Better Love || A Bucky Barnes Fanfiction

- Little Pup -

She wasn't planned, wasn't expected, but by God was she welcomed.

Over two years ago Elena had said goodbye to Bucky, whispering Romeo & Juliet to her beloved before he went under. When he had she had thrown herself into distractions, going with Steve to regroup with Natasha and Sam. Together the group had become a vigilante team taking down minor threats to earth's safety, the three people becoming Elena's mentors and trainers. When they weren't fighting, though, they were searching. It was HYDRA, or a trick that could help speed up Bucky's recovery. For a little while it had been Bucky's journals which had been taken from them when they had been in Belgium. To Elena's delight they had been able to find them, stealing them back from Ross and his team before they could even blink.

Without Bucky, all Elena had of him were those journals. She had never read them in full before, but with the time off she had been able to. There were so many memories, so many facts and thoughts that Bucky had written into these different journals, some sweeter than others. Steve is terrible at baseball - or at least he was before he became Captain America. Smoking is now considered unhealthy. A woman with red hair and a man you want hiding behind her - she didn't die when you shot through her, but he did. You were allergic to cucumbers - unlikely you still are, but maybe just stay away from them anyway. The man you assassinated in November 1963 was a president. Elena doesn't like shrimp - remember that. She and Steve spent their evenings pouring over them, learning more about the man they loved and the life he lived. It was all they had of him.

Until, one day, it wasn't. A realization was made over a month since Bucky went under and it was revealed that the last night they had spent together was also the first night of her life. "Her" being the child growing inside Elena, who had read the test with Natasha by her side who had held her hand and squeezed it tight when it came back positive. The boys had been shocked but happy with the announcement, Sam teasing her in his usual way that made her laugh while Steve had smiled and hugged her tightly, congratulating her. But there was one more person who needed to know, the most important one out of them all.

Shuri had been a miracle worker. After finding out the news about Elena's pregnancy she had doubled the speed of research into Bucky and finding a cure for his mind. So far she had found out so much information about the former assassian that could one day come to help the human race, but she pushed that particular project aside to speed up his recovery. She had warned Elena that it could be dangerous, that if they didn't give his mind enough time to heal while he was under then everything inside could shatter like glass. Luckily, though, Shuri was the smartest person Elena had ever met, and with a mind like hers she was soon able to find a cure for the man that she loved, the father of her unborn child. With two months left of Elena's pregnancy before the baby was to be born, Bucky was woken from his sleep surrounded by children, a foreshadowing to what his future would hold.

Shuri had brought him from the hut to her lab where Elena and the other three had been waiting, and there he had seen her for the first time. She had barely changed at all when he locked eyes with hers; she looked even more beautiful than the last night they had spent together, or the last morning she had read to him. She was radiant, she was glowing, she was-

Pregnant. The sight of her swollen belly had made him stop in his tracks and he had looked at her, eyes wide. She had smiled, almost a little bashfully, before placing a pale hand on top of it. Beside her Steve had watched his best friend, eyes wide and hopeful about what his reaction would be. He hoped it would be joy over a future filled with hope, his newfound fortune, and not fear or guilt about how he - a past weapon of mass destruction - could ever become tender enough to care for a child. Slowly Bucky had approached her, resting his own hand over hers and the bump, shock still painted across his face. For a moment the pair did not speak, letting this moment wash over them, but then Bucky had smiled, had let out a small chuckle, before pulling Elena against him for a hug.