CHURLISH | james b. barnes

[ 6 ]

Of magic and aliens.

She felt sympathy swell in her chest—the poor children hadn't even known what they'd been getting into—but she wasn't sure if James would be as understanding. It would be difficult for James to wrap his mind around the fact someone had volunteered, whether or not they were children. Unless—unless that was merely Winter's behavior and Lucy just forgot to differentiate him from James again.

She winced, a fresh wave of guilt riddling her shoulders.

It seemed she couldn't give up certain thoughts and habits. In that aspect, it was slightly easier for James, because his memories were not as sharp.

Lucy, on the other hand, remembered willingly allowing her to be subjected to Winter's violence because she deserved it and he needed to release all of his emotions before any of the agents noticed.

She stood from her seat at the kitchen table, walking towards the front door, where Steve, James and Tony were, cutting pieces of wood in the front yard.

She bit the inside of her lip, uncertain of how she should approach Steve.

Her eyes flicked to James as she shut the front door, shoving her hands in her pockets. He broke a piece of wood with a heavy axe, wiping sweat off his brow, metal hand glinting in the sun. He glanced at her and Lucy felt her cheeks heat up at the scene in front of her.

She padded forwards across the grass and James dropped the axe to the floor.

Tony and Steve glanced at her as she leaned forwards and nuzzled into the crook of his neck. James's arms moved to wrap around her easily, his gaze gentle.

"Hey." He said softly. "Didn't mean to walk out on you. The kids are playing with Apollo."

Lucy sighed against his neck, holding onto him for a little bit longer because they would be away from each other for so so long—

James nuzzled back into her.

She pulled back from him as Tony cleared his throat rather dramatically. She glanced at him for a second before letting her eyes flick to Steve. He was looking away from the pair, eyes squinted to combat the sun glaring at him.

"Steve." She called softly, taking a careful step forward. "I'm. . ."

"Sorry?" Steve finished, raising an eyebrow.

Lucy winced, nodding her head.

"We thought. . .because—well—there was no correlation we had with Clint—we didn't expect him to bring us here but—" she stammered, stumbling over words as she thought of what to say.

Steve's lips quirked upwards slightly, but he didn't look. . .well. He looked just as tired as everyone else did, and Lucy wondered what exactly Wanda had shown him.

"It's okay, Lucy." Steve said. "I'm not upset—well, I was. But, I get it. I read the files so I know—I know. And the whole thing with Pierce—I understand now. So. . .we're okay."

He gave her a meek smile.

Lucy never thought he'd see him become so weary.

"Oh." Lucy sounded dumbfounded. "I—thank you, Steve."

He nodded his head, before grabbing another log, preparing to split it. She glanced at Tony as he swung his axe with a huff, breaking the wood in half with slight difficulty. James and Steve had accumulated the most wood, and Lucy wondered if they were trying to make it a competition.

She cleared her throat, glancing across the field.

"Where did Thor go?" She asked, hoping he'd somehow managed to find Loki within the year.