Where is my mind?
Disclaimer-I do not own Marvel, Captain America or anything related to it...don't we all wish. I am not a nurse in real life or on TV. All my nursing knowledge comes from the Internet, TV and the people in my life who opted for the job.
Set after Avengers-Age of Ultron. Bucky finds his way back home and is trying to pick up the pieces of his life and mind. Can someone with a life almost as broken pick up the pieces with him? Rated T for now-M in later chapters
MCU timeline-Ok Winter Solider takes place two years after Avengers and it's a bit unclear how long after that Age of Ultron takes place after that so I'm going to guess Age takes about a year after Winter Soldier. Spoilers for Ant Man.
He was trapped...pinned under the metal beam from the ceiling. He couldn't get his left arm under it to lift if off him and his right shoulder was dislocated. So this is how he would die. Pinned and burned to death as the carrier was on fire. The Mission came down and looked at him. Let him make it a quick death, thought the Asset. One bullet to the head. He would have done it himself if he could have reached his gun.
Without a word the Mission who was bleeding from the four gun shot wounds started lifting the beam off him. The Asset looked at him confused, but crawled out from under the beam. This Mission was proving harder than most. He wouldn't die for starters and he kept talking to the Asset as if he knew him. No one knows me...I am the Winter Soldier, The Asset, The Fist of Hydra...and the Mission must be finished.
"You know me," said the Mission. Something was rising to the surface in his head, an image old and distorted of the Mission, he looked younger and weak compared to the person in front of him.
"No I don't!" screamed the Asset and he punched him in the face with the metal arm. Was it always metal...no...yes...it had been there since he could remember.
"Bucky...you've known me your whole life," said the Mission. His whole life. His whole life had been death, pain, missions...he had not known this man ever. The Asset rose up and punched the Mission again and the carrier lurched forward sending them downward.
"Your name is James Buchanan Barnes," said the Mission. Something else came to his mind a young woman with blue eyes and dark hair looking at him. "You better come home James Buchanan Barnes or so help me." He hugged her and promised to write her the second he got to London, she promised to send him socks and cigarettes and he never saw her again.
"SHUT UP!" His brain hurt more than his body and he just wanted it to stop. The Mission got up and pulled off his helmet and he could see the skinny boy again and he had a bloody nose. Damn it why can't you walk away from a fight just once rose in his mind without thought.
"I'm not going to fight you." He dropped his shield and it fell out of the carrier. "You're my friend." The Asset lunged at him and knocked him the ground.
"You're my mission!" He kept punching and screaming and images swam in his head. The girl again, shaking her head and tending to the boy with bloody nose and tending to him and his sore hands. Telling them that they were both the stupidest people she knew. He could see himself in a brown uniform telling the girl to look after Steve and her nodding agreement. Him with the boy and they cheered on some sort of game.
This will end when he's dead!
"Than finish it." The Asset paused. Years of killing and not once did someone ask for their death. Begging, pleading, and bargaining. Never an acceptance of the end. "Because I'm with you till the end of the line."
He could see it clearly in his mind...the skinny boy again, his mother was gone. He was trying to convince the boy to stay with him. We'll put the sofa cushions on the floor like when we we're kids. Yeah Rebecca will love that countered the skinny boy. He told the boy he was going to be with him till the end of the line. The Asset looked at him and could see he did know this person once. They were fighters, they had fought a war together...had been...friends. Another beam came down and the floor gave away, He managed to hold on, but the Mission...no Steve fell and into the water.
Let him die and it will all be over with. He couldn't though, he jumped in after him and pulled him to shore. He made sure Steve was breathing before walking away. They were even. He wasn't his friend. He had tried to kill his friend. He had killed so many people and he didn't deserve anything further from him.
Brooklyn, New York
2015
He was having trouble moving his left arm and he could hear it grinding a bit. Sometimes it gave him little shocks into his side and he winced. It had been months since it had maintenance done and he couldn't figure out all that needed to be done with it. Bucky rubbed it through his sweatshirt and sat up. Others around him were starting to wake up and get a move on for the day. Be it heading to another spot they had during the day or to see if they could get a spot at a shelter for tonight. He didn't trust shelters, too many eyes and too enclosed for him. It was okay out here, spring was coming and at least he wouldn't freeze. He had spent the winter out west looking for something he wasn't even sure of. He slept in the woods or in cabins that he could break in too. Sometimes he would go into a town and blend in with the other homeless people. Memories kept coming back in waves and he wasn't sure where he was supposed to go now.
He went back to The Vault after his failed mission. Did I fail...he was my friend. He expected punishment for his failure. Let them end it. I'm so tired of it. Only to find it was in disarray and no one was there. Bucky spent the night there waiting for someone to come for him. They always come for me. No one did-no Handlers, Medical staff or Tact team. He managed to pop his right arm back into place and not pass out from the pain. He found some clothes in a locker and changed into jeans, a hooded sweatshirt and ball cap. Bucky looked at his left arm and opened up a panel. Something in him remembered the homing chip. Is that how they found me last time...wait what last time. He pulled the chip out and crushed it. He didn't want to be found anymore. Your punishment when they do find you this time is going to be horrible. I don't care anymore. Before he left The Vault he destroyed the chair where they wiped him after each mission. The memories are punishment enough. The dark haired girl again crying and pleading with him to not enlist. She would be alone was her argument. She wouldn't be alone she would have Steve he promised her. Telling Steve after the third failed attempt that maybe this was for the best, someone needed to keep her out of trouble. Steve left her too and she had been all alone. God I'm so sorry.
He was sure people were looking for him, be it Hydra or maybe his last mission Steve. He didn't want to be found though and he needed to disappear. Before he left D.C he went to the Smithsonian, he saw an ad in the paper about the Captain America exhibit and had to see it. There he was, a memorial to him-they called him a hero and best friend to Steve Rogers. What a laugh. I almost killed him. Damn my head. He disappeared into the crowd after that and didn't look back.
He felt pulled to come to New York and for some reason he needed to be in this neighborhood. Was this home once...it looks so different, smells different, the sounds too. It's all different now. He had just gotten into the city last night and had a few fitful hours of sleep before dawn.
A blue van pulled up and he faded into the shadows. Others were happy to see the van and started heading for it. The man next to him pulled himself up and grinned.
"Mmmm Mondays. You best get up before all the good ones are gone." He got up and headed for the van too. Bucky looked at as two women got out. One was an older, tall black woman with her graying hair in a long braid and the other was a younger white woman with brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. The group swarmed, but kept their distant as the two set up a table with cups, a drink dispenser and a large basket.
Aid workers, thought Bucky dully. He had been on the streets long enough to recognize the type. They meant well and could always be counted on for something he needed with no questions. He was just too tired though to get up and take what they were offering. He should get up though and see about getting a safe location set up. Bucky went to gather his things when he heard a voice above him.
"Are you hungry? It's free, no questions asked." He looked up and the younger woman with the brown hair was standing there holding a coffee and pastry in a wrapper. She knelt down and sat the food in front of him. She gave him a small smile and fished out some cream and sugar packets from her coat pocket. She looked over her shoulder and gave a small wave to the woman at the table. Bucky noticed she was positioning herself where the older woman could see her.
"Paulie said you were new here. Breakfast and coffee are every Monday ok," she looked a little closer at him and Bucky could feel himself getting tense looking into her dark green eyes. She had light green eyes and blonde hair in a bun. She told him that it would be better if he didn't fight back. She brought him water and something for the pain. She was studying him intently and he felt dread creep in. Did she recognize him, was she with Hydra? Without thinking his right hand went to his left arm and rubbed it.
"Are you hurt? You keep rubbing your arm. I'm a nurse. My name is Alison, what's yours?" He took the coffee and refused to look at her. She sighed and fished around in a bag. He noticed she was wearing some odd sort of necklace. Dog tags and a ring. She pulled out a card and pen out of the bag.
"I'm out here only on Monday mornings. But if it gets really bad for you, you can go to the shelter and ask them to call me. Just show them the card okay." She wrote on the back of the card and sat it on the unopened package that had a danish. She gave him another small smile before walking away. He took the danish and looked at the card. St Mark's Parish. It had the address on it a few blocks from here. He flipped it over and on the back in loopy scrawl was the name Alison Conley.
Bucky shoved it into his pocket and started eating the danish. It wasn't too bad, a little stale and the coffee was decent after he poured the little creamer cups in. That was something he missed during the war...decent, hot coffee. The others started coming back around with their coffee and snacks and one of guys gave him a look.
"So how did you manage to get the hot one over here?" Bucky didn't say anything and one of the other guys laughed and made a rather crude joke about the burnette.
"Show a little respect for a lady," growled Bucky. He gathered up his things and made his way out of the alley. Always respect a lady, said some voice in the back of his head. He wished he could remember who's voice it was. It sounded like the person he used to be.
…..
Alison was handing Paulie his coffee and package of chocolate donuts when she noticed the man pressed against the wall. That was the first indication something was off. No one in this area ever passed up free food. He leaned on the wall, gave a quick look over before rubbing his arm and looking away.
"New guy?" asked Alison as Paulie started dumping sugar in his coffee.
"Yeah. Came in last night. He's weird," said Paulie.
"Why's that?" she asked handing someone else a coffee and a muffin.
"Talks in sleep and it's not English. Sounded like rocks in a grinder," said Paulie. Well that narrows it down to a lot of different languages, thought Alison.
"Spanish?" asked Alison hopefully and Paulie rolled his eyes.
"I know Spanish. It wasn't Spanish. What do I look like a Rosetta Stone?" asked Paulie. Alison slipped him another package of donuts.
"Be nice or I'll make sure you never get chocolate donuts again," said Alison.
"Don't listen to her Paulie she's too soft for her own good," said Sarah with a wink. He nodded and went on his way for the day. Alison looked back over and saw the guy wasn't getting up and was moving oddly. She poured a cup, grabbed a danish and her little bag that had a few first aid basics before leaving the table.
"Where are you going?" asked Sarah.
"Five minutes," said Alison ignoring Sarah's glare. He seemed focused on gathering up what he had and didn't notice her until she spoke.
"Are you hungry? It's free, no questions asked." He looked up startled before quickly looking back down and she bent down so they were at eye level and sat the food down. She stayed where Sarah could see her and gave a little wave to let her know everything was fine. He wouldn't look her in the eyes and all she could really make out was a very bearded face with long matted dark hair.
"Paulie said you were new here. Breakfast and coffee are every Monday ok." He did look up for a moment and his blue eyes looked panicked. She was trying to see if there was anything visibly wrong when he rubbed his left arm again. Bingo,thought Alison.
"Are you hurt? You keep rubbing your arm. I'm a nurse. My name is Alison, what's yours?" He took the coffee and went back to looking at the ground. Okay. We'll do it your way. She pulled a pen and a parish card out of her bag.
"I'm out here only on Monday mornings. But if it gets really bad for you, you can go to the shelter and ask them to call me. Just show them the card okay," she said it slowly and in a tone one would use with a scared kid. He didn't look up so she headed back to the table. When she got back he had taken the danish and was sipping the coffee.
"I would smack you like you were one of mine, but I'm worried it would knock any sense you had out," said Sarah pouring her last cup of coffee.
"Grandpa always said I had no sense," said Alison. She watched the man get up and walk away.
"Clearly." When they were finished putting things back in the van Sarah got behind the driver's seat and rolled her eyes at Alison as they drove off.
"You know he could have been dangerous and you put yourself in a position you didn't need to be in. If they don't come to us, we can't go to them. It's a safety thing," scolded Sarah. She had been working at shelters since before Alison was a thought and had lost a friend a few years ago after he got between a violent ex husband and his wife on the street in front of the shelter instead of calling and waiting for the police as he had been told to do.
"I don't think he knew he could come to us," said Alison sipping her now cold coffee and Sarah sighed.
"I know you mean well, but have a little sense of self preservation this early in the morning. Bad enough the boy has none and obviously it's catching," said Sarah. The boy in question was her own nephew and in her eyes he lost all sense of self preservation when he joined the Avengers.
"See you later," said Alison when they parked the van.
"Stay out of trouble," called Sarah walking in the the shelter. Alison started her walk over to Morningstar Nursing Home where she worked as a LPN. She was halfway to work when her phone went off.
I believe I can fly. I believe I can touch the sky. Think about it every night and day...Oh he would kill her if he knew that was his current ring tone, but Sam Wilson-the boy who had no sense-had only brought it on himself by admitting his code name was Falcon.
"Hello. You have reached the Conley summer home-some are home and some are not," said Alison.
"Why can't you answer the phone like a normal person?" asked Sam.
"More fun this way. Are you in the city yet?" asked Alison. They were supposed to have dinner this evening. She could tell by the sigh he was going to deliver bad news.
"There was a bit of an issue here so I'm gonna have to cancel. Again," said Sam sounding very annoyed.
"Tell me it's not killer robots again. You used that one last month. You can only use that excuse about three more times before we call bullshit," teased Alison.
Honestly it had reach a point where you either poked fun at all the near world ending events happening recently, pretended they weren't happening or become a giant ball of nerves in your day to day life. Or have a huge drinking party like Sophia and Renee did last month, thought Alison.
Plus Sam seemed to appreciate that she could poke fun at him about the very odd turn his life had taken. Unlike Renee and Sarah who had been dropping not so veiled hints they wanted him to join the normals again. They were proud of him, but after last month when a city in Europe fell out of sky a breaking point seemed to have been reached. Watching you go to the Middle East was nerve racking enough. This is a whole new level of non stop worrying for all of us. She and Sophia were on Sam's side though. If this was what he wanted to do than they were more than willing to support him and he seemed happy doing this. Granted she had been a little more than distant during his last tour, but he seemed so unhappy and distant himself during that time it had caused a rift in their relationship. Their relationship was being mended and him having something he took pride in and made him happy helped.
" Oh so now I'm the kid who cried 'Killer Robot.' Well this wasn't a robot. Also last month was not a robot. It was a killer A.I. Huge difference," said Sam.
"Robots, A.I...doesn't really make a difference among us normals," said Alison.
"If can you be free this evening we could try to Skype. I'm having a rotten day and it's not even eight am. At least Cap isn't here to chew my ass out yet," said Sam sounding defeated.
"You tried to borrow the shield to pick up chicks didn't you? Did you leave it at bar? Did a girl write her phone number on?" asked Alison trying to cheer him up.
"If only I had done that," said Sam and she could hear the desperation in his tone. Someone needs a hug, thought Alison.
" I get off about six so try messaging me around seven. You know it might not be that bad. I mean you really didn't take the shield?" asked Alison finally getting a small laugh.
" If I was going to the shield I would use it to re-create the sledding scene for Christmas Vacation. I'll try to be on by seven,"said Sam. They said their goodbyes and Alison ended the call.
She had been looking forward to having dinner with him. It was disappointing, but clearly unavoidable. It might be world saving after all. He had missed Thanksgiving and Christmas last year which he was still closed lipped about the cause. He was supposed to be home last month for his cousin and her girlfriend's engagement party and the killer A.I had sort of ruined him coming home. Oh the fit Renee had was near epic-I don't know which pissed her off more-Sam missing another family event or the fact the world was near ending again before she got married. They hadn't really seen each other in person for over a year now. Not since he moved to D.C and joined the Avengers. Not since her 'bad year'. They did try Skyping at least once a week. Plus now he was in New York so they could at least try to meet up. At least we're talking again. I did miss him.
….
He had walked this neighborhood before and wondered what was real-what he saw or the ghosts in his head. They all walked home from school together. Rebecca had just entered 1st grade and it was his and Steve's job to make sure she got to and from school safe. After all he and Steve were in 5th grade. Then again it was his job alone to make sure Steve got to and from school okay. People liked to pick on Steve because he was smaller than other kids and smarter too. Well book smart-he could never walk away from a fight, even when he was out numbered. It was Bucky's job to even the odds for Steve. It was just Steve and his mom, like it was just Bucky, Rebecca and their mom. Steve's dad died during the war and his dad just left one day. It made his mom sad to talk about it and Becca didn't remember their father. Bucky did and what he could remember he didn't like. He drank even though you weren't supposed to and it cost him work. He could remember trying to go to sleep and hearing his mother cry and his father telling her to be quiet before hitting her. Bucky hated him. It was wrong to hurt someone who hadn't done anything wrong. He would never be like that, if he did get into fights it was so Steve didn't get hurt. Steve was always too stubborn to walk away from a fight. They had each other no matter what.
Bucky looked up at the apartment building and while it was foggy in his head, he was sure that he had lived here once. There was a crowd in the front and from what he heard it was some sort of museum and he couldn't see a way to blend in like before so he walked to the back of the building. He noticed there was a fire escape that lead to the roof and he figured that was just as good as anywhere else to wait out the day. He climbed up and laid down so no one could spot him. He had hidden like this before, only he had been waiting for a car to come by. It was warm for November... was it November? Yes he heard the handler say something about what a bitch his wife was being about having Thanksgiving Dinner with his family for once. He took sight in his scope. He was only to kill the man in the car, not the woman in pink next to him. It was easy enough and his handler was in such a good mood he gave him a slice of pie before his wipe.
The memories came like waves some days and other times not at all. He could go days without anything and then bam a flood came and would leave him feeling like he had the flu. Steve had the flu and when Steve's mother went to work they went over and Bucky's mother made a huge pot of chicken soup and they had dinner in Steve's room. He and Becca never got sick. It was the Irish in them said his mother, it made them too stubborn to get sick.
He was sure the dark haired girl from his memories was called Rebecca. She came to him the most next to Steve when memories came back. They were all mixed together sometimes it was his life before the war. Some times it was during the war and then everything else just blurred together. He closed his eyes and felt that shock in his arm again.
He couldn't understand what they were saying and he kept fighting against them. Jesus where was his arm. It smelled like smoke and every nerve in his body hurt. He had to get out of here somehow. Someone put a needle in his arm and everything went black again. When he woke up he was tied to the bed and a blond woman was cleaning out the wound on his left arm. Her light green eyes caught his and she was looking at him with a hint of pity.
"Fighting them will just make it harder on you," she said in accented English. She wrapped the spot where his arm used to be was. She helped him sit up a bit for water.
"You speak English?" asked Bucky his voice hoarse and she nodded.
"Zola and I are the only two here right now who speak English fluently. Everyone else is very bad at it. It's why I got put in charge of you." Zola had gotten away and now he was back under the care of that madman. How did he managed to find him before Steve did? He had fallen out of the train. How did he survive the fall? She gave him some more water before fishing out three pills.
"Two are for the pain and one is to help fight off any infection from the operation. If you don't take them I have to call the guards and they'll make you take them. Please," she said. Bucky took them and she helped him back down.
"How long have I been here?" asked Bucky.
"I don't know. Awhile I think."
"What month is it?" asked Bucky.
"March," she said cleaning up casting worried glances at the door.
"I've only been here a month," said Bucky. It had been February when they tried to take the train and she looked at him confused.
"What year do you think this is?"
"1944." She shook her head.
"It's 1946." He looked at her stunned and went to grab her.
"Don't lie to me," he snapped and she quickly ran out of the room. His screaming for her to come back brought in the guards and one of them hit in the head to shut him up. How? How had two years gone by with no one coming for him? What had happened? Zola got away, did they lose the war? Where was Steve? It all went hazy for him between the beating and the pain medication. He woke up again and she was cleaning the head wound.
"It's March 20th 1946. I'm not lying to you so be quiet." she hissed.
"What happened? How did we lose?" They had to have lost or else he wouldn't be here. She sighed and eyed the door.
"You didn't lose. The Allied forces defeated the Axis. My country owes part of Germany and everyone else owns the other half. Japan had to be bombed into surrender."
"What about Captain America?" If Steve had any say he would be combing the Alps until he found his body. When none was found Steve would come looking for him.
"He died during the last Hydra fight." It stunned him into silence. Steve was dead. No one was coming for him. He was on his own this time. The end of the line.
…
"Stop laughing at me," whined Sam. Alison took another deep breath and wiped the tears away.
"You got your ass soundly kicked by a guy called Ant Man. He then broken into your headquarters, stole stuff, broke your jetpack and got away. How do still have a job? How does one get fired from the A Team? Is like being tenured and you never get fired? Oh wait till Sophia hears about this." She reached for her phone to text her when Sam spoke up.
"Please don't tell anyone about this. I really shouldn't have told you, but since I bailed this evening I figured I owed you a really good reason. Does having my butt kicked by a tiny man make it a good one?"
"I'll let you use 'tiny ninja man kicked my ass' five more times before calling bullshit."
"Well maybe I should bank those just in case. So..." prompted Sam grinning.
"So what?"
"A little bird told me you had a date this past weekend. How did it go?" She rolled her eyes.
"I'm calling it quits and adopting cats," said Alison.
"It couldn't be that bad," said Sam.
" He sent me a picture of his 'junk' when he went to the bathroom before I could order cheesecake. Yeah it was that bad. Sophia and Renee are no longer allowed to set me up." Sam sighed. It was almost three years since the 'accident' and while Sam didn't want to push her into anything, she did seem stuck on certain areas in her life. Meeting new people and dating was one of them. Matt would really want her to try and move on, thought Sam. Nothing serious, just a new friend for the time being.
"It was for the best really. I mean who wants to date an almost psychiatric nurse that did time at mental hospital?" asked Alison. Sam was going to say something when Natasha poked her head in.
"Boss man wants to see you." She noticed his Skype screen up and saw Alison. "Take all the time you need." Natasha gave a little wave before leaving. Alison did a double take as the stunning redhead walked away
"I swear to god everyone you work with is Photoshopped," teased Alison. "I take it duty calls."
"It calls. I'm not totally grounded so we can meet up on Friday," said Sam.
"You know family dinner is Friday so our presence is mandatory. Fair warning, Renee is turning into a major Bridezilla and the wedding isn't until next year. Sophia was asking if she could 'borrow' my medication to cool her down," said Alison.
"Sophia might have slipped her a little something at the party last month on top of the booze. I fully intend to keep that video of her singing with Sarah 'Whip my hair' for future blackmail use. How much did you all drink?" asked Sam.
"I drunk dialed you and left a voicemail singing 'Shots'. There is video of Sophia trying to sing Gangnam Style in Chinese. My hair hurt the next morning what does that tell you?" asked Alison
"That I really need to get out more often. I'll see you around seven." Alison gave a mock salute and was about to disconnect when Sam had an idea. "What if I set up something with someone from here?"
"I don't know Sam," she protested. Really she wanted to try and she had thought the last date was going really good and he seemed nice. Until he had sent her that pic and it wasn't even meant for her based on the text message. Apparently she was boring and he got the vibe she wasn't going to put out. He wanted to meet up with some bimbo whose name started with a D. What happened to the three date rule? Is that even a thing. This is what having a ten year dating gap will do. She gave the waitress a twenty and was let out through the kitchen.
"I promise he won't sext you or send you anything gross. He has all his shots and a good job," said Sam grinning.
"You won't tell him anything that's happened in the last few years right? I would like to roll that out on my time frame," said Alison.
"You have my word that you can roll out your crazy train on your own time frame," said Sam. Alison gave him a tired smile.
"I really did miss you. Good luck," said Alison ending the chat.
Sam leaned back in his chair. He had missed her too. Reilly's death had been a tough blow and he hadn't been allowed to really talk about it with anyone until after he was discharged. Alison had been dealing with her own issues after the 'accident' so even if he had wanted to talked about she wasn't in place to be there for him. His aunt and cousin just wanted him home and he wasn't sure how they would handle knowing what he had seen or done while over there. He could have gone to Sophia to talk since she seemed to be the other level head, but Alison had grown up with the military. Both her grandfather and father had served so she might have understood him a little better. In his mind it did make sense for him to introduce Alison to Steve. Why shouldn't his new friend meet his old friend?
…..
"You can share Becca's room," said Bucky sitting down the bed frame from Steve's room. Steve gave him a look.
"Aren't you worried people will talk? I mean she's still a kid, but…" Becca rolled her eyes and sat down the clothes from Steve's apartment.
"My room is the warmest in the apartment so it makes sense for us to share a room. Besides how else is he going to get girls in and out if you're sharing a room?" asked Becca and Bucky gave her a look.
"And he'll stop you from sneaking out to meet boys that I told you not to meet," said Bucky picking up the bed frame to move it to the second bedroom.
"Who did you sneak out to meet?' asked Steve rounding on her.
"Nicholas D'angelo," spat Bucky.
"Wasn't his older brother in our class?" asked Steve.
"Yeah and he stuffed you in the trash bin more than once and I had to punch him more than once," said Bucky.
"He's not from good people Becky," said Steve worried.
"Jesus, Mary and Joseph my parents have returned from the dead and taken over new bodies. It's another miracle. The end is upon us," cried Becca going back to Steve's apartment to get more of his things.
"If I didn't love her so much I smack her for being a smart ass," said Bucky.
"At least she's not a dumb ass," said Steve taking his clothes to the dresser that had a drawer for him.
"She goes through guys though. Last week it was the Ellis kid three floors down and the month before that it was kid who took tickets at the picture house," said Bucky going to set up the bed.
"Remind you of anyone?" teased Steve.
"It's different," countered Bucky.
"There was a Maria, a Nina, a Dorris, two Mary's, some red head. Oh and a Vivian and that was in the span of two months. She's actually slow compared to you," said Steve handing him a screwdriver.
"I would like to keep it that way," said Bucky.
"She's a good kid. You don't have to worry about her that much," said Steve.
"Well it's either worry about her or worry about you. Since you're staying with us now I don't have to worry so much about you," said Bucky. It was really quiet for a moment before Steve spoke up again.
"I really do appreciate this. I promise we'll split everything 50/50. I won't be a pain in your ass."
"Your mom offered to take us in and while we didn't move it she did look out for us. We're family," said Bucky nudging Steve.
He waited till the museum staff had gone before trying to sneak in. The alarm was easy enough to disconnect. Bucky came in through a window that wasn't latched tight enough and looked around. It was a small two bedroom apartment with a small kitchen space and a common area. The shared bathroom was down the way. We always had to get Steve up early if he wanted hot water. We were talking about getting a bigger place after the war. A new building where the bath was private. He had lived here once. This had been home once and he had been happy here. The furnishings were still here, but they didn't look right. They haven't been used. It's just for show. His room faced to east and it always had a draft no matter how much newspaper he stuffed in the cracks. Plus it did have it's perks.
The blond slipping her dress back on and slipping out his window and down the fire stairs. Coming out for breakfast- Steve turning red and Rebecca asking if he could tell his dates to keep their praises to a low scream the next time they were trying to sleep. What would the neighbors think?
Bucky rubbed his arm and sat on the floor of what used to be his room and wondered what he was supposed to do now. No one was home. I just wanted to go home.