The Story Book

Cont... A month passed. Things had gone back to relatively normal with the exception that Tony and Steve were now in constant communication. Bucky went back to Wakanda and Wanda returned from her vacation. Nat was still unaccounted for. But that didn't matter right now. Not as Sam stood in front of a modest house in sunny Greece the whitewashed wall almost too bright to look at. Avery and he had reconciled and today, today was the day he was going to meet Riley's son. Max looked over from the gate as though to ask if he was ready. Sam gave a curt nod and tried to understand his emotions at that moment. The guilt was there, it always would be. But the weight was lighter now as was the pain and sadness. It would never heal, only alleviate over time. He'd realized he didn't mind it long ago. It was a memory, a curve in his story. Max opened the gate and stepped into the courtyard, Sam following. "Honey I'm home!" Max hollered. That had come as a

Cont... When Sam found Avery's room she was still on the phone but she waved him in with a smile. Max nodded to him at his spot "guarding" her door. "I know! The tragedy! Tell you what, when I get home we're going to spend the weekend eating junk food and watching crappy action thrillers and I won't say a thing about school." Avery said with a smile as Sam sat in the chair watching her talk animatedly on the phone. "Really! All weekend!" Avery insisted, "Do you think that would make up for me totally blowing taco night?" There was a long moment before a grin broke out on her face, "And all the ice cream you can imagine! Sounds like a plan. Though we might just have to cut you off from ice cream after that." Avery laughed at the response she got, "I know. I love you too, alright, bye." She ended the call and sighed contently. "Your son?" Sam said fondly. "Yeah, I kinda blew him off on our

Cont... Sam found Bucky sitting almost like a guard in Steve's room. That was saying something since Steve's room was still in the hospital wing and Bucky loathed hospitals with every fiber of his being. Every loud noise made him twitch and if any strong odor came he'd squeeze his eyes shut to try and block it out. The fact his own leg was in a dysfunctional boot didn't help matters either. Bucky had settled with fiddling with his knives to calm his nerves, something that had scared more than a few nurses and forced Sam to explain it twice now to the security men.  Sam knocked on the metal doorframe before stepping in, "You want anything?" "No," Bucky answered almost rudely. Sam sighed, he knew the man didn't mean to be so standoffish but it still made the man a colossal pain to try and get to know. It was just constant nerves. He'd talked Shuri into letting him see some of Barnes' brain scans. There were a lot of disconnects.

Cont... Avery passed out at some point between the jet and the inside medical center. When she woke up she was in a hospital room. The pain was dull or gone and she knew it was painkillers and drugs working. Her arm was wrapped tightly around her chest like Sam had done earlier though now the wrappings like the room were neat and clean. How long had she been out? Shifting she looked at the time, it was three probably in the afternoon. Depending on the day she had been out for fourteen hours or more. "You're up." A voice jerked her from her whirlwind thoughts. Tony Stark closed the door quietly behind him. "Yes, though I suppose that I'm in a lot of trouble now," Avery admitted using her good arm to prop herself up in the sitting position. "Well, that depends," Stark said sitting in one of those stiff crappy plastic chairs. He looked worn out and worn thin. His age becoming more evident with the bags under his eyes and the tired darkne