Bucky is Well Again/ A Surprise Gift

Bucky went home, back to his apartment, that night. He as well enough to not need supervision. He had stayed for supper, listening to all of the jazz records he could. They'd even gotten into some fifties Rock and Roll, which he wasn't quite sure about but he thought he might be liking.

He fixed his cabinet the next day, and went to the store for new cups, since all of his had shattered on the floor when he pulled the shelf from the wall. While he was out, he decided that Joy deserved a token of gratitude for all of the help she had been to him. He just couldn't figure out what she might like. After pondering for the better part of the day, he was pretty sure he had the perfect gift in mind! It was extremely practical, and she seemed like a practical girl.

Joy went in to work that next day. After a grueling 8 hours on her feet, she drove home. Upon opening her front door, she stopped and stared. Her mouth fell open. Laying on the counter directly in front of the door, was a vase of wildflowers and what she thought was an M-16 assault rifle. And she was pretty sure she knew who it was from.

She grabbed the rifle, left the flowers, and pounded on Bucky's door. He opened it after a few hard knocks. He was smiling, but quickly stopped when he saw the look on Joy's face.

"What the fuck is this?" She demanded to know.

"It's a gun." He replied. "It's a gift, for helping me."

"It's an assault rifle! What the hell am I supposed to do with an assault rifle?" She yelled. This was not going to plan. Everyone Bucky knew would love an assault rifle... then he realized that everyone he knew were crazy Russian soldiers.

"Keep it, in case they come after you?" He said, deflating.

"No one is after me! They might be after you, not me. I just live next door." She handed it back to him. "And you don't break into someone's apartment to leave them a gift! That's creepy."

Bucky was really disheartened. He knew he'd messed up majorly. The gun had made so much sense to his soldier mind, but now his regular mind, his Bucky mind, was coming through. And he could see how maybe it hadn't all been a good idea. Maybe only the flowers had been a good idea. And maybe not breaking into her apartment.

"I'm sorry." He said. He seemed sincere. "I will not do that again. I'm still kind of confused. But I want you to have something for protection." He took the M-16 and left the room, returning with a small glock. He handed it to her.

"Um... thanks?"

"Your apartment is entirely too easy to get into. You need new locks." He added.

Joy sighed. He seemed like he had really wanted to thank her in the best way he knew how. It wasn't his fault the best way he knew how was super weird. "Thank you for the flowers. And the gun. Even though it's probably super illegal for me to own this. But hey, I probably broke thirty international laws helping you these last few days. What's a few more?"

Bucky felt at ease now. She was handling this really well. "I can teach you to use the gun. I'll feel much safer if you have it."

"All right." She said.