Jess Barnes (Becca Barnes' Mom)
AU: Becca Barnes
Jess couldn't believe her beloved aunt was dead. As a mother, she couldn't afford to show how much it hurt her, especially to her daughter, who was named after Jess' favorite aunt. Jess never knew about her uncle either- she never knew that he was still alive, never knew that the man who came to the graveyard for Rebecca's funeral was telling the truth- until he showed up at the Barnes-Proctor residence. Jess remembered that day her daughter broke down, because of the presence of the man who turned stone white when he saw the grave of Bucky Barnes. Honestly, no one in the family has ever accepted the fact he died in action, after all they never found the body. Jess was sure it was somewhere in a ravine in Europe, frozen in the mountains like Steve Rogers when he went down in a plane seventy years ago.
These thoughts were distracting to Jess' job, since she worked as a nurse for the local hospital. Even her employer saw a difference in her the day after the funeral. It almost got her fired too- Jess' boss is considered an asshole in the Barnes-Proctor residence. That's all some people will measure up to be, that's what Aunt Rebecca said. Jess shook her head,
"Focus, Jess, focus," she said to herself, "don't want to be fired by that asshole." Someone cleared their throat and Jess turned to see her boss.
"Mrs. Barnes, my office," he said. Jess sighed and trudged into his office, she knew what was coming. Jess couldn't control her smart mouth, that's what all her other employers told her just before she got fired. Her boss shook his head, disappointed.
"Jess, you have a great talent for nursing others. Maybe it's from your family's involvement in WWII, it means nothing to you right now since you can't control your..." that's as far as he got before Jess snapped.
"You think my family's involvement inspired me to do this job? To work for you? You think you are SO special that people are lining up the block to work for your fat ass? Not me! No sir, I absolutely HATE this job. With a capital H. HATE. I hate you, I hate this office, I hate everyone but the patients," Jess was yelling at her boss, out of her seat with palms slammed on the table. "I'm done with you, you fucked up creep- I quit!" She yelled. Her boss sighed and shook his head.
"Security!" He called. Two guards dragged Jess out of the building and threw her belongings with her. She huffed and dusted off her scrubs, Jess turned towards the hospital and flipped it off before catching a taxi home.
Jess rested her hand on the key, it was half stuck out of the doorknob. She closed her eyes and thought how she would explain the situation to her daughter. Jess took one more deep breath and opened the door. Immediately, she heard giggles coming from the kitchen, she heard her daughter's voice along with someone else's.
"That's so cool! What's he like?" Jess heard her daughter ask. Another person responded.
"He's so strong and brave, and very patriotic," the voice said. Jess was getting impatient, who was her daughter talking too?
"Becca?" Jess called out.
"Mom?!" Jess saw Becca appear in the hallway, eyes wide. "Y-your home early," Becca said to her mom.
"Who is that? What's going on Becca?" Jess asked. Jess stated to walk hastily towards the kitchen, Becca was there in front of her mom, pushing her away. Jess was too strong, and she reached the kitchen within seconds to see the same man who was at her aunt's funeral sitting at her counter. For the second time that day, Jess snapped.
"Out! You have no reason to be in my house! Out!" Jess yelled at the man. He put his hands up in defense. A mess of old family photos was strewn around the counter, one caught Jess' eye.
"Alright! Alright, sorry," the man said. Jess gravitated towards the photos on the counter just as the man was getting up. Jess picked it up and scrutinized the smiling face in the photo.
"Wait," she said to the man. Jess turned towards the man who was almost at the door. He was waiting, faced away from Jess.
"Is this you?" She asked him. Jess held the photo out to the man, and he turned around. The man nodded his head, tears were welling up in his eyes, you could see each tear glint in the setting sunlight, Jess saw one glint down his cheek.
"Bucky. You're uncle Bucky," Jess realized. She felt like she was going to break down, it hurt to stand there when her uncle was alive! Jess ran to her uncle, crying hysterically. Both collapse into a hug, and soon Jess feels Becca join the group hug.
Minutes later, Jess was all cried out. She couldn't shed another tear if she wanted to, she was all dried up. The three had settled down on the kitchen counter, looking at photos and telling stories. Well Bucky did most of the story telling since he had so many to share, and his family insisted for him to tell every story, no matter how gruesome it was. In which Bucky had plenty of gruesome stories to tell, but he never told the parts that were as sick and twisted as the Winter Soldier. He did, however tell them the stories he had while he was a Howling Commando.
"I think my favorite thing was when we stole a tank from a base and used it in a plan. No one objected my action of spray-painting the words "die Hydra scum" on the side of it. I even used bright red paint too. I swear you could do anything back then," Bucky said, leaning back in the chair. Jess couldn't believe how many stories were pouring out of her uncle, he had so many stories, the amount was staggering.
"So, uncle Bucky, do you remember anything after falling?" Becca asked him.
"Becca, how about we don't ask uncle Bucky those questions... they might be a touchy subject for him," Jess told Becca.
"No, it's ok," Bucky said. "Well I don't remember all of it but when I fell, what happened was, I tried to break my fall with my left arm, and I wasn't really able to do that, and I hit my head on a rock. The next thing I know there are a bunch of lab coats around me," Bucky explained. Jess and Becca looked at each other.
"What happened after that?" Jess asked. Bucky fumbled with his glove before speaking again.
"I'm not sure you'll like it," he said quietly.
"Uncle Bucky, we'll support you no matter what," Becca told him. Bucky fumbled with his glove again, and this time he pulled it off, revealing a metal hand. Jess and Becca gasped, they've never seen anything like it.
"Woah," Jess said. "Can I see?" Jess asked, reaching out her hand. Bucky tentatively put his hand in hers, and she started to scrutinize the metal panels.
"It's so cool," Jess breathed. Bucky smiled a little, he was loosening up to his surroundings.
"Thank you," Bucky said. "Most people hate it," he added. Jess shook her head.
"Why would they? From a medical standpoint, the prosthesis you have is very advanced," Jess said. Bucky smiled a little bit. He was glad his family was accepting him. Becca yawned and stretched.
"Well I'm going to bed, I have school tomorrow," she said.
"You go do that honey, I'll be right there to say goodnight," Jess responded. Becca stood up and moved towards Bucky.
"Goodnight uncle Bucky," she said, giving him a big hug. He was startled by her touch and hesitated before hugging her back.
"Goodnight Becca," he murmured. Becca walked to her room, Jess and Bucky heard the door close behind her. Jess turned towards Bucky and sighed.
"We have an extra room if you would like to stay the night," she said. Bucky nodded, looking down the hall.
"Just one night, then I'll be out of your hair," he told her.
"Stay as long as you'd like," Jess told him.
"I need to get away, I don't know where, but I need to find a place to go, that isn't in New York, you know?" Bucky told his niece.
"Well then, tomorrow I'll help you with that," Jess told him, Bucky frowned.
"I thought you were a nurse," he said, "don't you have work?" Jess fiddled with the bracelet on her wrist, turning it around so the diamonds simmered in the kitchen light.
"I was fired," she said, "actually- I quit," Bucky places his hand on her shoulder to comfort Jess. "I don't know what I'm going to do about money," she added sternly.
"What about your husband?" Bucky asked. Instantly he felt regret from the way Jess' face fell.
"Damn divorce lawyers are taking every penny I got," she said, "Robert's an asshole who can lie about anything and get away with it," Jess sighed deeply and looked at her uncle.
"I have a bank account full of war bonds, it's yours," he told her. Jess' eyes widened at the news.
"No, there's no way, you need money too," She said.
"I've had money since 1938, it never did me any good," Bucky responded. "But for you, it'll do you great," Jess processed the information.
"You really mean it?" She asked. Bucky nodded his head.
"Password is 3-10-17, my birthday," Bucky told her.
"Thank you," Jess whispered.
Weeks later, when her uncle was gone, Jess entered the bank, confident. She walked up to the teller and cleared her throat. The teller looked up from the papers he was filling out, Jess turned red from his attractiveness. His glasses slipped down his nose, making him more attractive, and Jess turned even more red. He slid the papers out of the way and pushed his glasses up.
"Can I help you?" He asked. Jess looked at the name tag he was wearing, labeling him with the name "Kevin."
"I'd like to make a transfer," Jess stammered.
"From what account?" Kevin asked.
"Umm, it's under the name, James Buchanan Barnes," she told him. Kevin turned to the computer and typed in the name.
"Password?" He asked.
"Three, ten, nineteen seventeen," Jess said. Kevin clicked enter and his eyes widened.
"Lady, you're loaded, how much would you like to transfer?" Kevin asked.
"How much is in there?" Jess asked. Kevin looked behind Jess at the line that was forming, then he grabbed a sticky note and wrote down the exact number. Kevin capped his pen and slid the sticky note pad towards Jess. She let out a little squeak from the amount.
"Umm, maybe $600,000?" Jess suggested. "Can we add it to this card?" She added, sliding a credit card towards Kevin. He pressed a few keys on the keyboard and gave the card back to Jess.
"Give it a few hours before you use it, if not, come see me and I'll straighten out any bugs," Kevin said. "Have a good day Mrs. Barnes," he added.
"It's Ms. actually, I'm divorced," she said. An awkward silence came between them, Jess turned to leave.
"Wait! You forgot something!" Kevin said to her. Jess walked back to him, Kevin slid a tiny piece of paper with a phone number on it.
"Maybe we could go out sometime?" Kevin suggested. Jess smiled and looked down at the scrap of paper in her hand.
"That would be wonderful," she said.