Who: Kara Danvers Barnes and Bucky Barnes What: He's back Where: Super House When: Sunday afternoon Warnings: Endgame spoilers. Feels. Status: started in gdocs; will finish in comments
The past couple of months were easily the worst of Kara’s life. Upheaval, uncertainty, and change were constants in her life, but nothing she’d been through before could have possibly prepared her for life in Madison Valley. She’d lost everything before and yet, somehow, this was worse. Maybe because she’d been so young when Krypton was destroyed. Or maybe thanks to her years in the Phantom Zone, she simply had more distance from those losses. Either way, starting with Summer being sent home, her life here was on a massive downward spiral and there didn’t seem to be any way to stop it.
Bucky being sent home when things were so unsettled between them was absolutely the worst. Their marriage hadn’t been stable, so did she have the right to mourn his loss as his wife? What happened if he never returned? Or worse, he returned with no memories of their relationship? She still didn’t entirely understand what caused him to pull away so severely so how was she supposed to move past it?
When she found out he was back and did remember them, she was mostly relieved. It didn’t solve any of the problems that led to their separation, but it meant there was still a chance, however slim it might be, to fix whatever went wrong.
She was hesitant when she knocked on the door of the house. Even though it was still technically her home and she had a key, she didn’t feel right just walking in.
***
Bucky was taking the time to ease back into things after arriving back in town last week. He wasn't just magically better, still thought that maybe things were better off for Kara to find someone who's life wasn't so often threatened, someone who wasn't so expendable, but Molly was right in that it was up to Kara to decide that for herself. He just hadn't really gotten to the point where he was ready to start that conversation himself.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, that was out of his hands. When Molly told him to get the door, Bucky didn't think much of it, just wiped his hands on the dish towel he kept on his shoulder when he was cooking and headed for the front door. Didn't even bother to check it before opening because he trusted his daughter's abilities. She'd've said if it was a problem.
"Kara, hey," he greeted, surprise in his voice. He glanced over his shoulder and then stepped aside to open the door more fully. "Come on in." Bucky wasn't sure what the best way was to ask if she was here for him or someone else, but it was good to see her either way.
***
Kara was relieved when he opened the door and a quick once over showed that he seemed to be in relatively good shape. At least physically. There was no telling what he’d been through or how it affected him emotionally though.
“It’s good to see you,” she said. She really wanted to hug him, but she wasn’t sure if it would be welcome, so she resisted. “Are you… okay?”
This was a lot more awkward than it should have been and she hated that. She still loved him and hoped that they would be able to work things out, though she was grateful that she would at least be able to get some kind of closure if that wasn’t possible. “I missed you.” Maybe that was saying too much, but it was honest.
***
Her response indirectly answered his question. Bucky hadn't been hiding that he was back but he hadn't reached out to her so he did wonder who'd told her. Not enough to ask though.
"It's been...weird, adjusting back to Madison," he answered honestly. "I can tell you about it, if you want?" This was unknown territory for him. He had no idea how to navigate this conversation, what to say or how to anticipate what could come next. Bucky could admit that he'd missed her, that he wished things were different and that he could've done better for her, but how to come back from that and if he could, he didn't know.
The first step was to at least be more open with her than he had been. "I was just making dinner," Bucky explained. It was almost something normal for them, something they'd used to do.
***
“If you want to talk about it, sure,” Kara said. She didn’t want to push, but the idea of spending time with him in the kitchen seemed so normal that it was appealing. It also gave her a slight flare of hope that maybe things weren’t irreparably damaged between them.
She stepped inside and waited for him to head to the kitchen so she could follow. Feeling this uncomfortable in her own home was still a weird sensation to Kara, especially since the house didn’t feel like home at the moment. In fact, she didn’t get that feeling anywhere these days and she hated it. It reminded her far too much of her first years on Earth.
“What are you cooking?” she asked.
***
There wasn't a whole lot to tell, but it was a step. In what direction that step was, Bucky didn't know. He shut the door behind her and then led the way into the kitchen. He expected that she'd take a seat at the kitchen table and he moved back to the counter. "Barbeque today, I'm just working on the spice rub for the ribs." He'd already rubbed down one side and needed to do the other. Bucky flipped it over and used his human hand to gather up a fistful of spices before he rubbed down the meat.
"I wasn't back for long, only a few days. Banner, he reversed Thanos' first snap and brought everyone back. Strange and his people, they portaled us to the compound where the others were under attack from a younger version of Thanos." The time travel part was complicated and Bucky didn't pretend to understand it all.
"Won this time around, but not without losing some people. Nat, and Tony." It was a heavy loss, one he didn't think he was worth being part of those who'd been brought back because of it. That was a sentiment he wasn't sure anyone would agree with though, so he kept it to himself.
"How were things for you?" Bucky did hope that maybe she'd at least started to move on because she deserved someone better than him. Plus, that had been the whole point of pushing her away.
***
Sitting in the kitchen, watching him cook, felt almost normal. It was a feeling she'd been sorely missing the past couple of months. "Smells good," Kara said. His food was always good though. She wished she could make him see that he had plenty of skills and attributes that had nothing to do with his violent past.
She listened, relieved to hear that they'd managed to bring him back along with the others, though she hated hearing that they'd lost people. Especially Nat, who she knew was important to Bucky. "I'm sorry to hear that," she said. "Though I'm glad that everyone came back." Especially him, though she knew better than to say so. After as long as they'd been together, she could guess how he felt about it.
"They were... I don't know. Do you want the truth or do you want me to make you feel better?"