How do you heal?

Chapter 50: Homecoming

A week later Annie was anxiously flitting about the main floor cleaning. Steve and Nat had taken the quinjet to Wakanda last night and they would be returning this afternoon with Bucky. Much to Annie's surprise Bucky has requested to return to his old room and it had been ready for his arrival for four days. The downside to that being there wasn't enough work to focus her nerves on, which is why she was now on her hands and knees with a bucket of scalding water wiping down baseboards and scrubbing scuffs from the floor with a toothbrush, music blaring in her headphones.

Pietro walked into the kitchen area after his morning run that he had taken alone, much to his displeasure, to find Annie on the floor, her ample backside providing a pleasant view that he chose to stop and admire for a moment. He always liked watching her work, the way she moved and jumped from task to task, seeing her eyes analyze and decipher the order of operations to get the timing right. A large part of why he would often 'help' her was so that he could watch her facial expressions as she got annoyed and re-evaluated what to do next. That and to give her more time to spend with him. This view wasn't one he got to experience very often though so he would not be interrupting her today. After more moments than he would ever admit of zoned out staring he heard her start to sing.

"Sometimes I fuck you in my head." That line caught his attention. "I let you touch me when I'm lonely in my bed. I wanna scream but hold my breath. The kinda thing that you would rather leave unsaiiid." Annie tossed the rag into the bucket and sat back, wiping the sweat from her face with her shirt causing it to lift just enough that he could see the branches of her tree tattoos crawling over her hip and ending at her lower back. Okay, time to interrupt or I'm going to need an ice bath.

Pietro sped forward as Annie began to stand and plucked one of her earbuds out. "Are you singing that for me, Солнышко?"

Annie screamed and threw her hands up causing the bucket of dirty water she was holding to spill all over her. She sputtered and leveled a murderous glare at him. "I. Am. Going. To. Kill. You!" Pietro couldn't help but burst out laughing. He took a step back and nearly doubled over. "You think this is funny?!" She yelled as she stepped forward, continuously poking him hard in the stomach. "You are the absolute worst, you know that right?"

Pietro straightened and wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes before he closed the distance between them and pulled her into a bear hug trapping her arms to stop the poking. "Oh, Солнышко, I am so sorry! I didn't see the bucket in your hands."

As she began to wiggle he loosened his arms just enough to allow her to lean back and look up at him, clearly still annoyed but a playful smile starting to form under her ire. "You're going to clean this up without super speed, as penance, while I go get a shower because now I am disgusting."

"Disgusting looks good on you." He looked down at her and tightened his arms again, just a bit. The dirty water had left streaks down her neck and chest and some of her hair was plastered to her face, still he did think she looked beautiful. For a year now he had been flirting, casually and playfully at first to try and get her to smile again after Barnes left but as they spent time together and he got to know her more the flirting became serious and blatant. At least he had thought so and he was just waiting for her to pick up on it. Usually he could charm just about anyone or anything but she never seemed affected by all his efforts. Until now? Her angry smile slipped just a little and he saw a flicker of something in her eyes. He leaned in more, eyes going to her lips and the elevator dinged making her turn her head and push out of his grip.

Bucky stood in the elevator with Steve and Nat, laughing. The trio had spent the morning swapping stories about their respective last year. He was happy they had both come because he had missed them and he also appreciated the distraction they provided in keeping his mind off the fact that Annie was still working at the tower and he would soon be face to face with her. When he had written that letter a year ago he wasn't sure he would ever leave cryo let alone actually be freed from his trigger words. Even if he beat all the odds and did get to return to the compound he thought she would have left. Her old job had been willing to take her back and she had clearly loved the idea of moving back to Ohio. So why is she still in New York? The elevator dinged and they exited, Steve leading the way and Nat falling into step beside Bucky.

"Nervous?" She asked as she bumped his elbow.

He chuckled awkwardly, clearly giving himself away but answered, "Me? Nah, no reason to be nervous."

"Whoa, what happened here?" Steve said as they exited the hall onto the main floor.

"Oh, just Piet creating chaos, as usual." Came a familiar voice.

Bucky stepped around Steve and froze. There she was. Across the room next to a slightly damp Pietro, Annie stood barefoot and soaking wet, covered in grime. Her curls were piled on top of her head except the bits that clearly had water poured on them and were sticking to the side of her face. She wore shorts and a tattered t-shirt that clung to her. She had lost weight, not much but some of her softness and curves were gone, new strong muscles standing out on her exposed legs. She was still stunning and...and she locked eyes with him. He lifted his hand meekly, "Hey."

Annie's eyes fell to Bucky, against her best efforts, and he greeted her unenthusiastically. She couldn't help but notice the changes in him. He was tan and his long brown hair was gone, now trimmed close to his head and he had slimmed down, a new darker metallic arm. She could still see a well muscled form under his shirt but he wasn't the same beefy Bucky she had last seen. She hardened her heart and nodded to Bucky before looking back at Steve. "Be careful when you walk past here, I'm gonna go grab some towels to clean this up. There's lunch in the fridge if you guys are hungry."

Bucky's heart sank at the pissed off nod she gave him before telling Steve there was food in the fridge. He watched as she turned and cautiously took a few steps toward the far hall, Pietro reaching out a hand to help her and he dropped his gaze to the floor.

"And Bucky," his head shot back up at her voice calling his name, although he felt a small pang that she hadn't said Sarge. "Welcome back."