Trigger warning: this chapter contains a flashback to the night before Alessia met Clint: Aka themes of rape/sexual violence. this part of the fic will start when you see the row of asterisks ***** and another row will indicate the triggering part is over. its very short, and while it doesn't get too graphic, I wanted to make sure that anyone who wants to skip it is able to, especially since this only has a T rating.

Chapter Nineteen

Alessia changed out of her gown irritably. Even though it was only four o'clock, she put on the sweatpants and baggy tee shirt she'd been using as pajamas. She crawled into her bed and snuggled up under the covers. Why did it feel like the only person who was on her side was the megalomaniac who tried to take over the planet three years ago? She thought about calling her mom, but what could she say? Her parents didn't know about the Malngang, and she intended to keep it that way. They would only worry.

Loki was acting like a perfect prince charming. But he was the bad guy. And Wanda hadn't shown up after she'd gotten back. Why did everyone have to be there to judge her first decision as a ruler so poorly? They would all think she was an incompetent ditz. Stark would definitely think that. Clint. Natasha. Bucky.

When she thought of Bucky, a weird squirmy feeling twisted around in her belly. That yucky, awful feeling that she felt all too often in middle school and high school. She liked him. And he was way out of her league.

"As if defeating a warrior five times my size weren't enough fucking drama." She said into her pillow. "He's gonna kill me. and they're gonna blame Loki and it's gonna start a war that gets all of humanity wiped out."

Hot tears welled in her eyes, and for once she didn't try to hold them back. She just hugged her pillow. The only thing worse than feeling like she was whiling away the days before her ultimate demise and the destruction of earth, was feeling completely alone in it. Everyone seemed to think her decision was the wrong one. Only Loki seemed to support her, but how could she find a friend in him? He was the god of lies, she could never believe a word he said, no matter how true it rang in her heart. No matter how easy it would be to simply fall into him. He would tell her she was right, that she was a magnificent queen… because if she loved him than he could be more powerful.

She pressed her face into her pillow, smothering the sobs.

Natasha disapproved of her decision. Clint didn't seem to think it was the right move. Wanda didn't even show up-did she have anyone? Well, atleast Thor didn't act like she was a dead man walking. He was a nice guy. Maybe that could be enough. Just one friend. She didn't care if it was romantic or not. She just needed a friend.

A knock came from the door. Alessia quickly wiped her eyes and cleared her throat.

"Um, who is it?"

"It's me," Bucky's voice. Alessia's insides turned over. "Are you okay in there?"

"I'b fine." She said. The snot clogging up her voice was audible. She rolled out of the bed to grab the toilet paper from the bathroom. She faced the sink. In the mirror, her face looked wrecked by tears.

"It's just…" Bucky started saying, then trailed off for a few seconds. Alessia blew her nose as quietly as she could manage. Something scratched at the other side of the bedroom door.

"Alessia, these walls are thin." Bucky said finally.

Alessia's eyelids fluttered closed. He heard me.

She didn't respond. The scratch at the door came again, followed by a needy whine.

"Look, if you need someone to talk to. Just. you know, I'm only a few steps away." His voice sounded pained. Alessia opened her eyes to the mirror again. Red and puffy, black mascara tears running down her face. Couldn't she just fling the door open and hug Bucky and cry into his ridiculously muscular chest? Hadn't she done that very thing only yesterday morning?

"and... and if you don't want to talk to someone, you can always just pet Buttercup. I think she wants to see you." The scratching. The little puppy whine that came with it.

A fresh wave of tears rolled out of Alessia's eyes and she ran to the door. Hand on the knob, she hesitated. This felt important. If she opened this door now, would she be able to hold back things that should better be left unsaid? If she let Bucky in, would she cry her heart out and tell him she felt soul crushingly lonely and scared? Would she cling to him desperately and tell him that she just wanted to feel loved before she died? Would she kiss him through a waterfall of tears in the slim hope that he might kiss her back?

Yes. if she opened that door, Alessia knew that she wouldn't be able to stop herself from acting that way. Seconds ticked away. Still she held the knob, heart pounding. The scratch came again. Alessia took a deep, fortifying breath and clenched the knob in her fist.

She opened the door.

Bucky, quiet as he was, must have slipped away while she deliberated. The hallway was empty save Buttercup, who pranced happily into her room. Alessia stood there a moment feeling jilted.

"Bucky?" She said, a halfhearted whisper. She glanced around one last time before closing the door. Buttercup sat expectantly on the bed.

"Well, atleast I know he does actually like me, even if it's just as a friend." She told Buttercup. She slumped on the bed. Maybe she should just watch torchwood and lay around for the rest of the day. She could always ruin her friendship with Bucky later. She snuggled up with Buttercup and pulled her laptop from the nightstand.

"Grip the handle with your dominant hand closest to the hilt."

"Okay,"

"When you lift it, the sword should be an extension of your arm.

"Uh… how's this?"

Sif examined Alessia's hold on the weapon.

"Not bad, but straighten your back a bit more. and square your shoulders-much better."

They were training on the eighth floor again, but unlike Alessia's other teachers, Sif didn't allow the others to watch their training session. Like Reemanaskel's lessons, they were in private. It felt nice, not feeling the expectant eyes on her.

"Now when I say, I want you to lift the sword up and strike a blow on mine, alright? One, two, three, now!"

Clack.

The vibrations traveled unpleasantly up Alessia's elbows.

"Alright, now watch the way I do it, and try to copy me."

Alessia finished training at seven thirty, which left her a few hours to do whatever she wanted to before bed. She considered watching T.V, but it seemed like a waste of her time, considering the Malngang was in three weeks, and she wasn't sure that she'd-

Alessia pushed that thought away. She needed to stay positive as much as possible. That fact alone ruled out spending time with Clint. Though she considered him a good friend, he, as well as most of the others, seemed to think her chances of winning were slim, and it made spending time with them kind of a downer.

Yet the only people who didn't seem to think it was time to start planning her funeral were Bucky, Wanda, Thor and … Loki. not exactly a group that was going to mesh well with each other. She'd just hung out with Bucky a few days earlier, and since she was planning on taking up Wanda's invitation to play scrabble with her and vision later that week, she was left with either Thor or Loki.

She was heading back up to her room to take a shower when she ran into Steve and Sam.

"Hey, wassup?" She asked, trying to sound bright and perky so that Steve wouldn't look at her like she was a picture of a fallen soldier.

"Taking Steve on a night out." Sam said proudly. Steve wore a sheepish look. It seemed like this was something he had to be talked into.

"Oh yeah?" Alessia asked, intrigued. "You guys gonna hit up some new york bars?"

"That's the plan." Sam said. "You interested?"

"Unfortunately, my twenty first is still a few weeks away." Alessia said, somewhat glad for the easy excuse. She had no desire to spend the evening trotting from club to club.

"You're only twenty?" Steve asked, seeming a bit surprised.

"Well, actually, according to Reemanaskel, my seventh birthday was about two months ago." Alessia said with a shrug. "But that's Muspelian years. Besides, my I.D won't be valid for buying alcohol until the sixteenth, which is what really matters."

"I didn't know your birthday was coming up," Steve said. He and Sam shared a look, and Alessia immediately cursed herself. Last thing she wanted was for the avengers to throw her a birthday party.

"Well, its not, because my birthday just happened two months ago. November 16th is just the day my parents- well Grandma- found me- and anyway I hate cake, and I don't want presents- unless like, Tony wants to give me car or something, which I could actually kind of use- But don't tell him I said that!"

Steve and Sam both just laughed, and made for the elevator. Alessia was about to turn around and try to shower off her sweat and complete social awkwardness, when she remembered.

"Oh yeah, do you guys know where I could find Thor?"

"Right now?" Sam asked, scratching his chin. "He's taking Jane out to dinner tonight, but they might not have left yet. How come you need to see him?"

Alessia was caught a bit off guard at the prospect that Thor already had plans. Yet why shouldn't he? It was a Friday night, and it seemed like everyone was going out. She tried to sound casual as she said.

"Oh, actually, I had to ask him some question about like… space stuff. But, if he's going out… I'll probably just ask Loki instead."

Steve, who had been distracted by something on his phone while waiting by the elevator, looked up at this point.

"Loki?" He asked, skeptically. "Why don't you just ask Reemanaskel or Sif?"

Because Reemanaskel holds me up as an impossible queen figure, and I barely know Sif?

Alessia was drawing up blank. She was usually so good at coming up with lies in these situations. Steve's skeptical stare turned tense and the elevator arrived.

"I'd be careful with that guy if I were you." He said. Sam's brow creased as he looked from Steve to Alessia, but he shook his head and said nothing. They both entered the elevator while Alessia tried her hardest to think of a quip or comeback, but she came up empty as the the doors closed on Steve and Sam.

Alessia stomped her foot in frustration. "This is bullshit." She said in a heated whisper to herself. "Its none of their fucking business." She threaded her fingers in her hair and cursed herself for looking like an idiot in front of Captain America for the second time in two days.

Alessia deliberated about actually going down to Loki's sub-level prison cell all the while as she showered and dressed herself again. She wondered what he would say to her if she went out of her way to see him for no reason. More than that, she wondered what everyone else would say if they found out. Was Steve going to tell Clint? Would Natasha tell them it was all a ruse? Would Wanda correct her?

Alessia finally decided that since Sam and Steve already knew, she might as well go down and see Loki, since the damage was basically already done. Fuck, what was Clint going to say to her anyway?

Loki was being kept on the tenth-floor under ground. However, Stark's game floor was the thirty-sixth. She made a pit-stop there and was glad to find it completely empty of other people.

It was quite an impressive collection of games that Tony had stocked in there. A billiards table, air hockey, and a large round table being the centerpiece of it all. Two of the four walls of the room were floor-to-ceiling bookcases, fully packed with board games, while the other two walls had old-school arcade games like space invaders and pinball. If Alessia had known what was in here sooner, she'd honestly have been trying to convince everyone to do a game night.

She spent a few minutes looking over the board games trying to find something that worked with only two players. Unfortunately, most of the games that caught her eye required at least three, so she made a note of it to bring up when she saw Wanda and Vision for Scrabble.

She selected a couple of the games and went back to the elevator, hoping that bringing games would allow for more of an excuse for the visit and shift the focus off of her. She almost chickened out again, once on the elevator, but she forced herself to press the sub-level ten button.

The elevators opened to a long hallway that lead to another door. There were four guards waiting in the room, and they all tensed when the elevator opened.

"This floor is off-limits," One of the guards said. He was standing closest to the elevator and seemed to think Alessia had maybe ended up here by accident.

"This is where Loki is staying, isn't it?" She asked, stepping off the elevator with no regard to the four sentries, all tensing at her entrance.

"That information is confidential, you need a clearance level-one to be down here." Said another guard, one who seemed less likely to take bullshit than the first one.

Alessia wheeled around on him, some of the games she was holding rattled in her arms, but she was determined to practice her queenly death glare.

"Excuse me?" She asked. Be regal.

The guard was unimpressed. "You need a pass from Stark himself to be allowed entry in there."

"Do you know who I am?" She asked.

The guards all glanced at each other.

"An intern?" one guessed.

"I am the heir to the throne of Muspelheim!" She said as grandly as she could. "And I definitely have access to this floor!"

"So you can play Yahtzee with Loki?" One of the guards asked with a condescending smirk. She felt herself flush, and clutched at the games self consciously.

"How did you get in here?" A third guard asked.

"What do you mean? I took the elevator." She said indignantly.

"Should we call her in?" The no-bullshit-taking guard said.

"Better be safe," Said the last the guard. He pulled the talkie off of his chest.

Alessia was irritated that her queenly demeanor wasn't the super-power she had envisioned it would be. But she was sure that if they asked Tony- then he would be yet another person to know that she was visiting Loki.

Though the prospect irked her, she was pretty sure Stark would grant her access and not mention it to anyone. She realized a second later, however, that this is not what the guards were doing.

"Yeah, Happy? Calling in a possible security breach. She says she's that alien they're training but we think she might just be another one of this creep's fanatics."

Alessia's mouth dropped open. "You-WHAT?!" She was appalled. Were they saying they thought she was some kind of Loki-Fangirl? Where they saying he had those?!

Whoever the guard was talking to had obviously said something in response, because the guard said "Well she showed up with a bunch of board games and is trying to convince us she's a queen…."

"Oh my god, just call your boss and he'll tell you I'm allowed to be down here." Alessia groaned. This was humiliating.

"This could take a few minutes." said the nicer guard, who had first spoken to Alessia. "You should have gotten a permit before you came down here."

Alessia sighed but waited the extra five minutes for man on the other end of the talkie to check the security cameras and confirm her identity. After that apparently she was allowed in. Maybe Tony himself wasn't involved in this security protocol. Maybe he would never know she had visited Loki.

The guards opened the door at the end of the hall for her finally, and she was allowed into the room in the back.

The half that she walked into was divided from the back half by a glass wall, & it was in the back half that Loki was, laying on his bed and idly tossing an apple in the air and catching it over and over again.

When she walked in he stopped catching his apple and turned to look. He immediately sat up, surprise apparent in his tone and expression as he said: "Alessia?! What are you doing in here?"

"I thought you might be bored." She glanced at the apple he was holding and cocked an eyebrow. He glanced at the apple and grinned, chuckling slightly. He met her eyes, his still glinting with humor. "I suppose you might be right."

She knew she was dreaming as soon as she was in Dylan's car. The upholstery was peeling faux leather, and it smelled like cigarettes and old beer cans. The only light was the moon and Dylan's cigarette. They had eaten drive through fast food while he told her about football practice.

Now was the part he tossed his forty ounce out the window and asked her if she had had a good time so far. She never said anything back, because now was the time she started to realize that Dylan Mathis might have been the worst person she could have picked to end up alone with. He put out his cigarette on the dash of the car and leaned into the passenger seat to start kissing her. She tried to pull away but he just grabbed her.

"Dylan, stop, please, you're hurting me."

"C'mon Baby, stop squirming, I know you want me."

"No- No Dylan please stop, please stop, I don't think I can do this." He was pinning her to the seat now, on top of her, trapping her underneath him.

"What, what's the matter? Are you really a dyke like they all say?" His hands, which had been holding her arms painfully tight, moved to her chest, roughly grasping at her breasts.

"No, Dylan I just-"

"C'mon baby, if you didn't want me you wouldn't be here."

He started unzipping her pants now. She tried to push him off of her, but it wouldn't work. She was crying, begging, started screaming, and then-

Fire. everywhere. Her hands, her arms, her chest where he wouldn't stop touching her, burning him.

He sprung away from her with a shriek- a girly shriek, she had thought, somewhat satisfied for a second. But she wouldn't stop burning, didn't know how to make it go away.

"FREAK!" Dylan shouted at her, clutching at his raw hands. "YOU FUCKING FREAK!" She tried to open the car door to leave, but the flames were now engulfing the vehicle, and her hands melted the plastic handle. The fumes were making her dizzy. She was trapped in this car with Dylan. She was going to die.

The flames grew stronger, hotter, a whining noise came from the hood of the car. She had to get out. She felt like she was going to pass out, and her eyes were watering so badly she could barely see. She tried the door handle again and found the window crank. Relief flooded her as she realized the crank still worked, and in a frantic daze she rolled the window down and tumbled out. She ran from the car. A few feet to the lake where she plunged her still flaming hands into the water. She watched the lake water boil around her hands through tears. It had happened again. She hadn't been able to stop it.

An explosion behind her made her jolt. It was the car. Dylan… no.

She started running again. She was crying madly, kept falling down. This was the part of the dream where things started happening differently than they did in real life. She would only run through the woods for a few minutes before the dawn would come, and when dawn came, she would see Clint waiting for her at the edge of his property. She would run straight into him, and hug him. Sometimes she would say "I love you, dad." And sometimes she would say "Thank you." and sometimes she didn't say anything at all, but the dream always ended with Clint saving her, just like he did in real life.

Alessia got to the end of the forest. It was still night, and Clint was nowhere to be found. Confused she turned around and around. No. He was always here.

There. In the distance, a figure, it had to be him. She ran towards him, more frantically than ever. His back was to her. She yelled out to him, and he turned.

It was Loki. She stopped, fear gripping her. It was always Clint. He was the one who saved her. It was always Clint.

Loki held out his hand, smiled charmingly. Alessia couldn't feel her legs or her arms. Suddenly everything was black. She tried to wake up. She felt like she was floating in another dimension, one separate somehow from her brain. Up and down didn't exist here. Nothing felt like anything. This must be what it's like to be dead.

Suddenly Alessia landed on something hard. She gasped air into her lungs. Her arm and hip hurt where she had landed on them. Her other arm was caught in something- her blanket. She'd fallen off the bed.

She couldn't get her breathing to regulate. She kept gasping like she was suffocating. Her hands and feet felt numb and tingly, like she was still in that floating blackness. Nothing felt real. Nothing felt solid.

"Alessia?"

There was a tap at the door. It was Bucky's voice. "Are you okay? I heard a crash."

Alessia couldn't speak. Her breath wouldn't allow it.

There was a timid creak on the door, which quickly became the door slamming open.

"Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?"

Bucky was on the floor in a second, intense look on his face as he peered into Alessia's eyes in the darkness.

She still couldn't speak. Her breathing was loud and laboured and her hands were tingling so much it was like she couldn't feel them. She didn't notice herself doing it until afterwards, but she had grabbed Bucky's hands and was probably holding them painfully tight-well, at least one of them would have been too tight.

She noticed a second before he pulled his hands out of hers and pushed at her shoulders- pushing her away. Alessia might have felt spurned for a moment, if her anxiety hadn't eclipsed that emotion. But not a second later he was pulling her back to him, her back against his chest and his legs on either side of her. He folded her arms over her chest and put his hands over her wrists so that she was completely enclosed in him.

"Shhhh, just breathe." He said softly into her ear. "Hey, slow down a bit, breathe with me," he said, and started a slow deep inhale. Alessia could feel his chest filling up against her back. When he exhaled, his breath landed on her neck, causing goosebumps to cross her skin. She gripped at his hands again and tried to match his pace.

It took a few minutes, but eventually her breathing became normal, and her hands stopped tingling. She was slumped against his chest, feeling exhausted, thirsty, and was covered in a nervous sweat, but she felt normal again.

She licked her lips and tried to swallow. Her throat was so dry.

"Thank you." She said. Her voice cracked a little.

"No problem, doll." Bucky whispered back. He rubbed backs of her hands gently with his own. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah." She said. It seemed stupid now. She'd had the dream so many times before, why did she have this reaction now?

"Was it a nightmare?"

Alessia nodded into the darkness. They were so close he could feel everything she did.

There was a pause, and she could tell Bucky was debating whether to say something or not.

"Was it about the Malngang?" He asked finally.

"No." Alessia replied.

Bucky didn't say anything back. Alessia realized it probably sounded like she was lying. But she didn't want to lie to Bucky. and she didn't want him to think that she was lying, either.

"It was about…" But it was so hard to say. Almost impossible. The only time she'd ever told anyone was right after it happened, to Clint and her parents.

"It's okay." Bucky said.

"No. Listen."

He didn't say anything.

"When I was younger, I knew this guy."

Silence. Could she make herself tell the whole story?

"It was my first date. I'd never even kissed a boy before."

He still didn't say anything, but the way he was holding her tensed slightly. His arms pulling her in closer to him, almost imperceptibly, like he was doing it without thinking.

"He- He- He" No, she couldn't say it. It was too much.

"I didn't want to- I was afraid to- I-" She tried it again. What were the words she was looking for? Why couldn't she just spit it out?

"I said no, but. He didn't. Didn't. Wouldn't stop."

Say it Alessia.

"I killed him."

She felt Bucky take a slow deep breath and then exhale when she said it. But his arms didn't move from hers, his gentle manner didn't change.

"I didn't know how to control my powers yet." Alessia went on, as if it needed further clarification.

"I understand." Bucky said. It was simple. His words, his tone, Alessia knew it was the truth.

"You… understand." It wasn't a question because she didn't doubt him, but if he understood, then that meant…

"I understand." He repeated softly. His breath was at her ear. "I have nightmares like that too."

After Alessia calmed down Bucky quietly asked her if she would be able to go back to sleep.

"I-I don't know. I don't think so."

"Well, it's two A.M, it's still too early to try to wake up."

Then he paused and said hesitantly: "Would you be able to sleep if you weren't by yourself?"

"Maybe…" She replied skeptically, not thinking about what, with hindsight, was clearly coming next.

"You can sleep in my room then-If you'd like to." Bucky offered, finishing with some doubt in his voice.

Alessia tried to remain cool when she answered. "If you don't mind it- Well, I mean yes. Thank you."

So Bucky gently pushed away from her enough to stand up, and Alessia followed. When she got up Alessia noticed for the first time that he wasn't wearing a shirt or pajama pants, just boxers. Determined not to blush enough to glow in the dark, Alessia could feel her heartbeat quickening. Maybe she should turn back and try to sleep in her own bed. He lead the way across the hall to his bedroom, and Alessia forced herself to follow. The Malngang was less than three weeks away. She couldn't let fear or awkwardness stop her from living her life right now.

Bucky's bedroom was a mirror of her own. Same full size bed, same side table and armchair, same curtains and sheets-but Bucky was much tidier than Alessia, and there weren't clothes strewn everywhere like in Alessia's room.

Bucky settled back into his bed, on the side closest to the wall, and shook out his blankets so that they were spread more evenly over both halves. Alessia couldn't make herself meet his eyes as she climbed in after him. She stayed close to the edge of the bed as she settled herself in. Though she had slept in a tent with Bucky before, Sam had been there too, and they'd all had their own sleeping bags. This… why had she agreed to this?

Her heart was hammering as she pulled the covers up to her chin. She was painfully aware of the fact that she wasn't wearing a bra, and that Bucky was barely wearing anything. What would she do if he rolled over to spoon her? What if she accidentally touched him when she slept?

But as the minutes ticked by, and Alessia's heart slowed to a normal rate, she was able to hear Bucky's breathing become slow and regular. He didn't snore exactly, but she could tell he was asleep. She relaxed. This was no different than the other times she'd slept near him. And the sound of him breathing and the heat from his body did make her feel safer. Safe enough to drift off.

Alessia woke up feeling sluggish and rolled over trying to get more comfortable. It was only then that she remembered she had slept with Bucky the night before.

He was laying with his back to her. Maybe if she just moved very slowly, he wouldn't notice her leaving. Then she could just pretend last night never happened.

She moved one leg closer to the edge of the bed experimentally. No reaction from Bucky. Then she moved the other leg. It disturbed the blanket they shared. She froze. A few seconds passed. She raised one of her arms to hold the blanket in place- but Bucky rolled onto his back.

"You know, for someone who supposedly doesn't get cold, you sure do hog the blankets alot." He said, voice rough and groggy.

He grabbed a handful of the blanket that, had, admittedly been on Alessia's side of the bed, and pulled it over himself.

"Sorry," Alessia whispered. She needed to get out of here. It was too late to pretend he wasn't awake, but she could still leave before it got weird.

She started getting up out of the bed again when Bucky let out a moan of discontent.

"Don't leave!" He whined. Alessia turned to see Bucky's heavy lidded face half buried in the pillow. He'd rolled over to face her. "You're warm." He added by way of explanation.

Alessia stayed wrapped in the blanket uncertainly.

"Did you sleep okay?" Bucky asked. His eyes were closed when Alessia glanced back over to him.

"Yeah- Thanks."

"Don't mention it. I should be thanking you. So warm." He opened his eyes and gave Alessia a sweet, groggy smile. Alessia instinctively buried her face into her pillow.

"You okay?"

"Mmhmm" She replied through the stuffing of the pillow.

Bucky was silent for a few moments and Alessia gently tried to give herself an internal pep-talk.

This is no big deal. Just two totally normal friends doing totally normal friend stuff. Like sleeping with each other. Okay poor choice of words. We didn't.. SLEEP TOGETHER. We just…

"What time do you have to start training this morning?" Bucky asked.

"Oh shit!" Alessia sat up at once, looking desperately for a clock.

"Woah, calm down, you're letting the cold in the bed." Bucky complained. But Alessia was already out of bed, looking for her phone, only to realize that of course it wasn't in here. But Bucky's clock said it was 5:45. She relaxed.

"I have to be down at seven," She said.

"Mmm. You have plenty of time, stay here."

But Alessia was already out of bed. She walked to the drawn curtains over Bucky's windows and pulled them back.

"Urrg!" Bucky groaned as the dim gray light hit his eyes. He pulled the covers over his face.

Alessia took a few moments to enjoy the view from the other side of the tower, but did have to admit that the one in her room was nicer. She drew the curtains shut so the light wouldn't bother Bucky.

She carefully picked her way towards the door in the semi-darkness, almost convinced that Bucky had fallen back asleep. But when she reached the door and started to open it he said "Leaving?"

"Yeah, I think I'm going to make something actually hot for breakfast for a change."

"Hmmm good idea." His voice was still rough from being asleep. Scratchy and deep. "I might join you."

"Well, you're going to have to get up and help if you want some, I'm not bringing you breakfast in bed."

He chuckled warmly, but the mattress creaked as he sat up.

"Meet you in the kitchen," Alessia said as she stepped out.

After washing her face and putting a sports bra on under her tee shirt, Alessia found Bucky had beat her to the kitchen. He was wearing a tee shirt and sweatpants and was starting the coffee. Then a match of rock-paper-scissors decided who got to make the waffles- Bucky won with rock, and Alessia shrugged her loss off and started making bacon instead.

Bucky poured two mugs of coffee just as the last strips of bacon were browning and the final scoop of waffle mix was sealed into the iron.

"How do you take your coffee?"

"Just a dash of milk, no sugar."

"Because you're sweet enough already?"

"Because I like it to taste as bitter as the tears of my enemies."

"You're adorable." Bucky said. He handed her the mug. Alessia didn't know how to respond, so she just cocked an eyebrow at him as she took the first sip of coffee. He smiled in return before taking a sip of his own mug and turning to unload the last waffles from the waffle maker. Alessia flipped the sizzling bacon over and tried to hide her smile from Bucky. She could get used to this.