Chapter 85: Project

Mika used to think she was a homebody, until she had no choice but to be stuck at home.

The first six weeks weren't so bad. After all, she was still recovering from the Stone Sickness, so having an excuse to avoid exhausting social situations and crowds of people really wasn't a bad move. But now she was feeling a lot better, and a lot stronger, and it was starting to really annoy her that she had to stay in the same building all the time.

Really, she didn't understand why the sentencers decided that house arrest was the best form of punishment for someone charged with hacking and conspiracy and jail break, but who was she to judge? All that mattered was she got to be home with Bucky instead of stuck in the Raft until she withered away.

"It's time to meet Yori, hm?" she asked. She was currently laying on the seat of the couch, her legs up in the air and her head hanging off the front. The true picture of mature adulthood.

"It is. Do you want me to bring you sushi?" Bucky asked from where he was tying his boots. She kicked her feet excitedly.

"Yes, please." she said. She awkwardly rolled out of her position, her vision swimming for a second as she sat up too fast. "What time do you meet with Dr. Raynor today?"

"Ugh, almost right after, so I'll have to just drop off your sushi and run." he said with a sigh. "What's your project for today?"

"I don't know, I think I'm all out." she said, dramatically rolling onto the floor, the blankets Bucky used the night before softening her fall. Her therapist recommended a project every day during her twelve weeks of house arrest, which was a good idea in theory, but she was quickly running out of things to interest her.

"You haven't taken Nicoletta up on her offer to teach you to paint." he pointed out, coming to kneel down next to her prone form.

"Ew, no, I'm terrible at art." she said, shivering. She still remembered the classes her parents made them take when they were younger, trying to foster a sense of well-roundedness. Only Nicoletta had taken to the skill, with Mika crying in frustration and Raisa breaking the canvas over her knee. "Plus, Nicoletta is only good at teaching children."

"To be fair, your skill level is that of a child." Bucky said. Mika turned to him, affronted, and reached out to pinch the back of his calf. He was quick, but not quick enough to escape her cobra strike.

"How rude! I'd like to see you try it." she said. She rolled onto her side, posing 'seductively' and making an 'adorable' face. "Go ahead, paint me like one of your French girls."

"Whatever you're talking about, great reference." he said, leaning down to kiss her.

"You still haven't seen Titanic?" she asked around the attempted kiss. He pulled back, his brows furrowing for a moment before he tried again. This time she allowed a quick peck before asking again. "Seriously?"

"Have we watched Titanic together?" he asked.

"No."

"Then no, I haven't watched Titanic." he said. He paused, a look of confusion passing over his face. "Wait, is it a documentary? About that ship?"

"Ha! No, not a documentary." she said, giving in and sitting up again. "Historical fiction. Very romantic. You'll love it."

"Guess I need to bring home movie snacks after therapy today." he said, unable to hide his distaste at the thought of his appointment later. She reached out and took his hand.

"You're doing great, my love." she said. "The movie will give you something to look forward to. Have you asked about switching? I don't like the way this doctor talks to you. Mine gives me a candy at the end of my session if I cry."

"I had Steve ask, but they told him I had to stick with her." he said, shrugging. "It's fine. Not the worst thing I've dealt with."

"No, but it doesn't seem to be helping much." she said. She interlaced their fingers, scooting closer to him and laying her head against his shoulder. It was an awkward angle and she couldn't really see his face, but she could see the muscle of his jaw feathering. "I don't like finding you on the floor in the morning."

"I don't like ending up on the floor." he agreed quietly. "It'll be okay. I just gotta make it through all this first, then we'll both be free and we can finally move on and do something with our lives."

"Oh yea, she's still bringing up the whole job thing?" she asked.

"Yea. Apparently, 'I don't know, maybe cook again or something' is not the ideal answer for what do you want to do with your life." he said, rolling his eyes.

"If she asks again, you should tell her that you just want to stay at home and eat and do nothing. See what she makes of that." Mika suggested. Bucky laughed, shaking his head and kissing her again.

"I just might. Or say I wouldn't mind being your sex slave. It would be worth her scribbling in that stupid notebook." he said. Mika caught him by the lapels of his jacket, tugging him in for another kiss, and then another.

"Halfway done." she reminded him. He nodded and rested his forehead against hers, dragging in a deep breath.

"Halfway done." he said. He stayed there a moment longer, then laid a kiss against her forehead and got up. "I'll tell Yori you said hello."

"Oh, please do! Does he think I'm real now?" she asked, getting up with him. If Bucky was going to bring lunch back, she might as well get her exercise in now.

"No, but I keep telling him." Bucky said, laughing. "I even showed him pictures. He claimed I got them from the internet."

"I can't wait to meet him." Mika giggled. "It'll blow his mind."

"It really will." Bucky said. He looked off into the middle distance for a second before bringing himself back. "Anyway, I'll bring lunch."

"You're a saint and I love you." she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him a kiss passionate enough to make him rethink leaving. He gripped her tightly, eventually peeling himself away.

"I don't know about a saint, but I love you too." he said. He was already putting his face on, the one that was a little closed off, a little guarded. Mika knew it was because he didn't want to chance Yori finding out anything yet, but it still hurt her to see it. Really, she thought it would be better for Bucky to just get everything out in the open now, but he really enjoyed the old man's company, and confided in her that he selfishly wanted just a little more time before he ruined everything.

"Be safe." she said as he moved to the door.

"Stay out of trouble." he replied, his mask breaking slightly with that stupid little grin. She rolled her eyes.

"How much trouble can I possibly get in here?" she said, gesturing widely with her arms. He raised his eyebrows, moving backwards through the door.

"Knowing you? More than enough." he said, that same grin still on his face as the door closed behind him. Cheeky bastard. He was lucky Mika was completely and totally in love with him.

"Well, Luna, it's just you and me." she said. She eyed the blankets on the floor again, her heart sinking. After all they'd been through, after everything she knew about Bucky's suffering, she couldn't help but feel that this doctor was making him go backwards. Sure, she said that it would get worse before it got better, but they were halfway through the program. When was 'better' going to start?

Well, if Dr. Raynor was going to make his life difficult, then Mika would have to take it upon herself to make it easier.

The first thing she did was toss the blankets into the washing machine. If he was going to sleep on the floor, then they would at least smell fresh and not like dog. Next, she went to the kitchen and slowly brought together some pie dough, wrapping it up and sticking it in the back of the fridge. She would have to find a way to sneak apples into the apartment, but that was a problem for later.

Basic household tasks were mundane and annoying until one had nothing to do but basic household tasks, so she turned on her music and took care of her chores and started on Bucky's too, just for good measure. He stopped by about an hour later, and as promised barely had time to give her the food and kiss her goodbye before heading for his appointment with the doctor. Knowing he would be gone a much longer time now, she opened up the grocery delivery app and ordered a full dozen Pink Lady apples, ignoring the fact that the delivery fee was more than the cost of the apples themselves. It wasn't her fault she couldn't leave the apartment!

Well, technically it was her fault, but she wasn't going to admit that out loud.

She was through with lunch by the time the apples got delivered, and was halfway through peeling and slicing them when the phone rang. She furrowed her brows and attempted to wash her hands before it went to voicemail, but was too late. Luckily, a half a breath later, it rang again.

Sam? Why was Sam calling her?

"Alo?" she sang. She knew he texted Bucky every once in a while, but she hadn't talked to him in a few months. Steve kept them up to date on any gossip in his life.

"Hey, Meeks." he said. "Is Bucky there? He won't answer his phone, and I need to talk to him."

"Lovely to hear from you too, Sam. I'm great, how are you?" Mika said, her voice dripping in enough sarcasm to make her point without making her sound angry. At least, she hoped she got the ratio right.

"Yea, yea, I'm good, it's all good, I'm glad you're good." he said. "Seriously though, does that man ever have his phone?"

"Yes, but he has an appointment right now, that's probably why he isn't answering." she said. She picked up her knife again, idly chopping up the discarded apple peels just to have something to do with her hands.

"What's his excuse all the other times?" Sam asked.

"What's your point, Sam?" she countered. Something was different today. Normally Sam was calm, cool, and collected, but today he seemed agitated. It made her nervous.

"Sorry, that came out wrong." he said. "With Steve out of commission, I was wondering if he wanted to help with some stuff."

"What kind of stuff?" Mika asked, her blood running cold. She remembered the look in Bucky's eyes when T'Challa brought him the arm, the way he was so resigned to the fight. She didn't think that he would want that again, but that also wasn't her call.

"Oh, you know, mission kind of stuff. I can get it all done alone, for sure." Sam said. "But it would be a hell of a lot easier if I had some backup. What do you think?"

"I don't know." Mika said truthfully. "That's something you'll have to talk to him about, I can't say one way or the other."

"Yea, that's what I figured." he said. "Hence why he needs to fuckin' call me back."

Mika laughed. "I'll pass your message along, Sam."

"Thank you." he said. "You know, there's room for a cyber helper too here. My contact in the Army can't keep up with all of it, he could use the assistance."

"That sounds like a lot of paperwork." Mika said. She knew things were complicated enough back in Romania when her company contracted through the military, she didn't want to think about being an individual civilian dealing with it. Especially since she was an immigrant.

"Well, maybe we don't have to go through the, uh, proper channels." Sam said. Mika scoffed.

"Sam, I'm on house arrest for hacking Tony Stark's suit and then breaking out of jail from that." she reminded him. "What do you think the government would do if I hacked the military?"

"You wouldn't hack the military, you would just be gathering some information." Sam said. "Think about it. In the meantime, tell that old man to call back."

"I will, I will." she said. "How's - ah - what's the name of your home?"

"Louisiana." he reminded her, laughing.

"My mouth doesn't like that word." she said, trying to sound it out. Usually English wasn't difficult for her, but every once in a while the language threw her a curve ball. He laughed again.

"You'll get used to it." he said. "But it's pretty good, I think. It's been a few weeks since I've been back there. Torres has me running ragged."

"Maybe it's time for you to take a break, rather than recruiting people into the madness." Mika said.

"Ha! But where's the fun in that?" he said. "Look, just think about it. Talk it over with Bucky. Get back to me."

"I will, I will." she said.

"Bye, Meeks." he said in a weird, teasing tone.

"Bye, Sam." she said, matching it. She hung up the phone, setting it aside and looking down at her pile of apples. Maybe it was just the cabin fever, but when she thought about it, Sam's offer wasn't completely ridiculous. Bucky didn't need to be part of the fight, he'd earned his retirement. But her? She still had a little bit of fight left in her.

She shook her head. These were dangerous thoughts. She needed to focus on the here and now, and not what happened or what might happen later. Her therapist pointed out that she and Bucky had an entire life to rebuild, and they didn't need to worry about superheroes and all their messes. After all, if they wanted to have a family someday…

She shook her head again. That was also a dangerous route for her thoughts to take. Even though they'd been through one thing after another recently, the thought was still in the back of her head, lingering. If they wanted a family, they could have one.

She picked up her knife and got back to the apples. They could cross that bridge when they came to it, which would be a while from now. For now, she needed to get this pie done and in the oven.

The oven door was barely closed when her phone rang again. She prepared herself for further complaining from Sam, readying every excuse in the book for Bucky avoiding his calls. But it wasn't Sam. It was her sister.

"Yes?" she said hesitantly. Nicoletta never called unless it was an emergency. What if something happened with Steve? Mika wondered if leaving to aide her brother-in-law-slash-former-Captain-America counted as breaking her house arrest.

"Are you watching the news?" Nicoletta asked, her voice thick. She was crying. Why was she crying?

"What channel?" Mika asked, turning on their television and scrolling down to the news applications.

"CNN." she said. Mika found the app and clicked it, bracing for what she would find when the video came up.

Fires. Police presence. Men and women and children and everyone in between caught in the melee. Mika's hand flew to her mouth; the streets looked familiar, but was it here in New York, or in another place? Did it only seem familiar because she passed it in the Soul Stone?

"Riots started in Bucharest today after the Global Repatriation Council announced plans for relocation of several refugees following the Blip." the newscaster said. The footage changed to a shaky phone camera, the filmer documenting as police formed a line and corralled the people like animals. "These riots join those throughout Europe as the GRC slowly forms and reveals the individual protocols for these areas."

"Oh, my God." Mika breathed. Her chest constricted, and she was rooted to the spot as she watched people get thrown about. Children cried as adults tried to carry them away from the violence, tried to protect them from the oncoming storm. The newscaster was still speaking, but the words no longer sank in.

"I know." Nicoletta said. Mika'd forgotten they were on the phone. The video flipped again, this time showing a different city, the label at the bottom saying it was Berlin. One by one the video kept changing, showing different places in uproar as people were displaced from their homes.

"I have to call Elena, and make sure she's okay." Mika said. "And Hans. And Nicolai. Oh God, and Jonas and Maria and Mum-"

"I'll call Mum, you get the others. Love you." Nicoletta said. Mika barely had time to return to sentiment before hanging up, scrolling through her contacts with shaky fingers. She found Elena's name and clicked it, holding it up to her ear.

It rang.

And it rang.

And it rang.

"Alo, you've reached Dr. Elena Fortescu, I can't come to the phone right now-"

"Dammit, Elena." Mika said, hanging up and trying again. Once again, she got the voicemail. "Shit!"

She scrolled to Hans, the next name on her list. She held her breath as it rang, and she prayed to any deity listening that he would answer.

"Hey, hi." Hans said, and Mika let out a massive sigh of relief.

"Oh my God, I was so worried. Are you okay?" she asked. "The news is showing what's going on."

"I'm okay, I'm not at the pub." he said. He sounded slightly out of breath. "I've packed up, Jonas and Maria are out in the country now and invited me to stay. I figure we'll just close until further notice, until this all get situated."

"That sounds like a good plan." she said, also happy that Jonas and Maria were okay. "Have you heard from Elena?"

"No, you haven't?" he asked.

"No. I'll call her again." she said, unable to keep the tremble from her voice. Tears were free falling now, the anxiety threatening to choke her. "And Nicolai?"

"I just got off the phone with him. He's okay, he's heading out too." he said. "Call Elena, I'll see if anyone else got a hold of her and text you."

"Thank you, Hans. I'm glad you're okay." she said. Her hands felt numb, her fear taking over. It had been a few weeks since she talked to Elena, and now what if something terrible happened? When was the last time she told her she loved her?

Bucky let himself into the apartment as she hung up, his thoughts plain as day. "I heard what's going on." he said, coming and pulling her into a bone crushing hug. She wanted so badly to lean into his embrace and cry her eyes out, but she didn't have time. "Have you talked to anyone?"

"Hans said that him and Nicolai are going to Jonas and Maria's." she said. He stepped back, putting his hands on her arms and looking her in the eye.

"And Elena?" he asked. Mika felt her lower lip tremble.

"She, um, hasn't answered her phone." she squeaked. Bucky nodded, rubbing up and down her arms in a soothing manner.

"She's probably just packing up and didn't hear it." he said. His voice was soft and even, the calm in her storm. "Call her again, I bet she'll pick up this time."

"Yea, yea I'm sure you're right." she said. She clicked Elena's name again and listened to the rings, squeezing Bucky's hand so tight that she could feel the bite of the metal through his glove. When the voicemail spoke again, she hung up and redialed, unwilling to listen to it. This time when it hit voicemail, a sob escaped her.

"Hey, hey, I got it." Bucky said gently, prying the phone from her aching fingers. He called again, lowering the volume so that Mika could no longer hear the ringing. He continued to hold her hand as he dialed again and again, her body shaking as her panic threatened to explode from her. He turned slightly away from her, as if he could shield her from what was happening. The newscast was back on Bucharest, the anchor giving even more gruesome details. There were just so many things happening in the world outside their apartment.

Out of nowhere, Bucky thrust the phone at her face. Without thinking, she scrambled to grab it, holding it up to her ear. "El?"

"Mika!" Elena said. "I'm sorry I missed your calls-"

"Oh my God I thought you were dead-"

"I'm not, I'm leaving my apartment now-"

"Are you okay?"

"I'm okay! I'm okay." Elena sounded panicked as well, but at least she was handling it. "I'm getting out of town. Have you talked to anyone else?"

"Yes, Hans picked up." she said. The relief was so complete that she felt lightheaded, and Bucky guided her to the couch, helping her sit down. She focused on taking deep breaths, holding onto the sound of Elena's voice and the weight of Bucky's hand as he rubbed her back. "Do you have a safe way out of the city?"

"Nicolai is coming to get me." she said. "We're okay, Mika. Are you? Is anything happening in New York?"

"We're fine, we're good." Mika said with a nervous laugh, shakily wiping tears from her face. "I was so worried."

"I know, I'm sorry." Elena said. Mika heard a door open, and the distant sound of the crowd. "I'm far enough away."

"Good, oh my God." Mika said again. Her sternum was about to crack with how hard her heart was beating.

"Nicolai is here, I've got to go." Elena said. She always sounded rushed at baseline, but this was fast even for her. "I'll call you as soon as we get to the house, okay? Don't freak out, everything is okay."

"Okay, thank you. Love you."

"Love you too. I'll talk to you soon."

The line went dead, and Mika collapsed against Bucky, now free to sob into his chest the way she wanted. He held her tight, murmuring sweet nothings into her hair in an effort to calm her down. When the television showed Bucharest again, he reached awkwardly to grab the remote, turning it off. Her phone flashed again with a text message from Nicoletta, saying that their mother was safe, that her home was far enough out to avoid the bedlam. Mika cried until she smelled something burning, the pie suddenly reentering her mind.

"Fuck!" she gasped, jumping up and rushing to pull it out of the oven. The crust she lovingly made was black and smoking, the apples past caramelized and instead a brick of sugar and fruit. She rested her hands on the edge of the counter, willing herself to calm down. Bucky came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and leaning against her as she struggled to settle.

"You're okay." he whispered, just loud enough for her to hear it. "You're okay, we're okay, and they're okay. It's all okay."

"Yea, yea it's all okay." she repeated, hearing the words helping for them to sink in. Her friends were alive, and they had means to get out of the city. Her mother was safe, tucked away in her home. She and Bucky were here, with no riots in sight and a solid place to land. They were okay. They were all okay.

She thought of Sam's phone call earlier, and how his contact was having trouble keeping up with the flood of information. There were so many wheels turning, so many things going on as the world struggled to pick up the pieces after the Blip and the Stone Sickness. So many people needed help.

Perhaps it was time for her to have a new project after all.

...oops. We're right on the cusp of F&WS y'all! Who's excited?

I'm seriously so in awe of y'all. I was so afraid to bring this story out of retirement, and y'all have been so kind and supportive and welcomed me and Mika back with open arms! Thank you so much for your kind words of encouragement, I couldn't do this without y'all! Y'all have been so patient with every twist and turn of this story, and I can't thank you enough. Love y'all.

As people are discovering this story for the first time, there seems to be some confusion about the baby and the Snap. Pretty much Mika was snapped, and little one was not, hence why Mika was no longer pregnant following. The pain she felt was from the Snap itself. I'm so sorry if that wasn't clear, sometimes my subtlety is a little too subtle lol.

I love hearing y'all's thoughts!

Stay safe and tell your friends you love them

-XM