Purple Hope

Recollection

They left the gym, staying close together as they walked through the tower. It was a quiet walk, allowing them to ponder their emotions along the way. They were thankful that they didn't run into anyone.

Natasha led them to her room. Locking the door behind her, she turned to Bucky smiling.

"Now that we are alone, talk to me," she said, sitting comfortably at the head of her bed.

Any time in the past when they had been separated or kept apart for long amounts of time, when they reunited they would tell each other everything and anything. They never had to strategize their moves around the other or think about what to say, everything was natural and it was so easy to fall back into those old habits.

They were free to be completely themselves around each other. The walls that they both had collided and a bridge that had been built over time, trust, and many emotions was let down once again. They were connected just as they had always been.

So they spent hours sitting on her bed talking, or moving around the room explaining things. They laughed a bunch and teared up too, allowing themselves to be vulnerable in the presence of the other. They spoke easily, saying whatever they wanted, explaining to the other emotions that they had kept hidden for years. 

They were glad they were together again. Even as they talked about the hard times, and the times that they were so close yet unrecognizable, they were glad they were together again at last.

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"Where are you?" she whispered to herself as she sat on top of a building. It was abandoned, covered in graffiti, and falling apart, but it was a special spot.

It was one of their secret places where they'd meet. It was one of the few places they could be alone together. A place where they could be themselves and let down their walls.

Her legs dangled over the edge and she looked out at the blue and pink sky. The sun would be up soon and she'd have to go back.

She wrapped her arms around herself, rubbing them up and down as if to keep warm. She wasn't cold, even though the wind howled around her, just worried. She hadn't seen him in so long.

She didn't know if he had been hurt, or killed, or moved to another facility. She didn't know anything and it scared her. 

She was scared of many things. Had many fears buried so deep that they were forgotten. 

A Black Widow feared nothing.

But this one did. She knew she feared many things because she had someone that allowed her to realize this. Losing that someone was her biggest fear, all others be damned. 

If she knew he was alive and happy she would allow herself to be submitted to life in solitare, to go through all forms of torture, both mental and physical.

She used to be afraid of loving something, anything, but safe in his arms her heart was open. 

He had been closed off too. Cold and unresponsive. But once he started thinking more his true self came out. She helped him with his memories and they made new ones together.

She learned what compassion and love felt like and he found his fire to keep going.

They had years together. Years of stolen moments and short missions. It wasn't unusual to not see each other for long periods of time, but typically after a month, they would seek the other out. Even just a glimpse, eyes locking onto the other, would satisfy them. All she needed was to see the life in his eyes, to see their depth and his look of remembrance telling her he was still himself. All he needed was to see her calculating eyes that would smile at him without her even moving a muscle. They just needed to see if the other was alright.