A/N: warning: some attempted rape happens in the chapter but nothing graphic. Also some slurs are used.
Once again this chapter was beta'd by the lovely Emerald2211!
"Here," I said before slapping the bound journal in front of Bucky.
And for my efforts, I got a judging look.
"It's for your dreams. There are loads of studies that talk about how dreams are the brain's way of processing information, even though it's not always in a way we understand, so there's a good chance that even if you don't consciously remember things, you might subconsciously and that can show up in your dreams. And being able to write that down will force your brain to make new connections and that might help you remember."
"Oh." Bucky said, looking at the journal with new light.
"I also got you a glitter pen." I added with a huge grin before Bucky could thank me or say anything.
Bucky shook his head, but I spotted a smile as he took the pen so that counted as a win.
[Relationship level up]
[James Barnes family]
[Level 2: He see you as a younger cousin]
I still wasn't totally happy with the whole family relationship, but I could deal with being a cousin. Though, I was really close with my cousins to the point they were more like extra siblings in my past life. I'm not sure what the normal cousin relationship is even like.
"Thank you."
"No prob-lamo." I said before pulling out my own notebook.
I miss having a laptop. Trying to figure out how to make an electric motorcycle would be much easier with an undo button.
It was nearing the end of September, and so far there hasn't been any sign of Hydra or of Iron Man. I'm pretty sure Tony got the message I left for him, but so far nothing has happened. Or at least nothing the public knows about. I guess if I really wanted to I could try hacking there again to find out if Tony has done anything, but I don't want to push my luck.
Especially since my next plan is to hack into SHIELD. I know that they were infiltrated by Hydra, so that is the only connection I have to try getting back at the neo-nazi group. Not to mention they are the ones who dealt with Steve when he first woke up. The ideal time to have Bucky and Steve meet is that short time after he wakes up and before the Avengers movie events start. Then I'll have to convince Steve not to let SHIELD know about Bucky, but I think that will be the only easy part of this plan.
But one step at a time.
"I'm going to go to the library and hack into a secret government organization. I'll be back before it's dark. Byyye." And I Apparated way before Bucky could comment on my life choices.
I wasn't really hacking into SHIELD. I made a program, though I guess technically it's a backdoor style trojan, to lie in wait until "Steven Rogers" or "Captain America" is used. Only with new documents because I'm sure they have a lot on their databases.
I'm not sure how likely it is that no one notices, but considering they also never noticed they got infected by Hydra, I think my odds are reasonable. Especially considering how much I've practiced. If they do get tip off, it should be only when the program activates and start to download the files. By then I'll be trying to get Bucky and Steve to meet so it doesn't matter since our cover will already be blown.
"I'm in." I said with my best hacker voice, since you have to do that or else it's not hacking.
Luckily the only other person in the computers section had headphones on and I was 80% they were looking at porn.
Ignoring that mess, I nestled my program in the server, and when nothing happened, I got out. There is still a chance of it being discovered if they do a sweep, but I think it's small enough to go unnoticed. Since this is a long term project it's not like I can reload if this goes wrong in a few weeks.
The only thing I can do now is wait.
I was walking back from a huge city library when it happened.
Cries for help coming from a cliche dark ally and no one stopping to help. That last part was something I, unfortunately, knew about. If you ever take a first aid course they love talking about the bystander effect, how if there are more people, less will help since they figure someone else would do it.
So I paused on my walk back to the motel, since I didn't feel like apparating to library I've already gone to when there was a cool looking one just a few blocks away. It wasn't that late. A cool October and only around 5pm, but the sky was already starting to turn red. I snuck into the ally to see if it was something I could diffuse or if I needed to get someone else to call 911.
"Stop it! I said I wasn't in the mood!"
There was a young lady in a short red dress whose voice was trembling as she yelled at the guy.
"You seemed like you were in the mood when you accepted my drink." The guy said as he got way too close to the woman.
"Hey Asswipe!" I called out as I stomped forward, forgetting that I wasn't a full grown adult.
"What did you call me brat?" The guy slurred.
"Dude, it just turned 6. How are you wasted?"
Maybe I should have been a little nervous talking back to a stranger who obviously knew very little about consent, but compared to what I had to deal with daily with Hydra, it just didn't come to mind that I was in any danger.
"Is this your brat? You didn't tell me you were a lying slut."
"Hey, stop the slutshaming jackass. Why don't you let her leave and just go home by yourself."
I made sure the guy's back was to the lady so that she could run at any moment. Then I could just teleport back to the room because the dude was drunk enough that no one would believe him.
But she didn't run. Instead, she was staring at me in horror.
"Someone needs to teach you some manners brat." The guy said, and to my complete shock, he pulled out a pocket knife.
I dodged without even having to think about it, but still!
"What the fuck dude? You can't just go around stabbing people you don't like."
The lady screamed as he lunged again, missing me due to his own actions rather than mine.
Really, how has no one else come investigate this?
I was about to end this pathetic one-sided fight when suddenly my view of the guy was blocked.
"Leave. Now."
Bucky was standing in front of me, twisting the guy's wrist until he dropped the knife. Which I wasted in no time to pick up. If the other person lets go of the knife you get it. That's the rules of knife fights.
The guy tried to break out, but Buck slammed him into the ground before he could.
"I said leave."
Finally, the guy ran off. Though not before crashing into a trash bin on his way out of the ally. I laughed before remembering that the woman was still looking terrified.
"Are you alright ma'am?"
"I... what..."
"Do you want us to walk you home? Or wait until a friend comes to pick you up?" I asked, noting absently that Bucky was shadowing me.
Probably not a calming sight to see.
"I live close... it's okay. T-Thank you." The woman was able to get out through her trembling lips before quickly walking away.
"Think she's okay to go alone?"
"Yes. You on the other hand? I'm not sure."
"Huh?"
I looked over at Bucky and he looked pissed. Well, not like superpissed, but there was that slight angle to his eyebrow that showed that he was mad about something.
"What were you thinking punk, running in here like you weren't a third of that guy's size." Bucky complained, and with his arms crossed he looked more like an angry mother than a trained assassin.
[Relationship level up]
[James Barnes family]
[Level 3: He see you as an annoying little sister]
"...punk?" I couldn't help but repeat because, wasn't that Steve's thing?
Sure I could freak out about the new familiar level, but that seemed more important at the moment.
"Ya kid, you're being a punk with no sense of self-perseverance, just like-" and suddenly Bucky stopped talking.
He was staring off again in that way that while was still rare, I was starting to recognize.
"Just like who?" I tried prompting, but from how confused Bucky looked, I think it was already too late.
"No one. Let's get back." Bucky said, messing up my hair before leading me out of the ally.
He hand was opening a closing a few times before I rolled my eyes and grabbed it.
"Chill. You're going to draw attention." I said as I started swinging our arms in time with our steps.
"You're going to draw attention doing that."
"No I'm not. Kids do stuff like this all the time." I said with a shit-eating grin.
Bucky was still agitated, but gave a sigh of annoyance that I could tell he didn't really mean.
"You don't usually do this."
"Yeah well, I did my good deed for the day so now I can act like a little shit."
Bucky gave a snort-laugh that did make a few people turn their heads, but they looked away soon enough that I didn't feel paranoid. Too much.
"Are we leaving town tomorrow?"
"That would be wise. You finished with the bike?"
"Not yet, but you should be able to drive it. I didn't mess with anything important yet." I said, but Bucky just stared at me.
"Hey don't give me that look. I don't want to ruin our getaway vehicle on accident. Or on purpose."
Bucky had the audacity to raise his brow at me.
"Fiiiine. I'll finish it tonight."
"The truth is... I am Iron Man."
It was weird seeing the clip being ran on the local news like it was a normal event. Bucky was even watching it, though obviously not with the intensity that I was.
I still don't know if my action affected anything. It seem like Stane still tried making his own Iron Man suit, and was killed. It was October 25, and I have no idea when the Iron Man movie ended. Only that Fury visited Tony after the conference.
I guess I could try hacking into his personal system again, but I don't need to know that badly. I want to know, but I don't need to know.
"...And what do you think about billionaire Tony Stark wanting to be America's new superhero?"
"I say it's about time if Iron Man is anything like what Captain America was."
They showed a picture of Steve in his outfit, and I saw Bucky physically flinch away from the screen. They only had it up for a moment, before moving on to other topics. Bucky, however, was looking even worse than when he called me a punk for getting into a knife fight.
"Did you recognize him? Or remember anything?" I tentatively asked.
Bucky was still staring at the screen without seeing it, but he lowered his brows in thought.
"I...He..."
Without a word, I grabbed his 'dream journal' and gave it to him. I found out that Bucky had an easier time writing down his fragmented thoughts than speaking them. Probably has to do with that brainwashing machine targeting hippocampus since that is primary where long term memory is stored. Language, however, involves a few different regions of the brain. Speaking is located in the temporal lobe, which the hippocampus is below. So it's possible that Bucky's verbal language got affected whenever they wiped him, and talking about the associated memories is harder than writing them.
I pursed my lips in thought as I let Bucky write out his thoughts. He'll show me later if he wants me to know. Maybe I'll even see if he 'recognizes' sergeant James Barnes.
Something to think about at the very least.
Winter came and punched me in the face. Might be due to the fact that we spent most of our time outside traveling, but it still annoyed me how cold I was. The bunker was cold, but there wasn't any other option so I couldn't complain.
Now I could.
"This sucks. I don't think I can feel my fingers."
"Then why did you keep sticking your hands in the snow?"
"'Cause I ~Wanna build a snowman~" I half-sung even though Frozen wouldn't be out for almost four more years.
Bucky just looked unamused which only caused me to giggle.
Winter in the midwest (which don't even get me started on why it's called that when the region is in the middle of the country) is a combination of it being too dry for snow or just ice everywhere. To make a snowball you have to melt it a little to even get it to stick. Which is why I kept taking my gloves off. Still, it's been years since I've had something close to a white christmas so I was planning to take advantage of the situation.
It was also weird to think how this would be the first christmas away from my family, second if I really was with Hydra for a full year. My family was very non-religious and two of my uncles were jewish, so it was more of a reason to party than anything. Still, nothing like good food and getting a present from one of your family members. Christmas eve was usually more fun since we would have a 'danish christmas', do a white elephant complete with an ugly sweater that has been used for over a decade, and then my cousins and I would look for a scary christmas movie. Traditions are what you make them after all.
But I can't do any of that stuff now.
Well, I did get bucky a present that I wrapped with an old newspaper so I guess that's better than nothing.
Most of the motels were filled, but we were able to find a room that looked more like a broom closet. It was just a single bed with a nightstand and a bathroom that only had a toilet and sink in it. It was better than sleeping outside, and there was a radiator so at least we would be warm.
"I call dibs on the bed!" I called out once we got back to the room.
"I thought you said we could share it?"
"Yeah, but I still call dibs." I told him with a huge grin.
Bucky just shook his head at my antics, but I could tell he found them humorous.
"So Buddy, what do you think about Christmas?" I innocently asked.
Honestly, I don't remember if Bucky was religious or anything. Pretty sure the creators of the original Captain American comics were Jewish, but Hanukkah was a few weeks ago and I don't have enough presents for 8 nights. And I only know like two verses from the pray/song thing.
"It's for people with families." Bucky ended up saying with that far away look of his.
"Well, you're the closest thing I have to a family now, so here you go!" I said before I could think otherwise, tossing Bucky the small present that I had in my bag.
Bucky caught it without even looking at me, then only when he saw the poorly wrapped box did he move.
"What is this?"
"It's a present, or gift, or whatever you wish to call it. Happy Christmas... or wait it's merry Christmas right? Why is it merry and not happy?" I started rambling when Bucky just continued to stare at me.
"You wrapped it."
"Wow, really aced that perception check didn't cha."
I didn't understand why Bucky was stalling. He didn't do this when I gave him the journal. I would have thought I might have triggered one of his flashback memories thing but he seemed to be present now.
[Relationship level up]
[James Barnes family]
[Level 4: He sees you as a dear sister]
If I was drinking something I would have choked. What was the difference between annoying little sister and a dear sister? At least before it was pretty clear cut what the relationship meant, but now it's ambiguous at best.
Sometime during my mini freakout, Bucky got around to unwrapping the present.
"What is this?"
"It's a cell phone. No contract and already paid 150 minutes for it. I think like 200 characters equal a minute, so you can text. I'll show you how to do that you old man."
"Why?" Bucky asked, and I laughed at how he was treating the device like it was a live grenade.
"I got one too. That way you can call me if something happens." I explained, taking the same model out of my pocket.
"Or you could call me if you decide going into a gunfight with only a knife is a good idea."
"That happened one time! And I didn't even get a scratch on me!"
"It was still a dumb thing to do kid."
"Okay fine. Next time, I'll be sure to call you first." I said, trying to keep a serious face.
I failed after one look from Bucky's look of disbelief.
A/N: The original quote was "The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb" personally I like better than the shorter version. But that would have been too long for a chapter title.
Also, like the last chapter, this last part was originally part of chapter 11 but that ended up being the size of two chapters and so I had to split it up a little. Hope all the level ups weren't too bad, but this did take place over a year.
Thank you so much everyone who has favorited/followed this story! And super thanks to the five(?) guests (especially the one who reviewed a few chapters while they read), Lulumo, RatchetGirl1233, Cookie-chaan, Emerald2211, JustUsingARandomName, Inu-Angel Z, DullReign82,I.D.'s Fantasy, Lavendor Queen, BlackDove WhiteDove, Death Fury, XenoLucifer, Goldenfightergirl, Cinnybun, Omega-66, Nameless Angel 00, Silto, Updown1234 for thanking the time to leave me a review. Seriously. Last chapter got 23 review which is the new record for this story, and this story is getting close to being my most reviewed story. Just needs three more reviews ;)
So far I think chapter 11 is my favorite so look forward to that come Wednesday!
As always, thank you all so much for reading this. Hope you all have a fantastic night/day!