Natasha heard knocks on the door, she opened the Steve's dorm door and looked down, she frowned at the little visit she was receiving.
- Hi!
N: Hi, Torunn.
T: Is James here?
N: Yes.
T: Can he come out and play with me?
N: Ham... Where?
T: Hmm... I don't know... Around, maybe in the central square.
N: Are you alone in the corridors?
T: Yes. It's safe and I'm Thor's daughter.
Torunn smiled proudly.
Natasha watched her and studied her for a few seconds.
N: James?
James didn't hear, he was playing on the carpet with Sarah.
Natasha turned to look at him and gestured for Torunn to come in.
N: Come in, he's there with his sister.
Torunn entered the room and Steve looked at her.
S: Torunn, hi.
T: Hello, Uncle Steve.
James stood up from the floor, seeing Torunn.
J: Toto.
T: Sarah!
Torunn grinned and approached Sarah, she knelt beside her and took Sarah's hand.
J: She can stand now. Give her the other hand.
Torunn held out her other hand and James grabbed Sarah to stand and then let her standing by herself.
T: How cool! She's so cute.
J: Do you want to play with me and her?
Torunn looked at James.
T: Actually, I want to play outside.
J: I don't know if my mom will take me now.
T: We can go alone, we are big.
N: You're 4 years old.
J: I have almost five!
T: I'm 6 years old!
N: It's still 4, James.
T: I always play outside without my parents. Me and Francis also.
James frowned and looked at Steve.
J: Dad, can I go?
Steve looked at Natasha and waited for her to give some sort of response, but Natasha left the decision in his hands.
S: Where are you going to play?
T: In the square, or in the refectory, or in the corridors. We play everywhere!
S: I need to know where James is going to be, so if you tell me a place, I'll let him go.
T: Hm... Okay, in the square!
S: Okay.
T: Can we take Sarah with us? Pleeeeaaseee.
N: Not a good idea, but I'll take her there later to play a little too.
S: James, come here.
James walked over to Steve.
S: Everyone knows you here, but still you have to be careful. I don't want you running in the hallways or getting into some trouble. Be there in the square as it was agreed. You understand?
James nodded.
Steve smiled.
S: Now, go play! Go! Go!
Steve shoved James and tapped his ass.
James and Torunn ran out of the room feeling very excited.
Sarah crawled to the door in hurry to try to follow her brother and she cried when Natasha closed the door, preventing her from leaving.
N: Sorry, young lady.
Natasha took Sarah off the floor and walked with her to Steve.
Natasha leaned her body to Steve, wanting a peck on the lips. , Steve was sitting at the table, arranging some papers.
Steve kissed Natasha's lips.
S: Do you want me to hold her?
N: No, you're busy. Finish your job.
S: Actually, I am really busy, all this bunker bureaucracy.
N: We'll be fine here.
Natasha walked over to the bed and sat down, she placed Sarah sitting on her legs.
N: We're going to watch dad work at the weekend.
Steve looked at Natasha.
S: I wish I could stop, but...
N: I'm just joking.
Steve smiled and continued to write.
N: I'll take you out later, Sarah. I promise. Stop crying.
Natasha put her hand on Sarah's face and rested her head on her chest, Sarah calmed down automatically.
Natasha kissed the top of Sarah's head and then laid the chin on her head.
...
T: There's Francis. Let's go, James.
Torunn ran towards a fake tree, which has branches very easy to climb on, purposely made for children to climb and not get hurt if they fall.
James followed Torunn till the tree, but just watched her climb the tree.
T: Francis! We're here.
Francis Barton was on the top branch of the tree.
F: You can't get me!
T: I can, but I don't want to.
F: What do you want, then?
T: To play! Let's go down.
F: Why? Here is cool.
T: James is afraid to go up.
Francis looked down and saw James standing near the tree, looking at both of them.
F: What a chicken!!!
J: I'm not a chicken!
T: Francis! Stop it! Let's go down.
F: No!
T: Yes.
F: No!
T: Yes!
J: Leave him there alone, Torunn!
T: No.
F: No!
Torunn took a deep breath and looked at Francis.
T: Come on, Francis! Be nice.
F: I'm going down, if James comes up!
Torunn looked at James.
F: If he's not a chicken, he'll come up.
- Well, if he's afraid, he shouldn't go up the tree.
Said another child, hanging from the branch of the tree.
J: I'm not afraid!
F: Then come up!
James took a deep breath and frowned. He looked at Torunn, who nodded encouragingly.
J: I will!
- Go, James!
T: Come on, James, you can do it!
James rested his hands on the tree branch and then mounted on the branch, he stood and tried to keep his balance.
T: Come up crawling, James.
F: This is for babies!
James continued to walk on the inclination of the branch and his legs trembled greatly, he lost his balance and fell to his knees on the branch and grabbed hard to not fall.
T: It's okay, James. You're doing great. You can do it.
James paused for a few seconds, he took a deep breath and continued up the branch until he reached Torunn.
T: You did it, James!!!
James smiled and Torunn celebrated, hugging him.
Francis jumped from the branch that he was to the one where Torunn and James were.
F: Okay. You're not a chicken.
J: I told you!
T: Come on.
F: Where do you want to go?
T: It's a secret! You'll see when we get there.
Torunn jumped from the branch to the ground, in fact, she floated to the ground, she inherited this ability from her ancestors, short flights, but she's not aware of this yet.
F: Come on, James.
James looked at Francis and for him to go up on the tree, it was even easy, but go down... James stood in the same place.
F: I'll help you. Do like me.
Francis went down the path James had made to get to the branch, but with his back to the ground. James repeated the same action of Francis and managed to get down, but near reaching the ground, James slipped to the side and to try to stop the fall, Francis grabbed James' shirt.
C: HEYYYY! FRANCIS!
Clint just saw the moment James was already down on the floor, with Francis holding his shirt.
Clint came running.
C: Son, what did you do??? Not nice hold your friend by his clothes!
Clint looked at James and got him to his feet.
C: Is everything okay, buddy?
J: Yes.
C: Francis, apologize.
F: For what?
James put his hand on Francis's shoulder.
J: He helped me.
C: Oh... Really?
J: Yes. Francis is my friend.
C: Sorry, I thought... It was a mistake.
T: Boys! Come on!
C: Where are you three going?
T: Take my gift that Santa gave me at Christmas to play.
C: Oh, okay. Then come back here.
T: Yeah.
Torunn, Francis, and James ran into the hall, but James stopped at the edge of the square.
T: James!
J: My dad said I can't leave here...
T: We're going to come back!
F: Come on, James.
T: We have to be fast or we won't have time!
F: Time for what?
T: You will see. Come on!
James looked at the square and then at his friends, he sighed and ran along with Francis and Torunn.
...
Ju: Just relax.
B: I am relaxed.
Ju: No, you're not.
B: Why do you always say that I'm not relaxed? I feel calm.
Ju: But I can feel you're tense. All these knots here...
Juliana pressed her fingers against the back of Bucky's neck, who was lying on a stretcher, receiving therapeutic massage from Juliana so that his body fit better with the new arm.
B: Well, maybe I'm tense...
Bucky lifted his head from the stretcher and peered at Juliana, he took her arm and pulled her, making Juliana smile and blush a little.
Ju: I'm working.
B: Really? I thought you were taking the opportunity to put your hands on my body.
Ju: This is a therapy massage, I have to touch you.
Bucky didn't let go of her arm, which made Juliana continue to smile. Bucky sat on the bed and pulled Juliana to stand between his legs.
Juliana looked into his eyes and her eyes, unintentional, moved to his chest and then to Bucky's belly.
Juliana glanced up quickly into his eyes and now she can stare into his eyes without feeling like she's going to faint.
Bucky noticed her gaze and he thinks that she is very adorable, for not allowing herself to look too much for him.
Bucky hugged Juliana's waist and made her body stick to his.
Juliana was red, but it wasn't shame, it was something else, she put her arms over Bucky's shoulder and stared into his eyes.
Bucky brought his lips to hers and took a long kiss. Juliana closed her eyes and only with the light kiss, her breath changed.
Bucky squeezed her waist lightly and slid his hands a little to Juliana's back, which made her lips parted and let out a sigh.
Bucky could feel how turned on and attracted to him she was by his touches, but he still finds her too pure for any kind of... Of more intense flirtations, other than a French kiss, he brushed his lips away and loosened his hands on her body.
Juliana opened her eyes and looked away.
Ju: Sorry.
B: Why are you apologizing?
Juliana shook her head.
Ju: I don't know how to do these things.
Juliana smiled awkwardly.
B: What do you mean?
Juliana left Bucky's arms and walked to the side.
Ju: I saw you with Hill the other day and you two probably did... That thing...
Bucky raised his eyebrows in surprise.
B: Well...
Ju: Are you guys dating?
B: No, no, no. No way.
Ju: But you did...
B: Yes. We are adults and...
Ju: I'm an adult too.
B: I know, I just... I meant we're adults and singles, so... It happened.
Ju: One time?
B: Hm... No.
Ju: How many times?
B: Juliana, why are you asking this? Do you really want to know?
Juliana shook her head.
Ju: No, I jus ... I want you to do it with me too.
Bucky was even more surprised.
Ju: I think it's time and I think it should be you.
B: Juliana...
Bucky shook his head and ran his hand around his neck, feeling nervous.
B: I'm sorry. I can't.
Juliana looked at him in disappointment.
B: It's not that I don't want to, it's just...
Ju: What?
B: I... I can't do this to you, you're young.
Ju: I'm not a child!
Juliana raised her voice a little and walked across the room, finally managing to express some anger and protest.
B: I know. But you're a family girl, I don't know if I'm the right guy for you, probably not.
Juliana looked at Bucky again.
Ju: Hill is not a family girl?
B: That's not what I meant. Hill... She's complicated, but I like you and I think you might regret doing it to me the first time.
Ju: Who said it would be my first time?
B: Have you done this before by chance?
Juliana made negative with her head.
B: Look... You've never dated anyone, so...
Ju: Are we dating?
Bucky made negative with his head.
B: We kissed on Christmas and all these days, but to date, I would have to ask, I would have to enter into a relationship with you, but we are going to war soon. I'm not sure if I should make you wait for me. It wouldn't be fair to ask you to date me. I could not come back after the war.
Ju: Don't say that!
B: That's the truth.
Ju: Do you like Hill?
Bucky looked at her and shook his head.
B: I don't know. I can't say I'm indifferent to her. You see, I don't want to hurt you, but there are certain things that are too complicated to be affirmed or not about what I feel for her.
Ju: Are you going to stay with her again?
B: No. I put an end to it. But I can't date you yet.
Ju: I need to think. Excuse me.
B: Ju... Please, let's talk.
Ju: I'm sorry.
Juliana left the room.
...
F: Where are we?
T: This is where Uncle Tony works.
J: Co-command?
T: Yes. That's it. House of command. Command of the house. Something like that.
F: Command center?
T: James's father and Maria also work here.
F: Where is everyone?
T: They left. Change turn.
J: Why are we here?
T: To play!
F: They will come soon and my father will beat me.
T: No, we're leaving before they come back. I've done this before.
J: What's so funny about being here?
T: Do you want to see something that I discovered?
Torunn climbed into the chair and pressed one of the buttons.
Nothing happened.
T: What's the button anyway? Let me see...
J: Torunn, we shouldn't.
T: Wait! It's that!
- Doors locking process initialized.
Torunn, James, and Francis looked at each other.
T: It's all right, body. Just press the same button again that undoes. It's logic.
F: Don't press anything more!
J: I'm going to call my dad.
James ran to the door and when he tried to open, he couldn't.
J: It's locked!
F: Oh God, you're so weak. Excuse me.
Francis ran to the door and pushed it hard.
Francis couldn't open the door either.
Torunn rolled her eyes.
T: You two are such babies. You're only four, I'm six! I got it!
Torunn also tried to open the door and she couldn't.
F: You locked us in here, Torunn!
T: I did not!
F: Yes, you did.
J: Let's try to open it!
T: How?
J: Pressing the buttons. Some of those have to work!
Francis and Torunn were silent, watching James. They both nodded and each one got into a chair and began to press the buttons and every time they press a button, they activated or deactivated something.
...
N: Steve?
S: Hmm?
N: Are you still busy?
S: No, I'm just drawing now.
N: Sarah slept...
S: That's good, so that's why the silence...
Steve still hadn't looked at Natasha, he was paying attention to the drawing.
Natasha approached him and laid a hand on his shoulder.
N: And James is playing outside...
Steve only lifted his head as he felt Natasha's fingers sliding down the back of his neck.
N: That means that we...
S: Oh...
N: We have five minutes.
S: Bathroom?
N: Bathroom.
Steve got up quickly and hugged Natasha's waist, they started the kiss there in the room and Natasha started to lift Steve's shirt as he walked backwards to the bathroom.
Steve hit his back on the bathroom door and moved his lips away from Natasha's mouth so he could remove his shirt over his head. At that moment all the room lights were off.
Steve and Natasha paused and frowned, surprised at the suddenly electric power outage.
N: Steve, James is afraid of the dark. Did the energy went down throughout the base?
S: We'd better go out and check if the hallway is also out of power.
Steve walked to the door and tried to open the door, then he realized that the door was locked.
S: It's locked!
Steve frowned, confused.
N: What do you mean? Locked?
Natasha walked to the door and also tried to open it.
N: But if the bunker doesn't have energy, how is that possible?
S: The doors work with solar energy, if the locking was triggered from the command center, they will remain locked.
N: Who would lock the doors like that?
S: And without any warning? This is unusual.
N: James must be terrified! We need to get out of here.
...
J: I want my mommy!
T: James, calm down! Don't be a baby now!
F: What are we going to do?
T: I don't know!
J: Moooom! Mommy! Mommy"
James went to the door and called Natasha in a tearful voice.
Torunn covered James's mouth.
T: Hush, James! If they get us here, we'll be screwed.
F: We're screwed! Trapped and in the dark!
T: We can still try!
J: No!
F: Yes. No more pushing buttons!
T: But we'll stay here forever! I'll just press another, if it doesn't work, we just wait for someone to come and rescue us. Right?
...
James and Francis didn't respond, but a few minutes later, Hill bumped into Tony Stark in the hallway.
Tony: Did you turn off the power?
H: Of course not! Did you lock the doors?
Tony: Of course not! Who's in the command center now?
H: No one, it's time for shift turn.
Tony: It was supposed to have people there!
H: I know! But the previous teams never waits the next team to arrive, it looks like they will starve to death if they wait five minutes.
Tony: Someone is there!
H: I tried to communicate with W.T., but it's disabled.
Tony: Mine too.
- Climate change activated for Rigorous Winter Mode. Temperature decreasing to -59ºC.
H: My God! Who would do that? We all gonna freeze!
Tony: Let's find out!
Hill and Tony managed to get to the command center a few minutes later, they tried to get in, but the door was locked.
Hill punched the door.
H: Who's in there?
James, Francis, and Torunn looked at each other in shock.
Torunn: We are.
H: We? Who is we?
Torunn: Me, Torunn! Francis and James.
Tony: The children?
H: Open that door, right away!
F: We can't.
H: What do you mean?
Torunn: We don't know how.
J: We're stuck!
F: Help us, please!
Hill and Tony looked at each other.
Tony: Jesus Christ!