There was a chill in the air as Harper stepped out of the car. Leaves crunched beneath her boots as she made her way down the sloping pathway, clutching her coat around herself with one hand while the other held onto the bouquet of flowers she had bought on the way.
It was easy to spot as soon as she turned the corner, a lump of emotion forming in her throat with each step she took.
“Hi,” she said as she came to a stop just in front of the grave site, sitting beneath a bare blossom tree. Her voice felt as though it was sticking in her throat, leaving her lips in more of a whisper.
She stood for a moment, taking it all in as her bottom lip trembled and a tear escaped her right eye to trail down over her cheekbone. There were pictures and flowers, stuffed animals and thank you cards. She recognised Scott’s scrawl and a picture taken of her and Bruce at an Avengers party, there was a stick drawing of her with Clint’s family that Nate had clearly drawn.
Harper slowly crouched down, reaching out and placing her flowers to the right side of the gravestone before pushing a few of the items away so she could see the writing hidden away.
Natasha Romanoff. Daughter. Sister. Avenger.
“I, uhm,” she paused for a second as she reached into the pocket of her jacket, pulling out a photograph of her own. Their grinning faces stared up at her, their arms wrapped around each other, and their cheekbones pressed together.
It had been taken one night in the compound, when they pushed their guilt to one side and let themselves live for just a moment. They had gotten their frustrations with the world out by turning the music up and dancing the night away, balancing one of their phones on one of the bookcases to snap the picture clutched in her fingertips.
“I wanted you to have it,” she said, gently rubbing her thumb over their smiles before placing it in the grass just behind her flowers “And before you even think it Romanoff I’m not doing this to forget you…I still have a copy on my phone,” she continued with a roll of her eyes and a slight chuckle as she reached up to wipe her eyes.
She stood there for a few silent moments, her eyes closed as floods of memories washed over her mind. A slideshow of the time they had spent together in the compound.
The sound of leaves crunching beneath shoes caught her attention and she glanced around. Her brow furrowed slightly as she noticed someone heading her way. A blonde head of hair, her hands shoved into the pockets of her long jacket and a dog running at her feet.
Harper's heart skipped in her chest and she smoothed her hands down her own jacket. The newcomer's features becoming suspicious as she approached.
"Who are you?" she asked in accented English, folding her arms over her chest as she allowed her eyes to flicker over Harper.
Harper smiled. The attitude, the stubborn way she regarded her and the tilt to her chin was exactly what she had been expecting. Clearing her throat she extended her hand out to Yelena Belova "Harper," she said, watching as Yelena examined her hand for a moment before she shook it "Sorry for smirking, I couldn't help it. You're exactly what I was expecting," she said with her smile still on her face "I know you don't know me but I feel like I know you," she said, glancing down to the photograph she had just placed against Natasha's grave.
Yelena's eyebrows arched as she followed Harper's gaze "Oh?"
Harper took her hand back, shoving it into the pocket of her coat and nodding her head "She told me all about you."
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Getting their first dog together (better yet, Person B surprising Person A with their dream dog) HARPER AND BUCKYYYY
"I'm home!" Harper called through the house, dropping her keys in the bowl. Her stomach squirmed with excitement as she glanced down to the basket hooked in her arm, the golden retriever puppy sitting inside pricking his ears "Sssh," she said, reaching in and ruffling his ears.
She and Bucky had been talking about getting a dog for a while, now the two of them settled in their own house, and as soon as she had looked into this puppy’s deep brown eyes she couldn’t say no. He had been surrendered to their local shelter alongside his brothers and sisters, the last one left after his litter mates had all been snapped up and his adoption had fallen through.
“He’s gunna be so happy with you,” she said quietly, laughing to herself as the puppy hopped up to lick her nose.
“Don’t come in yet!!”
She frowned at Bucky’s exclaim, pursing her lips together and placing her free hand on her hip “What’s going on?” she called back, her eyebrows arching in panic as the puppy let out a tiny bark “Shush!” she said with a chuckle, smoothing his ears to keep him calm.
“Just...one minute!”
“Hmph,” Harper let out, leaning with her shoulder against the wall as she played with the puppy, laughing to herself as he chewed at her fingers “You try and do a surprise and this happens,” she said with a sigh, blowing kisses down to where the puppy was staring up to her.
She hadn’t named him yet, not wanting to choose without Bucky’s input. She had called at the pet store on her way home to pick him up a collar, holding different colours up against his fur to pick the one which matched him the best.
She’d gone with green, collecting a green leash and two green bowls for his food and water to match.
“Maybe we’ll call you Hulk,” she said, bopping his tiny nose and smiling as he attempted to smack her finger away with his paw “Or Banner! I feel like Bruce would like that...you wanna be named after your uncle Bruce?” she asked, her voice dropping to a baby tone as she ruffled his fur.
If Bucky took any longer then she’d be choosing whatever name she wanted without his input.
“Okay!” he called through, almost as though he could sense her decision “You can come in now!”
She rolled her eyes but couldn’t stop her smile, excitement bubbling up into her stomach as she leaned on the handle of the living room door “Sur-”
-prise!”
They both stopped, surprise indeed written on both of their faces.
Sitting in a dog basket sporting a bow around her neck was a tiny golden retriever puppy.
The puppy in the basket clutched in Harper’s hands let out a yelp of excitement, spinning around and almost throwing her off balance “What is happening?” she asked as she placed the basket on the ground, the two puppies meeting in the middle of the room full of playful growls and barks.
“I went to the shelter this morning,” Bucky began, rubbing the back of his neck and looking as confused as Harper felt “They said someone was coming for her brother this afternoon and I didn’t want her left alone.”
Harper’s eyebrows shot up “His adoption fell through and he was left alone after all his litter mates were adopted.”
“And you went to-”
“The one we had the home check with! Animal Haven.”
“Yeah, yeah me too...”
They both stood in silence for a couple of seconds, watching two golden balls of fluff race up and down their living room, before they burst into simultaneous laughter.
“Well that definitely was a surprise!” Harper said, wiping at her eyes and placing her hand on her chest “I guess we have two dogs now?”
Bucky shrugged his shoulders, a look of amusement on his face as the two puppies rolled over and bumped into his foot “I guess we do!”
“So,” Harper began, a smirk coming to her lips as she glanced over to him “That means we get to name one each right?”
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Harper Tag List - @ceruleanmusings @raging-violets @hrhatbat @csigeoblue @jeremyrennerfanxxxx123 @villanele @abzidabzy lmk if you want to be added/taken off!
She shifted in her seat, her hands tugging on the ends of her sleeves “I prefer Harper,” she said, her eyes narrowing as she looked up to the woman sitting opposite her “And you know that.”
“Despite finding out your true identity you still prefer to go by the one you gave yourself?”
“Yes,” Harper answered shortly. Settling back into the sofa she was sat on and crossing one leg over the other she spoke again “Which has everything to with the fact that I simply prefer the name.”
“Nothing to do with you not wanting to look back and deal with your past?”
“I simply. Prefer the name,” Harper repeated, craning her neck slightly as the woman began to write “I’ve dealt with my past. I had five years to deal with my past.”
An eyebrow was arched in her direction “And how did you spend those five years again?”
Biting down on the inside of her cheek, trying not to think of the time she spent rounding up criminals and trying to save the world, Harper shrugged her shoulders “Without Natasha and I you wouldn’t be sitting here in front of me.”
“I wasn’t talking about the time you spent with Natasha, but it is interesting you brought her up-”
“I’m not talking about Natasha with you,” Harper interrupted loudly before her government appointed therapist went any further “I’m not here to talk about Natasha.”
“No, no you’re not,” the therapist, Harper was sure she was called Linda, said as she continued to write. No doubt adding Natasha as a note to discuss at a later date.
Harper watched as her shoulders squared slightly and her foot began to tap. Whatever it was she was about to say clearly made her anxious. She liked that. Knowing something she could be questioned about made a person like Linda, who threw question after question toward her incessantly, anxious.
“You’re no longer in touch with James Barnes, correct?”
Harper’s chin tilted slightly as she answered “It was a condition of my pardon.”
“It was a yes or no question Harper.”
Her jaw tightened and her arms folded tightly over her stomach as a frown dipped at her eyebrows “Yes, I am no longer in touch with James Barnes. That is correct.”
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Harper slid her buzzing mobile phone beneath the cushion beside her, settling back against the sofa and turning to face Dr Beckett once again.
“Do you not want to take that?”
The corners of her lips upturned slightly and she shook her head “Oh no,” she said, waving her hand dismissively “Spam email.”
Though the doctor nodded she didn’t look convinced, closing the notebook sitting on her lap she placed her hands on top of the cover “Well, I think we can leave the session there,” she said before bending down to retrieve her bag, sliding the notebook inside and getting to her feet “My office refurbishment should be finished by next week so thank you, for inviting me to meet you here.”
“Mhm,” Harper answered as she, too, pushed herself up onto her feet. Bushing her hands down her trousers she put on a fake smile as she gestured toward the door. She believed the refurbishment story about as much as Dr Beckett believed she’d received a spam email.
Her therapist had been saying for weeks that she wanted to see where Harper was living. To make sure she was comfortable and safe, to make sure she was living there alone…
“I’ll see you next week then,” Harper said, leaning over and opening up the door “At your office,” she continued with a pointed look.
“At my office,” Dr Beckett said with a nod of her head, her eyes scanning the living room once more before she stepped out into the hallway “It is a nice place you have,” she said once more.
“I like it,” Harper answered, leaning against the door frame and folding her arms over her stomach “Glad to have your approval.”
Brushing over the clearly sarcastic answer Dr Beckett nodded her head “And remember what we talked about okay?”
“Yes, yes I will,” Harper said “Make some friends, go on some dates, don’t see Bucky Barnes…” she listed in a bored sounding tone.
“You know it’s for the best Harper…”
“That’s what you keep telling me doc,” she said with a sigh “Though I’ve yet to see this best everyone is telling me this is for.”
“Harper-”
“See you next week Dr Beckett,” Harper said with a smile, closing the front door “For the best,” she repeated below her breath and in her native French. Plucking Dr Beckett’s mug from the floor beside the chair she’d been sitting in and taking it through to the kitchen.
On her way back into the living room she opened up the front door once again, stepping out into the hallway she glanced up and down. Waiting for a couple of moments, making sure the coast was definitely clear, she made her way back inside.
Plucking her phone from beneath the cushion she had shoved it under she swiped up and typed in her passcode. Opening up the text messages she smiled to herself as she clicked on the one she’d received while Dr Beckett was still there.
Coast seems to be clear. Come around the back. She replied.
With the apartment on the bottom floor it meant she had a garden to look out over...and a gate at the bottom hidden by an overhanging tree Dr Beckett didn’t know about.
She smiled to herself as she watched the gate swing open, reaching over and unlocking the back door as her eyes followed him walking up the short garden.
“She said I needed to make some friends and go on some dates,” she said with a smile as he crossed the threshold, looping his arms around her waist and pulling her in close. She let out a laugh as his nose ran up along her neck until he could press a kiss beneath her ear.
“Is this you telling me you want to go out on dates?” he asked, his eyebrows arching and a smirk tugging on his lips.
“Hmmm,” she pretended to ponder, letting out another laugh as he pulled her even closer and kicked the back door closed behind him “Y’know, there are rules. I shouldn’t be seeing you,” she continued innocently, their noses bumping together as her lips hovered over his.
“We gotta go through this every time one of us has a therapy session?” Bucky asked, arching an eyebrow “I can leave if you want me to,” he offered, that smirk back on his face as he let her go and turned back to the door.
“No, no,” she said, grasping him by the hand and pulling him back around to her. Hopping up onto her toes she smiled as she looped her arms around his shoulders “How about you? How was your session?”
“Don’t wanna talk about it,” he answered, bending slightly so he could pick her up “Doesn’t matter what she says, I’m here now and I don’t wanna think about it,” he said as she wrapped her legs around his waist.
“Sounds good to me,” Harper said with a smile, pushing her fingers through his hair as she bent her neck to press their lips together “I’m not one to follow rules anyway.”
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She was struggling to keep her head above the rising water, beside her Rocket was cursing beneath his breath as he tried to keep afloat and opposite a green Bruce Banner was holding a large part of the building structure above his head.
If the situation weren’t so dire she would have had to take a step back to appreciate the absurdity of it.
“Harp…o…my..ay…”
Harper groaned as she shared a sideways glance with Rhodey, the water quickly rising to their chins “He’ll be here,” she said as she pushed up onto her tiptoes to ensure she could keep breathing, her boots slipping on the rocks as her hands scrabbled to grab hold of anything she could.
But the water was rising too quickly and all Rhodey could offer her was a disbelieving glance “See you on the other side,” he managed just before he went under.
She took in a lungful of air with the minimal space she had above her and squeezed her eyes shut as her head was dunked under. Her chest burned but she tried to stay as still as possible to conserve her energy, her mind felt as though it was leaping into panic mode so she focussed on the darkness in front of her eyes and put all of her faith in Scott making it on time.
It felt as though she had been under for hours. The urge to take in a deep breath only grew and, in an effort to stop herself from panicking, she found all she could think of was Bucky. He could be back, they’d promised her it had worked, and she couldn’t hold back her smile at the thought of him being alive and around once again.
“I’m here! I’m here!”
The exclaim drew her away from the darkness and her eyes snapped open, her hands clawed at the rocks around her as she tried to alert Scott to where they were.
“Okay, okay I got you,” he reassured her “But I’m going to need you to hold on tight!” he continued and she could practically hear the smirk in his tone as she was lifted from where she was trapped.
“What took you so long,” she coughed, taking in lungfuls of air as the incredibly large Scott broke them out from beneath the ruins of the Avengers compound.
“Got you out didn’t I?” he answered placing her, Rhodey and Rocket down “Thank you Scott. You’re a hero!”
“I’m forever in your debt,” Harper said in a bored sounding tone, sending him a wink and a grin as she took in a deep breath and turned to face the scene around her.
Her shoulders squared and she exchanged a look with Rhodey, her chin raising as she stretched her arms out and listened to the gauntlets Shuri had designed for her kicking in.
“Avengers Assemble!”
Steve’s shout caught her attention, dragging it away from Thanos’ army, and her heart lifted when she caught sight of the amount of people standing around him. She stretched up slightly in an attempt to distinguish who was who but, with the smoke and low light, was unable to see properly.
“C’mon Blondie,” a voice to her left said, Rocket glancing up to her as he held a knife he had blatantly stolen from one of her holsters “Let’s do this.”
“Y’know I’m still not used to being told what to do by a raccoon!” Harper called after him before following both him and The Hulk down from the platform of bricks they’d been stood on.
She ducked and dived her way through the majority of Thanos’ army, shooting rays from her gauntlets and plucking her remaining knife from her calf as she ran. There was Chitauri blood on her uniform and she had to force herself to continue instead of stopping to dwell on the fact that she was fighting an army of aliens.
Aliens she’d previously been attacked by back in 2012 New York and who had changed the course of her entire life.
“Where are the stones?” she asked into her comms as she came to a stop, throwing her knife straight into the chest of one of the oncoming Chitauri “Anyone?” she asked as she bent down to retrieve her weapon, wiping the blood off it with her sleeve before replacing it back in her holster.
“I think Barton has them still.”
The breath was pushed out of her and it felt as though everything around her had been put on pause at the sound of his voice. There was a quip about him being a newcomer and not knowing everything on the tip of her tongue but, as she spun on the spot to try and catch a glimpse of him, only one word escaped her lips.
“Bucky?”
“What’ve you been doing? Napping?”
She almost stumbled over her own feet when he finally came into her eyeline, a smile breaking out across her face “You’re here,” was all she could say as she reached him, flinging her arms around his neck and burying her face into his shoulder “And you didn’t tell me.”
“Wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” he mumbled into her hair, their hug seeming to go on forever though it was only a couple of seconds before they had to rejoin the fight “I couldn’t help it,” he called over his shoulder and over the sound of his gun “I wanted to surprise you.”
“Can you believe all this?” she called back as the two of them continued to shoot at the oncoming Chitauri.
“I can’t actually process much at the moment,” Bucky called back as they dodged around one another, shoulder to shoulder and back to back. It was as though he hadn’t been gone for a second let alone five years, the training they had done together during the time they’d been in hiding in the forefront of both of their minds.
“I’m friends with a raccoon! Also that guy who’s huge over there and I went to space,” she said glancing to him from the corner of her eye and sending him a grin as he stared back “You’ve got a lot to catch up on Barnes.”
“I can’t help you if you don’t let me!” Harper x Bucky
Requested by @whindsor <3
“You’ve had enough! Let Harry have some!” Harper scolded the small brown goat, looking up to her with an expression that could only be described as defiant “You’ve had enough,” she repeated with a chuckle as she grabbed a handful of the pellets and held them out of Ron’s reach.
She raised her eyebrows across to the glaring brown goat as the even smaller, white, one nibbled eagerly at the food she was offering “You need to learn some manners Mister!” she exclaimed reaching over with her free hand and tapping the offended looking Ron on the nose, giggling as he stood his ground and let out a loud bleating noise.
“Are you talking to those goats like they’re children again?” Bucky called over, amusement lining his words, as he paused loading the logs onto the trailer.
“It’s Ron, he’s being rude,” Harper answered with a tut as Bucky began to make his way over, wrapping his arm around her waist and pressing a kiss to her cheekbone. She leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder and staring up to him through her eyelashes.
It was a warm day in Wakanda with a light breeze in the air to keep them cool and neither could deny how lucky they were as they gazed around the small piece of land T’Challa had gifted to them when Bucky had come out of his cryogenic sleep. It was theirs, he’d said, as long as they were comfortable and able to farm the surrounding land.
Of course it had been perfect. They had their own space, away from the crowds of people in the centre of Wakanda, to adjust to a life so different to what they were used to.
Turning to face him she smiled as she looped her arms around his waist, her eyes squinting at the bright sunlight as she looked up to him, “Do you think we could get some chickens?” she asked, a questioning look on her face as his face burst into an amused grin “What?” she asked, arching her eyebrows as he shook his head.
Leaning down he pressed a quick kiss to her lips before he placed his hand on her hip as he moved away “Chickens as well?” he said shaking his head once more, before, just as she began to follow him, stopping in his tracks.
A frown creased at her brow as she spotted what he was looking at. Heading their way was T’Challa.
“Something’s happening,” Bucky said in a low tone, using the one arm he had gotten used to having to push her behind his back.
“I don’t need protecting, you should know that by now,” she said with a stubborn raise of her chin, pushing her way back to standing in front of him. Crossing her arms over her chest she glanced to T’Challa with a suspicious look on her face.
They hadn’t seen him much since they had been given their own space; Shuri would pop round every now and then, sometimes they couldn’t get rid of her, but not T’Challa.
He had a long box with him, one of his guards following close behind, which he set out on the grass by flipping out a few legs once he came to a stop. He was smiling at them in greeting but there was something behind it, an ulterior motive.
Leaning across as they reached him he flipped open the lid to reveal an arm. A shining, gun metal grey, arm flecked with gold.
As Harper’s fingertips pressed against her lips in shock she turned to face Bucky, his shoulders had slumped and a defeated expression had come to his face as he raised his brightly coloured eyes flickered from the arm to T’Challa “Where’s the fight?”
Everything seemed to go by them in fast motion after that. The lid to the box slamming back down, T’Challa smiling sadly and gesturing for them to follow him, the bright lights of the city centre, Shuri’s arms wrapping around them both and the buzz of all the machines in her lab, changing into their suits, whispering worries and exchanging a kiss just in case…
“Shit,” she heard Bucky curse from behind her, turning round to see him fiddling with one of the buttons on his top “This arm,” he explained with a tenseness to his jaw.
“Here,” she said, taking a step back toward him and tutting as he moved away to keep trying “I can’t help you if you don’t let me!” she exclaimed, gently smacking his hands away and doing up the button herself “You’re getting used to it, don’t push yourself!”
Reaching up with his right hand, the hand he had been so used to relying on recently, he lifted her chin so she was looking at him, gently rubbing his thumb along her jawline “I know we’ve already done this but,” he let out a sigh, leaning forward to press his forehead against hers “I love you.”
“I love you too,” she answered pressing a kiss against his lips. They had been happy, tending to their land and looking after the goats and now they had squeezed into the suits Shuri had made for them, new arms and other weapons weighing them down, ready to face the next war they were being thrown into.
“Guys come on!” Shuri called, popping her head around the corner to wave at them to hurry up “They’re here.”
“It’s okay. I couldn’t sleep anyway.” Harper x Bucky
Requested (a million years ago) by @whindsor!
Wrapping her arms around her legs Harper rested her chin on her knees and stared out of the window. It was late, so late she couldn’t even see anything on the other side, but the sound of the rain gently hitting the glass was starting to calm her slightly.
Her eyes were stinging but she didn’t want to go to bed, didn’t want the dreams she was being haunted by to enter her mind once more.
“H? You still up?”
The sound of Bucky’s voice turned her head and she quickly wiped at her eyes before straightening out her legs, stretching her arms out in front of her “Yeah, sorry did I wake you?”
He shrugged as he made his way over to the window seat she was perched on, sitting down at her feet “It’s okay. I couldn’t sleep anyway,” he said resting his hand on her shin “Is everything alright?”
“Uh huh,” she replied with a forced smile, nodding her head and not allowing her eyes to meet his.
“Harper…”
“Please Bucky, I’m fine,” she insisted swinging her legs around and hopping down off the window seat, making her way over to the kitchen section of their apartment only to be stopped mid step as he reached out to curl his fingers around her wrist.
“You haven’t slept in days and I’m pretty sure you’ve not eaten either, don’t shut me out,” he said gently pulling her around to face him “I didn’t...I didn’t know her as well as you did but I do know you’re sad and I want to be here for you.”
A tear fell from her eye as she glanced up to him, not bothering to wipe it away, and nodded her head “I just miss her,” she said in a shaky tone “There are Iron Man murals everywhere I look but today…” Harper paused to take in a breath “When I was on my way back from the store I saw it, the first one for her.”
A smile came to Bucky’s face as he reached up to wipe the next tear rolling down her cheek “Tony was more of a public hero but people still know and appreciate all that Nat did,” he said in a quiet tone “She won’t be forgotten that’s for sure.”
Harper nodded her head, trying to swallow down the lump in her throat as she stepped forward and buried her face into his chest “I just wish she was here,” she said in a muffled tone “Everytime I close my eyes I see her. Laying at the bottom of that cliff.”
“She wouldn’t want this H and you know that,” he said softly, pressing his lips against the top of her head “You’ve told me about what it was like in the compound when it was just the two of you, how she’d make sure you looked after yourself, she’d hate to see you beating yourself up over this.”
“Yeah well she doesn’t get a say in how I feel seeing as she sacrificed herself without even a second thought for me,” Harper grumbled, keeping her face hidden against his chest. There was a weird feeling in her stomach she hadn’t been able to shake since Thanos and his army had disappeared into dust and they were able to try and move onto their lives.
While the Bucky shaped hole in her life had been filled there was a new one tearing her apart and she knew this one would never be able to be reversed.
She gripped onto Bucky tighter as flashes of memory forced their way into her mind. Nat bringing her back to the compound, Nat fixing them up some sandwiches then pulling a face at Harper’s attempt at making soup from scratch, Nat challenging her to a race around the grounds, the two of them staying up late to try and figure out how they were going to get everyone back…
One of them laying down their life had never been a part of the plan.
Her sobs had subsided by the time she realised they had escaped, Bucky gently stroking her hair and making soft shushing noises before he gently moved her away from his chest so he could look down into her eyes “I have an idea,” he said in a whisper “Get your coat on.”
Her brow had furrowed in confusion but she wiped at her eyes and followed his instruction without question, crossing the living area and plucking her coat from the pegs by the front door. Slipping it onto her arms she zipped it up to the top, remembering the light tapping of the rain on the window, before slipping her feet into the boots sat beneath where it had been hung up.
When Bucky reappeared he still had the baggy tracksuit bottoms he always wore to bed on but his torso was covered in one of his warmest hoodies (one Harper frequently claimed)...and a bunch of flowers were clutched in his right hand.
“Are they the bunch that lovely spider boy sent when we moved in?” Harper asked folding her arms over her chest and arching an eyebrow.
“...maybe,” Bucky answered before reaching over and pushing the front door open “But he won’t mind, actually he’d understand probably!”
Though Harper remained confused and skeptical she followed his lead, eyes narrowed and hood pulled up over her messy blonde bun. She followed him out of their apartment building, tugging her hood further down over her eyes to protect herself from the rain, until he came to a stop.
Chewing on his bottom lip he turned to face her with a apologetic look on his face “Okay, this was supposed to be a sweet surprise but you never actually told me where Nat’s memorial was…”
Surprising herself she felt a smile come to her lips and she reached out to squeeze his free hand “Total wrong direction babe,” she said with a roll of her eyes, slipping her fingers into locking around his and tugging him the correct way.
Their feet splashed in puddles and their shoulders bumped together as they shared a comfortable silence, Bucky’s fingers squeezed hers every now and then while her face pressed into the damp sleeve of his hoodie.
“Here,” she said in a quiet tone as she came to a stop, pointing down to the graffiti decorating the wall at the side of a small, family run store. Though only small it was still beautiful, a mixture of a tiny Nat fighting in the New York battle with caricature black widow spiders - above it were the words ‘Thank You’.
“I told you he’d understand,” Bucky said leaning over to press a kiss to Harper’s temple as he pushed the flowers into her hand, taking a step back so she could have a moment to mourn her best friend.
Swallowing down the lump in her throat Harper stepped forward, a sad smile stretched at her lips as she crouched before the murial “You suck for leaving me I hope you know that,” she said as she placed the flowers down beside the candle the artist had placed in front of their work “Only you would sacrifice yourself for the entire world so I wouldn’t be able to be too mad at you,” she continued with a shake of her head before she let out a sigh “I miss you Nat,” she said as a tear trailed down her cheekbone. Reaching out with shaking fingers she gently touched the graffiti-Nat’s face before pushing herself back up into a standing position.
“Feel any better?” Bucky asked as she stepped back into his arms and he pressed a kiss on the top of her head. He knew part of her trouble when it came to how overpowering her grief for Nat felt was the lack of funeral, of a body to bury, and he hoped that now she had somewhere to visit it would get just a little easier for her.
“A bit,” Harper answered with a nod of her head, glancing up to him and not caring that her hood had fallen onto her back “Thank you.”
Bucky smiled down to her, reaching over and tugging her hood back onto her head, squeezing her close to his side “Anything for you.”
Her legs felt like jelly as her feet landed on solid ground, her first instinct to glance to her left to see Steve standing beside her.
“You got it?”
“We got it,” he confirmed with a smile, their attentions moving around everyone else as triumphant grins were shared and infinity stones held up.
Harper’s eyebrows furrowed as her gaze met Clint’s. His eyes were shining and the space next to him empty as he stepped down to show them he was in possession of the soul stone.
“Where’s Nat?” Bruce asked from over Harper’s shoulder.
She stepped forward automatically, her heart sinking as Clint pursed his lips together tightly and shook his head “No, no,” she whispered pressing her hand against her chest “No, no, no, Clint no.”
His bottom lip wobbled as his head shook once more “H I’m sorry,” he said in a tone almost as quiet as hers “Nat...she didn’t make it.”
Her knees went weak beneath her as her trembling fingers raked through her hair. Steve rushed forward to steady her before she fell “Come on,” he said into her ear “Come on, let’s get you outside. You need fresh air.”
“I don’t, I don’t need fresh air,” Harper snapped as she untangled herself from Steve “I need to know what happened,” she said her voice shaking as approached Clint “How you let this happen.”
“It wasn’t my fault! She chose this!” he exclaimed, quickly realising how it sounded and holding his hands up innocently “We were sent to get the soul stone Harper it’s a soul for a soul.”
“There has to be another way, did you even try-“
“Alright outside,” Steve said wrapping an arm around Harper and gesturing for Clint, Tony, Bruce and Thor to follow them.
Her head felt light as she walked alongside Steve, her throat ached and her heart pounded in her chest. This couldn’t be real. It wasn’t real.
Nat couldn’t be gone.
Without her Harper didn’t know where she’d be right now. The person who had saved her life, who had brought her back three years ago couldn’t be gone.
“Did she have any family?”
Harper’s head shot up as she spun around to look at Tony, the tears brimming her eyes making trails down her cheeks. Her chest felt tight and her fingers balled into fists at her sides, her right hand lifting to press her knuckles against her lips.
“Yeah,” Steve answered in a whisper “Us.”
“We were all she had,” Harper said resting her hand on her chest and shaking her head “We were her only family.”
“Okay, okay stop...stop it,” Thor said pointing a finger toward Tony, Steve and Harper “Stop acting like she’s gone. We’ve got the stones haven’t we! She’ll be back!”
“She won’t be back.”
A tear fell from Steve’s eye as they all turned to face where Clint was leaning with his back to them and Thor let out a scoff “Well you don’t really know that, we’re talking about space magic here and-”
“I don’t know that,” Clint repeated with a shake of his head, pushing away from where he was leaning “I know I’m speaking way above my pay grade here but this wasn’t up to us. She can’t come back it was a soul for a soul, the red floating guy said it and if you have any complaints you know what you do? You take it up with him, you get your axe and you go and take it up with him.”
Without thinking Harper hurried over, standing in-between Clint and Thor “Hey, hey,” she said placing a hand on the top of each of Clint’s arms “This isn’t your fault and I’m sorry...I’m sorry I blamed you,” she said in a whisper, catching him as he fell into her arms “It’s okay,” she said softly as she buried her face into his shoulder and ran a hand down the back of his head “It’s okay. I got you.”
