Sokovia ⇻ Age of Ultron [3]

chapter eight

Out of the corner of her eye, Kae spotted Bucky up on the second floor, peering out over the party from the mostly abandoned spot. She sunk back to the recess of their mind and let Winter go forward and into control.

"It's been a while hasn't it?" Winter asked as she sauntered up to her counterpart.

Bucky snorted lowly, "It's been less than five hours."

Winter grinned, "That's arguably a while."

"You know it isn't."

"Are you going to join the party?" The two of them looked down over the crowd from the glass hallway to where Steve and Sam were finishing up their game of pool.

Steve glanced up and waved at Bucky, who waved back. "I don't think so," he sighed, "I'm not ready to be around everyone yet."

"Don't be too hard on yourself," Winter patted his non-vibranium shoulder, "It's only been a year. You'll get there."

"Yeah..."

"You will," she bumped his shoulder against her own, "From one Winter Soldier to another."

The two of them stood in silence, shoulder to shoulder for a few minutes, even the other voices quiet. Soon enough, though, Steve and Sam could be heard going up the stairs, chatting away.

"If I had known it was going to be a firefight, I absolutely would have called," Steve told his friend.

"I'm not actually sorry," Sam teased, nodding at Bucky and Winter in acknowledgement, "I'm just trying to sound tough. I'm very happy doing my non-super day job. Avenging is your world."

"It's a crazy one," Winter laughed as the pair finally joined them.

"Hey, Buck," Steve hugged his platonic as a greeting.

Bucky smiled a bit, "Hey, punk."

"It's good to see you, Sam," Winter smiled smoothly, "You three have fun."

"Oh, just leave me with the super soldiers," he called after her as she began to walk towards the heart of the party.

She smirked, "You can handle them!"

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A few hours later, Alison was sitting next to the fireplace, every so often dipping her fingers into the flames while she talked to the other personalities. They had all had their fun, Gen's having included some of the weird mead Thor had brought, which had managed to get her tipsy for a few minutes before wearing off. The party was beginning to wind down and people were going home, so Alison had finally felt comfortable enough to enjoy the snacks provided next to the fire without her crowd-induced anxiety kicking in.

"Hey, Sparky," Tony's voice sounded from behind her and Alison turned to look at him, snuffing out the small flames that remained on her fingers off on her dress.

"Hi, Tony," her voice was soft and quiet, barely heard over the twenty or so people who were still in the large room talking and laughing, "It's a nice party."

"Are you going to come over there with the rest of us?" He quirked an eyebrow at her. "Or are you going to keep sitting over here by yourself?"

"I'm never really alone, Tony," Alison smiled, but still stood up, "I'd be happy to join you. What are you doing?"

"Well I'm about to send the rest of the stragglers off," Tony motioned to the few people that she didn't recognize as he talked, "Then it will just be us Avengers. And company."

"That sounds nice."

Tony hummed as he deposited her on the couches and then veered off to escort the rest of the guests out of the building. Already there was Clint, Esme, Darcy, Maria, and Helen. Alison sat lightly between Clint and the arm of the couch.

Soon enough, Thor plopped down next to Darcy after setting his hammer on the coffee table. Darcy punched his arm and the two of them began talking, though Alison didn't listen to what they were talking about. Instead she was thinking about changing places with Kae.

"We can switch if you want to," Kae offered, having heard her thoughts.

Alison nodded lightly, "You'll have more fun than I will."

Kae gave a mental equivalent of a hum of disagreement, but switched places with her nonetheless,

"Hey, Clint. Where'd you get the drumsticks?"

Hello again! Like I said in the previous author's note, feel free to ask any questions about the situation with Bucky since I haven't posted all of Washington yet. I hope you've all had a fantastic week and will have a wonderful week to come.

~ Aria :D