"Wow, two days in a row? Aren't I lucky?"
Bucky looked up from his newspaper as Tessa walked up to him, a coffee pot in one hand and the other placed firmly on her hip. The man smiled sweetly at her as he set the paper down, giving the brunette his full attention. Her long brown hair was pulled into a messy fishtail braid that cascaded down her shoulder over her black apron, and her dark mascara complimented her eyes. Bucky noticed her lips were painted a light rose color that matched her cheeks when he stared at her for just a moment too long.
Bucky caught his error and cleared his throat, "I'm taking some pastries for Steve and the kids. I figured I'd enjoy a little peace and quiet before I spend the day with two overly excitable children."
"Well, in that case, I'll leave you be." Tessa countered with a smirk, turning to leave, but stopping in her tracks, "You know, people don't read actual newspapers anymore."
"No?" Bucky asked, a mischievous twinkle in his eye as he picked up his coffee with his right hand, taking a slow sip as he watched Tessa.
"No. Everything's digital. Why kill trees?"
Bucky was surprised by her answer, but he just smiled and opened his mouth, trying to come up with a good response, "Maybe I like having something real to hold in my hands."
Tessa tilted her head to the side, thoughtfully staring at Bucky's coffee until he opened up the lid and handed it to her. She shook her head, coming back to herself, then refilled his cup thoughtlessly, which caused him to smirk up at her. "Something on your mind?"
"Do you... do you feel things? With- the... other one." She gestured to the arm closest to her, shoved into Bucky's black jacket pocket as it always was when he came into the shop.
Bucky followed her gaze to his hidden left arm and removed his vibranium hand from his pocket for Tessa to see. Her eyes practically popped out of her head when the metal emerged from his sleeve and was terribly close to her face. "Oh. Oh, I, uh. Yup. That's a metal arm."
"Does it make you nervous? You seem nervous. There's a reason I keep it hidden. It has that effect on people." Bucky told her seriously, gauging her reaction carefully as he held it out to Tessa. The woman was captivated by the hand, toying with the idea of touching it, but also toying with the idea of walking away.
"Not nervous per se," Tessa admitted, and Bucky withdrew back into his pocket, picking up his refilled coffee cup to take another drink of the hot beverage. Tessa looked from his concealed arm to Bucky's face, "You had a regular prosthetic when I first met you."
"I have to change back into it before I go to Steve's. I don't want the vibranium arm around the kids." Bucky confessed. "Speaking of which-" Bucky pushed against the chair, sliding it across the tile flooring of the Brewhouse to stand. He grabbed his coffee cup and downed the rest of it, which Tessa watched in surprise. When he set the cup back down, he saw her impressed expression and added, "I only have one arm to carry the pastries with."
"Oh, okay. Let me get those ready for you, what do you want?"
"Whatever you recommend. Fill a bag. Cool Uncle Bucky needs to win over the kids so they'll prank Steve with me." Bucky winked at Tessa and she laughed, and it was the first time Bucky had ever heard Tessa laugh. She realized it too and quickly shut her mouth, walking wide-eyed back to the counter.
Tessa. Tessa, what the hell are you doing? No. Stop. Don't encourage him.
After setting the coffee pot back into the coffee maker, Tessa turned around to find Bucky standing on the other side of the glass counter, leaning against it with his left arm, still hidden underneath his jacket. Tessa's eyes narrowed at him, and he met her stare with soft, patient blue eyes.
Maybe I could give in, just a little.
Tessa packed up a bag full of muffins and scones and shoved it toward Bucky's right hand, "On the house. They're for the kids. Make sure you prank Steve well. He deserves it." Tessa winked and turned around, heading into the back room, where she could hide behind the door and try to catch her breath, because the butterflies in her stomach were doing backflips.
What's the likelihood of you extending your trip a few days?
Kayla felt her phone buzz under her cheek and it startled her awake at five in the morning, causing her to shift and fall off the side of the bed with a shriek. She pushed herself onto her knees, reaching up onto the bed to grab her phone, reading the text as she winced. She grimaced a little, not wanting to stay, but knowing Nat wouldn't ask if it wasn't important.
How long?
Kayla pulled the sheet away from herself and scrambled to her feet, stumbling over to the instant coffee maker to start the day. While the water heated up, Kayla moved to the bathroom, turning on the shower as she waited for her phone to buzz again. She was about to step into the shower when her phone buzzed, she leaned over to the bathroom counter and saw Natasha's answer-
Two weeks? Maybe three?"
"Jesus!" Kayla slipped, almost falling until she caught herself on the counter, hitting the video call button by mistake. She reached out for a towel just as Natasha answered, surprisingly wearing her own face.
"Hello? Are you naked?"
"Yeah, didn't mean to video chat you- three weeks? Three weeks Nat, I can't stay for three weeks! I have children who need me back home, Steve's probably feeding them ice cream for breakfast as we speak!" Kayla yelped, trying to keep her voice down seeing it was the crack of dawn.
Natasha rolled her eyes, leaning her head to the side in annoyance, "Steve can handle this, he's a highly capable, highly trained superhero, he can handle being a solo dad for a few weeks. I need you to come with me to Seattle."
"Why?" Kayla groaned, leaning over and turning off the shower. It would be a while before she got a chance to continue her morning.
Natasha grinned, happy to have her fish on the line, "I've been invited to accompany several higher-ups for a meeting with Schmidt in Seattle. He's planning something, something big. It'll draw in the Avengers. That's where you come in. I need help keeping my cover intact while making sure there are no casualties on our side."
"So you want me to make sure the Avengers don't die while you... what? Help fuel global destruction?"
"While I kill Schmidt," Natasha answered casually, and Kayla readjusted the towel she was wearing around her, blowing a hair away from her mouth as she tried to figure out if Nat was joking or not. Her serious face told Kayla she wasn't.
Kayla exhaled, biting the inside of her cheek as she let Natasha's plan settle upon her shoulders because Kayla knew Natasha couldn't be talked down from her ridiculous plan, "Must you? Because that sounds like a suicide mission."
"Chances like this don't come around every day Kay. If we cut off the leader, the cult will fall. Without the Red Skull, there will be no more Hydra."
"That's a stupid thing to say because it's already been proven untrue. Hydra grew within Shield for seven decades after Schmidt died, and they were just as deadly with Pierce as they were with Schmidt. Killing him won't kill Hydra. I'm not abandoning my family so you can get yourself killed. In case you forgot, I caused all of this to save your life. I'd rather you not throw it away." Kayla's blood boiled as she growled, clenching her fist so tightly her nails drew blood from her palm.
"I'm the only one close enough to try Kay. Let me have this. Please. I just need you to make sure the Avengers are safe. Can you help me with that?" Natasha snapped back, dropping her head into her hand. For four years, Natasha Romanoff had existed solely for this purpose, and she was asking Kayla to help her finish the job so she could come home.
Kayla held in the urge to scream and yell and berate Natasha Romanoff for her determination and loyalty. But Kayla knew she was going to follow the Black Widow into the lion's den once again.
"Fine. Send me the info. Tell me where to meet you."
James shoved this fourth muffin into his mouth while Bucky distracted his father and sister with stories about their dad when they were children.
"Buck, Bucky, please, no- that's so gross." Steve moaned as he buried his scruffy face into his hands in embarrassment. "They don't need to hear that story-"
"So I said, 'What's the worst that can happen? You gotta take Dot's sister so Dot will ride with me', but then- then he agreed and we rode the Cyclone and Steve threw up all over Dot's little sister. She screamed louder when she got off the ride than while she was on it. All of Coney Island could hear her berating your father." Bucky laughed loudly as he pointed at Steve, who was turning redder than the red sweater he wore. Bucky clapped his best friend on the back as Sarah giggled wildly, leaning back against the chair as she held her chest tightly.
"I had a weak stomach." Steve mumbled, reaching into the bag to grab another scone, then peaking in and realizing it was the last one, "Where on earth did all this food go?"
James perked up, looking terribly guilty as he wiped his arm across his face, smearing the remnants of his breakfast away from his mouth. "I don't know! Must have been Sarah!"
"I had one of those mini-muffins. The chocolate chip ones. These are from Aunt Tessa's shop right?" Sarah admitted proudly before asking Bucky where the food came from, "I miss her. I remember her a little. Mommy always says hi when we see her downtown, but they don't talk long. I think they got in a fight."
Bucky's brows rose at the young girl's comprehension of the situation, "Sometimes people grow apart. It happens. Your dad and I weren't friends for a while. We, we-"
"We reconnected after some time passed. Maybe Mom and Tess will reconnect someday too." Steve finished, lifting Sarah's chin gently, "You don't worry about your parents' problems, little miss. We'll be okay." Suddenly Steve was interrupted by his phone ringing across the kitchen. He stood quickly and walked over to it, seeing it was his wife calling. "Hello?"
"Hey honey. I, uh, have something to run past you?"
Steve could hear something was wrong, and he threw Barnes a panicked look as he took the call in the other room. "What is it, Kay?"
With Steve gone, Bucky addressed the two kids, "Alright, so, what do you want to do today?"
"Go to the zoo!" Sarah suggested loudly, and James pushed her to the side, accidentally knocking her over as his own ideas came tumbling out.
"Go to a game! Or- or go karts! Or mini-golf! Mom won't let me play mini-golf, only Uncle Tony out at the lake!-"
While James poured out all his hopes and dreams to his uncle, Bucky knelt down and grabbed Sarah under the arms to gently lift her to her feet. He was slow and careful, treating the little blonde like she was made of glass. He saw so much of Steve in her, but she seemed resigned to the fact that she wasn't strong or fast like her family. She'd inadvertently saved her brother from the realization that he was different- he just thought she was smaller than normal.
"Are you okay?" Bucky asked quietly as James continued talking loudly, trying to get the attention away from his little sister.
Sarah held onto Bucky's hands to steady herself, nodding confidently up at him. "Yup. This happens a lot. I fall over a lot."
Bucky bunched his eyebrows together, wanting to explain to Sarah that James didn't know his own strength, but that seemed like a discovery that needed to come from her parents. "Okay. As long as you're alright. So," Bucky addressed James, finally getting the boy to shut up, "Sarah wants to go to the zoo and James wants to go... everywhere. We'll run the ideas past your father and choose whichever he likes the least."
Bucky looked up to see Steve hang up the phone tentatively and gaze down at it with his big blue puppy dog eyes. "You alright there Steve?"
"Umm, yeah, I'm okay. Kids! I just heard from your mom," Steve started, meandering back to the kitchen, "She's not coming home tomorrow like planned. It's actually gonna be a while. Two, maybe three weeks."
"Three weeks! That's, that's almost a month!" Sarah spat out worriedly, looking between her father and brother as she plopped into a kitchen chair. "I'm stuck with only boys for the next month?"
"Does this mean we can eat ice cream every day?!" James exclaimed loudly, tugging on Steve's sleeve, "Mom doesn't have to know!"
"No, no we aren't eating ice cream every day, I don't want your mother to kill me," Steve grumbled as he reached into the pastry bag and remembered it was empty. Bucky held back a laugh at Steve's frustrated face.
"I mean, I can stay. As far as I know, I don't have to be back to work. I can help you take care of the kids for a few weeks- if you'll have me..." Bucky offered, but Steve could see a shimmer of hope in his best friend's blue eyes. Bucky wanted to stay and it wasn't to babysit.
Steve raised his brow suspiciously, "Oh, so you can spend every morning at the Brewhouse?"
James and Sarah shared a knowing look, then James turned to his father, "I'm hungry, can we get lunch?"
"You just ate, like, eight pastries? Where are you putting it?" Steve asked in disbelief, gesturing from the empty bag back to his son, "You don't need more food."
"I'm hungry too. James ate all the pastries. Can we go out for lunch Dad? Please!" Sarah begged as she wrapped her arm around her father's waist and leaned her head against his side, looking up at him with big, sad blue eyes.
Steve picked up his daughter and turned to Bucky, "You have somewhere in mind?"
Twenty minutes later, James and Sarah led the charge back into the Brewhouse where they joined the long line of patrons waiting for their Saturday afternoon coffee and lunch deals. Tessa had grown the business quite a bit in the past seven years since she bought it, turning it from a humble coffee shop into a booming cafe. Tessa didn't mind being busy. It kept her mind off the fact that her fiance tried to murder her and her best friend was actually a mad scientist who faked her death to be with Captain America.
"Daddy, can I get a cupcake? I promise I'll eat the whole thing! I like the vanilla one with rainbow frosting and unicorn sprinkles. Please?" Sarah tugged on Steve's shirt as he checked his phone, wishing he'd hear from his wife. His heart hurt thinking about her being out in California with Natasha. A quiet life was what they agreed on. Going on a long-term undercover mission with an assassin wasn't exactly quiet.
"Dad? Dad?" Sarah repeated louder each time until she finally turned to Bucky and huffed, "What's wrong with him?"
"He misses your mom," Bucky answered softly as he stared at the line ahead of them, leaning around people to get a view of the counter. He could see the high school girl who worked here on weekends, but no sign of Tessa.
"What's wrong with you?" James kicked at Bucky's boot, frustrated that neither of the adults were paying attention to him and his sister. "Why are you acting so weird?"
Steve finally looked up from his cell phone when he realized they were next in line, "Sarah wants a rainbow cupcake- wait, that's not lunch, what else do you want?" Steve turned and looked down at his young daughter and she hummed to herself for a moment while James began talking over her.
"Can I get a club sandwich and a chocolate cake? Let's just buy the whole cake, okay? We don't have to tell mom..."
"Sarah?" Steve asked, mentally filing his son's ridiculous order into his brain as he waited for his youngest to make up her mind.
"Dad, I said I wanted a club sandwich and a chocolate cake!" James whined, crossing his arms defensively as he stared up angrily at his father.
Steve sighed as he rubbed his eyes, "I know James, I heard you, I'm just waiting for your sister to make up her mind. Sarah?"
"I just want the cupcake." She decided finally as the couple in front of them got their order and walked to the side. The little blonde girl stepped up to the counter and hit the bell for service, even though the teenaged girl was already staring right at her. The teen raised her brows questioningly at the child and Sarah raised her chin proudly and ordered a rainbow cupcake with unicorn sprinkles.
"Is that everything?" The girl droned, looking from Sarah to Steve expectantly.
"Can we also get a club sandwich, a kid's sized turkey sandwich, and a double club with extra meat please," Steve responded, giving the teenager his best smile as she wrote down their order.
"And a chocolate cake!" James added loudly, and she looked up at the young blonde, then wrote that down too as Steve stared at his son with a slightly irked expression.
"Your total is forty-two seventeen." The teenaged employee droned, then her eyes caught a glimpse of the man behind Steve. "I'll put that order in real quick." She turned and darted into the back room, tapping Tessa on the shoulder before hissing loudly, "He's here! He's back!"
"Twice in one day? Now I think he's stalking me." Tessa rolled her eyes and looked at the receipt the girl had dropped off with her. "Is this all for him?"
"No, he's here with this other guy and his two kids. I gotta go ring him up now."
Steve.
Tessa swallowed back her desire to hide and avoid the man she knew to be Captain America. She could pretend she didn't know who the Winter Soldier was, even if she'd spent more than one evening drowning her curiosities about the mysterious man in wine and the internet. Steve Rogers though? Once she saw it, Tessa could never unsee the First Avenger in her former neighbor. However, she didn't want to be rude, and if she didn't come out and say hello, she'd have to hear about it again tomorrow when Bucky would undoubtedly return for his morning coffee.
Tessa started working on the order herself, carefully stacking the club sandwich layers together and then packaging up a rainbow cupcake with unicorn sprinkles and a chocolate cake to go. After about five minutes, she knew she'd have to deliver the food soon or they'd ask, especially the kids.
"Where's my sandwich? I'm hungry." James looked between Bucky and Steve, finding his father engrossed in his phone again and Bucky staring off toward the back room, willing Tessa and their food out with his mind.
His wish came true when Tessa pushed open the door with her back, carrying a massive tray piled with food that could only belong to them. She wandered across the shop to their booth and set it down with a thud. "You guys hungry?"
"Starving!" James reached into the tray to pull out the double club sandwich which Steve snatched from his hand, placing in front of himself before serving James the single club. James side-eyed his father, then bit into the massive sandwich as Steve began shoving the extra-meat sandwich into his own mouth.
Tessa held back the urge to laugh, turning from Steve and his mini-Steve to address Barnes, "You were here four hours ago... you miss me?"
"Maybe." Bucky winked, taking a bite of his own egg salad sandwich as he watched the brunette, "I think you're warming up to me."
"Yeah, sure, I just like making money to eat, and you're quickly becoming my best customer," Tessa answered quickly as she looked over her shoulder at the line that was reaching toward the door. She was about to tell them she had to go when Bucky cut her off.
"I mean, I could help you with both of those things."
Tessa's brow piqued in interest, "Which things?"
"Food and money. I'll use my money to buy you food. Tomorrow. Six o'clock."
Tessa's mouth dropped open and quivered a bit as she tried to think of a clever answer, but all that came out was, "Okay?"
Bucky pulled his head back, grinning from ear to ear, "Great. I'll pick you up here."
"Yeah, okay, see you then." Tessa trailed off as she wandered off, looking over her shoulder at Bucky Barnes and his friend's family as she went back to the kitchen. Before she reached the door, she ran into the counter because she wasn't looking, quickly looking over her shoulder to see if Bucky had seen.
I think I'm going on a date with an assassin.
Steve turned to Bucky, who looked incredibly proud of himself, "Did you just get a date?"
"Yes. About damn time."
Steve's eyes grew to saucers and quickly moved to cover James's ears before hissing, "Language!"