I do not own Captain American anything.
But the digital copies are all mine. Mine, I say!
I Am Machine
Your Friend
"I'm telling you, you're working some real magic there, pulling him away from those grass blades," Amelia commented lightly. "That's usually his favorite thing, since forever."
Bucky smiled, still focusing on the child, and didn't reply.
It's just a penny.
But he knew it was more, that it represented more.
That it meant more.
And he was happy.
Still anxious, still overly vigilant.
But more at ease, less on edge.
Around them.
His . . . friends.
A few weeks had passed since the abrupt revelation of his true identity had occurred.
And everything seemed to be back to normal.
For them.
And him.
Actually better than the previous normal.
Now that he wasn't hiding from them, Bucky felt more natural in talking with Amelia.
"What's a blog?"
Not as anxious about mis-stepping and giving himself away.
And easier interacting with the withdrawn Simon . . .
"Hey, pal. How ya doin'?"
. . . though for the most part, it just involved quietly sitting within acceptable distance.
Amelia did not attempt to take anymore pictures of him. In fact she rarely took her phone out at all, a rarity in this new world of people addicted to the rectangles in their hands.
In her apartment, if the laptop was open when he stepped inside, she closed it.
As if she had done her homework on making rogue ex-assassins on the run feel more comfortable and less paranoid.
She did take to calling him Bucky in private which made him smile, Carl when . . .
"Amelia, good morning!"
"Good morning, Ana!"
. . . other people strayed into their small circle of peacefulness.
Ana, for example.
Suddenly there in the park.
Advancing across the grass.
HYDRA, HYDRA, not HYDRA.
Knife in the boot. Gun underarm.
Com piece in the ear.
No.
But all that metal in her ears could be used to stab.
Tall, blond, and svelte.
Well dressed and make-uped enough she probably didn't spend much time attending to a special needs child.
The two women met with hugs and cheek kisses and cheery Romanian chatterings.
Which Bucky side-eyed . . .
Another one. I hope she's not as perceptive as Amelia.
. . . uncomfortably.
As Amelia stepped back, Ana issued a warm welcome to Simon . . .
"Simon, good morning!"
. . . which was promptly and predictably ignored.
And Amelia . . .
"Ana, this is Carl. Carl, Ana."
. . . attempted to keep with polite decorum by introducing the man on the ground . . .
Hey, doll.
. . . to her obviously curious friend.
"Nice to meet you, Carl!"
Bucky forced himself to look up, summon a small smile, and voice a reply . . .
"Nice to meet you."
. . . before returning his attention to Simon's new game.
All the while carefully keeping his sleeve pulled far down and his glove pulled far up over his left hand.
And adamantly ignoring the blond's subsequent arched eyebrow and mouthed admiration of his physical form directed to her friend.
Because he simply could not engage any more people unless absolutely necessary.
"So my friend Ana thinks you're hot."
They were preparing to depart from the park.
"I am hot. I'm sweltering. How could she tell?"
Amelia laughed, her eyes alight. Bucky liked the warm feeling the sound and sight gave him.
It was . . . nice.
"No, I mean she thinks you're attractive."
He drew back a bit.
"Oh."
I'm not ready for that.
He was pretty sure he had been a big hit with the ladies back before the war.
Back before he was the Winter Soldier, The Asset.
Back when he was Bucky Barnes.
But he wasn't the Winter Soldier anymore. And he wasn't Bucky Barnes anymore.
He was someone else.
Someone who was pretty sure he wasn't ready, on a number of levels, for all that.
Especially with her.
But if not with her . . .
And he was realizing Amelia had been talking, had stopped, and was now waiting patiently for him to come back to her.
As he refocused, she smiled.
"Want me to back up?"
He returned the smile gratefully.
"Yeah."
He had started apologizing to her for phasing out from time to time.
"Sorry."
"Sorry."
"I'm sorry."
But it had only aggravated her for some reason.
"Bucky, for crying out loud, stop apologizing. It's getting on my nerves. Just . . . move on with your life, man. I get it. I don't care."
So against his inclinations, he simply did just that.
Move on. Go again.
As Amelia did.
"Anyway. Ana. I thought her attention might be a bit much for you . . ."
Amelia paused, as if determining whether or not to reveal what she had said to a person who didn't know him from a hole in the ground.
. . . so I told her you were gay."
Bucky looked up at her in surprise.
Well, I wasn't expecting that.
Amelia shrugged, seeming caught on the spot and embarrassed.
"Well, I had to say something before she pounced you and you throat-kicked her!"
Ouch.
His expression must have revealed his hurt at his supposed, albeit understandable, inclination toward self-preservation, because Amelia's expression momentarily switched to suitably penitent.
"Sorry. But I did think she would be too much for you. And besides, I wasn't exactly lying. I don't know if you're gay or not."
Amelia paused again and when Bucky still didn't respond, she continued once more.
"Gay means-"
Bucky quietly interrupted her.
"I know what 'gay' means. "
I knew guys in the army who were gay. We just didn't say anything. We were there to fight Nazis, not each other.
"No. You're right, it would have been too much. Thanks."
He was quiet for a moment, then muttered quietly.
"I'm not gay."
Amelia tilted her head and shrugged a little.
"Yeah, I didn't think so."
Bucky really didn't know what to say after that.
Then she grinned sheepishly.
"Only now she really wants to get to know you better."
Oh god.
Ana is all of us, just drooling over Bucky.
In case anyone is about to get offended, the gay thing is not saying anything negative about sexual orientation of any kind. It was only said because it was the easiest thing to say to make her friend not come on to him.
Thanks to brigid1318, tamarabvillar, Eileen Skye, OnYourLeft107, Ruby Rosetta Red, and brynerose for your reviews! You guys are awesome!