Inheritance of ash

day three - part one

TW: mentions of self-harm and sexual assault

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The sun had barely managed to creep above the skyline when Vicky gave up pretending she might fall asleep. She hadn't even tried, really. Sleep meant dreams. Dreams meant Bucky. Or worse—possibly Loki.

So instead, she sat cross-legged on her bed, iPad balanced on her knees, Apple Pencil moving in slow, careful strokes.

She was drawing Bucky. Not how he looked now, hidden away behind that locked door, but the way she remembered him before all of this. Leaning in the kitchen doorway, hair tied back, smirking at Clint's dumb jokes, letting Sam annoy him without actually snapping. Human. Present. Alive.

Her eyes burned, but she didn't stop.

The door creaked open.

"V? You decent?" Wanda's voice floated in first.

Vicky blinked up, startled. "Yeah?"

Then Pietro slid in behind her, followed by Kate—who was dragging a very rumpled Peter Parker by the wrist. He looked like he'd been shoved directly out of bed and into the hallway, hair sticking up in six different directions, hoodie half-zipped, eyes still half-shut.

"What's happening?" Peter muttered groggily, rubbing his eyes.

"That's what I'd like to know," Vicky said, setting her iPad aside.

Kate wasted no time. "We have a plan."

"Kate," Wanda warned, still weary. "Are you sure—"

"Yes," Kate cut her off, waving a dismissive hand, then turning to Vicky and Peter. "You two are gonna help us. Operation: sneak into SHIELD and read Bucky's files."

Vicky blinked. "I'm sorry. We're going to what?"

Peter's head snapped up, instantly wide awake. "Absolutely not. Nope. No. What? Why?!"

Pietro shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged, like it was the simplest thing in the world. "So we can maybe find out what happened in the past. In detail. And maybe that'll tell us what happened this time."

The weight of his words hit the room. Even Kate didn't follow up with a quip.

"And how to help him," Wanda added quietly, after a beat.

Vicky looked at each of them, her chest heavy. And then she asked the only question that mattered: "How are we getting there?"

Peter spun on her. "Wait—you're actually considering this?"

Kate leaned forward, ignoring him, seizing the moment. "Yelena's bike. Pietro's bike."

Vicky gasped dramatically, clutching her chest. "Oh. My. God. Pietro has a motorcycle?!"

Wanda gave Vicky a look that was half mock glare, half very real glare.

"They already know you know," Pietro said dryly.

Vicky dropped the act, smirking.

Peter's jaw dropped for real. "Wait. What? He has a WHAT?! You KNEW?!"

Vicky just smiled sweetly.

"How do you know that?" Peter demanded.

Vicky muttered, not quite under her breath, "Rode backseat once."

Peter stared at her like she'd just confessed to a crime. "You—rode a motorcycle. With him?"

"I'm right here," Pietro said, offended.