How Does Your Garden Grow?
Title: How Does Your Garden Grow?
Fandom: Avengers
Pairing: Tasha/Bucky
Summary: Natasha is turned into a flower. Yes, a flower.
Author's Note: Written to fill this prompt on the Avengers kink meme, and the disappearance prompt on my Avengers table.
The day Natasha disappeared, Bucky found a single red rose in his bed. Instead of despairing, assuming she’d left, he was simply confused. What looked like the parting gift of a lover couldn’t be. The night before, they’d been making plans together. She wouldn’t have left. Could someone have kidnapped her, leaving the rose as a signature? No, that wasn’t possible, either. How could they abduct her from his bed without his noticing? When it hit him, it felt like a brick to his gut. Red hair. Red rose. He had to be truly crazy to even be thinking this. But crazier things had happened.
Further examination of the flower found Nat’s DNA in it. In other words, Natasha was the rose. Either that, or somebody had managed to fuse her DNA with it, and then they had kidnapped her or she had left, but both of those were impossible.
Bucky filled a vase with water and placed it on his dresser, near the window. He frowned, placing the rose in the vase. “Sorry to do this, Tasha.” He chuckled at himself. Talking to a plant. “If that even is you.” He left the room, shaking his head and smiling at how crazy he must’ve sounded.
Within a few hours, everyone knew-even Thor, the heaviest sleeper of all of them. He approached Bucky with a smile, clapping his shoulder. “Fear not, my friend! I’ve no doubt she will return to her normal form by the close of day.” But Bucky could tell the God worried about his teammate. He’d almost prefer nobody know than receive these attempts at comfort. But it wouldn’t have been fair to the others to keep it to himself. She was their teammate, too.
As the days passed and Natasha didn’t return, Bucky started to think she really was the rose. He felt crazy for it, but what other explanation was there? He felt even crazier for talking to the rose. He’d talk to her-no, to it-every day as if it were Tasha. He’d tell Tash about his day, give her details about their missions, tell her that everything was alright, that they’d find a way to change her back.
Bucky may have talked to the rose more than anyone else, but he was by no means the only person who spoke to her. One by one, each of the others stopped by to make a visit, some of them more than once. Even Fury came over. All of them worried about their teammate. All of them wanted to believe she was still with them. Talking to the rose made Bucky feel at least marginally better, and he knew the others felt the same.
But the problem with roses is that once they’ve been severed from the bush, they don’t last long. One by one, the petals dried up and fell off. The leaves withered and the stem wilted. When the last petal fell, Bucky placed it in the drawer where he’d been keeping the others. He picked up the stem and frowned at it. It looked sad like that, void of petals with leaves barely hanging on. It was time to let it go. “Tasha,” he whispered. “If you’re still in there, and you can hear me...you’ve always been strong, and you need to be strong now. Don’t give up, you hear? Dammit, Tash, don’t leave me.” He brought the stem to his lips and kissed it before placing it in the drawer with the petals.
# # #
Loki smiled as he watched from outside the window. Earth’s mightiest heroes, placing so much emotional investment in a flower. Loki had always been one for mischief, but now that he’d had his mischief, it was time to make things right again. Besides, he couldn’t wait to see the looks on their faces when the Widow returned...
# # #
“James? James, wake up.”
Bucky opened his eyes and saw Natasha leaning over him. That woke him right up. After not having his lover in days, he pulled her tight in his arms, kissing her thoroughly. She kissed him back just as hard before he pulled away, looking confused. “But-you.” He laughed embarrassedly and ran a hand through his hair. “Don’t laugh, but we thought you were a flower.”
Natasha grinned. “Oh, I was. I seem to recall you all being very worried about me. You in particular.”
Bucky smiled in return. “Of course I was. I couldn’t stand the thought of losing you. Thought I had lost you.”
“Yes, well, a certain someone told me to hold on.” She winked.
Bucky laughed, shaking his head. “Don’t ever do that again, if you can help it.”
Tasha smiled again, pulling Bucky closer. “Don’t worry. I’ll try my best not to turn into a flower again.”
And she kissed him.
Fandom: Avengers
Pairing: Tasha/Bucky
Summary: Natasha is turned into a flower. Yes, a flower.
Author's Note: Written to fill this prompt on the Avengers kink meme, and the disappearance prompt on my Avengers table.
The day Natasha disappeared, Bucky found a single red rose in his bed. Instead of despairing, assuming she’d left, he was simply confused. What looked like the parting gift of a lover couldn’t be. The night before, they’d been making plans together. She wouldn’t have left. Could someone have kidnapped her, leaving the rose as a signature? No, that wasn’t possible, either. How could they abduct her from his bed without his noticing? When it hit him, it felt like a brick to his gut. Red hair. Red rose. He had to be truly crazy to even be thinking this. But crazier things had happened.
Further examination of the flower found Nat’s DNA in it. In other words, Natasha was the rose. Either that, or somebody had managed to fuse her DNA with it, and then they had kidnapped her or she had left, but both of those were impossible.
Bucky filled a vase with water and placed it on his dresser, near the window. He frowned, placing the rose in the vase. “Sorry to do this, Tasha.” He chuckled at himself. Talking to a plant. “If that even is you.” He left the room, shaking his head and smiling at how crazy he must’ve sounded.
Within a few hours, everyone knew-even Thor, the heaviest sleeper of all of them. He approached Bucky with a smile, clapping his shoulder. “Fear not, my friend! I’ve no doubt she will return to her normal form by the close of day.” But Bucky could tell the God worried about his teammate. He’d almost prefer nobody know than receive these attempts at comfort. But it wouldn’t have been fair to the others to keep it to himself. She was their teammate, too.
As the days passed and Natasha didn’t return, Bucky started to think she really was the rose. He felt crazy for it, but what other explanation was there? He felt even crazier for talking to the rose. He’d talk to her-no, to it-every day as if it were Tasha. He’d tell Tash about his day, give her details about their missions, tell her that everything was alright, that they’d find a way to change her back.
Bucky may have talked to the rose more than anyone else, but he was by no means the only person who spoke to her. One by one, each of the others stopped by to make a visit, some of them more than once. Even Fury came over. All of them worried about their teammate. All of them wanted to believe she was still with them. Talking to the rose made Bucky feel at least marginally better, and he knew the others felt the same.
But the problem with roses is that once they’ve been severed from the bush, they don’t last long. One by one, the petals dried up and fell off. The leaves withered and the stem wilted. When the last petal fell, Bucky placed it in the drawer where he’d been keeping the others. He picked up the stem and frowned at it. It looked sad like that, void of petals with leaves barely hanging on. It was time to let it go. “Tasha,” he whispered. “If you’re still in there, and you can hear me...you’ve always been strong, and you need to be strong now. Don’t give up, you hear? Dammit, Tash, don’t leave me.” He brought the stem to his lips and kissed it before placing it in the drawer with the petals.
# # #
Loki smiled as he watched from outside the window. Earth’s mightiest heroes, placing so much emotional investment in a flower. Loki had always been one for mischief, but now that he’d had his mischief, it was time to make things right again. Besides, he couldn’t wait to see the looks on their faces when the Widow returned...
# # #
“James? James, wake up.”
Bucky opened his eyes and saw Natasha leaning over him. That woke him right up. After not having his lover in days, he pulled her tight in his arms, kissing her thoroughly. She kissed him back just as hard before he pulled away, looking confused. “But-you.” He laughed embarrassedly and ran a hand through his hair. “Don’t laugh, but we thought you were a flower.”
Natasha grinned. “Oh, I was. I seem to recall you all being very worried about me. You in particular.”
Bucky smiled in return. “Of course I was. I couldn’t stand the thought of losing you. Thought I had lost you.”
“Yes, well, a certain someone told me to hold on.” She winked.
Bucky laughed, shaking his head. “Don’t ever do that again, if you can help it.”
Tasha smiled again, pulling Bucky closer. “Don’t worry. I’ll try my best not to turn into a flower again.”
And she kissed him.