Chapter Three
Bucky didn't know what to make of Pepper Potts. Once he stepped foot on the plane he saw everyone greeting a red haired woman. The woman was dressed in a black business suit with her hair pulled up into a neat, tight bun. She had a friendly face, but the air she gave off was intimidating. She greeted Tracey and Barry with a hug each, Steve had given her a smile and a hand shake, and she was introduced to Sam and gave him a smile and handshake as well. With Bucky she greeted him with a warm smile, but when she reached out to give him a hand shake he stepped back abruptly. Her face fell when he did so and Steve was the one to step forward.
"Um, Ms. Potts, I'm not sure how much you know about what happened in DC," he began. "But he is – uh was – the Winter Soldier."
"You mean the man from the files that SHIELD wrote about before the helicarrier incident?" she questioned.
"Leaked files from the internet?" Sam guessed.
Pepper nodded. "I'm sorry to say that everyone will be reading up on the files from SHIELD. That is also why Tony hired Tracey to retrieve them."
"Finally putting your computer skills to work, huh, sis?" Barry chuckled making Tracey smirk and roll her eyes.
"Anyways, back to the uh Winter Soldier?" Pepper said, looking from Bucky to Steve. "Seeing as no one has been attacked I'm guessing he's on our side now?"
Steve nodded. "Ms. Potts, this is my friend Bucky Barnes."
Peppers eyebrows rose. "Really?" She turned back to Bucky and smiled. "It's nice to meet you Mr. Barnes."
Bucky avoided eye contact with her, still not sure how to approach her, let alone what to make of her. Was she friend or enemy? However, judging by how she interacted with the rest of the group he figured that she was a friend. It was her intimidating presence that made him unsure. Another thing was that he was uncomfortable with how she had stared at his metal arm for a fleeting second. He gripped the prosthetic with his flesh hand as he continued to stare at the ground.
Steve patted Bucky lightly on the shoulder. "From what I've figured out, due to whatever Bucky has been through with HYDRA his memories hare gone and he is slowly getting them back. That's what I'm guessing, he uh hasn't told me what happened, but I plan to help him no matter what. That's why he and I are coming back with Tracey to New York. Growing up there I believe he might remember some familiar things."
Pepper nodded understandingly. "Of course. And if you two need a place to stay there is plenty of room at the tower." She turned to Sam and Barry. "Same goes to you two. You are more than welcome to stay with us and if Tony has any complaints I'll be sure to silence them."
Sam laughed. "Sounds good. I've always wanted to see New York and meeting the infamous Tony Stark will be quite the experience."
"Well if you're looking for a good time, you're going to the right man," Barry said, smirking.
Pepper sighed through a laugh. "Yes, Tony is like that, however, he has been a bit busy with trying to get SHIELD's files back."
"Yeah," Barry said, taking a seat in one of the cushioned plane chairs, kicking his feet up on a table in front of him. "But that's why he also hired Tracey. No one's a better hacker than Trace here."
"Tony knows that," Tracey said, kicking his feet down as she crossed in front of him to take the seat beside him.
Pepper and Sam followed the two and took seats of their own. Steve urged Bucky to take a seat, reassuring him that everything was alright. Soon the plane had taken off and the group had made themselves comfortable. Steve and Sam recollected the events in DC with Pepper, leaving the bits with Bucky seeing as he was slowly closing in on himself at the beginning of the conversation. Steve made sure the topic was mostly on how HYDRA had infiltrated SHIELD and how Alexander Pierce turned against Fury. They told her how he had planned to use the helicarriers to take out all possible threats to HYDRA around the world. She listened intently, as she always did when given information, and asked questions when needed to get further information.
Bucky tuned them out, not wanting to hear the DC story again. He knew what happened, he didn't want to be reminded. He stared out the window watching the clouds lazily float past as the plane made its way to New York. Hearing the words New York sounded familiar. As he stared out the window flashes of brick buildings and streets popped in his head. He saw men and women; boys and girls all smiling and happy as they walked the streets. He saw a small and skinny Steve next to him as the two walked down a street. He saw him and Steve at a diner, then another time at the movies.
Bucky sighed. He knew what they were. Memories. That's all he's been seeing lately. He wasn't complaining though. These were good memories. Ones that he wish he knew the full story of instead of fleeting images.
"Bucky," came a soft voice.
Bucky broke from his thoughts and looked up to see Pepper looking at him from her seat, a small, friendly smile on her face.
"Would you like anything to drink?" she asked, her voice conveying no fear, only kindness.
Bucky looked at her. Analyzing her as she smiled at him. He thought about the question. Hearing it, he realized how thirsty he actually was. His throat was a bit dry.
With a little hesitation, he nodded. "Water?" he asked in a quiet voice.
Pepper's smile brightened. "No problem," she said, getting up from her seat and crossing over to the other side of the plane where a mini bar was held with bottles and glasses.
Bucky felt a hand on his shoulder and saw Steve giving him a small smile before turning back to Barry who was talking about something or another. Bucky wasn't sure, he hadn't been paying attention to anything until Pepper spoke to him after all.
Tracey rolled her eyes at a joke Barry made, which had gone over Steve's head. She smiled remembering how Barry had told her he planned on educating Steve in today's pop culture. Well, it was Tony's idea to begin with, which is why Steve now carried his tiny notebook of things he needs to do, eat, and see from the last seven decades. She and Sam laughed when Steve questioned Barry on whatever he was talking, causing the brown haired man to gawk.
Tracey got up and walked over to Pepper asking if she needed help. The red haired woman replied with a nod and a thank you. The two quickly gathered up a few glasses as they prepared the drinks from the mini bar.
Barry chuckled as Sam gave Steve another thing to add to his list of things he needs to do. He looked over at Bucky and frowned, he felt bad for pulling his gun on him now that he realized who he was to Steve. Barry didn't know the full story of what had happened with him and HYDRA, but the man seemed to scowl or tense up at the mention of HYDRA or the DC incident and he could somewhat tell that Bucky didn't have any say in what he could do while with them. Barry looked up as Tracey and Pepper were getting the drinks and right then an idea came to mind. He smirked as he got up and made his way over to his sister.
He crept up making sure to not make a sound as he neared her. Right before the blonde woman turned around he jabbed his fingers into her sides. Tracey squealed and jumped, causing her to nearly drop the glass in her hand (however the carpet wasn't so lucky, some of the drink spilled over the top of the glass).
Tracey whipped around with the empty hand over her heart. "Oh my Lord!"
Barry laughed as he rushed back over to his seat before his sister could smack him. She would get him when she got back to her seat, he knew that much, but might as well prolong the attack.
Sam and Steve had chuckled at Barry's antics while Tracey scowled at her twin and Pepper shook her head at the spilled drink on the carpet. Bucky had whipped around at the sound of Tracey's shriek. He had watched as Barry ran back to his seat laughing before looking over at Tracey, who had her hand over her heart.
"Oh my Lord!"
Bucky starred at her. He had heard that somewhere. He had seen someone with their hand over their heart, the way Tracey had, before. He looked down as he tried to pin point where he had seen a similar situation and slowly stared off into space. He was remembering something.
Bucky stood outside of Steve's apartment door. He had just gotten to the apartment when he heard the sound of clicking against concrete. He smirked when he saw the top of a head of golden curls bobbing up the steps. He leaned against the wall as he saw the owner of the blonde hair walk up to the top of the steps. Her head was down as she began to shift a bag of groceries from one arm to the other in order to reach her purse. She pulled out a set of keys and approached the door next to Steve's, head still down as she flipped through the assortment of keys, unaware of the young man watching her.
Bucky smirked before walking over to her, careful not to make a sound. "Hi, Linda."
The blonde woman jumped, a box of cereal falling out of the brown paper bag of groceries, and turned around to see who had snuck up on her. Her hand was over her heart and her eyes were wide. "Oh my Lord!" Her heart had been pounding from the small fright, but seeing Bucky Barnes in front of her made her heart rate pick up even more and her cheeks to grow warm. "Bucky, I-I didn't see you there."
Bucky bent down and retrieved the fallen box of cereal. "Sorry, Linda, didn't mean to scare you." He smiled as he handed her the item.
She quickly snatched it out of his hand with a hurried "Thank you". She turned around and began to fumble with her keys yet again. Bucky watched as her hand shook as she tried to put the key in the lock, missing a few times before finally getting it.
"So, Linda. I was wondering," Bucky began, catching the woman's attention. He smiled when she turned around, the pink of her cheeks still there. "If you'd like to go see that Snow White movie. I heard it was a pretty good film and I thought you might enjoy it. What do you say?" He flashed her one of his charming smiles.
Linda's cheeks burned even more. "I-I-I-I…I um I…I can't, I'm busy." She said the last part in a rush, trying to make up for her stutter at the beginning.
Bucky's face fell, but he quickly covered it up with a smile. "Now, I'm sure a pretty dame like yourself isn't too busy to take a day off and have some fun."
Linda shook her head vigorously, her blonde curls bouncing to and fro. "I'm sorry, Bucky. But I can't. But I uh…um I think Connie Wright might like to see it," she said, referring to the brunette woman down the street. "You should uh…you should ask her."
Bucky gave a nod. "Alright. But the invitation is open if you change your mind, Linda." He gave her a wink and chuckled when her cheeks flared pink yet again.
"Um…I uh…goodbye!" Linda ducked her head and quickly shut the door.
Bucky stared at the door before running a hand through his dark hair and sighed. He hung his head back and stared up at the ceiling before he walked back to Steve's apartment door.
When Bucky finally came back to the present he was met with no one staring at him this time, much to his relief. However, he saw that Tracey was reprimanding Barry as he helped Pepper clean up the spilled drink off of the carpet. Sam was shaking his head as he watched the male twin help the ginger woman, saying something about Pepper shouldn't be the one cleaning up his mess. Tracey was back at the mini bar grabbing the last of the drinks and bringing it over to the seats.
She handed Bucky his glass of water, offering him a warm smile. He stared up at her, eyes filled with confusion as he thought back to the memory he just had. He took the water hesitantly, but Tracey continued to smile at him when he did before taking her seat again.
Bucky was still thinking about the woman from the memory and who she could have possibly been in his past when he had caught the look Steve was giving him. It was the same look the super soldier had given him on the run way after his memory of his sister. It was a look of concern. So much for no one staring at him.
"You okay, Buck?" Steve asked.
Bucky shifted his eyes to the carpet, still thinking back to the memory. He looked back up at Steve, not sure how to ask his question. He could see the look of worry on Steve's face as he struggled to speak.
"I…I had another memory…"
Steve's face lit up. The fact that Bucky had already gained two memories in only a few hours was a good sign. He knew that the rest of the journey to gain his memories back wouldn't be just as easy, but it was a start and he was glad that it was at least a quick start.
"I'm not sure…what the memory was though."
Steve gave Bucky an encouraging smile. "What happened in it? Maybe I can help you figure it out."
Bucky hesitated as he thought over the memory again. He wondered if it really was a memory or something that he somehow made up on the spot. Was the woman from the memory real? What if it really was something he had made up and he disappointed Steve, making him believe that he had actually gained another memory?
He looked down at the ground again. "It…I saw." He took a deep breath before beginning again. "There was this woman. She had blonde hair and…and I was asking her out on a date..." He looked back up at his friend, eyebrows furrowing and arching up in worry. "Who was she?"
Steve furrowed his brow as he thought over the limited description of the woman. Bucky had asked many young woman on dates in the forties and there were a few blondes he had asked as well. He looked up as Tracey smacked Barry on the side of the head when the man finally sat back down after cleaning up his mess and Steve finally realized it. He had noticed Bucky starring off at the wall right after Barry had scared Tracey.
"Was her name Linda?" Steve asked.
"Yes," Bucky replied, his eyes looking hopeful at his friend. It was a relief to hear the woman's name from Steve. The memory wasn't a fake, but real.
Steve smiled. "Her name was Linda Carolton."
"Was she…was she someone we knew?"
"She was my neighbor in the apartment, but we didn't know her that well. She was really shy. You would try to ask her out practically every time you saw her," he chuckled and the corners or Bucky's lips twitched upward as Steve explained. "You probably remembered her because of Tracey."
"What did I do?" Tracey asked, turning her attention from Sam and Barry over to the two super humans.
"I was telling Bucky about your aunt Linda," Steve explained.
"Oh yeah! I remember you telling me about how you knew her sometime after we first met," Tracey said, a smile growing on her face.
"Tracey and Barry are Linda's great niece and nephew. I was a little shocked when I found as well," Steve said to Bucky, patting his leg.
"Wait, seriously?" Sam said. "You two are the niece and nephew of someone Steve and Bucky knew from the forties. Dang! Small world."
"Didn't you say I looked like her or something?" Tracey asked, taking a sip from her own glass of water.
Steve chuckled. "You have her smile and Barry has her eyes."
"Right," Barry said. "That's how the conversation came up wasn't it?"
"Yeah. Although Tracey only has Linda's smile, she reminds me of her quite a bit," Steve said.
Bucky's eyes flickered over to Tracey as she looked over at the blonde super soldier next to him. Looking back at the memory he had, she and Linda had the same smile.
"How so?" Tracey said, tilting her head to the side in question.
"You have the same caring personality as her. Before I became Captain America I was pretty scrawny and got sick a lot and whenever I did she would come over with some soup. She'd come over and take care of me whenever Bucky was busy at work on something."
Bucky chuckled making Steve smile wide and everyone look at him. "You were pretty scrawny."
Steve grinned. "Yeah I was. And you would always get me out of fights because of that."
"…I remember that." Bucky smiled. It was a small smile, but it was still something which made Steve hopeful. He was remembering little bits and pieces which was a good sign.
Steve smiled back at him before turning back to Tracey. "I do have to say, one big difference between you and Linda is that she was very shy whereas, you are pretty outgoing."
"Don't forget stubborn," Barry quipped. "Ow!" He rubbed his shoulder where Tracey punched him as he glared at her. Tracey retaliated by sticking her tongue out at him making Pepper laugh from next to her.
"You can blame the stubbornness on Barry," Tracey said, pointing a thumb at him. "Growing up with him, I had to fight for the things I wanted, like the remote control."
Sam laughed. "Sounds like typical sibling fights." He turned to Barry. "For a SHIELD agent you sure have a low pain tolerance for punches."
"Ex SHIELD agent," Barry corrected. "And you haven't been punched by Tracey. She hits hard!"
"You two are something else," Sam laughed.
Pepper cleared her throat. "I think we are almost at the run way. Tony messaged me that he sent Happy over to pick us up."
"Sweet! Haven't seen Happy in a long time. Along with Tony," Barry said with a grin.
"Just behave. I know how you and Tony are when you two get together," Tracey said with a small laugh.
Pepper smiled. "Tony's been close to blowing up the lab a few times with Bruce. There's not much harm Barry can do to the tower."
"Give him the chance, I'm sure Barry would be the extra push Tony needs to blow up something," Tracey said.
"Probably," Barry laughed.
ooOOoo
Stepping off the plane everyone was met with a dark haired man standing outside of a sleek, black limousine. Barry ran up to him, giving the man a high five while Tracey gave him a hug. The man greeted the twins warmly and gave Pepper a polite nod with a smile. She introduced Sam to him, the two exchanging greetings and a hand shake. Steve had also introduced Bucky to Happy, who greeted him like he did with Sam, however, Bucky refrained from shaking the man's hand. He ended up staring at the ground, avoiding eye contact with Happy and holding his metal arm.
The car ride over to the tower was quiet, with a bit of conversations between Tracey and Pepper. It was calm, but for Bucky it was uncomfortable. He wasn't used to being in closed spaces with so many people. He was sitting next to Steve, who would give him warm, reassuring smiles every so often and telling him everything would be okay. Bucky was nervous though. He had no idea what the tower was and who was there. His mind kept going to HYDRA and wondering where they were. Each building they drove past he would scan the windows and the sidewalk outside them. He was scared HYDRA was out there – in any of those buildings – looking for him.
Bucky's actions didn't go unnoticed by Steve. The super soldier saw his friend's eyes flicking over ever building and every person outside of the limo. He frowned. He could only guess that after years of being trained by HYDRA to be an assassin the habits of scanning everything around Bucky is stuck with him. More so, Steve knew who Bucky was looking out for – HYDRA.
Steve put his hand on Bucky's neck, giving it a squeeze. "Don't worry, Buck. Everything's fine, nothing's going to happen to you," he said, giving him a warm smile.
Bucky only stared at Steve with the same sad, scared look that was in his eyes, but he attempted a small smile either way before turning back to look out the window.
It was a couple more minutes until the limo stopped in front of a tall building. At the top, Bucky noticed a large A. He scrunched up his brow in worry. Was this the place Steve was talking about with the others? The place where this Tony guy was? He turned to Steve for an answer, but only got the same reassuring smile Steve gave him to let him know everything was okay. Bucky smiled a little, worry still etched on his face.
"Happy, why don't you pull into the garage?" Pepper said, noticing Bucky's worried look. "I think it would be better if we don't walk through the lobby. I believe there are some clients coming in and I don't think Bucky is ready to be around a lot of people yet."
Steve smiled at Pepper, giving her a quick thanks as he felt Bucky tense up a little next to him at the mention of unknown people. "It's okay, Bucky. Everything's fine."
Bucky nodded, watching as Happy pulled the car into a large enclosed room where many other cars were parked. He sucked in a breath seeing as there were no windows anywhere, except a door on one side of the room. He felt Steve put a hand on him and turned to look at his friend.
"Everything's going to be fine. I promise, Buck," Steve repeated
Everyone had climbed out of the black car and making their way to the door as Steve and Bucky stepped out as well. Bucky followed Steve silently as Pepper led the group through the door, which turned out to be an elevator. She pressed a button and in a second the elevator rushed upwards to whatever floor they were headed to. Bucky's face scrunched up even further as the worry of not knowing what was waiting for him next was resting on his shoulders.
Steve kept saying everything was alright, but was it? He pushed the thought out of his head. He knew Steve wouldn't trick him. He trusted Steve. He knew Steve was his best friend and wouldn't betray him. Steve had been treating him with care, something he hadn't remembered, yet alone felt, while he was with HYDRA. He knew he could trust Steve and that whatever was awaiting next wouldn't harm him.
Once the elevator stopped, the doors opened up revealing a large spacious room. Stepping out the group saw a large bar on one side of the wall, a living room on the other side, and a kitchen across from the living room. Barry and Sam had a look of awe as they took in the sight.
"Damn! This place is huge!" Sam exclaimed, nodding his head slowly as he walked around.
Barry whistled. "I don't think I can even picture the other floors. I should have visited like Tracey."
Pepper smiled. "I think Tony would have appreciated seeing you again, Barry. Although you two always seem to get into some sort of trouble."
Tracey rolled her eyes with a snort. "Seem? They definitely get into trouble."
"Speaking of trouble. Where is Tony?" Steve asked as he led Bucky over to the living room couch.
"Jarvis," Pepper called out. "Can you tell Tony to come up to the top floor?"
"Yes, Ms. Potts," a disembodied voice answered.
Bucky jumped, quickly searching left and right for the source of the voice. Steve quickly put his hands on Bucky's shoulders, trying to get him to sit back down on the couch. Pepper gasped as she looked over at the two.
"I'm so sorry, Bucky," she began. "I didn't think about how you would react to Jarvis."
"What did Jarvis do?" came another new voice.
Everyone turned around to see Tony Stark walking into the room in a Black Sabath t-shirt and old jeans. Bucky eyed him warily as the new man walked up to Pepper. Tony gave a quick kiss on Pepper's cheek as she gave him a hello. His face broke out into a grin when he saw Barry and Tracey.
"I never thought I'd see you again," he said, clapping a hand on Barry's shoulder before pulling him into a quick hug. "Mona Lisa I already knew was coming since I hired her. But I didn't think I'd be seeing you any time soon, Space Cadet."
Barry laughed at the nickname. "It's great to see you too, Tony."
Tony then noticed Sam standing over by Tracey. He extended his hand to the man. "And you must be Sam Wilson. Read your files and about your bit from what happened in DC. Nice to meet you. You'll have to show me those wings of yours sometime."
Sam grinned. "Nice to meet you as well. I'm gonna need to get a new pair of wings though. Kinda lost them in DC."
Tony's face lit up at the news. "New pair? I'm your guy. I can whip up a pair for you in no time."
"I wouldn't doubt it," Sam laughed.
"Capsicle!" Tony practically shouted at Steve as he walked over to him and Bucky.
Steve looked down at Bucky and noticed him tense up as Tony approached. He quickly squeezed his shoulder once more before Tony gave the super soldier a quick pat on the back.
"Great to see you again, Tony," Steve greeted.
Tony glanced at Bucky and extended his hand. "Tony Stark, but you've probably heard of me," he said with a smirk.
Bucky only stared at his hand, not entirely sure what to make of the new face in front of him.
Tony's smirk fell when Bucky didn't respond to his introduction. "And you are?"
"Uh, Tony, this is Bucky Barnes," Steve said, stepping forward. "My best friend from the forties."
Tony's usual cocky smile appeared on his face as he glanced from Bucky to Steve. "So winter has finally come."
I am so sorry for the late chapter. Life has been a bit hectic. I've been looking for a job all over the place and two of the places I had applied to have already hired and I'm having no luck whatsoever with landing a job. Then I have my sister's wedding coming up this week actually, which I'm excited for and can't believe it's already here holy crap. I've also had to help my mom around the house, cleaning and helping out in the yard so the house looks nice for some relatives who will be staying with us for a few days after the wedding. Along with all of that I had major writer's block with this chapter. I kept questioning myself as I wrote this chapter. I wasn't sure how well the bit with introducing Linda would go and if I played it out well enough.
Any ways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and reviews are awesome. I'd love to hear what you guys think of the story so far. Critiques are welcomed. I love to hear if I've messed up on some part or character or if anything else that might pop out at you. Thanks again.