This Is Stella's Reality

August 5, 2015

It was the early hours of the morning before Bucky settled into calmness. The sky was baby blue, and the golden rays of the sunrise had begun kissing the ocean waves on the horizon.

Thin white clouds raced against Apollo as he pushed his twin from the heavens. The stars faded away under his glory. I felt the night seeping away from me, and with it, my divinity dissipated into the haze of dawn.

I always felt stronger under that pitch black sky. With the sun rising to let light back onto the earth, I felt more like myself. Less goddess of magic and more Stella Barnes.

Bucky was playing with a bundle of unused herbs, crushing them between his fingers and admiring the heavy scent their oils gave to his skin. I brushed hair from his face and watched the way his eyelashes swept up, thick and fluttering. He was exhausted but fighting the sleep that was taking him over.

The door to the sun room creaked open behind us. I turned to see Steve and Nat yawning and making their way across the grass. Bucky tensed under my touch, so I soothed his thoughts. It's just our lovers.

"Have you been awake all night?" Nat asked.

I nodded but smiled up at them. "It worked."

"I'm free," Bucky breathed, still a bit dazed.

"It worked," Steve echoed. He smiled widely. They settled in the grass beside us and watched as Bucky stared up at the passing clouds.

Steve touched his long brown hair, smoothing the curls between his fingers. "How do you feel, love?"

Bucky huffed a laugh and shook his head. "I can't even describe it," he breathed. "It's like I'm floating." He smiled at the three of us, genuine and no longer afraid of what he had in his own mind.

"Good," Nat whispered softly. "We have a plan for today."

"Nat called in a few favors and found who's running the Winter Soldier program for Hydra," Steve said. "His name is Octavian Becker. He's one of Strucker's old men before we blew that base to hell."

"He doesn't have much to work with," Nat said with a gleam in her eyes. "He's grasping at straws with this play to get Bucky back. And what he doesn't know is about to kill him."

Bucky's fingers rose to brush against my cheek. Our eyes met, and I saw straight through the pale blue sky of his irises. I saw his happiness. His love and hope for the future.

Determination flooded through him as he sat up and turned to look at Nat and Steve. "So what's the plan?"

"We're going to recruit Loki and Sam," Steve said. "We could use them. Their magic and wings. Not that I don't think Stel couldn't fix our problem single-handed."

"Stel, we will need you or Loki to create an apparition of Bucky. That'll distract Hydra long enough to think they've won so we can get the drop on them," Nat said. "Once most of their forces have been drawn out to get The Winter Soldier, that's when we'll strike and capture Becker."

"Once we have Becker," Steve explained, "we'll bring him back to the compound for questioning. We need to know what Hydra's working on and where the rest of their forces are so we can take them out for good."

Bucky and I nodded along. It sounded easy enough, but nothing ever went our way.

I sighed, "Well, there are things that need to be prepared. You two go get Sam and Loki; Bucky, you come with me, my love."

We split into our jobs. Steve and Nat went back to the compound to inform Loki and Sam of our plans. Sam would help us, but I wondered about that weasel. He'd make a show of it if he did help us.