Author's Note: This chapter title comes from Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.


Chapter Seventeen - Tomorrow (no mistakes)

"Îmi pare rău că am luat atât de mult." [I'm sorry for taking so long.]

Bucky jerked, head snapping up from where he'd been tiredly bowed over his empty coffee cup. Everything in him screamed to get to his feet, to grab her to make sure that she was real, that she wouldn't be leaving again. But he kept himself still, knowing that he shouldn't draw attention. "Nell," he breathed. "Thank god."

She smiled faintly, exhaustion clear in the bags under her eyes, visible even past the makeup that was hiding her scars and identity. She peered at him from behind purple bangs, gaze a little unfocused. "I . . . don't have a real excuse beyond just being scared. So I'm sorry."

"You're here. Now."

"I am. Um." She shifted and then nervously sat down, clutching her own coffee cup. "Were you waiting for me . . . long?"

He sighed. "Well, we've been looking for you for a bit. Barton and I'd been checking in here for a while, but I've been here consistently for a week now."

Her gaze dropped. "I'm sorry."

He studied her for a long moment. "Do you . . . want to go home?"

Then her gaze snapped to him and he could properly see the tears welling there. "Please," she gasped out. "Please. I wanna go home."

"Okay." He reached out and took her cup from her, setting it off to the side with his own. "Let's go, then. Your dad and I have been working out of a modded quinjet, so we're ready to go."

"Dad's here?" she rasped. "Is he—"

"He just wants you to be safe."

"Is— Does he . . . . Um."

"He knows about, well, me. And what I did." Bucky shrugged. "I wouldn't say he's okay with it, but I think he cares more about loving you than he does about hating me."

Danielle nodded. "Okay," she whispered. "Okay, let's go."

He nodded and got to his feet, holding a hand out to her. She took it and let him help her up and then keep her close to his side. She didn't say anything as they walked, just holding on to him tightly as if letting go would mean he would disappear. She ducked her head down against the bright light outside and trusted him to lead her safely.

Finally, they exited town and it was just a bit farther. When they got to the quinjet, the ramp was already lowering. Tony stood there, desperately waiting. "Dani," he breathed when he saw her, as if he still wasn't quite sure that he believed what he was seeing.

Danielle stared back. Then her voice shook as she spoke. "Daddy. I, I, I'm sorry for—"

He was down the ramp before she could finish her sentence, already pulling her into his arms. "You're okay. God, you're—" His grip on her was tight. "Thank you," he whispered. And then he pulled back, framing her face with his hands as he studied her. "You are okay, right?"

"I'm okay," she whispered. "I'm sorry for not coming home sooner."

"That's okay," he gasped out. "That's okay. You're here now. You're— God. I love you. You know that, right? I love you."

"I know," she choked out. "Can, can we go home?"

"I— Of course. C'mon." He turned, arm tight around her, and led her up the quinjet. "Go ahead and sit down. I'll get us going." Tony hesitated for a long moment, not releasing her.

Bucky stopped next to them. "Stark," he murmured. "She's not going anywhere."

"Right." Tony finally let go of her and forced himself to step back, taking a deep breath. Then he turned and went to the cockpit.

Bucky immediately wound an arm around Danielle's waist and led her over to one of the benches along the quinjet's wall. He had her sit down. Then he turned away and began going through the supplies box on the wall. "What happened?"

"Rumlow's group attacked me in China. They had civilian hostages."

"That's how they got you," he concluded.

She winced. "Yeah . . . . I didn't want anyone else to die because of me. I'm so . . . I'm so tired of that."

He just nodded. He finished gathering things from the box and sat down, a selection of snacks and drinks in his arms.

Danielle stared at the options and carefully selected a bottle of water and handful of granola bars. "Someone out there is selling tranqs, adventising them as strong enough to take down Captain America. I, I almost got away, and that's how I found out that they're strong enough to take down me, too. I—" She took a long, shaky breath. "I don't know what he did to me," she whispered. "He tried the chair and it, it didn't work. And then I don't remember what—" Danielle shook her head. "He had the doctor with him do something. They had a deal, and apparently Rumlow got what he wanted, because then he let the doctor study me. But I don't know what Rumlow did."

"Rumlow's dead. He won't get you again."

Danielle looked up to find Tony standing in front of them, arms crossed and his expression pulled taut at Rumlow's name. He swallowed and repeated himself. "Rumlow's dead."

"Thank god," she breathed. "How—"

"Clint shot him," Bucky interrupted. "Just wanted him off the face of the Earth, if his motivation was anything like what I think." He reached out and opened one of her granola bars. "Eat. You can sleep when we get home. You look exhausted."

Another shaky breath. "You have no idea."


It was night when they got back. The Tower was quiet. Danielle stopped in front of the elevator, not moving. Not even breathing. Just letting the night air chill her skin. Tony put a hand against her shoulder. "Dani?" he whispered.

"I don't want to go to sleep," she mumbled. "Can we— Never mind."

"Don't do that," Bucky said firmly. "What is it?"

"I dunno. Cartoons? I, I don't want to sleep." She did her best not to sound terrified as she said it, but she could tell from their expressions that she didn't do as well as she would have liked. She rushed to smooth it over. "I want to take a shower. Maybe I'll feel better and I can— I don't know. Maybe—"

Tony nodded. "Of course. Cartoons sounds great. Go ahead and take a shower. We'll . . . get some popcorn ready," he said, glancing anxiously at Bucky. Bucky just nodded.

"Okay." Danielle stepped into the elevator. "JARVIS?"

"Danielle. It's good to have you back."

She took a deep breath. "It's good to be back. Um. Common floor."

The elevator doors closed the three of them in and it started to move. Tony cleared his throat. "Clint has said that Gravity Falls is good. Talked about it non-stop a few weeks back."

"Okay. I'd like that." She clenched her hands into fists. Then she forced herself to start the topic. "You know Winter didn't want to kill them, right?"

"Nell," Bucky immediately said, sounding alarmed. "That's—"

"I know," Tony interrupted, voice tense.

Danielle glanced briefly at him, listening to his quick heartbeat. "Do you?"

Tony swallowed loudly and met her gaze. "I do."

She had to force herself to take that answer. She looked away as the door closed. "I'll be up. It won't be too long."

Bucky stepped out. "Alright." He glanced nervously at Tony when he didn't move. "Stark?"

"Right." Tony hesitated just a moment longer before stepping out as well.

"JARVIS," Danielle said. "My room, please." She watched as the doors closed. And then she hesitated. "Actually . . . what's Clint doing right now?"

"Agent Barton is currently asleep." JARVIS paused. "If I may say so, I think he'd appreciate being woken up by your return."

"I want to say hi to him," she said, voice breaking.

"Of course."

The elevator started moving. When it stopped, the doors opened to show only one door across the hall. Danielle stepped out and hesitated again. She clenched her hand into a fist, taking a deep breath.

"Just knock."

"Don't rush me, ARNO," she mumbled. "I will."

As it turned out, she didn't need to. A few seconds later, the door slammed open. Clint stood there in a pair of purple sweatpants and an inside-out, backwards t-shirt. He was staring blearily at her. "Sharps?" he asked loudly.

She was about to respond when she realized he was missing the purple behind his ears. Danielle smiled and lifted her hand in a wave. "HI."

"Oh my god." He reached for her. "Come in! Where the hell—"

She shook her head and lifted her hands to sign. "JUST WANTED TO TALK REAL QUICK. DAD AND WINTER WAITING."

"Oh." He blinked and the scratched at his ears. "You're back for good?"

Danielle nodded. She took a deep breath. "THANK YOU FOR KILLING HIM."

Clint stared at her for a long moment. And then his expression tensed and he nodded. "Of course. I'm just sorry I could only kill him once."

Danielle felt her smile crumble a little and she surged forward, throwing her arms around him. His arms immediately jerked up around her, catching her up against him and keeping her safe there. Danielle didn't say anything, just holding on tightly. He held her for a long time. Finally, he shifted back so he could look at her. He grinned and thumbed away her tears. "I'm glad you're back."

She nodded and released him, rubbing her eyes. "Um . . . ." Her hands shook as she tried to sign. "THEY'RE WAITING." Her fingers slipped a bit, the trembling making it difficult to communicate clearly.

Clint just nodded and stepped back. "Go on. I'm, I'm glad you're back, Sharps."

Danielle nodded and flickered away.


"No, no, no, stop. Holy— Have you never made popcorn before?"

"Not since 1939, no," Bucky said dully, stepping back to let Tony take over. "And definitely not in a microwave."

"Jeez, way to make me feel bad about it," Tony muttered, turning the bag the right way and then starting the microwave. "Get some butter out so we can melt it. She like her popcorn dripping."

Bucky nodded and followed those directions. They waited, without speaking, as the popcorn readied in the microwave. And then again as the butter melted. Tony mixed it all together in a bowl and moved past Bucky to the couch. "JARVIS, cue up the cartoon, would you?"

"Of course, sir."

"ETA for Dani?"

"I'm here," Danielle said, appearing suddenly in a flicker at the doorway. "Sorry."

Tony cast a smile at her, setting the popcorn down. "Don't. I'm glad you're here." He sat down. "Cartoon is ready."

"Okay," she murmured, moving to where Bucky stood at the edge of the kitchen. She wound her arms around him and tucked her head down against his shoulder. His arms immediately came up to hold her and his face creased with concern.

"Nell?" he asked softly. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "Just tired. I don't want to sleep, though."

"Okay," he said carefully. "Okay. Let's get you sat down with some popcorn then, okay?"

She conceded with a nod and let him guide her over to the couch. He got her settled and Tony passed her the bowl of popcorn. The moment Bucky sat down, she collapsed against his side and didn't say another word. One episode in and she was already asleep.

Neither of them made to move and the episodes continued to play. Tony was more focused on watching his daughter out of the corner of his eye than actually watching the screen. She'd shifted in her sleep and her face was half-pressed into Bucky's thigh and he was absently combing through her hair with his metal fingers. It took three episodes for him to finally speak.

"I can't hate you. Not when she looks at you like that. Not when you look at her like that."

Bucky paused and it took a moment for his hand to resume movement. "Like what?" he asked. On the surface, he sounded just curious. But Tony could hear the defensive undercurrent to the words, as if he was ready to get angry.

"Like . . . you're water. Or air. Something she needs to live."

"She doesn't need either of those things," he murmured. "Not anymore."

"Just you, then," Tony rasped out. "She used to look at me like that. And . . . and you look at her like you would die for her."

"I would," Bucky said simply. "You look at her like that too."

"And I would," Tony confirmed in return. "And I can't hate you. Not knowing what I do."