Hello all!
Here is an extra long chapter because I probably wont update before mid term, but I'm hoping for Steve and Bucky's reunion to be in the next chapter or two!
Thanks for all the follows, favourites and reviews, its amazing, so thank you!
Cecy returned to Bucky's "holding room" a short time later, after she had changed out of her 1940s costume and was wearing her normal gear. She opened the door and Bucky immediately stood up. Fitz had also given him new clothes, and they fitted him very well.
"Hello again Sarge," Cecy smiled at him.
"Pleasure to see you again, ma'am," Bucky answered respectfully, though relieved that she had returned.
"Cecy," she immediately corrected him, "Call me Cecy."
"Cecy." He repeated the name after her. "I've never heard that name before."
"It's short for Cecelia," she explained.
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Cecy." He held out his hand and she took it, meaning to shake it, but he turned her hand up and kissed the back of her hand.
Blushing furiously, and a little shocked, she pulled her hand away quickly once he let go. He looked at her, puzzled. "Is everything alright?" He watched her curiously.
"Yes," Cecy gave her head a small shake, and she could feel her cheeks returning to their normal colour. "Sorry, Sarge, I was just a little surprised, that's all."
"Bucky," he corrected her. "My friends call me Bucky."
Cecy grinned at him. "Well, Bucky, are you ready for the tour?"
"Yes," Bucky answered. Cecy opened the door. "Actually, I was just wondering, could you tell me about Steve now?"
Cecy clapped a hand to her forehead as she turned to him. "Crap, I completely forgot about that! Of course Sar- Bucky, though you might want to sit down, it's a long story."
As fast as she could she explained Captain America's actions after Bucky's death, and the events leading up to his discovery, including her sister's involvement. Bucky didn't look away from her once, though he shook his head in disbelief several times.
"I can't believe it," he said finally, when Cecy had finished. "That idiot."
Cecy smiled at his indignance and resignation to Steve's heroics. "He saved millions of lives when he crashed that plane."
"He couldn't have given Peggy the coordinates and jumped out the back? He was being melodramatic, as per damn usual. Sorry Cecy," he immediately apologised again.
"Don't worry about it," Cecy grinned, "I've heard a lot worse, believe me."
"People's attitudes are different now, aren't they?" he asked suddenly.
"In what way?"
"Well, it's great that women can be doctors and all, but does that mean that men curse in front of them and it's alright?"
"Well, nobody takes any notice, to be honest," Cecy admitted, "The world has gotten a lot weirder since you went in the ice, Bucky."
Quickly she explained Steve's role in the Avengers, along with the New York attacks, HYDRA's resurgence, Washington DC and the events of Sokovia.
"But HYDRA, we think, has finally been eradicated now, that's all SHIELD has been trying to do for the past few years, and nobody in the organisation has slept since then because of it," Cecy grinned again.
"So Steve is the head of the Avengers now?"
Cecy nodded. "Yes, and once you've been checked that you're okay physically and mentally we're going to take you to see him."
"Doctor Simmons has already checked me over, I'm fine," he said immediately.
Cecy smiled at his enthusiasm. "I know," she said gently, "but we need to get you up to speed on everything you've missed out on since 1944. We are going to have a giant history lesson later," she said , as she stood up and stretched. "But first, I'll show you around the base, that is if you want to?" she finished uncertainly.
"Sure," Bucky immediately agreed, standing up as soon as she did. He went to the door and held it open for her. "After you."
"Thanks," Cecy smiled at his manners again. He shut the door behind him and followed her down the hall and out to the surveillance room that the team had watched her first interactions with Bucky. It was empty now, as Bucky looked around the room in amazement.
"Is this how I was spied on?" he asked Cecy, "Doctor Simmons mentioned something about monitoring before she got a look from Doctor Fitz, and she stopped talking."
"Yeah, Jem does tend to talk a lot when she's excited, and Fitz gets jealous easy," Cecy admitted with a certain smile she had when she talked about her two best friends.
"Are they courting?" Bucky asked in surprise.
"Fitz wants to ask her out, yeah," Cecy said grinning.
Bucky grinned too. "Doctor Fitz, he gets jealous easy, does he?"
"Bucky," Cecy said warningly but couldn't keep the smile off her face either. "That isn't a good idea."
"I've been in the ice for seventy years," he replied mischievously, "I wanna have a bit of fun. Besides," he added as Cecy opened her mouth to object, "When guys feel threatened, they work faster."
"I like how you think," Cecy agreed. She had been trying to play matchmaker for months and nothing had come out of it. Maybe Bucky was the last push that was needed.
Cecy lead him through the maze of tunnels that was the SHIELD base. Bucky took it all in, trying to memorize every room, corridor and floor so that he could make his way around on his own eventually.
Cecy took him to the lab, where Fitzsimmons, Coulson, Bobbi and Skye were standing around the table, talking in serious voices. Bobbi saw them coming and immediately shut everyone else up before they came into hearing range. Cecy glanced at Bucky and saw a puzzled expression slide from his face as he looked down at her and grinned.
"Ready to have some fun?" he asked, grinning. Cecy just shook her head but she couldn't help smiling at his words.
"This is the main laboratory," Cecy said as they came into the lab. "You've met Coulson and Fitzsimmons already, and this is Agent Morse," she gestured at Bobbi and he kissed the back of her hand, "and Agent Skye." Bucky repeated his greeting as the girls shared an amazed look.
"It's a pleasure to meet you both," Bucky said formally.
"Likewise," Skye said, slightly flustered, while Bobbi inclined her head and smiled kindly.
"And Doctor Simmons," Bucky said, turning to her and smiling widely at her, "thank you for all your help earlier on, I feel much better now." He took her hand and again kissed the back of it, but this time he kept eye contact with her. Bobbi, Skye and Coulson all looked at Cecy in confusion. She winked and nodded towards Fitz, whose expression was one of comical indignance. Skye began to cough loudly as she tried to stifle her laughter. Bucky glanced at her and then winked at Jemma with his mischievous smile, and Jemma flushed.
"Sergeant Barnes, your arm is ready, if you'd like to try it on," Fitz interjected, once he was capable of coherent speech.
"Already?" Bucky exclaimed, turning to him, "Sure, thanks pal!"
Fitz led him out of the lab, but just before they left Bucky turned. "Doctor Simmons, would you like to accompany us?"
Jemma opened her mouth to answer but Coulson got in before her. "I'm afraid I need Jemma for something else, Sergeant Barnes," he addressed him with amusement.
Bucky nodded, threw one last smile at Jemma and left. Cecy thought she saw him give a half a wink in her direction too but she wasn't sure.
Jemma turned back to the table, her cheeks still stained pink. Skye finally cracked and burst out laughing. "Well?" Cecy asked her.
"He's very charming," Jemma said as the pink in her cheeks deepened again.
Skye and Bobbi nodded in agreement. "Very charming," Coulson agreed solemnly, and the girls laughed again. "Sorry Simmons," he added, "for denying you that opportunity, but I thought Fitz was going to explode at one point."
Jemma smiled. "Poor Fitz."
Coulson looked at Sky and Bobbi and the two of them nodded and followed him out of the room. Cecy swung herself up onto the worktop. "What was all that about, before we came in?"
"Nothing really," Jemma answered, suddenly deciding to tidy the desk behind her, so she had her back to Cecy. She pursed her lips but didn't push it. If it was something she needed to know, Jemma would tell her. Over her years at SHIELD Cecy had learned that sometimes ignorance was bliss.
"So, what do you think of Sergeant Barnes?" Cecy asked, winking at her.
Jemma smiled. "He's charming, and very sweet, but-"
"You prefer Brits," Cecy finished with a laugh.
Jemma gave her a glare but didn't contradict her.
oOo
"Right this way, Sergeant Barnes," Fitz lead him through into a small room and directed the Sergeant to sit on top of the work bench. He was still shocked by the soldier's interactions with Jemma. It's not his fault, Fitz told himself firmly, he's been frozen for seventy years; he's not her type anyway. Still, he decided he had better get a move on. He didn't want to lose Jemma again.
He took Bucky's arm out of the box and held it against Bucky, with one eye closed and his tongue between his teeth in concentration. Bucky stared at his new arm with unconcealed amazement. "You made that in a few hours?"
"Two and a half," Fitz answered, rummaging around in a drawer for a screwdriver, "It's a new record."
"It looks swell, thanks a million pal."
"Can I ask you a question, sir?" Fitz asked suddenly.
"Bucky," he immediately corrected him, "Fire away, Doctor Fitz."
"What's your deal with Jemma anyway?"
Bucky grinned. "You're sweet on her."
"I-," Fitz stammered, "yeah, I guess I am."
"Then why haven't you gone for it yet? Cecy said that you've known her for years."
Cecy's let him call her Cecy? Fitz thought in surprise.
"Um, yeah, well, I- she," he took a breath. "We've been friends for ten years, and I don't want to ruin what we have, and I was- um, sick, a while back and she thought she was making it worse so she left and we've only just gotten back to where we were before-,"he sighed. "I just don't want to lose her again."
"Well pal, in my experience, you can't live regretting anything. Life's too short, especially in this line of work. Let her know how you feel, and if she doesn't feel the same way, you'll get through it. But you can't keep hiding what you feel, or someone like me will come and sweep her away," he winked at Fitz.
Fitz grinned and started attaching the plate to what was left of Bucky's arm. "That's some good advice Bucky."
"Happy to be of service. Say," Bucky asked suddenly, "What was it you were talking about before Cecy and I came in? Something about a ward and Cecy being upset if she found out?"
Fitz kept his eyes on the plate and didn't answer for a long time, but Bucky kept looking at him. "Fitz," he said, "What is it?"
Fitz looked at Bucky hard. "How much do you know about Cecy?"
"Not much," Bucky admitted, "I know she had a sister called Mandy and she was the person Steve first saw when he woke up, and that she's gone into witness protection. She likes people to call her Cecy instead of Cecelia, and she's crazy about you and Doctor Simmons."
Fitz gave a small smile at that, but it quickly vanished. "What I'm about to tell you, is something we've kept from Cecy because it would break her heart if she found out, and none of us could stand seeing her that upset."
"It can't be that bad-"
"If she found out about this," Fitz cut him off, "I don't think she'd ever be the same again."
Fitz sighed. "She told you her sister was in witness protection, she hasn't said why?"
Bucky shook his head.
"When we found out that HYDRA had been growing inside SHIELD, Mandy was very close to this guy called Grant Ward," Fitz explained, "We all thought he was our friend, but it turns out he was an undercover HYDRA agent. He nearly killed me and Jemma by d-dropping us to the bottom of the ocean in a metal b-b-box," Fitz cursed as his stammer returned. It only ever came back anymore when he talked about Ward. "We escaped, but my brain was deprived of oxygen for too long so I suffered temporary brain damage, I was in a coma for a f-f-few weeks and s-s-stuff. We tried to arrest him but we could never find him. We didn't think Mandy had been in on it, so she was put in witness protection when I was still in a coma.
"After about a year she disappeared, without a trace. We couldn't tell Cecy, but we tried to find a body or something to give her some bit of closure. Then we started seeing pictures of her and Ward together, and we knew then."
"Knew what?"
"That she was a HYDRA agent too," Fitz said sadly, "We think we've tracked her down but there's no side of Ward yet, so Skye and Bobbi and going to try to bring her in, and keep her hidden until we can find out what's going on," he explained as he attached the arm.
"You're going to have to tell her eventually."
Fitz kept his eyes on Bucky's arm. "I know." He met Bucky's gaze. "But it took me weeks to accept that Ward had betrayed us, and I don't want her having to go through that only ten times worse because it's her own flesh and blood." His eyes returned to the arm. "She's like a little sister to me, and any pain I can spare her, you can bet I'll do it," he said fiercely.
Bucky nodded. "I can understand that." It's what he had been doing for Steve for as long as he could remember.
"But you can't tell her anything," Fitz looked him dead in the eye, "not until we know for sure. Understand?"
Bucky nodded slowly.
"Good." Fitz visibly relaxed. "Now try flexing."
Bucky looked down and saw that his new arm had been attached. He clenched his fist and swung his arm up and down. "It feels real," he said, amazed.
"Ready for a history lesson?" Cecy appeared at the door and saw a two armed Bucky before her. "Good job on that arm, Fitz."
"Thanks Cecy," Fitz grinned and affectionately ruffling her hair. Cecy swatted at him.
"C'mon Bucky –ahh Fitz!- before my hair is messed up for good," she squealed at Fitz, dodged him and waited on the other side of the door for Bucky.
"Thanks again, pal," Bucky earnestly shook Fitz's hand.
"No problem," Fitz said as he gave a nod.
Bucky mirrored him and turned to follow Cecy. Halfway down the hall, he turned and saw Fitz watching them go. He raised a hand in salute, and turned back towards Cecy with his mind confused and his heart heavy.
The ending is a bit crap, sorry, but hope you enjoyed other than that!
Please review (for longer chapters ;) )
