•Chapter Seventeen•
Heart to Heart
(Stark Tower)
The next morning, I was yet again up before dawn. I'm not sure why, but I couldn't sleep. Something just didn't feel right an I couldn't figure it out.
Käro still sleep on the floor beside my bed. On multiple occasions I had told him he could sleep on the end of my bed, but he turned it down every time. Something about not wanting to feel like the 'house hold dog.'
I sat Indian style and listened. I didn't do this often but I found it was comforting to just try to pick out every sound I could hear. I shut my eyes and just listened.
My heartbeat, soft and slowing. Käro's breathing. His heartbeat. The muted sound of the AC. The electric hum of my alarm clock. Tove's heartbeat in the room next to mine. Alrekr's even farther down the hall. Someone was in the kitchen.
My eyes flashed open.
To far. I still couldn't believe how much I could hear. How far I could see. How much I could smell. Feel. All because of the mark on my arm, my bond with Käro. I peeked at him and found him looking up at me from his spot on the floor. I must have woke him up when I jumped.
"Litenrev, are you okay?" Little Fox. Because I was little and clever like one. Another one of my many nicknames. At this point I had so many from so many different people, I wondered if even Lorien was one too.
"Just thinking." I answered, tracing the swirls of my mark with my finger. I pursed my lips and pushed back a thought that came to my head.
***
Natasha came and got me an hour later and informed me that we were training after breakfast. And that we included me, Alrekr, and who ever else she dragged in. I politely kicked Käro out and started getting ready.
I picked out a pair of black, athletic leggings and a loose grey t-shirt with, 'Kinda Care, Kinda Don't,' across the front in white lettering. I decided to wait to shower until after whatever torment Natasha was going to put us through. Shoeless, I slipped out of my room as I braided my hair.
Alrekr was waiting in the hallway. He was adorn in dark grey athletic sweatpants and blue t-shirt. He had on the bright red converse Clint made him get.
I felt my cheeks heat the moment I saw him.
"Good morning, Lorien." He greeted, a lop-sided grin on his lips. I'm dead.
"Mornin'." I blurted out when I finally found my voice. Alrekr chuckled, his own cheeks a shade of light pink. This was so awkward. Oh my Gods.
"Ummm....did Natasha tell you we were training after breakfast?"
I wrung my hands together. Alrekr nodded softly, "she did. I believe she also asked Tove."
Tove training, with Natasha. A brief moment of panic settled in my stomach. Tove was so gentle. I mean, not that she couldn't learn to fight but I couldn't imagine her being happy with it.
"I thought I was going to die the first time I trained with Natasha, and I grew up learning from other S.H.I.E.L.D agents. Did Tove say yes?"
Tove's door creaked open next to us, her silver eyes shimmered through the space.
"She'll go easy on me, won't she?" Tove squeaked. So she said yes.
"Yeah, she will." Hopefully.
Tove bit her lip, still hovering behind the protection of her door. My brows furrowed, "are you alright?"
Tove flushed instantly, covering her face with one of her hands. "Lady Natasha said it would be easier to train if I wore pants. She gave me of yours I think. I don't....they're weird....I'm not...."
She trailed off. Oh.
"They can't be that bad," I said. "And she's right. But it isn't like you couldn't still fight in a dress but pants are definitely easier. Let me see."
Tove hesitated, shooting a nervous glance at Alrekr and then back at me.
Alrekr caught the look and tapped my arm softly. "I'll go ahead to breakfast. Give you two space."
I nodded and he hurried down the hallway. Once he rounded the corner, I turned back to Tove. Her cheeks were as red as Alrekr's converse were.
***
It took some time, but I finally worked Tove's confidence up enough that she was comfortable to head to breakfast with me. Natasha had given her a pair of my leggings, probably since she knew that Tove would try to show up in a skirt. Which, though it was probably a good idea, didn't fare to well with the Asgardian who had worn dresses her entire life. Not only were they pants, they were leggings—which honestly aren't really even pants to begin with. But you can kinda imagine how she felt.
After that, I let her borrow one of my tee-shirts and we headed to the kitchen.
Breakfast was quick. Tove was stuck to my side the entire time and Alrekr to my other. Bucky hadn't shown up—and I hadn't seen him since before I left him the note. I wondered if it was him I had heard in the kitchen that morning. Steve disappeared to find him after wards but promised to be back to train.
Then, Natasha and Clint corralled us kids several floors down to where the exercise and training rooms were. This was the first time Tove had been down here and she was taking in the large floor mats, exercise equipment, and shooting range on the other side of the room, quite nervously. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet.
Clint took Alrekr to one of the other mats. I was still honestly scared that they were buddy buddy. If Alrekr started calling me munchkin, it won't matter if we like each other—I will snap.
This left Nat, Tove, and me. Natasha turned and nudged my arm, "who's up first?"
Tove instantly shook her head and backed up. Thanks friend. "I guess it's me."
Natasha nodded and we both stepped up on the mat. I have sparred the most with Natasha and my brother. Both, much better fighters then I am, obviously. The only down side—they both had totally different ways of teaching me. Where Loki briefly explained what we were going to do, and then he attacked, Natasha attacked first and explained later. I guess it was a way of getting me to react quickly without me being prepared. It was smart, but I was very big surprise the first time we sparred.
I thought I was going to die—and she had been going easy.
I wondered what she was going to do with Tove.
Natasha let me stretch but my eyes never left her as I did. Especially after a smirk crossed her lips when she caught me watching her.
"Come on, no trust?"
I gave her a dead pan look. Does she sometimes forget that I am sixteen? That I'm a kid?
"Let's do this," I sighed finally, spreading my feet apart a bit and lowering my center of balance. Settling on the balls of my feet and bending my knees slightly I was almost ready for whatever she would throw at me. Which would mostly include a lot of spins, flipping, and me lying the mat—wanting to die.
Natasha smirked and came at me.
***
Twenty minutes later and I was soaked in sweat and lying face down on the training mat. Everything hurt. My bruises were going to have bruises.
"Come on, Munchkin! You were doing great." Clint cheered jokingly from somewhere to my right. If I was not a good girl—or if I thought I could survive Loki after I did it—I would have probably tried flipping him off. I really didn't have the strength to do anything else.
"Shut your mouth Bird Man. I'm going to take a nap." I seethed.
Natasha poked my leg with her foot, "on the middle of floor?"
"Yes, I'm going to take a nap right here."
I heard someone laugh, well, more of a combination of someones laughing. The first was Steve, with his somehow ironic scent of apple pie, and the second was Bucky. The gun smoke and vanilla gave him away—put so did the uneven sound of his footsteps. It was something I had noticed—before he started avoiding me. His metal arm must have been much much more heavier then his other, and rightfully so. He walked with the smallest swagger, his arm weighing down his left side.
I peeked my head up. Both of them stood across the way, next to them was Tony, then Alrekr and Tove. Steve walked over to Clint and then they started going at it on the other mat. Slowly, and painfully, I started pushing myself up. Natasha stuck her hand out to me.
I gave her a look. "Sorry, don't trust you."
Natasha laughed, "good girl."
I grinned and made my way to my feet. I clambered off the mat, I passed Tove as she nervously waited for her turn. There was a look of slight horror in her eyes. I nudged her arm.
"She'll go easy on you, I promise."
Tove tried to give me a smile. Then Natasha called over to her. I patted her on the shoulder, "you'll do great."
I walked over to stand by Alrekr.
"The Lady Natasha's fighting is quite scary." Alrekr mused, his brown eyes fell to me. "Are you alright?"
I nodded, "just a little sore."
My gaze shifted back to Natasha and Tove. The former was teaching her the proper way to stand. Tove looked more nervous then anything, her hands were shaking but she nodded in understanding as Natasha spoke. I had told her over breakfast that if she got too anxious, to tell Natasha or me.
I felt eyes on the back of my head. Glancing in that direction, I found Bucky's steel blue gaze staring back at me. He still looked solemn and guilty. I pursed my lips, turning back around. Of course he felt guilty, he tried to assassinate my dad. But it had been out of his control so I didn't want him being consumed by grief. Even if could only take one thing off his shoulders, it would help. He wasn't bad. He wasn't evil.
I tapped Alrekr's arm gently. He looked down at me.
"I'll be right back." I mumbled. He nodded and I slipped away.
Bucky didn't particularly acknowledge me when I walked up beside him. He just kept his eyes forwarded and kept his arm pressed tightly to his side. Trying his hardest to ignore me standing there.
"Is your arm magnetic?"
Bucky instantly tensed. "What?"
"Is your arm magnetic?" I repeated.
Confusion lined his face as he finally looked down at me, "Why...why would you...?"
"Can I or can I not stick magnets to it?" I clarified. The next look that crossed his features was beyond simply confused. More like, I tried to kill your father, why the hell are you asking if you can stick magnets to my arm, confused.
"I think." He went still again after he answered. I wrung my hands together and I looked up at him.
"Do you know who my brother is?" I asked, he still didn't look at me. I pursed my lips before continuing. "His name is Loki, he's Thor's adopted brother....but Loki and me are biological. I only met him about two and a half years ago when he was brought down to Earth to continue making up war crimes he had committed during the attack on Manhattan."
The moment I said war crimes, Bucky tensed, eyes shifting towards me.
"He ended up escaping, and took me with him because my dad revealed that I was his sister. Slowly I started realizing that he wasn't this evil, heartless criminal that I had been told about growing up. He was hurt, he had been hurt by others. His mind corrupted and twisted. I decided that I was going to help him. Not everything that had happened was his fault and he needed to realize that, everyone needed to realize that.
"Now, here we are, two and a half years later and he's been regranted his title, thought of as a friend of the Avengers, and is the best older brother I could ever ask for. All because he forgave himself and let people help him."
The air was stagnant around him and if my hearing wasn't as enhanced as it was, I would have thought him not breathing. He clenched his fist and looked at the ground. He stared at the floor for a good solid minute before forcing himself to look back at me.
"I'm...I'm sorry." It came out like a rasp.
I shook my head, "don't be sorry. I've already forgiven you. It was not your fault."
And then I did something that probably scared the heck out of him. I threw my arms around him and hugged him.