A Heart Break In Time

Define Lunch Or Be Disintegrated.

Steve cleared his throat and I tried very hard to not make eye contact with either of the men beside me. "When you say what you're learning. You're reading our minds?"

Angel nodded. "Yes."

"As a professional curtesy. I'd rather you didn't."

"That...isn't so simple. Like now, I can control that. But when I use my other powers, I cannot stop myself from hearing the thoughts around me."

"Even when you're flying?" I spoke up.

She nodded again. "Yes. I don't know the average distance, but once I'm far enough, I won't hear it."

"We can test that." Sam spoke. "But, a little mind reading from the sky might actually come in handy."

"Oh, aren't we so glad to be of use to you." Eva sneered.

I gave her a soft smile. "Speedster with an attitude. Has anyone called Clint? He'd hate to miss this." I joked and Steve chuckled and shook his head. "We're hoping to be of use to you, too. That's part of the teamwork thing." I turned to Kai. "You don't talk much." He raised his eyes up to lock with mine. His eyes were a beautiful hazel I wasn't expecting. His face held the look of so many emotions I wasn't sure which to focus on.

He spoke quietly. "I don't like to talk."

"That'll be a nice change. Talia here never shuts up." Sam joked and I shot him a glare.

I turned back to them ahead of me. "We have rooms for each of you. You'll be on the same floor. We share a bathroom and shower room, but they lock for additional privacy. Today we'll let you go to your rooms and unwind. There's various sheets and blankets for you to choose from on top of your dressers if you don't like what we picked. Tomorrow, we can shop for whatever you want or need." I looked directly at Angel when I finished. "You are not being punished here. You can come and go from your rooms. The kitchen is always open. We have a heated pool, training room, and a movie room. If you need anything, please let us know."

"We also have FRIDAY," Bruce added. "Just speak to her and she can answer questions or alert us of anything. Right, FRIDAY?"

"Yes, Dr. Banner."

I nodded and turned my attention back to Angel. The three of them looked at each other and I saw small smiles on all their faces. "Lead the way." Angel smiled at me.

I turned to my team. "I'll show them the rooms. Rhodey, you wanna order some pizzas? I think we'll start tonight off with a movie night." He nodded and walked away, Steve and Bruce followed but Sam and Bucky stayed back. They looked at me. I knew it had to do with Angel's powers. I sighed. "I'll come find you both later. Okay?"

"All right." Sam responded, he walked out. Bucky lingered a while, staring at me before he left too.

"You're starting trouble already, you know?" I spoke to Angel as we walked out towards the rooms.

She smiled slightly. "Sorry. I couldn't help it. I heard a lot of interesting things." We stepped into the evaluator. "But no more, promise. You have been... nicer than we expected. We feel welcome."

The elevator beeped before the doors opened and I walked through. "You are welcome here. And I'm glad you feel that way. Eva, this is you." I pointed at the door. "Let me know if you need anything. The bathroom is directly across from your door. You're lucky."

"Thank you."

"When you're comfortable, go to the elevator and just ask FRIDAY to tell you where the movie room is. She'll bring you there." Eva nodded before walking in her room. I walked with Angel and Kai a little bit before we reached another door. "Angel, this is you. The window actually opens to the roof, Sam says flying clears his mind a lot so thought if you had a way to easily do the same..."

Angel looked at me in shock. "Thank you... that's considerate." I returned her smile before she walked into the room.

"Last but not least." I smiled at Kai, we walked a bit further. "This is you. Let me know if you need anything, okay?"

I started to walk away when Kai spoke. "It was intentional." I spun around and he was looking directly at me. "No one was hurt. I didn't want anyone to get hurt."

I nodded, understanding what he meant. "I'm glad to hear that, Kai." He quickly turned around and closed his door behind him. I walked back to the elevator. "FRIDAY, my floor please."

"Certainly, Miss Aimilios." I sighed as I leaned back against the wall. I finally had time to think about earlier. Yeah, I knew I was the closest to Bucky now. That was obvious. What surprised me was that when she told me to touch who I'm attracted to, I grabbed Sam's hand. But I also kept holding Bucky's. The situation felt all too confusing. And knowing I had to talk about it shortly, was exhausting. I groaned at the elevator's beep and stepped out to see Sam and Bucky standing by either side of my door, not speaking.

I ignored them at first, just opening my door, then when I stepped inside I held the door open so they could come in. "Look, let's not make a big deal out of it. Think about it. Buck, you and I are close. Right?" Bucky nodded. "So of course you're my favorite person. No surprise there. And the two of you are attractive. I'm sure I've made that clear. The other options in the room were Rhodey, Bruce, or Steve. Come on."

Bucky shrugged. "No, you're right. Maybe we made a big deal over nothing."

"Exactly. So we all good?"

"Sure. We're good. If," Sam started. "You can promise both Bucky and I that you feel nothing but friendship for us." Sam looked directly in my eyes but I looked everywhere but his. "Yeah. That's what I thought." He smiled a confident grin.

Bucky glanced at Sam before he looked at me. "Talia?"

"I don't know what the two of you want me to say. You're Steve's best friends. My best friends. I can't live without you two. You're all I have left now."

"You have feelings for us? Or one of us?" Bucky hesitated.

"Is that such a surprise?"

Sam's eyes jumped from me to Bucky, back to me. "It's him, though. Isn't it?" He sounded disappointed, not angry. Just sad.

"Yes." I barely spoke above a whisper. Bucky's eyes widened in shock.

"M-me?"

Sam didn't say anything else, just left my room. Leaving Bucky and I standing there alone. I sighed. "I wasn't going to tell you."

"Why wouldn't you tell me?"

"It just seems... silly? To crush on my ex's best friend. Twice now I even thought you were about to kiss me. Which just seems insane once I'm out of the situation. But I-"

Bucky interrupted. "Why would that be insane?" I stared at him blankly and he took a step towards me. "Why would me kissing you be insane, Talia?" When I didn't answer, he walked towards me again, now standing directly in front of me.

"You're Steve's best friend."

"I promise you, that punk has never stopped me from kissing anyone."

I blinked up at him. "You want to kiss me?"

"Doll, I've dreamt about our kiss since it happened. Of course I want to kiss you."

I smiled at the thought, I wasn't crazy. He wanted to kiss me too. My mind briefly thought of what that would mean, would we be together? Dating? Would we hide it? Or is it not actual feelings, just attraction?

My thoughts were interrupted by Bucky's right hand cupping the back of my head and his lips suddenly pressing against mine.