Talia lay with her head on his lap as she picked at the petals of a sunflower Bucky had brought her earlier that morning. He'd been so chipper and excitable as he'd shoved Steve out of the building and Talia along with him hours ago, pressing a bouquet of sunflowers into her hands and telling her to 'just go with it and enjoy a day off'.
Talia sighed as Steve's fingers twisted her hair, braiding small sections as he smiled to himself. The last six weeks had flown by in a blur of taffeta and roses and string quartets. It had been both exhilarating and draining, romantic and pedantic, and Talia was tired.
"So Buck's in charge of reigning Tony in," Steve mumbled as he pushed daisies into the braids hidden in red waves.
"Which means a small wedding is completely out of the window, right?" Talia grinned as she glanced up at him, bringing the flower up above her eyes to shield from the glare of the sun.
Steve grinned as he leant down and pressed a tender kiss against her lips.
"Oh yeah," he laughed, "we can rip that dream right up and just throw it out."
Talia sighed again. Nausea rolled over her in a slow wave as she thought of standing in front of the hundreds of people Tony would invite and her heart quickened with the fear. She felt the soft brush of Steve's fingers smoothing out the worry lines on her forehead as he scrunched his face up before smiling down at her.
"What's on your mind?" His fingers traced down to her lips, brushing over them and tugging them up into a small smile as she giggled.
"Just thinking of all the things I do because I love you." She pushed herself up quickly, twisting round so that she could face him fully and pressing a quick kiss to the corner of his lips. He moved his face quickly, trapping her lips with his own as she grinned, and pulled her closer, draping her over his lap. He smothered her in kisses as she squealed, his lips moving from her mouth to her neck and her collarbone. His fingers squeezed at her side, tickling as he chuckled against her skin.
"I love you too my Runaway, so much." He kissed her gently one last time before pulling back and running his hand across the length of the soft summer dress she wore. The pale yellow was speckled with flecks of lavender, the thick straps tied in soft bows on her shoulders and the fabric pooling down to her feet. His fingers trailed along the cup of her breasts and down to her stomach. He moved slowly over her before trailing down the side of her thigh and resting his hand just above her knee, his thumb moving in soothing circles as she put her head on his shoulder and breathed deep.
"So," she mused aloud, "Nat is working with Wanda on the details, whatever that means, Vision is sorting the ceremony, Tony is being Tony and I think Bucky is just trying not to spontaneously combust. Really, there's nothing else for us to do other than show up and look pretty."
"Sounds easy enough," Steve shrugged as he gazed out over the park filled with people enjoying picnics in the sun and the children running through the crowds. "But, we still have one thing to decide."
"Oh?" Talia furrowed her brow. She thought it was all sorted.
"Who's walking you down the aisle?" Steve pressed a kiss into her hair. "I know Bruce would in a heartbeat, and you did walk Nat so she's a great option. Vision would probably short circuit but it would mean the world to him. The choice is yours."
"Mhmm." She closed her eyes as a soft breeze ruffled the air around them and brushed over her skin. "I was kind of thinking maybe I could do something different."
Steve waited patiently for Talia to elaborate.
"I was alone for so much of my life Steve." Her voice was calm and soft but Steve's heart ached with the sadness wrought within it. "And, well, I don't think it makes sense to have someone give me away when I didn't have anyone keeping me for so long. I love Natasha with my whole heart, I really do, but she is my maid of honour and I want her to focus on that, because I'm going to need her help a lot. And Bruce is wonderful, but I would feel weird with him giving me away."
"And Vision?" Steve prompted gently.
"Vision would probably understand what I want to do more than anyone else would actually. I entered this world that you all feel so confident and comfortable in with so much fear and when I met you, well lets just say clear blue eyes and a winning smile terrified me so much more than what you guys all did daily. But Vis? He just got it. He saw the fear and the pain and he just let me exist. Hell, he helped sneak me out when I was trying to avoid you." Talia laughed as Steve shook his head and grinned. "He listened when I just needed to talk, and he spoke when I needed to shut up and listen, and I think he'd think that the way I want to do it is just right for me. It's just right for us."
Steve smirked as her eyes sparkled with excitement as her nerves disappeared and she became more and more excited about her idea.
"Okay, I'm listening. What is this perfect plan my beautiful bride to be?"
*
"Drink Talia." Natasha pushed another glass over the counter of the garden bar towards where Talia sat and grinned. "This is your last girls night as a Romanoff. It changes in two days Munch."
Wanda smiled softly from the corner, her eyes lighting in a red tint as she lifted a bottle of scotch from behind the bar, never moving from her spot on the reclined deck chair. Talia laughed as she followed the wisps of red with her eyes and then glanced around her. It was perfectly peaceful out here, hidden away on the rooftop of the compound, and she felt contented. She swirled the concoction Natasha had poured in her glass without lifting it to her lips and gazed out over the fields below and let her mind wander.
As the flicker of the flames that warmed them danced in the corner of her eye she thought back to that first encounter and she smiled softly to herself.
*
"Going to come in or just lurk in the doorway?" She had snipped. Even glancing at him from the corner of her eye had her heart pounding and she knew as she appraised him standing against the doorframe, his hands in his pockets and a small frown scratching a deep v into his brow, that she would need to keep things cold with him.
She watched his eyes trace the shape of her, assessing her and analysing her as he took a step forwards and her chest ached. She told herself it was the stress of the past week; of running and hiding, fighting and killing. She ached because she was tired, not because he was staring at her with ice blue eyes and a plan forming beneath the waves.
"So you're Nat's sister then?"
How could she have known that five words from him that day could lead to this now; her heart full of love and passion and excitement and fear. Who knew that his awful spying would lead to a future she had once feared she would never see? Certainly not Talia Romanoff as she spat acidic words at him, determined to keep the ocean of blue out of her mind and her heart.
*
"She's hardly touched her drink," Wanda laughed, lifting her own glass to her lips. "Pre-big day nerves?"
Natasha watched her sister closely, noting the far off look in her eyes as she smiled to herself and ran her fingers over the rim of her glass again and again. She stared off into the distance, completely removed from the intimate bachelorette unfolding around her, and Natasha felt her heart warm. It was, perhaps, the most blissfully calm she had ever seen her sister. There were no nerves beneath the surface. Only clear, defined, love.
"Earth to Talia," Natasha cooed. "Your head is off in the clouds tonight."
Shaking her head clear of the misty memories from times passed, Talia laughed and Wanda pushed to her feet before putting on a staged Southern accent and flicking her hair over her shoulder. She took on a far off look as she widened her eyes and held a hand to her chest, melodrama dripping from her every movement, and Talia groaned.
"Oh my," Wanda crooned, "I just can't wait to be Mrs America. Oh Cap. You're just so wonderful!"
Talia kicked at Wanda as she collapsed into fits of laughter and Nat pursed her lips into a tight smile.
"Oh my god," Talia huffed, "Stop. You aren't even close and besides I do not sound like that."
"You're right," Nat agreed with a wicked smirk. "It's much more like this." Natasha stood beside her sister, taking her glass from her hands and swirling it softly as she took on a dazed expression. When she spoke there was a hint of a Russian accent that drawled through, pulling on her vowels and dragging her words down. "Who'd have thought a little Russian spy could land America's Ass. And what an ass it is!"
The three women cackled as they huddled together by the fire and Talia's heart soared.
"Not even close," Talia repeated, her eyes softening as she ran over the images her mind was preoccupied with before coming back to the present. She came back to a night filled with laughter and love and tears welled in her eyes.
*
"How are you feeling about the wedding now it's almost here Munch?" Natasha was lounged over her legs with a bottle in hand. The fire had dimmed and blankets had been pulled from somewhere in the compound below them, where Steve and the guys were playing pool and drinking too much.
Wanda sat on the floor beside her, watching as she lifted her glass almost to her lips but pulled it away to speak and she smiled warmly at her.
"I keep thinking that this isn't really going to happen," she admitted as she lowered her glass and sighed. Her eyes were wide and honest and Natasha squeezed her knee gently while Wanda shifted to stare up at her with sad understanding. "Steve is going to change his mind about this all, because this..." She sighed and shook her head, her eyes misting with tears of elation. "This is not a part of my reality. Honestly, I never thought I would know what it felt like to be this happy. And I am really happy Nat. I love him so much it scares me sometimes. I love him so much and I just know that no matter what happens, no matter if we wake up the day after tomorrow and the whole world has turned upside down, I'm going to walk down that aisle and I am going to say my vows and I am going to have something I really never thought I'd have again."
"Family." Wanda nodded as Natasha wiped away her own tears and Talia placed her glass on the side.
Taking both women's hands in her own and squeezing gently Talia raised her shoulders and closed her eyes. A gentle smile danced over her lips as blue washed over her and she drowned willingly.
"Family," she repeated.