Staring at the computer screen, he chewed his lip. This was by far one of the more nerve wracking things he had ever done. Sure going off to war and fighting a bunch of Nazis, then a crazed red faced German was more nerve wracking than the Nazis, but this? This was far worse. He didn't know what to do. He only stared at the Google screen on the laptop that sat in front of him. He chewed his lip, fingers hovering over the keyboard.
Should he do it? What if he didn't like what he saw? What if it just broke his heart all over again? He left her once, but knowing if she wasn't around anymore would kill him. But even so, not knowing would just kill him as well. Not knowing if she was alive. Not knowing anything and having that regret of never finding out would weigh down on his shoulders for the rest of his life…
He took a deep breath and quickly typed in what he needed.
ooOOoo
His heart was pounding as he stood outside the building. Looking around he found a small garden to the far left of the building where a couple of elderly people sat around enjoying the nice day and fresh air. Other areas he found built in sidewalks for the elders to use to roam around. A few of them had walkers with them, others had canes, and then there were those who didn't need either for support, however, they still had a slow pace to themselves.
His heart seized. His mind kept going to the Howling Commandos. Were any of them here as well? Probably not. They were probably all over the country in retirement homes that were close enough to family. Or some of them were still living with family. Or maybe some of them had already passed away. He remembered reading that Dugan had passed away. Right before the DC incident…
He took a deep breath. Don't think about it. he chided himself. He knew if he thought about them, he would think about how he wasn't retiring with them. Then again, he had thought about it a couple times…
Memories flashed across his mind. Memories of the war. Of the Howling Commandos. More memories. That was good. He was grateful that he hadn't lost those memories. Hell he didn't know what he would do if he didn't have those memories back. God he missed his old friends. He wished they were right here with him. He wished he was able to be by their side, just like them, retiring after a long fulfilled life. Then again…if he was, he wouldn't have the family that he had with the Avengers. He wouldn't have reunited with Steve. More than likely, Steve would have been stuck in the ice and he would never have seen him again. Only to wait in a rocking chair with a bunch of other old men and women, waiting for family to visit.
Family…
That's right. He was here for a different reason. Completely different from just staring at the building and wishing and wanting that he was in that building, growing old with a bunch of people he didn't know. People who didn't care about him as much as the family he had currently.
He shook his head and stuffed his hands in his pockets, hoping to hide the metal one. He didn't want to somehow scare any of the elders around him. Also he didn't want any possibly nosy people interrogating him about it.
He quickly adjusted his hat, pulling it over his face so as to not be recognized by any potential vets. Lord knows how many World War II veterans were living in this place.
Entering the building, he looked around. More elderly were scattered about. Some walking around like those who were outside. Others were seated on some arm chairs and couches, enjoying the view from outside the windows. He even caught one or two with sketch books, doodling drawings of random objects, people, or nature they spotted around them. He smiled. It reminded him of Steve and how the punk would always be sitting around drawing something new. Even to this day he would catch him with a sketchbook if he wasn't busy with Avengers stuff.
The dark haired soldier's head turned to the desk a couple feet in front of him. There a young woman with curly red hair sat, staring a computer screen. He slowly approached. A part of him wanted to run. But the other part of him wanted to do this. He had to do this.
The woman looked up when she noticed him standing at the counter and smiled a bright happy smile. "Hi there!" she greeted, rolling her chair to his side of the desk. "What can I do for you?"
"Um…" He swallowed the lump that was starting to form in his throat. He was nervous. Definitely nervous. "Is um…is Rebecca Barnes here? I mean uh," he cleared his throat. "Is Rebecca Barnes Proctor here?"
The smile on the woman's face grew. "Oh you're here to see Becca?" she asked. The smile grew just a little more when he nodded. "Yes she is! She's in room B17. She'll be so happy to have a visitor! She's so sweet!"
A smile tugged at his lips. "Yeah, she is."
"Her room is right down the hall," she said, pointing over the desk and towards the hall to the right of them. "The door should be open, so just knock."
"Thank you," he said, nodding his head in gratitude before heading down the given direction.
His heart started to pound again. He swore it was going to burst out of his chest. His breathing was getting shallower and shallower. The lump in his throat that was forming moments ago finally lodged itself to where he felt like he couldn't breathe. All this grew and grew with every step he took. Especially when he found himself standing outside room B17.
Peering through the open door he found an elderly woman with shoulder length dark hair. She was sitting in a little arm chair next to the window, a paperback book in her hands. Reading the title he chuckled lightly. Hunger Games. Who would have thought Becca would read that. He remembered Nat and Tracey reading it once. Must be a better book than he thought.
He raised his hand, wrapping his knuckles against the wooden door. The woman quickly looked up, a little startled by the noise. Another smile tugged at his lips. He remembered how engrossed she'd be when she read. Becca's face grew in shock. Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open as she stared at the man in front of her.
"Bucky?..." she whispered.
Bucky nodded, a smile playing at his lips. He slowly approached his sister at the same time she stood up making the same motion to move towards her brother. "Hey, little lady," he greeted, smiling fondly at the short woman.
"Oh my god," Becca breathed, a large smile growing on her face. "Bucky!"
Her small, frail arms quickly wrapped around her brother, pulling him into a hug. Bucky quickly reciprocated the action and held her to him. There were no words shared between them, only silence. Silence was all they needed as they reunited. So many years had gone by. Too many long years. But that didn't matter anymore. They were together again. They reunited. Brother and sister were reunited once more.
So I had this idea come to mind when I was reading PolkaDotSocks93's story It Gets Better From Here (which if you haven't read it yet, go read. It's amazing so far!). In her story she mentioned Bucky's sister which reminded me how I had mentioned Rebecca once or twice and that was only in Winter is Ending. Ever since then I never mentioned her again. So I thought "I seriously need to have a oneshot where the two reunite". So I did and here it is! I hope you like it!
It's supposed to be set around the time Bucky is recovering. Think of it around the middle of (or near the end) Winter is Ending. Most likely mid ending of Winter.
If you'd like to follow my tumblr, feel free to look me up under winter-is-ending.
So I hope you liked it and I would LOVE to hear your thoughts!
