No-One But You (The Mystic Consultant) - Part 2

Chapter 48: Emberkreiss (Part 8)

Bucky Barnes made himself the best breakfast a man could make. His brain hurt, due to the lack of sleep, but the somber brunette didn't complain about it. He made Natasha some food as well, but she was packing up.

The Widow planned to eat and run. She had to "head in" and support Barton's mission. That's what she said. Bucky was mainly indifferent about it at that point, and it almost caused another fight. They argued twice, then countered that anger in their usual way…

…..

Sex didn't fix shit, in Bucky's opinion.

I mean, it felt great, until the next day. Bucky's brain and soul was on fire as he stood there in his kitchen. His ego was more than bruised, and so was his heart. Natasha said something about including a rendezvous with her younger sister, Yelena, as a way to keep Clint Barton's mind preoccupied.

Wonderful. Bucky felt indifferent about what she said, once again. Natasha was doing her best to break the ice. She almost told the Bucky Barnes who stood before her that he was beginning to resemble his other self. The true "Winter Soldier" was introduced to her, years ago, and the person she spent the evening with was technically an alternate version.

The Bucky she was looking at was brought into their dimension with an alternate Steve, and he hadn't gone through the same transformation at all. He didn't even have a metal arm. Thanks to Tony Stark, he was given the super serum, with Steve.

That's all ancient history, so Natasha kept her opinion about it to herself. She did eventually ask him if he'd join her out on the mission to find Clint's older brother. Bucky asked her if she was joking.

"I'm not joking, it's not the same without you on our team."

Bucky just set the plate of food down for her, on the table. He took his own plate with him as he wandered his apartment and picked up a lighter. He wasn't ignoring what she said, but the man felt very done with the subject. I mean, they just spent almost a month of their lives going out and doing a bunch of random shit for S.H.I.E.L.D. Natasha had "headed in" at least thirty thousand times….

"I'm still on your team, but, even when you sign up for war… there's always the idea of an end date."

Bucky finally spoke, and he felt ready to head up to the roof. He needed to chill out and locate his cigarettes. Natasha just watched Bucky for a moment. She had her minimal amount of belongings packed. The Widow felt ready to leave, but she wanted to work out one more point with Bucky before she left. She really didn't want any bad blood to develop between them, so she tried to stop him in his tracks and leave on a good note.

It was hard for her too. She cared for him, but they both wanted very different things. She stopped him by his table. He said he forgot a damn fork. The man made himself a hefty meal, but he neglected to give himself the utensil to eat it. Natasha wasn't letting him walk forward, and Bucky's behavior started slipping. He was trying to distract himself, with the food, the cigarettes, and all that other shit.

He really didn't want to say goodbye to her, or watch her leave his place. It was really getting to him, and bringing up some kind of PTSD bullshit, so he kept looking up and he asked her if he could go. She kissed him and he almost lost it, but Bucky was stronger than most people knew. His expression sharpened up, and he said he'd see her around.

Up to the roof he went, because he needed to be alone and he needed to think.

The "alternate" Winter Soldier located his cigarettes. They were in a little storage box beside the stairs. He set down his plate full of food, sat down on his roof, and he let out an exhausted sigh.

In his first moment of comfort, Bucky realized that he forgot his fork again, so the somber brunette slowly closed his eyes.

Steve Rogers was in a completely different time zone, on the opposite side of the country. He made Tony some breakfast as well, after the two of them ventured out to the store and bought some food. They barely spent any time at the Santa Monica house, and Steve's guilt kicked in about it when he noticed the empty fridge and cupboards.

The lack of food in the house didn't seem to faze Tony at all, but Steve's RANDO questions about his lab, his music, and his life there in Santa Monica were beginning to get suspicious. Coincidently, Steve would throw a curveball in Tony's direction whenever he'd get affectionate or physical with him.

IT WAS OK, STEVE. Tony felt very over all of that Bucky Barnes-Bestie tryin to fuck, bullshit.

Tony wanted the two of them to hook up in the house, but Steve countered his behavior by saying that he wanted to spend a day in his shoes, go for a drive, and see what Stark Industries was up to.

"STARK INDUSTRIES. HAH, don't make me laugh any harder.."

Seriously, Tony almost died in his chair. He was eating the yummy grub that Steve cooked up, and he almost choked. Steve's cute shit was getting random, and Tony was getting pretty close to turning up the heat. He was about to pry into the blonde's behavior, but he decided to let him figure it out first, and to let the information present itself as it developed.

"I want to see it. Tony, I've realized that... I've never been to your business here, in California."

Yeah? Well, that shit ran itself. Tony almost died again. He swallowed his food for a sec, then he tried to hide his emerging grin. Tony chomped down on his bottom lip as he pondered Steve's random shit. He actually never realized that Steve hadn't seen the California edition of his family's business. The notion was, interesting, but the only person fussing about it was Steve.

"Are you going to sketch the walls there too?"

"Maybe. Is that weird?"

KINDA. Tony gave a quiet laugh. He also LOL'd for the millionth time that morning. He was beyond amused with Steve's behavior, and it was making his skin almost melt. Tony's left eyebrow arched up toward the ceiling as he thought it over. He responded by saying he could check in with Pepper, then have her prepare a tour of the gig, for Steve.

"I'll talk to Pep."

Steve Rogers gave out this warm, cancer-curing smile, and Tony did his best to focus on the food.

Chapter: END

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