James Bucky Barnes, the former soldier, doesn't think he's got any gentleness left in him. But Grace Juniper Cunningham, the former child prodigy, strongly disagrees.
;
"𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯."
"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴�...
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"It's official," Tony Stark announced. "You're an Avenger, Gracie! Does anyone have a party popper? Maybe some champagne?"
I blinked, pausing in the doorway and staring around at the group. It had been two years since I'd seen any of the Avengers, two years since I quit my job in Tony's lab. It wasn't as hard to look them in the eye as I thought it would be.
Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, and Natasha Romanoff were sitting around one side of a long, oval table. Steve Rogers was standing behind me, still holding the door open for me as I hesitated in the entrance to the conference room.
"Hi, Tony," I said evenly. "Hard pass on the Avengers thing. And don't call me Gracie. I'm 25."
"Yes, but when I look at you, I see that 9 year old kid sitting on my lab counter, building an engine, accidentally calling me 'dad.'"
"It was only once. Stop bringing that up and learn to accept your role as my honorary weird uncle. On a good day."
"What am I on bad days?"
"The bane of my existence."
He scoffed. "Back atcha, magna cum laude."
"Let that go! You're the only person I know who's found a way to make fun of me for graduating from MIT at 17."
"I did that too, and I graduated summa cum laude. That's all I'm saying."
"I only took those B's so I could spend more time with you in the lab!" I said. But while we were talking, I'd been gravitating unconsciously toward the table, hesitation forgotten. I'd also forgotten the others in the room.
I sat down across from Tony. Steve followed, taking the chair next to me. I smiled uncertainly at Nat and Bruce. "Hey. I missed you both."
They'd both been quiet since I entered the room. When I realized how odd that was, for a split second, as the greeting left my mouth, I wanted to take it back. I wondered why they hated me—for neglecting their texts for two years or for leaving in the first place? Both?
But then Bruce gave me a sympathetic smile in return, and I knew he wasn't angry with me. I knew that look, and it was somehow worse. He felt bad for me.
"Good to see you around here again," Nat said casually.
Too casually, I thought. Okay. Nat was a little mad.
"It's a shame it's under these circumstances," Bruce added.
"Circumstances?" I asked.
"How much did Steve tell you?" Natasha asked, frowning.
"Nothing," I said. I turned to tilt my head at Steve confusedly.
He'd called me a couple of hours ago. Steve was the only one whose calls I still answered. He was tactful. Or, at least, wary of scaring me off. He treated our line of contact like a thin, snappable thread, and rarely asked more out of me than a minute of small talk as proof of life. Until now, apparently.
