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 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.

She pushes the door closed with one hand as he puts her down. If he's worried about privacy, he probably wouldn't want anyone to walk past the open door, either.

She melts into that kiss, opening her mouth to tease his lips with her tongue. He tastes of chlorine and a taste that's so singularly him. It's intoxicating. Her arms wrap around his waist, holdikf him close.

She's Natalia. That's the taste on his tongue. Her. He knows that he, at least, has wanted this for a long while, and now, she's finally getting back to herself. Hopefully, this pushes her the final little bit. He lets himself be pushed back against the door.

His hands cup her face, and tangle in her hair. Gently, he pulls back his breathing more than a little ragged. "Natalia." He whispers, then grabs her hand and walks backward toward his bed. He wants to watch her, all of her, from now until forever. He wants to know that she's still with him.

This is giving her a chance to feel. To just be in a way she hadn't allowed herself in a long time. To indulge in something so very human, the raw, powerful passion burning between them. She'd never given it more than a passing thought before but his drive to being her back to herself made her realize how much she needed him.

She smiles against his lips, loving the feeling of his fingers in her hair. She lets him tug her towards his bed, keeping her eyes on his. The way he was watching her, the heat in his eyes, was a heady thing. She wants nothing more than to lose herself in him.

He grins suddenly and scoops her up, putting both of them to bed. Then he spends forever, an eternity, not nearly long enough just kissing her. He's needed her, just like she's needed him. He skims flesh fingers down her body, cupping one hip in his palm. He wants her, he needs her and it's very evident, but he won't push. This is to be at her pace.

But he can't say that he's not ready for anything that she wants to do. Fast, slow, he just wants to be with her.

She laughs as he picks her up, letting him settle them on the bed. "I'm starting to think you just like sweeping me off my feet." She teases him, gently laying her palm against the side of his face. Then his lips are on hers and that's all that matters. She melts into the kiss, running her other hand up his flesh arm and around his broad shoulders. Her body responds to his touch, arching to press as much of herself against him as she can. She wants him, badly.

He chuckles against her mouth. "Can't say I mind it." He teases, tracing his callused fingers so gently over her skin. Cupping one breast in his palm, he lowers himself to suckle the other one. Then he trails kisses up her neck. Wrapping his arm around her, he rolls over and pulls her on top of him. That's what he wants. Her up there, so he can just watch her, no matter what they do.

She shivers as his fingers trail over her still-damp skin. It's amazing. She feels so alive with him, more than she has in a long time. She needs this. The closeness, the connection, the passion. All things that have been missing from her life. She smiles, making a pleased noise as he suckles and caresses her. It's perfect.

She can't help the laugh that escapes her as he turns them. Straddling his waist, she leans down to press a kiss to his lips, trailing more of them along his perfect jaw and neck.

His hair is still wet from the pool and is soaking into one of his pillows. Little droplets fall from her red-blonde hair onto his skin and he swears they sizzle. He needs to do more than just lay here, but this is her show.

Bucky's hands rest on her thighs, and he traces designs up her thigh, around her hip and along her back with his flesh hand. His fingers find the gently rolling warm skin of her body intoxicating. He lifts his chin, letting her get at his neck. His metal fingers, bury themselves in her hair.

They both need this... this... reaffirmation that life has gone on.

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