#jbbarnes107

@jbbarnes107

James had given her a key to his apartment a few months ago, simply to quit walking into her picking the lock on his door. Natasha had been well-behaved and not used this power for evil (a matter of debate, surely), but it was the holidays. Nat herself didn't have a soul to spend the time with, and while there was plenty of work opportunities - she needed a break. And if she needed one, James sure as hell did too.

Finding the tree hadn't been a problem, plenty of places had been advertising, and getting it into James' apartment had involved a few sassy youths from the building and several crisp $20s. Nat had only had them bring it up to the apartment door, managing the set up herself. The matter of ornaments had been more of an issue, but her bank account could handle her indecision.

The scent of pine had made its way through the apartment, with the sounds of a Fred Astaire film in the background. Sitting in the middle of the floor surrounded by boxes of ornaments, lights, and probably more tinsel than absolutely necessary, Nat was sorting the boxes into piles.

Her hair was loosely tamed into a bun at the top of her head, several curls framing her face. She was wearing a long-sleeved shirt that was too large for her petite frame, shamelessly stolen from the closet of the super soldier who's home she had festively invaded.

Nat looked up when the door opened, an impish smile on her face when she met James' eyes. "Evenin', Sergeant Barnes," she said warmly. "Sam ratted you out and said you turned down the invite to spend Christmas with his family and asked if I could, quote, keep the grumpy old man company, end quote."

Not that she minded being around James (never, ever) but it was an excuse that held up a little bit better than a wet paper towel. Even when he frowned at her, James' face always put a girlish flutter in her stomach. Through every phase of his life, she'd been smitten; as an awkward girl first brought into the Red Room, to the man who was now finally getting the respect he deserved.

It took Sirius awhile, but after the breakup with Bucky- was it a breakup? They weren't exactly dating, but it felt like a breakup- he decided he needed to go out and do something to get over Bucky. It went better than he thought; he actually found a nice guy and went on a couple of dates with him. Sirius eventually took him home, and since they'd already gone on a few dates, it wasn't a meaningless hookup. As the guy was leaving the next morning, they ran into Bucky in the hall. Definitely not what Sirius would have wanted, especially when he saw the look on Bucky's face.

Sirius walked the guy out, and was surprised to see Bucky waiting for him outside his apartment when he went back upstairs. It was clear by Bucky's expression that he was upset, but wasn't Sirius doing what he'd told him to do? Then Bucky was grabbing his arm and dragging him into his apartment. Before Sirius could even ask for an explanation, Bucky was telling him he couldn't date that guy. And Sirius was pissed. Bucky had the audacity to be jealous when he'd told Sirius to date someone else? Sirius was not having it.

“We should probably just head home.” Because, their dates had pretty much bailed on them which Steve didn’t get. He knew why they would bail on him. The girl had probably only agreed to bring a friend because it was Bucky. But bailing on Bucky? Not something that Steve understood at all.

“Course, the food is still coming. So maybe we should eat it first?” A hand rubbed the back of his neck for a moment. Couldn’t exactly afford to just skip out on a meal at the moment.

Steve popped open the can of Coke and set it into the cup holder in the middle console, opening a second as he lounged back into the passenger seat. They had both decided to start their trip with heading down to DC, to do the usual museum and tourist thing. Steve hadn’t been back there since Project Insight crash-landed into the Potomac. Since he’d discovered his best friend was still alive.

He sipped his soda and turned to look at Bucky’s profile as he drove. He seemed relaxed, and to Steve it felt like centuries since he’d last seen his best friend (lover, soul mate) so at ease. 

Mona was pacing around the living room, muttering under her breath as if trying to work out a solution to what had befallen her. She couldn’t allow herself to get excited about the situation. As quickly as it had been bestowed upon her it could be taken away again, and she needed to be prepared for that.

She kept taking her phone out, intending to call her Aunt Rowan and then turning it off and putting it away again. What would she say? Who even knew if this would last long enough to be worth alerting the family. When she finally stopped pacing, she attempted to take a few deep, steadying breaths and then simply started sobbing.

“I deserve this. I don’t know what for specifically, but if this is a punishment it is an apt one.”

The routine is different now. Bucky picks up Aurora from school and Aurora loves it, she always ends up holding his hand as they walk, always talking about what happened at school as they walked to his apartment, aside from that she also makes things for him at school that he places on his refrigerator door. Charlotte is utterly in love with the routine, secretly Aurora loves him as a father figure.

“Can’t seem to put it back.” Bucky had dislocated his shoulder, his right one and he’d tried to pop it back into place but maybe it was the angle, he couldn’t quite get it to lock. He looked up at Nat. “Since I got back.” But Bucky was Bucky and previous trauma didn’t let him just accept anyone’s help. “You wanna give it a shot?”