of it. They needed a different approach, but he didn’t know what.
He looked around for tools, clues, anything to shut Marley down, but not hurt her.
Along the wall, a shut down freezer full of trifled through viles and medications. He ran for it, looking back to see the two women going at each other. One trying to kill the other and one just trying to slow the other down.
Quickly, he examined the contents of the viles and saw things like penicillin and ampicillin, simple antibiotics, but nothing useful to take down a girl like Marley. Then he saw two vials that he knew with the right mixture, could aid them.
Hurriedly, he found a needle and measured out the contents before turning back to the other two.
Marley was adapting to Y/N’s hits, and Y/N wasn’t trying to amp up her punches, making it easier for Marley to overpower her again soon.
Bucky snuck through the room in a skilled way that kept the attention off of him and maneuvered to them both.
“Stop fighting, please!” Y/N shouted for the hundredth time.
Finally Marley let out a blood curdling scream that seemed to channel her vibration manipulation straight through Y/N’s energy fields, causing her to grip her ears shielding them from the pain.
Bucky cringed at the sound himself, but continued to make his move.
Just as Marley was seconds from quite possibly incapacitating Y/N, Bucky jumped from behind and stabbed her in the neck with the syringe.
Marley flinched at the pain and turned to once again throw Bucky against a wall. His head met the concrete with a horrible smack and he went limp against it.
“Bucky!” Y/N shouted, watching Marley turn her attention back to her and tilt her head as if victorious finally. “Mar-”
Rage burned in her eyes and she decided to use her own hands instead of her powers to punish Y/N. She punched her once then twice. She blocked the third and fourth and, irritated, Marley used her powers to throw her opponents head into the ground.
Y/N blinked repeatedly after the hit, having not been ready for it and also not fighting back hard enough. She was out of practice in this area somewhat and her reaction time was hindered not just by lost muscle memory, but the fact the person hurting her wasn’t just another bad guy.
The black haired woman raised her hand again, but began to blink rapidly and she stumbled in her step forward. She tried to snap out of the instant haze that hit her but she couldn’t. Knowing she was growing weak, she used the last bit of her energy to try and punch and hit Y/N again, but it was equivalent to a mediocre agent trying to take a swing at her.
Y/N blocked it and used the moment of confusion to throw a wave of energy at her, knocking her back and on the ground.
She tried to regain her balance, but with the mixture of what Bucky just hit her with plus the energy blast Y/N sent, she couldn’t find her footing.
She shuffled backwards on her feet and hands. Fear showing in her eyes for the first time.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” Y/N put her hands up. Her temple was bleeding heavily and starting to bruise already under her eye.
As she moved toward her, Marley tried to raise her hand and hit her with another wave of vibrations, but it was weak compared to her prior powers. Y/N was able to wave it off.
Sending her apologetic eyes, she knelt down and pressed a finger to her forehead even though she cringed away from it.
Her body went slack, but held against the wall. She was slowly blinking out of the haze she had been in too long.
“Wait, right here. I’ll be right back,” Y/N sighed in relief, taking a second, and then squeezed her shoulder before running to where Bucky had been flung.
He had come back to consciousness, but he was still out of it.
“Hey, hey. Take it easy,” she kneeled down beside him.
When he looked up, blinking away the stars that were glistening in his sight and saw blood all over her face.
“Y/N,” he said quickly, concerned and reaching forward to her.
“It’s fine. I’m fine,” she shook it off, grabbing his hand and squeezing it. She sent him a small smile even though there was no happiness behind it. “Let’s get you fixed up.”
With a wave of her hand and in a blur, Bucky’s splitting headache and pain throughout his back was gone. He was back to full strength. And because of that, his first and only concern was Y/N.
“You’re head,” he stood up, helping her as she stood with him.
“I’m not worried about it,” she waved off, turning back to where she had left Marley.
Bucky would have argued, and hell he tried, but she tuned him out and set her attention strictly on Marley.
“Hey,” she sat next to her, careful to make sure she wasn’t the most recent version of herself.
Marley stared at her somewhat bewildered and then a frown started forming on her face.
“What have I done?” she whispered looking at Y/N in horror.
“You did nothing. That wasn’t you,” Y/N shook her head furiously.
“I-I killed so many peop-” Marley started to choke on her words. Her voice rough from little use.
“Stop. Don’t do that to yourself. Not right now. We need to get you out of here.”
Y/N was on a mission and in big sister mode. She would take care of her and bring her back to health when they were safe, but right now was not the time.
“It’s not that easy, Y/N,” Marley muttered, not moving from her position.
“Sure it is.” Y/N was analyzing her surroundings, not really knowing what she was saying, and trying to choose her next move. “Bucky, can you help me-”
Before she could finish her sentence, the place began to rumble and the ground beneath them shook violently.
She looked quickly to Marley with confusion written all over on her face.
“That’s not me,” Marley shook her head, looking around her as well, but she didn’t seem as phased by it.
“What is that?” Bucky spoke up, crouching some as pieces of concrete started to fall around him.
“I told you it wouldn’t be that easy. You guys need to get out of here,” Marley grunted as she re-positioned herself.
“We need to get out of here,” Y/N corrected. “Come on. Stand up.”
“He won’t let me leave,” she shook her head.
“What do you mean he won’t let you leave?” Y/N asked, starting to get irritated. “Marley, stand up. Come on. We don’t have time for this!” she shouted, pulling on her arm in a frantic manner.
“Stop! It’s not going to work out in my favor!” Marley snapped.
Y/N pulled away and looked at her concerned. Her hesitance was quickly wiped off as she went into mom mode.
“Get your ass up, Marley,” she said sternly.
“Let me fix this,” the young girl practically begged.
“There is nothing for you to fix. They abandoned this place and it looks like they’re going to destroy it. All we can and need to do is get out of here,” Y/N said, standing a little taller, frustration growing in her words.
“That’s not them destroying it. There’s a giant nuke underground,” Marley shook her head again, still not budging from her spot. “What you feel is it being triggered and if it leaves here, something terrible is going to happen.”
“What?” Y/N audibly gasped. “What are you talking about?”
“That’s their plan B. I know how to dismantle it, but you both need to get out,” she started to stand, holding her ribs as she cringed at the slight pain.
“I can take care of it,” Y/N shook her head. “You get Bucky out of here.”
Not even knowing where the thing was exactly, Y/N turned determined to find the weapon.
“Stop!” Marley shouted, the ground shaking even more forcefully causing them all to lose their footing some.
More pieces of concrete and debris began to fall from the caving ceiling. Marley quickly moved to where she was cutting Y/N off from her path. She wasn’t going to be the one to destroy the thing.
“So help me God, I’m not losing you again. Go before I make you,” Y/N said with a fierce tone. No room for debate.
“Just know that I’m doing this more than just for me,” Marley said with a sad smile.
“Mar-”
“I’m sorry,” she said before sending her one last smile. “I love you,” she mouthed.
And just as Y/N raised her hand out, Marley shook the ground to the point a whole wall of rocks cut her off from Y/N and Bucky.
Dust filled the air and before she could fathom what just happened, she was pulled back into Bucky’s arms to keep her from getting hit from more of the debris.
Once out of the way from falling pieces of the building, she quickly waved her hand, the dust accumulated into a cloud and she pushed it away seeing a barricade of broken cement keeping her from where Marley was sure to have run off to.
That wasn’t going to stop her though, she was ready to move every ounce of those rocks in a blink of her eye, but again, the walls and floors shook.
“Y/N, we have to get out of here! The place is going to collapse!” Bucky shouted, pulling her wrist to keep her from going far.
“Like hell I’m leaving her again!” she shouted back, attempting to pull away.
“Y/N please! If you die too, she would have done this for nothing!”
“I don’t care!” Y/N pushed on, but with the wrong step and so many pieces of rock and asphalt falling, she missed the piece that came and fell hard on her shoulder. “Shit!”
“Y/N!”
It hit hard. Not just leaving a scrape, but a deep gash. On top of that it looked as though it dislocated it as well.
She blinked away the pain and attempted to let the adrenaline take over, but Bucky decided he was taking charge now.
Everything was a blur after that. She remembered pushing and fighting against Bucky, but she also remembers being discombobulated by everything around them. Alarms were blaring, ceilings were caving in, her legs were barely moving.
The last thing she remembered was the blast of everything going off.
A piercing sound took over her senses. It was dark outside and the little bit of light in the middle of nowhere came from the calming tones of the moon and the angry fire of the facility up in flames.
“Marley,” she muttered out, finding herself laid out on her back in the grass about 20 feet away from the wreckage. Blood hindering her sight. She tried to blink it away and as she wiped her hands down her face, the crimson color covered her hand.
Was it her blood or-?
Bucky groaned as he rolled on his side. The two had been thrown about 10 feet from the explosion after it went off. Meaning, they were only 10 feet away when everything combusted.
“Are you ok?” Y/N asked, looking over at him and slightly scooting to see any injuries.
“Nothing past bruised ribs,” he answered. “I’ll be ok.”
Y/N stood, placing a hand on her shoulder and feeling the wetness of the cut, but not actually feeling the pain just yet.
Bucky was calling her name as she limped to the rubble that burned in front of them, but she blocked him out.
Her lip began to tremble and the tears in her eyes started to wash the blood away as she processed what had just happened.
“Marley,” she whimpered again, limping a little faster.
“Y/N!” Bucky shouted behind her, slowly getting to his feet. Again, being ignored.
“Marley,” she started to cry, knowing what she’d find, but hoping for it to be the opposite. “MARLEY!”
But what was done, was done.
TAGS:
Everest Tags: (if I missed you in tags, comment on this chapter to let me know:)
Series Summary: She was done and retired. After Thanos and after the battle of a lifetime, she had called it quits and had distanced herself from the Avenger lifestyle. But word finds her that someone from her past is in danger. What the journey entails was never one she wanted to face nor one she saw becoming her reality again. The rollercoaster that comes with fighting evil odds arrives on her doorstep not leaving much room for a no…
Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader
Word Count: 3100+
A/N: Like always, I hope you enjoy and please let me know what all you think!:) xoxoxoxo
Chapter 6:
True to her word, when she came back with an armful of new maps and data, she put them to the side and rested. Bucky stayed up until she was asleep just to make sure she took care of herself.
She of course had some weird tea mixture that she grabbed from the plane that was supposed to help him sleep, but after she was out like a light for 15 minutes and he hadn’t felt anything, he figured the dosage was too low for whatever he was given.
Then… Then 5 minutes after thinking that, his body felt tingly before feeling like it was floating all of a sudden. It was as if whatever magic she worked with her hands was concocted into the rose flavored tea.
He fought to keep his eyes open, but alas it was a fight he would never win.
___________
“Morning sleepy head,” Y/N’s voice was heard from across the room as Bucky stirred and shifted in his awakening. “First time I’ve seen you move since I’ve been up.”
Bucky blinked slowly, easing his way out of sleep. He was drowsy, but not so much that he couldn’t get a bearing on his surroundings.
“I truly thought I might have overdosed you for a second, but then I remembered that serum running through your veins and figured you’d be ok.”
When he looked at her, she was shrugging as she finished her sentence. She was sitting at the table with the new layouts and blueprints covering the wooden surface to the point you wouldn’t know it was wood.
In one hand was a cup of coffee and on top of a random piece of paper was another. Bucky could see the steam rising from it with a squint of his eyes.
She finally looked over at him and smiled softly.
“ˈkôfē?” she asked in Russian though the word sounded like the english version just with a Russian accent.
“Please,” he nodded, sitting up and slowly moving to get out of bed. Not without a huff at the movement.
It had been a long time since he had felt rested enough to be dazed from sleep. For the first time in a very long time, he was having to actually wake up after a night’s rest.
“I’m gonna guess the tea worked,” she laughed, standing and meeting him at his bed with the warm mug. “I’m hoping that’s a good thing.” He took the mug slowly and carefully so as not to burn himself. “I wasn’t sure how you took it, so if you need anything added, let me know.”
He nodded, still trying to rouse as he sat there with the coffee in hand.
“I’ve haven’t felt like this in a while,” he breathed out.
“What? Like a functioning human being?” she teased, moving back to the table.
“Ha, ha,” he laughed dryly even though there was a small smile on his lips as they came up to the rim of the cup.
He stopped however as he looked down at the ceramic before his lips met it.
“Don’t worry. I washed the mugs. The rim is clean,” she said without looking up, her finger following something on the paper in front of her.
He nodded in tired thanks and took the sip before stopping and looking at her.
“Wait, how did you know-”
“I noticed you did it yesterday. You wiped the rim of the glass before you got a drink of water. I figured it was a germ thing, but either way I cleaned them. I don’t know where these motel mugs have been,” she shrugged a shoulder turning to give him a wink. “Is it a germ thing?”
“Something like that,” he tilted his head before standing and slowly going to add his fixings to the coffee. A dash of cream and three sugars. That sweet tooth was for every kind of serving, not just for his favorite candy. “Find anything?”
“An abandoned coal mine that we can scope out today. Besides that, we may be out of luck with this town,” she sighed, leaning back in her chair, but still looking intently at the maps in front of her.
“Any ideas on where to next?” he asked.
She let out a long sigh of defeat and shook her head earnestly.
“I really thought I figured it out, but I don’t think we were fast enough…”
He looked over seeing her crushed disposition.
“Hey,” he said softly, coming to her desk. “Maybe that mine will have something. There’s clues somewhere. We just have to find them, right?”
She looked detached from the world for a second as she played out multiple scenarios in her head. Eventually she answered.
“Yeah, you’re right. One step at a time,” she sighed standing and moving to the door. “I’m going to go grab some breakfast. Want anything?”
“Whatever you grab, I’ll be ok with,” he nodded, moving to the table. “I’ll give this a second look while you’re out.”
She gave him a nodd, wrapping a scarf around her neck and throwing on a coat before leaving.
_________________________
Unfortunately, the clues weren’t in the coal mine. All that was there was a ton of dust and well… Coal.
They had packed up their things at the motel and headed back to the jet as no more leads were there to follow. It was a long flight back and Bucky had once again volunteered to fly so that he could give Y/N her space.
After digging around for two days and coming up empty handed, she was very quiet. He couldn’t tell if it was from processing their loss or if it was because she was still trying to come up with new leads.
They were about 3 hours from New York though when they got a call from Tony again.
“Everest, you there?” he sounded over the jet.
She was in the back at the time, but Bucky pulled up the video call and put the plane on autopilot.
“One second, she’s-” he started getting up to go and grab her, but she was already maneuvering through the front to get to the cockpit.
“What do you have, Stark?” she asked with her hand now on the back of the chair and her focus on the hologram of him above the controls.
“I think you may want to slow your roll on the trip back. We just got back some video footage from another raid,” he said looking down at something and seconds later, the video popped up on the screen moving his face to the bottom corner.
On the screen was footage from an agent’s body cam. They were in an abandoned building from the looks of it, much like their normal coverage, and she had a weapon raised scoping out the place.
“When was this taken?” Y/N asked as she watched intently.
“An hour ago. Just received the footage maybe 10 minutes ago.”
“Where at?”
“Uh…” he paused, looking for the information. “Runtole, Slovenia.”
“What are the coordinates, Barnes?” she questioned, never taking her eyes off the video that was still going.
The agent in the footage was announcing herself now to a group of people who she walked in on.
“Raise your hands! Put your hands up!” she shouted, her firearm raising in defense.
Whoever she was instructing did as asked and dropped the equipment in hand quickly.
“It looks like we passed it. About 30 minutes back east if we turn around now,” Bucky said, resetting things.
“Can you-” she started, sitting in the seat now and watching the video intently.
“Already on it,” Bucky noted, and the jet took a wide turn.
“Stark, can you get the exact coordinates for us?” she asked.
“Logging it into the jet right now,” he answered.
The aircraft wired as it set it’s new location and a jut made Bucky and Y/N shake in their seats as the speed increased.
“Go to the wall,” the female agent continued to direct. “Who else is here?” No one answered. “Who else is here!” she shouted more sternly.
Three of the individuals looked scared of her and turned to look at the man in the middle. All their hands still raised, but this man specifically had an evil grin on his face.
“You won’t make it out of here alive,” he said with a thick foreign accent.
“Wh-”the agent started to say, but instantly her voice started to gargle.
“No,” Y/N said softly to herself, Bucky looked at her then back at the screen.
The camera moved upward as if her chest was now pointing to the ceiling and she began to turn. But before it could show any of the hints as to who was doing it or what was happening, red liquid started to cover the camera violently. Behind it was the sound of the woman choking on her own blood.
Y/N knew exactly what was happening and though she wanted to look away, she didn’t want to miss a single detail she could use to fix this.
The camera switched to another agent coming in from the side. There was shouting taking place, but Y/N and Bucky both couldn’t pull their eyes from the levitating body bent in an inhuman way as the female agent was being controlled and turned to liquid on the inside as none other than Marley twitched her head in concentration causing the pain.
“Let her go!” a new agent coming into the scene shouted, shooting bullets at her.
One clipped Marley, but all it did was get a pissed off look from her. Instantly the other agent was forgotten and she had a new target.
More shouting and chaos took over the screen and Y/N was watching with a head turned in disgust. Bucky could hardly stomach it himself and he had done some despicable things as the Winter Soldier.
By the end, 4 agents were killed and a few injured before they fled in time seeing there was no winning against the powerful being.
“Is there any mission reports,” Y/N said solemnly as the camera held static from being crushed at this point.
“Considering this all came in just 20 minutes ago? No. Just the status of those KIA,” Tony replied somewhat quietly. “I’ll keep you updated as you go. Let me know when you guys land and keep me updated as well.”
Y/N just nodded slightly and started to walk to the back of the jet.
Bucky watched as her body went rigid and she made a turn out of sight headed to the room where their suits and equipment were.
He gave her only about 5 minutes of space before going to change for the mission himself. The chances of them finding them weren’t 100% as the videos were over an hour old, but in the 90% chance they were still there, there was going to be a battle.
She was hooking on a thigh holster over her pants. This was the first time that Bucky had seen her in her uniform. After learning about her, he had done his research and seen lots of news articles and fan postings of her during battles or at charity events with her Avenger’s combat outfit on and it was fitting for her.
She wore a white outfit with iridescent outlines to it. With how the outlines worked, it was as if the light tried to find her and shine little multicolor lights to lure every eye to her. The whole thing was mesmerizing and mocked her powers in clothing form.
It had a halter top neckline with cut out shoulders and long sleeves. On her head in certain pictures he had noticed that she had a halo-like light glow from behind her head when she really used her powers. Her eyes turned white, the glow brightened, and it was as if she burst her own aura in a bloom of light around her. The light catches the white energy in a way that glints of rainbow like colors burst with it all.
She looked like a strong, all-powerful, and angelic-being floating above the enemy right before humbling them.
What she was putting on now was close to the opposite. It was a blackbody suit that mimicked Natasha’s uniform. If he didn’t know better, it looked like a suit that Nat had actually rejected from Tony because the shoulder was cut out on one side with a weird strap that she said was impractical. But really it was just not Nat’s style. However, it fit Y/N well and complimented her original uniform in a sense.
(imagine one shoulder completely covered of course)
He pulled his eyes off her as she silently got ready, adjusting the straps and zips on her suit. He moved over to his area that had pieces of his own suit. He was already wearing the pants and had a black long sleeve on.
“How are you doing?” he asked, looking down as he grabbed his vest, giving her some privacy.
“As well as one can when they see a loved one killing multiple innocent people within a second thought,” she answered in a serious tone. “So, great. I’m doing great.”
He looked up when he heard her go completely quiet. She was frozen in her spot just looking down at her hands in a dissociated manner.
He shook his head to himself. Dumb question. He threw on his vest and a few other things before she finally broke out of her self-trance and walked to the other room.
Looking down at his watch, high-tech and combat enhanced thanks to Stark, he saw they were less than 100 miles out now. They would be landing in 8 minutes max.
“I guess we should devise a plan,” Y/N sighed, sitting as she nervously bounced her leg, waiting for the plane to alert them they were closer.
When she looked up at Bucky, she stood and walked in front of him.
“This first,” she nodded, putting her hand out motioning for him to take it. He looked down at it, but did as she silently asked.
A weird vibrating sensation moved through his body and a light started creating symbols on his skin. He jumped at the way the light seemed to be glowing from under his skin. Lines and squiggles shining before fading seconds after.
“They’re runes,” she said. “They’ll keep you safer.” She sighed, closing her eyes with his hands still in hers. “And give me peace of mind to an extent.”
Just as she was about to pull her hand back, Bucky wrapped his around hers keeping her from going.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly, her kind eyes looking up at him and matching his. “That you have to do this.”
He wasn’t sure how that comment did it, but the corner of her lip raised to a small smirk.
“Do you always apologize for things that aren’t your fault?” she asked.
His lips imitated her smirk. “It’s a bad habit.”
“Well then. Let’s break that habit when we’re done here,” she nodded.
The brief moment of teasing comments and light hearted jokes ended when the jet announced they were just outside of their destination.
Her mode switched right back to captain mode and he knew that because of how often Steve could flip that same switch.
“Let’s do this,” she said in a not so ready way.
_______________________
Shield agents were told to leave the scene as soon as half the squad infiltrating the abandoned warehouse were killed.
It wasn’t a big operation as they didn’t expect the location to be a hit. There were a total of 10 agents on this breach and from what Y/N could tell, at least four of them were dead now.
“Tony, said the northeast corridor was our best bet in,” Y/N said as he and Bucky left the jet and started their way to the building. “Are you sure you want to do this?” she asked.
Bucky was surprised by her question given what they had been through the past two days. Why would now be the time for him to pull out?
“I’m only asking because I don’t want there to be any more casualties,” she explained. “Not that I don’t trust you can’t hold your own,” she sighed. “It’s just… She’s not just another bad guy with a gun and a few impressive boxing moves.”
“Y/N,” Bucky shook his head looking down as he checked his gun in hand again. “I’ll be ok.”
And if not, he couldn’t think of a better reason to end his fight.
She looked at him solemnly.
“I appreciate you a lot, Barnes,” she replied with a sad smile.
There wasn’t much of a plan to formulate before they came in guns blazing, but they discussed a broad idea of what needed to happen.
There weren’t any signs of cameras on the outside so getting in was surprisingly easy… Yet again, their temporary lab was already discovered so they were likely packing to get the hell out of dodge. Bucky and Y/N had just hoped that they weren’t quite out yet.
Bucky had gone through a separate entrance than Y/N. They were trying their best to get in and not miss anyone going out.
“Any sign of anyone or anything useful, yet?” Y/N asked through the comms.
“It’s quiet,” he answered, then the sound of another heartbeat began to grow behind him. “Y/N, where are you at?” he asked.
“Now in the south wing.” When she didn’t get an immediate response back she questioned him. “Why? Is something wrong?”
Bucky was quiet trying to detect the direction of the heart beat. It was getting louder but staying consistent in its speed.
It was calm. Steady. Then it stopped growing louder and stayed where it was.
He could sense her without even looking.
“Bucky, where are you?” Y/N’s voice came through.
Slowly, he turned to see… Her.
Green eyes. Black hair that looked like it was meant to be brown, but hadn’t been washed due to neglect. Pale skin due to lack of sunlight.
“Marley,” he said softly, raising his hands in surrender. He didn’t want to harm her.
“You see her?” Y/N was breathless in the comms as she started moving his direction.
“Marl-”
He was cut off by her raising her hand like she had in all those videos right before taking her victims life.
He immediately flinched away at the movement knowing there was no beating it, before…
TAGS:
Everest Tags: (if I missed you in tags, comment on this chapter to let me know:)
Series Summary: She was done and retired. After Thanos and after the battle of a lifetime, she had called it quits and had distanced herself from the Avenger lifestyle. But word finds her that someone from her past is in danger. What the journey entails was never one she wanted to face nor one she saw becoming her reality again. The rollercoaster that comes with fighting evil odds arrives on her doorstep not leaving much room for a no…
Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader
Word Count: 3600+
A/N:
Chapter 5:
The rest of the plane ride, Y/N went to the back for some privacy and Bucky took the time to review the files she had come up with and had handed over to him.
There was still no background of who the head doctor or facilitator was of the whole operation in present time, but they learned that the group’s name was called Chimera. And if you can’t guess from the name, they were a branch of Hydra.
Real original picking another greek monster with three heads, huh?
Anyway, for the last 40 years they had been hunting down children who were a part of the mutant gene pool and scouting them out to fight. Majority of the time selling to the recruitments that they were starting a new group like the Avengers that they could train on. Other times, promising them a safe place and new home where their powers were appreciated. With these two types of promises, there wasn’t much convincing outside of that to get young kids and teenagers on their team.
But in it, there were harsh experiments that ended with many dead. They didn’t care though, they had them at their disposal at this point.
It seemed as though the operation was the same one that Marley had been a part of, but after all this time, it was being led by a new group of scientists and division. Whoever they were, they knew what they were doing and what their project was.
However, they were being tracked by SHIELD as soon as they picked up on their activity. But it seemed as though each location found, was a shell of what actually had been going on there.
There were left over experiments, failed serums, and what looked like ransacked dens as they packed and moved to their next location. Clearly whatever was going on, they were steering clear of SHIELD and what would be the end that would soon come to their operation.
The evidence showed that Marley seemed to be once again used as their main guard dog. She had been left behind at operations to tack off any agents that came to snoop.
The first few raids seemed to be clear, but as of the last two missions, Marley was there to show SHIELD who they were messing with. It most likely was a scare tactic to keep them from following them, but all it did was now put one very pissed off and powerful Avenger on their trail.
And boy was she tracking them… All the research of some high level agents and Tony himself came nowhere close to what Y/N was able to put together. It helps when you’ve gone against these people before and know how they work. When they’ve hurt someone you love once, you dive into who they are and how to make them extinct.
Unfortunately, rats can easily flee without being noticed and build their nest all over again.
After 13 years of thinking they had killed off the group, just this last month Tony got more intel and thus brought it to Y/N’s attention. Now they were headed to Plyos, Russia in hopes of finding some run down building where they normally would set up camp and operate.
Y/N and Bucky had been to two different warehouses and one abandoned barn so far and nothing had come up. Each time both of them being just that… Abandoned. Not ever a sliver of evidence of a possible evil scientist lab being of use at some point.
They were back on the jet at this point. It was close to 7 at night and a blizzard was making its way in town.
Bucky slowly approached a defeated Y/N as she sat staring at the same papers that got them there. Hoping that something new would catch her attention and point her the right direction after so many wrong turns.
“Y/N,” he said quietly. She stayed staring at the notes. “Listen, I know you want to keep looking, but there’s a big storm moving in. As great as Stark’s Tech is, I think it would be better if we found a motel or something to stay at for shelter.”
Like snapping out from a daze, she shook out her head and looked up at him as if just noticing he was there.
“What?” she said, blinking and rubbing her eyes. Come to think of it, he wasn’t sure when she had slept last. Even beings with that much power need rest, right?
“A decent sized blizzard is coming. I think we should find a place in town to stay,” he summed up.
It took her a second, but she shook her head in agreement and began to stand up and brush her pants off.
“зимы здесь суровы, как горечь смерти, the winters here are as harsh as the bitterness of death,” she muttered, and Bucky let out a low chuckle.
“некоторые могут даже сказать резче, some might even say harsher,” Bucky responded with a wink before turning back to grab his bag.
She smiled at that softly before grabbing her own luggage.
_____________
The two were able to find a run down motel to call shelter for the night. Because it was an extremely small town, they didn’t want word to get out two Avengers were in the area and scare off a possible raid they were working on. Even though it was starting to look like they weren’t in the right place for that raid.
Y/N had just gotten done taking a shower, and was coming out of the bathroom with her pajamas already on. Bucky had already taken his when they got there and Y/N went out to get them dinner.
The motel was tiny with just 10 rooms and of course, only three of them were actually in service. After some miscommunication with the motel manager, they ended up in a room with two queen sized beds. It wasn’t an issue for Y/N, so it wasn’t an issue with Bucky. They were professionals and Y/N didn’t seem to be one that was apprehensive about sharing a room with a stranger.
Bucky was sitting on the bed with files laid out in front of him and a few new ones they were able to print off in the jet showing a layout of the town.
He could tell Y/N was frustrated and on edge after the last failed search and all she had been doing was pacing as she read and researched more trying to find what she missed.
She was ruffling her wet Y/H/C hair with a towel in one hand and the other held a chunk of papers with new information Tony had sent them before they found the hotel. She paced the floor with some old cabin socks on, sleep shorts, a large t-shirt sticking out from a sweatshirt that was 3 sizes too big, and a pen in mouth that she was nervously chewing the tip of as she read passages in front of her.
Bucky was scanning a map and would look up every once in a while feeling the stress radiate off her. This was the first time he hadn’t seen her hair up in a braid, bun, or some other intricate style laced with a scarf of some sort. It was a different look on her, but it was nice. Her hair had a soft mix of curls and waves as it dried and it looked soft like silk.
Maybe this wasn’t the best time to be watching her like he was, but even in the short time they’d known each other, there was a comfortable and friendly energy between them instead of the stranger-like awkwardness.
But as he was watching her movements and analyzing her, she stopped in her pacing and began to turn around. He quickly looked down at the work in front of him again in hopes he didn’t get caught.
“I don’t get it,” she groaned, fisting the towel in her hand by her side and throwing it on the back of the chair as she took the pen out of her mouth. “It lined up to be the places we went and we didn’t even see a single piece of evidence that someone could have been there within the last month…”
Bucky stayed silent, worried anything he said would only make the frustration levels higher. Plus, it seemed she was thinking out loud, so he gave her the space to get it all out.
“Every place was the perfect hideout, and hit all their requirements to work a lab in…” she started pacing again. “I know that the first place we landed would probably be just a stepping stone to where we needed to go, but I wasn’t planning on coming up completely empty. There was a 99% chance of finding something.” She threw the papers in hand down on her bed and stared at the wall like it was the reason for her coming up short.
Bucky took notice of how her eyes furrowed, her nose scrunched just a tad, and her fingers wiggled by her side.
“I’m killing my brain,” she mumbled.
Bucky let out a small laugh and she turned her head to him with a defeated look.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t laugh,” he apologized, attempting to wipe the exhausted smile off his face, but he failed.
“No, please do. One of us needs to find some form of happiness on this trip,” she smiled softly back.
“This isn’t much of a happy mission,” Bucky replied, watching her intently as she turned and sat on the bed.
“No, but I’d rather not focus solely on the inevitable bad that’s to come,” she sighed, falling back in a star position on her bed, with her legs dangling over the edge.
There was silence for a second, then Bucky spoke up with one of the many questions he had.
“Hey, when you were talking about your friend Lori earlier, you said ’one of the many times you attended college.’ What did you mean by that?”
Y/N sat up with a grunt, but still slumped in her position. Exhaustion was clearly winning at the moment.
“You live as long as me, a college education doesn’t hurt,” she smiled faintly. “Plus you get bored and might as well educate yourself.”
Bucky nodded in agreement. “How many times did you go?”
“Oof,” she huffed, letting out a breath as she thought about it. “Well, there was a good chunk of time where a woman going to college was outrageous and inappropriate. Not that that stopped me. I still got an education, although it was under the table. There’s no documentation of that.”
“Whatisdocumented?”
“Let’s see… Bachelor wise; Bachelors of Arts in History, Bachelors in Environmental Health Sciences, also Environmental Law. A few others in art studies, oh! Also a Bachelors of Science Education in Elementary education. I have a few masters and doctorates that expand on each of those, but you get the gist.”
“Wait, Elementary Education? Like a teacher?” he asked somewhat shocked.
“It’s quite the trying field to go into, but boy is it worth it,” she smiled at the thought.
“How long were you a teacher and what grades did you teach?”
“Um, well I was off and on for about 20 years. I had to modify my degree so it didn’t look like I graduated back in the 70’s and was somehow 27 during 2001,” she laughed. “But I stayed with the middle school aged kids. They’re so hormonal and trying to figure themselves out, I may or may not have used my powers to give them a sense of calm in the raging times.”
“Wow…. What haven’t you done?” he chuckled lightly under his breath.
“Even with all the extra time given to me in my life, the human race has created so many things and hobbies that I truly have so many more to experience,” she laughed, looking down at her hands clearly more to her thought process than just that.
There was a minute of silence as Bucky took in what she said and Y/N didn’t elaborate on her meaning beyond her comment.
Bucky was going to question on, but her phone began to ring and she jumped up to grab it.
Looking down at the caller ID she looked back at Bucky.
“It’s Tony. I’m going to take this,” she said with an apologetic smile as she swung her legs fully over the ledge and moved to the door. “Y/L/N,” she said professionally into the phone, walking out into the frigid cold with just a sweatshirt and shorts on.
Bucky realized that last part right before the door shut and cocked his head. Maybe her power protected her from the cold?
He went back to the maps on the edge of his bed and stared at them even though his mind wasn’t on what they contained. To be honest, sleep was on his mind, but also he was trying to imagine Y/N as a teacher.
She seemed to have the spirit for it and she was right. In a middle school room, those kids would probably thrive on any form of energy that wasn’t their hormones and moods shifting every two seconds.
He had laid back on the bed with a map in hand to look busy if she came back in, but slowly, he started to drift off to sleep, realizing he had been up for over 30 hours at this point.
___________
Y/N had stayed outside for close to 20 minutes on the phone. She was cold yes, but she was able to form somewhat of an invisible bubble around her that kept any heat she had in. Pro’s to energy bending. You could do a lot more with it than most could imagine.
Tony was discussing sending new coordinates her way and an old map they dug up of some underground coal mines. But just as he was explaining what could possibly be in those mines, Y/N heard what sounded like screaming coming from the door behind her.
She turned not hearing it once she looked at the wooden barrier and tuned out Tony. She waited a second and focused in on the energy in the room and felt distress.
“I’ll call you back, Stark,” she said quickly and hung up the phone as she opened the door.
Bucky was laying on his back, but was twitching and tossing his head side to side in a violent manner every other second. Grunts were trying to come out of his mouth, but his jaw was so tight and tense, nothing came out.
“Buck,” Y/N started walking quickly to his bedside.
She looked seeing maps and papers thrown haphazardly from the edge of the bed, likely from him kicking them off. The ones close to his hands were scrunched and some slightly torn.
“Bucky-” she started again, gently touching his arm, but in that quick moment, his metal arm reacted by grabbing hers and beginning to bend it back in a way it shouldn’t have. “Ow!” she shouted, and looked up to see Bucky staring at her hard, but that wasn’t the Bucky she knew. It was a scared, angry, and frightening version of him.
Instantly she brought her other hand up without hesitation and pressed her palm to his forehead. Right away, a breath of relief was let out and his body went lax, including his grip on her arm. As if snapping out of the trance, Bucky realized his position and that he still had a grip on Y/N. Even if it wasn’t harmful anymore, he dropped it immediately and quickly distanced himself from her by crawling back on the bed more.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” he said repeatedly, eyes rapidly checking her from a distance for any injuries. “I’m sor-”
“Bucky, it’s ok. It’s fine,” she said, putting her hands up in a way to show she was harmless. She knew for him getting closer would scare him as he worried about hurting her any further. So instead she put her hands up and showed with a small reassuring smile she was ok. “I’m ok. It’s all ok.”
“I-I-”
Another apology was on the way, but she put her hand up in a way to stop him from saying anything further. Instead, she moved that cautious hand toward the arm that was red and already bruising from the incident. In a slow gesture, she waved her hand over the arm and the white light illuminating from her palm caused him to squint slightly at the brightness.
When he looked back, any sign of injury was completely gone. Her arm was normal. As if she had just walked in and he hadn’t almost snapped it in half.
He looked at it bewildered and then looked at her kind eyes that sent a consoling look.
“If you’re going to have nightmares around anyone, might as well be someone who can heal themselves,” she shrugged. When he looked back at her with uncertainty, still not trusting himself she assured him again. “It’s ok, Buck. I’m not hurt. If I was, I’d say something.”
He looked from her arm back to her eyes, still trying to get his bearings from just waking up and seeing what he had just did.
“Can I show you?” she asked after a minute of heavy breaths and fear still radiating off of him. It took him a second and he nodded so slightly that she barely caught it, but she laid her palm face up and silently offered him to take it.
He looked down on it. His rigid posture still present and anxiety clear, but slowly he put his hand in hers. And like all the times before, that wave of relaxation and comfort flowed through his body. However it wasn’t the feelings that she was giving him, but instead she was sharing what her own feelings and disposition was. She was showing him just how unbothered by the situation she had been.
“I promise I’m ok. I’ve been through a thousand times worse,” she winked in a way to comfort him some.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly, his hand still gently in hers, but his tensity gone now.
“You’re absolutely fine,” she said just as soft.
There were a few long moments that carried out with the atmosphere of serenity.
“Thank you.”
“Anytime,” she nodded before going back to her bed. Their hands sliding off the other slowly as if to drag out a second of the touch as long as possible. “Wanna talk about it?”
He shook his head no and brushed back his hair.
“Just nightmares… They usually happen when I don’t sleep for a substantial amount of hours.”
“I’m sorry,” she said genuinely. “I feel like that’s my fault.”
“No. No, it’s not. I-” he let out a small relaxed laugh. “I rarely sleep the hours people are supposed to.”
She tilted her head at his confession.
“So you have nightmares often then?”
He caught how he just gave himself away and shook out his head, moving to the small kitchenette on the other side of the room.
“What was Tony calling about?” He avoided eye contact as he grabbed the glass cup from the motel and wiped the rim with his shirt before filling it with water.
She noticed the change in topic and went with it.
“New blue prints and maps are coming in. I’ll go to the jet in a little and get them. He said he would send them over, so it should be about 10-15 minutes before they’re all printed.”
“I can grab them,” he volunteered, chunging the glass of water before filling it again.
“Yeah, no. You’ll catch a cold,” she shook her head, grabbing a pair of thicker pants to change into.
“And you won’t?” he countered, but when she gave him a certain look, he put what had happened in the last few minutes into context. “Oh right.”
“Plus, I can fly. You’ll have to take the car and it’ll just be faster for me,” she let out a long sigh.
But not from irritation, it sounded like exhaustion. Which Bucky had detected long before they even arrived at the motel.
“Can you promise me something?” he asked, turning and putting his hands on both sides of the counter behind him.
“Maybe…” she replied, pulling her cargo pants over her sleep shorts.
“You need rest like I do. Promise you’ll sleep when you get back. We can look at everything tomorrow with fresh eyes,” he bartered. She hummed considering his offer. “We’re no good running on fumes. Either of us.”
She took in his reasoning and nodded. She hated to admit it, but she was tired. A good night’s rest would be helpful for her straining eyes and tired muscles.
“Ok, I’ll make that promise. But you’re a part of that deal too.”
“Me getting rest?”
“Yes. Are you ok with me using some of my magic,” she fiddled her fingers in the air like a magician. “On you to make sure you sleep well?”
“I think I can get behind that,” he chuckled. She nodded in agreement as she moved to the door to start her journey to the jet hidden off in the forest. “You sure you don’t want me to come with you?”
“I’ll be fine. Besides, if I were to get hyperthermia, I could heal it,” she winked, opening the door, letting in the air that was similar to the arctic water.
“Be safe,” he said with slight concern still.
“Will do, partner,” she saluted before disappearing into the winter weather.
TAGS:
Everest Tags: (if I missed you in tags, comment on this chapter to let me know:)
Series Summary:She was done and retired. After Thanos and after the battle of a lifetime, she had called it quits and had distanced herself from the Avenger lifestyle. But word finds her that someone from her past is in danger. What the journey entails was never one she wanted to face nor one she saw becoming her reality again. The rollercoaster that comes with fighting evil odds arrives on her doorstep not leaving much room for a no…
Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader
Word Count: 3300+
A/N: Slowly but surely friends, I’m getting ideas out for this series. Enjoy and as always, I love hearing and reading your thoughts on what you think:) Love you all!
Chapter 12:
The next morning, Bucky found himself the first one up and around. Has he been able to sleep within the last few weeks? No. Did he think maybe after yesterday’s activity with helping Y/N in her grieving process that he would be somewhat relieved and able to get a few hours of shut eye? Yes. Did he though? No again…
As usual, there was no point in fighting the tossing and turning for hours that would occur if he stayed in bed, so he made his way to the kitchen to brew some coffee and maybe go for a run around the compound with Ryker like he normally did before Y/N woke up.
But to his surprise upon pouring some fresh coffee into his mug, he heard rustling in the hallway outside the kitchen.
He peaked over to the entryway from the coffee nook to see who was up as early as him. While looking, he saw the clock on the oven showing 4:34 in the morning.
No one was up this early except maybe Steve, but to his surprise he had been sleeping in the past few mornings from late night missions.
Eventually, Ryker trotted around the corner and Bucky’s tensed shoulders relaxed. Until he froze again and realized, even as powerful as he learned the dog to be, he couldn’t get out of the room on his own.
Before any ideas of who it could have been had the chance to come to his mind, Y/N quietly came around the corner behind him. Her arms weren’t empty though, and she looked packed up ready for a long flight.
She hadn’t seen Bucky yet as he was tucked in a weird corner that was out of sight from the entrance unless you came a little further into the kitchen.
He watched at first knowing if she wanted to, she would be able to sense him and know she wasn’t alone.
But she never did show any sign of knowing he was there. He went to the fridge, grabbed an apple, bit into it and began packing a small bag full of snacks. The whole time, Ryker was drinking from his water bowl before looking at her with worried eyes.
Bucky knew what that dog’s look meant from a mile away. His concerned puppy dog eyes were something he saw every time he came to pick him up from her room in the morning and evening the last few weeks. Ryker would always do one check back on his owner with those eyes before leaving with Bucky.
He slowly laid out on the floor looking up at her with his head on the ground as she ran around packing things here and there and pacing the room.
Bucky knew now why she hadn’t noticed him. Her mind was not concerned with her surroundings. It was concerned with packing and getting out of there fast.
Then he thought back to the night before. The memory as they all came back to the compound and Tony had mentioned them sharing a night of their own to catch up in the den.
______________________________
The crew had headed back home somewhat early in the evening. With Lori going to bed at 8:30 they got back to the compound about 10pm. For this crew, staying up late wasn’t anything out of the ordinary when they knew that they didn’t have to go saving lives the next day.
“Hey, what about a late night catch up session? We’ve barely had time to hang out as old friends since you got back. I know nothing about where you’ve been all these years,” Tony winked and grabbed Y/N by the side, squeezing her shoulder into him in a friendly manner.
All Y/N had to do was give him a small look with a little turn of her lip.
“Ok, yeah, you’re right. You’ll never be allowed off my radar until I physically can no longer work a computer… Or dial Strange’s number…” he mumbled the last part.
“I would love to, but I’m kinda beat from the whole day. I may call it an early night,” she replied, shrugging her shoulders as Tony pulled away.
“It’s only a little past ten! It’s not like you’re going anywhere tomorrow,” Tony teased.
But Bucky had noticed that earlier when they were all getting out of the car, Y/N was already saying her goodbyes and thanks before going to bed. He knew she wouldn’t be up for his ideas of late night talks.
“Some of us are used to bedtimes at reasonable hours, Anthony,” she laughed with a sisterly roll of her eyes. “Plus, as grateful as I am for today’s activities and ceremony, it takes a lot out of a person like me.”
The whole crew wasn’t going to question that.
“You sure? Not even an hour or so?” Clint spoke up with Laura next to him. “We have the babysitter until midnight,” he smiled, Laura laughing lightly next to him.
Y/N hummed. “I’m sorry guys, I really wish I had it in me.”
“It’s all good. We get it. Truly,” Steve spoke up, walking toward her to give her a hug. Ever the gentleman to listen to a ladies request without question. “Go get some rest,” he hugged her before pulling back smiling at her.
“Thank you, Stevie,” she smiled back at him.
When the big blonde had pulled back enough for her to see the whole team staring at her with loving and happy eyes. Her mood switched a little. From being content and somewhat back to normal, Bucky noticed that there was a pinch of remorse in her body language.
“To those I haven’t had the chance to thank one on one, I’m just going to say that everything you all have done to help me mourn and grieve after these last 2 weeks, I couldn’t tell you enough, even for as long as I’ll live, that I’m truly thankful for each and everyone of you guys empact and purpose on my life,” she smiled with a little teary gleam in her eye. “I didn’t want to get all sappy and emotional after an already sappy and emotional evening, but I can’t help but think about how each of you are so special and essential to this world, but mainly to me.”
Tears were hard to suppress after a genuine compliment like that. Wanda and Nat (how she got Nat to cry was magic in itself), Laura, Sam, Clint, and even Steve shed a tear or two. Or at least had glossed over eyes.
To the naked and emotions blinded eye, she was just saying her thanks for all that the crew had done a lot to help her with Marley’s passing. But Bucky could sense the longing and sadness of her goodbyes. This wasn’t just a grateful goodnight kind of passing. There were true sentiments and sorrow in what she was saying to them.
“I love you all very much,” she sniffled before trying to put on a brave face and pushing back any further emotions. “Goodnight, guys.” She left with a single nod and walked with her head down back to her room alone.
Everyone was a little taken aback by the abrupt exit, but at the same time, emotions were high and Y/N hadn’t been one to show her emotions to people really. What Bucky had gathered from this last month is that she’s actually really good at poker faces when she doesn’t want to dig into her emotions.
It wasn’t healthy. He had learned the same hard truth as that method of coping from his own book. But even in growing out of that, he understood sometimes it’s easy to step back into it when you can’t fully handle a situation no matter how hard you try.
________________
Back in the kitchen, that weird exit was starting to make sense. He quickly put all the puzzle pieces together and just when she went to pick up her first bag he cut her off.
“Where are you off to?” he said, snapping out of her thoughts and making her jump as she turned to face the noise.
“Jesus, Buck!” she shouted, taking her outstretched hands that came out in reflex and placing them on her heart. “You could have gotten yourself killed,” she sighed, holding her hands to her chest quickly to put the ‘weapons’ away from him.
“Still standing, luckily,” he said, but she could hear a slight change of tone in judgment.
When she opened her eyes hearing that tone change, she gave him a weird look as he had always been sweet and understanding of her. Now his aura had a twinge of red outlining it.
She looked to where his eyes had quickly assessed the bags behind her before looking at her.
She relaxed her shoulders some and pinched the bridge of her nose as she added 2 + 2 getting a very clear answer of 4.
“This isn’t what it looks like,” she said quickly.
“What do you think it looks like to me?” Bucky countered. It was slight. So slight that she was sure Bucky didn’t even know he was feeling it yet as his anger hadn’t grown enough to notice outside of the extent that Y/N could feel it.
She looked down at Ryker who was of no help as he had the same look that Bucky had on. Judgy…
“Hey, don’t gang up on me too,” she mumbled down to him.
Bucky placed his now forgotten coffee down without too much caution on the counter, to where the ceramic meeting the marble made a loud clinking noise. In a disappointed dad kind of stance, he crossed his arms, turned his head slightly to the side, and took a deep breath.
“Why do you look like you’re going to give me a lecture?” she huffed, starting to pick up on the frustration in the room. “Listen, it’s no one’s business when or why I left,” she said with annoyance in her voice, but Bucky had a small feeling it wasn’t about the team.
It was about her. She was annoyed with herself that she couldn’t handle saying goodbye for real and she was chickening out and giving an Irish goodbye.
“It’s actually a lot of people’s business,” Bucky said, not moving from his stance.
She looked up at him in surprise at his tone. She was never on the receiving end of this Bucky before.
She looked him dead in those crystal blue eyes, but neither of them budged.
“You don’t understand Bucky,” she finally relented, grabbing the bag full of food off the counter next to him.
He grabbed her arm and wrapped his hand around the lunch pail and she froze, snapping her gaze up to him.
“What the hell?” she said loudly looking at the contact. “Let me go.”
“Not until you tell me the truth,” he shook his head.
“The truth?”
“Hmm mmm.”
“My truth is for me and no one else,” she sassed.
“Wrong answer,” he shook his head, his arm still tightly around her wrist.
“Bucky, I swear to God,” she started getting frustrated, trying to shimmy out of his grip but no luck. And it wasn’t even his metal one.
“You swear what? Gonna hurt me?” he asked, taunting her. He even lowered his head slightly more to her level so she could really look into his eyes and attempt to hide the truth.
“Don’t ask for things you don’t want,” she taunted right back.
There was a fire between the two that had been slightly sparking this whole time. One that every once in a while became a flicker with kind thoughts and actions, but this one… This one was a different form of fire and it wasn’t a light little flicker.
Let’s just say, if this wasn’t an actual argument featuring two very stubborn people, there would be a slightly different tone in the scenario.
“I’ll call your bluff then. Hurt me,” he gambled. He knew what she would do though.
She got frustrated at that and looked back where their hands almost connected.
“Bucky, just let me go and we don’t have to wager anything,” she groaned, trying to stand tall, but at the same time not wanting to actually hurt him.
He was betting on that being the case though.
“Send me a shock up the arm. Anything you want…” When she didn’t he smirked. “You can get out of this hold a million and one ways yet you’re still here…” He now was leaning on the counter perfectly to be right at eye level, while still holding her arm. “You’re not going to hurt me. I know it.”
Her jaw was tense, her face was stoic, and her nose crinkled in annoyance.
Because he was right. She wouldn’t hurt him, even with something as simple as a shock. She couldn’t.
When he saw her relent in her eyes and signs she wasn’t going to fight, he dragged his hand from her forearm to her hand, grasping it in a delicate hold.
“I know saying goodbye sucks and hurts, but you owe it to them,” he said. “You know that deep down and you’re letting your fears and worries ruin that for you.”
“I-” she started, but swallowed her words.
He sighed, squeezing her hand in reassurance.
“Almost 10 years for some of us. That’s how long it’s been since they’ve seen you.” He made a good point. “Sam is dying to make dinner with you one night and take you to a new Indian food place that he found after the snap.” He began listing her friends one by one… “Nat had mentioned wanting to do a spa day with you and to watch the newest James Bond movie in the theater room Tony built. Clint and Laura mentioned coming up to the farm and having a stargazing-bonfire night with the kids. Tony wants you to officially meet his daughter. He says she’s a spitfire like you and he doesn’t know how to handle her sometimes and needs your advice on how to reason with her. Steve-”
“Please stop,” she whispered, cutting him off.
He hadn’t noticed, but with each person he listed, her head tilted down further and further. He looked at her downcast head and let out a sigh through his nose looking away, seeing he may have gone a little too far in the guilt trip. But he had to make her conscious of what she was doing.
“Steve and I would really like to go to all kinds of museums with you and have you tell us about things we missed. He started a list of ones he wants to visit with you as his tour guide. What better historian than one that’s been through it all?” he said, bringing his free hand to lift her chin up.
She was crying and tried to keep him from seeing her do it, but she couldn’t hide it anymore.
“You mean a lot to everyone here. Everything you said last night could be said right back to you by a lot of those people,” he said softly. “Don’t mess it up by walking out.”
She looked back and forth between his eyes as he waited for her to come back to him.
She sniffled a little and took his other hand slowly away from her face grabbing it like their other hand was entwined.
“You’re a truly remarkable person, Bucky,” she said. “One the world doesn’t deserve and will probably never truly deserve.”
He couldn’t help the small smile that brought him.
“But I have to go,” she said, shocking him back to his frown from earlier.
“What?” He stood up stunned. After that speech, she still wanted to leave.
She hesitantly, then quickly pulled her hands back and went to grab her bag.
“I told you wouldn’t understand, which is a lie, but I still can’t tell you why I have to do this…” she said more to herself, even though she knew he could hear her.
Ryker let out a whine as she grabbed her last suitcase.
Bucky looked down at him then quickly back at Y/N.
“Even after everything I said, you’d still leave without-” Bucky said, flabbergasted.
“You’re leaving?” Tony’s voice caught them both off guard as he walked into the kitchen.
He was still wearing jeans and a band shirt showing he had probably been in the shop all night and never went to bed the night before. It wasn’t a rare thing to do with Tony.
Y/N looked at Tony in shock and then annoyance at Bucky.
“I have to go,” Y/N said one last time. “I’ll send you a note in the mail Tony explaining, but I have to go,” she said quickly. “Ryker, come on.”
Ryker stood, but paused looking back at Bucky and Tony as if begging them to stop her.
She turned back, seeing 3 sets of disappointed eyes.
“Stop all of you, ok!” she grunted irritated. “I am a grown woman who can make decisions. Please just let me make my mistakes and move on.”
Bucky realized her phrasing and picked up that she didn’t actually want to do this. The word choice of mistake confused him some.
“Tony, say something,” Bucky gestured to the other man, who was still stunned in his spot.
Just as he was about to open his mouth though, F.R.I.D.A.Y came on the intercom.
“Boss, I have that research finally downloaded.”
“Send it to my phone,” he said, still looking toward Y/N inches from the elevator door.
His phone buzzed and he looked down and his expression changed.
“I’ll be looking forward to that letter in the mail,” he finger gunned her way.
“Tony!” Bucky shouted, raising a hand.
Though shocked and confused by the turn around, Y/N brushed it off quickly and called Ryker again, who finally followed and got into the elevator with her.
Before the doors closed, she looked at Bucky one more time and saw a true and honest letdown on his face. Disappointment didn’t do the look justice. He was 100% discouraged by her choice and she could tell.
It hurt knowing she had done that to him, but she truly was keeping him from the worse outcome.
They didn’t break eye contact up until the point that the elevators did it for them. And once the metal doors sealed shut, Bucky couldn’t pull his eyes away from the silver shine of them.
“Barnes, I know Y/N leaving now is the last thing either of us want-“ Tony started.
“What?” Bucky turned his head slowly to him. “Last thing we wanted? You just practically showed her out!”
“If you let me finish… All for good reason.”
“What could possibly be a good reason?”
Tony could sense the heat from earlier, but didn’t have time nor the mindset to evaluate it further.
“I found some information. Some things we need to talk about. Let’s just say, it’s case sensitive to Y/N and she’s better off thousands of miles away right now than down the hall from what I found.”
Bucky’s eyebrows furrowed at what Tony was getting at.
“What are you talking about, Stark?” he turned his body to him, planting his palms on the counter.
“It’s best if I show you. Come down to the lab,” he motioned him as he turned to the hall, but stopped. “Wait, I forgot I came here for coffee,” he walked over to the counter. “Awe already made me a cup. Thanks Sarge,” he winked, grabbing the coffee mug Bucky had forgotten and turning back to the exit.
Bucky rolled his eyes, but followed anyway.
TAGS:
Everest Tags: (if I missed you in tags, comment on this chapter to let me know:)
Series Summary: She was done and retired. After Thanos and after the battle of a lifetime, she had called it quits and had distanced herself from the Avenger lifestyle. But word finds her that someone from her past is in danger. What the journey entails was never one she wanted to face nor one she saw becoming her reality again. The rollercoaster that comes with fighting evil odds arrives on her doorstep not leaving much room for a no…
Pairing:Bucky Barnes x Reader
Word Count: 3400+
Chapter 11:
The ride wasn’t long and just about 3 miles out from where they were headed, she knew where they were going.
She stayed silent the whole ride and sat in the passenger side while Clint drove and Nat and Wanda sat in the back of the SUV.
Upon pulling into the driveway, she didn’t instantly get out of the car. She took a moment to reminisce on the last time she was here. It was right after the blip and she came to check on Lori and Marley, and found that Marley had run away and Lori had been a victim of Thanos’s actions.
She had seen Lori since, but it was never back at this house. Lori had come to Avenger compound to check on Y/N before she even had the chance to make her way out to her home. Since then, they had met in the middle of the city to catch up, or stuck to sending postcards and letters in the mail.
It was as if she were stuck to her seat. She knew upon getting out of the car, what was to come. She thought she was ready for the next step in her grieving process, but seeing it was on the doorsteps in front of her now, it was harder to accept.
Seconds later, Lori opened her screen door and walked onto her porch. She was older. A little more fragile looking than the last time Y/N had seen her.
It’s funny to see a friend you’ve known since college age up when you’ve stayed the same. At the same time, it’s just as painful.
Y/N took in a small breath, and opened the car door. The others within the vehicle took it as their cue to leave as well.
No words were said between the old friends as Y/N approached the steps to the porch. They shared a look, and within it silent words were spoken. Lori met her halfway as she stood at the banister and Y/N went up the steps knowing it would have been somewhat of a struggle for the near 60 year old woman.
Once at the same level, Lori sent her a kind smile and opened her arms. At her age she had lost some height, therefore making Y/N bend down a little to embrace her.
They stayed in that hug for as long as the other needed. When they eventually broke, Y/N smiled back.
“I’ve missed you, friend,” she said softly.
“I’ve missed you too, old lady,” Lori winked.
Y/N laughed slightly at that before remembering why she was here.
“I’m sor-” she started.
“None of that,” Lori shook her head, grabbing her arm, and directing her into the home. “We aren’t here to mope about the past.”
“Isn’tthat the whole reason we’re here,” Y/N countered.
Lori stopped in her step and turned, giving Y/N a motherly glare.
“Let’s not forget you’re older than me, even though I may look it. You’re supposed to be the wise one,” she hummed.
“Yet, you’ve somehow always beat me out in that area.” Y/N smirked slightly.
“Well, then take this advice,” Lori patted her arm, continuing to walk her toward the backdoor. “To grieve is to show true love for those that have gone on to their next journey. Even when we aren’t exactly ready for it, we have to accept it.”
Just as they approached the back porch, Y/N saw outside the door was the entire team and then some gathered around her lovely garden she had spent years creating.
Everyone, including herself and Lori, were wearing various shades of Marley’s favorite color instead of black. Marley loved to spend time out in nature and had created her own plot in the garden that Lori and her created where everyone now stood.
A flashback to a moment of time with Marley in the garden hit her as she looked out to the group.
____________________
“Why do people wear black to funerals?” Marley asked.
Y/N paused in her laying of mulch as she pivoted on her knees and gave the young girl a raised eyebrow.
“Where did that question come from?” she chuckled slightly under her breath, before turning back to the creation of the garden and patted down some dirt.
“Well, when we buried that bird over there the other week,” Marley pointed out to a tree far off in the distance, “you said it’s tradition to wear black to funerals when I asked if we could have one for it.”
“And that memory is coming to you now?” Y/N laughed again.
“Well, all the digging we’re doing…” Marley shrugged.
She had been referring to a bird that unfortunately had flown into one of the windows and passed away due to the harsh impact with the glass. It was one of the few animals that they had practiced relieving its pain when Marley was working on her powers.
It was an unfortunate situation, but Marley had asked for help in easing its pain and then later asked to host a funeral for the little guy.
“I see,” Y/N nodded, patting down one last patch of mulch before standing and dusting her hands off.
Marley finished planting the few seeds she had been in charge of and joined Y/N at her side quickly after.
Y/N threw her arm over the young girl’s shoulder as they slowly made their way to a small bench under a tree where some lemonade left out by Lori was waiting for them.
“I believe it dates back to Roman times actually,” she answered. “They would wear darker togas when a loved one had fallen to show they were in mourning. It’s considered a sign of respect. I guess it just continued on as a tradition.”
They sat and Y/N poured a glass for her and Marley before taking a seat and taking off her hat, wiping the sweat produced from the hot summer sun.
“But why black?”
“I don’t know. I guess when you think death, you think darkness. Therefore black,” Y/N shrugged, taking a long drink after.
“I don’t want black at my funeral,” she said after a minute.
Y/N quirked her head at the comment.
“I’d prefer we didn’t talk about your funeral,” Y/N shook her head.
She had seen enough death in her lifetime, and it never seemed to be something she could find herself getting used to. If anything, she despised it more and more with each person she lost as she never grew older.
“I’m just saying. When the day comes, I want everyone to wear my favorite color. Not dreary and depressing black,” Marley continued, her lemonade in hand forgotten as she continued on her little daydreaming scenario.
“What color would that be?” Y/N asked.
“Green. Any kind of green. My favorite is hunter green though. It reminds me of new plants…”
“New plants, huh?”
“Yeah, when something dies in a garden, a new plant usually replaces it. And when it does, well… Almost everything in nature when it first starts out is green or has tones of green. It’s like the color that symbolizes a new start.”
Y/N stared at Marley as she stared off into the beginning of her new garden.
“I guess you’re right,” Y/N nodded, still watching the wise young lady before her.
______________
And just like she had mentioned all those years ago, her funeral was filled with people wearing the color that meant a new start.
Y/N looked down and noticed the tone she was wearing was that of her favorite. The dress was a dark hunter green just like Marley had made note of before.
She looked back up to see that Wanda was now in the backyard along with Vision, and Nat and Clint had made their way back to the garden as well.
“Wanda planned it all,” Lori spoke up. “Every detail she made sure was fit for our Marley.”
Y/N nodded and a tear she hadn’t realized was falling, tumbled down her cheek. Once they came down the steps of the back porch, everyone turned.
Tony, Bruce, Steve, Sam, Wanda, Vision, Nat, Peter, Clint and Laura,… Everyone that could be there, was there.
They had left a small gap that led to the garden’s gate that was open. A path was paved for her to walk, with Lori on her arm.
As she approached everyone, she gave them small head nods showing she was grateful for their presence and help with everything. But looking ahead, she wasn’t sure she could take the steps.
Wanda approached her side and took her other arm.
“We can do it together,” she whispered.
Y/N felt a sense of relief flow through her and she turned to Lori. Though she may be fronting as brave and strong, Y/N could still sense her sorrow in all this.
Though she didn’t have much of her own to give, she sent the same type of wave Wanda had to Lori.
Lori took a deep breath as if somewhat relieved of the pain and smiled up at her.
With the motivation to carry on, they started their walk through the garden, right to the spot where Y/N and Marley had sat for lemonade more than once on that monumental bench. On the tree providing shade to it, a beautiful wisteria tree that Y/N may or may not have used some magic to grow, there was a plaque placed on the giant trunk of it.
Wanda and Lori took a step back and allowed Y/N her space to inspect and read what it read.
To live in the hearts we love, is not to die, but to live on in love and peace. May her kind heart live on in a world not ready for her, but in need of her. Rest in Peace, Marley.
She walked up slowly to the wooden plate and brushed her fingertips along the engravement. A feeling of pain hit her, but more than that was a feeling to ruminate or reflect.
She had the last two weeks to mourn and fall in the pit that Bucky had mentioned. Would she rather have stayed in that empty and hollow pit she was finding her new sense of comfort in? Yes. Would it have been what Marley would have wanted? Would it do anything to help her actually move on from all the trauma? No and most definitely not…
Now was the time for a new start. A concept Marley had found herself believing even at a young age.
She had brought it up and explained it many years ago and it wasn’t until this moment, surrounded by others ready to help Y/N and themselves in the next step of the grieving process that how she had been reacting was somewhat selfish.
Marley chose the finality of her death. She sacrificed herself for the greater good without hesitance and right after getting her life and mind back. Who was Y/N to take that away from her?
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and flattened her hand on the plaque.
In the next second, a rustle of wind surrounded the group and the branches and flowers from the tree swayed in a calming yet powerful way.
Instantly, a feeling of tranquility and alleviation surrounded everyone. As if the feeling was sprinkled throughout the petals falling from the tree. It was beautiful. Purple and violet pieces from the flowers that swayed in the wind rained on the guest and created a beautiful scenery.
One that represented the start of a new life. What was once dead is now moving on to its next journey.
Bucky looked up seeing how the colorful petals flowed around them staying within that part of the garden, until Y/N removed her hand from the trunk and they blew up and floated away in the wind.
Looking at her, she was still sad, just as anyone would be at saying goodbye to someone they love dearly, but she was now at peace like Marley was.
She had accepted her fate and sacrifice no matter how against it she was. She had accepted that Marley’s time here was done and wouldn’t be continued on this earth. Their earth at least… Moving forward was all that was left.
And it wasn’t just Bucky who noticed the difference. In her action of accepting the new feeling of peace, every guest around her felt it as well.
It was in the air. It was in the entire garden. The time to grieve is never truly one that ends, but the feeling of being able to continue on in one’s own life is one that some never reach. And lucky for Y/N, she had taken that step thanks to everyone that was surrounding her now.
____________________
Inside, Wanda, Nat, Sam, Clint and Laura began on a small late night dinner for everyone. What better way to celebrate life than spending time with those you still had the chance and time to be with?
However, Y/N had disappeared a while ago and Bucky noticed as they were finishing the last part of cooking, she was still nowhere in sight.
As he tried to casually look around for her without giving away his worry, Wanda smirked looking up at him then back at the strawberries she was cutting.
“She’s up in Marley’s room. First door on the right,” she said, causing Bucky to look at her with a surprised face. Oh right… Mind reading. “Do you mind going up there and letting her know the food is almost ready?”
“Me?” he asked.
“Uh, huh,” she nodded with a small smile, still watching her fingers as she cut the red fruit.
Bucky hesitated, wondering if he was the right person for the simple job, but did as asked anyway.
He walked up the stairs in a quiet manner, nervous to invoke on Y/N’s privacy. However, once he reached the top, the door Wanda had directed him to was open.
There was a soft song coming from the doorway and as Bucky slowly moved closer, he noticed the slightest bit of scratching that only comes from a record player.
He peeked his head around the door frame and saw Y/N looking at an album in her hand. He didn’t recognize the song, but it had a calming and comforting tune to it.
He didn’t say anything at first. He let her sit there for a second, not wanting to interrupt whatever moment she could have been having.
But he should have known she would sense his presence before he even came up the stairs.
“All the Wild Horses, by Ray LaMontagne.” Bucky straightened at her voice. “This album was our favorite to listen to when we had late nights.”
She still never looked up from the plastic cover she was holding.
“I like it. It’s nice,” he responded after a minute.
“It is, isn’t it?” she hummed with a slight smile. Then she looked up at him and said softly. “I bought it for her on her 14th birthday. It’s been used a lot since then.”
There was silence as Bucky wasn’t sure he knew what to say, or if he really needed to say anything. Though Y/N didn’t say anything and seemed to be in her own headspace for a minute.
“Sorry. You came up here for a reason,” she said, snapping out of it.
“Oh, I was just going to tell you dinner’s almost ready. Wanda sent me up. But no rush,” he waved off, leaning on the door frame.
“No, it’s ok. I’m just reminiscing,” she smiled, putting the vinyl album down with it back in its sleeve.
He could sense the slightest bit of resistance to her putting it up.
“You should take it.”
“What?” she looked up at him.
“You should take the album back with you,” he rephrased.
“I don’t know…” she said hesitantly. Something about disrupting the peace with her room that was the same from before she left, felt wrong.
“Something tells me she would want you to have it. A keepsake from her,” Bucky shrugged. “I mean you don’t have to, I’m just saying it would be a nice piece of her to keep.”
She looked back at it and picked it up once more. She brushed the little flakes of dust that had collected over the years on it and turned it in her hand.
Then she smiled down at it before looking at Bucky with the same smile.
“You know? I think you may be right.”
Bucky couldn’t help the smile that formed on his own face and he stepped away from the doorway and motioned to the stairs.
“Ready whenever you are,” he said.
“Thank you,” she smiled a little wider and hugged the album to her chest as she descended the stairs with him behind her.
________________________
The dinner was simple and quaint.
They ended up doing breakfast for dinner as it was Marley and Y/N’s favorite tradition and time she came to visit.
There were chocolate chip pancakes, quiche, biscuits and gravy, fresh fruits and jam, orange juice, coffee, and tea… And little things on top of that.
The evening was happy and light. Upbeat and silly stories shared about Marley and Y/N, which turned to ones about Marley and Wanda, and sparked stories within the crew outside of just Marley.
Alot of them consisted of the team making fun of each other for dumb normal things that happened within their life outside of missions.
It was perfectly normal and nuclear.
After dinner was served, half went out onto the patio on the back and drank a glass of wine or beer, and the other half stayed inside going through photo albums and talking about times Y/N and Lori were in college and the many adventures that came out of that.
They stayed for a while. But when it got late, Lori was ready to call it a night as she wasn’t as much of a night owl as she used to be, which led to the team packing up and getting out of her hair out of courtesy.
“I expect you to come visit more often, you understand?” Lori said as she hugged Y/N, not letting go of her for at least 2 minutes.
“What about you visiting me?” Y/N countered.
“You’re funny if you think I’m going to take a 8+ hour flight to the middle of nowhere Europe,” she laughed back.
“Eh, worth a try,” Y/N chuckled as they finally pulled away.
There was a moment of silent communication and sad smiles exchanged.
“She would be proud,” Lori said with a knowing grin. “I know I am.”
Y/N didn’t know how to respond to it as she didn’t necessarily agree with the comment herself. She knew that would be the next step in her grieving process, but it just hadn’t hit yet, nor was she sure it would.
“Love you, Lori,” she winked, going in for one more quick hug.
“Love you too, Sunshine,” she hugged her back tightly. “Oh! There’s one more thing I meant to give you before you left,” she rushed over the kitchen counter and opened a random drawer. Coming back, she had a little box perfect size for a piece of jewelry. “I found it when I was cleaning out her room the other week. I finally got the courage to clean up some in there and when I opened her drawer to put something in it, I found this with a note attached to it… It’s for you.”
Y/N looked at the brown cardboard box, simple and not accented with anything but her name written in beautiful cursive letters.
She could have opened it right there, but a part of her was telling her to wait until she was alone. Something about it was too sentimental to open in front of an audience.
“Thank you,” Y/N nodded, taking the box gently.
The two said their last goodbyes and gave one last long hug before Wanda went in for hers, and they packed up the cars and headed back to the compound.
Though today was hard, it was needed for not just Marley’s next step in her journey, but Y/N’s as well.
TAGS:
Everest Tags: (if I missed you in tags, comment on this chapter to let me know:)
Series Summary: She was done and retired. After Thanos and after the battle of a lifetime, she had called it quits and had distanced herself from the Avenger lifestyle. But word finds her that someone from her past is in danger. What the journey entails was never one she wanted to face nor one she saw becoming her reality again. The rollercoaster that comes with fighting evil odds arrives on her doorstep not leaving much room for a no…
Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader
Word Count: 6300+
A/N: fair warning, if you can’t tell from the word count, this one is going to have a lot of information!!
Chapter 4:
A few days had gone by. Ones where Bucky noticed Y/N went back to hiding herself in her room, outside of taking Ryker for a walk and going and getting food.
He noticed the only other person going into her room was Nat, and on a few occasions, Clint. With the little bit he was able to get out of Nat, he gathered that she was doing nothing but researching and devising a plan for the mission Tony had shared with her.
He had decided not to deep dive into what it consisted of after learning that whatever it was, Y/N had a personal connection to it. Had he gone over the original file a few times in hopes he would find something he missed? Yes. Had he looked into it even a fraction of what he was capable of? No.
He hadn’t known Y/N for long, but in the short time, he had developed a deep respect for her and would rather not disrupt that by digging into her life outside of what she had told him.
At the moment, he had been lounging on the couch and reading a book, when he had dozed off for a few minutes. The thing waking him up was a wet feeling on his hand. He wrinkled his nose half asleep and pulled his hand to position under his pillow, away from the wetness.
However, all that did was promote the source of the drool to assault his face. He backed away as much as a tired man could and lazily put his hand up in defense before opening his eyes to see Ryker smiling at him, now resting his chin on the ledge of the couch waiting for further attention.
Bucky blinked away sleep and sat up looking around the room for his owner, but it was empty besides him and the dog.
“Hey, boy. What are you doing out?” he sat up, patting his head and running his other hand through his hair to fix whatever bed head he had.
Ryker barked in response and Bucky shushed him with a laugh for his loudness. In response, Ryker let out a softer bark that was close to a whisper instead.
“That works too,” Bucky laughed at his antics. “But really, where is your mom?”
As he looked around there was no sign of any other Avengers around. Nat, Clint, and Sam were out on a mission that came up the night before and it sounded kind of important. He didn’t get the details on it, but Sam said they most likely wouldn’t be in cell-phone range and they would be gone for a week at the least.
He would have offered to help, but they seemed to have it covered and he found himself wanting to hang back at the compound for specificreasons.
Steve had gone out of town for something relating to a friend at the retirement home. He said that one of the residents had a niece or something outside of the state that needed help moving and he had offered to lend a hand. It had also happened to be a niece that had visited a few times at the senior center and apparently the two hit it off really well.
Either way, most of the Avengers were gone besides Tony, Peter, and Banner, but they were always in the downunder lab and rarely came out from there.
Bucky was in the hall now with Ryker by his side as they walked to the den, no one there. Then they walked to the kitchen. No one there. Then just as they were turning the hall to Y/N’s room, she busted out with a phone to her ear and a sense of chaos overcame Bucky.
She ran right into his chest, which Bucky caught her by the arms to better steady them both.
Instead of rushing to apologize or even acting surprise at the collision, she immediately rushed out her worry.
“Where’s Nat?” she said, dropping the phone down.
“Um,” Bucky stuttered, thrown off by the question. “She, she’s on a mission. Why? What’s wrong?”
“Clint?”
She was still in his arms as she looked up at him, frantic for his answer.
“Same mission. So is Sam. Steve’s out of town and Tony, Peter, and Bruce are all down in the lab.” He decided to tell her everyone’s whereabouts in hopes of easing her panic.
“Shit,” she said under her breath, looking down and then turning back into her room.
She left the door open, too worried about whatever was going on to shut it.
“Are you ok?” he asked, peering into the room, but stayed at the threshold in case she wanted space.
“I need to leave,” she muttered, running around the place, grabbing random papers and a flashdrive.
“Leave? Like, go home, leave?” he asked.
Ryker, who had been at Bucky’s side the whole time slowly walked into the room clearly feeling the tension himself and being apprehensive.
“No, no…” she shook her head. “I figured out their next stop.”
She never stopped in her rush as she began packing what looked like a go bag and a few other random things Bucky didn’t take the time to recognize.
“Who’s next stop?” he asked.
That finally snapped her out of her frenzy and she stopped to look at him. Ryker let out a small whine, and after a second she registered him and gave a small pat to her bed where he jumped and positioned himself next to her before she let out a breath she had been holding in.
“It’s a long story,” she replied before, in a calmer manner, she started to pack again.
Bucky could tell that this mission meant a lot to her. Whatever new data or findings she had were clearly on a time crunch. That or she was that desperate to find the girl that had been missing on file. Either way it was important to her.
“Do you want some help?” he asked.
She let out a small laugh and then turned and looked at him.
“Do you mean the mission or packing?” she questioned with a raised eyebrow.
“The mission.”
Apparently, that wasn’t the answer she was expecting from him because her face dropped and she stopped her work.
“You don’t have to do that,” she shook her head after a second, turning to the next thing to pack.
“I want to,” he said, taking another step in.
She looked as his foot crossed the doorway and then looked back at him.
“You don’t really know me, Bucky. It’s sweet of you to offer, but you don’t know what I would be asking of you.”
“I don’t care,” he shrugged. He watched as she didn’t answer, but instead went into the connected bathroom and started packing toiletries. “Listen, I don’t know what this mission is about or how you’re connected to it. I didn’t dive into it because I figured I’d give you that privacy, but if you need help, I’m happy to lend it. If you’re worried about the mission being too much for me, I can promise I’ve been through worse.”
She still didn’t respond, but instead kept doing whatever it was in the bathroom. Eventually, she came out and leaned on the doorway.
“It’s because you’ve been through worse, that I don’t want to put this on you.”
He made a small sad grin at that before shrugging.
“What’s one more mission?”
Her face never lifted to a smirk or a smile at the retort. Instead she laid her head on the wood paneling of the frame of the door and her face stayed serious. In a second, the feeling of sorrow and tenderness filled the air. Clearly she wasn’t trying to veil her feelings or energy with him and Bucky could sense every bit of solace radiating off her at his comment.
It was more than what he said and she had hated that he didn’t look out for himself in these situations. Much like his friend, he threw himself in the way of danger as soon as he needed to. But not because of purely the feeling of needing to save those around him, but because of a long past of a guilty conscience that needed to be healed.
He stayed where he was, but shifted in his spot as he felt her analyzing his own emotions and energy. She was scanning him with serious eyes and he didn’t know how to respond.
“Really. It’s nothing. I want to help,” he spoke up. “You’re out of backups really since I’m not sure when Sam, Nat, or Clint will be back. I doubt you want to team up with Tony, and Banner doesn’t really go on missions unless it’s a code green. Parker, the kid, he uh, he has school tomorrow so,” he began to ramble. Anything to direct the attention away from him, but it didn’t work.
She slowly walked toward him and raised a hand to his face. He didn’t feel the need to pull back or escape the touch. No. Instead he froze. The only other time she had gotten this close was when she made him feel as though he was walking on cloud 9, clear of the pain and hurt that weighed him down on a regular basis.
And like before, he felt a sense of ease wash over him. Like the feeling of a breath you never realized you were holding, releasing after a long cry. And the relief of what tight strings holding you together were, becoming loose and letting you fall into a posture that was alleviation.
This time instead of being winded by the change, he was relaxed and close to folding over in his spot at the feeling.
“Your guilt will ruin you,” she whispered.
They were face to face. Mere inches from the other and all he could do was look back and forth between her eyes as if searching for further explanation. And surprisingly, instead of a set intention, he saw conflict in the Y/E/C orbs.
“But that’s not my choice to make.” Her tone was even as she backed away and let out a sigh running her hand through her hair. “I could use the backup, but I’m not necessarily asking you. You have the option to stay home and say no. An option I’m hoping you’ll take for your own mental health…” She added the last part more to herself, but he heard.
“When are you leaving?” he said, watching her turn back to her bags. Ryker now lay on her bed with his head resting on his paws as he watched the two.
“As soon as I can get a plane hotwired and out.”
“I’ll meet you in the hangar in 10,” he nodded, heading to the door. “Should I pack warm or cold?” Not like he was going to wear shorts anytime soon.
“Cold. We have a fun trip to my home country of Russia,” she sighed, stopping for a second to send him a flat smile.
“Good times.”
________________________
There was no need to hotwire a plane as Tony gladly lent one to the two. Though it still cost her a quick conversation of where they were headed to and what leads she had gathered.
She gave him the summarized version of where they were going and the plan on when they got there, but she was also in a hurry to take off and get where they needed. She left Ryker at the compound, even if he was capable of a mission, she wasn’t sure now was the time. Tony and Peter promised they’d watch over him while she was gone, but really it looked as though Peter was the most excited for that chore.
Once the coordinates were locked in and the jet knew where they were off too, Y/N went to get organized with her files she had compiled. One step of the mission was planned out, but knowing anything about this life, you have to be ready for 100 different alternatives of what you’d be getting yourself into.
Bucky had volunteered himself to fly for a while even though autopilot was a thing. He figured giving her space where he wasn’t looming over her in the smaller jet would be best. She would come and tell him what all this mission consisted of when she was ready.
Clearly she wasn’t going to leave him out of the know if he was her backup. Which, that was something else going through his mind.
Why would a being as strong and powerful as her need a man with a gun? Did she really need the backup or was he just the guy in the chair for this mission?
He had been lost in his thoughts about all the possibilities of what this mission could be and what his purpose was here that he didn’t notice her creep beside him and sit in the chair horizontal to him.
“So do you like flying cause you’re in control?” she asked casually, leaning back in her chair looking out the window with one leg brought up to her chest.
He didn’t flinch, but turned quickly to the question.
“What?”
“No purpose behind my questioning really. Just wondering since you’ve practically come into this whole mission blind, and this is the first thing you have control over,” she shrugged, never breaking from the view ahead. “With that being said, you haven’t left the station.”
He shook his head, but couldn’t help the small smirk that formed.
“No, I just figured I’d give you some space until you’re ready to fill me in. I know this is important and personal to you, so I’m working through this at your speed,” he nodded looking from her back to the sky.
Finally, he felt her eyes on him. Though it was hard to miss when you can actually feel her studying your every move and emotion.
“Thank you for that by the way,” she smiled softly. “You’re, you’re right… This whole thing has been really hard looking into and the entire process of it resurfacing has been rough, to put it lightly.”
“I’m sorry about that,” he said sincerely.
“Nothing for you to be sorry for. It’s the world that came crashing in on me, not you,” she laughed lightly, getting more comfortable in her seat. Her more fun and easy going personality that Bucky had met for the first time in her room was showing. “Though I will say, I was expecting a very different version of you coming from Steve. You seem shy and quiet around me.”
“Hate to tell ya, but you’re a little intimidating,” Bucky said with a joking look to her.
“Me? No,” she waved off. “Really?”
“Maybe it’s the age. Maybe it’s the source of your power. Maybe it’s the fact you can lift 70 years of stress off my soul in a single touch. I don’t know, but whatever it is, it’s a touch terrifying,” he lifted his shoulders.
“Hmm, yeah. I can see how that would freak a person out,” she nodded in agreement, before smiling brightly at him. “Yet somehow, you’re still here willing to take on a job with someone you hardly know, and fight something you know nothing of. Tell me why is that?” Her chin rested gently in her hand as she peered at him waiting for his answer.
He paused waiting for the answer to come to him, but really it wasn’t something said in words. It was all just a feeling he had.
Sure he was intimidated by this woman who had done more than most could say they had, but all he really felt was a suffocating cloud of trust when he walked into her atmosphere. Because of that, he would follow her just like he had Steve all those years back and now.
“You don’t have to respond,” she said once he had figured it out. “Whatever it is, I really do thank you for helping me.”
“Of course,” he replied. There was a long second of silence as they just relaxed in knowing their respect for the other. Until, Bucky couldn’t take it any longer. “If you don’t mind me asking though… This mission? What exactly is it?”
“Right. That might be important,” she chuckled, but the light tone was slowly easing back and a more serious mood was developing. “It’s a long story, but one that should be explained.”
“Is it about that girl? The one in the video?”
Y/N stared off into the clouds in front of them and had a distant look. She didn’t answer the question as she got lost into what looked like a far off memory. It took a minute before she started her story.
“I never knew if reincarnation was a real thing or not, until I met Marley.” She paused with a small smile cursing her lips before painfully falling. Her eyes were lost in another world, playing a memory like a movie in the white fluffy backdrop in front of her. “She was a twin soul to my sister. You’d think I’d forget something like that about a person 400 years later, but how do you forget something so sweet and pure?… Even before I had my powers, I was able to get a glimpse of people’s souls and intentions in life. My sister, Rosie, always had a white like glow around her.”
She rested her head back in the chair picturing that same tone of white. In her hand, a mimic of the color grew and formed into a light in her hand.
Bucky couldn’t tell if she was doing it for him to see or just subconsciously as she thought back to it. Either way, he watched up close as her powers wielded effortlessly in her hand.
“It wasn’t like anyone else’s I’d seen. It showed just how much of a true unadulterated and bright human she was. She would move mountains and solve things like world hunger one day…” she sighed. “But alas, the world wasn’t ready for that kind of love yet. It diminished that light before even giving it the chance to heal it.”
Bucky watched as the hurt of losing her sister all that time ago showed fresh on her features. Even as much time had passed, her wounds from it hadn’t fully healed… Maybe never would.
“Anyway, about 15 years ago, we were on a mission that involved a group of mutants. We didn’t know exactly what we were getting ourselves into, but from what we had gathered, someone was finding those that were born with an enhancement and using them for their own selfish needs. We later learned that those that we found, and some that we fought, were against us at their own will. No brainwashing, no threats. They wanted to fight us and were on the side of eventual mass destruction,” she explained.
She turned her head to Bucky who had put the plane on autopilot at this point to watch her intently.
“I want to think that they didn’t know any better… From what information they had been fed, I don’t think they knew what they were doing was wrong. They were just following someone who would beat them otherwise if they didn’t. It becomes a survival instinct at some point and then if you’re there long enough, it becomes your morals and reality.”
“Was Marley one of them?” Bucky said making the connection.
“She was 8 when we found her. Was the most powerful of them all even at that young of an age. But she had no idea what her power was or how to work it. All she really knew was to take orders and point it towards the people who were a threat to the operation,” Y/N answered before looking back out the front windshield. “To make a longer story short, we saved a few individuals and the rest either were killed by Dr. Morozov or one of us who had to take them out.”
“Dr. Morozov?” Bucky questioned,
“More to come on him, but basically the man running the experiments and manipulation with any mutant he could get his hands on,” she said solemnly. “He would find the enhanced and offer them new homes and a place of shelter. Or at least that’s how he put it to lure their naive minds in. Marley was different though. Her parents… Her parents gave her up and sold her when she was just 5,” she said with a sense of disgust in her voice. “They were horribly impoverished thanks to a gambling problem. After I looked into it more, I learned they were a day away from starving. Marley had been exhibiting strange behaviors, but it was really her powers that were becoming more prominent to them. They were scared and freaked out and desperate for money. So when a doctor in a nice suit offers to take your weird child off your hands in return for $10,000, you take it. No questions asked,” she said with a blank stare. And though it was blank, Bucky could sense the anger in it. “I later found out that they blew through that money in less than a few hours of getting it. Not for food. Not for shelter. Not for any form of help, but at some underground gambling arena.”
“Did she know about that?”
“Hard not to when your parents push you off into some strangers arms one random day. Leaves a nice new trail of trauma…”
Y/N rubbed her eyes as if trying to avoid the image of a scared little 5 year old being sold off to a group of soldiers and scientists, like she was merely a frog waiting to be dissected.
“She fought us at first. She was strong, but eventually we were able to calm her down enough to tell her who we were and why we were there. She was stunned for a second and then she broke down and ran into my arms…” she sighed. “She didn’t want to do the things he was making her do.”
There was a pause as Bucky took in the content of the story this far. She gave him a second cause this was a lot and there was even more to come.
“I knew when I saw her, she didn’t want to do the things she was. Which was why I reasoned with her. Everyone else we fought that day, had a set intention of killing us. Not her… She wanted to do what was right… We took her back home. She was quiet and only really spoke with me. Wanda was the only other that she would let get close to her. I later had a friend who took her in for a while. Tony and Wanda and of course Fury are really the only other people who know of her… Steve and the rest know I had a connection with this little girl we saved from this imprisonment we raided, but I wanted her away from the compound. She had seen enough war and fighting. It didn’t need to be a part of her new home life as well.”
“That’s why Steve didn’t recognize her in the video,” Bucky concluded.
“That and she’s grown up a lot. She would be about… 23 now,” Y/N nodded while doing the math. “But that’s the other part of the story,” she said reluctantly.
Bucky sent her a confused look. She looked from him, down to her hands.
“Like stated before, I sent her off to a friend. She lived out in the middle of nowhere like Clint. For 5 years I would go and visit and teach her how to use and control her powers. Not for fighting, but to better work them throughout her life. Trying to conceal something that is a part of you, never did anyone good. But learning how to use them in your life for good, even if it isn’t in a ‘fighting evil type of way,’ is possible.” She cringed at herself some. “And I know. She was young, but all she had been taught so far was how to use them to harm. I wanted to reteach her that she had a purpose outside of that. She had the capability of so much more.”
“I get it,” Bucky said, seeing her fight herself internally. “As someone who had been taken advantage of in a cruel way…” He didn’t expect those words to come out, but he carried on. “Having someone reassure you that you can still do good, means something. Even if you can’t believe it yourself.”
She sent him a small smile. It meant a lot what he was sharing with her and she appreciated it. She sent him a nod in acknowledgement.
“We got her into a good school. She was thriving and finally getting to experience that normal life she never got. I would check on her when I could. She told me didn’t care to use her powers unless it was absolutely necessary. She really didn’t want to become anybody because of them. She wanted normalcy after so long of the opposite.”
“What exactly were her powers?” Bucky asked.
“I’m afraid she may have more powers now than I knew her with before…” Y/N said with hesitance. She saw the confusion on Bucky’s face and went to elaborate. “What we’ve learned from mutants is that they carry a gene that eventually surfaces after a traumatic event. Sometimes otherwise, like through experimentation and operation it can be triggered, but majority of the time, it breaks the surface through trauma. After researching this case, I realized that whoever we are going against, has realized that there can be several genes provoked. Not just one power coming to the forefront, but 2 to 3 now. Sometimes, but rarely, more than that.”
Y/N rubbed her temple as she thought about the multiple people she had files for that were poked and prodded in hopes of triggering another gene. The science behind truly knowing if an individual had more than one wasn’t always accurate. So the probability of someone under the care of those they were going after being tortured with experimentation, was high. Marley likely being one of those individuals.
“When we met Marley, the only power she had was blood manipulation. In formal terms, it’s known as hemokinesis. She can control any form of blood however she pleases,” Y/N explained. “She could heat it to the point where you would practically melt from the inside as your body temp overheated yourself to death. She could constrict your veins causing brain aneurysms and heart attacks. She could physically move and puppet you around by controlling how your blood flowed through you. The list goes on.”
“Holy shit…” Bucky mumbled, shocked by the news.
“Yeah. It wasn’t easy to fight against,” Y/N replied slowly. “But now you can see why that was a big power move for the man in charge. Even the Avengers struggled with the 8 year old.”
“How did you teach her to use them for good?”
The plane hummed in the background as it made a smooth turn. Y/N watched the slight change in scenery before answering.
“With any form of manipulation, you can heal just as much as you can hurt. My powers could easily be used for evil purposes… And when I was young and naive like her, someone had convinced me to do just that. And when you can no longer be convinced, you become forced.”
Her words weren’t meant for his answer, but just a vocalized thought when thinking about how she learned to use her power for good and when she needed to teach Marley the same thing.
“We learned that Marley could heal blood related diseases. It took a lot of practice with other things until she healed a random dog on the street one day…”
___________
13 years ago.
“Y/N, aren’t we supposed to be in hiding? What if someone sees us?” Marley’s small barely 11 year old self whispered by Y/N’s side as they walked the busy streets of New York together.
Y/N being an Avenger and Marley being a young child with gifts that many sought after.
“I found a new spell that allows me to mask our presence. Anyone intentionally looking out for us won’t feel a need for a second glance,” Y/N smiled, bumping her hip playfully. “Plus, I thought it would be nice to get out of the country and the small town farmers markets and get a glimpse of the bustling atmosphere that is the Big Apple.”
Marley looked up at her with her big dark green eyes and smiled. Her life had consisted of poverty, enslavement, and now hiding. She hadn’t had the chance to socialize, besides with the small town people of northern New York.
They were bundled up for the cold weather of the East Coast and were headed to Y/N’s favorite coffee shop as their first stop. The idea of a hot chocolate in hand while admiring Times Square and every little detail the city had to offer, was more than she could have hoped for.
They had spent some time shopping, stopping at a few touristy places, and now watching street performers before hopping on the subway to get closer to home.
Marley had brought up a question of something history based, which got Y/N talking about her knowledge in it, causing her to become distracted and not see Marley stop in an alleyway.
She got maybe 15 feet ahead when she didn’t feel Marley’s presence and she stopped abruptly. She turned in her spot and looked around for the shorter brunette, but didn’t see her.
“Marley?” she shouted in a nervous way. “Marley!”
No answer came back and Y/N immediately back tracked and focused in on her energy to trace her.
Eventually, she saw the alley she went in and she tunneled into her bright soul that only she could see glowing behind a dumpster. She rushed over to the light and before she could get onto her for running off, she noticed she was leaning over a dog.
He was a scraggly mutt that had clearly been living on the streets and was about medium sized. He was laying on his side breathing in a labored way and wasn’t even moving to avoid the little girl that had her hands hovering over his chest.
Instead of asking, Y/N watched. Marley had been practicing using her powers in a way Y/N could best teach her was good and pure. But they had only ever practiced on little mice or rats they found on the farm. Each one coming out unharmed after Y/N made sure she could assess and fix the situation if needed.
But a whole dog?
In a few seconds, the dog let out a few big coughs and then a sigh of relief. Y/N could tell the feeling of distress and pain had been alleviated from the animal and he seemed at ease.
“What did you do?” Y/N asked, impressed and confused at the same time.
As if just now noticing Y/N’s presence, most likely thanks to the concentration she had on her work, Marley turned quickly and looked at her shocked before the dog who began sitting up.
“He was sick,” she replied meekly. “I did that thing you taught me about feeling energy. It felt off and painful, so I shifted it.”
Y/N bent down and slowly put her hand on the dog’s head to send him a reassuring feeling showing he was safe.
“How did you shift it?” Y/N asked, looking back at Marley now that the dog was fine.
“Um, I don’t really know, but I don’t sense the disease anymore…” Y/N sent her a confused look with a tilt of her head. “His blood wasn’t normal. There was a parasite in it. I took it out.”
___________
“How did she take it out?” Bucky asked, completely engaged with the story.
“She said she had used my training to focus on little parts of energy. You can feel energy as a whole, but if you concentrate enough, you can break it down into fragments. The fragments make up the entirety of course, but if you’re strong enough, you can manipulate the fragments, therefore changing the whole. It takes a lot of energy and power, but it’s possible…” Y/N broke down for him. “Apparently, she did something similar to the blood. She was able to find the sickness in him and burn it out on it’s own without harming any other blood cells. She completely healed him from whatever disease he had running through him.”
“Wow…” Bucky thought about it for a second, taking in all the new information and storing it away for later. “So say if someone had cancer that affects the blood or something, she could heal it?”
Y/N nodded.
“The capabilities she had were always high… Which is why I’m worried now.”
“When’s the last time you saw her?” Bucky asked, realizing that when she had come to the compound the first time, she claimed she was dead.
“I went to her house when she turned 13 for her birthday party. It was just me, Wanda, Vis, and Ryker who went. I should mention the friend she was staying with was someone from my past. Lori was a woman I met when I went to college one of my many times I attended and she became a nomad in upstate New York. She always wanted a kid, but never settled down. She was about 58 when I brought Marley to her. They instantly bonded and Lori practically adopted her as her own. Marley returned the favor as she never had anyone outside of me actually care for her.”
It was quiet for a second. Like Y/N had to collect her thoughts before continuing.
“Lori was a part of the blip and Marley wasn’t. Since I was up in the middle of nowhere space with Tony and Nebula after the fight, I couldn’t come check and see if she was ok. But once I did get back to Earth, I learned Wanda was gone… Vis had been killed. Nat was…” she took a second, grimacing at the harsh memories. “A lot had to be figured out before I could go find her. But by the time I did… She was gone. She left a note at Lori’s and her house saying she needed to figure things out on her own.”
She let out a harsh laugh.
“She had been in the system of staying off the radar. She knew how to do it if she needed to, so she did. I couldn’t find her for 5 years. The only thing keeping me sane in knowing she was ok was letters I would randomly get every month. Every month a postcard would show up at the compound telling me she was fine and figuring things out. There was no word of mass destruction, so I figured she was in the clear of turning to the dark side.” She was quick to defend her comment. “Not that I thought she would, but it scared me either way.”
“What happened after that 5 years?”
Y/N let out a long sigh and readjusted in her seat.
“The big final battle was fought and we brought everyone we lost back. I moved out to my new home and continued to get the letters from the compound which Wanda would bring to me when she could. I figured she was safe and just traveling. Even Lori said she had dropped by a few times in the year after the fight, so things seemed ok. I gave her the space to be the mature teenager she was, and…”
There was something there that she wanted to say, but Bucky couldn’t read her now. She just stared off into the abyss with no real focus on anything. Then she came back to reality and stood up.
“I received a video. A video showing someone experimenting on her. Then an explosion went off in the background and the building began to crumple from the inside. They left her on the table strapped down in so many ways, she was incapable of escaping,” she said very factually. “She burned. I watched it happen with my own eyes.” The last part of her explanation said without emotion.
There was more to the story and more details than just that, Bucky could see the memories of it flicker in her glossed eyes, but she left it at that.
“But apparently I was wrong and that’s what’s bringing us to this mission now,” she said more seriously and sternly. The tone of being upset with herself was very clear.
Without further explanation, she turned and walked to the back of the plane. At first, Bucky thought she was done with her story and realized he had learned a lot about the girl, but not necessarily the mission they were on.
He turned to look over the back of the chair for a second, but saw her turn a corner of the jet disappearing. He waited a second for her to reappear but she never did.
Realizing she may need a moment, he turned the autopilot off and switched to manually flying again. His mind trying to reel through all the new information given to him, but really being blown away by this part of her life.
Clearly she had a thing for taking in those who needed it, Wanda being one of the others, and she made a very personal bond with them. The bond so personal that she would do just about anything to keep them safe and look out for them.
This mission was clearly life or death to her, and Bucky was trusted with it.
Lost in his thoughts, he once again didn’t sense her come back into the cockpit.
“Whoever the hell took her this time, is going to pay.”
The new file laid out in front of him now showed a picture of an older version of the girl from the video and her stories, strapped to a table and surrounded by machines and tools. Not the tools that fix someone either, the tools that torture someone. Next to her was a doctor all masked up and scrubbed in to start the procedure. His eyes gave an evil glare to the camera.
“One time is too many times for her to be treated like this. Everyone associated with her abduction is going to perish…”
Bucky looked up to see her dead staring at the picture while dried tears marked her face. She was going to save Marley even if it cost her everything.
TAGS:
Everest Tags: (if I missed you in tags, comment on this chapter to let me know:)
Series Summary:She was done and retired. After Thanos and after the battle of a lifetime, she had called it quits and had distanced herself from the Avenger lifestyle. But word finds her that someone from her past is in danger. What the journey entails was never one she wanted to face nor one she saw becoming her reality again. The rollercoaster that comes with fighting evil odds arrives on her doorstep not leaving much room for a no…
Series Summary: She was done and retired. After Thanos and after the battle of a lifetime, she had called it quits and had distanced herself from the Avenger lifestyle. But word finds her that someone from her past is in danger. What the journey entails was never one she wanted to face nor one she saw becoming her reality again. The rollercoaster that comes with fighting evil odds arrives on her doorstep not leaving much room for a no…
Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader
Word Count: 3500+
A/N:Sorry this is late today! I forgot to queue it last night and didn’t realize until now! Anyway, enjoy and get pumped for the next chapter! Lot’s of information coming your way soon:) xoxoxo
Chapter 3:
Bucky didn’t see her for the next 24 hours. He had casually walked by her room on multiple occasions, or stayed in common spaces in hopes that they would run into each other, but neither helped.
So when Steve asked if he had seen her around, he didn’t have anything to share.
“I bet she’s taking a walk. She does that when she needs to think better or decompress,” Steve nodded. “Up for an evening walk around the compound?”
Bucky didn’t have to think twice. Something about her was just extremely intriguing and kept him wanting to know more and more about her as well as be around her. He was yearning for the calm energy she showed him.
They had walked at least a mile and there was no sight of her. Then a loud bark made them turn their heads.
Off in the distance, Y/N was throwing a ball for her dog that was now with her. But the closer the two looked, she wasn’t throwing it with her hand. A white light that was her power was picking it up and chunking the ball so far in front of her, Ryker practically disappeared in the distance as he chased after the toy.
She was in a pair of leggins with an old sweatshirt that she had placed her hands into after she launched Ryker’s tennis ball. She had her hair up in a bun with a head scarf wrapped through it making it a messy yet fashionable updo. To keep up with the cool weather, she had on a set of duck hiking boots that had cabin socks coming out of the top of them.
“She, uh, she didn’t mention being mad at me still when you guys talked, did she?” Steve asked, nerves showing in his question as he watched her from a distance.
“You didn’t come up, bud,” Bucky answered, upset his words wouldn’t reassure him like he hoped.
“Right,” he nodded, knowing that was probably the case, but he wanted to check anyway.
A second later than needed, they started making their way to her. Ryker was running up from the distance he just ran.
He dropped the ball, looked at the men and gave his mom a look of, “Should I do something?” Y/N shook off the look, showing no need for the protection, and threw the ball for him again. He barked before taking off, following the command.
“Nice day out,” Steve said, and Bucky had to take a double take of the awkward anxiety that riddled his voice.
“I’ve never cared for the winter as everything dies, but right before Fall sets in, the cooler temperatures are always nice,” she nodded, still looking off where Ryker had gone. Her hands back in the jacket pocket and face not giving any tell about how she felt in this situation.
There was awkward silence as they stood there not knowing the next form of small talk to take on.
They stayed like that long enough that Ryker had come back from his sprint. It was like he sensed the tension himself as he looked between the three with his tennis ball still in his mouth.
“I don’t think he remembers me,” Steve said. “When we came by, it was the first time ever he treated me like a threat…”
Ryker had sat next to his mom and looked up at Steve. The look of a protector from the first reunion was gone, but instead just a mellow canine sat in front of him.
“I trained him to treat everyone that came on our land uninvited as a threat. Avengers included,” she answered. “Didn’t think you guys would be dumb enough to show up, but yet again, it was stupid of me to think that.”
“Y/N, I’m sorry about the whole-” Steve started, overcome with guilt from his actions.
She raised a hand cutting him off and shook her head before looking at him finally.
“I know it wasn’t you, Steve. I’m not upset about your visit anymore. I know you, and I understand what your intentions were,” she said.
“Still, I didn’t mean to invade your privacy-” he began again, worried that he needed to elaborate on his actions.
“It’s fine, Steve. Truly, it’s fine,” she cut him off again, shaking her head and giving him the softest smile. “I blame one person and even then, I’m starting to wonder if I should be angry with them.”
“Stark?”
“Who else?” she let out a small chuckle and grabbed the ball from Ryker before chunking it again.
This time Bucky looked at how her powers appeared and noticed it was a white light that encased the ball, but looking closer, there were colors from the whole rainbow zipping through the essence of the lumination.
“You know he feels bad, right?” Steve said, ever the peacemaker.
She ignored his comment and stayed staring where Ryker had gone. Bucky took note of the sore subject and changed it.
“I’m guessing you’re staying longer, if you picked him up,” Bucky nodded his head toward the dog and put his hands in his pockets.
“Not sure how long I’ll be here. Depends on the mission. But I went to pick him up last night, and have been holed up in my room since. Figured we both deserved some fresh air,” she nodded.
“Do you need help with anything?” Steve asked cautiously, worried he would cross a boundary by asking.
“Not right now. I’m still trying to figure out a few things,” she answered and Bucky could practically see the conflict flashing through her mind.
When she didn’t say anything, lost in thought, Steve spoke up.
“Well, if you do, you know who you can reach out to.”
Her lips slowly formed a surprisingly gentle smile and she looked back at Steve with a thankful look.
“I know. Thank you,” she said delicately. “It’s just been…” she looked where Ryker was coming back. “It’s been a lot.”
When the rottweiler was in front of them, he went straight to Steve and sat at his feet. He looked up at him with a small head tilt before nodding up as if asking him to take the ball.
“He remembers you,” Y/N reassured. “He just knows protecting me above all.”
Steve smiled before kneeling down and petting his head.
“You had me worried there for a second, boy,” Steve smirked, immediately getting a lick from him as he dropped the ball and forgot it.
Bucky watched as Steve reunited with the dog, and the thought of having a pet crept into his mind. He’d never considered having a pet given the lifestyle, but apparently Y/N had Ryker in her time of fighting, so maybe it was possible. A dog like Ryker would be ideal. He loved the big athletic ones, but maybe a cat… You could leave them alone for days and they would be fine.
Being lost in thought, he didn’t notice Ryker moving onto him and sniffing and smiling at him as dogs do.
“He likes you,” Y/N noted. “Usually takes more than one meeting before he eases up around people.”
Bucky looked at Y/N before the copper face of Ryker. He didn’t know dogs could smile, but the look he gave him was definitely a dog version of a grin. He bent down and scratched behind the dog’s ear, getting a grunt that showed he enjoyed the attention.
“Hey, we’re making dinner again tonight. Sam, Nat, and Clint will be there this time,” Steve said, hinting at her joining.
She sighed, “I have a lot of research I need to get done.”
“We can help,” Steve offered again. “I’m sure Nat would love to.”
“I know she will. I’ll probably have to take her up on that. The tech here updates every two seconds it feels like and I’ve had some hiccups,” she nodded.
“Think about it. We’d love to catch up with you and hang out,” Steve said. “Plus, I think Sam said something about your favorite meal.”
“Is that so?” she smirked. “Becoming a big time chef around here, huh?”
“He really wants to see you,” Steve smiled, crossing his arms.
“I’ll consider it.”
Steve and Bucky excused themselves after that, and Bucky watched as Y/N began walking around the compound with Ryker staying close by. __________________
Later that evening, Sam took his time perfecting the meal in hopes that every detail would convince her more and more to come out of her room, even if she wasn’t there to watch him analyze every step of the recipe.
Once they were all in their seats with their own servings, there still wasn’t any sign of her coming in. Almost every person at the table would look up and check the doorway in hopes she would appear at some point.
They were halfway through the meal, and slowly losing faith she would come, when they suddenly heard the clicking of a dog’s nails on the hard floor.
Every head turned and as soon as Ryker came around the corner, he pranced over to the table with his tail wagging.
Seconds after, Y/N came around in a matching set of linen loungewear. She had her hair still up in a bun and the headscarf had been wrapped around her head and hair in an intricate and professional way. As if she had done it a million times before, which was probably true.
“Hey! There she is! We were wondering if you’d ever come out of your cave,” Sam bursted from his seat and rushed to her.
She gave him a smile in return and opened her arms up as Sam enveloped her in a hug.
“Good to see you too, Zazu,” she giggled as he lifted her up slightly off the ground.
“That nickname still? Seriously?” he groaned, putting her back down gently.
“When you stop flying through the sky with giant wings, I’ll pick something else out for you,” she winked, patting his arm and moving to the group of people sitting 10 feet away from them.
Bucky had to grin at that because who didn’t love to see Sam get picked on? Plus, he had a new name to use against him.
“Hey, guys,” she said softly, as if waiting for a reaction she wasn’t sure of.
Bucky could feel a sense of uncertainty and restlessness coming from her. Clearly she was nervous about the long coming reunion.
Nat was the first to stand, and on her face was a solid blank face. No one could tell what was coming.
Yet, no one was surprised by the smirk that pulled at her lip before she leaned in for a hug. The two stayed attached to each other, and if you looked close enough, Nat let the smallest shiver pass through her, and Bucky knew that was Y/N’s doing.
It was like a small force of feelings she had felt over the time they weren’t together, ending with an apology.
“рада видеть тебя снова, сестра,” she whispered. (Glad to see you again, sister.)
Y/N turned back to the family at the table. All of them sharing soft and welcoming smiles.
“I guess, we have a lot to talk about,” she laughed softly, with a shrug.
“Just a little,” Clint responded. ____________________________
Two hours flew by of the group catching up. Bucky took it as time to learn more about her from the Avenger perspective.
He figured out she could fly using her powers and apparently she and Sam would have races, but she always let him win even though she could easily beat him.
He learned that she was like an animal whisperer when it came to nature. The team had stories upon stories of her doing things like calling a swarm of birds to attack someone, to putting a bear to sleep by just a wave of a hand.
There were a lot of war stories, but most of all, he liked learning about what she was like when the superhero suit came off.
She liked to make tea for everyone anytime she was making herself one. Most of the time, making sure it was her own herbs and ingredients as she loved to garden and was an herbalist. Each one of her blends served a different purpose from giving you energy, helping you sleep, or stress relief and many others.
Though he had just learned that if she wasn’t in her room, she was likely outside, he didn’t realize the reason was because the earth’s energy aided her.
Much like humans, if you’re stressed out or need a second to breathe, you usually go outside for fresh air. Considering Y/N’s powers came from the earth itself, that fresh air was more than just a cool down. It actually healed and grounded her.
Oh, and the hair with the head scarf thing? Not that it was weird or strange, but it was done in such a manner that looked purposeful and important. It wasn’t just another accessory to add to an outfit. Considering her background of witches, and the fact she is affected by the energy of those around them, it’s a form of protection.
It’s called veiling. Empaths and people who tend to soak up others emotions and feelings use it as a way to protect them from overstimulation. It’s also a way to keep off evil and negative energy.
He also found that her superhero name/ nickname, gracefully given to her by Tony, was Everest. Of course because of the source of her power, at a cave encased by the great mountain itself.
According to Tony, the real reason was because she was as stubborn as trying to move the mountain itself. It just helps that her powers also relate back to it.
As much as she and the group took time to reminisce of the old days, she made sure that the conversation wasn’t just about her. She had diverted the discussion multiple times to ask how everyone else was doing and what she had missed out on.
From there she learned that Clint had moved his family upstate, but they still had a farm out in the middle of nowhere. They were still under the radar, but it gave him better access to the compound in case of a big emergency. He had retired for about 3 years after his family came back, but now since they were older, he found time to come up and do missions if needed.
Nat had really just kept busy with life. She couldn’t seem to get away from it even if she wanted to. After the whole thing with the soul stone, when Steve went back to return them, she was brought back. She took a year off, somewhat, as her therapist said she needed time to, but the only way she saw to move on from it was to work. Which meant pushing it away in a dark place. Y/N could feel she was still affected by it, but she didn’t say anything as she clearly had avoided the topic.
Steve, Sam, and Bucky had continued the life of superheros.
After the final battle, Steve took a step back and let Sam take the reins a little more. He figured most of his life had been fighting battle after battle and he thought, maybe living more of an actual life would be beneficial.
He made time to work at the senior citizen home as a volunteer art teacher. He wasn’t certified in anything specific, but he was a great artist, extremely patient with the seniors, and could relate to some things with them. That and who was going to say no to Captain America offering to help in something?
Because Sam had been given more duties, his workload had gone up. He didn’t mind it though. He was really enjoying it and loved being able to swoop in and save the day where needed. He had been on call for a lot of missions as of recently and the adrenaline of being Captain for most of them still hadn’t worn off.
And Bucky? Well she had heard how Bucky was liking it here. He wasn’t great at hiding the fact that he was still in all this because of the guilt, but everyone (besides Y/N) didn’t really pick up on it.
They figured he was doing it because he was needed and because he was still in it for the fight. Which in a sense he was, but if given the opportunity to walk away and live a quiet life again like Wakanda, he would…
“Well, guys, I love you all, but I’m getting old. Which means, it’s time for bed,” Clint announced, being the first to stand.
“It’s 9 o'clock,” Sam checked his watch.
“Which means it’s already an hour past bedtime,” Clint winked. He leaned over Y/N’s shoulder from the back and gave her a kiss on the top of her head. “It was good seeing you, Y/N/N.”
“Good to see you too, Barton,” she squeezed the hand that was on her shoulder. “Get some rest.”
He nodded in agreement and walked out.
“I think I’m going to follow after him,” she sighed, cleaning the area of her dirty dinner plate.
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll clean up,” Steve volunteered.
“You sure?” she asked, still standing with her plate in hand.
“We got it,” Bucky nodded, taking the plate from her since he was right next to her. “You head on to bed.”
Ryker, who had been at Y/N’s feet most the night besides bouncing from each person, let out a soft bark to Bucky before sending him a canine smile.
“He’s not quite ready for bed himself it sounds like,” Y/N chuckled patting his head. “I’m going to take him out one more time.”
“Need company?” Nat asked, standing with her.
Y/N smiled at her before nodding.
“У меня есть несколько вопросов к тебе, сестра.” (I have a few questions for you, sister.)
“Я должен беспокоиться?” (Should I be worried?)
“Always,” Y/N winked before turning back to the rest of the group. “Thank you boys for the meal. I forgot how much moments like this are really needed… Truly, I needed this.”
“We needed it too I think,” Sam smiled.
They shared a look before Y/N said her good nights and Nat and her walked outside.
“You think she’ll be staying long?” Sam asked while they cleaned.
“You mean past her mission?” Steve responded, beginning to put dishes in the dishwasher.
“Yeah.”
“Couldn’t tell ya,” Steve sighed. “I hope she does, but she seems pretty set on being out of this life.”
“You don’t think getting back in it one more time will change her mind?” Sam questioned.
“She’s been fighting for a long time, Sam,” Steve shrugged. “I know I can’t fully leave it, but I haven’t been at it a quarter of what she has. I don’t blame her for wanting normalcy.”
From the conversation Bucky had with her, he had to side with Steve on this one. She was here for one thing only and that was the next puzzle piece he wanted to solve.
TAGS:
Everest Tags: (if I missed you in tags, comment on this chapter to let me know:)
