The life of Jessica Stark (Bucky x OC)

Chapter 24

A few weeks had passed since the death of Jessica Stark. Tony and Bruce have thrown themselves into Jess's project whilst everyone else has tried to figure our their own way of mourning. Peter moved out of Jess's room and the tower completely. Bucky spends a lot of time on his own now, turning down anyone's requests of hanging out. Wanda and Natasha have tried to stick together, both knowing that they don't deal with things in the right way. Steve has spent a lot of time on missions, keeping himself busy in the best way he knows how. Christmas was soon approaching but everyone knew that it wouldn't be the same anymore, not without Jess

"FRIDAY call everyone to my floor" Sam asks the AI. People poured in, in their own time and sat own at the dinner table that hasn't been used since Jess's birthday "It's been a few weeks since the incident and no one has been in the same room as someone else for more than 5 minutes" Sam continues "Now I know it's difficult but I have made dinner for us to eat and we will all eat as a family, like she'd want"  

Nobody really said anything, only nods and mumbles of agreement

"Tony, Bruce... how are you getting on with the project?" Sam asks attempting to make conversation

"It's going good, we've made lots of progress haven't we Tony" Bruce replies, turning to Tony not really expecting a response 

"She was smarter than we thought" Tony responds surprising most people sat at the table 

"I called her today..." Bucky agonized, everyone stopped eating and looked at him half sadly and half expectantly like they were waiting for him to say she picked up " I was watching a show she recommended and something happened and I didn't think, I just took out my phone and called her" Bucky looked down at him plate so the other didn't see the tears forming in his eyes "It was only after a few rings when I realised"

"Buck..." Natasha begins to comfort him but he holds up a hand 

"It's ok, sometimes when I miss her I get FRIDAY to bring up her videos and I just listen to her... it helps"

"I replay her last message a lot" Tony admits, heading turning from Bucky to him this time "Just to hear her say I love you" 

"I feel sorry for FRIDAY" Pietro tries to lighten the mood "The poor robot has to listen to the same thing over and over" A few laughs were attempted 

"I believe it is why Miss Stark made the video Mr Maximoff, for your benefit... It is an honour to fulfil that request" FRIDAY says, receiving smiles from everyone

"She came to visit me, the night before..." Steve begins, unsure of whether he should continue "She told me she wasn't mad about what happened the night of her birthday and that she was still mine no matter what" He looks up slowly to face Tony "I didn't deserve it but I don't think that I would be as ok as I am now if she didn't" 

"Oh she was mad" Pietro mutters with a full mouth "She was mad for a good 7 hours then she went back to laughing and talking" Steve hangs his head shamefully until Pietro continues  "It wasn't so much about you, she kept yelling about someone called Barbie?" 

Natasha spits out her food and begins crying with laughter. Everyone stops eating abruptly and stares at the hysterical woman beside them 

"That's what we called her.." She begins once she's taken a breather from laughing "When we would sit and bitch about her, that's what we called her" 

Within that moment of silence, a blinding flash of light appear of the landing deck and two figure walk out of it. immediately, they're recognised as Thor and Loki

"What are they doing back here?" Steve questions, remembering the abrupt exit Loki made the day after the incident and Thor trailing soon after him. 

Loki's blue eyes were darker than the last time the Avengers saw him, but somehow matched everyone else's in that room. He looked dishevelled and less regal than usual. His head hung and once mischievous smile, replaced by a soft frown. Everybody stood up to greet the two gods but before anyone had the chance to speak, Loki just walks past the group not looking anyone in the eye. Thor sighs and looks at the floor