Before she had graduated high school, Alison had gone to a meeting with the rest of the senior class. They had been instructed on what to wear under their gown, how to enter, how they should walk across the stage and go back to their seats. One of guidance counselors had gotten up to tell them he would not tolerate any pranks or shenanigans during graduation. He told them they were entering the adult world and the adult world would not tolerate childish nonsense. After working in an E.R for two years she was very tempted to go back to the high school, grab the counselor and shove him into the E.R so he could see real childish nonsense first hand. High school actually seemed mature by comparison.
In some ways Avenger Headquarters was a very mature version of high school. Sharon Carter nearly died laughing when Alison explained how it worked after they finished swimming one night.
"Alright you have the really popular kids who are super good at everything-The Avengers: Steve, Natasha, Thor, ect. You have the second rung of popular kids who aren't quite as good, but close-Sam, Rhodey, Wanda, and Vision. You and the other cadets are like the jocks, but really nice jocks," said Alison when Sharon started mock glaring.
"I firmly believe that the med people are like the marching band/nerd kids-Sometimes we get to hang out with the jocks and popular kids, but only if we can do something awesome. Support staff is like the AV group and our science people are a little like those kids who play D&D and Magic and they seem really nice, but they weird everyone out on sight," said Alison drying off her hair.
"You do have cases of cross group friendships," said Sharon with a smirk. When Alison had her first dinner with the rest of the med staff they filled her in on the different things they had during down time: book clubs, movie nights, game nights, group workouts just to name a few things.
"Do we wear pink on Wednesdays?" asked Alison jokingly. Jenny and another woman named Adair got the joke, but it was Sharon who turned around in her seat and tossed her hair back while giving her a mocking smile.
"And you can only wear your hair in ponytail once a week, so I guess you chose today," said Sharon. In addition to her love for the movie Mean Girls, Sharon was also an evening swimmer. She and Alison seemed to be the only two who went right to the pool after dinner. It was a huge pool, but it was nice to be sort of alone in your own way. She and Sharon were hanging around after their swim when Alison floated the high school theory by her.
"You also forgot how gossip and rumors works around here. It's unreal," said Sharon and Alison had to agree. The gossip and rumor mill was overwhelming sometimes and she had only been here two weeks.
Jenny seemed to be the main source for the med staff and much like high school and the E.R a lot of the gossip and rumors were centered on who was possibly sleeping with who. While dating between your fellow co worker wasn't frowned upon the close quarters did make breaking up not fun for the couple. It's prime time television for everyone else, thought Alison.
Jenny had told Alison the story about how two of the support staff starting fooling around, when the girl decided go after one on the scientists and ended her fling with the guy in support. The scientist ended up leaving and support girl couldn't get anyone to pity her after cheating on support guy. Jenny pointed them out in the mess hall. They walked past each other and Alison swore the temperature between the two people dropped to zero.
It turned out no one was above being in the rumor pool. Alison heard rumors about Natasha and Bruce Banner that seemed a too far fetched to her. There were rumors about Vision and Wanda and why they were always baking. Honestly they are just two people...well one is an A.I and they each needed a friend and they found each other, thought Alison.
"You know people think you and Sam are thing," teased Sharon and Alison rolled her eyes. She had gone to Sam's room one night after her swim and found him on the floor complaining of a cramp in his leg. She had helped him work the cramp out and clearly having her hands on his leg meant they were sleeping in supply closets now.
"We haven't had a thing since we were in seventh grade and that bottle land on me. I'm pretty sure if we were the last two people in the world we still couldn't make that work," said Alison.
"So it's cool if I ask him out?" asked Sharon giving Alison a wide grin.
"Oh you are tricky one. I like that. He's thirty, served tours of duty and has a jet pack. He can date whoever he wants too. It's his mom, aunt, and cousin you have to worry about," teased Alison. They changed back into sweats and tee shirts before heading back upstairs. They walked past the boxing area and Alison saw Steve was holding a dummy for Bucky to punch. Alison knew firsthand how fast Bucky could move it was another to just watch him. That man is like a cat, thought Alison. He had pulled his hair back with one of her hair ties she noted with some amusement.
"What we watching?" asked Natasha coming up behind her and Alison almost jumped. Another one that is like a cat, thought Alison. Natasha spotted Steve and Bucky and she nodded.
"It's something to see them in action. Even I'm a little impressed from time to time," said Natasha.
"Did you ever see the video of Steve fleeing SHIELD? That was impressive," said Sharon.
"That was a Tuesday workout for Steve. Before we knew Barnes was the Winter Soldier he and Steve fought it out on the streets of D.C. It was unreal to see them move," said Natasha. Alison had seen the shaky cell phone video of them fighting and it was something to see. It was just brutal and has Natasha pointed impressive to watch. The Soldier was ruthless and seemed to have no limit to his skill.
"I could teach you," said Natasha looking at Alison.
"Me? Oh...Um...I…I might be a really bad student," said Alison. Alison had also seen grainy and shaky cell phone videos of Natasha in a fight. She made it look so effortless, thought Alison.
"You'll never know until you try. We'll start Sunday night when you get back," said Natasha and she walked away. Sharon looked at her with a smirk.
"She's gonna eat for you breakfast," said Sharon.
"It was weird seeing her eat breakfast. She eats carbs. Carbs! Like the other mortals" joked Alison. She hadn't spent a lot of time with Natasha, but from what she had gathered she and Steve were close like how she and Sam were close. Under that kick ass lady was probably a very nice person. You just had to dig through the layers and she had a lot of layers.
"She's like a nice version of Regina George. I bet if you ask anyone she's punched in the face how it was they would say it was awesome," said Sharon and they laughed a little before heading upstairs.
"See ya tomorrow," said Sharon heading to her room. Alison knocked on Sam's door before letting herself in. He was laying on the floor listening to his music. Sam had joked that even though they lived and worked in the same space he sometimes didn't see her for a day or two. She had taken to bothering him at night before she settled down. While all her time was spent with Bucky, his time was spent either training under Steve for being an Avenger or he was training the cadets like Sharon. Alison sat on the floor with him and he wrinkled his nose.
"You smell like cleaners," said Sam.
"I just finished my swim. So people think we're doing it," teased Alison.
"I'm too sore and tried to even consider sex," said Sam and Alison grabbed her chest.
"Oh my god. The world is ending. The impossible has happened," said Alison and Sam groaned and pulled himself up into a sitting position.
"Ha. Ha. Ha. Mock me you lazy thing," said Sam.
"Well I might be getting a taste of your medicine. Natasha offered to teach me how to fight," said Alison and Sam's eyes got wide.
"Tell me there will be a pool of Jell-O!" said Sam and Alison gave him a playful shove.
"Ass. I'm just a little shocked that she offered is all," said Alison.
"We don't have a lot of girls on the fight squad. There is Hill, Wanda and Carter, but sadly not a lot of ladies despite a lot of looking. Maybe she would like to add to the squad. Or you might be 'She's All That' bet. She bet Steve she could turn anyone into a fighting machine and he picked you," said Sam.
"Oh I'm bet! I'm gonna get a sweet makeover and a montage. You wanna come with me Sunday? I might need your muscles to help me drag my drum set upstairs," said Alison. She had sent Pepper an email asking if the moving crew could bring her drums up, but she hadn't heard anything back yet. Alison guessed Pepper might be busy trying to figure out where Tony was on top of running his company. No one had seen Stark for about two weeks and it clearly was becoming an issue.
"Oh you do love me. I'm gonna have to pass though. Sunday morning drill. I have tomorrow to recover. To think I thought Basic training was hard," said Sam. Alison gave him a quick kiss on the forehead.
"You are a big baby and I love you. See you in the morning," said Alison. She left his room and two of the male cadets in the hall got wide eyed. Alison gave them a cheerful wave before going into her room.
She took a quick shower to wash the pool smell off and settled in to check her email. She got one from Pepper saying she would have a drum set up there by Sunday night. She also wanted to know how to drug someone and get away with it. Oh this makes it premeditated, thought Alison. She sent Pepper a thank you email and advised her to ask her own doctors about medication.
The next email was from Dr. Louna wanting to know how she was doing. Alison didn't see her in person anymore, but she still checked in from time to time. Alison told her she was fine and that she had made a couple of new friends here. She was looking forward to starting her classes in the fall and asked Louna if she had any textbook recommendations so she could catch up on any updated cases or methods. She sent Sophia an e-mail about meeting up for lunch before she headed back up here. Alison logged off and Bucky came in and went to give her the hair tie back.
"I should have asked," said Bucky and Alison shrugged.
"You can keep it. I have plenty of them," said Alison.
"Um, Thanks," said Bucky. He went to take his shower and Alison went outside to start trying out a new piece. Bucky came out and sat with her while she was working out the piece. It had become a new part of their routine. He used to sit on his own balcony while she did this, but he started sitting with her earlier this week and watching her. She didn't mind and sometimes he had questions about the music and she was more than happy to answer him. He's expressing an interest in something. This is another step for him.
For his part, Bucky just wanted to see how she learned to play up close. She explained how to read the sheet music and how to play the notes. How each note sounded when played alone and how they sounded when you put them all together. I liked music, I just never thought about how it came together, thought Bucky.
Alison knew of the rumor mill and she knew what some people thought of her and Sam. This was funny as hell to her considering her history with Sam. Bucky sort of knew about all the gossip from Steve and Natasha, but he really didn't care. However they were both unaware of their cog in the current mill. One of the male cadets who saw her exit Sam's room had his balcony four doors down from her and Bucky. He went out on his for a smoke and saw her sitting with Bucky and just shook his head. Geez how many hours can they spend together? He knew Barnes had his issues and who wouldn't after being a Hydra Popsicle for seventy some years and clearly needed a babysitter. But, they never seemed to be apart for more than an hour or two at time. Barnes even slept in her too considering he was in there during his evening freak outs this week. Then again if I got a nurse with an ass like that I would want to spend all my time with her too.
…..
Bucky was waiting for Alison at a table in the mess hall the following morning when two women and a man approached the table. He didn't recognize them, but he was still meeting everyone and sometimes people came and went. Even Alison had trouble remembering everyone's name and sometimes he would catch her eyeing a name tag so she wouldn't have to admit she didn't know who she was talking too.
"I'm sorry can we sit here? Everywhere else it sort of full," said one of the women. She had brown hair and brown eyes. She was rather soft spoken and appeared nervous to be bothering him. Not scared of him the way some people seem to be, just ill at ease with people in general. The other one just sat her tray down and pulled out a chair to sit. She also had brown hair and light green eyes, but she had an air of confidence about her that her friend didn't have. The man just shook his head looking at the sitting woman before taking a seat next to her.
"Darcy," scolded the woman and the one sitting down shrugged.
"What? He's cool with it. Beside it's a big table and he looked lonely," said Darcy munching on her toast.
"I was waiting for someone, but I don't mind," said Bucky. He was trying to be more social and meet the people here. Well Steve had suggested getting to know more of the people here. Alison said the decision was his and his alone to make.
"I'm Jane by the way. Jane Foster," said the shy woman sitting down. "This is my assistant Darcy and her assistant Ian."
"Well he's my assistant slash boyfriend," said Darcy ruffling the man's hair and he just hung his head.
"We've talk about this," pleaded Ian.
"Yeah I feel asleep during that talk, said Darcy pulling out her phone. Alison sat her tray down and she raised an eyebrow looking at him.
Hi. I'm Alison. You all must be new here," she said. Jane did the introductions again. Alison did a double take.
"Jane Foster as in the astrophysicists Jane Foster?" asked Alison looking a little in awe of the woman. Jane shrugged sipped her OJ.
"Yeah. Our friend Erik as taken up residence here and he wanted us to meet another friend of his and see if our projects could merge together. He does something with how time flows differs based on the realm and plane you might be in," said Jane and Bucky sort of looked at her puzzled. Jane looked over at him and flush crossed her face.
"I'm sorry I didn't get your name before taking over the table," said Jane.
"I'm James Barnes," said Bucky. Jane took him in and her eyes got wide. He had covered his arm, but you could see the metal fingers so now she was really piecing together who he was.
"Oh. Oh my god. It's an honor to meet you. We sort of heard through the grapevine...well I mean Steve told Thor that…" Darcy looked up from her phone at her stammering friend and elbowed her.
"Stop being a spaz and OH MY GOD I KNOW YOU!" cried Darcy and Bucky regretted his decision to let them sit here. Well you really didn't let them they just sat. I should have got up, thought Bucky.
"And you told her to not be a spaz," said Ian hanging his head even lower.
"Dude we are sitting across from the drummer from See Jane Rock! I will spaz out all over the place," said Darcy happily. Bucky looked at Alison and she shrugged before ducking her head a little bit.
"That was the name of the band I played with. We had a little following in the college circle," said Alison.
"I went to some of your shows and you played at my shitty cousin's wedding. Made her shitty sea themed wedding awesome," said Darcy and Alison's eyes got wide looking at her.
"Oh my god you were the drunken bridesmaid who hit on my fiancée," said Alison. Darcy looked thoughtful and her face broke into a wide smile.
"Wait the violin guy. Oh you are a lucky girl! He is so adorable. Is he working here too...hell why are you here?"
"I'm a nurse," said Alison.
"Is he a doctor then?" asked Darcy.
"I'm right here," said Ian. Bucky looked over at Alison he could see a hint of sadness in her eyes.
"He passed away three years ago. During the invasion," said Alison. Jane's face paled and Darcy looked down at the table slightly embarrassed.
"I am so sorry," said Jane and Alison shook her head.
"It's alright," said Alison. Bucky looked at Alison who seemed alright, but she always had this wistful look when she talked about him. Well she was in love in with the guy, thought Bucky.
"So you're a nurse," said Ian trying to change the subject.
"I'm in training to be psych nurse," said Alison. Darcy's grin came back.
"This one tried out for med school and had to watch a video of someone getting a kidney removed and she passed out. I wish I could have seen it," said Darcy and Jane put her face in her hands.
"This is why I don't like taking you anywhere," said Jane.
"You still love me though," said Darcy. Alison was about to say something when her eyes got wide at the sight of two older men coming over to their table.
"Franklin?" asked Alison stunned and she stood up. One of men was very thin and short and had white frizzy hair. The other one was tall with thinning blond hair. The short man also looked stunned to be seeing her too.
"Alison?" he asked. She broke into a wide smile and she got up to give him a hug. The old man hugged her back just as happy to see her.
"What are you doing here?" asked Alison stunned.
"I should be asking you the same thing?" said Franklin.
"Do you know this young lady?" asked the other old man.
"This was my dear friend when I was on retreat. She translated all the Spanish soap operas," said Franklin.
Bucky had the idea that the 'retreat' was this man's way of saying nut house. Alison calls it Camp Happy, he calls it a retreat, I wonder how many ways you can say nut house without saying nuthouse? thought Bucky.
"Alison dear this is my good friend Erik. I told you about him didn't I?" asked Franklin gesturing to the other old man.
"Hello," said Erik and Alison shook his hand. Darcy leaned back in her chair and grinned.
"It's small world after all," started Darcy until Jane kicked her under the table.
"So what are you doing here?" asked Alison.
"Well I've been working on my time ribbon theory. I told you about that didn't I?" asked Franklin and Alison looked stunned.
"I thought that was just…" Franklin grinned.
"Ramblings of a madman," he said and Alison nodded.
"Well considering where we were at the time," said Alison.
"I thought it was a retreat?" said Jane and Darcy hung her head.
"I think he means 'retreat' the way Erik means 'vacation'," said Darcy and Jane looking very embarrassed muttered something about being done and walked away.
"Yeah we had to break him out of Erik out of his 'retreat' so he would all save the world together. It was really cool," said Darcy. Bucky looked at Alison who simply shrugged. This is the world we live in. We have to get used to it, thought Bucky.
"I think we've all had our fair shares of going a little out of our minds lately," said Erik. "So what do you do here?" asked Erik looking at Alison.
"I'm part of the med team. I'm training to be a psych nurse," said Alison.
"And what do you here?" asked Franklin turning to Bucky.
"Currently recovering from my own 'vacation'," said Bucky. Might as well use the language, thought Bucky.
"This is James Barnes. Captain Rogers's friend," said Alison and Franklin looked stunned.
"Oh yes. We were told you were here. I'm going to assume that she's your nurse then," said Franklin.
"Is that how you two know each?" asked Ian pointing between him and Alison
"She found me in a dumpster first," said Bucky and Alison hung her head
"I need to go dumpster diving again. Hobos have gotten hotter since I stopped," said Darcy.
"I am sitting right here!" protested Ian. Wait did she just imply what I think she was implying? thought Bucky. He had noticed a few quick glances from the women on staff and how they quickly turned away if he caught them looking. Dames shameless throwing themselves at you, teased Becca.
"You weren't in a dumpster, you were by a dumpster," said Alison.
"Is there that much of difference?" asked Bucky.
"Well you found yourself in the right hands. Alison was always very sweet to me and she wasn't even supposed to look after me," said Franklin. Bucky looked over at Alison who turned a little pink at Franklin's words. So being social isn't so bad, he thought.
….
"Well it's a little like the Butterfly Effect, but I would like to see if it affects events in different realms and if there are different time lines in the realms," explained Franklin as he showed them around his lab. Bucky looked at Alison confused.
"The Butterfly Effect is the theory that a butterfly flapping its wings can cause a storm thousands a miles away," said Alison.
"It was also a really shitty movie," said Darcy.
"During the Convergence all the realms were aligned and it sort of made me think about Franklin's theory about the time ribbons," said Erik.
"Well time ribbon is just a working name," explained Franklin. "See I think that this is simply one timeline in the nine realms. I call the one we're living in right now Earth 199999. But just think, there could be another Earth in another nine realms with a completely different history than our own," said Franklin.
"Yeah a world where the Butterfly Effect was never made," said Darcy and Jane sighed.
"Or a world where we didn't have the super solider serum. Or Tony Stark didn't survive the attack in Afghanistan. Or I don't know," said Jane.
"A world where Batman is real and Captain America is just a comic book," suggested Ian. Darcy hugged him.
"I do love you. You great big nerd," said Darcy.
"The possibilities are endless," said Franklin. "It's still more a theory than anything. I have spent a lot of time looking through different history accounts and plotting out time lines. I'm plotting one out right now and calling it Earth 616-It's still needs a lot of work," said Franklin.
"So you're studying alternate realities. Different histories," said Bucky and Franklin nodded.
"I won't see another Convergence in my lifetime, but if there are nine different realms and aliens it's a little cocky to assume that this is the only possible Earth and the only possible timeline," said Franklin. Bucky could see now why Alison had thought he was a little crazy when she had first heard it. It sounded farfetched, but it did have possibilities. What would have happened if there had been no super solider serum? No Red Skull. No Captain America. Would Steve and I just be two old guys in the home together? Would I have known Georgina or Alison?
"We're going to be here until July and then we're going back to London to do some more research there," said Jane setting up a work space.
"Maybe we'll see you around," said Darcy winking at him and her boyfriend slamming his head on the table.
"It was lovely to see you again," said Alison giving Franklin a hug.
"Well don't be strangers. Please come down and see me. You're also welcome to join her Mr. Barnes. Any friend of Alison's is a friend of mine," said Franklin going to help Jane. They said goodbye and headed upstairs for his session.
"So you guys were friends from before," said Bucky and Alison nodded.
"Dr. Franklin Rone. I knew he was a professor of some sort. We had group therapy together and spent most of our free time together. The TV was stuck on Telemundo most of the time and I understood Spanish so I was the English subtitles for people in the common room," said Alison. She got her notebook and settled in her spot.
"So we were talking about…" Bucky cut her off.
"What sort of group therapy did you two have?" asked Bucky. Bucky was a little curious what her time in the hospital was like. She had told him it helped her figure out what was wrong with her, but not really the how it helped her.
"It was a grief support group. We had all lost someone in a violent fashion. I lost Matt during the Invasion and Franklin lost his son during the Iraq War. So honestly when he started talking about the time ribbon stuff I thought that was his coping device. Some people believe in Heaven, some believe in reincarnation and Franklin thinks there might be a different timeline where the war never happened," said Alison.
"Was being in the hospital like this? Like how it is for me being here?" asked Bucky gesturing to the office.
"Yes and no. It was very controlling about what we did and when we did it. Some people really needed that level of control though. I did a lot therapy-group and one on one session. The doctor for my group sessions and the one for my private sessions were different. There was a lot of medication trial and error. One medication they put me on made me more anxious and I actually lost weight on it since I didn't want to eat. The one finally settled on actually made me gain my weight back plus ten pounds. Some people were there for depression, some were there for anxiety, we had some bipolar people who just needed there meds adjusted and were checked in by their families so they could be watched. In my case I was committed to avoid the doctor pressing charges for me hitting him and I really needed to get myself together," said Alison.
"You're still on medication," said Bucky. She had a small bottle sitting on her bathroom counter and it seemed to be the first thing she did when she got up was take her meds. Alison nodded.
"And I will probably stay on it for a very long time. Before I started taking it I was really anxious all the time. I always felt of a sort pressure to succeed and to have everything planned out so nothing could go wrong. That if I failed something horrible was going to happen. It was just how my brain worked. It's normal to feel anxious sometimes, but this was all the time and I did not deal well when my life went really against everything I planned out," said Alison with a nervous little laugh.
"You're better now though?" asked Bucky and she nodded.
"For the most part. It's a lot of recognizing if what I'm feeling is normal or if what I'm feeling is out there and I that I need to rein it in and how to rein in it," said Alison.
"Like when I get mad?" asked Bucky. Sometimes I think I still wanna hit Steve. The Mission, thought Bucky.
" have every right to be mad, but you have to control when, where and why you get mad," said Alison.
"How do you rein your stuff in?" asked Bucky. She shifted in her spot and he wondered if he was making her nervous. He didn't mean to, but he wanted to know. How did you get yourself back together, thought Bucky.
"Well I always give myself a minute to think through something that makes me sad or nervous. Just a minute and not more than that, because as Sam once told me if I give it more than a minute I will think myself crazy. I will find everything that can wrong and I won't focus on what could go right. It's not always easy and sometimes I have to reach really deep to find something good when I'm in that minute, but it's what helps me," explained Alison.
"Sometimes I still wanna hit Steve. I get flashes when he is the mission. I have to take a minute to remind myself he's my friend and he wants to help me," said Bucky and Alison nodded.
"See you know the why you want to do something and you know to not act on it. That's a good thing," said Alison.
"Now I just have a billion more to work through,' said Bucky and he gave his own nervous laugh.
"It always feels like a billion," said Alison. They talked until about three; they didn't go as long on Saturdays as they did during the week. Alison went to put her notebook away when he remembered that he wanted to ask her what Darcy had meant at breakfast.
"What did Darcy mean by hot hobos?" asked Bucky and he could see the hint of amusement in her eyes.
"She was implying that you are attractive despite being homeless when you were found," said Alison
"Am I?" asked Bucky
"Are you what?" asked Alison puzzled.
"A hot hobo?" asked Bucky and he could tell it was taking Alison a great deal of effort to not laugh.
"Well do you think you're good looking?" asked Alison and he shrugged.
"I sort of remember Becca and Steve teasing me about dating a lot. I sort of remember being with girls before the war, but I really don't know why. Why did dames like me?" asked Bucky. Alison took a deep breath and he could see her turning a little pink.
"Well to be honest and a little unprofessional you are very good looking man. However a guy can be good looking and either be completely boring or a total jerk. From what Steve told me, what I read from others about you and my own interactions with you, you are a very charming guy when you want to be. Before Hydra I imagine you were a very sweet guy and probably really fun to go on a date with. You probably made a girl feel really special and you actually treated her with a little bit of respect. So on top of good looks you have a lot of good qualities that would make a dame like you," said Alison and Bucky eyed her.
"Why if I didn't know any better I say you were trying to flirt with me," said Bucky with a hint of smile and Alison rolled her eyes.
"You asked my opinion and told you. If I was flirting I….I honestly don't think I know how to flirt anymore," said Alison.
"Before you I hadn't talked to anyone in seventy years. Now you can't get me to shut up," said Bucky. Alison looked at him and shook her head.
"There you go being all sorts of charming right now," said Alison.
"Did Darcy really hit on your fiancée?" asked Bucky.
"Well he technically wasn't at the time," said Alison with a grin.
…
Four years ago.
Money did not equal taste or at least that was what Alison had come to learn when it came to weddings. Currently the sea blue and green streamers with the Under the Sea theme reminded her of a Junior High dance and not in a good way. She adjusted her snare and did a test. John a pianist they borrowed from time to time was warming up. Sophia was testing the mike and Renee was adjusting her bass. Matt shook his head as he handed Alison a bottle of water.
"What?" asked Alison and Matt nodded his head over to the bar. A few guests were early and the bride and groom were outside taking pictures. At least the bar was open for them to drink the boredom away.
"See the busty brunette in the seafoam green dress," said Matt. Alison looked over and the busty brunette was double fisting her drinks.
"Oh there is a happy bridesmaid if I ever saw one," said Alison.
"She wanted to know if I could give her a private lesson and I don't think she meant music lesson," said Matt with a grin. Alison adjusted her chair and eyed him.
"You want me too full white trash on her? I'll do. I'll take my earrings off, put my hair up, rip my top and take her down. I will go Snookie on her," said Alison deadpan.
"I love it when you talk trashy reality TV to me," said Matt.
"Hey you two wanna cue up for the bride's entrance?" asked Renee. Matt grabbed his violin and the bride's entrance song was Kiss the Girl from the Little Mermaid. Oh this so better be worth the $400 I'm getting when this night is over, thought Alison. They played some instrumental stuff during dinner and about an hour in was the cue to get ready for the first dance, while this might be the tackiest wedding she had ever seen at least the first dance song was one they really hadn't been asked to play before. If I never play I don't wanna miss a thing it will still be too soon, thought Alison. The music video to the song was so 80's it was funny to watch, but they had fun practicing the song. Alison gave Matt a look and he shrugged. He started the intro and a few seconds she and Sophia joined in. Alison had to admit Sophia sounded really pretty on this number.
Do you remember when we met?
That's the day, I knew you were my pet
I wanna tell you how much I love you
Come with me, my love to the sea
The sea of love
I wanna tell you how much I love you
Come with me to the sea of love
The bride and groom looked so happy it made Alison smile a little. This was the part that made her the happiest about doing this. That she was watching two people totally unaware of everything around them in the one of the happiest moments of their lives.
Everything went off without a hitch and they even managed to book a job for the spring. Not a bad night, thought Alison. They didn't do a lot of big gigs anymore. Sophia was trying to finish her Master's. Renee had just taken a full time teaching job in Queens. Matt was with the Philharmonic full time now and she needed to buckle down for the last years of her own education were going to be a bitch. This had a been a favor for the groom, an old high school friend of Matt's.
"Your snare good lady," said Matt. She put it in the back and Renee came up with her bass.
"Everything in?" asked Renee.
"Well the piano came with the place," said Matt and Renee rolled her eyes.
"Always the funny guy," said Sophia joining them.
"I'll cash the check in the morning and drop off your cut in the before lunch. Night loves," said Sophia. She and Renee drove off, leaving Alison and Matt with the van. She had to drop drums off at her grandfather's place. She tossed Matt the keys.
"You drive the tank," said Alison getting in. Matt started the drive back and he kept looking over at her.
"What?" asked Alison.
"Promise me when we get married there will be no green. At least not that shade of green. I think it might have been a good thing Tommy is color blind and he couldn't see that shade of green the wedding party was in," said Matt and Alison laughed.
"I promise there will be none of that if you promise not to take my garter off with your teeth," said Alison and Matt sighed.
"Tommy always makes poor choices when he's drunk," said Matt. "Promise you won't shove cake in my face," said Matt.
"Why would I waste good cake that way? Beside why are you asking me all this when I do not have a ring on this finger?" asked Alison looking at her left hand.
"I haven't asked you yet?" asked Matt.
"Maybe you did and I just getting off call and didn't have any brain cells left. No ring though. So I'm leaning towards no," said Alison.
"Well when I do it's gonna knock your socks off," said Matt.
"I'm sure it will," said Alison. He asked two weeks later right before her first exam of the school year. She had to admire his idea of knocking her socks off.
….
He and Steve were watching a movie called Titanic the next morning while Alison was out. It was on Steve's list and he figured they could watch it together. Things that happened before we born, hopefully it won't trigger anything bad for him, thought Steve.
"So is that why you took up drawing?" asked Bucky as the lead actress posed nude for a drawing.
"No," said Steve quickly and Bucky looked over at him. For a second Steve saw his best friend again in the way he raised his eyebrow and smirked.
"Wow that was rather quick denial. I don't you ever denied something that fast since we were kids. You wrote a note to some girl...her brother found it...is that right?" asked Bucky and Steve nodded.
"Mary Timmins. I wrote her a note asking her to Spring Social and her brother Martin found it. He would have turned me into gravel if you hadn't been there. I didn't deny writing it though...I told him I was asking for friend. Even though I signed my name too it," said Steve and Bucky shook his head.
"God you were a stupid punk," said Bucky.
"Still am depending on who you ask," said Steve.
"Do you still draw?" asked Bucky.
"Not really," said Steve.
"Why?" asked Bucky. Steve paused the movie and thought for answer.
"Really don't know why. Anytime I try nothing really comes to mind. It's like writer's block only with drawing," admitted Steve. "I did a little bit when I first woke up and then I joined up with SHIELD and that was all my free time and then we started trying to find you and…" Bucky cut him off.
"Why was it so important to find me? I wasn't ready to be found. Hell if my arm hadn't had gone on fritz I might still be out there. Why didn't you fight back on the helicarrier? I could have killed you. Stupid punk," said Bucky. Steve sighed. He had been waiting for him to ask this for a while now. Stupid movie. I didn't think it would trigger anything. Then again they were still finding his triggers so who knew how many they would stumble across along the way. If he asks you anything be honest with him. He needs that. or at least that was what Alison had told him. Being honest was the easy part; it was seeing how Bucky handling how honest he was that made it hard.
"Before you came back I was so alone. I mean I have the Avengers, I have missions, but that's really it. I don't make friends well and I never really did. Somehow no one wants to be friends with the sick kid and it was hard to trust people after I became the Great American Hope. I mean it's gotten better. I have Sam and Natasha, but they don't know where I came from or what it was really like before I became this," said Steve gesturing to himself. "You did though...you stuck with me and you still cared about that stupid kid from Brooklyn. So when we were fighting on the helicarrier and you didn't remember me...I was done. I was tired of being alone and what good was saving the world if I couldn't save the person who saved me more often than he realized," said Steve.
Bucky just looked at him and it was the same look he had on the helicarrier right before Steve blacked out and fell. He was remembering something and Steve was worried about what he was remembering.
"Did I really mean that much to you?" asked Bucky softly.
"You still do," said Steve and Bucky looked down at the floor.
"They always told me I didn't matter. That I was just a weapon that they could discontinue if I didn't work anymore. After a while, you just believe it. It's easier than to think you matter and that you're just alone. It's just hard sometimes trying to understand why you and Alison care so damn much about me. I know I'm safe with you guys though and I'm still working through the rest," said Bucky.
"Can I ask what you two talk about?" asked Steve. Bucky sighed and he could see him weighing what to tell him and how much to tell him. It might always be like this but at least he's home now and talking, thought Steve.
"Depends on what I want to talk about or what I write in my journals. We've been going over what I remember from before the war a lot-You, Becca, the things we did before I shipped over. I think tomorrow we might start talking about when I shipped out. Not looking forward to what it's going to lead up too, but I need to put things together. Sometimes we just talk about what I missed when I was out-like how the city has changed or old movies...well old to her and new to me. If I don't really understand something she'll try to explain it to me. It's like everything is still there I'm not sure how it goes. She helps me put it back where it goes. I like talking to her...she's really nice," said Bucky. What a difference a few weeks can make, thought Steve.
"Well I'm glad you two are getting along now," said Steve trying to tease him.
"Yeah we get along," said Bucky and he seemed to zone out a little bit. Steve was a little puzzled by Bucky's sudden zoning out, but he shook his head and looked over at Steve.
"So when is the iceberg going happen? There was an iceberg right?" asked Bucky.
"Yes there was," said Steve turning the movie back on. He really is in there somewhere. You just have to be patience, thought Steve.
…...
When Alison came back from the city she changed quickly and went down to the gym level where Natasha was waiting with Rhodey.
"You look nervous," said Natasha the second Alison walked in the room.
"Well it's not every day an Avenger offers me a fighting lessons," said Alison and Natasha gave a little shrug.
"Steve is thinking about having the med teams learn some basics in fighting in case they caught and we can't get to them. We figured maybe one on one might be best until we work out the kinks," said Natasha. So I'm little like a bet, thought Alison.
"You ever taken any self-defense classes?" asked Natasha.
"A few in college. Aim for the eyes and run away. Be careful not spray the mace in your face. Keep your sharpest key in between your fingers as a weapon. Those were the finer points," said Alison.
"They forgot to mention you have a built in advantage," said Natasha and Alison looked confused. "Your opponent is already going to underestimate you because you are woman. Even with my reputation you would be surprised how many guys still underestimate me," said Natasha.
"I find that really hard to believe," said Alison and Natasha grinned a little.
"If only you knew. We're going to start slow and I promise we won't do anything to crazy. I've been doing this since I was six so I'll understand if you don't get this on the first try. Hey Rhodey get over here," said Natasha.
"I'm hoping you won't do anything crazy with me," said Rhodey getting behind Natasha and wrapping arm around her neck loosely and the other around her body to pin her arms.
"He has me and your first instinct is to struggle to get away. That just makes it easier for him to choke you out or drag you away. When you go limp and act like you have fainted. it lures them into a false sense of winning. They ease up and that's when you strike," said Natasha. She went limp in Rhodey's arms and he went to pick her up and without missing a beat Natasha threw an elbow into his side, stepped on his foot, spun around and knocked Rhodey to the ground.
"I thought you said we weren't doing anything crazy," protested Rhodey.
"You have pads on you big baby. I wanted her to see how easy it was," said Natasha.
"That was easy?" asked Alison sounding a little skeptical.
"Come on. I'll show you step by step," said Natasha. She had Rhodey get up and grab Alison. "Now the key for really selling the faint is how you just slump over. Like you don't have a bone in your body. Like your whole body is Jell-O," said Natasha. Alison and Rhodey had their backs to the window, but Natasha could see Steve and Bucky. She couldn't make out Steve's expression, but she could read Barnes a thousand miles away. She gets hurt and someone is going to be sorry. While Natasha didn't care for the rumor mill she did listen in and it was hard to ignore how attached he was to her and how she treated him as more of friend than a patient. Considering how doctors treated him in the past he's better having a friend help him transition back. Barton did more for me than a whole team of people could. She did wonder though if he had crossed the line yet. Does he even realize he loves her yet and is she falling for him back? wondered Natasha. She shoved the thoughts aside and went back to teaching Alison how to faint correctly. She just about had down on her fifth try when Steve pounded on the glass. Alison looked stunned to see both men there watching. Steve motioned for them to come out and he looked worried.
"That was Tony. He's flying here and should be landing in a few minutes. He has Banner with him," said Steve.
Alison looked over as Natasha's face lost some color and she wondered if there was any truth to those rumors about the Black Widow and The Hulk.
Notes-My high school guidance counselor gave a speech about the adult world and I was very tempted to drag his ass to an office I worked at so he could see childish behavior.
I was watching Mean Girls a few weeks ago and when people starting talking about Regina George I couldn't help but replace it with Natasha Romanoff-Natasha Romanoff is flawless. One time she punched me in the face…it was awesome.
I might have borrowed the phrase Time Ribbon from Patton Oswalt and his Star Wars Filibuster.
Earth 199999 is what the MCU is listed as and most of the comic books take place on Earth-616. Yes I looked it up because I am a nerd!
The Honeydrippers Sea of love was the song played at the tacky wedding. The music video screams 80's!
Yeah Bruce is back and where was he…next time
Thoughts are always welcome.