Pre-Edit Count – 1,915 Words

Song I listened to for this chapter: Angel by Theory of a Deadman

Previously:

She says one word, as she opens everything to him, “Thrive.”

Now:

In that moment that she opens herself up to him, they find it is something they won’t be able to tell anyone about later.  It was light exploding around them as well as a massive download of facts and information, but once they recover they both know that no one is ready for the information, especially them.

The knowledge they received showed them more information about what Loki had found, and more about themselves. The half meanings and double entendre were to let others know how to help, IF they took the time to decipher what they had heard. The two now know more about what is to come, though it is still a general feeling of foreboding than actual details.  They also learned that this place on Earth had been set aside and prepared so it would be ready for them when they were able to step forward and take their places.

After the information exchange, the two traded a glance, for neither wanted to run the place, T’Challa could have all that fun.  But Wakanda itself had been blessed with many pluses over it’s time to make it ready for when these two needed it: A place to be able to start on their lifelong jobs.  It was to make sure they had a place to feel safe and protected, to let down their walls and just be themselves for a time before the next threat presents itself.  The whole country is self-aware of what is going on in it and around in a way that not even its residents know about.

Those lifelong jobs are for the two of them to be the Guardians of Earth:  They are to protect the Earth from what is to come. and without the two of them, there is no hope for the universe to survive. There are those who will help them, but these two will concentrate on protecting the Earth, while others defend it from the assaults coming at it in more directions than ever expected.

However, right then, neither of them can do anything about protecting the earth, so they decide to work on what they can.

What they mostly need to do is learn to take the gifts they have been given, and make them work for the betterment of all: For it is clear that what is to come will need the two of them working closely, cohesively.  Their gifts, their closeness, the new serum and everything that has happened over the course of their lives, was all so that if they chose to take up the task which had been laid out before them, they would be suited to it perfectly.

Bucky looks down at the woman for whom he has done so much just to gain this one chance.  He understands that she needed time to understand what he already had.  Bucky’d had nothing but time to think for all those decades when he had been hidden behind the curtain in his mind.  Bella had needed the time she had been denied by time and circumstance to deal with everything that had happened to her:  She had been busy battling for her life, as well as taking in the drastic changes in the world around her.

She had been in a bad relationship before her battle had even begun.  With the information he had now from talking to Steve, and what he had found out in the information transfer, he realized that there was every sign that if that relationship had continued, Edward would have controlled everything about her.  He had slowly been stripping Bella of the confidence she’d had before, making it easier for him and his sister to control her.

Even though Bella has plenty of confidence in herself, she has none in the social interactions around her. Bella had spent those formative years, which most used to develop those instinctive nuances, running behind her mother, making sure they had the things they needed, so they didn’t have to live on the streets. So, she had no idea what was going on; she thought that she had to sacrifice some parts of herself in order to have a relationship: That is what she had learned from reading books and watching her mother.  Hearing that the reason Renée and Charlie had never worked out was because Charlie had not given up his life in Forks just cemented that idea in her mind.  Even though she knows differently in the conscious part of her mind, it is still in the subconscious and reinforced by the siblings in the Cullen family that you had to give up freedoms to have a relationship.

While Bucky had never had a long-term relationship, he knows more than she does.  He’d watched his and Steve’s parents, and saw how loving relationships worked.  And while he might be backward in current times, his Shield needs to be treated the same way he would have treated a woman when he was younger; not that it will be a hardship to treat her the way she should be treated.  He has no idea when the changes happened, but he can’t understand much of what is considered the new normal anyway.

For in Steve’s and his generation were the one that acknowledged that women had more power than people thought they had at the time.  It makes him chuckle at how women want to do things on their own, thinking that plain courtesy strips them of power.  They had more power before in their day to day lives.  He can remember many times that his or Steve’s mom had listened to what was going on and told their husbands no, and their dads would just nod and follow what they said.

That’s not to say he isn’t glad they have the right to vote, and other freedoms they had fought for along the way. That had been one of the things he hadn’t understood back then; why the women in his life had no say in the way the country was run when they constituted more than half the population.  That doesn’t even take into account the fact that they deserve simple respect for the ability to bring forth future generations.

All in all, Bucky plans to treat her like he would have a lady from his time whom he wanted to have a relationship with.  He will spend time as well, showing Bella how strong she really is.  And that she doesn’t have to sacrifice anything to be with him.  Nobody should sacrifice themselves, especially who they are at their core, for a relationship.  At least not in any of the relationships that he has witnessed and wanted to emulate for himself.  Those had shown him that relationships are work, on both sides.  The willingness to give and take on both sides.  It seems that Bella thinks all the work should be on her…

He shakes his head slightly; no, she will find that she doesn’t have to sacrifice anything to have a relationship with him. He looks down at the woman who has decided to allow him into her heart, and nods to himself:  Bucky has a plan, and now he just needs to win her love for himself.

Looking back up, the Winter Soldier smiles at the thought that Loki is the one who helped him gain this chance.

When the two return to the palace, there is an evident change between the two with how close they are standing to each other.  Bella is greeted by her family, and Hope is the one who takes her away to talk, with Jasper soon joining them. She throws a look behind her at Bucky, hoping he will rescue her, only to find him in his own huddle.

Steve, T’Challa and Peter are staring at Bucky, with Scott imitating them, rubbing his chin as he stares.  They want to know what happened and what had changed.  Not that any of them are upset. To the contrary, actually; they are thrilled to have Bella where they can see and talk with her again, hopefully on a permanent basis now.

Suddenly, the rest of them realize that Scott is still there; they turn to raise their eyebrows at him. He raises his eyebrows back at them as he comments, “Well, I wasn’t going to join in on the quiz Bella side.  I figured that it would be better for me to be on this side.” He smiles wryly, there is no doubt that Bella will be deep in the details he doesn’t care about, so the males are the better bet.

No giggling, for one thing.

When Steve continues to stare at him, Scott first looks behind him and seeing that there’s no one there, shrugs as he puts his hands on his hips. “I’m not going anywhere.  The way I see it, Bella is going to be part of my family, and I have strong ideas on family.  So, deal with it.”  Then he smirks, “Not that there is much else going on around here.” He lifts his eyebrow at them, waiting for their comeback.

Giving a slight shake of his head, Bucky states, “Let him be here.  From what I’ve seen, he’s right about  becoming her family, and none of us can say anything about family.” Far be it be from him to say anything against something that seems to be a driving force in this group that he is joining.

Barely hiding his own smirk as things are falling into place, Peter asks, “So, what’s next?” He rubs his hands, wanting to get the show on the road.  He’s had to wait a long time for this time to come.

Shaking his head, Steve tells them all, “No, nonono.”  He holds out his hands as if to slow down everyone.  “I want to know what’s happened.  She’s been hiding for a week, then all of a sudden she comes in with you?  What happened?” He turns to Bucky, with his hands resting on his belt buckle, and waits for the explanation.

Elbowing T’Challa in the side gently, Scott comments, “He’s worse than a girl.  Maybe he should have gone with them?” He tilts his head towards where the women are discussing whatever it is women discuss, then cocks his head to the side as he watches Steve and Bucky.

A choked off surprised chuckle answers him, but T’Challa has to agree with Scott’s earlier statement.  It had been boring, the kingdom running itself.  In addition, he, too, was wondering what had happened to make Bella so relaxed.

He likes the petite brunette, and has felt protective of her ever since he heard of her plight.  Once it was revealed that she and Bucky were the two that the kingdom had been making itself ready for, his interest, which had mystified him, was understood.  In fact, to facilitate any needs they might have in the future, T’Challa has already let his people know about the development and they are readying themselves for anything that might be needed by these two people.

His attention is brought back to the conversation as Bucky sarcastically advises Steve, “You are worse than a girl you know that, punk?”  The sheer exasperation in his voice, as well as the odd note of familiarity, tells the males watching that this has been something they have talked about before.

Many, many times.

Falling back into the bantering they’ve had all their lives, Steve laughs, “And who was watching me kiss a girl while we were on the run, jerk?” His eyebrow is still raised, his hands are still resting on his belt buckle as he grinned at his best friend.

The remaining people are watching the two, all of them amused, understanding that this is a rare glimpse at the men behind the legends:  The true friendship existing between Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes.

Grimacing slightly, Bucky rubs the back of his neck as he returns the volley, “Not like there was much we could do but watch, punk! You two kissed right in front of us! And besides, there isn’t much to tell yet.” He is not blushing, nope.  Not at all.

Crossing his arms, Steve gives him a look to get him to continue. This is his sister they’re talking about. There has to be more to the story than ‘they just came back’. Not with how stubborn he knows Bella can be about things.

Seeing Steve isn’t going to give in, Bucky sighs and explains, “From what I saw, Loki talked to her.  He told her to decide between surviving and living.  To start thriving.  She then decided, with a lot of thought, that she would give me a chance and do as he suggested, to thrive.  When she agreed to that, we got a bunch of stuff dumped in our heads that doesn’t make a lot of sense yet.  For now, I am going to work on getting her to see me as her soulmate, and make sure she never regrets giving me this chance.” He looks over to the man he thinks of more like a brother than anything else: Ignoring the others staring at the two of them, to make sure Steve understands what he needs to know.

Otherwise, just like a girl, Stevie will just keep at him until he understood.

With that confession, Steve’s face gentles.  “She is going to be one lucky lady to have you.  I always wished that I had a sister you could marry.” Then he smiles, “And now that I do, you better do everything I know you are capable of.” The two share a look and then a nod of agreement. Bella is going to find herself treated better than she ever anticipated.

Unable to help himself, Scott fakes a tear as he comments in a loud aside to T’Challa, “It’s so romantic!”

He is quickly running down the hall from the looks on Steve’s and Bucky’s faces, and Peter and T’Challa are laughing.

Later that night, Bucky follows the slight pull he feels to Bella. Arriving at the top of the Palace, he finds Bella standing there, staring off into the night.  He has wanted to talk to her about some information T’Challa had given him on the Volturi.  Knowing what he does now about her past, he doesn’t want her to find out about it later.

The Wakandans have been following trends of certain people and events over the internet as far back as they could, so they can predict if, and when, trouble is coming, and hopefully end it quickly, or prevent it altogether.  They have able to follow the hits on tags they implemented, and search words, back to their ISPs and discovered that particular searches had come from the sleepy home town of Vampire Royalty in Volturi, Italy, and other remote cities in the States and Canada. All the searches on the internet, and in person, had been looking for where Bella Swan had gone when she disappeared from Forks to go to New York the first time. They had gotten worse as she had left Forks to go to Wakanda, as if there is  more than one group looking for her.  With what he and Steve had talked about, he suspects that there are two groups of people looking for her, now joined together as one.

None of them know why the activity has picked up even more in the past day, but they are going to watch the group to see if they are foolhardy enough to think that they can attack them at their new home, Wakanda itself.  If so, there will be many that will come to the defense of the country that is housing Captain America and his sister. No matter what the disagreements the Original Avengers team might have with Steve, Bella is one that most of them had liked, and would be willing to step in to protect her, an innocent to the issues floating around.

For now, Bucky plans to tell her what they know so she is aware that something is happening and won’t be taken by surprise when they do the full update with everyone the next night.  He also wants this time alone to connect some more.  Bucky will take any chance he has to talk to this amazing woman that is now connected to his heart.

His mind goes back to something that Peter had pointed out.  It will be hard to date his little warrior while they are trying to figure out what is going on with the Volturi, and with whatever is coming that they need to do.  But if Bucky is determined, he can find times where they can talk and just be themselves.  Instead of traditional dating, with movies and dinner, and only having small amounts of time to really talk, they will have moments of time where there are no distractions, where they can talk and get to know one another.

Bucky easily admits to himself that there is plenty to dinner and dancing that is beyond talking or anything else.  He will enjoy taking his little swan out dancing and feeling her body moving with his:  Even with the new dance moves that he has been watching on that internet channel thing Scott introduced him to when he asked to learn to dance in the current times.

With the idea of using the time to just talk and connect with her in that way in mind, Bucky makes his way beside her, smiling when Bella leans into him.  His arm comes out to pull her closer, and eventually in front of him, so he can keep her warm when he feels her slight shiver.  He covers her arms with his hands rubbing them to keep her warm, wishing he had a jacket to offer her.

“Chilly?” He asks, concerned.

She nods.  She knows that she can stand weather beyond the norm for humans, Bella can still feel cold and warmth.  For that matter, Bucky is comforting to lean against, and the heat radiating from his body into hers feels good.

While both remain silent for a bit longer, Bella takes a deep breath, then says, “This place is amazing. It seems like it is in the past, but then you see some of the amazing technological things they have.  This is what the rest of the world needs to be like.  Acknowledging nature and allowing it to thrive while they use clean energy to do their parts outside of it.” She doesn’t mind the silence, but she also wants to know Bucky’s thoughts.  If it takes her starting the conversation, then she will, though it certainly isn’t something she’s normally comfortable with.

Bucky’s head angles down to catch more of her scent as he answers her, “It helps that they achieved this once clean energy was available for them to use.  The world will get there, others like Stark are trying to get us here.” He doesn’t agree with the Accords, nor does he like Tony who, it seems to him, is the reason for the accords in the first place, not the rest of the Avengers.  But the man does work hard to protect those he cares for, as well as give the world clean energy to help them move into the future.

Bella nods, agreeing with him.  Still staring out into the forest, she finally just sighs as she relaxes completely into him, commenting, “You are so warm,” and his smell is masculine, of sandalwood and some male muskiness.  It’s something she has noticed since her change; the ability to smell the subtleties in each person’s scent.  While most males have some sort of musky smell, the way Bucky’s blends in with the sandalwood and the other notes of his scent makes it enjoyable to be encased in his embrace as she is.

He can’t help the chuckle, “Anytime you need me, just let me know.” Bucky gives her a kiss on the top of her head as he makes sure she is enclosed in his arms.

She turns her head to look up at him, and then grins at his amused grin.  “So how is this going to work?  I mean, I know Hope is going to drill me on the particulars, which is not a lot of fun. And Jasper has told me that he wants to talk with me to help me deal with the stuff with the Cullens.   But while they were talking, I was trying to think of how we go from here?” Her brown eyes watch his blue ones, to see what he thinks.

Thinking over her words, Bucky looks up into the night as he muses to her, “Peter talked to me about things, and he indicated that if we take moments like this, we can talk:  Date stuff, without the distractions of it all.  I really don’t know much beyond that, since this is far from my experience,” then Bucky looks down at her and grins, “I would still like to take you out for a drink and dancing, or a flick if we are truly awkward with each other.  But essentially, like Peter said, we can do all of that or we can just talk.”  Though he is still working on getting that night of dancing in.  He really loved dancing in the past, and hopes she will join him in that pastime now.

Blushing as she thought of the last time she danced at her prom, Bella informs him, “In my old body I would think you were crazy for the whole dancing idea, but I have no idea how I would be now with my balance.  Then there is the whole ‘minds connected’ thing.” She bites her lower lip, thinking of the chances she can have now, doing things that she had always wanted to do, but had long ago accepted that with her balance, she never will get to do them.

His hand reaches up to tug her lower lip out, and Bucky snickers, “I know you hate it, and I try not to use it.  It is only because there are a lot of years of others digging through my brain that I’m not bothered by you doing it.  At least when you do it, it feels like soft feathers, but warmer, going through my head.  Not the cold sterile feeling or the pain of being electrocuted.” He tells his body to not to react to her lip biting, which is why he removed it before it could get him in trouble.  Though he knows it is a habit of hers.

When Bucky feels her begin to protest, he shakes his head in denial as he explains his thought on the matter.  “Bella, we were given the connection for a reason. I am willing to let you get used to it, but I don’t want to ignore it.  I think there will come a time when we need to know what the other is doing so we can be better organized.  There is a reason for us being the Shield and her Warrior.”

His voice gentles, as he can still feel her reluctance, “There is much riding on us, but for now, I want us to be comfortable with each other.  I want what we have started to continue.  I want for you to never regret opening your heart to me.  So, you tell me what you want, and we go from there.” Remembering the sheer relief she had felt when Edward had told her that he couldn’t read her mind, he is trying to give her some time to realize their connection could be a good thing.

Bella is quiet as she thinks it over.  Finally, she tells him, “I don’t know what to do.  I never had time for relationships, and ended up turning to books for any idea on what to do.  Your ideas are appealing: I would like to find some things we can do together.  I hate the thought that our relationship could be all about fighting in battles.  I know you can find out the truth about people in those type of situations, but even then, those people find other things they like to do. Then there is the whole mind connection part that makes me feel like I will have no secrets from you.”  She sighs, but continues, “Thank you for giving me the time.  I am trying, and am more than willing to do what it takes for us to make this relationship work.”

Glad that she is truly going to attempt to let him in, Bucky quietly asks her, “Will you meet me tomorrow at the front of the palace?” He shifts slightly, rocking her, but it is mostly his nerves while waiting for her answer that makes him nervous.

Swaying with him, Bella tilts her head back again and smiles. “I would be happy to.”

With that, the two turn back to the view, only murmuring to each other questions and answers.  Forging that bond that they both craved.

Final count: 4,220

Fairfarren~