No Winter Lasts Forever

Chapter Four

"How... in the hell... are you not winded?" Willow leaned against the brick wall of the diner they had just reached, almost four blocks from the apartment. She looked over at James and watched as he rolled his eyes at her but was smiling. That's an improvement.

"The diner you wanted to go to didn't make it a good enough run," James answered with a shrug of his shoulders. "But to answer your question, serum."

Willow sighed as she began to feel herself get her breath back. "You're lucky that I was able to keep up with you." She watched as James scoffed. "What?"

"I wasn't running at full speed. I made sure you could keep up," he told her, a lopsided smile now on his face.

"Way to make a girl feel better, James," Willow laughed. "I think I can breathe again though, are you ready to go in?"

"Is this diner as good as the one you talked about?" James asked.

Willow nodded. "It's actually a little better. I think you'll like it." She moved to stand straight again and walked over to the door. She waited until James was behind her before turning and walking inside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After their meal, Willow huffed and rubbed her stomach. "I should not have eaten so much," she complained. "We have such a long walk back."

James raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to tell me that you're tired?" He asked, amused.

Willow rolled her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest. "Shut up," she mumbled under her breath and stood up from their booth. "I'll go pay, and then we can head home." She made her way through the diner to the cash register. After paying for the food, she turned around and saw James watching her. Willow took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Come on, James," she said.

James nodded and followed her out of the diner and onto the sidewalk. "Where are we going now?"

"We don't have to go home yet if you want to." Willow turned and faced him with a small smile. "Do you have anywhere in mind?" She watched as James just shrugged and zipped up his leather jacket.

"There's a park nearby. Do you want to just go walking?" she asked. I have to get him to open up somehow.

"Sure," James replied. "That sounds okay."

Willow grinned. "Then follow me." She turned and led him down the street, then across the road to the entrance of the local park. "This park isn't huge, but it's peaceful."

"Peaceful sounds good," James agreed as he walked beside Willow and took in his surroundings. "Even though I missed being around people I knew, Wakanda was rather peaceful to live in for a while."

"It sounds like you really enjoyed being there," Willow commented. They turned a corner that began a trail, wanting to make the most out of their walk.

James nodded. "It was a nice place to recover, even if the first battle happened there."

"I understand that you opted to go back into cryo when you first arrived there," Willow said as she looked up at the fall leaves in the middle of changing their colors.

"I thought it was best," James replied. "I felt like a danger to everyone around me since they couldn't help free me from the hold HYDRA had on me."

Willow glanced over at James, seeing that he was looking down at his feet while he walked. "I understand Shuri was able to find something to help you within a couple of months. Then they started your therapy and began working on your new arm."

"Yeah. It was really rough at first. I had to adjust to life without the original arm for some time while also doing the mental therapy. But everyone was helpful."