Remember me || WinterWidow (Marvel)

Chapter 4

When Natasha woke up the next morning, she did not have to open her eyes to know that Clint was not lying next to her anymore. His warmth was simply missing. Slowly she opened her eyes and blinked several times as the blinding sunlight blinded her, feeling for Clint with one hand, although she was relatively sure he was not in the room any more.

As soon as she got used to the light, she pushed the blanket aside and got out of bed. If Clint had been here yet, she would have stayed a while, but she had no reason to.

For a moment she glanced at the clock before she left the room. It was already ten and Natasha was unsure what she would find if she went to the kitchen now. Maybe a fresh Bucky Barnes?

When she hesitantly set foot in the kitchen, she immediately realized that this did not seem to be the case. Immediately she realized that her heart started beating faster at the thought of meeting him again. How much would he remember?

Pictures from her past in the Red Room suddenly appeared in her mind's eye. But not the ones about how she had been turned into a murderer and almost robbed of her humanity. Instead, moments of Bucky and her, who had kept her in her heart forever, moved past her.

Lost in thought, she stepped into the kitchen and almost automatically went to the coffee machine to first prepare an extra strong coffee. Otherwise, a morning with her would not be pleasant.

As the machine rattled behind her, she turned to the table where the other Avengers were already sitting. "Morging, Romanoff," Stark muttered, looking over the edge of his cup. "Good Morning?" She replied, raising her eyebrows, not sure why he was showing himself so friendly. After all, he would have every reason to be mad at her. A little unsure, she looked at Clint, who was also sitting at the table, eating a strip of ham. He noticed her eyes, but only shrugged, indicating that he himself had no idea what was going on with Tony.

Suddenly the coffee machine made a beeping sound and Natasha received her hot drink. Then she also dropped to the table and set her cup down between her elbows, resting her on the table top. Her gaze wandered over the faces of those present because she felt that someone was missing. However, her caffeine level was still too low to tell at first glance who was missing. However, when she was all gone, she asks with narrowed eyes: "Where is Steve?"

"He's gone to get Bucky," Bruce explained, pushing his glasses up and Natasha sighed, trying not to show it, but she could feel Clint's gaze on him and was sure he was looking at her worriedly. Nevertheless, she tried not to look at him and to ignore his gaze as well as possible.

"Oh, okay," she said, and stole a strip of bacon from Clint's plate, "Where is he going to live?" She asked, trying to sound neutral. "I gave him the empty room next to Steve," Tony said, and Natasha looked at him a bit puzzled, had the two men sorted it out without arguing, or did it end in a huge crash, at the end of which Tony hit him the room had been admitted?

~~~

Bucky stared hard at the elevator doors that had just closed behind Steve and him. He drummed nervously on the fingers of his metal arm on his thigh. Through the glass cabin he could look down on the city and was really glad that he was not afraid of heights.

"Hey, Buck," Steve pulled his best friend's attention to himself, seeming to have noticed his nervousness: "Are you scared?" Bucky immediately clenched his jaw, but honestly shook his head, "No, I'm just one not very excited. "And that actually corresponded to the truth.

Normally he would not necessarily admit that, but he had to be honest with Steve. He just could not help it. In addition, it felt good to confide in his friend. Even if he did not remember half of their time together. But that's exactly why he was alone in the Avengers Tower. He wanted to finally regain his memories and thus a part of himself. For without his memories, whether good or bad, he had the feeling of being incomplete.

"Do not worry, the others will accept you already", his voice had taken a warm pull, but still Bucky could not imagine that this would ever really be the case.

He had been skeptical already when Steve had come up with the suggestion that he could move in with the Avengers. But when he had told him that they had decided by a majority that he was actually allowed to move in, he had been speechless. He would never have expected that only an Avenger other than Steve would do the same for him. Not after what he had already done to some of them.

Suddenly the elevator stopped and the doors slid open with a soft 'ping'. Both men lifted their heads and got out together, torn from their thoughts by that abrupt halt.

It was the first time Bucky had set foot in the tower, and the uncertainty of what awaited him was heavy on his shoulders. However, he expected, if not with a hate wave, with rejection. Especially from Tony Stark's side. For although the majority had spoken out for him, he was sure that certain it could not have been just a person who had opposed it.

Steve immediately started moving, gesturing to his best friend in a certain direction to follow him. Understanding, Bucky followed behind the blond man. He had two large suitcases in his hands, but fortunately he had few problems. Why else was he a super soldier?

Rogers kicked open a half-opened door with his foot and then staggered ahead of him into the room. He was followed by Barnes, who cast an interested glance into the room. This had, like most of the other bedrooms of the Avengers, a large window to the right of the bed, through which much sunlight fell into the interior. The whitewashed walls generally provided a bright, happy atmosphere that somehow appealed to Bucky. It was so different from the cramped apartment he had been living in for the last few weeks. Of course he would never think of complaining about it.

"And? How do you like it? "Steve put the suitcases he'd carried into a corner and stepped aside to allow Bucky to move the rest to the same spot." It's really great, "the dark-haired man honestly replied fascinated and scanned the view briefly over the skyline of the bustling metropolis.

"I'm glad," Steve could really hear how happy he was about having his boyfriend around, and Bucky did not change his mind, even enjoying having someone who cared so much for his well-being like Steve Rogers. "By the way, my room is right next door," he explained, "so if you need help or are looking for me in general ..." "Then I know where to find you," Bucky grinned broadly, pulling the other man into a short hug, and indeed, this was, for perhaps the first time in a long time, a really real grin that he did not think about, but just happened.

"Now you're hungry, are not you?", Steve immediately went back to the door and did not seem to want to give him a short respite. "Bruce made his gifted scrambled egg with bacon this morning. Maybe we can do something else. "When he spoke to the topic, Bucky actually felt hungry, so he nodded in agreement:" That sounds like a plan. "

Briefly, he took one last look around the room before leaving, and from Steve through a large living room to the kitchen. As they came through the door, he noticed some of those present raising their heads or froze. He hated what influence he had on people who knew who he was.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Steve eyeing his teammates with a warning look and then saying, "Guys, this is Bucky, my best friend."

Surprisingly, a man with dark curly hair and a purple shirt gave him a friendly smile: "Nice to meet you, Bucky, the other has already told you a lot." When he heard that, his heart slipped. What had the others just told about him?

"I'm Bruce and that's Thor," he continued, nodding in the direction of another man with long, blond hair as he introduced him, and Thor shoved a forkful of scrambled eggs in his mouth and smiled at the man with the Metal arm briefly closed before turning back to his plate. "Nice to know you know, Bruce," Bucky replied immediately friendly, wanting at least one to make him, then continuing to study the faces of the others present.

Steve smiled gratefully at Bruce and then started to introduce Bucky to the others at the table in turn, "And these are Clint, Tony and ..." But he did not get any further because Bucky interrupted him, "Natasha?"

When he uttered her name, the red-haired woman, who had previously consistently stared at the tabletop, looked up at him. There was an unsteady flicker in his eyes. "Yes, how do you know that?" Steve seemed surprised by his sudden knowledge of who she was, but he could only answer with a shrug: "She was with you when we met."

His words may be true, but there was something else that evoked in him. It almost felt like an old memory trying to push itself back into his head, but kept from any blockage. But as he watched her, his heart began to beat faster. He had to be something. However, he could not say what it was and why he was so responsive to her sight.