Disclaimer: Marvel Characters are property of Marvel. Original Characters are mine. Just for fun, not for profit.

Preparations and Revelations

Nyssa stood in front of the sliding door out to the balcony, dressed in her yoga pants and sports bra. Leaning forward, she pressed her hands down on the mat and shifted her weight back in the now-familiar start of her yoga routine. Darshan lay on the floor nearby, watching her with relaxed attentiveness. Bucky settled onto the couch, cup of coffee in hand, and switched on the television. Sometimes he joined Nyssa for her morning workout routine, but this morning he felt quite limber enough already. The news was full of the recent events: the poisonings, the Avengers saving the city, and the upcoming masquerade ball. Bucky found his attention kept drifting back to Nyssa's contorting form over by the window, watching her body make different shapes and recalling with a smile the shapes her body made against his the night before.

He had noticed there seemed to be a direct correlation between the difficulty of her workouts and how well she was feeling. Judging by the poses she had chosen this morning, she was feeling much better. He tilted his head to the side as she folded herself in half, planted her hands firmly on the mat and raised her feet over her head in a slow, controlled handstand. She held herself straight up for a moment, then lowered her feet down to her head, then past, and lowered her body down in a slow forward roll. She ended in a seated lotus position, sitting very still for the last ten minutes, and Bucky shifted his attention back to the television, trying to pretend that he'd been watching television rather than ogling his wife. He almost didn't notice when she stood up and crossed behind the couch. He jumped slightly as she grazed gentle fingers across the back of his neck. She chuckled and turned to brush a kiss against his temple.

"Glad you enjoyed the show," she murmured in his ear. He gave a throaty chuckle and turned his head to capture her mouth in his. She sagged against him, melting into the embrace, her fingers running along his scalp and sending electric shivers down his spine. He was tempted to pull her down on the couch with him, but she broke the kiss off with a soft laugh. "As much as I'd love to stay here and have you for breakfast," she murmured, "I am meeting Seraphina at Sarabeth's East for omelets, and then she's going to help me find my dress for the ball tonight. We only have a few hours, because Wanda's baby shower is at one and I still have to get all the decorations up before all the guests arrive."

"And then you have to get ready for the mission, I mean ball, which starts at seven. That's' a pretty packed day," Bucky noted. "You sure you don't want to reschedule that baby shower?" Nyssa shook her head.

"Are you kidding?" she asked. "I've been planning it for months. Everyone's already rearranged their schedules to be there, and Wanda is looking forward to it."

"Right, and you're not excited at all," Bucky replied dryly.

"Well, of course I'm excited," Nyssa replied. "Babies are always exciting. And this one is the result of the pairing of a woman who can manipulate reality itself and a sentient artificial construct. Which makes this child something the world has never seen before. How is it that you aren't excited?"

"I'll be excited when there's an actual baby and we know it isn't going to destroy reality as we know it," he responded. Nyssa could be excited about the possibilities and hope of new life. He was more pragmatic. She raised an eyebrow at him, shook her head with a chuckle, and caressed his cheek affectionately before heading in the direction of the shower.

Bucky knocked on the door of the apartment that Steve had moved into. He could already hear voices inside. Steve answered his knock after a minute and smiled.

"Morning, Buck. Come on in," he invited, stepping aside to let Bucky enter. In the kitchen, Sam sat perched on a stool, a steaming mug of coffee in front of him. Bucky grinned at both of them.

"You guys are getting an early start," he commented. Sam gave him a smug look.

"You don't even know the half of it," he informed him. "We've been up since before dawn. Went for a run, ate a good breakfast, now we're strategizing for the mission tonight."

"Right. Food before strategy, right?" Bucky said with a smirk that turned into a look of admonishment. "Why wasn't I invited?" Sam snorted.

"Based on what we all were hearing last night, we decided it was better to let you two lovebirds sleep in," he quipped. Sam's apartment was next to Bucky and Nyssa's, and Tony had put Steve across the hall. Bucky glanced over at Steve, whose cheeks had turned slightly pink, then shrugged.

"Fair enough," he said evenly. "So what's the plan for tonight?"

"We just got started on that part," Steve admitted.

"The trick is that we're meant to be the main attraction," Sam replied, easily switching to the new topic. "We all were invited as guests of honor, but a lot of the other guests paid a lot of money for the opportunity to rub elbows with the Avengers. We're not going to be able to do a lot of investigation behind the scenes. We'll be expected to hobnob, shake hands, even dance with the guests, depending on how much they paid for their tickets. The city intends to use the money raised to repair the damage done to the public water system."

"Dance?" Bucky repeated, raising his eyebrows and looking over at Steve. "You think you'll be able to handle that?" Steve rolled his eyes.

"Sharon taught me to dance," he replied archly. "But thank you for your concern." Bucky chuckled but refocused his attention on the task at hand.

"Having to mingle won't be a problem for Nyssa," he said thoughtfully. "That's how she operates best. In fact, we can lean on her for identifying threats. The masks will make no difference to her." Sam nodded slow agreement. Steve raised his eyebrows.

"So her particular set of skills comes in handy pretty often, I'm guessing," Steve observed. Sam snorted.

"For the intel side of things, undoubtedly," he agreed.

"She can even alert me with what she discovers without letting anyone else know what's going on," Bucky added proudly.

"Of course, once the fight starts she has to be careful," Sam added. "She's good with a gun, but…" His voice trailed off. Bucky leveled a challenging look at him.

"What are you trying to say, Sam?" he asked pointedly. Sam spread his hands.

"What? I'm not saying she's not a valuable part of the team. I'm just saying that, on her own, if she doesn't have her dog with her…." He shrugged. "Doors and furniture can be hazardous."

"True, but that's only if she doesn't have Darshan and doesn't have access to cameras," Bucky argued. "Even then, she's remarkably resourceful."

"Relax, Bucky. Nobody's arguing that Nyssa doesn't belong on the team," Steve interjected placatingly, giving Sam an admonishing look. "We're discussing tonight, remember?"

"Sorry." Sam grinned unrepentantly. "It's just way too easy to get him riled up as soon as you mention her."

"Right," Bucky sighed, pointedly ignoring Sam. "Tonight. My theory is, Viper sees this as an opportunity to score a victory where we defeated her before. Most of the guests are upper class, powerful. The mayor and both New York senators will be there. It's the perfect setup for an ambush."

"You're right, but we're expecting her to do something, so really it's a trap," Steve pointed out. "We suspect that it's her, but we don't have anything concrete to pin it on her. If she tries anything at the ball, we've got her."

"Is she really that bold?" Sam asked. "You said you knew her. What's her style?"

"She has a very high opinion of her abilities, so it's likely," Bucky confirmed. "She'll use poison, almost certainly. Somehow we have to monitor what's coming out of the kitchen. Drinks seem to be the more likely option, but if they're serving hors d'oeuvres, those might not be safe, either. And I have no idea about the others Nyssa mentioned."

"We'll talk to the Embassy and get them to increase security in the kitchen," Steve suggested. Sam and Bucky both nodded. They pulled up a schematic of the building and discussed possible escape or evacuation routes, which areas were more defensible and which ones everyone should try to avoid. When they had finished brainstorming and had formulated several contingency plans, the conversation turned to slightly less practical matters.

"So what are y'all wearing to this thing?" Sam asked. Steve looked surprised at the question.

"I'm just wearing my uniform," he said. "I thought you said it was a superhero theme."

"Yes, but it's still a formal ball," Sam pointed out. "Maybe add a jacket? Or at least a cape."

"Nyssa's gone hunting for an entire new gown," Bucky confirmed.

"I didn't bring a tuxedo with me," Steve said dryly. "And I'm a little short on American money right now." Sam scoffed.

"No, you're not," he chuckled. He shook his head and gave Bucky a disbelieving look. "You didn't tell him?"

"When have I had time to tell him?" Bucky challenged. "You're the one who's been with him since before dawn."

"Tell me what?" Steve interrupted.

"There is a bank account that I've been stashing money in for you," Bucky informed him solemnly. "It's managed to accrue quite a balance." Steve started shaking his head.

"Buck, I appreciate it, but I'm not a charity case. I don't need your money," he protested. Bucky shrugged.

"It's not really my money," he said cryptically. "It's Captain America's money." Steve frowned at him in confusion.

"Nyssa and Pepper cooked up that idea," Sam chuckled. "We started enforcing personality rights, including publicity rights. So any time anyone wants to put Captain America or Falcon on a lunchbox or a t-shirt, action figures or whatever, they have to pay us first."

"Captain America is pretty popular," Bucky confirmed. "But I didn't feel right keeping all of it, because you're the one who really made him a household name. So, you get seventy percent. Plus, there's interest, so…" He shrugged. "You've definitely got enough for a suit." Steve's eyes widened.

"Seventy percent? That seems… overly generous. Only thirty percent for you?" Bucky grinned and shrugged.

"I get by pretty comfortably on that thirty percent," he confessed. "Besides, it's not just me. Nyssa gets her cut, too. Plus, she has her regular therapy clients, and she occasionally even gets royalty checks from textbooks she's written." He shook his head. "We're not hurting, trust me."

"Well, I guess I'll pay for lunch, at any rate," Steve decided. Bucky grinned.

"I won't turn that down," he declared.

Nyssa's foot bumped into something soft and squishy. She bent down to pick up the fuzzy bunny that Lila had brought to the baby shower, a gift for Wanda's unborn child.

"Don't forget this one," she said, half-turning towards Wanda and holding out the leporine present.

"Thank you," Wanda replied. The stuffed animal lifted gently out of Nyssa's hand, floating across the room and settling atop the pile of diapers, onesies and board books. The other guests had already left, and Seraphina was waiting back at Nyssa's apartment to help her get ready for the ball.

"Are you feeling any more prepared now?" Nyssa asked. Wanda sighed, and flashes of both sadness, uncertainty and joy flared and shattered into a kaleidoscope.

"Yes and no," she admitted. "I'll admit I've been feeling sad lately that she will never know her grandparents or her uncle." She rested her hand briefly on her round belly. "But today your heled me remember that I do still have a family. Maybe I don't have a mother to talk to about becoming a mother, but I do have Laura, and you, Maria and Nat, and Pepper has already mentioned setting up some playdates…"

"And don't forget Lila's standing offer to babysit," Nyssa reminded her with a grin. "Plus, I'm sure Vision will be an attentive father. I hear he's been downloading every book on parenting and fatherhood that he can find." Wanda chuckled and nodded.

"It never hurts to be prepared, right?" she jibed. "Though I wonder if it's really any use. I doubt anyone has written any parenting books on raising children with… special abilities."

"It does add another layer of challenge," Nyssa agreed. "But their needs aren't different. They still need love and connection, they still need to learn to trust that their needs will be met."

"Are you certain of that?" Wanda asked uncertainly. She smoothed her shirt over her abdomen. "Technically, she isn't even human. I can feel her power. I love her already, but sometimes I'm a little scared of her, too. Every mother wants to raise her child to be good, to have a positive impact on the world. It just feels like the stakes are higher with her. I don't want to mess her up."

"The fact that you're worried about it makes it more likely that you'll be a great mom," Nyssa reassured her. "You'll probably make mistakes, because everyone does, but I think if anyone is up for the challenge, it's you." Relief and creeping hope began to peek through the worry and doubt. Wanda clasped her hands gratefully.

"Is it safe to come in?" Vision's voice drifted in to them from the doorway. Wanda chuckled.

"It's our home, Vis," she pointed out. "It should always be safe." Vision strode in with a somewhat bemused expression.

"I concur," he agreed, "but Tony informed me that if I returned too early, I was at risk of being 'hen pecked'."

"No, pecking was prohibited at this particular party," she informed him.

"You would have been welcome," Wanda reassured him. "I didn't know you wanted to come."

"I wasn't certain I did," Vision admitted. "That seemed to go against tradition. These human traditions are still new to me."

"This is all new to me, too," Wanda reminded him softly. He took her by the hand and drew her closer to him."

"We will navigate the unknown together," he assured her. Nyssa smiled to herself, whistled and called Darshan to her side before opening the door to the hallway.

"See you both at the ball tonight!" she called over her shoulder. She felt Wanda's acknowledgement as she left their apartment.

Bucky arrived home with half an hour to spare before they had to leave for the masquerade, the suit he had purchased slung over his shoulder. Darshan was lying in the hallway outside their room, so he meandered over to see what Nyssa was up to. Seraphina met him at the bedroom door, making shooing motions with her hands.

"This room is taken, Jimmy," she scolded.

"This room is also mine," he reminded her. He didn't bother correcting her on the name anymore.

"Sera, let him in," Nyssa chided from over by her dressing table. "It's not like there's anything he hasn't seen before."

"He hasn't seen the dress before," Sera pointed out. "Or the mask. And the effect won't be the same if he sees the work in progress."

"Can I come in if I promise not to peek?" Bucky asked dryly. "I have to get dressed, too." With a heavily affected sigh, Seraphina stepped aside to let him in.

"Fine," she exhaled, and crossed the room to stand between him and Nyssa, shielding his wife from his view. He turned so his back was to the women.

"You better not peek, either," he informed them.

"If I do, I won't tell," Sera replied impishly. He shook his head to himself as he began stripping his clothing off. He still wasn't quite accustomed to this kind of finery, despite the frequent formal events that Tony tried to invite him to. He donned the new suit – all black, with gold embroidery on the left sleeve, a subtle nod to the arm beneath it – and slipped on a black mask that covered the upper part of his face. At least he had two hands to tie his tie this time. He finished adjusting his tie and ran his fingers through his hair.

"May I turn around yet?" he asked. He had mostly tuned out their comfortable, familiar chatter, but now they had grown quiet.

"Okay," Sera declared. Bucky turned to see Nyssa standing before the closet. Her dress was lavender and white confection, with a violet cape that gave the suggestion of stylized wings and a skirt that nearly brushed the floor. The top half of her face and hair were completely covered by an intricate headpiece to the tip of her nose. Not even her eyes were visible behind the exquisite designs of the mask, and beautiful violet feathers adorned the edges, gliding over her dark tresses. Bucky let out a low, appreciative whistle. Nyssa grinned and pulled up the sides of her skirt to curtsey.

"No eye holes," he observed. Nyssa shrugged.

"I don't really need them, do I?" she pointed out.

"True," he admitted. He surveyed her finery again. "Things could get a little dangerous. Can you fight in that?" Her smile turned impish.

"That's the best part," she replied. She pulled on a pair of fleur de lis at her hips, and the skirt raised up in front, revealing stylish and practical ankle-high boots. A pair of revolvers glinted in holsters strapped to her thighs. Bucky raised his eyebrows, impressed but disbelieving.

"Wow, that's…. you got that off the rack today?" he queried. Nyssa shrugged.

"Off the rack, or possibly I met with a designer a couple months ago after Pepper advised me I should expand my formal wardrobe," she admitted.

"Well, I'm impressed," Bucky declared. "So which superhero are you?"

"I'm still an Avenger no matter what I wear," Nyssa pointed out. "But the designer said she drew inspiration from the amethyst starling, so there's that."

"So shall I call you Starling?" Bucky said with a roguish grin.

"Call me whatever you like, darling, as long as you dance with me," Nyssa replied, proffering her arm. "Shall we go?" Bucky laced his arm through hers. She glanced over her shoulder at Seraphina, who was still watching them with a grin. "I hope helping me get ready won't make you too late." Seraphina waved a hand dismissively.

"I'll just be fashionably late. Don't worry," she chirped, then made shooing motions. "Now get out of here, you two lovebirds."

"She's a starling," Bucky corrected over his shoulder as he escorted Nyssa out of the door. Seraphina rolled her eyes, shook her head, and smiled.

Thanks to DarylDixon'sLover and karina001 for your reviews! They are always appreciated.