Snowflakes
Chaos reigned over the Barnes house.
Allie continued to gently bounce Steven as she held him in her arms, his wails piercing as he clung to her tightly. She paced the room as the others stood in conversation around the kitchen. Her hand on the back of his head and holding him up the best that she could, Allie kissed Steven's temple.
"Shh," she cooed softly. "It's okay."
Bucky watched helplessly as he processed what had happened. Steven had hit Annika with ice and didn't fully comprehend what he had done. The only guest that remained outside of those in the kitchen was Grace. She'd quickly taken Sarah and T.J. upstairs when everyone had gone inside.
"When I said I wanted our children to have memories, I didn't mean this kind," Allie sighed as she looked to Bucky. Steven's wails continued as hot tears drenched Allie's neck and the collar of her shirt. "Shh, Steven. It's okay. We're all okay."
"I tried to stop him before he got to the door," Peter muttered as he looked over in worry.
"It's not your fault," Allie shook her head, kissing Steven's temple once again.
"I heard her mention an ambush," Peter frowned. "And a lab."
"Peter," Allie sighed.
"None of you seemed surprised by it," Peter continued to frown. "Why?"
"Peter, right now is not the best time to talk about this," Allie gave a pointed look before giving a small nod against Steven.
"But if I'm going to be here, I want to know," his hands slightly balled at his sides.
"We'll talk about it later," Allie assured him.
Steven's voice crackled against Allie's neck as he spoke. Not understanding what he was saying, Allie pulled back a bit to look at him.
"What?" she asked softly.
"I'm scared," he sniffed.
"I know," Allie nodded, reaching a hand up to push his hair from his face. "I know you're scared. But you're okay."
"What was that?" he asked terrified.
"What was what?" Allie's voice was soft as Steven's cries became sniffs as he looked to her.
"My hand," Steven held it in front of Allie's face.
Allie looked over at Bucky before carrying Steven over to sit on the couch. Taking in a breath, she gave him what felt like a weak smile as she pushed his hair back once more. Moving to take his hand in hers, Steven had a frown on his face.
"It's something special," she smiled.
"But she did it, too," Steven sniffed again.
"Yes," Allie agreed. "But so did I."
Allie's soft smile dropped a tad as Steven continued to frown at his own hand. She knew that the others were watching and waiting to see what she would do. He was five. He was in kindergarten. Now she had to explain that he had the same powers as her. He had powers like his favorite people. Allie glanced up at Bucky who gave a sympathetic look in return.
"You know," Allie grinned at Steven. "You're kind of like Elsa. You know? Like the movie you like to watch with Peter?"
"Yeah?" he sniffed.
"Yeah," she nodded. "Look."
Steven looked to Allie as she slowly created a tiny flurry of snowflakes the danced around her palm. Steven had a the smallest ghost of a smile before holding his hand next to hers. His brows furrowed in concentration before he frowned again.
"I can't do it," he frowned.
"Can't do what?" Allie asked.
"I can't do that," he pointed to her hand.
Allie simply shook her head and kissed his forehead. Steve and Sam both watched Bucky as he walked over and sat down beside Allie and ruffled Steven's hair. Peter and Wanda looked to one another as they realized that Steven was calming down.
"It took me a while to get used to them, too," Allie smiled. "And I was already old by then."
"Really?" Steven asked and his hand came up to wipe at his face.
"Yeah," Allie laughed. "It's going to be okay."
Bucky gave Allie a small smile as they realized they had one of the issues causing chaos under control as Steven simply continued to look at his hand and attempt to create ice or snow again.
"Now, I only want you trying this if you're with me, okay?" Allie told him and he nodded.
Allie's eyes turned to Peter and realized that she'd be owing him answers to his questions sooner or later. She gently stood up with Steven once more and looked to the others.
"I think Grace, Sarah, and T.J. would love to play with you," she smiled and Steven nodded, still focusing on his hand. "I'll be back."
Allie walked to the stairs with Steven and the others grouped together in the kitchen once more. Peter had settled on folding his arms across his chest while waited, giving Bucky and Steve a look to try and convince them to tell him what was going on. Instead, the others remained silent as they waited for Allie. It didn't take long before they heard her footsteps rejoining them.
"Now will you tell me what's going on?" Peter asked as Allie walked back into the kitchen.
Allie shared a look with Bucky and Steve before each gave her a small nod of their heads. Allie took in a deep breath and gestured to the kitchen table. Sitting down, Peter looked at her with concern.
"How much did those history books teach you about the Commandos?" she asked.
"Mainly the missions you guys went on," Peter shrugged. "The three of you and your presumed deaths, the forming of the Commandos, what happened to the others. That's what I remember."
"Did you ever have a textbook that talked about an ambush on us?" Allie asked as she looked to Sam and Wanda as well.
"Not that I remember," Peter shook his head.
"Well, October 1944 we were traveling," Allie began. "Along the way, Hydra ambushed us. We were all separated from one another and fighting them one-on-one or even a few-on-one. I was fighting one hand-to-hand when I was stabbed."
"You were stabbed?!" Peter shouted before being shushed by the rest of them.
"Not so loud!" Allie hissed. "But yes, I was. Bucky had to stitch me up in the middle of the nowhere before they managed to find a place for us to stay."
Peter looked over at Bucky in shock before looking to Steve who simply nodded. Turning back to face Allie he took a deep breath and nodded.
"Well, you obviously lived," Peter stated. "What did the ambush have to do with anything?"
"Well, apparently it was Hydra's failed attempt at taking Allie," Steve grimaced and sat down.
"Why?" Peter asked shocked.
"The lab I was in," Allie sighed. "It began as a project of Hydra. They wanted to use me as bait."
"And that didn't work," Peter deduced.
"No. It didn't," she agreed. "Instead, it was that ambush that led to us being married. But, I don't like talking about that night, I barely remember it with as much of that bourbon I had."
"So, this lab," Peter continued. "They eventually got you?"
"They didn't kidnap me," Allie sighed. "But eventually, when I thought Bucky and Steve were gone for good, someone managed to convince me to follow them."
"Oh," Peter said simply and looked at his hands.
"Now, there's obviously a lot that I still don't know about it all," Allie sighed. "Or that any of us know for that matter."
"Besides Sharon, apparently," Sam muttered.
Allie's jaw tightened at the mention of Sharon knowing. She had trusted Sharon. She adored Sharon. She couldn't wait to officially call Sharon her sister. And it was all taken from her in one moment.
Everything of Sharon's attitude towards Annika that day suddenly made sense. The way that Wanda had frozen when they were in the kitchen made sense. Allie couldn't exactly blame Annika for being angry. But she couldn't find a reason for Sharon to do what she had done.
"Sam," Wanda hissed as she noticed Allie's expression.
"Sorry," Sam took in a breath.
Allie looked up at Steve. His arms were folded against his chest. All he did was look to Allie before he gave a small look to the porch and made his way outside for a moment. Allie turned to the others and looked at Bucky.
"I'm sorry," Peter frowned as he took in what Allie and the others knew.
"And now, we have other issues going on because of Annika," Allie sighed.
"Like what?" Peter's brow raised.
"I have to form a team."
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Allie sat in the living room of the safe house, a copy of Hamlet in hand. The men had been constantly walking past, looking in her direction before pretending that they were busying themselves with things to do before Steve called the group together.
Even if she didn't always accept his offer of help, Allie did enjoy having Bucky's company each day. He was about the only one who accepted that she was still stubborn, even with stitches in her skin. That wasn't to say that she didn't appreciate having the living room to herself.
Bucky and Steve had taken the afternoon to sit with the other men in the dining room, talking about where they would be going after Allie had fully recovered. It was a long afternoon debating strategies and glancing towards her direction as they grabbed drinks or went to the restroom.
Allie was fully aware of their eyes on her as she tried to distract herself from the irritation in her side whenever she moved. It hadn't even been a week since Bucky had stitched her up. Everything was hazy to her, she remembered being ambushed and she remembered telling Bucky to put pressure against her side.
She remembered waking up the next morning with Bucky's hand holding hers as he snored, his head in his arm on the edge of her bed. She remembered the relief on everyone's faces when she had made her way downstairs. The horror and joy for her was when she realized that the Commandos weren't just her friends. She ended up with a fiancé and six brothers.
Steve had decided that he would cook dinner for everyone that night. Bucky sat beside Allie, happily wrapping an arm around her shoulder and kissing her temple. As he sat looking at her, he couldn't stop thinking about that night. He could still feel the same panic that he felt when he watched her fall to the ground.
Allie leaned into his touch continuing to read as she felt his hand starting to play the ends of her hair absentmindedly. She smiled to herself as the others filtered to their seats around the room, busying themselves while still glancing her way.
"You all know that you're not subtle, right?" Allie teased without looking up from her book.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Dugan asked as he propped his feet up on the coffee table in front of him.
"It means that I'm not about to collapse or break so you can stop looking at me every two minutes," Allie rolled her eyes.
"We're just making sure," Dugan countered.
"Well, stop it," Allie flicked her eyes up in his direction. "I'm fine. It isn't the first time that I've had stitches."
"But did you almost die the last time you did?" Dugan's brow raised.
"Well, no," Allie agreed.
"Well, then, I'm still going to watch out for you," Dugan shrugged and tipped his hat over his eyes as he laid back in his chair.
"I already have an older brother, you all can stop," she frowned.
"I'm still watching out for you," Steve countered from the kitchen.
"I really don't need you guys checking in every two minutes. I have about a week and then these stitches are out," Allie closed her book. "I don't need help."
"What would you do if it were one of us with stitches?" Gabe asked from his seat next to the radio, tinkering with the knobs. "You'd be checking on us every minute of the day."
"I'm your medic, it's my job," Allie countered.
"So then who looks out for the medic?" Gabe countered.
Allie looked around at the men in the living room. She frowned at them as she brought her arms to be folded in front of her chest.
"Me," Bucky shrugged. "I'd help her."
"Excuse me?" Allie turned her head in his direction. "What exactly do you think you'd be doing?"
"I could help in plenty of ways. I could help with a zipper here, button there. Maybe a strap or two," Bucky winked.
"Buck, I swear to God you better not be making dirty jokes about my sister," Steve warned from the kitchen.
"I made no such jokes," Bucky mocked as he looked in the direction of the kitchen.
"Yeah, he was just making helpful suggestions," Gabe snickered.
"I hate you all," Allie muttered before standing up and walking to the kitchen, wincing when she moved the wrong way.
"Allie, go sit," Steve said as he continued to cook.
"I can help," she assured him.
"Please, go rest," Steve continued.
"No. I'm serious, let me help," Allie continued to argue. "I'm no good just sitting around."
Steve sighed in frustration as he turned to face her for a moment. Bucky had stood from where he sat and made his way to the kitchen, standing against the doorframe like often did at the Rogers home in Brooklyn.
"You won't be any good while making your healing time take longer, either," Steve countered.
"Just let me do something," Allie whined.
"Gabe's right," Bucky shrugged. "If we were in your spot, you'd be making us take it easy."
"I feel useless right now," Allie complained. "It feels like I've been recovering for an eternity."
"I know," Bucky agreed as he shared a look with Steve. "Both of us know that you want to be up and doing things, but you need to relax."
"Remember, Mom would have told you to take it easy, too," Steve smirked.
"Don't bring Mom into this," Allie scrunched her nose at him. "She would've been doing the same thing if she was in my position."
"Well, yes," Steve agreed. "But she'd still tell you to relax a bit. You're not a doll but you can't ignore your own training."
Allie looked down at her shoes before looking over at Bucky. He held out his hand to her before she took it and they walked into the hall, away from the others eyes and ears.
"Allie," he whispered as he leaned down. "The sooner you take it easy, the sooner we can do other things again."
"Oh really?" her brows raised. "Like what?"
"Well, I really can help with those zippers," he leaned in further and kissed her. "And buttons," he laid another kiss against her lips.
"And the straps?" she teased.
"Oh, definitely the straps," he grinned.
"You might be starting to convince me," she laughed.
"Good," he laughed softly.
"It just feels like I've been doing nothing for a long time. I want to still help you boys," she frowned.
"You taught us how to do these things," Bucky brushed Allie's curls behind her ear. "But these two weeks will be over soon. Then we'll be off on to the next mission."
Allie nodded as Bucky gave a soft smile and left one last kiss on her lips before they parted ways. Allie went to stand next to a window as she looked at the snow covered ground. Taking in a deep breath, she decided that she would just count down the rest of the days until the stitches would be taken out.
Bucky looked over once as he went to help Steve with plates and drinks. He was torn between a frown at how frustrated she was at having to rest and a smile with how determined and stubborn she was.
He was grateful for any thought that distracted him from the image of her falling that was burned in his mind.
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Allie bolted straight up as her breathing was heavy. She blinked as she took in her surroundings, finding at the very least a sliver of comfort realizing that she was in her bedroom. Bucky stirred besides her, sitting up when he realized what was happening.
"Allie?" he asked, bringing his hand up to push hair out Allie's face.
"I'm fine," she breathed out, taking in a deep breath and swallowing hard. "Go back to sleep."
"I'm not going to sleep when you've just woken up like this," he sighed.
"This is nothing new for either of us," Allie looked over at him.
"You wouldn't go back to sleep if I told you to when I had a nightmare," Bucky gave a small smile.
"No," Allie agreed.
Bucky turned and looked at the alarm clock. It was the middle of the night. Sighing to himself, he let his hand drift to Allie's, bringing it to his lips and laying a small kiss on it.
"What do you say to a midnight snack?" he grinned.
"Buck," Allie started, but he simply held a hand up to stop her.
"I'm going to get the snack," he smiled. "I won't burn the kitchen down because I'll get ice cream from the fridge."
"Smart, but you don't have to."
"I want to," Bucky stood from the bed. "Besides I want a turn to have ice cream before the kids end up eating it all." Allie gave a ghost of a laugh as she watched him walk out of their room.
Getting herself out of bed and walking to their bathroom, Allie went straight to the sink. Cool water flowed from the tap as she splashed it against her face and rubbed it in as if it had magic healing properties. It, in fact, did not and all Allie was left feeling was the cool air against her skin as she reached for a towel to dry her face.
Sighing to herself, she made her way downstairs. A soft melody drifted throughout the house, the record playing softly in the living room. Turning to face the kitchen, Allie stifled a laugh as she looked at Bucky whose face was covered in a spray of chocolate syrup. Raising her brow, he gave a sheepish smile.
"I made the mistake of trying to use the vibranium arm," he gave a small laugh.
"See, and I thought you were trying to look silly to make me laugh," she smirked as she walked in and wiped a stripe of syrup off of his chin.
"That makes me sound better, so I'll go with that," he nodded as he tilted his head towards the bowls. "Did you still want some on your ice cream?"
"Sure," Allie laughed. Turning to the sink, she grabbed a rag and wet in under warm tap water.
"Are you feeling any better?" he asked as he put the bottle of chocolate away.
"Do you feel any better when you wake up with yours?" she raised a brow and began to clean his face.
"When I'm beside you? Yeah, a little," he shrugged.
"Normally I would feel better," Allie agreed as she tossed the rag against the sink.
"But?"
"But I can't stop thinking about what happened today," she frowned. "You know, Annika was there when everything happened at the lab. I spoke to her, or rather she spoke to me. Her scars are because she was beside me."
"Allie, don't do that to yourself," Bucky sighed.
"But it's the truth," she let out a breath, her eyes squeezing shut as if it were painful.
"Allison," Bucky sighed.
"No. Don't you 'Allison' me," Allie narrowed her eyes at him. "The last however many hours have been complete and utterly shitty. I have to deal with the fact that Sharon knew all of this and is the reason that other people have these powers. She's the reason that I'm having to form a team at all to stop Annika. And Annika being the way that she is? That's on me. I'm the reason all of that happened."
Bucky stayed silent as he looked to the ice cream. Sighing and taking one of the bowls in his hand, he held it out to Allie who took a deep breath before taking the bowl. They sat at table in silence as they began to eat.
"James," Allie finally whispered as she poked a lump of ice cream with her spoon. He hummed in response as she took a deep breath. "I have to get this team together. I have to stop her before she does to others purposely what I did accidentally."
"Then put it together," Bucky shrugged. "We'll be by your side."
"But will Steve?" Allie frowned. "I still want him on the team."
"There's only one way to find out," he looked to her.
Allie nodded her head and made up her mind. Bucky was right, there was only one way to find out if he'd be by her side.
She would just have to talk to him the next day and ask him.