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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"What did he do? I'm feeling stabby."
That was how Natasha answered her phone when I called her. No greeting.
"Nothing," I told her. "Well, something. But it was a while ago, apparently, and I got over it. I just don't remember getting over it."
"Did Barnes accidentally trigger a memory of him being a dick to you? As the first thing you've actually remembered about him? That's kind of hilarious."
"There are good ones too, right?"
"I'm sure there must be," Natasha said. Wanda nodded to me assuredly, having fully stepped out into the hall now to talk to me. She must've been putting the conversation together based on my side alone.
"I wish those would come back!" I said. "Can we go on the tour still? Are you busy now?"
"Not busy," Natasha said. "I cleared most of my day for this."
"Oh. Thanks."
I felt a pang of guilt at having almost blown her off completely, just because I'd gotten overwhelmed. I should've humored her and finished the tour earlier. She'd cleared most of her day for me, and I got the distinct impression that she didn't do that often.
"Where are you?"
"I'm on the floor with all the apartments still," I said.
Wanda got close to my face to yell into my phone. "I can take her wherever you need to meet her!"
"Was that Wanda? What did she say? I couldn't hear. Ask her to say it louder."
"You couldn't hear that? Here, you're on speaker now," I said, pulling the phone from my ear and switching it.
Wanda got close to it again anyway, raising her voice and enunciating exaggeratedly. "I said 'I CAN TAKE HER—'"
I stepped away from Wanda, pulling the phone with me. Natasha snickered. "I heard her the first time. But tell her I'm taking the lead on this. I've known you way longer. And I know way too much about you. You tell me your secrets all the time. Completely unsolicited, usually."
"Oh, should I stop doing that?"
"No!" she said quickly. "I like it. You tell me everything, I tell you nothing. It's a good balance."
"I don't think that sounds balanced."
"She's a spy, so she's both very private and very nosy," Wanda explained to me quietly. "You leave the room after talking to her and think 'How did I just give her my life story, and all she told me was that she likes Italian food?'"
"What's that bitch saying now? Is she talking about me?" Natasha asked, amusement in her voice.
"I said 'YOU'RE A SPY, SO—"
I moved away again. "Where did you want us to meet you?"
"In the lab. I can get there now. Just gotta ditch Steve."
