The Hurt And The Healing: Bucky X OC

Chapter Sixty One: The Sun Shines Again

For all the talk of Wakandan sunsets, Mara believed that their sunrises were actually the most beautiful in the world. She considered herself to be an expert on sunrises after having spent countless hours waiting for the sun to come. Whether it was a shift at a hospital with seemingly endless patients, unending tears for those she had lost, or infinite worry about those she still had, Mara had survived her share of dark nights. And now, as she leaned against Bucky and watched tendrils of sunlight stretch across the valley, up the cliffside, and over their spot, she thought that she had never seen a more beautiful sunrise.

"We should get going," Bucky murmured, the treble of his voice vibrating against her cheek. Mara groaned and buried herself a little deeper into his embrace.

"Do we have to?"

"If you ever want to see New York again, then yes, we have to leave," he replied.

"I don't want to go back," she admitted.

"I promise, I will ask Shuri about immigration-" he began, but she cut him off with a chuckle.

"No, not like that. I just-" she exhaled heavily. "Bear with me, because I am about to sound very silly."

He shifted so that she was looking up at him, and for some reason, gazing into those tired blue eyes made her feel a bit less awkward.

"I don't know how to be normal with you," she confessed. "This, us, it's never been normal. Not how we met, not how we became friends, and certainly not how we became-" she waved her hand through the space between them, failing to come up with a label that was neither trite nor serious. "We've never been normal and I'm scared that when we go back to New York and try to be that we are going to fail. Horribly."

"Because of who I am?" he asked worriedly.

"No, not that. It's just- You have to admit, not many people start relationships while on the run with Captain America, an asshole terrorist, and a grandmother. What if we can't be normal? What if our baseline is everyone else's crazy, and without crazy we don't know how to function? What if-"

She stopped when she realized that he was laughing.

"Does this amuse you?" she demanded, her tone dangerously sharp. Bucky continued to laugh, actually doubling over and nearly crushing her between his torso and his arms. "I'm glad you can find my anxieties entertaining," she grumbled as he planted a kiss on her cheek.

"You really think we're not going to have to deal with crazy?" he asked, grinning like a man who wasn't about to get smacked upside the head. "Darling, have you met us?"

"You said you wanted normal with me!" she protested and he nodded, sitting up and pulling her with him. Mara squirmed and tried to get away so that she could better glare at him, but Bucky held on.

"Allow me to rephrase: I want to not be on the run from a mad scientist with you. What I do want is us, together, dealing with crazy. Because God knows it's not going to stop any time soon," he replied. "I mean- come on. I'm a hundred and six year old amputee, you tend to solve your issues with violence and cursing, and we live in The City That Gets Invaded By Aliens Every Other Year. We're going to have crazy."

"And you're okay with that?" she asked in surprise. "I thought you wanted peace?"

"I want to feel at peace," he clarified. "And I feel at peace when I'm with you. So yeah, bring on the crazy. As long as I have you, it'll be nothing to me."

"We're so fucked up," she muttered as he tried to kiss her again.

"See? Cursing and- ow!" he startled when she pinched his side. "And violence. I rest my case."