Chapter 4. Wingman
They didn't get back from the bar until well after midnight. Other than dancing a couple of times with her brothers and a couple of friends Julia danced mostly with Bucky. As the evening went on he thought more of what Janey said about him liking Julia as more than a friend. He still wasn't convinced that he felt more for her but he had to admit she was growing on him. He did dance several times with Janey and tried to continue their conversation about Mason but she said it was better spoken away from prying ears. On the way back he told Julia he had to go to the airport to pick up Sam in the morning.
"Captain America Sam?" she asked, her interest piqued.
"The one and only," said Bucky. "I told him about the lake and he decided he would rather work on Bob's house than listen to his sister order him around. You'll like him. He knows how to talk to people."
"I'd love to come but I think I should stay here with my family," she said. "They're only here for the weekend."
"That's alright," replied Bucky, somewhat relieved. "Gives me a chance to catch up with him on the way back."
When he pulled up in their driveway to drop them off Julia leaned over and gave him a hug. Janey gave him a knowing look but said nothing. Back in Bob's driveway Bucky sat for a moment wondering again if he and Julia were developing feelings for each other. It had only been a few days but he knew of long marriages that evolved from a few days of acquaintance. He hadn't been looking for anything more than friendship but he did enjoy her company. No matter what if there was something there it was Julia who would guide the relationship. There would be no pressure from him.
He woke up early the next morning and saw the two brothers out on their dock fishing. Noticing they already had some fish on the dock he came out onto his dock with fishing gear, waved at them both, and cast out a line. Within a couple of minutes he hooked a fish and pulled it in. He asked them if it was worth eating, receiving a thumbs up as an answer. He caught several more but released them. After more catch and releases he stopped then gutted and scaled the fish on the dock. Picking it and the gear up he went into the house and heated up a pan to sear it. While it cooked he made coffee and checked his messages. There was a text confirmation from Sam that he was on the flight. After eating and cleaning up he locked up the house and drove to the Reno airport arriving ten minutes before Sam's flight arrived. As he waited in the arrivals area he noticed a boy watching him. Smiling briefly he turned back to his phone using the airport wifi to download some of the music from the night before.
"Are you Bucky Barnes?"
He looked up to see the boy who had been watching him. "I am," he replied.
"Why are you here?" asked the boy.
"I'm on holiday and waiting to pick up a friend," he said. "Why are you here?"
"Picking up my grandpa," he replied. "Is it a girlfriend?"
Bucky smiled. "No," then he lowered his voice. "Can you keep a secret?" The boy nodded. "It's Captain America. He needs a holiday as well."
"For real?" he exclaimed as his eyes lit up. "He really is your best friend?"
Bucky nodded then looked up to see the boy's parents watching. "I'll tell you what," he said in a low voice. "You keep it quiet and I'll make sure you get a picture with him."
"And you," reminded the boy.
Bucky fist bumped the boy and he ran back excitedly to tell his parents. They both smiled kindly at Bucky and he smiled back. The announcement for Sam's flight was made and Bucky stood up. A few minutes later Sam strode out of the arrivals door and saw his friend. They shook hands and Bucky mentioned that a fan wanted a picture. They walked over to the boy and his parents, took a picture then went to the luggage carousel to wait for Sam's suitcase and travelling case for the flying suit, as he never went anywhere without it. Once they got everything in the truck and began the drive Sam looked at him.
"I think you might be right about the ex-husband," said Sam. "Once she was hired as a consultant his case solving rate went way up. He was using her to make himself look good. When he ended the marriage, and it was him who filed, his own partner confronted him. Accused him of blindsiding Julia. They had a fist fight in the precinct and his partner put in for a transfer."
"Julia's sister and brothers are here," said Bucky. "Janey told me he pretty much swept Julia off her feet. They didn't trust him. He kept pressuring Julia to tell him how she solved cases, like he didn't believe it had anything to do with how her brain worked."
Sam shook his head. "You know everyone has a skill when they're doing their job," he said. "Together they get the job done as a team. Anyone who wants the glory for themselves is a liability and an asshole."
Bucky smirked. "Do you know if Scott or Hope are on a mission right now?" he asked. "Maybe they can shadow Detective Mason Bender for a while."
"That might not be a bad idea," replied Sam. "Let me meet Julia first and go from there."
The rest of the drive was spent talking about odds and ends, including the new songs Bucky had downloaded. Sam asked if they would go out that night and Bucky shrugged. When they arrived Bucky unlocked the house then carried the travelling case inside. He showed Sam the bedrooms and the linen closet then left him to settle in. Once Sam came down he showed him the deck. Sam noticed the repairs and nodded his approval.
"Come on," said Bucky. "Meet Julia and her family."
They crossed over to Julia's house and Bucky knocked on the screen door and called out to her. They both heard someone say "Come in" so they opened the door and walked in. There was the sound of a door closing upstairs and Janey came down.
"Sorry, Julia went with Jake and John to pick up more beer," she said, noticing Sam. "Hi I'm Janey Weller."
"Sam Wilson," he replied, shaking hands with her. "I'm a friend of Bucky's and of Bob Johnson."
"Everybody knows you," she exclaimed, smiling. "Captain America in the flesh. Bucky, we can finish that talk we started last night. Sam can check out the lake."
"Actually, I wouldn't mind hearing what you have to say," said Sam. "Bucky told me about it and we kind of started our own investigation of Mason. On the down low, of course."
"Really? What have you found out so far?" she asked.
"That his case solving rate went up while he was married to your sister," said Sam. "Then when he filed for divorce 8 months ago his partner confronted him about it, and they had a fist fight in the precinct. His partner accused him of filing first to blindside Julia and make her look bad. The partner transferred shortly after."
"That's interesting," said Janey, motioning them both to sit on the couch, where Jasper was sprawled. "I didn't know about the fight but it fits. Rick Garcia, his partner, is a good man. He's the one who told the Captain about Julia helping Mason. After talking with her he put her on contract as a consultant. That's about when Mason started changing in his attitudes towards her. Bugging her about keeping her maiden name, making her get rid of Jasper, working late and cancelling plans with her."
They heard the sound of car doors closing outside then the front door opened to Julia and her brothers coming in with bags of ice, beer, wine, coolers and tequila for shots. Janey looked suspiciously at her brothers.
"What's all this?" she asked. "You planning a party?"
"Well, it's disco night at the bar," said Jake. "Who needs that? So we thought we'd have a little party here."
"What about Julia?" she asked. "You know she can only take so much."
"I thought maybe Bucky would let me sleep on his couch," said Julia, looking at him. "If it gets too much I'll go over there where it's quieter. Come on, it will be fun, like when we were teenagers."
"I remember," said Janey, in exasperation. "It wasn't always fun. Bucky?"
"Sure," he replied. "I can make up the bed in the third bedroom. I probably will call it a night then as well as I'm still a bit tired from last night."
Sam stepped forward and introduced himself earning an invitation to the party. He accepted but made it clear the suit would stay in the box. Both brothers gave mock whines but laughed about it and said it never crossed their minds. Janey rolled her eyes at that and said that's why they were having a party at the house so people could see they knew Captain America and Bucky Barnes. Both brothers grinned at her as they started pouring the ice into coolers and putting the beers in them. Jake went back out to the car and brought back burgers, buns, and all the fixings plus snack type foods. Bucky looked sideways at Sam.
"Sorry, I didn't know they were going to do this," he said in a low voice.
Sam said it was no big deal. It actually reminded him of his neighbours in Delacroix. He asked if he could help set up and they asked him to slice tomatoes and chop onions. Bucky felt a little left out until the brothers tried to carry the full coolers out.
"Let me," he said, with a smile, and picked them up with no problem, putting them out on the deck where everyone could access them.
He also moved several pieces of heavy furniture, picking them up and putting them where Julia or Janey told him. John began calling him The Muscle which amused him as he sometimes thought of himself as that even though he wasn't the strongest Avenger. People began arriving and John fired up the barbecue to start cooking the burgers. Bucky recognized several people from the bar the previous two nights and was able to converse with them, which pleased Sam. He always worried that Bucky separated himself often in social situations but as long as he was near Julia or Sam he seemed fine in this particular situation. Sam was a big hit and the subject of many selfies with both male and female fans. As the afternoon lengthened into the evening the noise level increased as well. Both Bucky and Julia relocated outside and went to sit on the dock in the deepening twilight, taking their shoes and socks off, then rolling up their pant legs.
"It's getting loud in there," remarked Bucky, as he moved his feet in the water.
"Yeah," agreed Julia. "I don't know if I'll make it much longer. It sounded like a good idea at the time but their parties do tend to get out of hand at some point. Janey will handle it. She always did, being the oldest."
"Where do you fit in?" asked Bucky.
"The youngest," she replied. "What about you?"
"Older brother to a much younger sister," he said. "My parents died in the late 60s. Rebecca married but never had any kids and died in the 90s."
"That's harsh," said Julia. "I don't know what I would do if my parents or any of those jokers were dead. We were lucky during the Blip, none of us disappeared although several friends did." She laid back on the deck and looked up to the darkening sky, pointing out the first star. "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight."
Bucky looked up at it as she said the little poem then went down on one elbow and smiled down at her. Their feet touched and she looked up at him and smiled back. Sam came out and joined them, removing his shoes and socks, then dangling his feet in the cool water, giving a bit of a sigh as he did so. He raised an eye brow at Bucky, receiving a scowl in return.
"Your brothers are a little bit wild," he said to Julia. "Your sister is not happy about it."
"Yeah, that's John and Jake," she said. "They're only a year apart. John is married with three kids and Jake is divorced with two. Janey is widowed with three kids. She lost her husband Tom last year, heart attack at 44. I'm the baby at 32. They've always watched out for me and I'm probably higher functioning because of them. They always included me in everything, read to me, played with me."
She sat up again and looked at both of them. "You're good friends, I can tell," she said, then turned her attention to Sam. "You seem so laid back but you notice a lot, especially when people are stressed. There was a couple in there that were almost arguing in front of everyone but you just stepped in and smoothed it out. You must have been a counsellor at some point. There's a touch of loneliness about you as well. You were watching another couple kissing kind of wistfully. I'm guessing you don't have a wife or a girlfriend but you want one. What I really notice about you is your goodness. It just spills out over you. You're kind and generous but you're also very upstanding, not in a rigid way but I feel like sometimes you wonder why people can't be good to each other. Maybe that's why you're Bucky's friend as well. He needs someone like you in his corner because there are still people that wonder about him, if there is a little piece of the Winter Soldier left inside him. I can tell you there isn't. He's one of the best men I know and I think you are as well."
Sam looked at Bucky first who just gave him a soft smile then he looked at Julia. "You're very perceptive," he said, "and complementary. I have my demons, we all do, but you're right I just want people to do the right thing. I was a counsellor at the VA for some time until I became the Falcon. I agree with you about Bucky."
Suddenly Julia stood up and offered a hand to both Bucky and Sam. They pulled themselves up and walked barefoot on the dock back to the party where she brought them each a towel to dry their feet. She put her flip flops on. After one more beer she sought out Bucky and slipped her hand into his, a move noticed by Janey.
"I'm ready to go," she said into his ear. "I'm just going to get my pyjamas. Will you walk me over?"
He nodded and waited for her to come back down with her clothes. She said goodnight to everyone and he noticed that no one thought it strange. It must have been something that they had already experienced with her. In the dark they walked over and Bucky went around to the front door, unlocking it, then came to the deck and unlocked it, letting her in. He turned both an inside and outside light on then went upstairs to make the bed returning after a few minutes to say it was ready. She was curled up on the couch and smiled softly at him.
"You okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine," she replied. "Are you going back?"
"I was going to read for a bit," he said, showing her a book. "Do you want me to sit with you for a while?"
She nodded again and he sat on the couch opening the book. Still she said nothing at first. "Can I play a song for you?" she asked after a few minutes. "I heard it on the radio this morning and it reminded me of you."
"Sure," he replied, putting the book down.
She opened the music app on her cell phone and brought up the song. Called Northern Wind by City and Colour it started playing and they both listened to the lyrics. When it got to the line "You don't know what you do to me" Julia stood up and put her hand out to him.
"Dance with me," she said softly.
Bucky took her in his arms and began dancing slowly to the song. Again he became very aware of the scent of her hair as she placed her head on his chest. The singer was a tenor and the tone of the song was both lonely and expressive. When it finished Bucky stopped moving but Julia stayed in his arms. She lifted her chin to look up at him. He swallowed then lowered his lips to hers and kissed her sweetly, gently touching her tongue with his. When he finished she sighed and put her head back onto his chest but wrapped her arms around him. His flesh hand went to her hair and stroked it but he said nothing, knowing that this was a special moment for her. Then she loosened her hold and he removed his arms. She just looked at him a moment before speaking.
"Good night," she said in a voice that was almost a whisper.
"Good night," he replied, and watched her go up the stairs.
He sat down and thought over the kiss. It was what she wanted but was she wanting more? Breathing deeply he decided not to overthink it. She was open and honest. If she wanted more she would have signalled it. But there was definitely something between them now. He decided to wait a bit longer for Sam to get back and opened his book. About a half hour later Sam slid the sliding glass door open and gave him a look of surprise.
"I wasn't expecting you to still be up," he said. "Janey is shutting things down over there as they started talking about swimming in the lake in the dark."
Bucky nodded and put his book down. "We kissed," he said simply. "Just once and I held her in my arms. That seemed to be all she wanted but I guess there is something between us now."
Sam sat down. "Janey told me she thought there was something building between you two," he replied. "She's not against it either. You have to go slow with her. From what Janey told me Julia did all the giving and Mason did all the taking in the relationship. She didn't go into details but I think we both get the drift. What kind of man would take advantage of a gentle soul like hers?"
Bucky looked intently at Sam. He had hit the nail on the head. Julia did have a gentle soul, as different and unique as she was. He wasn't even thinking of a physical relationship yet but he could imagine what Mason had likely demanded of her. Just thinking of it made him angry at the man. Sam put his hand on Bucky's shoulder and stood up. He locked the sliding glass door, said good night and went up the stairs to his room. Bucky sat there for a short time then turned out the light and went to bed. As he laid there in the dark he knew one thing for certain. If their relationship did reach a physical phase it would be all about Julia.
Bucky woke up at his usual time and headed down to the kitchen after dressing. Julia was sitting on the deck on a chaise lounge chair wrapped up in the blanket from her bed. He started the coffee then went out to see her.
"Hi," he said quietly.
She looked up at him and smiled. "Hi," she replied, then she moved her legs so he could sit with her. "Do you want to talk about the kiss?"
"If you want to," he replied. "I liked it, a lot. I wasn't sure how far I could go with it so I have to follow your lead on this, if this leads to something."
He looked directly at her and a slight smile appeared on her face. "I liked it, too," she replied. "You went far enough. The longer time passes from the end of my marriage the more I realize that there was never love from Mason. Just being around you these few days has proved that. I've felt more love from you than I ever did with him even though we didn't kiss until last night. We were friends first and that means a lot to me. You know I'm different and so are you."
"With you I don't feel so different," said Bucky, tucking a loose strand of her hair back into place. "You make me feel normal. The other night you saw I had some anxiety and you comforted me. That meant something to me. I'm only here for 10 more days and I don't know what will happen to us after that. But I want to be with you for that time. There's no pressure for anything more than what we did last night if that's how far you want to take it."
He leaned forward and cupped her face with his hand. She leaned towards him and did the same then softly kissed him. They both had a smile for the other after the kiss. Bucky went back into the kitchen and poured a cup of coffee for each of them, bringing Julia's out to her. They sat enjoying the morning sun until Sam got up and stuck his head out the door blinking his eyes in the now bright light.
"How long have you two been up?" he asked, then noticed their coffee. "Is there more coffee?"
"Long enough," said Julia. "Yes, Bucky made enough coffee. You did, right?"
Bucky laughed. "Yeah, there's enough for you, Sam."
Bucky went inside and as Sam poured himself a coffee Bucky started making breakfast for all three of them. Sam leaned back against the counter and looked at Julia through the window.
"Did you talk?" he asked.
"We talked," replied Bucky, not looking at him. "We'll see where it goes and she's the one in control. I'm good with that."
Sam nodded and patted Bucky on the shoulder. "You are a good man," he said.
"Do me a favour and call Scott," said Bucky. "We need eyes on Mason."
Sam pulled out his cell phone and went back upstairs. He came down ten minutes later and told Bucky it was done. Even Scott had commented that Mason sounded like a major asshole. Bucky smirked but he felt better. He just hoped they could get some answers before he left.