HEROES ─ fallen warriors series one shots

21| Ever After

(Takes place during section 3 of "Fallen")

Soroya

"Is she gonna kill mustache guy?" Bucky asks me, eating another bite of pizza.

It's been three weeks since we found out I was pregnant. These three weeks have been filled with weird pregnancy symptoms and the constant hole my powers have left in their absence. I feel like I'm missing something core about myself without my them, it's made an already hard pregnancy harder. I've been lying in bed most days, and when he isn't on missions, Bucky joins me. It's around two o'clock on a Sunday afternoon. We ordered pizza, we're both in pj's (me wearing pajams shorts and a sports bra while he wears just a pair of pajama pants with stars on them) and we're watching the 1998 movie Ever After. Mama used to love this movie, it was one of her favorites, mine as well. Bucky is very enthralled with it, so much so his pizza has gone mostly neglected. Or maybe he's just trying to make that one piece last since I already ate the rest of the box. I'm not sure. But I'm grateful he let me eat the rest, this is the first time I've craved something other than raw meat for days.

I nod to my husband, propping myself up more against the bed frame. "Just watch."

We're at the part in the movie where Danielle has been sold to Pierre Le Pieu (otherwise known as mustache guy) and is currently holding him at sword point to get her freedom. All while Prince Henry of France is riding on horseback to go rescue her after he leaves his wedding to the princess of Spain. Le Pieu finally gives her her freedom and when she gets outside Henry is there, already begging for her forgiveness for what an ass he had been to her at the ball. Now he gives his big love deceleration, presenting her with the shoe she had lost, and proposes to her. It's the best part of the movie.

"This part of the movie always gets me." I whisper, rubbing at my tear filled eyes.

She accepts the proposal, jumps into his arms, and the two of them proceed to kiss and spin around in blissful joy. It's a beautiful scene, one I never get tired of watching.

"You've been holding out on me," Bucky says through a mouthful of his pizza. "Where has this movie been? It's incredible! I've had to endure Dirty Dancing how many times and yet this is the first time I've seen this movie."

I glare at him. "I'll never understand your distain for Dirty Dancing."

He shrugs, setting his now empty plate aside. "I guess I just have taste."

I whack him with a pillow as Danielle's step mother and step sister are stripped of their titles and sent to work in the palace laundry rooms. Leonardo de Vinci then presents Danielle and Henry with his portrait of her as a wedding present, the two of them kiss, then the ending narration of the Grande Dame plays as the Brothers Grimm leave her palace. I never get tired of this movie, and clearly Bucky enjoyed it.

"What do you want to watch now?" He inquires.

I rub at my eyes again and let out a sigh, sinking down into the mountain of pillows surrounding me. "I don't know. I'm kind of tired, I think I might want a nap."

Bucky nods, pushing himself off the bed. I watch him with wide eyes, my voice sounding screechy as I ask: "Where are you going?"

"You said you wanted to take a nap, I was going to go do some laundry while you sleep."

"Oh."

I sink a little lower into the pillows and Bucky stares at me, an amused grin spreading on his lips. "Or I could stay with you."

"Only if you want to." I say sheepishly, hoping I'm not coming off as needy.

As if hearing my thoughts he gives me a pointed look. "Of course I want to, don't be ridiculous."

He crawls back into bed and slips under the covers, tugging me over towards him so now we're facing one another, chest to chest.

"Comfortable?"

I nod, then kiss his bare chest, right above his heart. "Thanks for staying with me."

"Sweetheart, you don't have to thank me for that. There's no other place I'd rather be than right here, just the three of us."

I place a hand on my stomach, which has a bit of a bump to it now, and feel Bucky place his hand over top of mine, the cool metal of his hand making a shiver run down my spine.

"Get some sleep, and then when you wake up we'll watch another movie."

"Which one?"

"Your choice."

"I've been choosing movies for weeks now."

"You're creating life inside you, that means you get to pick what movies we watch, what food we eat, and whatever else that needs picking."

I snuggle a little closer to his chest, feeling his hands travel to my back, cradling me against his body. "Alright. Then I pick Notting Hill."

"What's that one about?"

"A bookstore owner in Notting Hill who meets a famous actress and the two fall in love. It has Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts in it."

"Was it ever odd having the same last name as a famous actress while you were growing up?"

"I used to tell my friends in school that Julia Roberts was my distant American cousin. No one ever believed me."

He chuckles, placing a kiss on the top of my head. "I liked that movie where she was a prostitute so I'm sure I'll like this one as well, she's very talented."

"Pretty Woman is the name of that movie, and yes, she's very talented. So is Hugh Grant."

"Ehh."

"Ehh? What do you mean 'ehh'?"

"Hugh Grant isn't as talented as Julia Roberts. I wasn't impressed with him in that Christmas movie you showed me. Love...something."

"Love, Actually. First you hate Dirty Dancing and now you hate Hugh Grant. What am I going to do with you?"

His tone turns playful as he says: "I have a few suggestions if you're looking for them."

"If you make it through the whole movie without commenting negatively about Hugh Grant I'll take you up on those suggestions."

He kisses my forehead. "Deal."

I press my cheek against his chest and shut my eyes, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat as his metal knuckles begin trailing the length of my spine, his flesh fingers delicately combing through the strands of my hair. I yawn and burrow deeper into the mattress, already beginning to drift off to sleep. I haven't been sleeping well since I got pregnant, but here in his arms, the warmth and safety of his embrace and caresses are lulling me right into a deep slumber.

Before I'm fully asleep, I whisper against his skin: "I love you."

He must be drifting off to sleep too, because his hands have slowed and his words sound groggy as he replies: "I love you, too."