Paint Can
"Alright," Allie huffed out a sigh as she stood in the garage, the minivan sitting parked beside her as she stared down a light bulb that she was trying to light by thinking about it, which had yet to happen.
When they had left the lab, Peter had shown that there were three frequencies apart from the two for her ice and fire. Allie had cracked open the books he'd passed over to her, focusing on the book on ergokinesis first.
"Why do these all need fancy names?" Allie rolled her eyes as she sat in the living room with Peter and Bucky.
"It's science," Peter shrugged. "Everything has fancy names."
"Okay, well, I'm still going to call it fire and ice," Allie shrugged.
"And not pyrokinesis or cryokinesis?" Bucky teased.
"And sound like a pyromaniac or be reminded of those damn pods? No thank you," Allie scoffed.
"So, do you really have no idea what those other frequencies could be?" Peter asked as he looked up from the book he was in the middle of reading.
"No, I don't," Allie sighed.
"And no clues?" Peter narrowed his eyes up at her.
"Unless you count the fact that we know that one frequency is ice and another is fire? No," she continued.
"Peter, you've seen her out there in fights," Bucky shook his head. "She always grabs something and throws it or will take one of my guns and shoot."
"In my defense, my aim is good and my firearms instructor was really good," Allie shrugged. "And hot."
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," Peter said as he looked back down to his book. "What if you can control the wind? You'd almost be like the Avatar."
"The what now?" Allie looked at Peter, brows furrowed deep in confusion.
"The Avatar," Peter repeated. "You know, like the show."
"What show?" Bucky asked, his brows furrowing in confusion as well.
"Avatar: The Last Airbender," Peter repeated in disbelief. "It's such a good show."
"Peter, we've never heard of it," Allie shook her head.
"You two really are old," Peter scrunched his nose. "I'm making sure your kids see all of these classics."
"Sarah's been watching Snow White just about every day, you might have a tough time breaking her away from that," Allie smirked.
"Oh, I will," Peter smirked. "But seriously, think about how cool it would be if you had more elemental powers."
Allie continued to narrow her eyes at the workbench in front of her.
"You damn light bulb, just light up!" her voice was sharp with frustration.
The light bulb continued to sit on a small work bench of Bucky's unlit. Frustrated, Allie stomped her foot on the ground.
"Fuck!" she yelled, grateful that the children were nowhere near the garage to hear her outburst.
Beside her as she yelled, a paint can flew from where it had sat beside the wall, the top coming undone and covering the front tire of the minivan in old paint. Eyes widening, Allie looked between the now rolling can and the minivan. Realization hit her as her jaw dropped. She had done something. It wasn't fire and it wasn't ice. It wasn't the ergokinesis she had been trying to use, but it was something new.
Holding her hand up, she pointed it at the paint can and tried to move it by just thinking about it. Biting her lip as it didn't work, Allie realized that she hadn't used telekinesis. Thinking quickly she pointed her hand at a spot between the can and its lid. Taking a chance, she almost jumped onto the hood of the minivan in surprise as a burst of air hit the spot between the two objects, sending them flying in opposite directions and bowing hair into Allie's face.
She had to take a moment before she was able to process what she had just discovered. She was still in shock as she cleaned up the minivan and paint can. As she made her way back into the house, her shock finally cracked enough for a smile to break out across her face. She quickly made her way to the sound of running water.
"James!" Allie's voice was thick with excitement over the discovery.
"This is a good 'James' right?" Bucky asked as he continued to wash the dishes in the kitchen sink.
"It's a very good 'James'!" she almost skipped into the kitchen.
"The last time you were this excited, you told me we were having T.J.," Bucky raised a brow. "Are you-"
"No, no!" Allie shook her head. "Different kind of excited!"
"Different kind?" Bucky slowly grinned.
"I found out what one of the frequencies is," Allie grinned in return.
"Really?" he dropped the sippy cup that had been in his hand back into the sink and turned to fully face her. "Was it the energy one?"
"No," Allie shook her head. "I actually was getting really frustrated and got upset enough that I found out I can control air."
"Like Peter joked about?" Bucky laughed.
"We can't give the kid a big head, but his joke had merit to it," Allie laughed.
"How did you even find out that that's what you can control?" Bucky shook his head in amazement. It wasn't every day that his wife was able to make a discovery like that.
"Well, I was pissed and stomped my foot. Then that paint can from when we first moved in and painted the living room, you know the one with just a tiny bit left in it?" Allie asked and Bucky nodded. "Well, the blast of air that I didn't know I'd made hit it and sent that last bit of paint splatter on the tire of the minivan."
"You got paint on our minivan?" Bucky asked with widened eyes.
"You are missing the point!" Allie said. "But yes. I already hosed it down so don't worry about it."
"So did you double check that that was really what it was?" Bucky raised a brow.
"Of course I did," Allie laughed. "It's really shaky and I'll have to train it, but as long as we hide this discovery, we're closer to knowing the other two frequencies!"
"That's great," Bucky smiled, walking over to her and kissing her.
"I know," she smiled. "I just need to keep the others in the loop."
Tiny footsteps could be heard behind them as they continued to smile at one another. Bucky's eyes flicked over to look behind Allie, mouthing Steven's name to her as he watched their son made his way over.
"Mom?" Steven's voice was timid as he walked up to the two with his hands behind his back.
"Yes?" Allie said softly as she turned to fully face him, noting the guilt in his eyes instantly.
"Something fell," he walked closer.
"Oh? What fell," Allie folded her arms across her chest as she leaned back into the counter.
Slowly, Steven revealed the picture frame that had been hidden behind his back. Allie sighed as she held out her hand and Steven placed the cracked frame in it. It wasn't hard to miss the tiny lines of ice sat in one corner of the cracked glass. Allie and Bucky shared a look before Bucky cleared his throat.
"And how exactly did it fall?" he asked, his tone thick with warning.
Steven looked between the two and down to the ground. He stayed silent, but his movements made his guilt evident.
"Steven?" Allie asked, placing the frame behind her on the counter. "How did it fall?"
"It just fell," Steven shrugged, still not meeting either of their eyes.
"Steven Samuel, don't lie to us," Bucky warned. "Now, how did it fall?"
"I was using my powers," Steven mumbled and Allie let out a sigh.
"I thought we said that we were going to be setting rules about this?" Bucky whispered to Allie.
"We were," Allie nodded. "And I think the first rule should be that these powers aren't used without my supervision until you've had more practice."
"But-" Steven started, eyes widened at Allie.
"No buts," Allie shook her head. "You're lucky all you hit was a picture frame. What if you had hit your brother or sister?"
Steven looked down at his shoes and kicked the wooden floor with the tips of his toes. He looked up at the two with a frown on his face.
"I'm sorry," Steven continued to frown.
"Steven, come with me," Bucky said and looked over to Allie. "Do you have any more picture frames or do we need to make a run to the store later?"
"I'm sure I have one around here somewhere," Allie sighed.
"Alright," Bucky nodded. "I'm going to go talk to him. We can talk about those rules later."
Allie simply nodded and listened to Steven and Bucky's footsteps fade away as the two walked up the stairs and up to Steven's room. Allie's attention turned to the broken picture frame as she gently took the pieces apart and took the picture out. Looking at it, she sighed.
Smiling faces looked up at her from the picture from when she was on the run with Steve, Sam, and Natasha. Knowing how Allie loved having pictures and had loved the picture albums she had owned during the war, the group had always made sure to have disposable cameras with them.
In the picture, each person had large smiles on their faces. Nat and Allie sat side-by-side, each with a bottle of soda in their hands. Taking in a deep breath, Allie walked over to the living room and looked in a cabinet, finding an unused frame sitting inside.
She didn't think of the time that she was on the run often. It was two years of dashing between hotels, hoping and praying to not be caught as they continued to make sure that things were going alright with Wanda and Vision. When she did think about those two years, she couldn't help but feel sad. She had never gotten to see Natasha again after that first fight in Wakanda.
Now she was here with new powers she was discovering. Somewhere out in the world, Annika was running around with the same powers and it was clear that she was dangerous. Allie knew what being considered dangerous was like. She'd been labeled as dangerous by those who didn't know her before she'd helped fight against Thanos.
And yet, then again, there were those that looked at her and believed that she was safe to be around. Sitting in that very same picture that Allie had finished putting into the new picture frame, Natasha Romanoff was someone that believed in Allie, even if they had started out on rocky terms the first time that they had met.
"For the record," Nat said. "I don't think you're dangerous. Powerful, yes, but you're intentions are good."
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"So, was your brother always like this?" Natasha Romanoff smirked from where she sat on one of the beds in the small, dingy hotel room.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Steve furrowed his brows from where he sat in the chair that sat beside the worn desk.
"Are you meaning him being stoic or jumping into a fight and not thinking about consequences?" Allie smirked as she grabbed a bottle of Coca Cola and sat beside Nat.
"Oh, so he was," Nat gave a small laugh.
"Do you know how many bloody noses I had to clean up on him?" Allie grinned take a sip from the bottle.
"You were a nurse, you did things like that all of the time," Steve rolled his eyes.
"Remind me, how many times did Bucky bring you home covered in bruises and cuts?" Allie challenged.
"You always cleaned up the neighborhood kids when they fell down," Steve argued.
"Key words: fell down. You, sir, couldn't keep your trap shut," Allie rolled her eyes.
Steve narrowed his eyes slightly at his younger sister before shaking his head and standing up. The bathroom door opening, Sam walked out and looked at the women and Steve. He simply shook his head at the group of them before looking at the television, image on with the volume down.
"Cap," he said with a grin. "Why don't you and I go and pick up food for the night?"
"An excuse to get away from my annoying little sister? I'll take it," Steve gave Allie an annoyed look.
"You just don't like the fact that I told Nat the truth," Allie accused with a smirk. "Besides, never forget when I locked you in a cupboard."
"We were tiny!" Steve argued.
"And I still could have locked you in a cupboard when we were grown. Bucky would have never had to know," Allie threatened with her smirk still plastered on her lips.
"I'm leaving now," Steve simply turned and grabbed his jacket before he and Sam went to the door.
"Love you, you ass!" Allie's voice had a sweet melody to it as she watched Steve open the door.
"I'll think about it," Steve shrugged, but Allie still caught the ghost of his smirk as he left.
The two women continued to sit beside one another on the bed before Allie reached over for the television remote and turned the volume up, just enough to where they could hear the commercials playing.
It had been almost two years since the group of four had reunited and been on the run together. In that time, Allie had warmed up to Nat and Sam more than she had when they were still in the Compound. They never pressed too heavily on subjects Allie didn't want to speak about, and listened when she needed an ear that wasn't her brother.
It had been a few nights since Natasha last touched up the dye in Allie's hair. It had taken a great amount of getting used to, but she didn't mind having brunette locks. Her hair had grown out a bit since they had first been on the run, Natasha constantly convincing her to try new hairstyles with it.
"You two keep things fun in here," Natasha laughed softly as she looked over at Allie.
"Fun? My brother annoys me," Allie scrunched her nose.
"And yet he's one of your best friends?" Nat bumped Allie's shoulder with her own.
"Yes," Allie laughed. "He's a good big brother."
"Did he ever have to stop the bad boys from getting to you?" Nat raised a brow. "You must have had men chasing after you back in the day."
"Well, actually, Bucky always intervened before Steve could even think about it," Allie laughed. "And then Steve would say that he agreed with him."
"God, Barnes was in love with you all that time, wasn't he?"
"When my first boyfriend first asked me out, Bucky chased him off," Allie smiled at the memory.
"Oh really?"
"Then I went up and talked to the poor boy and ended up dating him for a while," she said softly. "Bucky wasn't exactly thrilled. But he did go on to set up on the worst dates I'd ever been on."
"And what did your brother have to say to that?"
"He usually laughed at my misfortune when I'd tell him about it later on," Allie shrugged.
The two women laughed softly before turning their attention to the television set. Reruns of old shows had been playing, the laugh tracks adding warmth to the room. Allie frowned down at her bottle of Coke before looking over at Nat.
"Have you ever wished that you had siblings?" she asked softly.
"Hm?" Nat hummed as she turned her attention to Allie. "What was that?"
"I was just asking if you've ever wished that you had siblings," Allie repeated, biting the inside of her cheek and wondering if she had asked too personal of a question.
"I actually do have a sister," Nat smiled. "A little sister. Yelena."
"Really? Does anyone else know about her?" Allie's eyes widened.
"No," Nat shook her head. "I don't talk about it. I last saw her before I found you guys, and the last time I had seen her before that was years ago."
"Is that a good or bad thing?"
"More of a bad thing the first time, good thing the last time. My vest is actually from her," Nat smiled softly.
"The one with all the pockets?" Allie smiled.
"She loved that it has all those pockets," Nat laughed.
Allie took a sip of her Coke as she watched Nat smile. In the time that the group had been moving from one hideaway to another, she'd come to realize that she quite liked the people her brother had chosen as his friends. Throughout their running, she'd come to feel as if they were a family unit. The others had often said that the Avengers had felt like another family to them. She found that she had to agree with that sentiment, apart from those they weren't on speaking terms with.
"I do wish that I could have been a better sister," Nat sighed. "She and I are on good terms, but I'm still on the run right now."
"Well," Allie said softly as she moved her hand to rest on Nat's. "I might not be Yelena, but I can tell you you're a good sister."
"What makes you say that?"
"We might not be blood related, but you've been a pretty good sister to me," Allie laughed. "You really are the closest thing I've ever had to a sister."
"Didn't your husband have a sister?" Nat raised a brow, a grin finding its way to her face.
"Two," Allie nodded. "Rebecca and Ruth, and they all had a little brother named Thomas."
"Weren't they like sisters to you?"
"I always spent my time with Bucky," Allie confessed. "I didn't spend as much time talking to them as I should have, especially with him and I having gone on to get engaged and married. They ended up being more of friends than siblings."
"Do you miss him?"
"Of course I miss him," Allie sighed. "As much as I love you and Sam, there's still that part of me that wishes that Steve and I were still with Bucky in our own time."
Natasha simply nodded and wrapped an arm around Allie's shoulders. Laying their heads against one another, each took in a deep breath.
"Well, eventually you'll see him again," Nat smiled. "Although, he did try to choke me a few times."
"Oh don't worry, he choked me as well," Allie smirked and Nat's eyes widened with a smirk of her own. "No! Not like that!"
"Alright," Nat grinned. "But you'll see him eventually."
And Nat was right. It wasn't long before the two were finally reunited.
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Allie was wrapped in Bucky's arms, the comforter hanging off the bed, the two tangled in a sheet. Neither one had wanted to admit that they were too warm with how they were laying, instead settling for kicking the thickest blankets off of the bed.
They had had a long day of working on Allie's powers in the backyard, practicing on control techniques, and they were both left exhausted. The kids had thankfully behaved the entire evening, Steven being extra cautious with his abilities and settling for coloring with his sister at the kitchen table instead.
Bucky was barely on the verge of snoring as a frantic knock at their front door fully woke the both of them. Looking at each other with widened eyes, they looked at the alarm clock and realized that it was the middle of the night. Scrambling out of the sheet, they tore from their room, almost taking the stairs two or three at a time.
Bucky had Allie stop as he neared the door, unsure if the frantic knocking was a good or a bad thing. Slowly peering through the peephole, he lowered his guard as he opened the door. Allie made her way forward to see a bloodied up pair limp in through the door.
"Holy shit!" she hissed as she took in Wanda and Sam's appearances. "What the hell happened?"
"Steve had us over for dinner tonight," Sam groaned as he sat on the couch. "We were out in the city and talking when they attacked us."
"What?" Allie's eyes widened in shock.
"It wasn't Annika, but someone like her," Wanda sat beside Sam.
"Was Steve with you two?" Allie's eyes widened.
"No, it was after we had left his apartment," Sam shook his head.
"And you didn't go back to his apartment?" Bucky narrowed his eyes.
"We didn't exactly want to bring the fight to him," Sam groaned.
"Does he even know?" Allie narrowed her eyes.
"No," Wanda shook her head.
"Bucky, you stay in here with them. If anyone followed them, take care of it," Allie instructed.
"Where are you going?" Bucky asked.
"Upstairs for the good medical supplies," Allie said and made her way to their bathroom.
"Are you two actually okay?" Bucky sighed as he sat with them.
"We've got a big problem," Sam sighed. "There are other people with these powers and they're on Annika's side."
"Shit," Bucky grumbled as footsteps quickly made their way back into living room.
"I don't like the sound of that," Allie commented as she sat down in front of Sam and quickly began to clean out the cuts on his cheeks and arms. "What's going on?"
"Sam was right," Wanda looked at Allie. "There's more out there with those powers."
"Now him saying 'shit' makes sense," Allie frowned. "Were they just using fire and ice?"
"Yes, why?" Sam winced as Allie finished taking care of his cuts.
"I still have an upper hand," Allie smirked. "And I intend on keeping my upper hand."
"You'll have to be careful if you want to keep that advantage," Sam warned her.
"Oh, I will be," Allie nodded. "There isn't a worry about that."
"What did you find?" Wanda asked her as Allie began to take care of her cuts.
"I can control air," Allie sighed. "There's still two frequencies to pinpoint what they are, but we're almost there."
"Does the kid know yet?" Sam looked over at her.
"I haven't been able to tell him about that discovery yet," Allie shook her head. "We'll have to do that soon."
Wanda and Sam found themselves spending the night at the Barnes house. Allie found that she wasn't able to sleep after the two had found their way there. Something simply didn't sit right in her stomach after finding they'd been attacked.
She had made the decision to call and meet with Steve the next day.