howlingplayground | AU End Game

AU End Game

Gone.

Steve, Vision, Wanda, T'Challa, Scott, Sam... all gone. It creates an ache in his chest even two years on. The damned racoon lost so many other people too. Thor has fucked off to places unknown. They could track him down, but Bucky always has a feeling that he needs left alone, more than anyone.

Tony has a new baby girl. Morgan. They don't bother him. He'd made it very clear that he wanted nothing to do with any of them now. He has his life, and that's enough. Still, Bucky had gone to see the baby and leave a gift, when they were at the hospital. He'd said nothing to anyone. Tony had been down getting a coffee, Pepper had been asleep. He'd just left his little gift, without a name on it and gone.

Rhodey is off, trying to keep the country together, even though everyone is still panicking.

It's just him... and her. She's taken this worse than any of them. Even with the expansion of their little family to include a racoon, Okoye, and Carol, it doesn't fill the ache of all of the others being gone.

They don't know where Clint is, though it wouldn't be hard to find him. They have a lot of information at their fingertips. Just not enough to bring people back.

She's not herself, and he's not himself. He knows that. Their little family, formed in fire, is wrecked, all because of a bastard who decided he knew better.

He stops in the doorway, looking at her. He's carrying actual food in his hands. Not take out, not her peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that she makes then abandons.

"Hey." He says, softly. "You should eat." He knows that trying to force her to do anything is not the way to approach her. She's skittish, and that makes it hard. But, he's not going to abandon her. There's too much at stake.

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He sees it, even in the green spaces in New York. Nature is coming back with a vengeance and fixing what humans had ruined. He'd even seen whales in the Hudson as he came over the bridge.

His lips twitch into a smirk. "Scared, Romanov?" He asks her, crossing his arms over his chest. He's keeping to Russian, just in case anyone is listening - thanks, Tony, for making him a paranoid bastard. But also, because Russian belongs to them. He's caught her more than once listening to Russian news feeds, while he's read news online.

He's baiting her. She knows he's baiting her. The Russian and the offer turned into a challenge... It's bait.

But it's working. She rolled her eyes, scoffing. "Of what? You? Not a chance."

Of course he's baiting her. He'd been soft and gentle, he'd been harsh. Now, he's challenging her. It'll keep her on her toes, and maybe push her out of her apathy and back into the woman he knows can hold her own against any super soldier around. that is what he wants.

He drops his arms, stepping into her space. "Prove it." He whispers, leaning down into her ear.

This is exactly what she needs. A push. Something more than sitting around waiting for something to happen when it might never come. Something fresh. It may be a simple one, but the challenge coupled by him invading her personal space ignites instincts in her that have laid dormant for quite a while.

With no warning, she drops and sweeps his legs out from under him. He was leaning forward, so his center of gravity was already compromised. Without waiting to see what he does next, she bolts back into the compound heading towards the pool.

Bucky crashes to the ground with a grunt. He really should have seen that coming. He really, really should have. But, Natalia is ever unpredictable. He pushes himself up and simply starts stalking her. He moves quickly, but silently, only the rustle of his clothing hitting the floor his only noise.

He lets her hit the pool first, waiting to hear the soft sound of her entering the water. Then, he steps around the door, naked as the day he was born, and does a cannonball right into the water. He surfaces and flips hair out of his eyes, smirking at her.

Nat's clothing was abandoned at the side of the pool, left in an untidy heap. Her dive was picture perfect and she slips right into the water. The pool is heated but the water still feels cool against her skin. She pushes her long hair out of her face as she surfaces... And is promptly hit with the wave as Bucky enters the water.

She sputters, smoothing her hair back once again. But as he surfaces, she's laughing. Something she hasn't done in a very long time.

He grins. That is a sound he's ached to hear throughout his time here at the compound. He needs to know that she's going to be alright. And with that sound, she just might be.

He slicks his hair back, and begins stalking her in the pool. "Laugh at me will you?" He mock-growls. He wants to keep her laughing, and really, they need to be silly. They have been far too serious for far too long.

She can't guarantee that joy will last forever. Or that she'll always be okay. But at least he pulled her out of the worst depths of depression she'd ever been in. That was enormous.

She gives him a playful smirk, "When you do something ridiculous? Yeah. What are you going to do about it?" Backing away from him, she splashes some water his way.

He ducks under the water and swims straight at her legs. She's beautiful, but he just tweaks her toes and swims on past. Surfacing behind her, he splashes a tiny bit of water her way.

"Ridiculous, am I?" He asks. "I'm the world's deadliest assassin, and you can't even prove I exist." Alright, a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much. Thanks to the snap, he's not been absolved so much as forgotten about, momentarily.

She shows an amazing amount of trust and restraint as he swims below her. Very few could do that and not suffer any consequences.

When he surfaces, she spins around, smiling at him. She splashes him back, "Yeah? None of that changes the fact that you are, at times, ridiculous."

He fully expects retribution later. He's hoping for it. She needs something to keep drawing her out of the shell she's buried herself in. If that means he's the butt of some of her retribution, so be it.

He sputters a bit, and slicks his hair back. "And just how, Nata, am I being ridiculous?" He uses the diminutive, because he can. Also, he knows that it surprises her when someone uses them, especially in Russian. He swims closer to her, almost stalking her in the pool. "And what are you going to do about it?"

She makes a face at him, both at his question and the diminutive version of her name. "You're acting like a child."

But she's smirking at him. She treads water, watching him move closer. When he gets close enough she makes her move, lunging for him with the aim of dunking him underwater.

He opens his mouth to protest and immediately gets dunked. He comes up coughing and sputtering. "Oh I'm acting like a child?" He asks, once he can talk without coughing up a lung or two.

He loves that she's relaxing though. "I make you dinner, I show you pretty animals, and I'm a child?" Okay, all that hurt in his tone is far overexaggerated. He's not insulted, or hurt, or anything other than amused. "That's a fine thank you for ya." He shakes his head. But has he been moving closer to her? Why yes, yes he has.

She laughs, feeling more relaxed than she has in months. Years? Difficult to tell. There was something to be said for letting one's inner child out once in a while.

"I did thank you." She pouted a little, batting her eyelashes at him. "I thought you wanted me to lighten up."

Well, he's closer to her now, well within arm's reach. "Did I say that?" He asks, softly. Is that what he said? But yes, he did say that, and he wants her to. But his mind is pouring over the fact that they are both nude, in a pool, and she's still as beautiful as always.

"I think you should lighten up. Not even Rocket's ridiculous stories make you smile anymore." He says, just watching her. He's thinking about doing something, but he doesn't want to push her away, she's so much more when she smiles. "So how about we get outta here for a while?" Not just the pool, but the compound. "Tomorrow, you and me, we'll just go... do something." He's not even sure what.

She watches him, moving a little closer still. This time, though, there's no mischievous intent. She just wants to be close to him.

"You're right... I've been letting all this shit wear on me." She pauses, "I know it's bad when I'm more serious than you are." His suggestion has merit. She thinks about it for a moment, going over her calendar. There are no meetings or calls planned for tomorrow, so nothing she couldn't put off. Finally, she nods. "Sure. I'd like that."

He smirks. Alright, so he's got a date with Natalia. Maybe they'd go into town and catch a movie or something. He moves closer to her again. "It's a date." He says, smoothly. No, she won't be backing out of any of this right now.

Then, he reaches out and pulls her into him. He leaves his arms around her for a moment, kisses her nose, and dunks both of them, under the water.

They need to be ridiculous. There will be a way to get the others back, but for right now, they'll be ridiculous. And then, figure something else out.

A date? Well, now, that sounds serious. She's about to tease him about that when his arms encircle her. The nose kiss takes her completely by surprise, then they're under water again. It all happens so fast she's unable to react beyond a quick breath as he pulls them under.

Her arms go around his waist. She blinks, opening her eyes to look at him through the water. He's so close and so warm. And it's him. Leaning in, she presses a kiss to his lips.

Bucky had meant to tease her, but she's warm against him, and Natalia. Gently, he lets them surface, and pulls her tight against him. He presses against her and just kisses her, long and slow. There's no rush, no need to press the time faster than it needs to go.

His metal hand comes up and catches the back of her head, holding her in place. He wants so much, but he's afraid to push it too far, to push her away. And he can't do that. Not when he's so close to getting her back. So that is why he softly pulls back just a little, to look at her.

"Natalia, I'll never tell you no, you know that. But are you sure?"

He's not even sure what he's asking.

It's funny how quickly teasing turns to more. She smiles against his lips, enjoying the feeling of being held so tightly, of the slow kiss. It feels... Right.

When he pulls back, she smiles at him, watching his eyes. One hand slips out of the water to push her wet hair out of her face, and then his.

"Being with you, like this, I feel more alive than I have in longer than I care to admit." She gently cups his cheek, "I'm sure. If you want to, of course."

Teasing always has had an undercurrent with the pair of them. There's always been something more to them, than just assassins and now teammates. It's been there since the beginning. He could have killed her, in Odessa. In DC. In Vienna. Each time, he didn't. He'd hurt her, and he'll spend his life making amends for that, but he didn't kill her.

He leans in and kisses her hard. Yes, yes he does want to. A lot. He holds out his metal hand, to her, needing her to take it, and him. He'll follow wherever she leads.

She'd agree with that. She'd always been intrigued by the idea of the Winter Soldier, and why he hadn't killed her in Odessa. Sure she hadn't been his target but he could have just as easily shot a couple of inches higher and killed both of them. The scar on her stomach serves as a reminder of his sparing her and the start of their connection.

She smiles into that kiss, holding him close. That's as good an answer as any. As they kiss, she lightly kicks her feet, pulling them over to the edge of the pool. When her back hits the wall, she opens her eyes, pulling back enough to look into his face. She takes his hand. "Do you want to stay here? We have the whole compound to ourselves. We could go anywhere."

"Natalia, I am not having sex with you in the communal pool." He has more common sense than that. Because if they did, inevitably, Rhodey would walk in. Or Tony would actually show up.

Instead, he pulls her to him and picks her up, walking over to the steps. Getting out of the pool, he has the brief thought that they should clean up their clothes, but, she's warm and slick in his arms and that takes precedence over any minor housekeeping they need to do.

He stops, though looking down at her. "Your room?" It's closer, but he respects space and won't enter without her express permission.

She shrugs. Hey, they were already skinny dipping. In for a penny out for a pound. But before she could say anything, he scoops her up and starts walking. Normally she would have complained, but now she just laughs and wraps her arms around his neck.

"My room is closer." She leans in, nuzzling and kissing his neck. "Let's go."

He chuckles. Yes, they were skinny dipping, but that's different. Someone would walk in on them, and that's just not the way he wants to have sex with her.

He heads to her room, nudging it open with his hip. Then, he gently sets her on her feet. Then, he pushes his hands into her hair and kisses her hard. He presses against her his body warm and rising.

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