A/N: I told you I'd post the next part even if I didn't get anything else done, didn't I? This was supposed to be split in two parts at first but I didn't really feel the need to do that. At first I wanted to do it so I wouldn't rush into anything but it felt a bit weird to split it since this whole part is about Bucky just... processing stuff, I guess. But hey, next part will be... something different. I think some of you might have a hunch about what's about to happen based on what happened in Part 9.

Warning: fluff, angst

Waking up to hear whispers outside the bedroom, Bucky rubbed his hands over his eyes before opening one. He looked around, realizing he was in your bedroom. A lazy smile spread over his lips as he glanced at the door, it was closed. Bucky could hear you whispering outside and soon the door opened.

You stepped inside the room while holding Ava in your arms. You smiled at Bucky as your gaze locked on his. "Good morning," you said quietly.

"Good morning," Bucky answered just as quietly.

Ava's head perked up from your shoulder after hearing his voice. You set Ava down and she started waddling up to the bed, placing her hands on Bucky's arm and smiling.

Bucky was quick to lift Ava up and he hugged her to his chest. He noticed you taking small steps to the bed as well. The mattress moved under him as you took a seat next to the two. You lied down on your side, running your fingers over Ava's cheek as she rested her head on Bucky.

Bucky stared down at you, mouth slightly agape. He couldn't believe he was with you, waking up to have you two come in the room to wish him a good morning. He never though waking up early in the morning could be so wonderful. He was in awe.

He felt Ava's little hands moving to his hair, playing with the strands. She sat up on his chest and tugged, giggling.

Bucky tickled her sides which made the little girl giggle even more. She laughed so hard she almost fell off of Bucky. He was quick to grab her, though.

Ava's hands were soon on Bucky's face and she smiled, swinging her little legs. She then plopped down on her front, falling right over Bucky's face.

You laughed loudly, watching as Bucky lifted Ava to his lap. He sat up and scooted closer to the headboard. He turned to you to see you already looking at him. He smiled, making the corners of your lips flicker up as well.

"I wish I could wake up like this every day," he said quietly, holding Ava's small hand in his as she slapped her other one on his chest, not receiving enough attention.

"Me too," you agreed, sitting up. You leaned towards him and pressed your lips gently on his. He hummed into the kiss which made you smile again. Suddenly a hand was placed between you and Bucky as Ava let out a yell as a protest. Bucky and you both turned to look at Ava in confusion only for her to bury her face in his chest while splaying her arms on him.

"Hey," you whispered and lowered your face to Ava's level. "I saw him first, he's mine," you said jokingly, amused by how jealous Ava was that you were getting more attention from Bucky. "She really needs to have all the attention, doesn't she?" You wondered out loud before placing a kiss on the top of her head.

"Well she did just wake up, didn't she?" Bucky asked quietly, making you look up at him with a smile.

"She did."

"She gets clingy when sleepy."

"She does," you said with a nod. "She also needs food like right now before she starts throwing a fit."

"Yeah, let's go," Bucky mumbled before getting up from the bed with Ava in his arms. The little girl was still clinging onto Bucky as he carried her to the kitchen. He walked in, a delicious smell hitting his senses. He inhaled deeply and sighed. "Did you make breakfast?" He asked and turned around to see you walking through the door. "You didn't have to."

You shrugged, walking over to the table and sitting down. "You're a guest, you deserve to be treated as one."

Bucky shook his head as his smile grew. He walked over to the table as well, setting Ava down on her high chair before sitting down beside you. He placed a hand on the backrest of your chair and leaned in. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," you replied and leaned in for a quick little kiss. "I made some French Toast so... eat up."

"Gladly."

***

After finishing with breakfast, Bucky and Ava made their way to the living room all the while you stayed in the kitchen, doing the dishes. Bucky had offered to help but you had refused, telling him he was your guest and shouldn't be doing housework.

Bucky didn't feel like a guest though. No matter how many times you told him he was your guest, it didn't change the way he felt. He felt like he was home, not at someone's place as a guest.

Bucky walked into the living room, eyes glancing over the window. His brows furrowed as he remembered what you had said the day before. When you were at the playground, you had said it felt like someone was watching you. Later back at your place, you said you saw someone looking up into your apartment.

Bucky of course began to worry. He walked up to the window, looking around to see if anyone was out there spying on you.

His mind started whirring, wondering who the hell could be out there watching your every move. Of course the first thing that came to mind was that it was because of him. He had been haunted down before, it wouldn't be a surprise for it to happen again. Still, the thought of someone coming after you and Ava made his blood boil with anger and heart thump with fear.

Ava, who had followed her father, waddled up to him until it was safe for her to fall forward and latch onto his legs. Bucky's gaze immediately adverted to Ava who was looking up at him with her big blue eyes. He smiled, body relaxing immediately. He picked Ava up and bounced her slightly, moving over to the couch.

Ava stood on Bucky's lap as his hands were securely holding her up. He looked at her, seeing the wide smile on her face as she played with the strands of his hair.

He couldn't help but wonder why someone would be after such an innocent soul like her. Not even two years old and already being bothered by the evils of the world... He just couldn't picture it, find any sense in it. This was a man who had seen what happened inside the walls of HYDRA for seventy years, yet he couldn't think this could be possible.

He heard you making your way to them and he immediately pushed those thoughts away, stored them into the back of his mind. He didn't want to worry you. You had seemed to have forgotten about it already, you didn't feel threatened at all. At least you didn't show it if you did.

You sat down on the couch next to Bucky and rested your arm behind his back. He turned to look at you and smiled before turning to Ava again. She was still playing with his hair, moving the strands around and making quite a mess. Bucky closed his eyes as the strands fell over his face and he could hear you giggling from beside him. He brushed away the strands and looked at Ava who also giggled, placing her hands on his shoulders while bouncing up and down in excitement.

"She loves to mess with you," you said as you reached out to take one of Ava's little hands in yours. "You know that you can tell her to stop, don't you? If something bothers you, just say no."

"It really doesn't bother me, believe me," he chuckled, watching you as you smiled at Ava.

"Just don't want you to spoil her too much," you said, kissing the back of Ava's hand before turning to him. 

"That's not going to happen, doll, I swear."

You smiled, nodding.

You two stared at each other for a moment, just smiling as silence settled. It was comfortable and sweet. Sadly it was broken by Ava starting to jump on Bucky again, now leaning over to you.

You shook your head with a laugh as you took Ava into your arms. You hugged her tightly and sighed. "Again, young lady over here needs to have all the attention on herself, doesn't she?" You asked, pecking her cheek. "You're unbelievable."

Ava only leaned back against your hands that were on her back. She lied down on your lap and looked up at you, raising her legs to rest her feet on your stomach. Bucky chuckled down at her, seeing her giggling.

Suddenly she turned around on her stomach, reaching her hands towards the floor. You helped her down and she ran off to her toys on the other side of the room.

You turned to Bucky as his gaze followed Ava. "When do you have to go back?"

"Huh?" Bucky asked, turning to you. "Oh... I don't know, I guess they'll let me know."

"So... you're in no hurry?" You asked, placing a hand on his shoulder and running your fingers over his skin over the collar of his shirt.

"No, why?" He asked, watching you closely as your eyes followed the movement of your fingers.

"I just... like having you here, that's all," you looked down at your lap, embarrassed.

Bucky chuckled, reaching his fingers under your chin and lifting your head up. Your eyes met his and he tried to prevent the smile from growing on his face.

"I really like being here too," he said quietly before leaning in and kissing you gently.

Suddenly the sound of Ava looking through her toys stopped and she started making her way towards you two again. She slammed a hand on Bucky's thigh, the other on yours and Bucky pulled away from the kiss, looking down at Ava. She didn't seem mad, not like she had in the morning but still it was clear her intention was to interrupt you.

"She really doesn't like when we kiss, does she?"

You shook your head. "Of course not. She has to be the center of attention. Don't you, Ava?" You asked, lifting her up only for her to drop something she was just about to pick up. "You love the attention, don't you?" You continued, now tickling her sides to make her laugh and squirm.

Bucky bent down and lifted the toy Ava had dropped. It was the teddy she always carried around, the one he had gotten for her.

"Yes, you do!" You laughed along before hugging her tightly. "God, I love you so much," you sighed quietly to yourself.

Bucky waved the teddy at Ava who quickly grabbed it, sitting down on your lap. She began playing with it, tossing it around.

Bucky's phone rang and he quickly stood up from the couch. He went into your bedroom and picked up his phone from the nightstand, seeing a text message from Sam.

Meeting in 20, get over here.

He huffed, rolling his eyes. He quickly began putting on his clothes from last night and combed through the messy mop of hair Ava had caused. He walked out of the room, eyes locking on yours. "I have to go."

He could see the disappointment in your eyes but you nodded and tried to cover it with a smile. "Well, I knew I needed to let you go at some point," you chuckled, walking over to him. "Have a great day at work," you said and leaned up to kiss his cheek. "We're gonna see you tomorrow, right?"

He nodded. "Absolutely," he said and hugged you briefly before going to Ava. She was sitting on the couch, still playing with the teddy. Bucky knelt down next to her and ran his hand over her head, leaning down to kiss the tip of her nose. "Bye, princess. I'll see you tomorrow."

Ava turned her head to him after hearing the word 'bye'. She always got so sad when Bucky left. She got sad when you left too but you were around most of the time. She hated having to watch her parents go, even if it was only for a short period if time. She stood up on the couch and threw herself onto Bucky, wrapping her arms around his neck while he lifted her up, holding her to his chest.

"Yeah... I don't want to leave either but I have to," he whispered, rocking her side to side. "I'll come back tomorrow, I promise."

He handed Ava to you who immediately nuzzled her head against your neck. You ran your hand down her back a couple of times, trying to keep her calm.

Bucky heard you follow after him as he neared the front door, putting his jacket on. "I'll come over at 5. I have something early in the afternoon."

"Okay, we'll be waiting."

He smiled, giving you and Ava both a quick peck on the forehead before he walked out of the apartment.

His heart ached as he heard the door close behind him. He kept going, though. He jogged down the stairs and out in the street to his car. He looked up and saw you standing at the window. You and Ava both waved at him as he got in the car and a smile took over his face again. He waved back before starting the car and driving off.

***

"Look who it is."

Bucky rolled his eyes as he heard Sam's voice after stepping out of the elevator. "Sam, please don't—"

"It's Buck-Nasty! Coming home after spending the night with his lady," Sam teased, smirking.

Bucky gave him an annoyed glare and continued his way. "Listen I'm not going to tell you anything so it would be better if you just didn't ask."

"No, I don't want details. I mean it's you we're talking about... It couldn't have been pretty."

Bucky sighed through his nose in annoyance.

"I mean Y/N maybe..." Sam began again but this time stopped as Bucky turned around to look at him.

Bucky's eyes were wide and he was pointing at Sam accusingly. "Say another word, I dare you," he growled.

Sam lifted his hands up in a sign of surrender. "I was going to say she probably didn't like having you there either," Sam said cautiously. "Man, what's up? You're acting weird."

Bucky sighed, running his hand over his face. "Nothing. I'm fine. Let's just go to the meeting," he mumbled before continuing his way again.

He turned around and fled so quickly he didn't see the concerned look on Sam's face. It was obvious something was wrong.

***

After the meeting and discussing their strategy of taking down Thanos, Bucky immediately went to the gym. He didn't feel like talking to anyone. He had already been worrying over you and Ava and someone potentially being after you and talking about Thanos, by far the strongest enemy the Avengers had ever had to face, he felt like he was going to lose his mind. He was so worried, terrified about everything.

He walked straight to the punching bag that was hanging from the ceiling. He grabbed some tape to wrap around his knuckles before taking a firm stand, raising his arms in front of him and began punching.

He was breathing heavily, keeping his eyes trained on the bag, his fists hitting it hard with each punch.

Even though he was trying hard to concentrate on just punching, getting out all his frustration, he couldn't help but think about everything that was going on. He would have to fight more aliens, try to defeat Thanos... On top of that he had you and Ava to worry about.

His jaw clenched as his punches became stronger. He was hitting the bag with so much force the ceiling above him started breaking. The nail screwed into the ceiling was swinging because of how strong his punches on the bag were growing. He felt crumbles falling on him but he didn't care, he kept punching.

The anxiety he felt from all the thoughts running through his mind made him block out everything else. He didn't hear the footsteps in the hallway, he didn't hear the door to the gym opening. All he could concentrate on was the punching and the thoughts he was bothered by.

His swings got so hard and fast that suddenly, the bag was sent flying quite a few feet forward. Bucky stood straight, breathing heavily as he looked at the now ruined punching bag leaking grains on the floor. He wiped sweat off of his forehead with his forearm and turned to the door, seeing Tony standing there with a raised brow.

"Bad timing?" Tony asked.

Bucky glared at him and walked over to a bench where he took a seat. He stared down at his hands and began unwrapping the tapes on his hands.

"Listen Barnes, I know this makes you scared, this whole shit show going on right now... We're all scared."

"I don't want to talk about it," Bucky mumbled to himself, standing up from the bench and starting to walk towards the exit.

"Don't worry, didn't come here for a heart to heart," Tony said, raising his hands. "Just came to see if Steve was here, I need to talk to him."

"He's not here."

"Thanks Barnes, you're such a big help."

Bucky fought the urge to say something snarky back to him and instead just clenched his fists and exited the gym.

He saw Natasha walking past him but didn't acknowledge her. He just continued his way and she continued hers.

He heard her footsteps coming to a halt but he kept going.

"Barnes!" She yelled out after him. "At least clean up after yourself!" She exclaimed before stomping into the gym.

Bucky didn't turn back, nor did he say anything. If he wasn't so worked up, he would have taken care of the mess and maybe even apologized but he was so blinded with fear he couldn't think about anything else.

He just needed to cool down. Take a cold shower and rest.

***

Waking up with a sheen of sweat covering his body, Bucky jolted out of bed with fear. He had to hear your voice, he needed to make sure you were okay. He was panicking. His whole body was shaking.

He grabbed his phone from the nightstand. He didn't even really register what he was doing, he hadn't fully woken up yet. He just needed you to tell him you were okay.

He immediately dialed your number, shaking as he ran his fingers through his hair. He chewed on his bottom lip nervously as he listened to the rings.

"Come on!" He yelled. "Answer, please," he begged, voice cracking as he started pacing around the room. He was breathing heavily, chest rising and falling drastically as his heart thumped hard in his chest. Just as he was about to give up, put on some clothes and run to the garage, you answered.

"Hello?" You croaked out.

"Y/N, thank God you answered! Are you okay?"

"James?" You asked, sounding confused. Bucky heard shuffling on the other side of the line before he heard you yawn. "It's two in the morning, is everything okay?"

"Are you okay? Is anyone else in your apartment right now?"

"Well, Ava's here," you chuckled, still sounding very tired.

"This isn't funny, Y/N," Bucky said firmly, eyes still wide and unblinking. "Is everything alright? Are you hurt? Is Ava safe?"

"Yes, we are fine, James," he heard you say calmly.

Bucky sighed and sat down at the edge of his bed. He took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

"What's going on? You sound... scared."

"I just woke up and had this awful feeling that something had happened to you two," he answered quietly before swallowing thickly. "I saw something bad happening and... and I—"

"Had a nightmare?"

Bucky blinked a few times, rubbing his eyes. "I think so, yeah..." He sighed again, letting himself fall back on the bed. "I guess I didn't even realize it was a nightmare until... now."

The line was quiet for a few seconds before you said, "Must have been a bad one."

"It was. And it felt so real," Bucky said quietly, running his fingers over the soft sheets surrounding him.

"It wasn't real, James. Ava and I are fine."

Bucky kept quiet, staring at the ceiling above him. He frowned, thinking about what he would have done if you hadn't answered, if something had actually happened.

"Stop thinking about the other outcomes, James."

Bucky almost chuckled at your comment. It's as if you had just read his mind. He was glad you hadn't, though.

"You know me so well."

"Ava and I are fine. I would let you talk to her but she's sleeping. You should be sleeping as well."

Bucky glanced at the clock on his nightstand and sighed, scooting further onto the bed and slipping under the covers.

"I guess I woke you up, huh?"

"You did but you don't need to apologize. I would have probably reacted the same way if I was you."

Bucky hummed in agreement, listening to you yawn on the other end.

"I call you at night after just spending one with you. How clingy am I?" He laughed, still not fully over what he had seen in his nightmare. He was trying to convince you everything was fine, though. Maybe he was even trying to convince himself.

"You're not clingy, James. Just worried."

"I guess..."

Both of you stayed quiet after that, the phone call still going on. Neither of you wanted to hang up. Both of you were tired but neither had the heart to be the first one to say goodbye. It was nice hearing each other's voice. For Bucky it was more like a relief, hearing you after waking up from a nightmare. For you, it just warmed your heart but also shattered it at the same time.

"I'm sorry you still have nightmares," you said. "Do you have them often?"

"This one was different and I don't have them often, don't worry."

"Are you stressed out about something? Work?"

"Yeah. I guess it's all just hitting me now. The pressure of the whole world on our shoulders and all."

"Well, at least you're not alone."

Bucky smiled. "Yeah, none of us are."

Another yawn was heard from you and Bucky decided it was time to let you go back to sleep. "Okay, you're tired, you need rest."

"Are you sure you're fine now?"

"Cool as a cucumber." He was lying but he did feel a bit better after hearing your voice.

"Okay, good night. We'll see you tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, after five."

"Good. Try not to worry too much... Good night," you said after a few seconds of silence.

"Good night," Bucky replied, smiling before he ended the call.

He set the phone down on the nightstand and got comfortable under the covers. He turned to his side, facing the empty space next to him. He felt lonely in the big bed. Having slept next to you the night before, sleeping by himself felt extremely lonely. He didn't want to be apart from you, especially since he was worried sick. If he was with you, he wouldn't have to worry too much. At least he'd be there if you needed him.

Still, he ended up falling asleep. He gave in to the exhaustion and closed his eyes, hugging a pillow to his chest. As he fell asleep, he thought of you and Ava and how much he wanted to be there with you, to hold you instead of the pillow wrapped up in his arms.