stamina (bucky barnes)

28

Bri had taken a quick, very hot, shower and was now being wrapped into a blanket burrito by Clint and his wife.

She thanked them hundreds of times in the span of five minutes but was hushed with "you have no idea what you've done for our family."

Clint had humored Bri during their conversation, trying to use the new sign language gestures he had been studying. He also expressed how the hearing aids came in handy when he was watching television and he could just simply turn them off if the kids got too loud.

"Why the long face?" Laura asked. "Is everything alright? I mean besides the whole Steve ordeal."

"You know when you really miss people, but you have no clue why?"

"Who ya missing, kid?" Clint furrowed his brows.

Bri looked at him and bit her lip. "I may or may not be in a relationship with Bucky at the moment, and I found out Thor is my brother. Really need to figure the first one out, though."

"I'm sorry- WHAT?"

Bri laughed and tilted her head back, the sound filling the living room.

"Dr. Cho found out a while ago. Thor and Loki even came to visit to welcome me into the family." Bri family grinned at the memory. "That's the closest thing I've had to a loving family in a while, besides you guys."

Laura sat on the couch, watching the two sit criss-cross from each other in front of the fire place. She held her youngest child, practically newborn, to her chest and let a small smile run across her lips as Clint acted like Bri was his own kid.

"So, I guess I've missed a lot." Clint ran a hand through his hair, fiddling with the tuner on his aid.

"Yeah." Bri muttered. "Thor took me to Asgard because we both wanted to find out more about me, and when I came back all of this stuff started happening." She held a finger up.

"You said you're like Steve now, right? You did get injected with the serum?" He questioned, trying to place all the pieces together. "And now you have some sort of witchy powers like Wanda, but you're related to Thor?"

"Clint, my life is very complicated right now."

"Sounds like a case for Maury." He laughed. "And you have America's Most Wanted Criminal as your love interest in this narrative? Bri, you need to escape to an alternate timeline or something."

Laura stood from her seat on the couch when Nathaniel started whimpering. "Honey, let Bri rest for the night and then you can continue your investigation in the morning." She winked at Bri and nodded her head in the direction of the guest room.

"Thank you again for letting me stay here." Bri started, pulling the ten blankets around her shoulders with her. "Things are not good with Tony at the moment and I would prefer to stay away from the compound with everything happening."

She glanced down to her fingers and wiggled them for good measure. What was happening with her?

"I assume it has to do with Bucky? The stuff with Tony?"

"You guessed it." She sighed. "He seems to be able to give everyone a second chance, except for the people that actually need one."

Clint nodded and escorted her to her assigned room, leaning against the door frame. "You know you are always welcome here. We may not get many visitors, but the kids love it when actual superheroes come along." He did air quotes and rolled his eyes.

"Goodnight, Birdman." Bri laughed under her breath. "And practice saying thank you in sign language. You literally told me to fuck off earlier."

"Oh shit. I've been saying that to my kids!"