Siren

If you love her

Juno had decided to take an extra few days off to think and recharge at Tony and Pepper's house in Malibu. Having been on the go for the last five months had been just what she needed to keep her mind off of Bucky and Henri at the time, but things had drastically changed very quickly over the last few days. Time to think. That's what she needed so she sipped on margaritas while she had the house to herself to do just that. By the last day she was in California Juno sat at the large glass kitchen table with a piece of paper and a pen and resorted to doing the last thing she ever thought she'd do. A pro/con list for each man. She usually thought this was such a cop out of an option because her gut was usually right on about things, but at this point she'd do anything to help herself.

Each man had their positives that had her thinking about different futures with them, but when it came to the negatives Bucky's list outweighed Henri's. She blamed it on the history they had. They'd been together for years so of course it would be easier to tip the scales when it came to Buck. Tony had been right; she just needed to talk to him because when he was standing in front of her she could let her heart decide as he answered some very important questions that had been a long time coming. Juno came to this conclusion the day she'd had their family date night, but like a coward she drug it out because she was terrified that his answers wouldn't be what she wanted to hear.

Both Henri and Bucky kept in contact with her while she was gone. Not to rush her, more like to make sure she was all right. Unable to push their talk off any longer, Juno cleaned up her mess and called an Uber to take her to Stark Industries for the quinjet that was refueled and waiting for her. The flight home was uneventful. The most that had happened was her change in location. Bucky had let her know he was back at the Compound and made sure he was off the active roster so he could be there when she got home.

Home. Was the Compound home anymore? It didn't feel like it. Neither did the Tower. If she was being honest both places had stopped feeling like home when she went to London. It was probably because she hadn't spent much time in New York at either place in the ensuing months. Maybe it was time to change that.

Handing the quinjet over to the flight crew Juno made her way to their spot where Bucky was waiting for her. She was torn between wanting to drag her feet to delay this as long as possible and running the rest of the way to get it over with. In the end she went for something in the middle and walked at a normal pace. Soon enough she spotted him lightly pacing with his hands buried in his jeans pockets. At the sound of her boots on the wooden dock his head snapped over in her direction.

A hesitant smile tugs at his mouth as he lifts the hand in greeting. "How was your flight?" Small talk. God, had they really come to that?

"It was fine." Taking a seat on one of the benches she gestures for him to sit next to her. "You said you wanted to talk?" Nodding his smile slips off his face as he sat down cautious of her quiet demeanor.

"I know I said I was fine with keeping this thing between us friendly, but I realized that I love you too much to just do a friends with benefits thing. If you love me the way I think you still do I wanted to know if you'd give us another chance. And if you are, if you'd be open to joining me in my sessions so that we can work through our past issues." Well that was direct. Stunned Juno sat there speechless as she stared at him.

"Jun, I hurt you. Badly, but I've done a lot of sessions with Olivia now and I know that I was afraid. I'm not anymore when it comes to talking to you about this." As he talked Juno shifted her eyes over to the river as her mind raced trying to figure out what she wanted to say first.

Before he could speak again she held up her hand to let him know she needed a second to process. Leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, Bucky tried to wait patiently. On the outside he looked cool and collected, but on the inside his heart was pounding and his intestines felt like they were all tangled together as he waited for her to decide his future.