How do you heal?

Chapter 62: Keep On

"It's about damn time!" Annie said with a huge smile as she walked around the island to greet Sam.

Sam set his bags down and moved in to give Annie a hug. "You two are impatient! Alex and I have only been together for like a year. I think that is a reasonable time to wait before moving in together."

"Sure, for a normal situation but if you haven't realized it yet this has all been a part of my grand plan to get her to New York and I expect expediency."

Sam laughed. "Well Banannie, since this has been your grand plan all along maybe you can pull apartments for us to look at."

"Samuel, you asked her to move in with you almost a week ago. I have literally sent her several dozen links to both apartments and job postings."

"Who's looking at apartments?" Annie and Sam turned to find Nat and Bucky walking in from the bedroom hallway. Annie's face became hard and she moved to the fridge.

Sam watched her transition and turned to Nat and Bucky with eyebrows raised as they approached. "Uh, I asked Alex to move in with me. We are going to start looking for apartments." As Nat slid up next to Sam he leaned in and he whispered. "No luck?"

Nat just shook her head slightly as Annie placed two shake bottles on the counter. "Sam, I'll forward you what I sent to Alex." She said before walking past Bucky toward the bedroom hall without another word.

"She hasn't spoken a word to either of us in four days." Nat said picking up a bottle when she was sure Annie was out of ear shot.

"I thought you had a plan?" Asked Sam.

"The plan was to get the compound empty so she couldn't avoid him in the chaos. I didn't think she would flat out ignore him."

Bucky looked between the two. "Wait, you planned for everyone to be gone?"

Nat smirked. "Well we knew Rhodey, Steve and Tony were going to be gone and Sam would be at Alex's so I called Barton and suggested he ask the twins over for a visit to have some help with a reno he'd been putting off and since Vis goes where Wanda goes..."

Bucky picked up his own bottle and checked over his shoulder before heading to the elevators. "Why are you guys trying to push this so hard?"

Nat began to follow Bucky as Sam picked up his bag and said with a laugh before heading to the bedrooms himself, "Because she made you tolerable when you were together."

As they continued to walk, Nat patted Bucky's shoulder. "It was my idea, don't hold it against Sam."

Bucky smashed the call button for the elevator. "I just don't get why you won't leave it alone, Nat."

As they waited for the doors to open Nat looked back down the hall one last time making sure no one else was around. "That was the last of my schemes, I promise. I only did it because you two were good together. You broke up with her because you didn't know what was going to happen to you. But now you're here and you're okay and you still love her and I honestly thought she still loved you so why wouldn't you get back together. You have both been through so much, you with Hydra and her losing Charlie. You guys deserve happiness."

The doors opened and they stepped in as Bucky asked, "How do you know about Charlie?"

"Seriously, does no one around here understand my skill set?"

Annie stood in the laundry room folding clothes as she watched a video that Piet had sent her of Wanda floating toys in front of baby Nate. Laura and Clint lounging on the couch in the background while Lila and Cooper ran around in circles being chased by Vision. After a few moments he flipped the camera around. From the looks of it Lila had convinced him to play dress up at some point. His hair was pulled into little spiky pigtails and his face was covered in glitter, a feather boa around his neck. "Just a little taste of the fun you are missing out on." He said with a giant smile as he walked out of the room where the others were. "Seriously, we miss you...I miss you. Hopefully next time you can join us. There's no extra bedrooms but maybe if you are nice you can share mine, there's plenty of room." He winked and ended the video.

Annie chuckled. That boy has more charm than sense. If he was in hell he'd try and flirt with the devil himself for a glass of water...and likely succeed. She heard the door open behind her and turned to see Sam entering. "Dropping laundry off for me?" She asked.

"Nah, I got it." He said walking to the washer and unzipping his bag. Annie continued to fold the pile in front of her as she listened to him toss in his clothes and turn on the machine. When he closed the lid he said, "So that was a little awkward."

She looked at him with furrowed brows. "Doing your own laundry is awkward?"

"No." Sam said, coming to stand beside her. "That whole scene in the kitchen. One second you were fine but then Buck and Nat walked in and you couldn't leave fast enough. From your reaction I would think one of them killed your kitten, what happened?"

Annie shook her head and kept folding. "Nothing happened. I had laundry to do, that's all."

"Annie, I may not be Alex but I know you."

"I tried, Sam. I really tried to not let my feelings for him matter when he came back. But not even a day after getting back he started going out with Kat. And the dating someone part, it's fine, whatever, it was bound to happen but she's purposefully cruel and goes out of her way to treat me like shit when I have done nothing to deserve it." She sighed and turned leaning back onto the table she was standing at. "Then she blew up in my face, right in front of him and he just let it happen, not that I expected him to jump down her throat or anything. I don't need his protection. But the next day he just acted like nothing happened and asked me if we could ever get back to being friends."

Sam waited a beat and when Annie didn't reply he prompted. "What did you tell him?"

She looked over at him. "I told him no."

"Why?"

"Because I can't be friends with someone who wants to be with someone who treats me poorly. Especially not when I am in love with them."

He was quiet for a second as he put all the pieces together. "Did you ever talk to Bucky? About the way Kat treats you."

"No." He looked at her questioningly and she added. "I don't want to be in love with him anymore and I'm hoping this...them...I'm hoping seeing them together can make it go away."

Annie turned and grabbed her phone from the counter and made to leave.

"Banannie." Sam called and she looked at him. "Bucky broke up with Kat the day after she yelled at you. Thought you should know."

She laughed dryly. "That doesn't change the fact that I still need to get over him, Sam. It just makes it harder."