An Anniversary
"He's not answering," Allie's voice was frantic as she pressed the red button on her phone, ending her futile attempt at calling Steve for the ninth time in a row. "Bucky, will he answer you?"
Bucky made the attempt to call Steve, only to be sent to voicemail as well. Allie had been pacing back and forth in the living room for a solid ten minutes as she realized that her brother really had left through the front door. Worried about him, she'd begun her wild chain of calls, hoping that on one of them he'd answer.
"Allie, he's going to be fine," Sam sighed as he watched Allie go the length of the living room once more.
"I've never fought with him like that!" Allie's voice was panicked as she turned and stared at the door, as if he'd magically walk through at any moment.
"Allie, let me try calling him," Sam said calmly. Pulling his phone out, he was the one that finally reached Steve. Dismissing himself from the room, Allie turned to Bucky and ran her hands through her hair.
"Take a deep breath," Bucky said as he took in her panicked state. "He made the choice to walk through that door."
"But I've never fought with him like that," Allie repeated.
Bucky had gone silent, simply letting Allie continue to pace back and forth as she ran her hands through her hair. She could barely hear the hum of Sam's voice as he spoke on the phone from the other room. Each moment that passed made her heart thud even further, hoping that something good was going to come from the other side of the call.
As Sam finally came back into the room, it was clear that whatever had been said over the phone wasn't going to exactly be in their favor. As Sam looked to Allie, he simply shook his head.
"He's not coming back, is he?" she asked as her hands fell to her sides.
"No," Sam sighed. "He's not."
"He really left. He really left to go after her," Allie's words almost felt as if they were falling from her lips in shock.
"Allie. Give him time," Sam warned.
"But, Sam," Allie looked at him in shock. "I need him here. With me. With Bucky. Not going after someone that kept things about me hidden from everyone. Including me!"
"Allie would you knock it off," Sam snapped. "Not everything is about you."
Startled, Allie's jaw dropped as she tried to remember how to breathe. She didn't quite know if there was ever a time that Sam had snapped at her. Having a second person snapping at her within a short time span wasn't exactly what she had pictured for her evening.
"Alright. Fine," Allie's jaw was set as she looked down at the ground. "If you need me, I'll be in the bath."
She didn't look back as she went upstairs and drew her bathwater like she'd made a habit when stressed or upset. Bucky and Sam watched her walk up the stairs before facing one another again.
"Sam," Bucky sighed.
"No," Sam shook his head. "After all of that yelling that just took place, I don't want to hear anything out of either of you. I'll try and deal with him privately, but you two should be ashamed of yourselves."
"Excuse me?" Bucky looked at him in confusion.
"I get that Allie is your person. You guys went through a lot of shit to get to where you are now and that you want to protect her at all costs," Sam sighed. "But Steve is her brother and your best friend. The three of you are from an entirely different time. You guys are quite literally the most iconic trio from the war."
"I'm serious that I don't want Sharon anywhere near her," Bucky narrowed his eyes.
"And I understand that," Sam sighed. "You and I both know that a part of Sharon hasn't really forgiven the States for what ended up happening when we went after Zemo to try and clear your name. She made mistakes and I'm not going to defend those, but you have to remember that she and Steve have been together for four years and he's completely in love her. Things she did in the past don't stop him from loving her."
"Sam what she did-"
"Was awful. I agree," Sam nodded. "But do I really need to be the one to remind you that Allie drunkenly followed a stranger for revenge because she was so angry over what seemed to be yours and Steve's deaths? Would you have wanted people telling you not to stay with her after that? Or what if people had told Allie that you weren't worth it and to leave you?"
"Allie and I aren't Sharon," Bucky protested.
"But you've both been in positions where someone could have looked at the other and told you to leave each other. That you were too dangerous," Sam argued. "Just let Steve go after her."
Bucky let out a deep sigh and decided against further pressing an argument with Sam. Instead, he offered to go upstairs and retrieve blankets and a pillow for Sam to sleep on the couch that night. Sam nodded in agreement and as Bucky went up the stairs, Sam simply watched his friend and shook his head.
Bucky rounded the corner to a hallway cabinet that held different pieces of bedding. He stopped before he could open the cabinet's door when he heard a sniff coming from his and Allie's room. Looking down at the ground for a brief moment, he gently opened the bedroom door and noticed the open door to the en suite. His footsteps were soft as he peered in and saw Allie sitting with her knees to her chest, head buried in her kneecaps as steam gently wafted from the bathwater.
"Allie?" he asked softly.
"Huh?" her head popped up, tears gently pooled at the edge of her eyes.
"It's been a long day," he swallowed. "Why don't we just go to bed now?"
"I don't want to," she shrugged.
"Are you sure?" his brow rose.
"Very. I keep seeing Steven and Sarah flying backwards from that ice," her breath shuddered as she closed her eyes tightly.
"Hey, no, don't think about it. The kids are fine. They're safe with Grace," Bucky assured her.
"I get that, okay?" Allie sighed. "It's just... I just... I want tonight to be over already."
"I know," Bucky nodded. "I'm going to go give Sam a blanket and a couple pillows. I'll be right back."
"Actually," Allie sighed. "Can I be alone? I just need to a moment."
"Oh," his voice made his surprise evident. He couldn't truly remember a time when Allie had taken a bath due to stress that he hadn't at least spent some time in the room with her to let her talk. "Of course. Do you want any hot chocolate or anything?"
"You never make hot chocolate," Allie frowned. "That would scare me."
"I'd have Sam's help," he rolled his eyes as he attempted a lighthearted smile.
"I'm alright. Thanks," she took a deep breath. "I won't be too long. I just want to be alone."
"Okay," Bucky nodded. "You know you can always call if you need me."
"Yes, I know," she smiled, a small puff of air exhaling from her nose as the ghost of a laugh.
Bucky dismissed himself from the room and Allie watched as the door closed slightly. With the click of the closing bedroom door, Allie sunk further into the bathwater, still in disbelief of what had happened that day.
The way things were going, she wasn't quite sure that she wanted to see what was to come.
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Over a week had passed as Allie and Bucky continued to give Steve space. At different moments, Allie would feel as if she were surrounded by a cloud of thick air. At others, she held onto hope that if she were to call his phone, that maybe, just maybe, Steve would pick up and they could talk.
Allie sat in a chair with a book open in her lap. She hadn't paid any attention to what she had been reading, her thoughts loud in her head as she continued to think about how she hadn't talked to her brother.
"Mom?" Steven asked as he gently shook her arm.
"Yes?" she asked as she snapped back to reality and looked over at him.
"Uncle Sam is here," he grinned and as Allie looked up, she saw Sam enter the room.
"Steven, why don't you and Sarah go and play in the other room. And tell your dad to come in here."
"Okay!" Steven disappeared from the room as Allie put her book to the side and Sam sat with her.
"Hey," Bucky said as he entered the room. "What brings you over tonight."
"I was thinking about the team," Sam sighed as he watched Bucky take a seat beside Allie.
"And what exactly were thinking about the team for?" Allie bit her lip, nervous as to what he might say after everything that had happened recently.
"You're going to need more people on this team. Not having Sharon or Steve is going to make things more difficult," Sam said, stating the obvious to Allie.
"I know that," Allie sighed. "My feelings about everything aside, they're both incredibly skilled. To lose that when we're facing God knows how many people, it's a roadblock."
"Which is why I came over to make a suggestion," Sam continued, sitting forward before looking between Allie and Bucky. "Let me make a few calls. I can bring it up to Rhodey, Clint, I can suggest it to Scott."
"And why shouldn't I be the one to reach out to them?" Allie's brow raised.
"You have other things that you need to focus on," Sam shrugged. "We'll need more than just adding those three. You're smart. You'll have ideas of who else to bring in."
"That sounds like your bullshitting me," Allie narrowed her eyes. "Is this because of my fight with Steve?"
Sam simply sighed and brought his hand up, rubbing the bridge of his nose to the corners of his eyes. Bucky looked between the two, not sure where he believed the conversation was headed.
"Allie," Sam's voice had a gentle warning to it. "Let me talk to them, okay? Besides, tomorrow is your anniversary, right?"
Allie's eyes widened and she looked over at Bucky who seemed to have lost track of the days as well. Going through the days in her mind, Allie realized that Sam was right. The next day was the Barnes's wedding anniversary and neither had paid it much attention. In the past years, Steve and Sharon had taken the kids for the day and into the night so that Allie and Bucky could spend it alone. Allie frowned at the realization.
"Take a day," Sam instructed. "I'll take the next couple of days to bring the others in, but you take a day and then come up with some ideas that you think may work."
"Sam," Allie sighed.
"I'm sure Pete won't have any problem babysitting for the day. Besides, the kids adore him," Sam shrugged.
"Allie, it's not a bad idea," Bucky shrugged. "They say not to make decisions based on emotions. It shouldn't be a decision made today. We already know we trust our friends, but it's really not a bad idea to branch out. The Commandos were soldiers from all over, remember?"
"I certainly remember," Allie smiled softly. "I remember the failed attempts by Gabe to teach us more French to talk to Jacques in the very beginning."
"I trust you to make the best decisions for the team," Sam assured her. "But don't do it today, okay?"
Allie took a breath and looked down at the table. She nodded before continuing to look away from Sam. He watched her, concern that she couldn't see etched in his face. Bucky simply looked over at Allie before reaching his hand over and taking hers.
"Has he spoken to you?" her voice was soft and Sam took in a breath.
"Yes," he nodded. "Just once."
"Was it that phone call you had here?" she looked up, feeling the weight plummeting in her stomach.
"No, I've talked to him once after that," Sam sighed. "He's fine, but Allie, don't focus on that."
"Sam, I've never fought with him before," Allie sighed in return. "It's hard not, too. Especially since he won't talk to me."
"Allie, just give him the time he needs," Sam sighed. "And I'm serious. Start thinking of where you might want to start recruiting. If Annika's going to go as hard as she seems to be going, we're going to need a strong team."
"Alright," Allie nodded. "I'll make a list."
Outwardly, she felt she sounded confident. Despite that tone of voice, she almost felt lost. That feeling of being lost kept her awake that as she tried to come up with ideas.
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Like Sam had suggested, Allie and Bucky had asked Peter to take the kids for the day. Peter happily obliged, taking them to the local park before watching a few movies at the Barnes house.
For their anniversary, Allie and Bucky had gone out for the day. To Allie, having a day that she wasn't working on the team or working on studying different kinetic powers before having to go home and cook a dinner was a much needed escape.
It had seemed like an eternity since the last time they had walked together in a cool evening air. Their hands were laced together as they walked through their neighborhood. Voices of neighbors floated through the air, a warmth in the suburban atmosphere present. Allie sighed as she looked over at Bucky.
"God, I needed this day out," she smiled as she looked at him.
"So did I," he grinned.
"With all of this going on, I feel like we haven't had any time for just the two of us," she frowned. "Life would be so much easier if it were still that last date night we had."
"And would it be easier against the kitchen counter or on the kitchen table?" Bucky teased.
Eyes widening, Allie tried not to laugh as her cheeks reddened. Bucky simply smirked and gave a shrug as he watched her surprised reaction to his teasing.
"James Buchanan Barnes," she attempted to hiss through a stifled laugh. "That talk remains in the bedroom where it belongs."
"Bedroom?" he leaned in and teased. "Love, if it remained in the bedroom then we wouldn't have almost had to buy a new piece of furniture the day after."
"Jerk," she finally laughed. "But to answer your question, the counter."
"Really? Not the table?" he grinned.
"It almost broke," she reminded him. "It would have almost broke even without you being enhanced."
"Well, I'll keep that in mind," he teased.
The two fell silent as their footsteps could be the only things heard as the sounded against the sidewalk. Small puffs of air could be seen coming from Bucky and Allie as their breaths hit the cool air.
"James?" she asked softly as they continued to walk back in the direction of the house.
"Yes?" his voice was just as soft.
"I've been thinking about what Sam said yesterday. You know, about how I should figure out more people to recruit to the team outside of our friends?"
"Okay," Bucky nodded. "What about it?"
"Well, I think I have an idea of who to recruit," Allie's lips pressed together as she looked over. "But I won't do it without asking you first."
"Alright," he responded slowly, brow raising at her. "Who?"
The name had barely left her lips before Bucky's jaw had dropped, hand rigid in Allie's.
"You want to recruit who?!"