Sunlight glitters of the shattered glass piled up off to the side on the pavement. Bucky has been glaring at the pile for the past two minutes, shifting his jaw in annoyance at himself for not being more careful, more focused. He should have been watching his left side, but instead, they blindsided him, and he was thrown through the large window of a very nice, very unsuspecting coffee shop. He shakes his head in frustration, gripping the handle of the broom he's holding a little harder with his left hand.
He was reckless. He could have hurt people; again. Despite everything Hydra tortured into his head being erased from his brain, thanks to Shuri and her Wakandan team of scientists, he can still hurt people. Unintentionally, like that woman. The one Bucky just couldn't seem to shake from his mind. The woman who ended up having coffee spilled all over her, with little pieces of glass in the ends of her hair. The woman who seemed to have captivated him from the moment she opened her mouth.
"She just sat there, Steve. As if it was just a normal occurrence for her." Bucky informs, probably for the fifth time already. He just can't erase the image of her wide, beautif- startled eyes. "Of all the things she could've said, what comes out is-"
"'My boobs are burning'." Steve finishes for him, rolling his eyes in amusement.
"Are you mocking me, you little punk?"
"Buck, if she said she was fine, then she was fine." He tells him, gently pushing on the window they just replaced an hour ago. "Maybe she was in shock."
Bucky moves out of the way as three men dressed in business suits push past him. They grumble as they side-eye him and Steve. Bucky returns the glare, much colder and menacing than the men and they scurry inside.
"How is this place so busy after two days?" He questions aloud, aggressively sweeping more of the shattered glass into the pile.
"It's a local popular café. Good coffee, good food." Steve answers, taking a step back to view their work. "It's why you wanted to come back here and fix this window, right? Replacing the tables and chairs you accidentally broke. Or, was there another reason?"
Bucky swings the bottom of the broom around, smacking the back of Steve's thighs. "I just wanted to make sure nothing was too damaged, and the people there that day were alright."
"Right, and I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that you seem smitten with this girl."
He hits him again. Steve retaliates by landing a solid punch to his right arm. Bucky takes a step back the same time the door opens, and he bumps into someone, his back colliding with the person. There's a startled huff, then the tale-tell sign of a plastic cup hitting the ground, along with a splatter of liquid.
"Motherfucker." Comes a cursed hiss.
Spinning around, Bucky's heart nearly flies to his throat. Standing in front of him is the woman from two days ago. The same one he almost took out with his own body, the same one where the shattered glass could have cut much deeper into her skin. The same one where he accidently knocked hot coffee all over her chest. This time, the coffee is splattered all over her boots and bottom of her pants. Dark liquid and ice covering the pavement and seeping into the pile of glass.
He suddenly wants to hide behind Steve, because what are the chances of him bumping into the same woman, ending with the same results. However, he holds his ground, because it's just a cup of coffee, and it's just some person he doesn't even know. Except, he feels guilty. Especially when she looks up at him, and pins him to the spot with her bright, beautiful hazel eyes.
"You." She says simply, then her eyes narrow. "That's twice now, Sergeant Barnes."
He hears Steve muffle a laugh, then elbows him in the back. Bucky stumbles over his words. "I-uh-it's just Bucky." He clears his throat awkwardly. "I'm…sorry?"
"Are you asking me or telling me?"
Bucky gathers himself, gripping the handle of the broom again. He hears it crack slightly under the pressure of his vibranium hand. He runs his right hand through his hair, a nervous habit he has developed. "I am so sorry."
She shrugs, and Bucky can't help his eyes falling to the exposed skin of her chest where the scoop neckline of her dark blue blouse doesn't reach. A thin necklace with a small silver pendant rests just below her collarbones. Her skin seems unharmed, no lingering signs of a burn or any other injury indirectly inflicted by him; he did fly through a window. He brings his eyes back up slowly, assessing the little cuts he remembers seeing on her arms. He can barely see them now, most of her arms covered by the sleeves of her black blazer. His gaze stops at her mouth, her bottom lip pulled between her teeth before she releases its, colored with a muted red. Finally, he makes eye contact with her.
"At least it was iced this time." She quips, shaking out her boots.
"I wasn't looking-"
"What the hell are you both doing?" She interrupts lightly. Bucky picks up on a hint of amusement in her tone.
"Fixing the window." Steve decides to answer, leaning around Bucky. "Bucky here was very concerned about the…damage."
Bucky clenches his jaw and if it wouldn't too obvious, he would pay his friend back with a punch.
"So, you offered to fix it?" She questions, frowning. "Isn't there a Stark Relief Team that was specifically created to handle such things?"
"I figured," Bucky begins, scratching the back of his neck, "since it was my fault the café is damaged, that I'd come back and help fix it up."
She smiles brightly, and something strange comes alive in his chest. Bucky swallows as she looks around, her eyes darting from the new window, to the new tables inside, and to the his carefully placed pile of glass. When her eyes snap back to his, that feeling in his chest seeps down to his stomach.
"That's rather nice of you." She says, her voice soft and kind. "I'm sure Pete really appreciates it."
It's the perfect opportunity to fish for a little more information, and Bucky takes the chance. He doesn't quite understand what causes him to do so, but he just needs to know, because something is pulling him towards this woman.
"I spoke to your boyfriend earlier about it and-"
She snorts, crossing her arms as her smile downplays into a smirk. "God no, Pete's not my boyfriend. His husband might frown upon that."
"Oh, right. Well, my mistake."
From behind him, he hears Steve chuckle. "Smooth, Buck." He mumbles.
Bucky ignores him. He takes a step forward, pushing a stubborn piece of hair behind his ear. "Can I help you at all, Charlie? Maybe replace that cup with a new one?"
Charlie brows twitch together. "How'd you know my name?"
For one, the owner of the café had frantically called her name to make sure she was okay after glass showered down on her. However, Bucky isn't going to confess that her name stuck in his brain and weaved itself between neuron's, along with the captivating color of her eyes, that made it impossible to forget. He had been in and out of an ice nap, and mind wiped for almost eight decades, but he knows that voicing the truth will come off as creepy, and that is something he is not. He's not trying to continuously put himself on her bad list, he's already got two full cups of coffee stained checks against him. Instead, he chooses the second reasonable, less creepy answer.
"It's on the cup." He tells her, nodding his head towards the forgotten plastic.
Clarity dawns on her face, rubbing her lips together before breaking out into a sheepish smile. "Right. Makes sense."
"You look good, I mean, not injured- no burns or anything." Bucky stumbles, internally wincing.
"And here I thought you were the ladies man." Steve whispers lowly, only for Bucky's ears to pick up.
Bucky subtly hides his right hand behind his back and holds up his middle finger, fully directed at Steve's unnecessary commentary.
Charlie brings her hand up to hide her mouth, squeezing her eyes shut for a quick second. When she reopens her eyes, there's a mischievous glint reflecting off the sun in them, almost distracting Bucky from noticing the slight hint of pink in her cheeks. Her hand drops away from her mouth and she chuckles.
"I might have overreacted a tad." She explains, still laughing softly. "It's not every day a super soldier comes flying through a giant window."
Bucky offers her the best smile he can. "You're right about that one. I don't usually make it a habit."
His response makes her laugh again, louder this time, and he feels like he just drank a steaming cup of tea in one go with how warm his stomach suddenly feels. He wants to say something else, possibly apologize again for bumping into her, or for the fight that should have been contained. Or for not paying attention and ultimately destroying half of the café. Or, rephrase his offer of buying her another cup of coffee. Bucky opens his mouth to ask once more, when Charlie abruptly bends down.
She picks up the empty cup, lid and straw, shaking out the excess liquid then puts them back together. "I'd take you up on that new cup of coffee, unfortunately, that will make me late for a meeting." She informs him. "Have to cut this lovely reunion short, I'm afraid.
At least she looks genuinely put out that she can't stay and chat any longer. Maybe he hasn't been as much as a bumbling, awkward idiot as he feels.
"Of course." Steve speaks up, "sorry to keep you."
"I'll take that for you." Bucky offers, shoving the broom into Steve's hands and taking the cup from hers. Their fingers brush, and he swears even his left hand feels the warmth of her graze.
"Thank you." Charlie smiles at him. Their eyes seem to linger on each other for a moment too long, before she steps back.
"I'll just avoid spilling your coffee from now on." He jokes, only because he doesn't think he can stay away from this café now. "Better my skills."
"We'll see, maybe next time you'll break your streak. Goodbye, Just Bucky. Captain."
Bucky can't tell if she winks at him or not, can't even tell if her parting words bordered on flirting, because she's halfway down the sidewalk in seconds. He watches her check for traffic, then quickly makes her way across the street. He keeps his eyes locked on her retreating back for as long as he can, until she turns the corner and disappears.
"Should've asked for her number there, Buck. Would've been less obvious."
He ends up throwing the empty cup in Steve's face. His fingers tingle from her lingering touch, and he abruptly realizes Steve is right. Bucky is utterly smitten.
"I thought you were making an Ella stop?" Elizabeth ask as Charlie walks past her Occupational Therapy room.
Elizabeth is working with Colin at the moment, who beams at her from his pile of beaded necklaces. A little girl named Millie also spots her and ignores her current exercise to run full speed at Charlie's legs. She wraps her right arm around her thigh and holds up her other. Her entire left arm is prosthetic and as functioning as it is, she's been having a little trouble grasping things.
"Look Ms. Charlie!" She says gleefully, opening and closing her fist quickly. "I'm getting better!"
"Look at that! That's amazing Millie!" She smiles brightly down at the little girl, her heart warming.
"Soon, I can do American singing, wait, signing with Colin! Then beat Dave at thumb war!"
"Yay!" She looks up at Colin briefly. He's happily playing in the pile of necklaces, a few held tightly in his right fist as Elizabeth hooks more onto that same arm. "He would love that, Millie. Now, don't go easy on Dave." She bends down to stage whisper, "he's not very skilled in the art of thumb war, don't let him fool you."
Millie giggles, nods, then runs back to her spot. She pauses by Colin, bending down to hug him briefly. It's the little moments like these that makes Charlie love working for the Center, even though she's more of a behind the scenes person.
"So? What happened?" Elizabeth pipes up, adjusting her green scrubs.
Charlie flexes her fingers for a moment, the tips still tingling from touching Bucky's hands. "Ran into a certain someone. Literally."
Her friends quirks an eyebrow, before she puts it together. Her mouth drops. "Again!? What luck!"
"Luck? He spilled my coffee all over the sidewalk Lizzie." She shakes her head, smiling despite herself.
"Yeah…well, did you get his number? Being well acquainted as he is with your, um, assets, that shouldn't have been a problem."
"I'm going into my office now. Probably get that Puppeteer back with his clowns."
"NO! I take it back!"
Charlie cackles down the hallway as she makes her way into her office. It wasn't ideal to have yet another paid coffee fall from her grasp. However, her bantering conservation with Bucky might have been worth it. She shakes her head to rid the thought, and the imagine of how blue his eyes are in direct sunlight, like vivid tropical waters, and tries focusing on her emails instead.