Chapter 91
Hey everyone, sorry for the delay but wasn't sure exactly how to put this one together. I wanted to get you opinion on something a friend of mine suggested. What's your guys opinion on Wren and Nora having a romantic relationship at some point? Steve Bucky and Nora would still be the endgame. Let me know what you think. Enjoy the chapter. :)
It took a while but I managed to get all the shrapnel and debris out of Clint's leg. Lucky for him there wasn't any serious damage to his leg. He wouldn't be running around for a few weeks but he'd make a full recovery.
"I'll put him in the guest room downstairs, I doubt he'll stay still but at least he won't fall down the stairs." Wren said.
"Sounds like a plan." I said.
"Go shower and get some rest, you look like hell." He said before teleporting Clint upstairs.
Got to love Wren's bedside manner. I cleaned up in the lab before heading upstairs. A few hours of sleep sounded really nice.
When I woke up I took a quick shower before I changed into a black tank top and some jeans. I went downstairs and found Wren watching the news.
'We are watching live footage of downtown Washington DC where Captain Steve Rogers also known as Captain America is currently engaged in a fight against a masked assailant. This comes a day after an APB was sent out for Captain Rogers arrest.'
"What's going on?" I said as I sat down on the couch.
"Steve Rogers is on the lamb and he showed up on the freeway in DC. He's fighting this masked guy." Wren explained.
They were fighting with knives and Steve was using his shield to block the hits then he used the distraction to flip the assassin over his shoulder knocking his mask off. He turned around and I froze.
"Bucky." I said.
"Nora." Wren said.
I couldn't breathe; this can't be happening how is he still alive? I saw him fall. I fell with him and didn't save him and know he's trying to kill Steve and he has a metal arm.
The metal armed man. I am such a freaking moron. He was here. My visions.
"Aya get out here now." I manage to choke out.
A flash of green light later she was out.
"I told you things happen for a reason." She said.
"How could you?" I said tearing up.
"This was always going to happen Nora, even before I came into the picture, this was meant to be."
"How is letting him fall off a train and be turned into an assassin for HYDRA part of your stupid plan!?" I yelled.
"Nora, we have guests." Wren reminded me.
"Who gives a shit." I answered. "What gives you the right to toy with people's lives? You saw the hell I went through when I lost him and Steve and you didn't care. I have done what you asked and every single time you stab me in the back."
"You're overacting." Aya said.
"Shut up! I'm done following your stupid rules. I'm done with you." I said.
"Well that's too bad because I'm not going anywhere." She said.
"Maybe but that doesn't mean I can't find a way to get you out of me." I said.
"Nora…" Wren said trying to get me to calm down.
"You wouldn't be the first host that's tried. I don't care if I hurt your feelings you are not allowed near Steve Rogers. If you try I will interfere again." She said before disappearing.
"ARHH!" I said throwing a glass against the wall in frustration.
"Captain America. Black Widow and an unknown associate have been taken into custody. The details as to why have not yet been released." The reporter stated before Wren shut the television off.
"This is all my fault." I said.
"How is this your fault?" Wren said.
"I could have saved him and prevented this entire mess. I knew he was going to fall so when he was on the train I grabbed onto him and we both fell. Except that midfall I had another time jump and I was sent two weeks ahead and Bucky…" I said sobbing.
"Nora, you did what you could. And you heard Aya, one way or another it was going to happen. This was probably why she was so adamant about you not saving him so that the three of you would make it to the future." Wren said.
"This wasn't supposed to happen Wren."
"I know but it did and what's done is done."
"And now I have two soul mates I'm not allowed to go near." I said.
"Not necessarily." Wren said. "Aya said you couldn't go near Steve she never said anything about Bucky."
"Son of a bitch, you are a freaking genius." I said I kissed his cheek and ran down to the lab to get to work.
"Not so fast, we still have a bigger issue to deal with, for starters the unconscious spy in the guestroom." Wren pointed out.
"Right, is he still out?"
"Yeah but not for long, I have a shift at the hospital. I left lasagna in the oven and a salad in the fridge whenever you want to eat, change his dressings when he wakes up. Pain killers are in the guest bathroom." He said.
"Okay, Thanks for the save."
"Don't mention it." He said before teleporting out.
I got up and went to wash my face before going to check on Clint. He was still unconscious at least I thought he was. I went to change his dressing but just as I was about to remove the gauze he grabbed my hand and stopped me.
"I need to change your dressings." I said.
"Where are we?" He asked.
"Safe and off the grid." I said.
"Doesn't answer my question." He said.
"You hungry?" I asked. "I'll bring in some lasagna. Just let me change these bandages and you'll be good."
"What's the damage?" He asked.
"I got the shrapnel out of your leg. It didn't cause too much damage just a minor fracture to the bone. The muscles and nerves didn't sustain any severe damage so you got lucky. You have to stay off your feet for a few weeks but it should heal fine. That slash on your stomach needed stitches so don't move too much or you'll pull them." I said.
"How am I supposed to eat if I can't sit up?" he complained.
"Lucky for you I had this installed." I said as I changed the setting on the bed so the bed adjusted so he was sitting up.
"Ahhh ow." He said.
"How bad is it?" I asked.
"I've had worse."
"I'll grab food, you need it."
I walked out of the room and served us both a plate of food and walked back to the room I put the tray down in front of him and I turned on the tv to a news channel. It was playing news coverage of DC again.
"What is that?"
"Washington DC, we're not the only ones they're targeting." I said as they showed footage of Steve, Natasha, and Sam being arrested.
"I need to go." Clint said.
"We're not going anywhere especially you. You can't stand let alone walk."
"Then what am I supposed to do?!" Clint said annoyed.
"You stay here and get better besides don't you trust Natasha and Cap to handle this? The guy beat HYDRA once, I'm sure he can do it again." I said.
"They just got arrested." Clint said.
"You really think that's going to stop them."
"Breaking News, Captain America and Black Widow have escaped SHIELD custody." The news reporter said.
"Like I said, I think they've got it covered." I said.
I dug into my lasagna and moaned. "Mhm cheesy delicious goodness." I moaned.
"You're an amazing cook." Clint said.
"I didn't make it Wren did." I said and Clint froze.
"Wren made this?" he said looking a bit freaked out.
"Yeah he's a great cook. We trade off who's doing the cooking by days."
"You mean you two live together?"
"We're actually married." I answered. That made him start coughing. "You okay?"
"Yeah just, wasn't expecting that."
"What is it with you two? You get this really weird look whenever I mention him."
"We have history, let's just say thanks in part to your husband I'm not allowed to go back to Budapest anymore." Clint said cringing slightly.
"What? How?" I said.
"Ask him." Clint said.
"You both love your secrets." I muttered.
"How'd you get out of the house and how'd Wren find us?"
"Well I kind of rewired your jamming device into a signal booster and used it to send Wren a message and photos of where we were." I said.
"You can do that?"
"Trick I learned a while back." I said. "I made sure it was only possible to track from my computer here so I still have no idea how they even found us."
"The only people who knew about it were Natasha, and my old handler Phil. Sent him a picture once." Clint said.
"What's the protocol when SHIELD agents die?" I ask.
"What do you mean?"
"What happens to their things their cell phones…" I started listing.
"They're taken in analyzed and… oh shit." He said.
"Yeah, that's probably how." I said.
"How do you know they won't look for us here?"
"A dummy corporation owns the place, which happens to be owned by another dummy corporation, owned by yet another corporation owned by a friend. This place is off the grid, mail gets picked up at a post office box. So we're safe." I explained.
"Starting to see why they wanted to recruit you." Clint said. "So how'd you get out of the house?"
"Dumb luck and knowledge of human anatomy." I answered.
"Right…"
"Here." I said putting to pills on the tray. "I know your leg is probably killing you and you need to get some sleep."
"I just woke up." He said.
"After running on just a couple hours the past few days? Get some sleep if you need anything ask Friday." I said.
"Who's Friday?"
"I believe she's referring to me." Friday promptly answered.
"You have an AI?"
"Christmas gift from Tony, it's helpful." I said.
"You two are close." Clint commented.
"Shared life experiences, kid geniuses are kind of rare." I explained.
"I can tell." He said.
"See you in the morning." I said as I walked out.
I cleaned up the kitchen and went down to the lab. I couldn't do anything to drastic like hack into SHIELD without running the risk of them finding us. Normally in times like these I'd call dad but he's probably still mad about the wedding. Better to let him cool off. Option three: tinker and watch sci-fi movies in the background it is.
Today's movie pick: The Dark Knight Rises.
I was tinkering on my computer making an app to analyze someone's patterns and make it easier to track them down or in my case help me stay off the radar when Lucius Fox uses that device to turn every electronic device in Gotham into a sonar device.
That would be so cool to actually invent in real life. Someone should do that…
Wait, I can do that…
"Friday bring up sonar scanner models and anything you can find on remotely modifying audio frequencies." I said.
Third Person's POV- Washington DC
After the Battle on the Bridge and fighting the man with the SHIELD the asset was confused.
The man had called him Bucky. Who was Bucky and why did he seem so familiar? He started having flashes the blonde man and a girl with green eyes. He and the girl were falling from a train.
"Bucky! Nora, no!" A man shouted after them. As they were falling there was a flash of light and the girl disappeared.
The next thing he remembered was him lying on the cold snowy ground and his arm was missing, Someone speaking Russian was dragging him across the snow leaving a trail of his blood.
A man with beady eyes was standing next to him as he was strapped down to a table. In an accented voice he tells him, "The procedure has already started."
There's the sound of a drill and he sees them cutting his arm off and replacing it with the metal arm. "You are to be the new fist of HYDRA."
"Put him on ice." He hears the man say before he feels very cold.
That snaps him out of his delirium and he sees a scientist working on his arm. The asset pushes him away from him. On of the Agents points his gun at him to stop him.
Alexander Pierce enters the vault with Brock Rumlow behind him.
"Sir, he's...he's unstable. Erratic." The scientists reports.
"Mission report." Pierce demands but The asset was unresponsive. "Mission report, now." He was still unresponsive to Pierce strike him in the face.
"The man on the bridge..." He finally says thinking back to what the man said to him. "Who was he?"
"You met him earlier this week on another assignment." Pierce says to quickly squash any hope the asset had of regaining his memories.
"I knew him." He says
Pierce sat in front of Bucky. "Your work has been a gift to mankind. You shaped this century, and I need you to do it one more time. Society is at a tipping point between order and chaos. Tomorrow morning we're gonna give it a push. But if you don't do your part, I can't do mine, and HYDRA can't give the world the freedom it deserves."
"But I knew him." The asset responds.
"Prep him." He orders the scientist.
"He's been out of cryo-freeze too long."
"Then wipe him and start over." Pierce demands. They place a mouth guard in the asset's mouth and start wiping his brain with the asset screaming in pain.
Third Person's POV- Classified Location
Flashback-
Steve was sitting in the living room of the apartment in London. Bucky and Nora had gone out to get some groceries and he had gotten back from a meeting with Colonel Phillips. He looked at the photo Bucky had given Nora for her birthday a few days ago of the both of them as teenagers, back when Steve was still skinny and asthmatic.
"We're back" He heard Buck call out.
"What do you got there?" Nora asked him.
"Oh just looking at this old thing." He said giving her back the framed photo.
"I love this picture." Nora said.
"Why?" Steve asked.
"Because it's of the two people I love most in the world." Nora answered with a smile.
"Is he still nervous about you seeing him when he was skinny?" Bucky asked coming to join them on the couch.
"Yes. I don't think he's gotten in through his head that I'm not going anywhere and he's stuck with me." Nora answered.
"It's not that its just…"
"Steve how many times do I have to tell you before you get it through that thick head of yours that I'm not going anywhere." Nora told him.
"We're with you till the end of the line punk so stop doubting us." Bucky said.
Nora kissed him and then leaned her forehead against his. "We love you Steve that's all you need to know."
"You're stuck with us punk get used to it." Bucky said kissing his cheek before kissing Nora's and pulling them into a hug.
End Flashback
"He's gonna be there, you know?" Sam told Steve.
"I know." Steve answered.
"Look, whoever he used to be, the guy he is now, I don't think he's the kind you save. He's the kind you stop." Sam said and just the thought of what he was asking gave Steve the chills.
"I don't know if I could do that." Steve answered
"Well, he might not give you a choice. He doesn't know you." Sam told him.
"He will. Gear up, it's time." Steve said mentally preparing himself.
"You gonna wear that?" Sam said eying his civilian clothes.
"No. If you're gonna fight a war, you gotta wear a uniform." Steve said with a smirk.
Third Person's POV- Dallas, Texas
Wren teleported into the kitchen like he did after every shift. He set down the crutches he had gotten for their guest and grabbed a glass of water.
"Friday is Nora still awake?" Wren asked.
"She's in the lab Doc." Friday answered, "She fell asleep about an hour ago."
Wren sighed, "What am I going to do with her?" He shook his head before teleporting to the lab and there she was.
Nora was asleep, resting her head on the table with her notes scattered all over the place. Once she gets an idea into her head she can't stop until it's done or she tires herself out.
"Let's get you to bed." Wren said to himself. He picked Nora up. She was so deeply asleep she didn't stir. Wren teleported them upstairs to her room where he set her down on her bed. He slipped off her shoes before covering her with a blanket.
Wren teleported downstairs and grabbed the crutches. He walked over to the guest room and left the crutches against the wall but close enough to the bed. Clint was soundly asleep, at least it looked that way.
"You awake?" Wren asked. "I can tell you're not so you may as well stop holding your breath."
"Where's Nora?" Clint asked.
"Asleep, finally. She's quite the insomniac." Wren answered.
"I know, Used to watch her run on four hours a night and have at least four cups of coffee a day." Clint said.
"How long have you been watching her?"
"On and off for the past six years. Last time was three years ago, Not sure if SHIELD assigned anyone else besides me." Clint said.
"Why?"
"Why do you care?" Clint asked.
"She's a friend." Wren answered.
"More than that by the looks of it" Clint said looking at Wren's wedding ring. "Does she know?"
"No and I'm keeping it that way." Wren said.
"She's a smart kid, she knows something's going on." Clint said.
"Nora has enough on her plate. I can deal with my own problems. Get some sleep." Wren said before teleporting out.
Nora's POV-
I woke up in my own bed, wearing the same clothes as the day before and not remembering how I got there. I remember working downstairs on the Sonar tracking system but nothing after that.
I got up and took a quick shower before getting dressed in an old Beatles tee I had turned into a tank top and some black jeans.
I went downstairs and saw that Wren was up.
"Morning." I said.
"Morning." Wren greeted with a small smile.
"Didn't hear you get back." I said.
"You fell asleep in the lab again, New project?" Wren asked.
"More like an idea, still working out the theory to see if it can even be done." I said.
"I'm sure you'll pull it off." Wren said.
"How's the patient?"
"Not sure, Friday is he awake?" Wren asked.
"He's been awake for twenty minutes Doc." Friday alerted.
"I'll go check on him, have to change his dressings anyway."
"I left some crutches in there in case he's finally okay to move." Wren said.
"Thanks." I said walking into to the room. I knocked on the door and hear him reply.
"Morning." I said.
"Morning." Clint replied.
"How are you feeling?" I said.
"Like a vegetable." Clint replied.
"Stop being such a drama queen. I need to check your dressings and we'll see about getting you out of bed for a bit." I said. I put on a pair of gloved and checked the stomach wound first and it was healing really well. No signs of infection so that was good. Next up the leg.
"How's the pain?" I asked.
"Not too bad, just itches a lot." Clint complained.
"Hope you haven't been scratching or it's going to take longer to heal." I said.
"And we can't have that now can we?" he replied.
"It's looking good." I said. "Can you wiggle your toes for me?"
Clint moved his toes no problem. I grabbed a pen and moved it up and down his foot.
"Did you feel that?" I asked.
"Yeah" Clint said.
"Okay good. No sign of any nerve or muscle damage. Want to try getting out of bed?" I asked.
"Yeah." Clint said brightening up at the mention of getting out of bed.
"Good so you have to take it easy. Sitting most of the time. Only getting up if you need to use the bathroom. No heavy lifting. If you need something ask." I said getting the crutches.
"Yes ma'am." He said sitting up.
"Good, go ahead." I told him.
He took the crutches and stood up. I walked ahead of him and cleared the way to make it easier for him to walk.
"Nice place." Clint said.
"Thanks." I said.
"Breakfast is ready." Wren called out.
"You feel good enough to sit on a chair?"
"I can manage that." HE said.
"Come on then."
We walked to the kitchen and I pulled out a chair for Clint.
Wren put the plates in front of us and we ate quietly.
"So how do you two know each other?" I finally asked.
"Don't need to know that." Wren answered.
"Right. Does it have something to do with Budapest?" I said and Wren dropped his fork and looked over at Clint.
"What did you tell her?" Wren demanded.
"Nothing, just that I can't go back there because of you." Clint answered.
"Nora, don't ask. You don't want to know and I don't want to talk about so drop it." Wren said giving me a pointed look.
I gave him a look letting him know we weren't done talking about this. After breakfast Clint sat down and watched TV in the loving room while I helped Wren wash the dishes.
"Why do you keep avoiding questions?" I asked.
"I'm not avoiding, I just don't want to talk about it." Wren said.
"I thought we agreed no secrets." I said.
"There are some things you're better off not knowing." Wren said.
"Shouldn't I be the judge of that."
"Nora leave it alone."
"No, when we got married we agreed we were in this together, good and bad so start talking." I said.
"It's none of your business stop asking."
"Wren…"
"Stop!" He yelled and then things were quiet.
"Uh, guys, you may want to see this." Clint called over from the living room. I threw the dishcloth on the counter and walked to the living room.
"What's going on… Whoa." I said. "Is that DC?"
"Yeah, that's the Triskelion. SHIELD Headquarters. And those flying ships are Helicarriers." Clint said.
"Why are they firing at each other?" I asked and all of a sudden I felt this searing burning pain on my wrists.
"AH!" I shouted.
"Nora." Wren said coming up to me.
"Ah, fuck that hurts." I said.
"What's going on?" Clint asked.
"Not sure." Wren answered.
I started feeling a pain in my leg that made my legs buckle and I started falling.
"Shit" I heard Wren say as he grabbed me before I fell. Then I couldn't breathe and everything faded.
When I woke up I was still on the couch staring up at the ceiling.
"Uh." I groaned sitting up.
"Hey take it slow" Wren said.
"I'm fine," I said. "Just got lightheaded out of nowhere."
"It looked like you couldn't breathe." Wren said.
"It felt like I was drowning." I said.
"Pressure on your chest. Lungs on fire?" Clint asked.
"Yeah, but it's gone now." I said sitting down. "Any news?"
"Looks like The Helicarriers were a part of HYDRA's plan. My partner just dropped all of SHIELD's intelligence on the web." Clint said.
"Friday," I called out.
"Already working on it boss." She said.
"Let's see what we're up against." I said grabbing my tablet.
After about an hour or two I finally found the file on Project Insight.
"The world owes Captain America a huge thank you." I said.
"What'd you find?" Wren asked.
"Those helicarriers were set up with biometric scanners and could have killed millions. I just found the list of everyone they were targeting also known as everyone who posed a threat to HYDRA now and in the future." I said.
"In the future?" Clint asked.
"They had some kind of algorithm some thing that analyzed a person's habits and paper trail to determine behaviors in the future. This is pretty advanced stuff." I said looking through it.
"Looks like the three of us were in the top one hundred of HYDRA's kill list," I said bringing it up.
"All of the Avengers too." Clint said reading the names off. "I need to call Nat."
"We need a secure line." I said.
"Give me a few hours, I'll set it up." Wren said teleporting away.
"I thought he was going to tell me to do it myself." Clint said.
"He probably just wanted to get out of the house." I said sighing.
"He's different than the last time I saw him." Clint said.
"Can you tell me how you two met?"
"That's not my story to tell kid." Clint answered.
"I figured. I don't keep secrets from him, I just thought it was the same for him."
"He has his reasons." Clint said.
"I thought you said he was dangerous."
"He is, I just don't think he'd hurt you."
"Really?" I said. "What makes you say that?"
"I know someone like him and the way he acts around you reminds me of they way they are with me. Give him time." Clint said.
"Hope you're right." I said.
"You should call Tony, he might have more info on what's going on." Clint suggested.
"I think I got this handled." I said.
"Are you sure cuz…"
"I got it." I said giving him a look.
Wren came back and handed Clint and me a phone.
"It's connected to your old line and you have a few messages." Wren said.
"It's probably about the deal." I said. I checked the phone and it was from MIT. I quickly told them that I had to return to Dallas to deal with some personal business. Other than that it was just emails from work and social media notifications.
"Nat it's me." Clint said.
"Safe, Where are you?"
"I saw that, cover's been compromised."
"I'm laying low, safe house somewhere, don't know exactly where…"
"You sure?"
"Call me when it's safe to meet." Clint said before hanging up.
"Any news?" Wren asked.
"Natasha has a meeting with a congressional committee in the morning. Let's see how that goes." Clint said.
"Considering she just dropped evidence that can be used in her favor and against her… Let's just hope she can talk her way out if this." I said looking over the released files until I found one that made me cold. I opened it and saw it was actually a video of Bucky on some chair.
"I'll be in the lab." I said taking the tablet and running downstairs.
I put on my earphones and played the video. All I could hear were screams and electricity running through the chair.
"Friday find any files referring to the asset or Winter Soldier." I ordered.
"I found over two hundred files boss but they're all heavily encrypted." Friday answered.
"Then decrypt them." I ordered.
"I'm on it but the level of encryption used, it's going to take a while." Friday answered.
"Don't stop running the program." I said. I turned back to the table and watched it again. How long had they done this to him? Why were they doing this to him? And that arm…
At some point I got tired of watching the same video over and over again and I started decrypting them myself. I probably wasn't working any faster than Friday but it gave me something to do.
"Ma'am, Doctor Spencer wanted to notify you that it's time for dinner." Friday said
"I'm not hungry." I said.
"He's rather insistent Ma'am."
"Tell him I'll eat later." I said putting my headphones back on. Next thing I knew my earphones were taken off and someone grabbed me from behind before I appeared in the kitchen.
"Oh look who decided to come up for dinner." Wren said.
"Very funny." I said. "Like I told my girl Friday, I'm not hungry so I'll be downstairs…"
"Nora sit your arse down or I'm locking you out of the lab for the rest of the week." Wren said.
"I could always just hack my way in." I said.
"I won't teleport you for a week." Wren threatened.
"I'm sitting down." I said. Clint just started laughing.
"You've been domesticated." Clint told Wren.
"Keep it up you'll be eating instant noodles until you leave." Wren threatened.
"What's for dinner?" I asked.
"Steak pies and mash." Wren replied.
"Yum." I said.
After dinner I went back to the lab.
"Nora, go to sleep." Wren said.
"Can't, I have files to decrypt." I said.
"You and I both know Friday can do that for you." Wren said.
"I don't want to sleep Wren." I said.
"Nora this isn't good for you. You're obsessing." He said.
"He's my soul mate Wren. My soul mate who I thought was dead and was actually tortured and taken captive for over seventy years. Tortured into forgetting who he was and forced to be an assassin by the Asshole who tortured him and me the first time he was captured so yeah, I can't sleep because anytime I close my eyes I can see his horrified face as he walks towards that chair or anytime it gets quiet I can hear his screams in the back of my head." I said crying.
"Running yourself ragged isn't helping you or him. Yes he was captured and tortured but do you really think he'd want to see you go through this?" Wren asked.
"I deserve this. This is my fault." I sobbed out.
"Nora, listen to me, this is not your fault. You didn't push him off that train. You didn't torture him, or brainwash him into a mindless assassin HYDRA did."
"But I should've saved him, that should've been me not him." I cried.
"No. Don't you dare think that! You are by far the most caring and best person I know. This guilt your feeling is proof of that. You couldn't do anything before but you can now. But not tonight, tonight you are going to go up to your room and get some sleep. You're going to wake up tomorrow refreshed and ready to kick arse."
"I can't." I said and just as that was happening I started getting the chills. "That bitch."
"What…" Wren said as I started glowing. "Crap. Stay calm."
"Don't have a choice." I said as I disappeared.
When I opened my eyes I was in an alley. Great, I looked like crap and I'm off god knows where or when.
I walked out of the alley and walked over to a newsstand. The headline read:
CLINTON WINS NOMINATION, GORE AS HIS VICE PRESIDENT
I'm in 1992 again. This blows. At least this time I cam prepared. I started keeping money in the pockets of all my jeans for situations like this. I walked out and saw that I was in Westwood again. Aya loves putting me on this emotional rollercoaster and watching me breakdown.
I walked over to the same coffee shop and ordered my drink before sitting down. There were books lying around and I picked up a copy of the Odyssey. It wasn't until I saw a very familiar brunette followed by an even more familiar young man that I put the book I was reading down.
She walked in and ordered and they bickered for a bit before finally sitting down. She looked my way and smiled before coming over and dragging him with her.
"Anna, it's been so long!" Mom greeted.
"Ellie hi," I said getting up as she pulled me into a hug.
"How have you been? Where have you been?" She said.
"Sorry I had some things come up and I had to leave kind of unexpectedly." I said.
"I know the feeling." She said rubbing her stomach.
"Oh my gosh, you're pregnant." I said.
"Talk about a bump in the road." Mom answered.
"Congratulations are in order." I said.
"For you too that ring is huge." Mom said grabbing my finger.
"Wow, your husband must be loaded." Dad answered.
"Oh pregnancy brain's making me forget everything. Anna meet my husband, Tony. Tony this is Anna." Mom introduced us.
"Hi." I said forcing a smile onto my face.
"Hi, love the shirt." Dad said. I looked down and saw I was still wearing my Beatles shirt.
"Thanks."
"You a fan?" He said.
"Own every record, rock is my go to."
"Really? What bands?"
"ACDC, Black Sabbath, Kiss." I answered.
"Good taste" Dad said with a genuine smile. "I gotta run, call me when you're out of class." Dad told Mom.
"Course, go kick ass." Mom said kissing his cheek.
"Nice meeting you Anna."
"Nice meeting you too Tony." I said with a wave.
"So tell me about the lucky guy" Mom said.
"Um wow where do I start." I said "So I should probably start with why we got married."
"Oh my gosh are you…" She said.
"Am I what?" I said.
She looked down at my stomach and then up at me while rubbing hers.
"Oh Oh! No. No way that's happening. No I got married to prevent my best friend from being deported back to England." I said.
"You're in a sham marriage and he gave you a rock like that?" Mom said.
"It was a family heirloom." I defended.
"Anna, honey no man gives someone they don't love or care about a rock that size or let alone a family heirloom. That man must have it bad for you." Mom said.
"No…" I said denying it. "It was kind of short notice and he had it on hand that's all."
"Sure it is." She said with a sneaky smile. Was that what I looked like when I said stuff like that?
"Enough about me, tell me about you. You're married. You're having a kid. That's huge." I said.
"Trust me when I say I was not expecting this. It all happened so fast. My roommate dragged me to a party. I ditched this guy that wouldn't quit leaving me alone for Tony next thing you know we're hooking up in the parking lot of a Burger King…"
"Ew TMI." I said. I was conceived in the parking lot of a Burger King. I could have spent the rest of my life not knowing that.
"Sorry, a couple of weeks later I was late and Tony was the only guy I'd been with so… yeah." She said.
"How'd he take the news?"
"You mean after the this can't be happening. The kicking me out of his house. Then him showing up on my doorstep finally willing to talk it out? I think he did okay." Mom said. At least I know I get my sarcasm from both of them.
"But it worked out. He seems very attentive." I said.
"He is. I fainted a few days ago and he's been waiting on me hand and foot." Mom said.
"You fainted? Any dizzy spells, lightheadedness? Are your feet and hands swelling?" I asked.
"Whoa, calm down. I got checked out already, it was just stress." She said. "I'm fine."
"Uh, sorry. Pre-med training kicking in." I said.
"Your patients are lucky people." She answered.
"So boy or girl." I asked
"Don't know. No way to tell until the birth but just between you and me… It's definitely going to be a boy." She said with a smile.
'Oh boy you have no idea how wrong you are Mom.' I thought.
"A boy that's great Ellie." I said forcing a smile.
"Tony's hoping for a girl. Says we'd make a cute daughter." She said laughing.
I couldn't help but smile at that. I miss Dad.
"Got any names picked out?"
"A few, my favorite so far is Liam, for a boy." She said.
"For a girl?"
"I like Emily. Tony likes Nora. Says it was his Aunt's name." Mom answered.
"I like Nora. It means light." I said.
"Interesting" She said. "Crap, I gotta run. Class starts in bit and I gotta get a good seat. Anna don't be a stranger." She said pulling me into a hug.
"I'll try and you, take it easy. You have precious cargo." I said.
"I will. I'm starting to like the name Nora." She said.
"It's a strong name." I added. "Go, don't be late."
"Bye" she said before walking out of the shop.
I finished my coffee and got up walking out of the shop when I started feeling the chills. I walked back to the closest alley and waited for it to happen except when it finally did I wasn't home I was at the compound's common room. Clint and Natasha were talking and when I walked in they stopped their talking.
"Nora." Natasha greeted. Clint got up and looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
"I need a drink." I said taking her martini and downing it in one go.
"What's up with you Clint? You look worried." I said. Sitting down and opening a bakery box. And finding cannolis.
"We met already?" He asked.
"Yeah, ran away from HYDRA and stitched you back up. Done and done." I said pouring myself another drink.
"I've had the world's shittiest day. First a Nazi organization I helped take down tries to have me killed. Then I find out my soul mate who I thought was dead was tortured for seventy years by said Nazi organization and brainwashed into becoming an assassin and then to top it all off I end up having another chat with my dead mom and turns out I was conceived in a burger king parking lot! Great fucking day! So you know what I'm going to do? I'm taking this box of cannoli and this bottle of vodka and I'm going to try and think about what I ever did to deserve this cluster fuck of bad luck that just doesn't end." I said grabbing said items and going to the couch.
"So you know about Bucky?" Natasha asked.
"What's it look like?" I said doing a ten second handle pull before walking away.
As I walked down the hall I saw the blonde agent from before.
"Why are you here?" She said.
"Mind your own business and go fuck yourself." I said walking into an office with a flat screen and slamming the door. "Friday a good movie please. Preferably something with a lot of explosions."
Independence Day started playing.
I did another handle pull and finished half the box of cannoli but I still didn't feel better or drunk. I saw a flash of light and Aya was next to me.
"I thought I made it clear I didn't want to see your face again." I said taking another bite.
"A bit ironic since we share the same face. You're going to stop looking at mirrors?" She joked.
"Fuck off." I said taking another drink.
"Don't bother, I'm not letting you get drunk." Aya said.
"Why the hell not?"
"I thought we were making progress?" Aya said.
"Progress on what, ruining my life?" I retorted.
"You understanding the bigger picture."
"I thought I was too." I said taking another drink. "Why can't I get drunk?"
"You're pathetic enough as is." She said.
"Way to kick a girl when she's down." I said digging into the cannoli instead. I was interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Occupado." I said. Then the door opened and Dad popped his head in.
"Even for your old man." He said.
"I'm not sharing." I said.
"Good thing I brought these." Dad said stepping inside with a box of cupcakes.
"You're evil." I said.
"This is nothing compared to what Romanoff will do to get back at you for stealing her vodka." Dad retorted.
"She can have it back, Aya's not letting me get drunk. I drank half of this bottle and I'm still sober." I said.
"That is horrible. Romanoff come get your vodka." Dad called out. Natasha came in and took the bottle giving me a concerned look before walking out.
"Are you still mad I married Wren?" I asked.
"No, you did what you had to…" dad said. "So tell me about this shitty day you just had."
"HYDRA, another soulmate coming back from the dead, seeing you and Mom before I was born. Just the usual day for a time traveler." I said sadly. "I deserve this."
"No you don't" Dad said. "It's just the sugar and exhaustion talking."
"Everything I touch turns to shit. Maybe that's why Aya won't let me near Steve. He's literally the epitome of perfection. Probably doesn't want me ruining him."
"That's the dumbest thing you've ever said and you better not say it again. You're the best person I know kid. You're my light at the end of a dark tunnel. I know things are bad between us right now but I'll make it right. This is just a rough patch." Dad said.
"The never ending rough patch." I said. I heard dad's phone ring and he checked it.
"Stop moping. It'll get better." He said standing up and hugging him me. "I promise kid. I gotta run. Business to get to."
"Go kick ass." I said and he smirked.
I looked over at the box of cupcakes and saw they were all my favorites. Best Dad ever.
There was another knock at the door.
"Movie's almost over, wait ten minutes and you can have your office back." I said. The door opened and I heard someone walk in.
"Not my office, but I haven't seen this one. Mind if I join you?" I heard someone very familiar ask.
I turned to look at the person who asked and that's when I saw him.
"B-Bucky?" I said.
"Hi Doll." He said.
I jumped out of my seat and into his arms. I started crying.
"I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry." I sobbed out.
"Doll hey, Shh, look at me. It wasn't your fault." He said.
"I was supposed to save you." I cried.
"You tried your best and you stayed safe that's all that matters to me." Bucky said.
"They hurt you." I said looking up at his
"And it would have been you if they had found you, probably worse than me. Nora look at me." He said.
I couldn't look at him.
"Baby please." He said "Let me see those gorgeous green eyes."
I took a deep breath and looked up.
"That's better." He said giving me a small smile.
"You deserved better." I said.
"So did you sweetheart. You've had it rough." He said.
"Doesn't compare to what you went through."
"That doesn't matter because at the end of it all I'll have you to put me back together but you have to pull through first Doll."
"I don't think I can." I said crying.
"Doll, You're so much stronger than you know." Bucky said holding me. "It's hard I know, but you can do this. You did it once and you'll do it again. Do what you have to. Take care of yourself and do what you think is necessary. It'll work out."
"Have I ever mentioned how much time traveling sucks?" I said.
"You have but you gotta admit it has it's perks." He said with a small grin.
"There's a few." I said.
"Come here." He said as he sat down. He pulled me into his lap and held me. I rested my head against his chest so I could hear his heart beating.
"Get some rest Doll you need it." He told me.
I leaned up and kissed him. "I'm not going to be here when I wake up am I?"
"Probably not but at least I get to hold you until you leave." He said with a sad smile.
"I promise I'll find you." I said.
"I know you will." He said kissing me.
"Love you." I said.
"Love you too Dollface." He said.
I cuddled against him, just focusing on his heartbeat and slowly it lulled me to sleep.