Lucky Penny // Avengers Fanfiction

Chapter Fourteen - Aftermath

The first day was unnaturally quiet. Penny felt numb. All she could do was lay in bed, silent tears streaming down her face, clutching Milo to her chest. Bucky tried to comfort her, but she pushed him away.

The second day was worse. The events had sunk in, and Penny had finally come to the realization they were never getting Callie back. Bucky had brought her some food, but it was left to get cold on her bedside table, only a few bites taken. Milo had been soaked with tears. 

On the third day, nothing much had changed. Tears still fell, but slower, as if she had almost run out. Horrible thoughts had filled her head, and so she snapped her headphones over her ears, music flooding her senses. Water and snacks were brought by Bucky throughout the day, despite them being left, uneaten.

It was quiet on the fourth day. The small sobs had ceased, Penny having run out of tears. Bucky had left her with her own space, giving her time to process everything. Music still played softly over the headphones. 

The fifth day was the worst so far. Penny could hear Bucky on the phone, talking to Pamela no doubt. The funeral. The planning had started, and all she did was lay in bed and cry. She felt useless. And the voice in the back of her head told her she was.

Penny was exhausted by the sixth day. She barely slept at night, nightmares plaguing her sleep. Small naps were frequent, leaving her to lie in bed the whole day. Bucky was feeling helpless. She was his daughter, he should know what to do. But he didn't.

It had been a week, and Penny had finally come out of her room. She had pulled a chair up to the window, looking in the direction of the orphanage, and she swore she could still see smoke wafting up. The door creaked as Bucky came through the door. Looking up, he was slightly startled by the sight of Penny at the window. But that feeling was quickly replaced by pride. She had come out of her room, and by the wrapper next to her, she had eaten something. He didn't say anything, but instead came up beside her, dragging a chair of his own. He sat slowly, sticking out his arm, hand clutching a bag with the Rise and Shine logo on it.

"Beignet?" (Doughnut?) He asked quietly. Penny was slightly surprised. It had been awhile since they had spoke French, but it was refreshing.

"Bien sûr." (Sure.) She replied. Reaching her hand into the bag, a tiny, barely visible smile reached her face when she saw her cinnamon sugar doughnut. "Ma favourite." (My favourite.)

"Je pensais que tu en avais besoin." (I thought you needed it.) Bucky caught the small smile on her face, and smiled back, though it was much bigger. Penny smiled a little wider, and nodded her head, savouring the doughnut. They sat in silence for a while, enjoying the pastries. "Comment alles-tu?" (How are you feeling?) A voice finally cut though the silence. Bucky voiced the question that had been bouncing through his brain. Penny took a while to answer, chewing the bite of sugary doughnut in her mouth. 

"Bien." (Fine) The word was whispered, unsure. Bucky had his eyes trained on her, as she lifted her eyes up to look out the window. He could see her biting her lip, swallowing thickly. 

"Penny." He said, leaning over to hold onto her hand. "Tu n'as pas besoin d'être bien." (You don't need to be fine.) Penny's tongue flicked through her lips, wetting them, before looking up to the sky. Squeezing her hand, Bucky scooched his chair a little closer, still looking up at her. "Tu as le droit de te sentir triste, ou furieux. C'est-" (You're allowed to feel sad, or angry. It's-)

"Ce n'est pas ça." (That's not it.) Penny interjected, finally connecting eyes with her father. Tears brimmed her eyes, and she was struggling to keep them back. She paused before saying, "I know I'm allowed to feel sad, I know that. But I don't know how I feel." The tears were getting dangerously close to spilling, and her nostrils flared as she emphasized her words. Bucky squeezed her hand again, still having his eyes trained steadily on his daughter's face, laced with confusion. "Yes, I'm sad, and angry. And I know that we're not going to get her back. But," A tear trickled down Penny's cheek, and she sniffled. "what am I supposed to do now?" The quiet sentence was followed by easy silence, as both processed what had been said. 

"If I'm being honest, I'm not really sure." Bucky finally answered. "I've never been good at this you know? Comforting people." He shook his head slightly, finally turning his gaze to his socked feet. "After everything that happened, I guess I just kind of closed off. That way I didn't have to worry about people. And no one had to worry about me." He rubbed his thumb over Penny's hand, slowly bringing his chair closer. "The only people I really had was back in the forties, and now they're gone. Then I fell, and I, frankly didn't care, even know what I was doing. Not like I could care about those people. Everyone that," He trailed off, before swallowing and starting again. "But, you have people. People who you care about and who care about you. I think that maybe you should think about visiting them. Not now of course, not if you don't want to, but at least think about it." With her free hand, Penny wiped away the stray tears from her face. She finally nodded softly.

"Ok. I'll think about it." Bucky smiled softly, before getting up from his chair, and wrapping his arms around the body of his daughter. Penny dove her nose into his neck, and threw her arms around him, hugging him as tight as she could. "Thanks dad." She whispered, before adding, "You're better at that comforting thing than you think." 

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Hey hey. It's been two weeks whoops. Was at the cottage and service sucked. But here we are. A bit of a short chapter today, but hopefully I'll get back in the groove and get these out on time more. School's starting soon, so I don't know how that will affect things, but hopefully it won't change a lot. Have an amazing day/night/afternoon!

-Abby