Hi guys! I hope everyone has seen Endgame by now, but just in case: There will be no spoilers in this story.
Movie Night
Lily Luna Stark was bored. Really bored. B-O-R-E-D.
She knew that to be strange. There was really no end to the possibilities, but nothing held her interest for longer than five minutes.
She almost wished it could be evening already, because then she could at least go to bed and wake up on a school day, ready to see her friends. But nooooooooo, it was Sunday and everyone was busy.
Her friends were doing stuff with their own families, Hugo, her favourite cousin, was visiting his grandparents and the inhabitants of her own home were all busy. Without her.
Maybe she would find something to do downstairs?
At least walking down the stairs would take a little time, if nothing else. She walked extra slowly and heard music coming from the kitchen long before she reached the ground floor.
Wanda and Teddy were half dancing, half walking through the kitchen, loud music blaring out of the soundsystem integrated into the walls.
"Hey, Lily-Lu, what are you up to?", Teddy asked, using his favourite nickname for her. He didn't stop in his weird dance, but stepped around Wanda, who was rummaging through one of the cupboards and took a bowl out of her hands.
"I'm bored.", Lily stated and looked at the chaos strewn all around the counter. Flour, cocoa powder… "Are you making cookies?"
"Yes, cookies and a little chocolate cake.", Wanda called, her voice muffled, since her head was now completely hidden inside the cupboard.
"May I help?", Lily asked, she would have stuff to do AND be able to sneak some chocolate.
"Sorry, everything is already in the oven. But you can help us clean up, if you like.", Teddy offered, but Lily wasn't THAT bored after all.
"Where's Emmy?"
"Drove into town to get the others.", Teddy explained and handed her a small bowl, that still had some chocolate cream inside, and a spoon.
Right. Because that was why they were baking. Movie Night with Wanda's friends. Emmy and Teddy were invited. Lily, of course, was not.
It sucked. Just because she was younger than the rest of them?
She was NOT too young. In two short years she'd go to Hogwarts. Finally. And then she wouldn't be at home with them anymore. So when exactly was she supposed to do the cool stuff with them?
But noooo, she was the baby of the family and they all treated her like that.
Well, technically Kater was the baby. Where was the little furball anyway?
Lily fled from the kitchen before Teddy and Wanda could actually make her help, her bowl of cream firmly placed under her left arm.
The living room door was closed, which made it clear to Lily that this would be were she'd find Bucky and probably Kater.
Indeed, Bucky was sitting cross-legged in front of one of the couches, his back lazily resting against it and the coffee table right in front of him. There were two bowls, one filled with walnuts and the other with empty nutshells. Kater was, much as Lily had anticipated, lying on the couch, just far enough from Bucky as to not appear in need of cuddling but close enough that Lily was sure Bucky occasionally reached out to pet him.
"Hey.", Lily yawned and walked over to the two of them. Bucky paused on what looked like a documentary about New Wave and smiled at her, while crushing a walnut in his metal hand.
"Sneak something?", he asked, nodding towards her arm.
"Teddy gave it to me.", she shrugged and handed him a spoon full of cream. He took it with a soft smile and looked positively ecstatic when he tasted it. Lily meanwhile tried to lift up Kater, who made unhappy noises and managed to flee before she could reach him. Lily could hear him grumbling all the way through one of the small cat-tunnels connecting the whole house, even when the doors were closed.
Bucky raised an eyebrow at her, but didn't comment.
"Why can't I watch with them?"
"Why would you want to? I'm not, either."
"Yeah, but you COULD. But you chose not to."
"They'll watch something scary.", Bucky shrugged.
"I LIKE scary movies!", Lily proclaimed, but at the same time she knew it wasn't actually true. A couple of months ago, she couldn't sleep and had come down to tell her parents. They had been watching a James Bond movie and sometimes Lily still had nightmares about that short scene she had glimpsed, before her Dad had noticed her presence. Which was probably why Bucky didn't answer her, instead cracking a walnut for her, too.
"Thanks.", she mumbled and nibbled away.
"Wanna continue Terraria? We still have the temple to do.", Bucky offered. Lily and Bucky had been playing Terraria together for a while now, sometimes Dad even joined them. When he was away on business and found a quiet moment. But this time Mama was with him and Lily was annoyed and… not in the mood.
"Nah.", was all she said and looked down at her houseshoes.
"Nothing is going to make you happy today, is it?", Bucky asked carefully and reached for another spoon full of cream.
"Not true!", Lily protested, but Bucky didn't seem to believe her, even though he didn't say so.
He did that a lot. The not talking part. Lily had been a little weirded out by that, when he had first moved into the small guest house in front of her home. Everyone in her family talked. Aaaaaall the time. Bucky often preferred a shrug or a raised eyebrow. But Lily had gotten used to his quiet presence.
He was almost always around her now. Technically he was Mama's bodyguard, but Mama hated treating him like anything other than family. Lily knew that her parents had very different views on how to treat employees, which was why their housekeeper, Mrs Rudolph, didn't live with them, but arrived shortly after breakfast and left after dinner.
Since they lived outside of town, it was mostly Bucky, who came and got Lily after school or drove her to her friends' houses.
Suddenly she had an idea. There was SOMETHING she had wanted to do for a while and maybe Bucky would be up for it. He usually was up for a lot of silly things.
"Bucky?", she started carefully, weighing her words, "There is this one thing…"
She stopped, unsure of how to proceed and Bucky waited patiently for her to continue.
"I'd really like to practise braiding."
He raised an eyebrow and pointedly looked at her neat plait.
"Not like that. I know how to do the normal braiding thing, but… Mama always braids my hair into these cool hairdos and I can't really do that and… now she's not here and a normal plait is just kinda boring. I found some great tutorials online, but it's easier to practice on someone else first and… well, your hair is long enough…"
Lily full on expected him to say no, which was why his casual nod really surprised her.
"Really?!", she stared at him with open eyes.
"Should I say no?", Bucky asked, his brow creasing thoughtfully, "Is this something I should not be okay with?"
"No! No, it's cool!", Lily clapped happily, "I'll go get my things."
And she sprinted out of the room and up the stairs before he could regret his decision.
Less than five minutes later, she was back, her small box full of hair pins and scrunchies at the ready. She shifted to sit right behind Bucky, who was still firmly planted on the couch and told Morgaine, their AI, to play the video she needed.
She brushed Bucky's hair, started braiding, had to restart several times and stabbed him at least twice, but he really didn't seem to mind. Instead he was watching the tutorial with almost as much interest as Lily herself. At some point, Kater carefully snuck back in and, probably in an attempt to be safe from Lily, lay down in Bucky's lap and fell asleep. Lily was almost done with the two French braids she was trying to get to behave, when the cat made a screeching sound and ran out of the room.
"I think our visitors are here.", Bucky told her flatly, but Lily noticed the way bis shoulders straightened a little and his muscles seemed more tense. He probably wanted to go and meet them to make sure they were okay, but Lily had her legs firmly locked around his shoulders. There was no need for Bucky to get up, as the door opened ten minutes later and Teddy walked in, holding an angrily meowing Kater and showing their guests inside.
"Guys, this is Lily and Bucky. Lily and Bucky, this is Jenny, Rachel, Chelsea and Sheila.", Emmy introduced them, as she and Wanda were the last to step in.
"Hi.", Lily told them gloomily, as the girls waved at them. She had managed to forget for a bit that they were all hanging out without her.
"Why exactly are you holding Kater like that?", Bucky asked calmly and, Lily thought, a little suspiciously.
"Because Jenny is allergic and he wouldn't leave her alone.", Teddy explained, resignation in his voice.
Lily knew it was mean, but when their petulant cat used that opportunity to bite Teddy right in the chin and flee over his shoulder, she couldn't help her giggles of laughter.
"No one but Mama gets to safely carry Kater.", she told their slightly shocked looking guests.
"Your cat is mental.", Chelsea proclaimed and Lily felt a sudden surge of anger. SHE got to think that, but Kater was HER family. This stranger had no right to say something like that.
"He is particular.", Bucky responded for her, his voice much cooler than Lily was used to, as Kater returned to his lap.
"Huh, so are you the babysitter then?", Chelsea grinned and Lily had to admit that stung.
Maybe she shouldn't have braided Bucky's hair. She didn't want these girls to make fun of him because of her. She felt her eyes burning a little.
"I'm Lily's friend.", Bucky simply told Chelsea calmly and then looked at Teddy, as if the discussion was over in his eyes, "Everyone is staying the night?"
"Yes.", Emmy responded instead and smiled reassuringly at Lily. She had noticed how unhappy Lily was and it made her feel a little better, "We've got the rooms ready and all that. Dinner, too. And snacks."
"We left some for you in the kitchen.", Teddy agreed.
"Thank you.", Bucky simply replied and gave all of them one last, searching look.
They all scrambled out of the room and downstairs to their home cinema.
"Sorry, I didn't want to upset your little sis.", Lily could hear Chelsea say.
"Don't worry, she doesn't hold a grudge.", Wanda responded and then a door closed behind them.
"Not true.", Lily mumbled and resumed her work on Bucky's hair.
He didn't turn around to not move his head, but she could hear the smile in his voice: "She was probably just nervous and intimidated."
"Why'd she be that?"
"Because everything here is pretty impressive."
"It's home.", Lily frowned, "What's special about that?"
"She was probably impressed by your braiding skills.", Bucky laughed and as Lily joined in, she forgot her anger for a while.
That didn't last too long, though. An hour later she had tried several hairdos she liked and had left Bucky with what Mama liked to call the braided version of the "Eddard Stark Gedächtnisfrisur". She had no idea what the official name was and she didn't care.
"Another one?", Bucky asked and eyed the suggestions next to their current tutorial.
"Nah, I like this one on you."
Somewhere downstairs a door opened and a wave of laughter reached them, making Lily feel worse again.
"We could watch a movie, too.", Bucky offered.
But Lily didn't want to sit up here, watching a movie, when the rest of them was downstairs, having fun.
"Cinema?", Bucky tried again.
Mhhhh, that was different. Not sad and pathetic like sitting here.
"Morgaine, what's playing at the cinema right now?", Lily asked.
"The Paddington double feature starts in an hour, Miss.", the AI responded.
"Paddington! Bucky, the second part of Paddington! You liked the first one, right?!"
"Loved it.", Bucky agreed.
"Oh, do we wanna watch them both? Oh, please, please, please!"
"Yes. Grab your things. Morgaine, reserve us two seats, please."
"Of course, Sir. Two seats under the name Potter."
"Thank you!", Lily laughed and jumped up to get ready. Bucky followed behind her, much more relaxed, grabbing car keys and a "Go-bag". One of the bags with cash Dad always left for them.
40 minutes later they were standing in line to get their snacks. Bucky straight up refused to share her popcorn, insisting on his own, salty popcorn. Which Lily very much considered a crime against popcorn in general.
But for the next four hours Lily forgot all about being the little one being left out. About Jimmy and Alec being at school without her and Dad and Mama having gone on vacation for three weeks. THREE WEEKS. Without her. She was just enjoying hanging out with Bucky, who seemed to enjoy Paddington as much as she did. She looked over at him sometimes, not laughing loudly, like she did, but his eyes looked happy and that was enough for her.
"I loved it!", Lily declared loudly, as she grabbed Bucky's hand on their way out the door and into the now dark evening.
"It was great fun.", Bucky agreed, which was high praise coming from him.
They turned into an alley to get to their car and suddenly he froze, his cold metal fingers tightening a little around her hand. She could feel him go alert, like sudden electricity in the air around them.
"Lily.", he told her quietly, his eyes darting around them, "When I tell you to, turn around and run back to the cinema."
"Bucky…", she could hear her voice quiver. But before she could continue, Bucky hurled himself to the left, pulling her with him. A bright, red light brushed right past them and hit the floor.
"Run!", he hissed in her ear and catapulted her forward. And Lily did just that. What did Dad always say? Don't turn around. Don't stop. Don't look. Just run.
She had almost made it down the alley, when she slipped on one of the cobbled stoned, and fell down. She could feel her pants rip and her knees scrape over the rough stone. Another red curse flew right over where her head had just been. No time to think. Run! There it was. The road! People still leaving the cinema. A crowd to hide in! Safety!
Instead she ran full-pelt into a robed body and then everything went dark.