The second one-shot of the series. These aren't going to be posted in any order, so the story will flip back and forth between the past and the present times.

"What's Your Number?"

September 2014

"So…are you gonna ring the bell?"

"Eventually."

"You know…I think I saw this in an episode of Friends…Phoebe was afraid to meet her father."

"Phoebe's father wasn't even there…he'd run off on his second family too."

"Still…you're acting like Phoebe."

"Thanks, Vee…I really appreciate that."

Case and Viola stood on the porch of a modest looking home in Brooklyn. The outside of the house was painted white, along with the support structure and the overhang of the porch. They stood before a closed security door that was painted black.

They had been standing there for about ten minutes before Viola had finally spoken up, and she added, "And I ask again…why am I here?"

"I don't want people to think I have some twinkie on the side," Case answered in a flat tone.

"I think that only works for guys…but still I think you'd have been fine."

"Need I remind you of the TMZ incident with your son a few months ago?" Case asked.

"Fair point," Viola conceded. "But you already called ahead…all you need to do is ring the bell."

Case hesitated and took a deep breath as she started at the button for the doorbell like it was going to jump out and bite her. She couldn't help but be nervous – this was a person she hadn't seen in years…and she wasn't even sure if she should do it.

But, as Viola pointed out, they were expecting her…Case couldn't exactly bail on them, as the saying went. So, she took another breath and hit the doorbell button, listing to the pleasant little chime as it echoed on the other side of the door as she shoved her trembling fingers into her pockets.

Within a few moments, a tall man answered the door. He had dark brown hair and his blue eyes were eerily familiar. "Cassidy Howlett?"

"Yes…well, Case, but you can call me either," Case said, and at the quiet cough next to her, she added, "Oh, and this is my friend Viola…sorry, I hope it's alright that I brought her."

"That's fine…but before we get down to the nitty gritty," the man stated in a neutral tone, "She wanted me to ask a few questions."

Viola's brows rose, and Case gave a nervous nod from the other side of the door, "Alright…what questions?"

"What's your number?"

"What's my…?" Case thought that was an odd question to ask, especially after her last movie night with Natasha which had an actor that looked surprisingly like Steve…then it dawned on her. "Oh! My number! Twenty-five!"

The man gave a small nod, "Alright, then she wants to know higher or lower?"

"Lower."

His face eased into a smile that was genuine and friendly, another item that was eerily familiar, "Come in, Case. She's expecting you."

Case gave a sigh of relief as he opened the screen, and when he held out his hand she stammered, "Oh, right…sorry, nice to meet you," She shook his hand firmly.

"Nice to meet you too. Richard Proctor…I was surprised you asked to see her."

"I'm…I wasn't…" She took a deep breath, "I didn't even know she was still alive…and when I found out, I wasn't sure if she'd even…"

"Trust me, she was hoping you'd pay her a visit," Richard assured her. "Are…are the others joining you?"

"Not yet…I haven't told them. If she didn't want to see me…I couldn't hurt their feelings like that," Case admitted.

"And I take it Viola is just here for moral support?" Richard asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Pretty much," Viola gave him a friendly smile as well.

"Well, follow me," Richard said, turning to lead them further into the house.

Viola grasped Case's shoulder, and hissed, "Good God…that looked like—"

"Well of course it did," Case cut her off. "There's bound to be some similarities. After all, Richard's his nephew."

"Ah…see…you didn't tell me that before," Viola frowned at her. "I wouldn't have given you such a hard time if I had known."

Case frowned back, "Yes you would have."

Viola thought for a moment, "Ah you're probably right…"

As the two followed Richard further into the house, the coziness of the place started to calm Case's nerves a bit as she took the place in. She entered a small hallway, with decorative vases and knickknacks scattered about.

"She's this way," Richard said, leading the two down the way to the sitting room off to the left.

Case took a breath and followed him into the room, eyes going to the elderly woman in the sitting in the armchair in the middle of the room.

She had long white hair held back in a thick braid, and she placed her book on the coffee table and stared at her with the same ice-blue eyes she'd fallen in love with on someone else many years ago. "Cassidy Melissa Howlett, it's about damn time you paid me a visit!"

Case released the breath she didn't realize she was holding, and her face broke into a large grin, "Language Becca, you don't want Steve comin' in with a lecture, do you?"

"Please, I'm a grown woman," Becca scoffed, then carefully got to her feet. She opened her arms, "Now give me a hug already."

Case came farther into the room and hugged her, careful not to squeeze too tight. "God, I missed you…"

"I've missed you too," Becca said as she sat back down. As Case carefully sat down on the couch next to the chair, she added, "I've missed all of you." She looked at Viola in the doorway, "And since Case is as horrible with introductions today as she was seventy years ago…who might you be?"

"Name's Viola Miller-Hodge…Case and I met during Captain America's roadshow," Viola said, coming farther into the room and reaching out a hand for the other woman to shake. "And I take it you're Becca…it's finally nice to place a face to the name after all these years."

"Nice to meet you, Viola," Becca smiled as they shook hands. "You kept Case out of trouble during the war?"

"At least until she joined Steve's team of Howling Commandos…then unfortunately it was outta my hands," Viola admitted.

"Yeah…between Steve and Case Bucky and Ryder never got a moment's peace…whether it was Case pulling some stupid stunt or Steve getting beat up in an alley somewhere…"

"Now he gets beat up in the middle of the street," Case pointed out. "And in some cases, on live television."

"Boy never did have a sense of self-preservation," Becca admitted. "But you're also not one to talk, from some of the things I've seen."

Case's cheeks turned pink, "Fair enough I guess…"

"Anyway though…why didn't you ever tell me you were a mutant?" Becca then asked. "We were friends all those years you couldn't have told me?"

"Yeah I know," Case sighed.

"To be fair, she didn't even tell me," Viola pointed out. "I didn't find out until they went into the ice."

"Look, the only ones here we told were Steve and Bucky…Steve reacted kind of like you," Case explained. "Bucky…not so much."

"Is that why you didn't speak to him for three months?" Becca asked.

Viola's eyebrows went up and she looked at Case, "Three months?"

Case gave a small shrug, "We had just started back on speaking terms that Christmas…"

"When did you tell them?"

"Steve found out when we were fifteen…Bucky found out a year later," Case explained.

"Bucky moped around here for weeks before he tried getting her to forgive him," Becca added. "He hated the fact Case was pissed at him. Not to mention any time she came by here to see me he had this weird kind of lost puppy look when Case flat out ignored him."

"And you didn't notice?" Viola asked.

"She was too busy with Malcolm and Walter to notice Bucky."

"Don't say it like that," Case rolled her eyes. To Viola she said, "First I dated Walter, and we got together maybe a week or two after I stopped talking to Bucky…that relationship only lasted about a month…turned out to be an idiot. Didn't date anyone for a month, then started going out with Malcolm."

"Huh…and here I thought you only had eyes for Bucky," Viola said.

"Bucky never gave me the time of day," Case shrugged. "I wasn't going to wait for him forever…he only saw me as a friend, so I went to find someone who didn't."

"She sure did…in the form of Walter, Malcolm, Charles, William, Harold, and George," Becca said.

"Way to make me sound like a slut, Beck," Case rolled her eyes.

"Please…your legs weren't opening for anyone but Bucky," Becca gave an eyeroll of her own.

"Rebecca!"

"Tell me I'm wrong."

Case's cheeks turned red, "That…that's not the point!"

"Besides…that's just the total list," Becca explained to Viola. "Malcolm, Walter, and Charles were all in high school. Afterward, there was William, Harold, and then George was right before Case shipped out with the USO."

"We ran into George and Malcolm…they were serving in the same battalion," Case said. "Bit awkward off the battle field…"

"How'd they take to you dating Bucky?" Becca asked.

"We didn't actually tell anyone we were…fooling around," Case admitted. "Malcolm kinda guessed…but I never confirmed or denied."

"Fooling around?" Becca repeated.

"Can't exactly call what we were doing dating," Case told her. She gave a sigh and looked down at her boots, "I wouldn't call a few stolen moments behind closed tent flaps dating…"

The conversation died rather quickly after that, depression suddenly creeping into the air. It was silent for a few minutes, before Viola asked, "So how 'bout them Avengers? That Tony Stark is something else, huh?"

"He seems like a piece of work," Becca said. She turned to Case, "Do they treat you right? Are they nice?"

"Tony's…well, you're not entirely wrong," Case explained. "But yeah, he's a nice guy, when he wants to be. Natasha's hard to read…but overall a good friend, same with Clint. And Bruce is a sweetheart."

"That's great," Becca said with a smile. "I'm glad you have them...so tell me about some of your adventures…"

Case's bike pulled to a stop outside of Viola's apartment building at dusk. They got a few odd looks as Viola pulled off her helmet, which were met with a grunted, "What're you lookin' at?"

Case gave a chuckle as she pulled off her own helmet, "It's probably weird for them to see a ninety-six-year-old riding on a motorcycle."

"They can deal…it's one of the more exciting events in my life," Viola rolled her eyes. "You wanna come upstairs for a bit?"

"Nah…gotta head back to the Tower," Case said. "Got a few surveillance camera stills to go over…Steve thinks he has a new lead on Bucky."

"Why didn't you tell her he was alive?"

Case thought that one over for a moment, "Not sure how to breach the topic. Plus, that opens the can of worms for the question 'where was he all this time'."

"Fair…but at some point, you will need to tell her."

"I'm hoping at some point he can tell her himself."

"I'd warn her first…old broads like us don't do well with those types of surprises," Viola pointed out.

"I thought you didn't want me to treat you like you're old."

"Just saying…keep that in mind for the future."

Case simply rolled her eyes at that.

"Also…I was wondering…" Viola hesitated. "Why did you stop talking to Bucky?"

Case shifted from foot to foot, and she said, "A story for a later time."

"Alright…but I'm holding you to that," Viola said. "Can you at least explain the number thing?"

Case gave a small smile, "That's actually something from our childhood. Ryder and I are twenty-five minutes apart…so as a way we could tell that a message was from the other, we'd always say 'What's your number?' If it was twenty-five high, it was from Ryder since he's older. Twenty-five low is me."

"Huh…interesting."

"We thought it was," Case checked her watch, "I really gotta get going…it was nice seeing you Vee."

"Nice seeing you too, Cassidy," Viola said, ignoring Case's scowl as she hugged her friend tightly. "You ride safe, Howlett…don't need a third compilation video of your craziest motorcycle crashes."

"It would be video four, actually," Case admitted sheepishly as Viola released her.

"Again…ride safe," Viola said, heading up the steps to her apartment building.

Case gave her a small smile, before putting the helmet back on and straddling her bike. As she took off down the street, she thought about what she was going to tell Viola about Bucky.

While Steve had accepted their mutations without hesitation, just with anger that he hadn't been told sooner…Bucky's reaction had been quite the opposite…and it had taken Case quite a long time to forgive him for it.