Grief
Bucky sat on the edge of the couch with the news playing in the background of the living room.
Having sent the children to bed earlier than expected, he simply found himself glued to the edge of his seat, trying to focus in on the breaking news broadcasts after Allie had snatched up keys to the unused car in their garage before taking off to where Peter had said he last was. He found he couldn't focus on the news and instead pulled out a sketchpad he had lying in the living room and tried to distract himself as he waited for any call or update. He sketched Allie holding Sarah from memory as he waited.
Bucky didn't know how much time had passed since he first sat on the plush cushions. He hadn't bothered to look at the clock much at all before he heard the front door finally open and two distinct sets of footsteps walked in. Instantly pushing the sketchpad aside and turning around, he already knew what had happened based on Allie and Peter's expressions.
"Come on," Allie's voice was soft and gentle. "Let's get you a glass of water."
Peter didn't utter a word in response. Bucky took note of his suit still being worn, apart from his mask. His hair was mussed and his skin was still flushed. Bucky only shifted his eyes to Allie for a moment before he found he didn't know if words would flow from his lips. Allie herself looked as if she had been roughed up. Hair frizzy, face just as flushed as Peter's, he noticed her eyes appeared to be exhausted.
Allie had only the faintest of a tremble as she took out of a glass and poured a glass of water for the young man that was finding his footing as he seemed to stumble in shock to the kitchen table. She gently placed the glass in front of him, leaning down and kissing the top of his head before walking over to Bucky.
"I don't need to ask, do I?" Bucky's voice was soft, choked as he took in the words her eyes expressed.
"Um, well," she swallowed hard. Bucky looked slightly closer and realized that her eyes were brimming with tears. She tried to blink them back, but the hot stinging of them quickly traced down her cheeks. "There weren't survivors in there."
"I had a feeling you'd say that," Bucky admitted, glancing to Peter whose face had found itself buried in his hands as he chest moved up and down rapidly.
"It was just like that night at the lab," she admitted. "The burning. The smell."
"Allie, don't think of that," he warned.
"She did exactly what I had done. And now Peter's alone because of that," she wiped hastily at her cheeks. "He told me he was trying to help put out the flames so he could find her body."
"Are the fires out?" Bucky asked softly.
"They are now," she nodded.
"Was Annika there?" his jaw set as he looked between Peter and Allie.
"No," she shook her head. "I was told she and another woman fled before I'd gotten there."
"And how are you doing?" he swallowed.
"She was our friend," she sniffed and wiped at her cheek. "Our friend was killed in the same kind of way that those people at the lab were killed."
"Allie," Bucky's voice was gently.
"I know," she frowned and nodded as she looked down at the ground. "You know, I think I should get Peter up to that spare room. Let him stay here for a while."
"Okay," Bucky nodded and watched as Allie called for Peter to go upstairs with her.
She didn't have much of a moment to think before Peter had sat on the bed in the room they were letting him use and began to cry. There wasn't even a moment of hesitation as Allie moved from where she had stood to sit down beside him.
Sitting beside Peter as he cried, her arms were quickly wrapped around him, his face nestled in the crook of her neck as he wept. She could feel the collar of her shirt beginning to soak with his tears, not carrying at all just as she never cared when it was soaked with Steven or Sarah or T.J.'s tears.
"This is my fault," he whispered.
"What?" she asked as her hand rubbed against his back in a soothing gesture.
"If I had gotten there sooner, Annika wouldn't have gotten to her," he shook his head, burying it against her neck even further.
"Peter, don't you dare do that to yourself," Allie scolded. "Her actions are not your responsibility. There is no blame that can be put on your shoulders."
Outside of the door, two little kids stood and hid from their mother's view. They hadn't gone to sleep and had instead snuck out of their rooms when hearing their mom coming back into the house. As they peered in, they had widened eyes. Neither had seen Peter like that. They didn't understand why he was crying, but they knew what it was like to be sad. Without saying a word, the two quietly pattered away from the doorway and to their own rooms.
Allie continued to gently rub Peter's back as his seemed to try to catch his breath. A moment passed before he adjusted himself to lay his head against Allie's shoulder.
"Are we sure we can't just kill her?" he frowned.
"I'm going to tell you what Steve told me the day that Annika could have killed the kids. He told me that I wasn't a murderer," she sighed. "You aren't a murderer either, Peter. We'll find her. We'll stop her. But we won't do that by killing her."
The doorbell rang throughout the house causing both to jump with an attempt at a smile. Allie sighed as she looked over towards the open doorway leading to the hall. Taking in a deep breath, she turned her head and laid a kiss against Peter's temple, just as she would leave against her children's when they were upset.
"I'm going to go see who that is," she whispered. "Do you want to come with me or stay here?"
"I'll stay here," Peter shrugged and lifted his head from her shoulder.
"Okay," she nodded. "You just call for me if you need me, okay?"
"Yeah," he nodded.
Allie stood and watched as Peter attempted to give her a look to say that he was alright. She knew better, but she walked out of his room, silently noticing the curious looks from the children at the end of the hallway. Walking downstairs, she listened to the pause before the two sets of footsteps pattered back in the direction of Peter's room.
"Shh!" Steven whispered to Sarah as she tripped and scraped her shoe along the ground just a tad. "I don't want to get in trouble."
"I want to see Peter," Sarah whispered back.
"We are," he frowned in turn.
"You're loud," Sarah whined as Steven glared at her.
"I can hear you two," Peter's voice flowed from the slightly open door.
"It's because you're loud," Sarah frowned.
Steven didn't dignify her with a response. Instead, he led the way into Peter's room where he walked right on over to the sad young man. Pulling something from behind his back, it was a stuffed leopard that he had always had on his bed.
"His name is Murray," Steven said in a matter-of-fact tone. "He helps chase away nightmares."
"And this is Quackers," Sarah handed over a small stuffed duck. "She helps, too."
"Thanks you two," Peter smiled. "But I can't take these guys from you when you need someone to chase away the nightmares, too."
"But we want them to help you," Steven assured him.
"Yeah," Sarah nodded in agreement.
"Well, thank you," Peter smiled.
Downstairs, Allie opened the door to find Wanda and Sam looking worried. Raising a brow, she let them walk in and walked to the kitchen to pour everyone a glass of water.
"What happened?" Wanda asked.
"Somehow I think you already know," Allie sighed as she looked at the two. The looks on their faces confirmed that they knew what had taken place. Looking down at the glass she had in her hand, she took in a breath and handed it over to Wanda before pouring a glass for Sam and a glass for Bucky who joined her. "When I got there, they were still trying to put out the flames."
"And the flames are out now, right?" Sam frowned.
"They were out before I left," Allie nodded.
"They were able to put the fire out?" Wanda raised a brow at Allie. "They've been having trouble getting rid of that fire and ice without the original creator there."
Allie didn't respond. Instead, she sipped on her glass of water and sat down at the kitchen table. Wanda and Bucky seemed to be the ones that noticed the slight shakiness as she sat. Puzzled, they glanced at one another before looking Allie up and down. It was Bucky who noticed the faint end of an orange line. Startled, his eyes flicked up to Allie's. Taking a deep breath, she looked down at the table and didn't say a word.
"Allie, what did you do?" Bucky asked slowly.
"I didn't do anything," she frowned.
"Don't lie to me," Bucky frowned.
"Or me," Wanda's brow furrowed. "I can read your mind if I choose to."
"You wouldn't do that," Allie frowned. "I'm fine you guys."
"And that's how we know you're not," Sam sighed. "What happened?"
Looking at them, she realized that silence wasn't an option. Sighing and taking a deep breath, Allie kept her eyes trained on a spot on the table.
"You guys know how I was having pain and trouble trying to help dissipate the fire and ice a few months back?" she began and from the corner of her eye, she could see them nodding. "Well, it turns out that I figured out how to do it. The only issue is it's so painful I was on the verge of passing out."
"What?" the three chorused as they looked at her in shock.
"You were able to do it?" Sam's jaw dropped. "But you were in so much pain when you tried back then. Besides, what about this fingerprint thing?"
"That's the thing," she sighed and winced as she turned. "I don't know exactly how I did it. All I know is that I got there and couldn't find Peter right away. I turned and just started helping to put it out and before I knew it, the debris was all that was left and Peter was beside me."
"Are you sure you're okay?" Bucky took the seat beside Allie.
"I'm fine," she frowned. "Just in a little bit of pain."
"And you don't think that Annika knows that you were able to do that?" Wanda asked cautiously.
"If she'd been there, she would have attacked me," Allie frowned. "She was long gone."
"Love, can I take a look at this line?" Bucky pointed to the back of her neck.
"What line?" her eyes widened.
"There's a mark on your back," he started slowly. "It's orange."
Gulping and taking a deep breath, she turned so her back would face him. As he lifted the back of her shirt, his eyes widened as he took in how her back was covered in orange markings. Looking to Wanda, he urged her over. She too had widened eyes.
"They're in the shape of Annika's pattern," Wanda said in horror.
"What?" Allie turned around to face them.
"You might need to look in the mirror," Wanda frowned.
Doing just that, Allie dismissed herself from the room and took her shirt off to look at her back. Just as they had said, spread along her back were orange markings that matched that of Annika's pattern. They were spread out as if they were scars.
"Oh my god," she muttered as her eyes widened.
"Allie, let's not freak out until we keep an eye on them or we can talk to Bruce," Wanda suggested.
"She has a point," Sam said. "You're able to walk right now. You got home safely. You were able to get Peter here safely."
Putting her shirt back on and walking back out to them, she nodded her head. She hadn't lied to them when she said that the pain was so awful that she almost passed out. She really didn't know how exactly she had done it. She just remembered the pain from taking control of the fire that she had not started. The only time she could remember feeling any kind of pain like that was when they had fought against Thanos the first time. The moment he'd wrapped her own fire back around her and sent her flying backwards towards Bucky.
"Speaking of Peter," Wanda sighed. "How is he?"
"Do any of us really need to ask that?" Allie sighed. "He's up in his room."
"He's been through a lot," Sam frowned. "Is he taking time off?"
"It doesn't sound like it," Allie shook her head. "He's ready to take her down himself."
"I see," Sam nodded.
"I think I am going to go up and check on him though," she frowned. "I might as well let him know that it was you two at the door."
"Right," Sam nodded.
"I'll join you," Bucky offered and they both walked up the stairs.
Stopping just outside of Peter's room, they could already hear snoring. Looking to one another, Allie gently opened the door and had to stifle a small laugh when she saw Peter asleep with Steven laying on one side and Sarah on the other with two stuffed toys sitting on Peter's chest. As Allie and Bucky entered and properly put the three to bed, they couldn't help but feel as if it was something that their family needed that night.
Walking back downstairs after turning off the light, Allie offered to reheat leftovers for Wanda and Sam before grabbing pillows and blankets so that they too could relax and sleep that night.
While Peter found himself asleep and comforted, Allie remained awake for a good portion of the night, still blaming herself for the chain of events that led to that night.
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The first time that Bucky had seen Allie react to tragedy was when her mother died. While she may have told him that she was okay, he knew better.
It started out as her just telling him that she was fine. Then it was little comments from Steve about how she'd made just enough food for him but not herself. It wasn't until he noticed her clothes fitting differently that he truly became concerned. Not knowing what else to do, he managed to find a way to convince Allie and Steve to spend the night at his house with his family. He almost hoped his mom would find a way to make sure that Allie ate.
As they sat around the table, he realized that Allie was still simply poking at her food. He didn't even think he'd seen her take a bite. Taking a breath and pointing at her plate with his fork, he swallowed his bite of food and cleared his throat.
"You should try the vegetables," he suggested.
"Thanks Buck, but I'm not feeling all that hungry at the moment," she frowned.
Looking at her, he realized that she wasn't meeting his eye. Frowning, he adjusted the way that he sat in his seat. Leaning forward, he furrowed his brows just a tad.
"You really should eat something," he urged.
"James," his mother's voice warned from where she sat at the table.
"I'm serious. I'm not all that hungry right now," she frowned. "I'm sure it's delicious, Mrs. Barnes. Your food always is."
"Thank you," the soft smile felt warm for Allie.
"But, did you even eat today?" Bucky accused.
"James!" his mother scolded.
"James, you heard your mother," his father warned.
"Buck, I'm fine," Allie bit out.
"Are you?" he questioned.
"Yes. I am," she narrowed her eyes a bit.
"You're going to sit there and just not eat? Like you haven't been doing? Allie, you're starving yourself at this point!" his voice came out harsh.
"I said I am fine," Allie bit back.
"Have you looked in a goddamn mirror lately?" he spat.
"James Buchanan!" his mother's tone had the razor-sharp edge to it that he and his siblings dreaded.
Turning to face her, he silenced himself. Allie looked down at her lap before excusing herself from the table and walking to the bathroom. Steve was uncomfortable in his seat as were Bucky's younger siblings. As his mother stood, Bucky knew that he was supposed to follow. In the semblance of privacy of the kitchen, his mother turned with fire in her eyes.
"You do not speak to her that way," she scolded.
"But Mom, she hasn't been eating at all! You saw her. She's lost a lot of weight," he pleaded. "I'm just scared about it."
"I understand that," his mother frowned. "But yelling at and embarrassing her at the dinner table is no way to try and help her."
"But why won't she eat?"
"James," she sighed. "One day you'll understand. While she may not be taking the best care of herself, when you go through the kind of loss she's just gone through, you react in your own way. Hers is a lack of wanting to eat."
"She's taking care of Steve, but not herself," Bucky argued.
"Sounds an awful like her own mother, doesn't she?" she pointed out. "She'll start eating, but you have to be more tactful and mindful than yelling at her."
"I'm sorry," he frowned.
"I'm not the one you need to apologize to," she frowned.
Bucky watched as his mother rejoined the others at the dinner table. An uncomfortable chatter began before he took off in the direction of the bathroom. Knocking gently on the wooden door, he heard Allie's voice softly sounding from the other side.
"It's me," he said softly.
"You can yell through the door this time," he heard her softly bite from the other side. "It might muffle it for me this time."
"Allie," he sighed. "Please open the door. I'm not hear to yell at you again."
A moment passed as Allie still sat on the other side of the door. Bucky frowned and knocked once more.
"Allie, can I please come in?" he asked softly. Another moment of silence passed by before he placed his hand on the knob. "I'm coming in. If you're indecent in any way, just let me know so I can cover my eyes."
"Asshole," Allie rolled her eyes as he opened the door.
She was sat on the floor, back against the bathtub as she held a rag in her hand that was wet with tears that had streaming down her cheeks.
"I didn't mean to make you cry," his jaw dropped as he walked in and knelt in front of her.
"You didn't make me cry," she shook her head. "This whole thing is what made me cry."
"What whole thing?" his voice became soft.
"I can take care of myself," she assured him. "I just, I can't find it in myself to eat right now. And then I think of how Mom would have scolded me to eat something. Then that makes me want to eat even less because I feel guilty."
"What?"
"It's stupid, I know," she sniffed.
"That's not what I meant," he shook his head. "I just- Does Steve know you feel this way?"
"No," she shook her head. "I don't want to worry him."
"Allie, I don't know how to tell you this, but he is worried. A lot of people are," he frowned.
"Just what I need," she sighed. "People thinking I'm not capable of taking care of myself because I can't even get myself to eat."
"People don't think that," he shook his head in confusion. "And I really didn't mean to sound the way I did."
"I know," she attempted to grin. "Sometimes I don't think you're clever enough to be that rude on purpose."
"Well that was downright mean," he scoffed.
"Consider it my revenge," she laughed softly. "I didn't mean to make you worry."
"You're my best friend," he shrugged as he moved to sit beside her. "It comes with the territory."
"Like me worrying about that time you didn't pay attention to where you were running, ran into a pole, and came to my house with a bloody nose?" she laughed.
"Yeah, like that," he smiled.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
"Me too," she leaned her head against his shoulder and took in a deep breath. "I can try to eat some of those vegetables. They did smell really good."
"Tell you what," he sighed. "We'll do that, and then tonight, to show you how sorry I am, you can have my room to sleep in."
"Wow," she smirked and sniffed softly. "What a noble gesture. Where will you and Steve sleep?"
"The living room," he shrugged. "It's not like there weren't nights that the three of us would pull cushions and blankets and pillows in there to sleep."
"Well, thank you," she smiled.
"You're welcome," he bumped her lightly with his shoulder.
That night, Allie thanked Bucky once more as he closed the door to his room, leaving her to curl underneath the blanket he had on his bed. She did have to admit that it was nicer than having to sleep on the floor in the living room.
As the days passed and Allie found herself continuing on with her life, Bucky felt a silent relief as he noticed her taking care of herself more than he had thought she had been.
And he made himself a promise to react to things like what had happened better in the future.
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Peter didn't leave his room for anything more than using the restroom for the first few days that he spent at the Barnes household. Allie had gone to help with training with the others in addition to still perfecting her control of her aerokinesis. Bucky had admitted that he didn't feel right leaving Peter on his own, volunteering to keep watch over the house and Peter himself while Allie was gone.
As Steven and Sarah played with T.J. in the living room, Bucky found his eyes glancing in the direction of the staircase. He had just finished washing dishes after the kids had had their lunch. Peter hadn't eaten with them. He hadn't been eating during the last few meals at all. Sighing to himself, Bucky rose from where he sat down and walked up the stairs.
Knocking softly, he waited to hear some form of response from Peter, only hearing a small grunt in response to the rapping on the wood. Taking it as an invitation to enter, he slowly opened the door.
Peter sat on the bed with his web shooters in his hands. He was tinkering with them as he often would at the kitchen table before Allie would scold him for bringing weapons to the table. He didn't look up from them as Bucky settled into resting against the doorframe. Clearing his throat slightly, Bucky took in a deep breath.
"You didn't come down for lunch," he frowned, stating the obvious.
"I wasn't hungry," Peter shrugged.
"You didn't come down for breakfast this morning. Or yesterday morning. Or the morning before that. Or the past few lunches. You've only been to one dinner where you poked the food around the plate."
"I wasn't hungry those times either," Peter's eyes narrowed as they flitted to Bucky for only a brief second.
"You need to eat something," Bucky urged.
"I'm fine," Peter bit out.
Sighing, Bucky shook his head and walked further into the room. Taking a seat on the edge of the bed. He looked down at his hands before looking to Peter once more.
"For not being related to her, you sure do act a lot like Allie sometimes," Bucky attempted to smile at him.
"What makes you say that?" Peter's brow raised for just a moment.
"The way you speak," he shrugged. "When she makes up her mind about something, she continues on insisting it. Whether it be a good or a bad thing."
"Well, I'm fine," Peter turned his attention back to his web shooters.
Silence settled over the two as the noise from the children playing could still be heard in the background. Bucky pursed his lips slightly, before finally taking a breath and turning to face Peter once more.
"Don't do the same things that Allie did," he sighed. "She didn't eat when her mom died. I found out she didn't really eat after she thought Steve and I had died. She's honest about how she became an alcoholic after that, too."
"Well, you don't see any beer cans in here, do you?" Peter bit out before he sighed and his eyes softened. "I didn't mean that."
"I know you didn't," Bucky nodded. "And I'm not telling you anything that Allie wouldn't. You realize we only bug you because we care about you."
"Is that what it is?" Peter questioned.
"Yes," Bucky nodded. "Allie is always bent on making sure people don't go down the same paths that she did. And she's a mom. She's going to mother you."
"She always has," Peter rolled his eyes. "That's something that May liked about her."
"You know, you can always talk to us about it," Bucky assured him. "We loved her, too. You aren't alone."
"I told Allie some of it," Peter finally put his web shooters aside and gave Bucky his full attention. "I should have gotten to the shelter sooner."
"You getting there sooner may not have made a difference," Bucky sighed. "Saying that is like when Allie thought she should have been on the mission when I fell from the train. If she'd been there, she may have had to watch me fall."
"But it may have."
"I know," Bucky nodded. "But you can't spend your life on a series of what ifs. Believe me. Allie and I both spent so much time with what ifs after Rebecca."
"But that wasn't your fault," Peter shook his head. "It just happened. We all know that."
"Tell that to Allie. We don't talk about it all the time, of course, but I know she still has that guilt," Bucky sighed. "And so do I."
"But you two didn't do anything," Peter sat upright.
"And neither did you when it comes to May," Bucky pointed out.
Nodding, Peter folded his arms across his chest and leaned back to lean against his pillows once more. Bucky watched as he did so, sighing softly and taking in a breath. Peter himself sighed softly as well.
"Thanks for letting me be with you guys, by the way," Peter said. "I like having you guys around me."
"You know that you've always been welcome here," Bucky smiled. "Our home is your home."
"I couldn't let you do that," Peter frowned.
"Until you've got more footing underneath you, this is your home," Bucky assured him. "I get that you're closer to Allie, and hell, you may always be closer to her, but I'll be damned if I let anything happen to you."
"Thanks," Peter smiled. "But I really could find a way to be in an apartment."
"You're still in school," Bucky pointed out.
"Getting my master's," Peter shrugged. "I've got my degree. I could get a job."
"You've been freelancing different gigs," Bucky smirked. "Until you man up and propose to your girlfriend and get married, let us help you."
"First of all, I can totally take care of myself while I finish this up," Peter frowned. "I'm going to be done before we know it."
"You've been going on and on about getting your Ph.D. right after your master's," Bucky's face was deadpan.
"Regardless!" Peter rolled his eyes. "And second of all, who are you Mr. Traditional? I need to propose to her now? Before I move in with her? Is that what you and Allie did?"
"Allie and I were in the Commandos. We were constantly on the move," Bucky waved off the comment.
"So you two didn't do anything until you were married?" Peter smirked as Bucky turned and glared at him. "Holy shit. You two totally did."
"Peter," Bucky warned.
"No, you're going down that road, but you two didn't exactly follow tradition," Peter's eyes had widened.
"I never said anything about following tradition. I was just saying you should let us help you so you can save money," Bucky argued.
"Did Steve know? Holy shit," Peter even uttered a small, amazed laugh. "I may have thought you'd be one to do that, but Allie? She can't hold anything over my head with that one."
"Hey," Bucky's voice was sharp. "Allie never finds out that you know about that. No one knows about that. Steve teased, but Allie and I would have been dead if he had actually known."
Peter simply shook his head, relieved to know that Bucky and Allie were a little more like everyone else than he had once thought. As he watched a small smile grace Peter's lips, Bucky gave a small smile of his own. Happy to see a crack in the shell Peter had started to let himself become, Bucky placed his hand on Peter's shoulder.
"Come on," Bucky said. "I can make you a small snack."
"You really won't let that go, will you?" Peter sighed. At the sight of Bucky's soft, but stern, expression, Peter nodded his head and stood with Bucky. "I don't know how much I'll actually eat."
"That's why it's a snack," Bucky smirked. "Not a meal."
The two walked down to the kitchen where Sarah and Steven happily continued to play while sending Peter large smiles. He smiled in return just briefly before turning his gaze to the ground and taking a seat at the kitchen table. Bucky sat a plate of crackers and dip in front of him. Taking a deep breath, Peter began to eat a few bites.
"So, you really have been through a lot with Allie," he glanced up.
Sitting across from him, Bucky nodded. He leaned back in his seat and folded his arms against his chest. "Yes, I have."
"When you were young, did you think that you'd go through everything you have?" Peter asked as he scooped up a small amount of dip on a cracker and ate it.
"No," Bucky laughed. "I don't think I could have ever even dreamt up everything that's happened."
"Can I ask you something?" Peter asked softly.
"Sure," Bucky nodded.
"Well, you mentioned proposing and everything, and I'm not saying I'm doing that! I'm not quite ready for that," Peter sputtered out. "It just got me thinking about something. How did you know that Allie was the one? Did you always know that you'd marry her one day?"
"No," Bucky shook his head with a soft smile. "I definitely didn't with as many dates as I had set her up on."
"Ah, yeah," Peter cringed slightly. "Forgot about that. Sorry."
"Something in me just kind of always knew that she was the one, though," Bucky admitted. "I'd never seriously thought or considered marriage for myself. I knew that she would be married one day and I knew that she'd be a mom. There were a few times where I'd even mentioned that I'd be the best uncle to her kids."
"But that changed," Peter gave a soft laugh.
"Yeah, it did," Bucky agreed with a smile. "I think there must have been a part of me that always wanted it to be her, a part that always knew that if I was married, it would be to her. I just didn't realize that that part of me existed until later when we were adults and our friend Gabe pointed it out to me."
"I see," Peter gave a small nod.
"But I think one small thing that showed she was the one was when she told me not to call her 'doll'," Bucky grinned. "And when she kissed me first. It wasn't just being in love with my best friend and it certainly wasn't being interested in some random girl. Allie's always made me a better person."
"And that's how you knew?"
"That's how I knew," Bucky smiled and shrugged.
As it went silent between the two once more, the kids began to tire in the living room and found their way to their dad. Steven and Sarah each climbed onto one knee, while T.J. seemed to shrug it off and toddled around to Peter. Reaching onto the plate, T.J. took one of the crackers from Peter's snack and happily ate it, earning a playful scold from Peter's eyes. Offering crackers to Steven and Sarah, the group's heads all turned quickly at the sound of the door opening and footsteps entering.
"I'm home!" Allie's voice rang through the house. "And I brought home a couple of strays."
Confused, Peter and Bucky both stood up as they continued holding the kids that had sat down with them respectively. As the door closed, they looked and saw two young adults giving Peter soft smiles.
"Oh my god! MJ! Ned!" Peter rushed over, T.J. content to still be on his hip. "What are you guys doing here?"
Allie smiled as the three sat in the living room and began to talk, happy to see Peter looking relieved. As she walked over to Bucky and kissed him in greeting, she took Sarah who had begun to reach out for her when she arrived. Glancing over at the plate on the table, she raised her brow at him.
"I got him to eat something," Bucky smiled. "And obviously got him out of his room. Where'd you find them?"
"Well, I may have sent MJ a text and she rounded up Ned," she sighed. "They were concerned too. Apparently Peter had stopped texting them."
"Really? That doesn't sound like him," Bucky's brow rose.
"This is his aunt," she sighed. "We can all be a bit unpredictable when we grieve. Need I remind you of me?"
"Allie, don't even think about starting down that path," he warned.
"I'm not," she shook her head. "I'm just saying."
"What's for dinner?" Sarah finally asked as she looked up at her mom.
"Well, we could have burgers," Allie suggested.
"Burgers!" Steven turned to face her quickly.
"I want burgers," Sarah nodded.
"You guys up for burgers?" Bucky called into the living room, the young adults all nodding. "I guess it's settled. Burgers for dinner it is."
"Which means you two need to go in the living room for now," Allie smiled at Sarah and Steven.
As the two were set back on the ground and ran off, Allie finally looked over at Bucky and a frown settled against her lips. Bucky felt that dreaded thump against his chest as he looked at her.
"I can't stop thinking about if Steve is okay or not," she frowned. "I can't let anyone else be killed."
"They won't," Bucky assured her. "We'll find them and stop them. And we'll find Steve, too."
Allie nodded and turned to the kitchen where she pulled out the ingredients to make the burgers. As Bucky helped her, neither spoke any further about what had happened to May or what could happen to any of the others. Instead, Allie glanced once more at the plate on the table and back to the group in the living room.
"We are going to win this, aren't we?" Allie sighed.
Bumping her with his elbow, Bucky smiled down at her. Using the heel of his hand to push a bit of hair from her face that threatened to fall into her eyes, he leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "Of course we are. It's going to be fine."
And for some reason, Allie felt for a moment a determination that the words that they were constantly saying were true. They were going to win.