Reb - 5

This is in Bucky's POV

 Bucky processed what the Rebekah had said slowly. He had an understanding of what the word terminal meant. He'd read it in one of the books from her library. Terminal meant deadly and from the looks of it for her it was. She was fighting a losing battle with her ALS.

There were footsteps on the stairs promoting both to look up. Steve came down with the tree stand sitting atop a big box of decorations. Reb practically lit up at the sight.

 "I think I found the decorations." Steve joked.

 Bucky rose and took the tree-stand off. Steve set the box in front of Reb. She dug into it like it was the present itself. She let out a sound of pleasure as she pulled out a box of ornaments.

 Bucky couldn't seem to look away as she pulled out the decor with a look of pure joy. She was so happy and yet in so much pain. When she hadn't answered when they'd come in something akin to fear went through him. Finding her on the floor completely helpless had sparked anger along with that fear. His first thought was that the government or worse the remains of Hydra had found them. That had faded to pity and worry as she had screamed and cried in pain.
But she was certainly a fighter as she worked through it.

 Bucky turned to help Steve with the tree to find his friend smirking at him with amusement. Glaring darkly Bucky put the stand down and the two of them put the tree in securely.

 "Where do you want it?" Steve asked.

 She decided to put it in front of the windows to the left of her fireplace. Once it was in place she rose with a happy sigh.

 "Shouldn't you rest?" Steve asked, sounding concerned.

 Bucky almost laughed as his best friend practically quoted him from years before when Steve had come back with a bruised rib and shouldn't have walked for two days but insisted on being fine. Bucky had been a cross between furious and exasperated with his tiny best friend.

 Reb glared just like Steve had, "What's life if I can't live it? Pain will be there. I might as well get used to it."

She pulled out an extension cord and began running lights around the tree. Steve relented and headed to the kitchen. Bucky pulled out the rolls of lights and left the neat boxes that he assumed were the ornaments stacked on the bin. He handed them to her as she ran the lights around the tree. She sang along with the music as she stung colored lights along with the white. She had trouble reaching the top branches so Bucky helped her out.

It was a fun activity and soon Steve was also stringing lights around the massive tree. After the lights came the ornaments balls of glass and shiny metal. Odds and ends that came from all corners of the world as she told the stories with each piece.
 Plastic stars from refugee camps in Uganda.
 Delicate paper cranes from Japan.

After the decorating was done only the star was left.
 "Here," Reb held out the star to Steve, "I'm not tall enough to get it up there."

 "Alright." Steve agreed, reaching up and putting it at the top.

 Reb stepped back and sighed contently, "Perfect." And it was.

Bucky pulled out the tree skirt and put it down to finish the scene. That feeling of home and peace flooded him again. He smiled just a bit and memorized the way he felt to always call back to and prayed he never forgot. Rising he stepped back with the others to admire the tree.

 "The smell is almost the best part." Reb decided aloud.

"Why is that?" Steve asked, refilling cocoa.

 "Pine is fresh and sharp in scent plus it reminds me of my childhood." Reb slid onto a stool and Bucky sat on the other feeling another story about to emerge. The girl was filled with stories.

 "Do tell." Steve prompted.

"My grandpa and my brother always got the Christmas tree from the mountains. It would be their outing in early December. It marked the start of Christmas for our family. Not that that meant much. My family isn't huge in tradition or family time during Christmas. They are very work-oriented. But my grandfather understood when to step away and us grandchildren loved him for it.
Anyway, they got one every year until I was fifteen. When I was fifteen there was a tree shortage so it took longer for them to find a tree. It was dark when they came back and it was icy and almost whiteout conditions but that wasn't the problem. They made it back to the valley and were on the highway home when they were hit head in by a drunk driver. It killed them instantly. We didn't get the tree that year and after that, there wasn't much celebration of anything except business deals in our family. If there was a tree it was fake.
 I went into medical school which horrified them but my grandparents had foreseen that and my grandmother had put aside money for my chosen career education. So that got me through medical school and I joined a world-traveling medical team and started my journey around the world.
When I was diagnosed I quit medical and devoted my life to seeing the world with the find my grandfather had set up called my I choose to fund. I saw the world because of those two and once it ran out I took the house they had first lived when married and settled down.
My family has the huge mansions that scream money and wealth but they've missed the world completely. They've missed life. And they say I'm pitiful." Reb laughed at that.

 "So your grandparents made the holidays for you?" Steve asked leaning on the kitchen counter across from her.

She smiled," Absolutely. My fondest memories are of them at Christmas with us kids. Each year we would get individual ornaments but instead of putting them under the tree, they would hide them on the house. Us kids would tear apart that home looking for our gifts. Normally it would take all day with decoy boxes and clues. The best part of Christmas by far."

 Bucky smiled at the image. Kids ruining a perfect house in search of presents as a pair of grandparents laughed at the chaos was a pretty picture.

 "Now, all our tree is missing, are presents." Reb declared.

 Steve opened his mouth to protest once again when a noise from upstairs stopped him. It sounded like a phone ringing except that only Reb had a phone since both of them had dumped theirs in Romania.

Bucky and Steve shared a concerned look before both headed for the stairs on high alert.
 Once up the stairs, there was an eerie purple glow coming from Steve's room and a phone was most certainly ringing. Creeping forward Steve pushed the door open to, nothing. The room was just as Bucky had seen it the night before.

The ponchos were glowing purple and a pocket was visibly vibrating. They both relaxed and Steve reached into the pocket to pull out a chunky bracelet.
Bucky frowned as the bracelet rang out like a phone. Steve slid it on and Bucky remembered seeing T'Challa have something similar on his Black Panther suit.

The call connected and a holographic image of T'Challa popped up, "It is good to see you both are well."

"Yeah, we're safe for the moment. How are you?" Steve asked, moving the bracelet so that the king could see them both.

 "I was able to make it to a safe landing dock before I crashed from lack of fuel. I am fueled up and ready to take off. I will be at your location in two hours. From there we can make it home in four more without the fear of running out of fuel." T'Challa said.
Two hours that was all the time they had left.

 "We'll be waiting." Steve nodded.

 "I'll see you soon then. Captain, Sergeant." T'Challa respectfully nodded to both of them.
 "Your highness." Steve nodded back. The connection ended.

 Bucky sank onto Steve's bed in shock. He'd known they would have to leave just not so soon.
 "We have to go, Buck," Steve affirmed gently.

 "I know. I just didn't think it'd be so soon." Bucky agreed.

 They both headed back downstairs. The music was still playing and the ambiance was sweet and gentle. Reb was still sitting at the counter now surrounded by papers of all sorts.

 This place, her in particular, had reminded Bucky what he could have. Shown him that safety was still possible. Shown him he could still live a normal life if he tried.

He could still be normal.

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