Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: Vol. 3 (Part 10)
[Part Ten: Don't Stop Believin']
Bucky
Bucky blinked. Natasha was gone, but he still felt her presence. He could still taste her on his mouth. He touched his lips, dazed by the kiss. It had been unlike anything he'd ever experienced.
She still loves me.
I still have a chance.
With those two thoughts circling 'round and 'round inside his head, Bucky smiled to himself and headed back inside.
Natasha
Just keep running. Just keep running.
Natasha stumbled through The Tower, half-blind from the remaining tears that lingered in her eyes.
What have I done?
Tony
When Natasha burst through the balcony doors, her violent movements were largely ignored. Everyone was too busy having fun. Not many saw the redhead make a beeline for the exit, tears in her eyes.
Then again, no one had been waiting for her to appear.
Tony had. He'd been waiting impatiently ever since he watched her follow Bucky out onto the balcony.
For a moment, he thought of chasing after her, but Pepper's hand seized his before he could take a step.
Pepper
Pepper wanted to hate Natasha for distracting Tony once again, but the damned girl had been right. It wasn't Natasha's fault that Tony was apparently obsessed with her. It wasn't her fault that Tony couldn't tear his eyes away from the balcony doors. It wasn't her fault that he took a step in Natasha's direction the second she re-entered the room.
No. This was between her and Tony.
"…love isn't about controlling someone. That's not love. Love needs trust."
Pepper looked down at the hand desperately clutching to someone who clearly wanted to be somewhere else. She looked up and saw the longing in Tony's eyes, his gaze transfixed on the exit. She looked around the room at the committed couples singing along to the last song of the night. Smiles and embraces all around her. Warmth and love filled the room, but she felt cold.
Pepper swallowed past the lump in her throat.
She let go.
Steve
What did that idiot do?
Ever since he watched Natasha follow Bucky out onto the balcony, Steve had a sinking feeling in his gut. Now that she'd reappeared—in tears, no less—that feeling had gotten a whole lot worse.
When Bucky finally came back in, Steve didn't know what to think. His best friend had a dazed yet satisfied look on his face. Then he said the last thing he ever expected Bucky to say.
"She kissed me, man," Bucky said with a grin. "I still have a chance."
Steve wanted to warn him against celebrating too soon.
I need to talk to her.
Steve pulled out his phone.
Bruce
"She kissed me, man… I still have a chance."
Right time, right place? Or was it wrong time, wrong place? Regardless, Bruce heard it all, saw it all on his way back from the bathroom.
Natasha running.
Natasha crying.
Tony watching.
Pepper stopping.
Bucky grinning.
Bruce's world was spinning.
Clint
He was half-way through Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" when Clint spotted a flash of familiar red curls streaking through the room at an enviable speed.
Natasha?
Clint's eyes followed her through the room as she made her way to the exit. If only he could see her face.
As the song was nearing its end, Natasha disappeared. Troubled by the odd behavior, Clint looked around the room and spotted Bucky walking back through the balcony doors—the direction Natasha had been running from. Even though the song was not yet over, Clint left his buddies to finish on their own and dashed off the stage. He took off after Natasha.
Natasha
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
Natasha's feet hit the ground with each syllable, pushing her further and faster with each beat of the endless refrain.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
Another pair of footsteps. Someone shouting her name. Bucky? Tony? Clint? It didn't matter. She needed to get away.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
Natasha pushed harder. She made the football team for a reason. She could outrun whomever was chasing her.
But, no matter how far or how fast she ran, she knew she couldn't escape the little voice in her head screaming: Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
She ran until her muscles ached, then she ran some more. She ran until she couldn't hear the person calling her name, then she ran some more. She ran until she didn't recognize anything around her, but—still—she kept running. Only when her legs gave out from beneath her, only when she practically collapsed from exhaustion, only when she was too tired that even the little voice couldn't bear to whisper another malicious syllable, did Natasha finally stop running.
Natasha found herself in a park when her vision stopped going in and out. She half-dragged her fatigued body over to a tree and dropped down on the grass beneath it.
The world around her was quiet. Her brain was quiet.
Her phone buzzed, piercing the peaceful silence.
Dammit.
Natasha thought about ripping her phone out of her pocket and tossing it as far as she could into the darkness.
It was Steve: We need to talk.
Steve
Bucky spent the entire ride back to Steve's house in a happy, little daze. He kept muttering to himself and grinning in a way that worried Steve.
Hours passed without hearing back from Natasha, which only worried Steve more.
Bucky was finally out cold, sleeping peacefully with that same, stupid grin on his face when Steve's phone finally buzzed with Natasha's reply.
Meet me the Mall tomorrow. 10 am.
