Chapter 77: Levels

Pain. Red. Dominic?

Danger. Loneliness. A man dying - dusting. Dusting? Again?

Rocking. Dizziness. Home, home, home.

Can't breathe, all alone, unfamiliar city-

Mika awoke with a start, her heart hammering and her stomach clenching. It took a moment for her to hear Bucky next to her, and then another few moments for her to understand him.

"You're okay." he was saying. His hand was on her back, warm and comforting. "It was just a dream. You're okay."

"God, I-" she paused, her stomach rolling and her throat aching. She couldn't remember details from the dream, but the feeling from it remained. "I think I'm gonna be sick."

She shakily pushed herself off the bed, getting her feet underneath her just enough to stumble to the bathroom and vomit. Bucky was behind her in an instant, holding her hair back as she dry heaved, her stomach already empty of what little contents were in it. Steve and Nicoletta jumped from their bed at the sound (and the invasion of the bathroom attached to their room), alarmed at this early morning intrusion. Mika stayed there for longer than she wanted, her stomach still spasming, tricking her into thinking she was about to be sick again.

"Go make some tea?" Nicoletta asked Bucky, who looked like he wanted to do anything but that at the moment. She put a protective hand on her sister's back, giving him a confident look. "It's okay. I've got her."

"Okay." he agreed, somehow managing to convey his reluctance with just one word. Nicoletta nodded at him, encouraging him to go. Steve took one look at the two of them before joining Bucky in the kitchen, helping him try and find something to soothe Mika's stomach.

Once Mika was sure she wasn't going to throw up again, she weakly pushed herself to her feet and rinsed her mouth out at the sink. "Sorry." she muttered, her throat raw from the acid. She hated any time they inconvenienced her sister and Steve, and waking up by flying into their bathroom and vomiting was definitely inconvenient.

"You're fine, I'd rather you wake us up than be sick on the carpet." Nicoletta murmured in Romanian, smoothing Mika's hair back as she leaned against the counter, still not wanting to stand up straight. Her skin was clammy, but not feverish. She leaned a little closer and dropped her voice. "Is this morning sickness, perhaps?"

"No." Mika said, wincing at the sharpness of her response. Luckily, Nicoletta didn't seem to notice it, instead just giving her a mischievous grin.

"Are you sure?" she sang. Mika knew she was just teasing, but the reality of their situation was still too heavy on her to joke about it.

"Yes." she said shortly. She hadn't told her sister about before the snap - or what happened after she got back. There just hadn't been a good time. "I took a test last week. Negative."

A million different emotions and questions crossed her sister's face, and finally she settled on something that resembled pity. Normally that face would really piss Mika off, but she was feeling rather pitiful right now. "Oh, darling," Nicoletta said, using a familiar Romanian term of endearment that Mika hadn't heard in ages. She put her arm around Mika's shoulders, leaning her head against her. "I'm sorry."

"Thank you." Mika said. She didn't want to say it was okay, because it most certainly wasn't. Even if she knew they weren't ready for a child, it still hurt that they'd lost one. She rinsed her mouth out again, if only for something to do with her hands. She became vaguely aware of something licking her leg, and looked down to find Luna standing there too, looking very concerned. She reached down and petted her head, trying to be reassuring.

"I'm okay, Luna." she said softly, making the dog wag her tail. Nicoletta's hand went to Mika's back, encouraging her to stand up straight.

"Come, let's go sit on the couch. I'm sure the tea is almost ready." she said, gently guiding her. Now that the episode had passed, Mika was feeling a lot better, but she had to admit that she didn't mind a little bit of sympathy from her sister. "Was it something you ate, you think?"

"No, I just had this nightmare. It was weird." she said. She'd had bad dreams before, sure. But never ones that affected her this much. "They've been getting worse over the past few days, and this one just...I don't know, I guess my body is tired of it."

"Well here, relax. Take it easy for the morning, maybe go back to sleep." Nicoletta said, leading her to the couch. The news was on the television but the volume was low, low enough that she didn't spare any brain space trying to hear it. Once sitting down, she felt exhausted, as if she hadn't slept the night before at all. Bucky was by her side in an instant, sliding a warm cup of tea into her hand.

"Alright?" he asked quietly, concern coloring his face. She nodded, taking the tea gratefully. She could smell the peppermint, and see the flecks of nutmeg floating in it. Hangover tea.

"Not sure what that was. Sorry to wake you." she said, looking down at the mug rather than at him.

"It's okay. I certainly understand." he said, and she could hear the slight grin in his voice. She leaned over, letting him catch her before she burrowed into his embrace. "Want to talk about it?"

"Honestly, I don't really remember it. It's the same dream, I think. Body just got tired of it." she explained. She didn't have the energy to be frustrated by it. Steve came over then, laying a plate of plain toast down onto the coffee table.

"You should go to the tower today, get Helen to check you out." he said. Mika waved him off, taking another sip of her tea.

"I'm fine, just a freak moment." she said. She took a piece of toast and nibbled on one corner, but her stomach was still too sensitive to eat. She tried to covertly put it back on the plate, knowing in her heart that both Steve and Bucky were going to see through her bullshit. Instead she focused on the television, trying to hear the news story - they pictured the man from the plane the week before, the man that Mika knew she'd met in the stone.

"More reports are arising over the world of people falling ill, just like the original patient ten days ago. The symptoms remain the same: coughing up blood, convulsions, and delusional speech patterns. Sources close to the Avengers Initiative say this may be related to the Blip, and that thus far, it is not spreadable. The CDC recommends all people who were Blipped to follow up with their primary care physicians if any symptoms arise-"

"See? Doctor." Steve chastised, gesturing towards the newscaster. Mika glared at him, taking a large bite of toast despite the spasm of protest from her stomach.

"Vomiting is not a symptom. I'm fine." she reiterated, and suddenly three pairs of eyes were on her, all of them unamused. "What?"

"Go to the damn doctor." Nicoletta said from where she was making breakfast. "Or I'll drag you there myself."

"You couldn't, I'm much stronger than you." Mika pointed out, making Nicoletta roll her eyes.

"Fine, then I'll have Bucky drag you there. You can't win this." she said. Mika opened her mouth to retaliate, but Nicoletta brandished the knife she was holding, and even if the threat was empty Mika still held her tongue.

"It's not a bad idea." Bucky pointed out. After all, he'd been telling her to go to the doctor since the day they'd blipped back. Now he had reinforcements.

"Fine. Fine!" Mika said. If she was honest, she was hesitant because there were some answers she didn't necessarily want, and it was a lot different to have a regular doctor again when she'd gotten used to Shuri and Lwazi over the past couple years. Steve, however, didn't seem to care about this internal struggle, instead giving her a smile.

"Good. 'Cause I already texted her and she can see you this afternoon." he said, way too proud of himself at the moment. Mika bit back the retort she wanted to give him, instead just settling back into the couch cushions with her tea. Bucky was trying to look amused next to her, but the worry was winning out.

"I'll be fine." she said, trying to convince herself as much as she was trying to convince him. He nodded and pressed a kiss to her forehead, and while the gesture was affectionate he was definitely trying to stealthily check her for a fever.

"Maybe we should hold off apartment hunting for today." he said. She sat up straighter then, ignoring the pain in her back. This morning really was throwing her body for a loop.

"No, we can't. I mean, we're down to the last few on the list." she said. As much as she loved living with her sister again, she was ready to be back in their own space. Unfortunately, Shuri told her that their little cottage back in Wakanda had been destroyed in the decimation, and while the princess offered to fix it back up again, Mika couldn't ask it of her. Plus, she really needed to be here for her sister, just as Shuri had to be back home with her brother.

"Are you sure?" Bucky asked, in a way that made it seem like he did not think she was sure about this. Maybe he was right, but she'd never admit it.

"Positive. I'll be fine." she said with a nonchalant shrug. Famous last words.

It was a hot day in New York, and the first building they toured had yet to fix the air conditioning unit - or, as it was, add one. The landlady looked bored as she showed them the cramped, old apartment, not bothering to hide the musty smell or the dust bunnies in the corner. It wasn't in disrepair, but it wasn't exactly top notch either.

"No. Absolutely not."

"What? It's fine." Bucky replied in English, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Mika crossed her arms over her chest, leaning on one hip and fixing an unamused look in his direction. They were standing in the middle of the small apartment, small even by New York standards, and she felt like they were taking up all the space. "It's affordable."

Mika eyed the manager of the building before looking back to her husband, choosing to continue to speak in Romanian so as to not hurt the woman's feelings. "And by that you mean cheap. This is worse than our apartments back in Bucharest."

"This is worse than your apartment back in Bucharest." he said, deciding this time to respond to her in Romanian. "It's a step up from mine, I believe."

"But either way, it's still a net step down." she stated. "Come on, can you picture yourself cooking in that kitchen? There's not even a balcony for morning coffee." she added. He stared at her for a long time, trying to get her to back down even a little bit, but she'd become immune to that a long time ago. She gazed back with the calm intensity of someone who knew they were going to win. With a sigh, he relented, turning to the woman with them.

"Thank you for your time. I think we have some more to discuss before we make any decisions." he said softly. The woman, for her part, looked rather unbothered with the situation, and only gave them a shrug before leading them back down to the ground floor. After all, it was a seller's market now; with the population instantaneously doubling, plenty of people were looking for homes.

"Okay, what's the next one?" Mika asked as Bucky pulled out his notebook. They leaned against the wall of the building, trying to stay out of the way of the hundreds of commuters packing the sidewalk. He ran his finger down the list, pausing as he neared the end of it.

"There's only two left." he said, looking at her from underneath the bill of his baseball cap. He no longer had the freedom of the countryside here, and had dived back into his old habits. "Was this one really that bad?"

"It really was." she said. She could understand him wanting to keep a low profile; after all, it was debatable exactly what freedoms they had after the Blip. But she was not going to allow him to regress just because they were out of their happy bubble.

"Well come on then. Let's go to the next one." he said, kicking off the wall and walking south. She grinned, happy in her little win, and jogged to catch up to him, though her body immediately told her to stop. She didn't know if he noticed or not, but he walked different here. It was just enough for her to notice, and she wondered (not for the first time) if she was seeing just a glimpse of the man he used to be.

It was definitely difficult to adjust to the city life again, having to dodge people as they walked on the sidewalk. Living in Wakanda had spoiled them, but she would adjust, just like she had when they'd moved there. Bucky led her to another tall building, this time decorated with balconies instead of bars over the windows. These apartments were the closest to Steve and Nicoletta's, and while that didn't matter so much Bucky it was very important to Mika. It looked like it had escaped the time after the snap relatively unscathed, the only sign being the massive vines growing across the front. Large windows reflected the sun, and Bucky knew immediately that she was going to love those - and that he was going to hate them.

There were two doors before they got into the main lobby, the second requiring a fob for access after hours. That was a good sign. The office was empty, which was not a good sign, and they sat in the chairs for an oddly long amount of time before a woman came out of the elevator, bidding goodbye to a guy who looked about as tired as they felt. She took a deep breath, momentarily breaking her customer service facade before pulling it back up and greeting them with a smile.

"Hi there, here for a tour?" she asked. Mika appreciated her trying to sound cheerful, but it was evident that she was on her last leg. She'd probably been doing this nonstop since the Blip.

"Yes, we are." Bucky said. The woman nodded, not even sitting down behind her desk. Instead, she just turned back towards the elevators, not quite waiting for them to follow her.

"Excellent, I'm Margie, I'm the property manager. We only have one and two bedrooms available now. Utilities are included in the rent. We don't have a pool or gym but you can get a membership at the 24 Hour Fitness for a discounted rate." she rambled, pressing the button so the elevator doors opened. The words were rehearsed, and she probably didn't even know she was saying them at this point. They got on the elevator with her, unsure if she would have noticed if they hadn't. "Everything is electric, so no worries about gas. There's trash shoots on every floor. Dogs, cats, and fish are allowed, other pets need to be approved. Have you two lived here long?"

The question took them both off guard, and Bucky gathered his wits before Mika did. "Just moved a bit ago. After the…"

"Oh yea. The Blip. I hate that name." she said, shaking her head. The opinion also surprised them, but they kept quiet about it. "Well, as you can imagine, things are filling pretty quickly. I usually advise that, if you like the space, you get your application in within twenty-four hours. There's enough openings that you'll be able to move in by the end of the week."

The elevator dinged, it's doors opening and spitting them out on the second highest floor. Margie set out at a quick pace, taking them down the hall and to a corner unit. She pulled a ring of keys from her belt and flipped through them, having to go a couple times around before finding the one she wanted and unlocking the door in front of them. Classic locks. Not the best, not the worst.

"This is the one bedroom." she said, gesturing vaguely at the area. It was much cleaner than the other apartment, and while the square footage was still small, it was laid out much better so that it didn't feel like a shoebox. The kitchen was small but sported a large island, separating it from the living room. The bedroom and bathroom weren't as spacious as they'd like, but there was still enough room to move around without getting in each other's way. As Bucky expected, Mika gravitated to the large windows in the doors to the balcony, soaking up the sun coming through and sighing contentedly.

"We can get curtains." she said, turning to him. Already offering compromises...he was about to be done for.

"Is there a top floor available?" he asked Margie, and she shook her head without thinking too long.

"This is the highest I can get you. Do you want to look at the two bedroom?" she said, still all business.

"How much more a month is the two bedroom?" Mika asked. When Margie told them the answer, it took everything in both of them not to laugh at the ludicrous number. "No, one bedroom will be fine."

"Suit yourself." she said with a shrug. It seemed the sooner she got these units filled, the sooner she would be at peace. "So, whaddya think?"

Mika looked to Bucky, making sure to bat her eyelashes a little extra. He looked decidedly unwavered, but his posture was giving him away. He lifted one eyebrow, and she could feel the question in her bones. Really? She cocked her head to the side, holding his gaze. Yes.

"We'll let you know by the end of the day." he said, and Mika had to stop herself from clapping her hands in joy. This apartment wouldn't compare to their home, but it was clean and open and it could be theirs. Assuming the last one on their list didn't make the cut, of course.

Poor Margie had yet another customer waiting when they reached the ground floor, and gave them a stiff goodbye before putting on her customer service face again. Bucky didn't mind the woman's brusque attitude; after all, she was at work, and clearly had a lot of work to do. Mika thought she was a touch rude, but wasn't going to comment. After all, she was probably just sensitive because she was tired herself, not because Margie was especially disrespectful. They exited the building and made their way down to the subway, Mika trusting her husband to lead them to the right train and the right time to get to the furthest apartment on their list. She had no trouble navigating the streets on foot, but the train? That was a whole other animal that she wasn't ready for.

It turned out that the whole trip was for naught, because they arrived to find some worker taping a sign to the door that said NO UNITS AVAILABLE. They stopped, staring awkwardly as the man hung the sign before scurrying away, trying to avoid the possibility of an angry customer. And Mika was angry, not because they were out of units, but because now she had to ride the stupid train back.

"Are you sure we can't just walk?" she whined, dragging her feet back to the station. She was sure she'd get used to the subway, but with her sensitive stomach, the rocking of it just made her feel sick. Bucky laughed, taking her hand and trying to be as comforting as possible while also trying to make it back for the train that was going to arrive in three minutes.

"Not unless you want to miss your doctor's appointment." Bucky pointed out, making her groan aloud.

"God, I forgot about that." she said. She didn't want to go to the doctor; the only time she'd been comfortable in a medical office had been back in Wakanda. And even if the doctors at the tower were probably amazing, she found herself missing Shuri and Lwazi. Would it be overdramatic for her to ask to travel back to Wakanda just for a routine physical? Bucky tugged her along, pulling her from her thoughts as they boarded the train again, this time heading in to Manhattan.

The re-renamed Stark Tower seemed like a little city all in it's own, at least on the ground floor. There were rivers of people coming and going, all dressed in different sorts of uniforms, whether they be janitorial, or scrubs, or a power suit. Mika could see Bucky clocking almost every one, committing their faces to memory in case he needed to identify them later. He wasn't holding her hand extra tightly, but the pressure was weirdly constant, and she knew that he didn't like being in such a crowd. They pushed through to the elevator, packing in with all the other sardines and hoping they arrived at their floor at some point today.

It felt like a breath of fresh air as the elevator spat them out onto the medical floor. The lobby was surprisingly closed off compared to the rest of the building, and Mika figured it was probably for patient privacy. Or, they were hiding a lot of things. She checked in at the front desk, giving them her name and adding that Steve called ahead for them. The girl at the desk nodded before pausing, her eyes shifting over to Bucky. He grew incredibly still and tried to give her a small smile, one which she did not return. Mika reached for his hand, squeezing his fingers. Yes, gone were the days where he could be just Bucky, or Mika's husband, or the White Wolf. People here still saw him as the Winter Soldier.

The girl curtly handed Mika a tablet to fill out forms and then promptly stood, leaving the room looking like she'd rather be running. Bucky sighed, his face dropping as he watched her go.

"I can wait for you downstairs, if that would be easier." he said quietly. It pained Mika's heart to see him respond like this, but more than anything she was angry at the girl. Everyone in the Avengers was morally grey in one way or another, but Bucky was the one that made her nervous? Ridiculous.

"No. I mean, please stay. I don't want to do this by myself." she said. She glanced at the door to the back, then quickly switched to Romanian. "I'm about to go through there and give that girl a piece of my mind. How dare she-"

"Hey, hey, it's fine." he said, unable to hold back an actual smile as he put his hands on her arms. "See that? That's how you were supposed to look at me back in Romania."

"Bull shit. We are not having this conversation again." she said sharply. She glanced around at the other people in the waiting room; there was a twenty-something sitting in the corner, headphones in and phone in hand. A mother sat with her toddler, amusing her with a story book. And finally, an older couple sat close to them; the man was asleep, but the woman gave her a hearty grin and a thumbs up, mouthing you tell 'im, honey. "Come on, help me fill out this paperwork. I have trouble with some of the English medical terms."

She turned and sat in one of the chairs, crossing her legs and tapping the edge of the tablet while looking at him with an expression that would make her mother proud. He let out a single huff of a laugh, shaking his head before sitting down next to her, admitting his defeat. Sure, maybe things were going to be more difficult here. But he would rather be here with Mika than alone anywhere else.

By the time she finished the paperwork, the twenty-something had been called back and a different woman had come out of the back room to take up residence behind the front desk. She was a little older and apparently a little more well versed in the clientele of the tower, as she took Mika's tablet with a bland smile directed both at her and Bucky. They returned to their seats to wait, Mika shaking her foot with her nerves and Bucky keeping a steady hand on her thigh to try and soothe her.

It was another hour before a nurse in sleek black scrubs called her back, leading her into a cube of a room and instructing her to stand on a metal plate. The wall behind her flickered to life, little red and yellow numbers appearing as the plate read her vital signs. As the machine read her body, the nurse read off a battery of questions, most of which she'd already answered on the tablet out front. Sporadic nausea, with no rhyme or reason. Some headaches. No numbness or tingling. No loss of bowel and bladder control. No aversions to foods. No injuries from the tail end of the Blip. No known allergies. No chance of pregnancy. She asked all of this without looking up once.

Next the nurse had her sit on the table so she could draw blood, which was surprisingly as quick as it had been back in Wakanda. Not that it helped calm her down at all. The nurse finished typing in her information, asked if they had any other questions, and then promptly left when they responded no. Fifteen minutes later, a pretty Korean woman in a white lab coat took the nurse's place, clutching her tablet to her chest so she could offer a hand to shake.

"You must be Mika. Steve said you were coming in today." she said. Her smile brightened as she extended her hand to Bucky. "And you must be Bucky. I've heard a lot about you."

"All wonderful things, I'm sure." he deadpanned, taking her hand. Her face flashed in confusion for a second before she realized his meaning.

"Oh, no, I'm sorry, I meant - well, you spend enough time in this tower, you hear a few things." she explained. She cleared her throat and stood up a little straighter, turning back to Mika. "So you've been having some nausea since the Blip?"

"Kind of?" Mika said, unsure of how to explain the feeling that had been plaguing her ever since they got back. "It's more just...a sense that something is wrong. I did vomit this morning, but that was just because I had the weirdest nightmare that shook me." She looked to Bucky, wondering if he had anything he could contribute, but he simply reached out and held her hand. "I'm sorry, I feel like I'm wasting your time."

"Not at all." Helen said, pulling a stool over and taking a seat on it. Behind her, out in the hallway, they could see a few nurses behind a counter at a station. They were talking quietly, their eyes occasionally flicking up to them. Mika wondered if they realized that she could see every glance their way. "We're still discovering the effects of the Blip, especially with reports coming in from Europe."

"Has anyone else had the same thing as that one man?" Mika asked, perking up and forgetting about the nurses outside. She had a vague memory of him still, nothing concrete, as if she was trying to remember a dream.

"Many people, in fact." she responded. She spotted the movement at the nurses station out of the corner of her eye, and turned to give them a glare before tapping on her tablet and making the glass wall cover with frost. With that distraction gone, she was able to turn back to them focused. "Did you know him?"

"No, but...I remember him. From the stone." she said. Bucky's eyes shot to her at the admission; she hadn't yet told him why she was so fascinated by the guy. "I think he died in the stone, but then we came back and...I don't know." She suddenly lost track of her sentence, shrugging and looking down at her lap. She ran her thumb over the perfectly spaced grooves of Bucky's metal hand, if only for something to do to fidget.

"That is an interesting development indeed." Helen said, actually sounding interested and not just saying it for Mika's comfort. Her tablet dinged at that point, and whatever question she was going to ask next was forgotten as she looked to the screen. Her eyes ran over the numbers quickly, and while Mika didn't know what any of them meant, she thought that it probably wasn't good that so many of them appeared red.

"Is everything okay?" Mika asked, the sense of dread building behind her sternum. What did those results mean? Was she dying? Helen didn't answer for the longest minute of her life, instead scrolling down through the numbers and making sense of them. As if she hadn't heard the question, she stood up and faced the wall, swiping the screen of the table so that the numbers appeared in front of them.

"So this is a new protein that has only developed after the Blip." she explained, shifting the focus of the numbers so that they could see one specific part. Her number was red; did that mean high? Or low? "In people who weren't dusted, the number generally stays below eight. In everyone who was Blipped, it usually stays below twelve. Greater than twelve is when we start seeing problems, at least so far. The sample size is still very small."

"What causes the rise in the protein?" Bucky asked. Mika was glad he was there to ask the questions, because she couldn't focus on anything besides the fact that her number was eleven point six. She didn't know if that was significant, but it was too close for her comfort.

"That's something we're not sure of...yet. Some seem to come on with no trigger, and some patients have reported visions or hallucinations beforehand." she said. She flipped down the list, numbers periodically appearing in red. "All of these are related to this protein...except this one. This one just means you're slightly anemic."

"Least of my worries at this point." Mika said. "So is it bad? Am I going to end up…?"

"Unfortunately it's too soon to say." Helen said, sounding as disappointed in the answer as Mika felt. She pulled the numbers down, going to sit back on the stool in front of her. "For right now, you're perfectly healthy. But Steve was right to send you - I want to put you on the monitor list. It just means you come in every three days for a quick blood check and answer a few questions. I know it'll be inconvenient, but it's important both for your health and potentially for the health of others."

"Right, yes, not a problem." Mika said, relief washing over her. So Helen said she was fine, she just had to keep up with the situation. She could do that. She looked to Bucky, then back to the doctor. "Should Bucky be tested? He was dusted as well."

"You were? Have you been experiencing any symptoms?" Helen asked. Bucky only shook his head in response, which led her to pull out another couple of vials from the drawer. "Of course, we're encouraging anyone involved in the Blip to get tested. Let me see your arm, please."

He presented his arm, not even wincing as the needle bit into his skin. The vials filled quickly, and Mika noticed his blood seemed to be a lot brighter shade of red than hers. Was that just coincidence? Or had she simply found an artery instead of a vein? Helen's face gave nothing away as she took the vial, placing it under her tablet so that a barcode could be etched on it. "I'll get these in to the lab straight away. Do you want to wait here for the results?"

Bucky thought about the girl from the front desk, and the nurses at the station outside. "No, thank you. I can just get them in a few days when we come back."

"Very well. I'll call you if there's anything emergent." she said. She extended her hand to them once more, offering a warm smile. "It was nice to meet you both, I just wish it were under different circumstances."

"Thank you so much for seeing me." Mika said, biting back another apology for wasting her time. Based on the amount of red on her chart, it wasn't a waste of time at all. Helen gave them directions to exit the building (thankfully, using the employee elevator) and bid them goodbye, saying she would see them in a few days.

It felt easier to breathe on the sidewalk, finally free of the hustle and bustle of the tower. Mika tucked her hand around Bucky's elbow, leaning against him as they walked. She was suddenly tired to her very bones, and ready to go back to the apartment and lie down. When she expressed this to Bucky, he gave her a sad laugh and shook his head.

"Can't go home yet. We still have to go sign for our apartment." he said. Mika groaned, her face skyward for a moment as she stopped walking. Would this day never end? He laughed for real then, putting his arm around her shoulders and dragging her towards the subway tunnels. "C'mon, drama queen. It's about time we had our own place again."

Mika sighed heavily. She had to agree. "When you're right, you're right." she relented. She could see the smirk on his face, see the way he bit back a response. She could practically hear it - I'm always right. She pinched his side, even if he hadn't actually said it out loud. But the way he chuckled told her that he was just about to.

"I love you." he murmured in Romanian, saying it like a secret, or a prayer. She stopped walking again, not caring for the other pedestrians dodging them as she pulled him in for a kiss.

"And I love you." she replied. There were still a lot of uncertainties in their lives right now, but of that, she was sure.

Oh man, poor baby Mika, getting sick all over again!

I'm sorry I wasn't able to update last weekend, I ended up having to take a surprise trip to the emergency room. Oops! And I'll try my best to update next weekend, but I'm having knee surgery on Thursday, so I'll either have a ton of time to write or I'll be on the couch hopped up on pain meds!

That being said, are y'all still enjoying this story? Is there anything you'd like to see? I ask because it'll likely go on hiatus soon until we get Falcon and Winter Soldier, and I want to make sure things pause on a good note! Also I just shamelessly love to hear y'all's every thought about this story.

I hope you enjoyed this installment! Please let me know what you think!

-XM