Breathe

Behind the locked gates of the Avengers compound, the little blue house stood in a meadow shaded by oak trees on the south side.

“Oh, its beautiful! How did you manage all of this in such a short time?” Trinity asked as they pulled up the drive.

Bucky looked a little sheepish and rubbed the back of his neck before answering. “I set this up with Stark about six months ago.”

Her confusion grew as they walked in the front door. It was fully furnished but looked more like a show home than a place people would actually live.

“You never moved in?”

“Uh, no. I was- I had to try to find you first, this was- a backup plan.”

“I thought you loved Brooklyn?”

“I loved Brooklyn, but Brooklyn isn’t the same anymore. And this was a safer place to… there’s something I need to tell you.” Bucky stopped, his eyes on the ground, knuckles white and chewing on his bottom lip.

Trinity reached out, taking his hand in both of hers. “What it is?”

“Matt. I’m. I’ve begun the process to…” his eyes finally lifted to hers and they glistened with emotion. “I’m going to ask to adopt him, if he agrees… I wanted to have a place for him to run free, to just be a kid.” Bucky’s face was an open book, his worry and fear that she would disapprove obvious as he chewed on his lip again.

“Really? That’s- that’s-” Astounded, Trinity took his face in her hands. “-Incredible.”

There they were again, mere inches apart. The tension between them tangible. They had kissed once, a month ago. He had left the next day to put their plan into action, and then they had been busy farewelling her friends, packing her things and preparing the cottage for a long absence.

Every contingency of her return had been planned for, how he could keep her safe, where she would live, how she’d re-integrate back into her old job. Now Bucky stood in the front hall of her new home, agonizingly aware that they’d made plans for everything except their relationship.

He licked his lips and tried not to look at hers even as her gaze followed the motion.

Again, time stood still as she breached the gap and his eyelashes fluttered shut as their lips met. Sweet and soft, growing more passionate as his hand curled through her hair.

“Knock, knock?” An amused voice asked through the open door.

They broke apart and whirled to face the intruders simultaneously.

Trinity relaxed as she noted the tray of cookies and Bucky’s slack hands. Tall, dark and laughing, that must be Sam, the blond man could only be Steve and the woman? Black widow or Scarlet witch? Natasha, Romanov. Her brain supplied the answer as she remembered hearing the name on tv.

“By all means, don’t stop for our sakes.” Sam laughed easily at his friend for being caught in such a delicate moment.

Steve’s face was more apologetic. “The door was open…”

The redhead pushed both men aside with surprising force and offered Trinity the plate. “Natasha.”

“Trinity, it’s nice to meet you.”

Nat pressed her lips into a happy little smirk. “The pleasure is all mine. Now, how about you and I get acquainted with these cookies in the kitchen while the boys do… whatever they do.”

Trinity gave them a little wave as she found herself being steered to the gleaming counter, one arm wrapped in Natasha’s.

“We stocked the fridge with a few things, but if you need anything else you can call for a car or make a request for grocery delivery with Friday.” Natasha explained, pulling a full jug of milk from the fridge and grabbing five glasses from a cupboard.

She moved as though she’d memorized the layout of the house and everything in it, and Trinity reminded herself who she was talking to. The Black Widow probably had.

“Thanks. that’s… Friday?”

“Yes Ma’am?” an Irish lilt spoke from a speaker somewhere overhead.

Bucky had told her about the AI, assured her that it was secure and un-hackable. Still the thought of something listening to her every word was more than a little unnerving.

“I, Uh, No, I don’t need anything, thank you.”

“You are most welcome, if you need anything, just say my name.”

Natasha’s eyebrows seemed to shrug. “You’ll get used to it, eventually.”

“Uh, yeah, I’m sure.” Trinity replied as tension crept up her spine, feeling as though the other woman could read the reactive fear trembling just under the surface of her control.

“Bucky said you might be interested in learning self defence.” Natasha said casually, as she picked up a second cookie.

Just then the phone in her pocket buzzed and Trinity scrambled to answer it as the voices of the men drew nearer.

“Evelyn Laurent? This is Officer John Ruthers of the RCMP.”

“Officer Ruthers, yes this is Evelyn. Is everything alright?” Trinity’s thoughts raced in the space between her question and his answer and a cool metallic hand gently braced her shoulder.

“There’s a note on file to update you of any changes to Ted Brants incarceration.”

She nearly dropped the phone as she shrunk away from the gathered faces. Her worst fears manifesting in shadows of the man in the trees outside the window.

Bucky had heard the name and he lifted the phone from her limp hand and pressed the speaker button.

“Hello, Miss Laurent?” the voice echoed up from the counter. “Are you still there?”

“Yes.” She half whispered.

“I’m calling to let you know that Mr. Brant has requested to be segregated from gen-pop and to have all his communications double checked. At this time his requests have been granted and he’s been moved to a single bunk cell.”

“What? Do you know why?”

“The request was made a half hour after he received a visitor a little over a week ago. To the corrections officer: ‘guy looked scary mad.’”

Trinity couldn’t help but look up at the man whose vibranium arm was wrapped around her shoulders. The man who’d been two days late a little over a week ago.

“Ok, thank you Officer. You’ll let me know if things change again?”

“Of course, have a nice day, Miss Laurent.”

Trinity ended the call and ignoring the expression of defiance on Bucky’s face, lifted the jug. “Milk anyone?”

The three friends left a half hour later, prompted by a sigh that Trinity mostly stifled and the single raised eyebrow Natasha raised to show she hadn’t missed it.

“Come on boys, let them settle in, I’m sure it’s been a long day. I’ll call you tomorrow for those lessons, Trinity?”

“Thanks, yes, that would be great.”

The door safely shut and Trinity sank into the plush couch with a deep sigh.

“I should have told you-” Bucky began, still standing in the kitchen with his arms crossed.

“This one time I’m glad you didn’t. Thank you, James. For everything.”

The tears gathering in the corners of her eyes prompted him to move, sitting beside her and wrapping an arm around her before pausing and retracting it.

“Trinity.”

“Yeah?” she looked up at him expectantly.

“We need, I need to talk about this.”

“About you visiting Ted? Or something else?”

As always, she seemed to read so much more than he’d managed to say.

“I want- I want to date you, to take you dancing and make you happy. But I don’t want you to think this-” he waved at the house around them with his vibranium hand. “-is somehow, conditional. Keeping you safe is more important than anything else, and I don’t want you to…” he couldn’t find the words to explain what he wanted, hoped for, and still show her that he was willing to do all he could for her even if that future never happened. “This is your home, no one will take it away from you, even if you and I…”

“Yes.”

“What?”

“Yes.” Tears gone, her eyes now sparkled and she laced her fingers in his metallic ones. “Dating, dancing, everything. I want that with you, James. So, my answer is yes.”