Eternity

Chapter 2: Reunion

Bucky landed with a thud onto the sofa in their lounge, groaning in what appeared to be sorrow as he pulled the blanket he had dragged from the bedroom around himself tighter.

"I thought the serum meant hangovers didn't last this long." He grumbled, eyes still firmly shut as he resting his head gingerly against one of the cushions.

"It's also meant to stop you getting drunk. But there are exceptions, as you know." Natasha smirked slightly. She watched him from their kitchen which was joined to the lounge in their apartment, stirring the sauce she was making.

"You are loving this." He frowned, "Why aren't you feeling this way?"

"I know my limits." She teased, watching him slowly lift his head and open one eye.

"Oh god, you're still drunk that's what it is. There's no other way you'd be cooking." he manages a smirk as she points a fork at him from across the room.

"No mac and cheese for you." She narrows her eyes playfully, fighting the smile dancing on her lips.

"You're making Mac and cheese? No way, I'd never have guessed." He got to his feet, making his way towards the kitchen. She rolled her eyes, adding the cheese sauce to the cooked pasta. It was without question that Bucky could cook better than her, or most people they knew. Mac and cheese was the only thing she would ever decide to cook, and the only thing she cooked well.

"Well you were too busy sleeping and feeling sorry for yourself and I didn't feel like the woman at the Chinese restaurant down the street asking if I wanted the usual order." She frowned at his sarcasm, placing the empty pot in the sink. "Don't mock my food,"

"Wouldn't dream of it." He murmured with his mouth already full with the creamy pasta, not bothering with a bowl as he used the spoon to scoop it out of the other pot on the stove. She nudged him out of the way to plate it up for him, and another for her.

"Eat. You'll feel better." She handed him a large bowl followed by a large glass of water. He accepted as he pressed a kiss to her forehead and went to sit and eat until his hangover ceased. Natasha cleaned the pots in the sink before eating, sitting across from him at the small table as they ate, the distant hum of some news show on the TV behind them.

"Next up, is Hydra the cause of the Presidents' strange irrational behaviour? A year and a half on from the James Barnes trial, the former Winter Soldier, we question if the same horrific mind control techniques are being used closer to home, or if they potentially have already been implemented. Casey Thom Reports."

Bucky snorted in annoyance as the report continued on, glancing over at the screen of the President leaving a board meeting and then cutting to footage of his own trial. "That guy? Or he's just a big fucking idiot."

Natasha smirked across the table at him, lightly nudging his leg with her foot. "You or the President?"

He narrowed his eyes at her, "I'll accept that for my comment about your cooking, so we are even." She laughs softly in response.

"Sergeant Barnes was cleared of all charges against him, when jurors sympathised with the lack of control of his own mind as a result of Hydra's manipulation." The report summarised.

Natasha thought back to his trial, how painstakingly awful the first few months had been when the facts weren't out there. He was open for public ridicule, the press slandered him almost everyday until they got their hands on Hydras intel. A horrifying clip showed to the jury on their treatment of him soon changed the worlds opinion of him. Now, he was equally as accepted as the rest of them. They were both extremely thankful for that.