How do you heal?

Chapter 69: Convergence

Around eight thirty in the morning Annie finally pulled herself out of her bathtub. After Bucky had walked out she couldn't even bring herself to look at her bed, let alone sleep in it or in the room with it. So she'd grabbed the small throw blanket from her couch and spent the night crying in her tub hoping the tears would exhaust her enough for sleep. They hadn't, and she was so sick of crying. So when she finally couldn't ignore the sunlight flooding into the room she stood and washed her face with cold water and stared at herself for a long time as she vowed to never cry another tear over James Buchanan fucking Barnes. She'd left the bathroom to find her phone on her bed with a dead battery. Great. She'd slipped on a pair of shorts and a different t-shirt before stripping her bed. She planned on throwing her sheets in the laundry and grabbing more tylenol and maybe some eggs and toast to ease her headache and hangover before going back to bed. It was Saturday and she was off and she had no desire to see anyone who was currently in the compound. In an attempt to make sure she didn't have to talk to anyone she'd popped headphones in and asked Friday to play some music into them over bluetooth. As she walked down the hall she dropped her basket of sheets into the laundry room deciding to get some food and painkillers in her first and then she would start the laundry and grab fresh sheets on her way back to her room. She stepped into the kitchen to find it blissfully empty and she began to sing softly as she grabbed her supplies.

Bucky had gotten a text from Nat that she, Rhodey and Steve were grabbing breakfast early that morning. With Sam and Alex staying in the city last night he only had to avoid Annie that morning. Something he thought would be easy since she was usually up and done in the kitchen before seven or eight. Unfortunately as he walked down the hall on his way to get coffee he could hear singing. He stepped into the shadows at the end of the hall and watched as she moved about the kitchen with headphones in.

🎵"The more I get to know ya

The more I wish I never did

Those things that I can't take back

My nails running down your back

Who the hell are you tryin' to kid

When you tell yourself we got somethin'?

Hit me up just to turn me on

And then turn me down like it's nothing

You don't wanna be friends, you're just horny

And fucked up at 2:00 a.m. in the mornin'

Say you've changed and you mean it

Say everything's different, but I think I'd rather sleep in

You don't wanna be friends, you're just horny"

Bucky could feel himself growing more irritated as he listened. She seemed to think he was the bad guy in this situation and as his anger rose he was about to walk out and tell her otherwise, deal or not, when he heard the elevator ding. He watched as Maximoff stepped off the elevator alone, carrying a small duffle bag and his eyes went straight to Annie.

Pietro was buzzing. He still hadn't heard back from Annie and when he'd called her this morning her phone had gone straight to voicemail so when he stepped off the elevator and heard the faint sound of her singing he couldn't stop the smile that broke out on his face as he walked towards the sound. Laser focused his eyes locked on her the moment he stepped into the kitchen and he tossed down his duffle. When she didn't turn at the sound he realized she had headphones in so he walked up behind her and slid his arms around her waist. Annie screamed and elbowed him, hard, causing him to let her go and double over in pain. She'd turned around to find him clutching at his stomach with a pained grin. "Nice to see you too, Солнышко."

"Piet?" She asked as she pulled the headphones from her ears.

"In the flesh." He said as he slowly righted himself. Annie smacked him playfully on his arm. "Ow, what was that for?"

"For scaring the shit out of me, asshole." She said as she stepped forward and threw her arms around his neck holding on to him tightly.

As she did so he circled her waist with his arms again. "Well then what was the elbow for?"

She didn't pull back as she answered. "Self defense, weirdo. Now what the hell are you doing here? I thought you were at Clint's for a few more days."

"Did you get any of my texts last night?"

She pulled back then but only enough to look at him. "No." She said, shaking her head.

"I texted you like twenty times. The last one I told you I was coming home today because I missed you and I called you this morning but it went straight to voicemail."

He watched as she looked at him confused and then her face seemed to shift to understanding and then irritation. "I had a very shitty, rough night. I think I drank a little too much and when I got home I must have forgotten to plug my phone in, it was dead when I went to check it this morning."

"Was everything okay?" He asked, concern evident in his voice.

"The show was great, but everything that happened afterwards was pretty much a nightmare. I didn't sleep."

"What happened?"

She opened her mouth to speak but shook her head. She was still so tired and had a killer headache. "I will fill you and Alex in together later. Right now I just want to eat my toast and try to go back to bed to sleep through this hangover."

"Okay," he said, slightly defeated. He missed her so much but if she didn't feel well he understood. "Do you want to have dinner with Волчица and Sam tonight. You could fill us in then. We could ask them to meet up with us in the city when they are done with apartment hunting."

She smiled softly and pulled him back into a tight embrace. "That sounds perfect. Can you text Alex and ask her since my phone is dead? And even if they say no we can still go and she can hear the story later."

"Yeah, I can text her." He felt her arms tighten around him even more as she sighed heavily. "Are you sure you're okay?" He asked as he tried to pull back again but she didn't let him go.

"I am much better now that you are here."