Reveries of Spring│Bucky Barnes

━ 𝟎𝟔

MARTINA WASN'T AT ALL SURPRISED to see that almost everyone had come out to witness her use her powers first hand. 

Every one minus Bucky- that didn't surprise her either. 

Once Tony had informed everyone in the building that Martina was going to use her powers, they had dropped everything they were doing and had joined her outside- a couple of miles away from the compound- in an abandoned and clear field that was covered with snow. 

"Stupid powers," Artemis mumbled, pulling up the hood of her big blue parka as she snuggled into Loki's chest. "I can't believe you guys aren't wearing coats. Jesus, Steve, you're wearing a t-shirt. It's like ten degrees out here."

Steve- in the aforementioned t-shirt and running shorts- stood beside her and Loki, the latter not bothering to change from the pressed cotton shirt and crisp black jeans he was wearing, trying to ignore the glare a bundled up Wanda was giving him. 

"Some of us were built to withstand anything," Steve bragged, smiling at Natasha who was glaring daggers at him underneath her thick black beanie, and Clint who had pulled the zipper of his snow jacket all the way up to his chin. 

"And you, Martina? Even you?" Artemis pleaded as Clint threw his arms over her shaking shoulders, slapping Loki when their hands accidentally touched. 

Out of all of them, Martina was the one wearing the least amount of clothing in her short baby blue pajama bottoms and a tank top- a detail that both Lionel and Tony jotted down in their notes as they prepared for her experiment. 

"What?" she asked, staring down at her bare legs. "I mean...I shoot fire out of my hands. Makes sense?"

There was a beat of silence and then everyone around burst into laughter, bringing a smile to Martina's face as they did. She had always liked pleasing other people and liked having the ability to make them laugh. 

Her joke, however dark it was, was just another pocket of joy. 

Cling to those pockets of joy, they'll keep you sane. 

It wasn't until everyone had stopped laughing that she realized that all eyes were focused intently on her. 

"You're staring," she stated, crossing her arms over her chest, her insecurities reemerging. 

Tony looked at her and hung his mouth open. "Um, well, I don't know. Bend fire, Prince Zuko."

"How?" Martina said with a dry laugh, slapping her hands on her thighs. "I haven't been exactly choosing when it happens, you know."

Tony shook his head as he turned to Artemis. "This is your fault."

The blonde woman snapped her head at him. "My fault?!"

"You let her get too comfortable around us. We should have done what I suggested and locked her in a freezer for the first month."

"Hey!" 

"Watch it!"

Wanda and Artemis had snapped at him at the same exact time, feeling more and more inclined with every word to put Stark in his place, or perhaps lock him in the freezer. 

However, when Natasha looked over at Martina, she noticed that her fists were clenched almost painfully and that a light stream of smoke was coming out from between her knuckles.