a lion among wolves, bucky barnes (hiatus)

thirty-six.

MISSOURI, LOCATION UNKNOWN
2015

THE TEAM was gathered at Clint's kitchen table looking terribly worse-for-wear. The thought itself was odd—Clint's kitchen table. They didn't have kitchen tables in this line of work.

As June inched further into the room and took in more and more of the farmhouse, she realized how mundane it was. No glass floors, no flickering holograms or sleek lounges or anything she had grown used to. Just airy curtains that drifted along with the evening breeze, the smell of animals, earth, and smoke brought in through the windows. Something was frying on the stove and the smell was enough to make June drool. There was a regular fridge in the corner. Normal dishes piled in the sink. Toys on the floor, on the shelves, all in places they shouldn't be. Laundry baskets everywhere. It was boring, cluttered, and homemade.

June loved it immediately.

She was brought out of her wistful stupor as soon as she stepped foot in the kitchen. Nick Fury sat among the others at the table, eye on her, looking almost bored. "Has it only been a year?" he said gruffly. "You look terrible."

June felt her expression turn nasty. She couldn't even bring herself to be glad he was back. "I've had a shitty couple of days."

"Haven't we all?" Fury returned.

Irritated, June moved past him, deeper into the kitchen. He was right, of course. It was stupid to think she was the only one who was having a hard time. But it pissed her off anyway.

"How are you feeling, June?" Bruce asked softly from behind her.

June took in a deep breath. "Terrible," she said. "Really terrible."

"What happened to you?" Natasha murmured without looking at June; her eyes were fixated on nothing, lost and shaken.

June couldn't even worry about what they'd think. Half of them already knew, anyway. "Wanda got me," she said. "She . . . altered my mind. Not like she did you guys. She made me what I would've become if I hadn't failed Strucker." She nodded at Steve and Bucky. "I tried to kill them."

There was a brief, tense pause, and then Bruce piped up again. "If it makes you feel any better, I tried to kill him." He pointed at Tony.

Tony rapped his fingers against the table. "It's been an awkward day."

"How long was I out?" June asked. She dreaded the answer.

"Around six hours," Tony replied, rubbing his eyes.

June relaxed slightly. Not as bad as she'd expected. She turned her attention back to Fury. "Why the hell are you here? Where's Thor?"

"Big guy ran out on us," he huffed. "Went to find answers of his own. I can see you're not too happy to see me."

"Well, you've done a lot of lying to me," June shot back. Maybe she was being too harsh—he was looking worse for wear. June took a moment to examine herself and realized she did not care.

"If it vindicates you at all," he said, an octave louder, "I'm unemployed. Truth be told, you should be grateful for that. I have no jurisdiction to lock up that boyfriend of yours."

Wariness struck June suddenly and she forced her eyes to stay on Fury rather than leap to Bucky. She hadn't thought of that. She stared him down a moment longer, then turned away, shuffled to the stove where an extremely pregnant woman stood frying onions in a skillet. She could only assume this was her house 

"Hi," she said softly. "I'm June. Thanks for letting us stay here."

The woman nodded enthusiastically, her pretty brown eyes wide and excited. "Oh, yeah. Yeah, totally. We're happy to help you guys out. I mean, how could I say no to the Avengers?" She laughed like the idea was ridiculous and not the smartest option. "Oh!" the woman exclaimed, "God, that's so rude of me. I didn't introduce myself—I'm Laura, I'm Clint's wife."