Starfall

Bombed the island

Bucky felt like he was high. 

Not properly high, of course, he hadn't done that since the 30's. It wasn't a particularly nice feeling anyway, not like this. This was like moonbeams had been shone in his face, or floating up and up on a cloud. That was not what it felt like in the dingy club in pre-war New York. And it was all because of her. 

He watched her smile next to him at the view, and felt his mouth lift up. This was the first time he had truly believed he would be fine since...

Steve left. 

He hadn't come to Wakanda. He chose to stay behind, scout out the Hydra operations. He hadn't seemed all too concerned about the fact that his friends, Kiki and Bruce, were injured, choosing instead to stay behind. It was like history was repeating, just the other way round; this time Bucky was the one who left. 

"It's so beautiful here," she sighed, watching her friends laughing as they walked back. 

"Yeah, it's so beautiful," he agreed, watching her instead. 

She turned to him, still smiling. "We'd better catch up, Barnes." And then she winked.

Alkina. Marta. Smith. Winked. At. Him. 

She pushed of her heel, calling for them to wait up, leaving him stunned in the middle of the road. They rounded the corner and he blinked and forced himself to move, as if shaking of the effect of her. He couldn't afford to have his reactions slowed, especially not when she was still vulnerable. 

Wait. 

Could it be?

No.

No way. 

Not again. There was no way he would give into this again. This time he would make sure he didn't get hurt. And try not to hurt anyone else in the process. 

She chased Rosa round the street, threatening her with 'the tickle monster', like they were both 5. That made them take twice as long to reach the palace they were living in, and, when they did get in, Rosa was so tired from running around she collapsed on the sofa in the middle of the room. It was good planning from Kiki, as it meant they wouldn't have to deal with hyper Rosa for too long. 

But they were all in such a bliss no one noticed the girl standing in the corner. 

Well, no one except Kiki. 

"Lee?"

☾

It had been so long since Kiki had last seen Lee. After they fixed her brain, Shield had sent her to a training facility so she could become a fully fledged agent of Shield. But she wasn't due to come back for another week or so. So why was she here now?

"They attacked the Island. I had one exam left, and I would have been outta there, but then they bombed the airstrip and stormed the building. I stole the boat and grabbed as many people as I could, but we lost too many." Lee shook her head, an apology in her eyes. 

"Sergei?" He was the only person Kiki was worried about. He had been - well, not kind, but maybe tolerable - to her. 

"We lost him. I see why you liked him. I'm sorry."

Sergei was the first Kiki knew to have died in this. The other deaths had seemed distant, everyone died someday. But the idea she would never spar with the grumpy old man again, never have his reluctant praise. And that was a thousand times worse than before. 

Shit just got really real.