You Better Not Be Her Prey 2

Chapter 9: Some Much-Needed Alone Time

She'd taken the motorcycle for a good drive out of town, continuing to drive until she pulled up to a cemetery. Stopping the bike and putting the kickstand down, she dismounted the bike and walked over to the gate, opening it and entering. She walked through the cemetery, the fall leaves crunching underfoot as she made her way to the particular gravestone that she wanted to find. She stopped in front of the grave. The gravestone read in simple, ornate writing:

Harley Mathers
1935 - 1962
Beloved friend, sister and daughter
RIP

I knelt by the grave and placed the small bunch of wildflowers that I'd gotten for the gravesite in the small pot that was nearby. I sat there in quiet contemplation, staring at the gravestone, remembering Harley's last moments with me before her death. As I sat there in thought, I heard a voice behind me.

'She was a great aunt to you, you know.' I turned around to see Harley's mother, Anna, who I knew very well. I'd reached out to her after I'd married Charles and then again after I'd gotten out of HYDRA and into the Avengers.

'She certainly was,' I replied softly as I heard the soft squeak of a garden chair being unfolded. Anna eased herself into the chair next to me.

'Everything okay, darling?' the now elderly woman asked.

'Not really. I needed to get out of the house. Fought with the husband again.'

'Oh, sweetie, your parents wouldn't want you to fight.'

'Yeah, and neither would Harley. But here we are. What do you think she would have thought of what I became?'

'She would have been so proud of you. You and your mother both raised you to be a strong, powerful woman in her own right. And your father raised you too.'

'He wasn't really around, Anna. You knew that.'

'Yeah, but he tried so hard. And he's here now, and he really does care.'

'He does. He really does. It's just... everything kinda feels like it's all coming down, if you know what I'm saying? Like there's something that's going to go horribly wrong any minute.'

'I'm pretty sure you'll save the day again, just like you have every other time.'

'I didn't save the day last time. I failed my sister.' 

'These things happen. That's all part of being a hero, darling.' I stood from the grave, taking a step back and looking at the headstone once more.

'Aunt Harley was a hero. A true hero.'

'She died so you could have a future, sweetie. That's not a death in vain. And neither was your sister's.'

'I failed to see the warning signs with Wanda. And she paid the price for it. I tell myself every night that she did the right thing, that she truly felt remorseful for what she did for the benefit of the universe, but... I still feel like I failed her.'

'Thank you, Anna,' I said, looking down at her and kissing her on the cheek gently. 'I'll give you some alone time with your daughter.' I walked away and to the gate, opening and shutting it gently. Then, getting on the motorcycle, I put the kickstand up, revved the throttle, and sped off.

Later...

I entered my home, shutting the door softly behind me.

'I thought you weren't going to come back until much later.' I turned towards the source of the voice, seeing Bucky leaning against the wall adjacent to the kitchen, sporting a bruise on his cheek from our recent fight.

'Yeah...' I said, my voice trailing off, dropping the keys onto the kitchen island, 'I couldn't stay away for too long.'

'Look, about the -' he and I said in unison, but then we stopped.

'You first,' I said.

'I want you to hear me out about this, Adelaide,' he said. 'Can you promise me that?' I sat down with a bump on one of the kitchen barstools.

'Yeah.'

'With the kiss, she tricked me. I wasn't in control of my actions then. I went down to see her one other time when you were gone, and after that I haven't gone back down there since. I don't love her, I love you. I will always love you. You are my wife, and things will never change between us, no matter what.'

'But the kiss looked so real.'

'That was her, not me. I couldn't control doing it. I love you very much. Now I'm done. You next.'

'I went to see Aunt Harley's grave,' I replied flatly.' He came over cautiously and sat next to me.

'Oh.'

'I met her mother there, and I was reminded of why I do this. This - this job. I was reminded of why I became a hero. I'm attempting to come to grips with the fact that I didn't fail Wanda. Being a hero is all about sacrifice and hard work, and unfortunately, there was going to be collateral damage. Wanda was that collateral damage. Wanda's turn to darkness had lots of compounding effects; it wasn't just my fault.'

'I'm sorry I pushed it so much. I needed to let you heal on your own time.'

'I think we both realise that now. We needed to give each other space. I needed to let you help me, and you needed -'

'I needed to let you heal. To process it all. You told me you felt empty and numb after her death, and I should have listened to you. I should have taken that into consideration. I didn't, and I'm sorry.'

'I'm sorry too.'

'I love you.'

'I love you too.' He leaned over and gently kissed me, and I reciprocated the kiss. I moved to sit in his lap on the chair, and we kissed deeper. We broke apart a few moments later, our foreheads touching. I touched my nose against his, nuzzling his nose and caressing his cheek. 'I missed this. Us,' I whispered breathlessly.

'Me too,' he said. He softly kissed me again, and stood, shedding his jacket. I did the same, laying it and his jacket over the back of the chair, and then kissing him more passionately. He removed his shirt, throwing it carelessly onto the back of the couch, and then sweeping me up in his arms and carrying me swiftly up the stairs to our bedroom.