Hacky Sack ~ An Avengers Story

Five - You Get Me

When my eyes flashed open I was filled to the brim with panic. Where the fuck am I? How the fuck did I get here? Fuck?

Letting my legs take control of my actions, I launched out of bed as I scanned the room. It's pretty plain, other than the dressers, bed and a few decorations here and there. Seriously, where am I?

My hand reached for the door and thankfully it was unlocked. I stared down the hall until I finally came to my senses. I'm at Tony's...right. How could I have forgotten? Oh right, I blacked out. Oops?

"Great, now I'm wide awake." I scolded myself for getting worked up over nothing. Feeling my stomach grumble, I remembered that I hadn't eaten anything since I left my gig. Well that explains why the more I think about food, the more I feel pains in my stomach.

As I stepped foot into the elevator, my eyes widened at how many floors there are. Jesus Tony.

"Where to Miss Stark? Or would you prefer Miss Evans?" A male voice with a posh accent filled the elevator, giving me a momentary heart attack.

"Christ on a cracker!" I yelled, clutching my hand to my chest.

"My apologies Miss Cedar. My names Jarvis, Mister Stark's AI." The voice introduced itself. Funny, Tony's AI has more manners than him. "Where would you like to go?

"Uhh, kitchen?" I replied, still having a hard time getting my heart rate to slow back down.

"Right away. Hungry I suppose? You did pass out without dinner." Jarvis struck up small talk, a little odd having small talk with an AI but kinda cool at the same time.

"Very. You don't happen to know what happened, do you?"

"I do indeed. After you had passed out, Mister Stark ordered Mister Rodgers to carry you to your assigned bedroom seeing he was in no condition to do so. But don't worry Miss Cedar, Mister Stark is doing alright." He replied as the doors opened to the floor that I assumed the kitchen would be.

Spangles carried me to my room? I guess it does make sense that he did of all the others. "Thank you Jarvis." I replied giving a curt nod that I wasn't sure if he would see or not.

"My pleasure Miss Stark."

Miss Stark. Miss Stark. Huh, I- I uh... huh.

I leaned against the counter top as I let the simple two words resonate in my head. Miss Stark. Did Tony tell him to call me that? Am I supposed to go by that now that Tony wants to reclaim me? Am I even his to reclaim? The man that adopted me is dead, and his wife refused to sign her name as my mother. So does that mean I've been an orphan? So technically Tony could claim me to be his daughter.

But do I want that? I mean yeah, he's Tony Stark, but that doesn't mean I necessarily want him to be my father. A friend? Well yeah, he is practically the male representation of me but with a lot more money. Like, a lot more money.

If he really wanted to be my father, than he wouldn't have given me up. That's what I have to keep in mind. He can't just give me away to some other man to raise me then step back in and play dad. It's not right.

"Whatcha' thinkin' 'bout?"

I swiftly shot my head up to be greeted by a brunette that I didn't know was accompanying me. "Bucky how long have you been standing there?"

Bucky looked down at his non-existent watch then back at me, taking a bite from his plum, "About an hour or so."

"How long have I been standing here?" I asked suddenly perplexed.

He once again looked at his empty wrist then back at me, "About five minutes. You've been standing there staring at that apple basket deep in thought. For a minute I thought you were just having a really tough time deciding what apple you wanted. I was like 'damn, this girl takes her apples seriously'. Then I realized it was probably something else." Bucky shrugged, biting into his purple fruit once again. I chuckled, feeling at ease at the lighthearted conversation. "Wanna talk about it?"

"Jarvis called me Miss Stark." I stated dryly. I wasn't even exactly sure how I felt about it if I'm being honest. Just really conflicted. Grabbing an apple out of the basket, I took a bite.

"Must got you really worked up if you're eating a Styrofoam apple without flinching."

Cocking an eyebrow, I looked at the apple in my hand that was indeed, Styrofoam. "Who the actual hell puts fake apples in the kitchen?" I grumbled while tossing it in the garbage and spitting out the bite I took.

"Your up-to-debate-father, that's who." He dug around in the basket to toss me a presumably real one, in which I thanked him for. I looked at it skeptically and titled an eyebrow up at him, "Yes, it's real. I don't feel like messing with the girl that could steal the power from my arm and kill me with it."

"Keep that statement in mind Barnes." I played warned him. He pushed his hair out of his eyes as chuckled,

"So wanna tell me why the Stark title freaks you out?" He asked, tossing the pit of his plum past me and into the bin that contained my demolished fake apple.

I huffed, sending the stray hairs around my face flying. In a much more ranting manner, I told him what I was mentally debating before he broke me from my thoughts. "I can see why that would concern you. Leaving like that then wanting you back after you make a reappearance in his life." Bucky nodded thoughtfully.

"It makes me wonder if he's reclaiming me now that he knows about my abilities. I want to trust that that's not the reason, but it's hard when all of your life has been a lie. The only way I know about my past is through my file that I had to find myself. Tampering with one's memory can fuck them up, ya know?"

He sighed, "Yeah, I know what you mean." Barnes and I held eye contact for a few moments. If I hadn't have read his file during my hacking spree, I'd question it. I'm glad I ran into Bucky up here tonight, because he gets it. Albeit his case is a lot more... traumatizing, I still get it, and he gets me. "We've got a few things in common Cedar."

"More than you'd ever know." I replied, under my breath. But Bucky still caught it and sent me a questioning look, wanting me to elaborate, "That's a story for another time."

Slowly, he took a few hesitant steps closer to me. His flesh hand brushed gently against my arm, "If you wanna talk to someone, you've got me, alright?"

A soft smile tugged at the corners of my lips, "Alright." I nodded to him, "And you've got me, alright?"

A light chuckle left his lips as a similar smile graces his face, "Alright." His hand moved from my arm to ruffle my hair, "Get some sleep kid, I heard Nat and Steve talking about getting you started training tomorrow."

"Oh fuck that." I laughed at the thought of me training.

"Either that or you could accompany me in my run around Central Park bright and early." He offered.

"Run? The entire Central Park? I think I may have to pass on that one buddy."

He smiled and cocked his head at me, "Not one for physical activity?"

"Not one for any activity."

"Oh Cedar, you've got some fun in store with us then." He began walking off towards the elevator that carried me up here.

"Night Buck." I called to him before the doors could shut.

"Night Cedar."