"Hey, Nat," Steve says as he comes into the lounge, looking more frazzled, dazed, and confused than usual.
I come down from my handstand and stretch once I get back on my feet, saying, "What's up, Cap?"
"That file I mentioned to you," he says, "Did you ever get it back from Kiev?"
"Not yet," I tell him.
He fidgets with the pockets of his sweatshirt.
"What is it?" I ask.
When he doesn't answer, I sit down on my yoga mat and gesture for him to join me. He quietly sits across from me on the other end of the mat.
"What's going on in that beautiful blonde head of yours, Rogers?" I ask him, carefully cutting straight to the chase.
"I'm just getting a little impatient," he says. "I mean, where on earth could he have gone? How did he get there? What has he been doing since the helicarriers fell? Is he okay? Is he cold? Does he have enough plums? And his notebooks, does he have those? I know he wouldn't have been able to have that habit erased from him completely. And his arm. Jeez, how is he keeping it from rusting and breaking? Does he have tools?"
I sit there, a little more than horrified as Steve pours out all of his worries. He goes on and on, hardly breathing.
And then Wanda comes in.
"Steve, stop!" She says, coming over and wrapping her arms around his shoulders to give him a hug. "It's okay, you'll find him. Just breathe."
My heart breaks as his big baby blue eyes start to fill with tears.
Oh, Steve. Please don't cry.
He's not even ten miles away.
The only reason you and Sam haven't found him yet is that literally everyone on the team is keeping Bucky's existence a secret from you...including Sam.
Bucky's on the abandoned top floor of the tower, renovating it all by himself so you two can move up there together once he comes back home to you.
Just please, Steve, hold on a little longer.
"Hey, Cap," Wanda says softly to him, stroking his hair. "I know what'll help you feel better. Want to try?"
He gives her a confused look, raised eyebrows and everything.
She bounces up onto her feet and pulls him with her as she says, "Yoga! Work out all that stress!"
He stares, absolutely mortified.
I stand and then I poke his cheek, saying, "You need to do something other than pacing and brooding, you know."
"But I enjoy pacing and brooding," he says.
Wanda grabs ahold of his wrists and I push him from behind. Together, we get him moving toward the open middle of the room. Once we get him into the middle of the room, I move my yoga mat over and I bring out two more.
When I come back over to Wanda and Steve, I hear them bickering.
"You can't do yoga in that sweatshirt, it'll get tangled and you'll get stuck," she says.
"But it's cold, Wanda," he protests as she tugs on his sleeves.
"I grew up in Sokovia, sweetie," she says. "I know what cold is. Besides, you were in ice for 70 years. You shouldn't have a reason to be cold after that."
"Fine, fine, fine," he huffs in defeat.
After a moment, he finally sits down on his mat, and Wanda sits down on hers.
"If you really don't want to do anything," I tel him, "There's actually a pose just for that."
"And it's called the corpse, yes, I know, Nat," he snarks.
He lies flat on his back and closes his eyes, not caring about the fact that Wanda and I are trying our damnedest to cheer him up.
It's not our fault that he's bent out of shape over not finding Bucky yet.
Now that Steve has finally shut up and given in for once, I take a deep breath and get back to the balance I was working toward a few minutes ago. But, of the corner of my eye, I spot movement.
Wanda flashes her hands at me, little wisps of her magic spelling out "Bucky is here" and "hallway" in the air above her for a few seconds before vanishing into thin air.
I quietly get up from my mat and shake my head when I hear Steve softly snoring. Then I go over to the hallway.
"Tasha."
I smile.
It's a game.
"Bucky?" I whisper back.
"Tasha."
It's further away.
I follow the whispers until I'm standing in the courtyard in front of the new Avengers Compound just outside of Washington, D.C. The sky is full of stars and there isn't a single sound other than the breeze through the trees.
"How is he?"
I turn around, saying matter-of-factly, "He's a bit depressed. Definitely moody. Reminds me a bit of a cat that I had when I lived in Berlin."
"Is there anything I can do to help?" He asks.
I pause to think for a moment, and then I say, "Actually, there is."
He crosses his arms over his chest and raises an eyebrow, waiting for me to continue.
I put my hands on my hips as I null over the details. Then I smile.
I hope I can give him a bit of a challenge.
"Can you spook him?" I ask. "Just enough to make him think he's lost his marbles."
"You do realize that if he finds me before I'm set to return, he's likely to try to strangle you, correct?" he muses.
"Of course," I tell him.
He smirks, "Can I ghost him? Whisper in the night? Appear outside his window?"
"I might have to ask the others for some help, but it's doable," I say. "Thor can definitely give you a storm with plenty of lightning to rattle Steve. Clint can get you in and out of the ducts without making a single sound. Wanda can literally take something you say, hear, smell, think, see, and feel put it in his head. Sam is currently on vacation, so he's out of the picture for now. Tony is a bit of a wildcard, given the discussion you two had today, but we don't necessarily need him for this to work. And, Bruce, well, we still don't know where he is. Our agents can't find him, and neither can the Director."
After a quiet moment, Bucky asks, "So, when can I make my first appearance?"
I grin, "Let Wanda and I get Steve off of the floor and into his room, and then we can get started. I'll have Clint grab Thor while you wait on the ledge just below Steve's balcony."
"All I need is something to wear," he says.
"Tony made a new and improved version of your black leather gear," I tell him as I turn and hardback toward the door. "Look in the Terminator locker in the archive room."
"Thank you, Natasha," he says.
I smile.
This is gonna be fun.
