"Notice the small things. The rewards are inversely proportional."

Liz Vassey

The Past

Bucky arrived at the apartment in Bucharest to find himself alone. The first thing that he felt when he opened that apartment door and found the place void of Ophelia was instinctively fear. Not once in their lives together did he ever not worry about her. It was not the matter of Ophelia adapting, she was far better at it than he was in so many ways, but he worried about losing her. Losing her in every possible variation of the word. Losing her to someone who wanted to ruin what they had -all they wanted was to live a life together without anyone impeding. After so many years being controlled by HYDRA, it was a small reward to ask.

But the world didn't want them to have it.

If anyone found them, it would be prison, or worse.

Bucky worried about losing Ophelia to this ever-growing world -all she wanted was to learn about things she missed. From history to current events, to books of fiction and non-fiction. Ophelia wanted every last fragment of information implanted in her mind, to make up for the way she was raised. How she was devoid of everything a human being deserved.

Taking a moment to collect himself, Bucky inhaled deeply. Ophelia read a book on meditation once, and told him to breathe in for a count of five, hold for a count of five, and breathe out for a count of five. It sounded silly, but it worked every time he felt stressed out about the little things.

That's when he heard it, the strange noise coming from the kitchen sink. The distraction was welcomed, even if it meant simply that another small part of their home was falling apart. He crouched down, opening the cupboard under the sink and finding that the pipe was leaking. Taking off his jacket, he studied his metal arm for a brief moment, thinking back on everything he had done with it. How many lives he had taken, how much damage it had done. And now he was using it to tighten the pipes under the kitchen sink.

It was a quick fix; with his strength he did not even need tools to do it. Getting up off the floor, he tossed the rag he used to mop up the water into the basket by the balcony door, and then wiped his hands on his trousers. The front door opened and instinctively Bucky's fight or flight instincts kicked in and he was quick to be ready for anything.

Head down, brown hair covering her face, and a stack of at least ten books in her arms, was Ophelia. Her tongue was sticking out between her pale pink lips, concentrating on not dropping her stack of books. She didn't even notice him, not right away, as she used her hip to close the front door. Every movement she made was like a gift to him -every single thing she did, he found himself smiling or laughing. The fact that she had gotten dressed up in a summer dress to go to the library to pick up books on plumbing made him smile. The fact that she was completely unaware of his presence as she was so lost in her own mind some days made him worry, but not stressed.

And when she looked up and saw him there, a smile on her lips lighting up her whole face, that made every moment in his life that led up to this one worth it. The wars, the torture, the brainwashing, the killing, the endless fighting both physically and in his own mind -every last second of it was worth it just for that smile.

"Bucky," she said his name like it was the only word that mattered. Like his existence was the only thing that really mattered to her. "The sink is leaking."

"Yeah," Bucky said with a gesture of his metal hand to the sink. "So, you raided the entire plumbing section of the library?"

"Knowledge is power, Bucky," she told him, putting the books down on the cinderblock and wood-plank shelf. "I want to know how to do these things. My skillset includes infiltrating the mind and hand-to-hand combat... I thought broadening my horizon would be useful."

Suddenly he felt a small pang of guilt. "I fixed it already..."

She blinked, then looked at the books she brought home. "Oh."

"I-" Bucky stammered, realizing he took something from her that he didn't even realize. He took an opportunity for her to learn, become more and more independent, to develop these skills.

"Thank you," she said then, cocking her head to the side and smiling once again. The way her eyes crinkled at the corners, her smile so big it perfectly shifted every feature on her face. Everything that was worth something, was worth it for her.

"Come here." He beckoned for her to come close. "I'll show you what I did, in case it happens again."

She came around the counter and looked up at him, watching as he hesitated to open the cupboard doors. Suddenly he was absolutely floored by her, and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close. She propped her hand up on his chest, her fingertips warm even through his shirt. Leaning down, Bucky kissed the top of her forehead, holding his lips there for a minute.

He realized they had all the time in the world, and he needed to stop worrying about losing her. After everything that they had been through, life couldn't take that away from them anymore. It wouldn't be fair, it wouldn't balance or add up. The suffering had to balance out with something greater, and Bucky took in a long breath, counted to five, and breathed out.

They had time.