A/N: For likewinning's prompt author's choice, author's choice, We are survivors, of each other. We have been shark to one another, but also lifeboat. That counts for something. (Cat's Eye) at the Comment Fic LJ comm.
Made of Secrets
Natasha paused in the doorway of Bucky's new suite at the Avengers Tower. She crossed her arms and studied the small amount of detritus the man had brought with him. She watched his back stiffen as he registered her presence.
So much tension, so much history. They had been lovers; they had been enemies. They had lost each other; they had lost themselves. But in the end, they'd survived.
"Stark likes to surveil the premises," she said, something of a peace offering. It was intel he would appreciate.
Bucky looked up, nodded, but his eyes told her he wasn't listening to the words quite as much as to what she was packing in behind them. "You never liked to give away your secrets."
Natasha was made of secrets. She stepped in, walked about the perimeter, and returned to stand before him. "You have many of mine."
He breathed out for a long moment. "Do I?" His metal fingers flexed. "I don't—" He didn't say it. He didn't say he didn't remember. He looked up and frowned. "I know you. That counts for something, doesn't it?"
The words were as toneless as hers, but she stared almost expressionlessly into his almost expressionless face and heard there the flickers of sorrow, regret, and hope. She rested one hand over his, the metal one.
"It counts for something," she told him.
