widows_kiss | Appointments Post

[As far as shifts go, this one isn't too bad. It's enjoyable even. He's spent a lot of the day exploring rather than focusing on the scavenger hunt, and maybe he'd also 'borrowed' a car and gone for a ride in the Gangland, but who could blame him? They were really nice cars.

Getting shot at had been slightly less fun but totally in the spirit of things and he had accepted that as an occupation hazard a long time ago.

He hears someone heading in, recognises the sound of Natasha's footsteps, long since memorised, but... he cocks his head to the side slightly, frowning. There's something wrong with that, the way she's moving, something has her rattled or injured and he isn't going to hang around until she decides to tell him what. He slips out of the apartment, padding after her on bare feet until he catches up.]

Natasha?

[She doesn't want to go home.

She doesn't want to, but Pepper has to. She promised Tony, and she has every intention of keeping it. That's where he'll expect her to be, maybe even where they'll send him back to (half-starved or with stitches in his skin, or worse), and Pepper needs to be there.

But without him that house is massive, and far too quiet. Pepper already knows she won't be sleeping much in the days to come, not until Tony's back. Being awake through the nights without him there holds no more appeal than trying to sleep through them though.

Which is why she's in Good Spirits, nursing a drink. Not a martini, because that's the cocktail he gets for her. No, she's simply got vodka without any of the flourishes, chilly and still able to burn with every sip. It won't ease the pain, or make the images fade. But it's Pepper's last drink before she leaves, and a straight drink gives her an excuse for taking her time.]

[He's slept better since Coulson and Tasha arrived, that's for sure. Having that stability, it helps.

But better doesn't necessarily mean well, and it doesn't mean always. Coulson is in the hospital, hacking up a lung and his imagination is far too good at equating that with what he learnt about what had happened while he'd been under Loki's control..

It's a trickle of ice down his spine, blue fire and chilling clarity and You have heart.

It's his hands on the sceptre, his hands driving it into Coulson's body, Fury, Natasha...]

[He wasn't certain how things had turned so sour so quickly. Christmas had been pretty nice, almost like family, he supposed. And then Coulson had vanished on top of being sick, and then Barnes had gone missing and while that was a blow to both of them, Clint could see the strain in Natasha.

Made him kind of want to punch Barnes for putting that look there, but that would require more explanations than he could give and more than Natasha wanted to.

As it was, they probably both needed a break.

Which is why he turned up in Natasha's apartment early that morning, long before most of the village would be awake, and dropped a set of camping gear on the floor.]

Wake up sleeping beauty, we're shipping out.

[Bucky doesn't waste a lot of time before he comes to see Natasha. He doesn't know what he'll tell her, even now, but he knows they need to talk.

He knocks on her door late in the afternoon.]

Natasha, it's Bucky. You got a minute?

[Place like Luceti doesn't really have much of a nightlife to speak of, but as far as these things go, Good Spirits is decent enough. There are drinks and people and distractions enough for what he needs when his two closest friends are on a mission. He worries. Sue him.

The drinks are pretty good though, has to be said. Decent beer; he's got a bottle of it and sips it slowly while he draws out a few spell diagrams in his notebook. It's more absent minded doodling than anything concrete yet, but sometimes that does lead to interesting ideas.]

Edited 2013-03-04 20:13 (UTC)

[Bucky comes to her apartment late that morning. He's spent a lot of time thinking about what he should say, and even now he doesn't have anything good. The shock of finding out has worn off, and the visceral kind of horror that came later, when he let his thoughts stray too far into what if and when.

But in the end, he's come to realize that whatever happens, Bucky Barnes still dies when he leaves this place. So, in a way, the Winter Soldier changes everything, and nothing at all. He can't let something that hasn't happened yet ruin what he has left. There are plenty of empty places in his life, people he's not getting back. Natasha doesn't need to be one of them yet. He doesn't want her to leave--

To leave with things like this between them.

He knocks on her door, just like last time.] Natasha. You home?

[Pepper's on her way home from a walk through the woods when she decides to make a detour. It's been just under two weeks since Natasha made her announcement, and Pepper's a little curious to see how the coffee shop is coming. She pauses in the doorway to knock when she gets there, wanting to alert the woman to her presence before she steps in.]

Hello? Anyone home?

There was no excuse not to be out and about now that the entire town of Luceti knew he had both legs. Best to make the most of it, and he was often out on a general run in the morning for a few hours. Becoming familiar with the lay of the land would be smart.

But during his times in the morning he'd passed past Natasha's coffee shop-- which was looking more and more like a coffee shop as the days passed. But today he smelled something really wonderful coming from there and it reminded him of... well, not so much home, but of a life long lost to him.

Deciding to detour, he turned into her shop, peeking in and taking in the scenery. Still a little unfinished, but a massive improvement from before.

[When he and Pepper wrap up, Bucky heads immediately for the battle dome.

He couldn't worry about Killian when Pepper was a hell of a lot more important, but this has been brewing at the back of his mind ever since he heard that name, and by the time he gets to the gym, it's like a storm breaking. He can't be bothered with the wraps or the simulations one-handed, so it's just bare knuckles and bare feet and a heavy bag that he can't hit hard enough.

He's not hitting with his injured hand, but the pain spiders up his arm and into his shoulder every time he moves, and it just makes him angrier until he's forgotten everything around him but rhythm and force and the many ways he knows how to kill a man, none of which mean anything at all.]

[Her sleep has been poor since her return to Luceti, and in truth most of her nights have been spent not in slumber, but silently staring into the darkness, wishing the nothingness of rest might claim her. Brief naps here and there have kept her functioning, but they aren't enough, and by her third night back she's too tired for the thoughts to keep her awake.

She's no better off for it, however. The memories of what she's endured linger on, and in her dreams they have so many more ways to manifest. In sleep she can feel the fire and the pain, Extremis burning into every nerve and every cell and everything she is, changing her. She can feel herself falling, an endless drop, flame tearing at her flesh and blinding her eyes, but not before she sees his face. No, not before that clear image of Tony's hand outstretched, of horror in his eyes as she slips past him, drops down and down and down, all of it endless, leaving her helpless to do anything but scream for it to stop, please someone, Tony, make it stop.]

[Threads continued here from the Main Log.]

[Bucky hasn't exactly been having the time of his life waiting around for news, so when Steve gets home that evening he's glad to see him to say the least, even if he looks a hell of a lot worse for the wear. He finds out why not long after; the options they had, and the choices they made, and would live with. It's a lot of lives to have on your head, even if they're not people anyone is on good terms with.

It's with this in mind that he goes to find Natasha that night, leaving her a quick note to let her know he'll swing by. He lets himself in, a bottle in a brown bag tucked under his arm.]

Honey, I'm home.

She'd given herself a handful of days to try and figure out what she wanted to say. It wasn't exactly an easy topic to broach, considering how dear Natasha was to her. But the sense of betrayal wasn't going to fade, not until Pepper actually got some answers. So she communicated with Natasha for the second time since Billy had revealed the truth behind Susanna's existence, and the cessation thereof. The first had been to cancel their normal coffee date; no explanation given, just a short and simple request written in professional script.

The second was no less politely delivered: I'd like to talk to you this evening. Would you mind if I came to the shop after it closed?

The other woman gave her consent, which led to Pepper opening the door to the coffee shop despite the clearly visible closed sign. She walked over to the counter, knowing Natasha would be expecting her, but at the same time unsure of exactly where to begin. She would have had her reasons; she was Natasha, and Pepper had no doubt there was some strand of logic she couldn't yet see. That and the days between had kept her temper in check, if barely. Now, however, it was starting to wear thin.

There were so many things Pepper still needed to know, and answers she dreaded hearing.

[November 26th | Action]

[Dec 4 | Action]

[December 12 | Action]