Chapter Nineteen

Brand New Home

*Akilina's POV*

Disembodied voices surround me before I can finally identify them. Luckily I can, or else a full freak out would be eminent.

"I can do that. Please just get Steve to calm down. He's making me nervous." Natasha says and I hear a masculine sigh to my left, most likely from Steve.

"How do you know any of this information?" That's definitely Victoria's voice, but where is Bucky?

"I might have found out everything I could about her after meeting her." Natasha replies with absolutely no shame in her voice. "She's cool."

"Well, I guess it's a little flattering to have a stalker." I croak, finally opening my heavy eyes. As I thought, Steve is to my left with Victoria sitting down partly behind him. Natasha is perched on the arm of the chair Victoria is in and Sam is sitting by the door. But there's no James. Victoria also looks weird. "Slight makeover?" I ask her. She sighs and fades back into her normal self.

"I had to say we were related so the doctor would tell us what happened." She explains simply. I nod, not needing to understand.

"Anyways, we're glad to see you're awake." Steve says kindly. I nod at him in acknowledgement and hit the button to sit me up.

"Thanks, but where's James? Last thing I remember we were in a pretty sticky situation." I say, concerned to the point of making the heart monitor notice. Steve's eyebrows of disappointment make an appearance, so I look at everyone else to explain.

"Fellas, why don't you two make a coffee run? Maybe tell the nurses she'd awake?" Natasha suggests and the men are up and out in a second. I continue to look at her, assuming she's not going to bullshit me. Her eyes meet mine and are surprisingly gentle. "Bucky is fine. He's gone back to the Avengers tower with the rest of the team." Natasha says slowly. I blink.

"What?" is the only word that slips out of my mouth. Victoria stands and walks over to me, taking my hand in hers.

"Honey, it doesn't have anything to do with you. Bucky just feels so guilty after everything that happened that he's punishing himself by removing himself from you." She excuses his behavior with concern coloring her voice. I nod once, slowly.

"So, he left me here in the hospital with two seriously infected wounds and glass dotted in my thigh to go sit in the tower because he feels bad?" I repeat, barely believing the words. Victoria nods slowly in trepidation, but Natasha's smirking slightly. "What an ass!" I shout angrily and make the heart monitor beep behind me at a rapid pace.

"I know my ass is great, but please, calm down." Tony Stark walks in wearing a damn fine suit with a dozen nurses in tow. They slide pass him giggling and get to work on me, unhooking me from various things and hooking me into others. My temper simmers down a bit as confusion takes its place.

"Hey, T." Victoria says fondly and he shoots her a wink.

"Hey, Queen. Ready to go flying?" He asks me and I sigh in irritation.

"Can we maybe explain what's happening to the person it's happening to?" I say less than politely. He whistles.

"Seems she's in no better mood than the tin man back at the tower." My scowl deepens and he's quick to explain after receiving a warning glare from Victoria. "I'm flying you back to the tower to have my own doctors work on you. Since Queen here took a lesson from Clint and named you a new Avenger, you now count as another roommate. Welcome to the party, roomie!" He wiggles his fingers at me and Victoria walks over just to swat his shoulder. Natasha stands and sighs.

"Well, at least we get to ride on that fancy jet I'm sure you rode here in, Stark." She says happily. Tony rolls his eyes and gestures towards the door. Tony and Nat walk out and Victoria walks out last, waving at me before stepping out.

"Ready to go, sweetie?" A man asks in a surprisingly high voice, making me a little bitter just because of the happiness in it.

"Could I ask one favor, actually?" I ask him, noting his rosy cheeks and bright red hair.

"Course, honey. What do you need?" A bit of a southern drawl leaks from his mouth and I find myself smiling softly. I do like southern accents.

"Could you give me a sedative? I'd love to sleep through the whole flight." I request, needing more rest to calm myself down. He nods and turns to a pretty blonde, telling her what I want.

"It'll be waiting just before we get on the roof." He assures me and starts rolling me down the hallway, a couple meters behind the rest of the group. "How're you feeling otherwise?" Sighing, I shut my eyes and let myself think I'm floating on a cloud.

"I think I was just dumped through friends and now I have to go back and live in the same building as the guy. But physically? I'm fine. Had worse than this." I wave a hand at my body. He chuckles airily and hums.

"Aw, honey. I'm so sorry. You seem tough though. You've got a lot of scars for such a young woman." He remarks as we enter the elevator. My hand goes to my throat to fiddle with my dog tags but my fingers only touch skin. I realize my other clothes must be with someone else. Victoria, hopefully, since she said she was my sister.

"I'm a marine." I say simply, knowing that's usually enough to explain.

"Thank you for your service, hon." He says instantly. My heart warms at the words like it always does. "And don't you worry," he rolls me out of the elevator and onto the roof, taking the sedative from an awaiting nurse. "a beautiful girl like you will find a great guy in no time. Maybe even one of the cute ones in your room from earlier." He winks at me and makes me laugh.

"Thank you." I say gratefully as he injects me with the sedative. I guess that's the problem. I thought I already found my guy.

* * * * * * *

"Do I smell bacon and eggs?" I question, my eyes popping open as the smell drifts to my nose. "Huh." I make a small noise of surprise when I find no one is in the room I'm in, but I know that smell. I throw back the covers with my good arm and shimmy over to the edge of the bed, making sure the IV is on that side. Some light glints off a piece of metal on the bedside table and I smile when I see my dog tags. Immediately, I slip them on. They jingle as they settle between my breasts. Sighing, I run my thumb over James's name on the piece of metal and I decide to leave it there, for now. I place a hand on the drip and stand. I wobble like a penguin walking, but luckily remain upright. Heading over to a large black dresser, I get a change of clothes and change into loose boxers and a large t-shirt so my wounds aren't bothered by tight clothes. Slowly, I shuffle through some fancy, tinted glass doors towards the smell and sizzle of bacon. After a little walk, voices aid me in finding a living room and kitchen. I take a deep breath in and grin.

"Liya!" I hear Victoria shout shrilly and I jump slightly at the noise. My eyes find her in her original form and I smile slightly at her face. She seems like the mom of the group, although she's younger than most here.

"Victoria! I smelled bacon." I mock her tone and shuffle over to the table, nodding at Sam when he pulls a chair out for me. He sits next to me as Victoria scolds me.

"You should be in bed!" The team, all here except Bucky, laughs and shakes their head at her.

"Queen, she can be up and walk around. There's nothing wrong with her legs." Tony defends me although he seems a bit sleepy himself in red and gold boxers and a black tee.

"Amen to that. Look, I even brought my drip with me. If you didn't want me up you shouldn't have made bacon." I say as I reach for the plate, wincing when I reach a bit too far. Sam instantly grabs the entire plate of bacon and holds it out to me, letting me take as many as I want.

"I would have brought you some." Victoria grumbles as she sits across from me and next to Steve, whom I wave to with a piece of bacon. Steve kisses her cheek sweetly and her frown disappears instantly. I look back to Sam who still has the plate of bacon.

"You can set that down right there." I point to the spot between our two plates and he laughs, obeying happily.

"I think I'm in love with you." He says jokingly and I pat his shoulder while laughing dryly.

"You're not bad." I joke back, looking at his dark pretty eyes. I catch movement behind him and see James in the doorway, eyes already on me. My smile disappears and I lift my hand from Sam's shoulder, flipping Bucky off. I turn back to my plate of bacon and continue making nice small talk with Sam, Steve, and Victoria. Bucky doesn't show up again.

"Ms. Vasilieva?" A nice looking Asian woman appears behind me as I laugh at a terrible joke Sam just made about Steve. I turn towards her and my eyebrows pop up.

"Yes, ma'am?" I ask curiously.

"It's time for your treatment." She says calmly. I stand with Sam's help and start walking by her side through the room and down the hallway. "My name is Helen Cho. I'm in the employment of Tony Stark to heal you. It'll only take twenty minutes, so don't worry. We'll have you good as new in no time." I don't even question her words. Seeing Bucky has made me more frustrated than I care to admit and what I'd really like is answers, but it seems those are in short supply. We reach a smaller room than I expected and Helen begins talking to the others in it in a language I don't understand. She gestures to a table and I go lay on it, content to follow orders. Carefully, she removes the drip from me and puts a little band-aid on it. Cute. I shut my eyes and just breathe deeply as I listen to the calming noise of people talking in the background. "Now, this machine here will burn away the infectious tissue, then the other arm will regenerate it." My eyes snap open at that, shocked at her words.

"Uh...wow?" I say, then the machine turns on and Helen is telling me to remain extremely still. The woman could be a drill sergeant, she has such a commanding voice. I obey and only feel a weird tingling on my shoulder, then my side. The process is strangely calming, but I'd much rather be exercising. Just like Helen said, after twenty minutes I feel more awake and healthier than ever. She lets me sit up and removes the irritating IV from my arm.

"Alright. You've completely healed. You can go back to doing everything you'd normally do, but do mind your thigh. The small cuts are most likely only just scabbed." She tells me informatively as I move around like Pinocchio with no strings. I jump up and hug her, happy to be able to move.

"Thanks!" I say happily and just start running. I run around the hallways until I get back to my room, cheeks rosy and heart pumping. I look around for my bag, hoping someone put it in my room with me. I walk into the bathroom and stumble upon my bag. After digging though it and finding some exercise pants, tennies, and a sports bra to support my girls, I go back out to the hallway and start walking. I assume I'll run into some stairs or an elevator eventually. Instead, I run into Steve. "Oof!" My breath leaves me when I walk into the wall of a man, letting out a laugh when he prevents me from falling backwards.

"Liya! I'm so sorry!" He apologizes immediately, but I'm far too bubbly to be put down.

"You're fine, you're fine! I'm just going for a run since Helen fixed me up. You want to come?" I ask giddily. His lips twitch in amusement as he nods, turning around and walking beside me.

"Yes, thank you for the invitation." He says politely. I shake my head.

"Steve, you know you don't need to be formal with me, right? We're friends and teammates, which means you can be, I don't know, a normal man around me. Just Steve. 'Kay?" I ask, staring up at his light eyes. He smiles and nods.

"Alright. Thank you." He says, still polite. We get to the elevator and go down. He's standing still with his hands on the waistband of his sweatpants while I bounce up and down on my toes.

"You still have that engagement ring burning a hole in your pocket?" I tease lightly. He groans and his hand skims over his pocket, answering my question for me. "When are you going to pop the question?" I continue to pester him as we walk out of the elevator and to the front doors. He shrugs and shields his eyes from the bright sunlight when we step outside.

"I'm not good at timing things right. It's hard to know when the moment is perfect," he seems to realize something and his expression turns apologetic. "but we don't have to talk about this." We keep walking leisurely, just talking. I roll my eyes.

"First, feel free to make me feel uncomfortable at any time. It's good for the mind. Second, I'm not uncomfortable with this topic, especially since I brought it up. And third, my heart isn't bleeding over your best friend." Only the last bit is a lie and the words taste bitter as they leave my tongue. I continue to distract him from my fib. "Take my advice, bud. When two people have been together for as long as you two have and have been in love that whole time, it's just meant to be. Any time is the right time." I assure him with an easy smile. His smile comes easily too, the sun shining on his golden hair, making it seem like he has a halo. He and Bucky are such contrasting people. Steve's the sun to Bucky's moon.

"Thank you." He says and we continue walking, neither of us mentioning how we came out here to run. "He's sorry, you know. For upsetting you." I scoff.

"For upsetting me? You mean leaving and breaking up with me through his ex? Then not even coming to find me and explain things? Not even trying? God, I hope he's sorry. If I see him again he'll be even more sorry." I rant, temper flaring and making my skin get hot.

"He just feels guilty. He hasn't learned how to handle it yet." Steve continues defending him and as much as I'd like to continue getting angry, his words cause my anger to fade. I sigh and lift my face to the sun for a moment, feeling the heat touch me like fingers.

"We all feel guilty, Steve." I say bitterly, throwing my hair up with a spare hair tie on my wrist. He has no answer for that and follows suit when I start running, eventually my mind clears like it always does when I run and we race. I might cheat a little bit by putting a little wind behind me, but Steve still wins by meters. Sam finds us playfully shoving each other as we walk to the doors.

"Alright, alright. Play nice kiddies. Stark has all the costumes put out, time to choose." Steve nods and starts moving towards the elevator. I follow, confused, and Sam falls into step beside me.

"Costumes?" I question, my eyes going from Steve to Sam. Sam nods.

"That's right. Do you not know what holiday is coming up?" He asks playfully, grinning. I think for a moment. Chilly outside, colorful leaves, costumes...

"Halloween?" I take a guess.

"Glad to see that pretty head isn't empty." Sam teases and I shove him into the elevator before hopping in behind him.

"Tony throws a party every chance he gets. For Halloween, he gets a ton of costumes and lets us choose what we go as." Steve explains. We step out of the elevator and start walking down the hallway, but when they stop I keep going.

"I'm going to take a shower before trying on all those clothes." I explain and wave. They both nod and head into the room as I continue. I go back to the room I was in before and strip, hopping into the shower. I'm in and out in a second, a bit excited to dress up like someone else. It's been a long time since I've been to a party, one I was invited to anyways. After manipulating the water off me I put my still wet hair in a bun before it can get too crazy. I stare at my naked body in the mirror, nothing but my dog tags on. I run my finger over my name, then over James's. Before I can second guess myself, I take off his tag and set it on the counter, walking to my bag and getting dressed in jeans and a navy long-sleeved shirt with three little buttons on it. I tuck my tag under the cloth and head out.

My feet make that nice padding noise on the floor as I jog to the room Sam and Steve went into. I slip inside and find Sam and Steve are gone, already found their costumes I presume. Victoria, Natasha, and Wanda are here though, so I'm not alone.

"I don't know why you come in here, Victoria. You have enough dresses in your room to dress up as whatever you want." Natasha comments as I walk over towards the small group. Victoria sighs as Wanda giggles, shuffling over to make space for me.

"Tony likes to give presents. I know it makes him happy so I let it go, but if he gets me anything else with sequins I'm going to kill him." We all laugh lightly at that.

"See anything you like, Liya?" Natasha asks. I hum as I flip through the rack in front of us. Thankfully, there aren't a lot of silly costumes. Instead, there's beautiful dress after beautiful dress.

"Everything, actually. All of these things are beautiful." I stop when I come to a dark burgundy dress, floor length and soft.

"Oh, try that on for sure." Wanda says and I take the dress by the hanger to hold it out in front of me. There's a high collar but a little peek-a-boo hole in the middle of the chest to show off my girls and tattoo. One of them, anyway. There's a sideways diamond cut into the back and a slit that comes up just to the knee.

"Definitely." I agree and fold the fabric over my arm and continue looking. I only grab two more dresses before it's time to try them on. There are no rooms to go into, so we just move some racks in front of the doors and the windows and change. I save the burgundy dress for last and just have fun with the other girls. It's nice to feel average for a little bit with above average company. Eventually, everyone has chosen their costume and is going to look gorgeous. Wanda has chosen a floor length red mermaid style gown with a small red and orange crown. Natasha chooses Marilyn Monroe's famous white dress and makes us all laugh as she imitates the pose Marilyn did over the vent. Victoria chooses a cute sailor dress and a little hat to go with it. I, of course, choose the burgundy dress. After choosing, we each go our separate ways to hang our dresses up. After I do, I go out in search of Tony. I'd like to figure out the room arrangements before I get too comfortable. I walk around the floor twice before finding him, hunched over a table with a bunch of tools by his side. Walking in, I knock lightly on the glass door behind me to get his attention. He looks up, grease and sweat smeared over his brow.

"Hi, new girl. You know, I actually don't even know what your name is." He says honestly and makes me smirk.

"Liya." I tell him and step forward, jumping up on his table and sitting to his side. One of his eyebrows pops up and he smirks back at me.

"Tony. Now what can I do for you, beautiful?" He asks, putting his tools down and giving me his full attention.

"I was just wondering if the sleeping arrangements were set?" I start off, faltering when his smirk grows.

"Well, my bed is plenty big for the two of us, if that's what you're offering." He teases and I roll my eyes.

"I don't think you could handle me, Mr. Stark." I tease him back, liking the familiarity of the banter. He moves around in front of me and puts his hands on either side of my legs, careful not to touch. I fight my laugh as he looks up at me, doing an exaggerated smolder.

"Now, what makes you think that?" He says quietly, his tone a little deeper. I lean in and put a knuckle under his chin.

"Because I like to take up the whole bed and all the covers." I say in a serious tone and he bursts out laughing, pulling away from me. I grin and watch him laugh. This Tony seems much softer than the one on television.

"I think I like you. A lot, actually." He says genuinely as I hop down from the counter.

"I get that pretty often. Anyways, I was just wondering-"

"What the room situation is, yeah." He walks back over to the table and starts spinning a wrench in his hand. "The room you're in now was just for convenience. The top floor is yours, if you want it." He says and points at me with the wrench as I struggle to understand what he just said. "Actually, I don't even know the reason you're here. What makes you Avengers material, Li-li?" He tries out a nickname and I scrunch my nose.

"First, scratch that name. Second, I love the top floor and can't quite believe you just gave me the top floor. Thank you. Third, uh well, I can manipulate certain elements." I explain and thank him. He has a handsome, amused smile on his face as I ramble a bit. "Here, I'll show you." I step towards him and take his hand, holding it palm up in mine. "What's your favorite color?" I ask as heat travels through my body.

"Red." He responds curiously.

"Of course, it is." I whisper and he chuckles. I lift my hand not holding his and snap, making a little flame in my hand. His eyes widen as he focuses on it, lips parting in surprise.

"Incredible." He says under his breath and I smile. I wave my hand in small circles until the flame is a small tornado of orange and red. Tony's face looks like a child's as he stares at it, the flame reflecting in his dark eyes.

"You want to hold it? It won't burn you." I offer. He instantly nods and I tip my hand so the tornado dances over to his. He pulls his hand close to him and I let him, still spinning my finger to keep it going. Just to blow his mind, I change the colors around before allowing the flame to fade. Tony curls his fingers in and feels them.

"Amazing. You know, I could use something like that." His brain starts whirring and I shake my head at him.

"You need me, come find me. I'm happy to help." I say genuinely and he spins around to grab something, then turns back to me.

"Could you meld this together?" He asks excitedly. Laughing, I make my fingers into a little hand gun and feel the heat travel up to it, shooting out in a blue flame. I do as Tony asked and fuse the two pieces of metal as he watches, incredulous. When I'm done he puts the metal down and examines my work. After laying a hand on the metal, I suck the heat out so he doesn't burn himself. "It's perfect!" He exclaims. I laugh again and he looks at me, eyes sparkling. "Can we be best friends?" He asks, getting me to chuckle.

"If you never call me that nickname again, deal." I bargain and slip out of the lab before he can come up with something else for me to do. I head to the room I'm in now to get my things and move to the top floor, but someone is already inside. And I'd know that silhouette anywhere. "What the hell are you doing here?"

A/N; Hi! Hope you're enjoying the book so far! It was important for me to let the ladies, Nat and Liya, interact. They don't hate each other. That's very important. People in relationships make choices and they both respect the choices they and Bucky has made up until this point because it was mutual. There's no competition. Although, Natasha would murder Akilina if she didn't think she was worth Bucky's time. *sigh* What good friends.