Bound By Legacy

Wyoming

It's nearly pitch black when we finally land in the vast country. As we disembark our log cabin is clearly visible just beyond the clearing. It's one of Tony's old hideaways in fact it dates back to Howard's time, my time. This knowledge had deterred me, knowing there might still be ghosts left behind, but Happy had reassured me that it had been cleared out of anything that might trigger memories. 

JENNA closes up shop behind us as we move down a little makeshift path that has clearly seen better days. Pepper had come with a few others to clear out the house, just as she did with all of Tony's little hideaways. It must have been incredibly hard for her to do, but I am grateful to her because without that we might not have taken a break. When we were deciding where to go on our honeymoon we had originally not even planned one, but with my recent behavior it became apparent to both of us that a break from the kids and the city might not be such a bad idea. We didn't want to go anywhere busy but still needed to be close enough to fly back at a moment's notice... because that's how we live now, ready for anything.

Once across the threshold  I let out a breath I was holding, as I do the cabin ignites with light. It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust, but when they do they take in my surroundings quickly. It's not as elaborate as I'd come to expect from Stark housing, in fact a lot of the stuff harkens back to the 50's.

"Did Stark ever even use this place?" James asks from the fireplace mantel. I look around once more taking in the finer detail.

"No... I think this was Howard's fallout plan back in the day." We of course both know the extent of the fear caused by the Cold War. "I'm sure there's a secret door somewhere that'll lead us to an underground bunker." I look up at him with a smile. I'd gone through all the letters from Howard I'd found at Tony's memoriam he had quite a few fallout options planned. Bucky smiles back at me. We look at each other for a moment before he turns to the kitchen. 

"You hungry?" He asks. 

I raise my eyebrows. "What? You're gonna cook?" I ask walking across the living room to the kitchen. He opens the fridge, which has been restocked, just as Happy had said. 

"I did live on my own for quite a few years ya know." He pulls out some beef from the freezer. "I lived in Romania for a long time too... But you already know that." I pull up a chair to the kitchen island and rest my chin in my hands just to watch him. We're able to hold a relatively light hearted conversation. We smile and laugh together as he cooks and I look on. We're able to forget everything else happening in the background and just focus on being a married couple without a care.

When dinner's cooked we set the little table in the corner and have a seat. Bucky explains the dish to me in great detail, noting how his mother had made it when he was a kid. It had brought back many childhood memories when he was trying to find himself again. He looks down when he says this and I reach across the table and grip his hand. He's struggling with things of the past just as I am, something I had not really noticed. He looks back up at me and brings my knuckles to his lips where he plants a light kiss. He squeezes it once more and then releases me to finish my soup. The rest of our meal is full of small talk. I'm the first to finish so I just lean back gently and beam across the table as he takes his final bites. He looks at me and his shoulders slump. "What?" He asks trying to hide his own smile.

"Nothing!" I say back no longer hiding my toothy grin. 

"You're laughing at me." He asks cocking his head to the side.

"I'm not laughing at you." I say putting on a straight face, I break into a giggle in .2 seconds. The truth is I had started to smile because I was happy, because I was here with him, and nothing else mattered. He smiles back and gets up quickly. He leans over slightly kissing me on my forehead and snatching up my dishes. I can't help but watch him longingly. Mundane life looks good on him, it always has. I just hope we can keep it this way for a time.