The Spark That Never Dies Part: Three

Chapter Eleven

"You really called Stark that?"

"He was acting like one!"

"What even is a 'bitch biscuit'?" Wanda asked you as the two of you wandered down the hall towards the tower's kitchen, but you didn't get to answer when you widened your eyes at the super soldier's shout,

"WHERE IS SHE!"

"I'd hate to be whoever Bucky's looking for." Wanda smirked lightly, but her eyes were wide too.

Before you could agree, the soldier was angrily huffing towards you both, and you cringed when you realized his eyes were dead set on you.

"Hey, Buck-"

"I get that you're a little twisted, Y/n," He started, cutting you off once he reached you both, "We've all come to find it endearing," He was breathing heavily, clearly distressed as he gritted his teeth, trying to calm down, "But what you told Yelena is-"

"Bucky, what're you talking about?" Wanda asked, just as confused as you were.

"She taught her my trigger words!" He yelled angrily, gesturing towards you.

"Bucky, I promise I didn't!" You shouted back with raised eyebrows, thrown off by what he was saying.

"Like hell," He seethed, pointing in your face, and you opened your mouth, eyeing the finger, but he pulled it away when you went to bite it automatically, "That kid was showing me her powers, just making things float or whatever, and then she gets this look on her face like this – this –" He took a deep breath, deciding just to say what he was thinking, "This murderous look and she starts mouthing off the words in Russian!"

"First of all," You scoffed offensively, "'That kid' is Yelena, your niece, and she loves you, and B, there's no way in hell she knows your words."

"She fucking paused when she said the last one and started laughing like a freakin' maniac, Y/n!"

"Bucky, relax," Wanda cooed, putting a hand on one of his raised arms, and he let it fall at her touch, instantly starting to breathe more evenly, "The words can't hurt you anymore, Shuri made sure of that."

"But how did she even know them?" His voice was strained, the concern lacing it brutally, "The exact order and everything?" He took another deep breath and finally looked at you again, "I trust you when you say you didn't teach her them, because I can't figure out why you would anyways, but Y/n, come on," He pleaded, "She didn't just guess or find them in some SHIELD file, she's eight."

"I'll talk to her, okay?" You gave him a softer look and he nodded before walking away.

You gave Wanda an apologetic smile before splitting off to find your daughter.

She was where she spent most of her time in the past two weeks since she came out of that underground death trap.

In the controlled room.

It was the perfect place for people to experiment with their abilities with no repercussions on the rest of the building or city. It's where you practiced yours and ultimately, got stripped of them by Wanda.

Or so you thought.

Her back was to you when you entered silently and she had a rubik's cube in the air, solving it quickly while she colored in a book and then it dropped to the floor the second it was finished. She was humming the Friends theme song, a soft spot for you and Nat, and you smiled before you realized what else she was doing in the room. The lights started to flicker and then there was an episode of Friends playing out like a hologram projection in front of her. The background set wasn't there, but it was like the actors were playing it out in real time.

It was the one where Chandler can't remember which of Joey's sisters he fooled around with, currently panicking to the rest of them before Joey actually shows up.

"It's not his fault they all look alike." She giggled and that's when you decided to speak up.

"Lena?"

You didn't even get to finish calling her name before everything shut off, vanishing or fuzzing out into thin air, and you were left with your little girl turning to look up at you, the purple in her eyes fading away.

"Hi, mommy!" She cheered, but you knew she felt like she was busted.

"Hey, munchkin," You smiled softly, sitting next to her, and peering down at the notebook she was scribbling in, "So, we kinda need to talk about something that happened."

"You only call me munchkin when I did something bad," She pouted, glancing away sadly, "Because only Grandpa calls me that."

"You really upset Uncle Bucky."

"We were just playing!" She protested, getting up to stand in front of you with crossed arms.

"He didn't find it very fun," You shrugged and when she rolled her eyes, you took on a firmer tone, "Yelena, what happened? Why did you say those words to him?"

"It was a joke!" She annunciated each word exaggeratedly and huffed in annoyance.

"Yelena," You warned, and she glanced back at you, "Where did you hear them?"

"Can I some of my friends come for a sleepover next weekend?" She asked with a huge smile, letting her arms drop, and hopping excitedly with the thought.

"I asked you a question." You insisted calmly.

She sat back down next to you, acting as if she didn't hear the question, and then started drawing again.

Up until now, she's always been so open and cooperative, but you knew kids were just short adults who had minds of their own and it'd get frustrating at times, just like dealing with grown-ups. So, you didn't want to scold her for ignoring you, you wanted to take this slowly because it was obvious she was struggling with something. Hiding something from you and everyone that maybe she discovered.

"Criminal," You cooed gently, and she hummed in response, "Aunt Wanda says you're really strong and your powers are growing by the day."

"Mhm." She nodded absentmindedly, focusing on her drawing.

"And I know starting a new school on Monday can be a lot," You continued, trying to coax anything you could out of her, and maybe get her to open up, "But me and your mama are here for you if you need anything. Or if you'd rather talk to anyone else, then you're more than welcome to do that too."

"Yep." She sighed, seemingly bored.

"Lena, I just need to know." You finally finished and she sighed again, looking up before side glancing you.

"Fine, what?"

"Where did you learn Uncle Buck's trigger words?"

She pursed her lips, studying you, and your breath caught in your throat when she shrugged with a simple,

"Papa taught me."