TIME :: Bucky Barnes [1]

prologue ; 000

"I don't have a ton of friends, but the friends I have are great ones. I don't have a huge family, but the family I have is a great one."
-Alicia Keys

The pounding never left Margo Larson's skull as she pulled herself up off the ground. She was determined to win this fight.

"Say when you've had enough." Tony Stark joked. He knew that Margo was off her game, usually she whooped his ass in training by now. Margo let out a strangled laugh as she cracked her knuckles and pulled her knives out of their holster. Tony designed a suit for her, a tight light gray one with a white stripe up the side. The design was similar to Black Widow's, except for the multiple weapon holsters. She had knives, pistols, a whip, a baton, and the rows of bullets that lined her waist.

"Are you kidding me? She's letting you win." Steve yelled from across the training room. Margo smiled, that man was basically her brother they were so close. He told her all about his past, and his friend Bucky. He swore that if the two ever met there would be a fifty fifty chance they'd either kill each other or end up married. She brought her arm back and pretended to throw the blade, predicting which way he turn to avoid the weapon and launched it. With a proud smirk Margo watched as Tony's glare moved from the knife embedded in his suit to the brunette as she continued to pace the room. He let out a sigh, and reached his arm up to take it out. In the split second his attention was elsewhere Margo took out her baton and jumped towards the iron suited man. With all her power, she hit his legs which caused him to fall to the ground. Margo straddled Tony and repeatedly bashed the suit. She stopped once she heard Tony surrender and laughed as she stood up.

"That's Python twenty and Iron Man zero." Steve yelled as he swung an arm around Margo's shoulders. Python was her superhero name, on account that she was as cunning as a snake.

"You're honestly my biggest fan, aren't you?" Margo joked, her British accent strikingly different than the other two voices in the room.

"Yeah really, he's the cutest fanboy though." Tony remarks, his eyes never leaving the dented suit he was attempting to fix. Margo made kissing noises as she pushed Steve towards Tony, which earned her shove from Steve.

"I'm going to go take a million painkillers." Margo said as she wiped the blood from her forehead. She had an unusually high pain tolerance but getting tossed around by a metal suit meant she felt the exact opposite of invincible. She walked out of the training room, ready to make the long trek to the kitchen. She had a slight limp, her fault, she hit the ground too hard. Natasha was sitting at the island table, sipping something from a mug as she took in Margo's appearance. Her long brown hair was matted with sweat and she was holding her stomach, and when she flashed Natasha a smile she grimaced.

"Another Tuesday in the life of an Avenger." Natasha said with a smirk as she watched the short girl reach for a cup. It was hard to believe she was the dangerous Python that strikes fear into everyone she fights, this girl was basically a walking teddy bear to all of her friends.

"I tried to throw Tony a bone, but he got cocky so I had to beat him." Margo said as she sipped some water. Some chucking behind her caused her to turn around, and was met with James Rhodes.

"You expected him not to brag that he was beating the goddess of battle herself?" James said as he crossed his arms. Margo relaxed her shoulders as the pain began to diminish and took a bow.

•••

Margo pulled her coat closet to her body, the cold night air chilled her to the bone. She had a light smile plastered on her lips as she made her way up the front steps of the house. Her brother swung open the door and two small children immediately ran out towards her.

"Aunt Mimi!" Their voices yelled in unison as they wrapped their tiny arms around each of her legs. They were her nieces, and had given the name Mimi to her.

"Bethany! Julia!" Margo stated as she hugged the girls back. The oldest, Bethany, was five while the other was three. Their mother had died during the birth of Julia.

"Hey sis." Connor, her brother, greets as he hold the door open for her to enter. She walks in and shrugs off her coat to hang it up. The girls run off into the other room and Margo turns to her brother.

"They have me going on another mission in a couple days, I wanted to say bye to you and the girls, incase, you know-" Margo says in a low voice. Her nieces don't know she's one of the worlds greatest assassins.

"You're coming back." He says firmly, cutting her off. They had this conversation every time she came to visit. She glared at her brother for denying the obvious facts but didn't say anything as the girls came running back into the room with papers in hand.

"These are for you." Julia said as she shoved a drawing into her Margo's hands and stepped aside allowing Bethany to walk forward.

"Daddy helped me write this." She says as she hands her a short letter. Her eyes scanned it, it mostly consisted of how much she loved her and how she was doing in kindergarten. She looked at the drawing, a picture of the people in the house standing under a rainbow. It was the standard drawing she got every time she visited but nonetheless she acted as if it was the greatest thing on the planet.

"Hey, shouldn't you be in bed by now?" Margo teased as she got down to the height of the girls. The giggle she got from them told her they should be asleep, so she smiled widely. "I'll meet you in there soon." The girls nodded and ran up the stairs. The Larson siblings stared at the top of the staircase long after the young girls were out of sight, neither wanting to have the conversation that was sure to follow.

"This must be what Clint feels, leaving his family behind for every mission." Margo finally said, breaking the silence. Connor let out a sigh as he turned to face his sister.

"When are you going to settle down, maybe start a family of your own?" Connor said, running a hand down his face in stress. He knew his sister was never going to be a white picket fence type of girl, he was the one to escape the relentless training as a child and met his late wife. He always hoped Margo would find the one. He thought that maybe Steve would've been good for her, but they ended up being just friends.

"Connor, find me a guy that understands my job and I'll tell you."

"Aunt Mimi! Come on!" Bethany's voice yelled to her, which gladly saved Margo from questioning.

Margo climbed the stairs, and said goodnight to her family. The entire time Connor's words stuck in her head, maybe he was right, maybe she needed to settle down.