How do you heal?

Chapter 53: Who Cares

About halfway through the trail they came to a bench and Annie asked Pietro if they could take a break. Despite her stamina increasing over the last year from all their activities she was not and would never be 'fit' but that didn't bother her. She liked good food and spending her free time with a book and since she had always been able to dance, walk, run and move to her heart's content, albeit a little slower than most others, she didn't think it mattered. Plus, Pietro never seemed to mind when she needed a minute. Since he had gotten up much earlier than Annie had expected it was only about half past nine when they sat down and they had plenty of time to rest without getting behind schedule and making Pietro wait for lunch. They sat quietly for about ten minutes, Annie sipping at her water and Pietro raiding the bag of snacks.

"So how are you feeling?" Pietro asked as he finished a bag of apple slices.

"Good, I'm ready to go if you are." Annie replied, sliding her water into a side pocket and zipping the bag.

As she stood and made to pull the bag onto her own back for the second half of the trek he placed a hand on her arm to stop her. "No not...I meant how are you feeling...with Barnes back? Last night at dinner things seemed tense and then this morning it looked like he cornered you."

"Oh." She said looking down and kicking lightly at the ground where she stood. "I mean, it wasn't great but I expected it to be weird if he came back. It's just going to take some time, and a lot of hiding in my room, until I'm used to it."

He stood taking the bag from her hands and tossing it over his shoulder, waggling his eyebrows. "You can always hide in my room too."

She rolled her eyes and pushed him gently to continue their hike. "Oh, how altruistic of you. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the state of cleanliness of that wasteland."

"Can't it be both?" He asked with a laugh.

Bucky stepped off the mat with Steve to get some water. After Annie had left that morning he had headed down to the gym and not long after Steve joined him. The two had spent the afternoon sparring in mostly silence. Steve could tell Bucky was irritated and had to work through his anger.

"Feel better?" Steve asked as he sipped from his bottle. Breathing heavily Bucky took a sip from his own bottle while he looked at Steve with raised brows. "Come on Buck, you almost knocked my teeth out on a few of those punches. It's pretty clear you're upset." Steve continued.

"Sorry man, I'm just a little worked up today." Bucky said, shaking his head and tossing his water bottle back down.

"Anything you want to talk about?" Steve asked.

Bucky thought for a moment as he wiped at his face with a towel. "What's the deal with Annie and Maximoff?"

Steve smiled as he started to gather up his gear. "Looking to rekindle something?"

"No, no that ship has sailed. Even if it hadn't she's better off without me." Bucky replied as he shook his head. "They just seem real buddy buddy and I was curious. If they are together and she's happy then that's great." Bucky's voice nearly broke on the lie in the last part.

"As far as I know they are friends but they hang out a lot. It's rare to see them apart but it's not exactly like Annie and I are close enough that she would tell me otherwise. She has pretty much avoided me outside of polite conversation since I got back last year. You'd be better off to ask Nat or Sam, they would know." Steve said.

"Why is she avoiding you?" Bucky asked as they began to exit the gym.

"I don't know, Buck. Maybe it has something to do with my best friend breaking her heart." Steve replied with a sad smile.