The Fall

158. Silently asking for a hug.

⚠️TW: implication/mention of human trafficking; implication/mention of SA ⚠️

NOVEMBER 10, 2019 — AVENGERS COMPOUND — BUCKY

"Barnes," Tony says as he opens the door.

"Tony."

"I assume you're here to ask where Réa is."

I nod. "I am."

Tony stays silent, his gaze fixed on me; the expression on his face is...not exactly angry, but not exactly friendly. Eventually, he speaks.

"I'm not going to tell you."

"Wh—"

"You hurt her. I doubt that was your intention, yet you did. Regardless of the 'why' or 'how', she's hurt." He pauses. "You ignored her...and you did it in front of everyone. Y—"

"I had to," I interject.

Tony scoffs, but before he can speak, I continue.

"I...if I had talked to her...if I'd even looked at her...I'd have..." I trail off, lightly shaking my head. "I'd have broken down in front of everyone. And I wasn't...I'm not—"

"Not ready to do talk about it. And if you did, in fact, 'break down', the others would poke and prod, and then come up with their own assumptions," Tony interrupts, his tone quiet.

I nod.

"Exactly."

"And Réa...she knows? Whatever it is?"

I nod again.

"Yeah. She does. And she's...she's known ever since she read all of the files that Nat leaked."

Tony nods; the two of us stand quietly for several long moments.

"She asked to borrow one of my sleeping bags...the ones I keep in the lab and the workshop for long nights. She was lucky," he gives a faint chuckle. "It was laundry day, so they were all up here, clean; I hadn't gotten around to taking them back downstairs yet." He clears his throat. "She said she was going to the pond."

"Thank you."

I turn to leave, but Tony speaks again.

"Bucky? Whatever it is..." he clears his throat again, "whatever it is, it doesn't change the fact that you are a good man. And that there isn't anyone better for my daughter."

His words cause tears to prick my eyes; I hold them back, but my voice is heavy with them when I speak.

"Thank you, Tony."

"You're welcome."

With a final nod, I turn and leave his suite.

When I get to the pond, I see Réa underneath the tree I got her, curled up in the sleeping bag, fast asleep. I quietly walk over to her, and gently scoop her up before staring back toward the compound.

We're halfway back when she stirs.

"Bucky?" she asks, her voice small, and the sound tugs at my heartstrings.

"Yeah, sweetheart. It's me. Go back to sleep."

"Okay," she murmurs, closing her eyes and cuddling into my chest.

When I reach her suite, I carry her to her bedroom, carefully laying her down on the bed.

"Are you going to stay?" she asks; I didn't realize she'd woken back up.