I'll Keep This Secret For You

Chapter 120

"Is it gonna snow?" Isla asks excitedly. "It's so cold!"

"Howard thinks it will soon." You nod eagerly.

"Yay! Yay! Yay!" You cheers.

Theo watches and then joins in, jumping up and down clumsily.

You walk the twins around in their stroller and watch happily as the two of them run around and around, playing chase and tag and roll around together, dodge in and out of rose bushes. Minty barks and chases them too which they find hilarious.

You haven't seen them this happy and carefree in forever. You just wish Luke would join in.

After a while when they come staggering back over to you with rosey cheeks, panting and tired, you take them back inside and send them off to go entertain themselves while you go and see Bucky.

"Hey you." You sigh as you walk over to him with the pram while the Isla and Theo go bolting straight past him and up the stairs.

"Hey." He smiles, his face lighting up. "I was wondering when you were going to come back."

"I think they've finally burnt off some energy." You sigh.

He lets out a chuckle and tries to adjust himself to be a bit more upright, clearly he's feeling a little better because he could hardly do that yesterday.

"So Steve was telling me about his conversation he had with Natasha and Sam last night." He grunts.

"Mhm, how was it? What do you guys think of them?" You ask curiously, wanting to know more about them.

"Well whatever Steve thinks I trust him on. He liked both of them very much. Sam even came and talked to me a little earlier this morning. He was going out for a run and I was already awake so we chatted for a while. He seems funny, good sense of humour and brave. I can see the loyalty already too. And Nat, well, I haven't actually talked to her yet, but I definitely want to. Turns out we really do have a lot in common. She just was a Russian spy and assassin as well, brought up from just a little girl in training so that it was the only thing she knew. Until she started to realise that things were a little sketchy coming from the guys she was working for, she reached out to Howard - who had had her on his radar anyway for a little while - and diverted to S.H.I.E.L.D. They did all the possible background checks they could on her, she had cut ties completely. Even killed one of her ol' assassin buddies to prove her allegiance." He explains.

You raise your eyebrows in shock. "Wow."

"Yeah, I know. That wasn't what I was expecting... but then again walking in here yesterday I wasn't expecting to meet anyone new at all let alone two new work colleagues when we've been a very tightly knit group these last few years."

"So what exactly are they going to be doing?" You frown.

He shrugs. "Apparently they're going to start training with us once we get back and they'll just slit into things wherever they are needed. Might be off the radar for a while at a time, might be right by our sides at other stages. Who knows how it'll work out?"

You nod and purse your lips trying to process it all.

                                     ~~~~

You and Bucky sit and talk for the next few hours and you even manage to get him up and to the dining room for lunch before you go call the kids. When Luke shows his face you'd think he was in an orphanage or something awful like that from the pouty expression he display and how little he talks.

After lunch you can't help but note that the temperature seems to have dropped significantly. You can feel goosebumps on your skin and have the desire to put on a jumper. Bucky is shivering too and looks a little paler again. Steve seems fine while Peggy has wrapped her shall around her a little tighter. The kids have already disappeared back up to their room so there's no telling if they've noticed. Not seeing that much of them is good. Not only does it mean that you adults get a break but that they are being more independent and interacting with each other.