The good news is that the movie events will be starting really soon.

I do not own nor claim anything Marvel- including both Big Hero Six and Captain America/Winter Solider (aka Bucky/James).

~CWA


CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO


A Few Weeks Later

Danny Fenton

The days go by too quickly. It seems like there's never enough time in the world to spend with my precious little girl and before I know it, it's time for her to leave. It practically breaks my heart seeing my precious baby leave and I can only hope that she'll be back soon. Yet for now, as I wait in the cafe for Jazz to show up- she's already texted me that she's landed and I replied back with directions to the cafe- I plan on enjoying every last second I have with my girl.

"Everything packed," I lean down to Ellie's level with a firm look on my face, and she nods at my question causing me to narrow my eyes, "...Are you sure?"

She hesitates for a moment before nodding. A small little suitcase stands on its wheels behind her- the bright pink color contrasts with the little ghost and bat stickers. I swear that there's even a few spider web stickers on there too. Her confident answers causes a small smile on my face. My hands are folded behind my back, concealing a certain little something that my princess forgot to pack- considering she did all the packing herself, she did a pretty good job since this is the only thing I found that she forgot.

"Then I wonder just what this is doing," my voice turns a bit sing-song as I reveal the little stuffed spider that I've been hiding.

Her eyes light up with wonder before she snatches the spider up and hugs it close to her chest. As strange at it is, and it is pretty strange seeing a little girl wearing a pink tutu holding a black slightly creepy stuffed spider, it's… cute. Adorable even. She gives me a quick kiss on the cheek as a thank you, causing me to smile fondly before Aunt Cass calls out to her to signal that the cookies are done baking. She runs off in a second, heading straight for the counter and leaving me at an empty table with her suitcase.

I have to hand it to Aunt Cass- she's done so well with Ellie. Though not as well as Tadashi. It will never cease to amaze me how fast Ellie began to cling to him and bond with him. He handled everything well enough to the point where I can see how hard he's trying to get to know her. Even Hiro is trying too. Just the other day I saw Hiro showing Ellie some of his little robots- she thought they were fascinating and cute. I think this whole experience here is something that is bringing her out of her shell to become more social.

"Do I even want to ask about the spider," Tadashi chimes in amusement as he joins me at the table, eying Ellie at the counter.

I shrug slightly,

"It was the first, and only thing, Sam ever gave her. She's never let it go since."

Tadashi hums in understanding, the amusement fading slightly in his eyes at the solemn answer. I briefly glance to Hiro, whose joined Ellie at the counter. I swear that not two seconds ago that kid was in the garage. But I suppose what Aunt Cass said is true. Nothing summons kids faster than cookies. I shake my head slightly before turning my attention back to Tadashi, who looks a bit forlorn causing me to furrow my brows as I place my hand over his.

"Hey, you okay 'Dashi?"

He doesn't answer my at first before finally, he speaks up softly.

"...Do you miss her," he asks, flushing slightly as he realizes what he's said, "I mean- I'm just curious and I get that you two were close so I just- God, I'm sorry."

I chuckle slightly, even if the amusement doesn't reach my eyes. I squeeze his hand a bit to let him know that it's okay as I think over the question briefly. Do I miss Sam? Not too long ago, the mere thought of her would send me into a series of flashbacks and panic. Just like Ai did. But now, it's different. I'm not sure what's changed. If I changed. Or if maybe my heart's changed. But either way, it doesn't hurt as much. The pain is still there, but it's numbed. Like a dull throb. Like a painful memory, but not a painful stab to the heart. I think it helps that to try to remember her as my best friend rather than Ellie's almost nonexistent mother/cheating ex-girlfriend.

"Sometimes," I answer honestly, my voice a bit soft and reminiscing, a forced grin on my face, "It's… hard. Hard to think about, hard to remember, hard to even get my thoughts and feelings straight."

"And what feelings are you having? What is your heart telling you," Tadashi asks quietly, gently grazing his thumb across my hand.

Well, my heart tells me a lot of things lately. It tells me, fuck your normal human health standards. That human food causes some bad heart burn. That Sam is gone. That Dash is gone. That I really like Tadashi to the point where I feel like we're closer than ever, especially as our auras interlock in a way that makes my shiver and sends jolts of electricity down my spine.

"It tells me that I have a cute-ass boyfriend," I say, somewhat honesty with a cheeky grin on my face.

He flushes at my words and swats my hand away from his with an interesting look on his face. Thankfully, I'm saved from the questioning by my older sister strutting into the cafe with a large grin on her face. My face lights up at the sight of my sister, beaming at her as I practically jump from my seat. From the corner of my eyes, I see Ellie jump up and prepare to run to my sister as well.

However, there's just one thing that stops the both of us in our tracks. Or rather someone. A tall man enters with my sister, causing me to tense as I square my shoulders. He stands a few good inches taller than my sister, making him above six feet, but he seems even taller with his shoulders back and his head held high. His dark hair seems a bit mangled and a bit messy, scraping just above his shoulders. My attention briefly goes to his arm. Even though he's wearing a long sleeved hoodie, I can faintly hear the creaking of metal coming from him and a small glint of shine under that sleeve. A prosthetic maybe?

He walks like a trained solider, with the grace and ease that only comes from experience. A stance that makes it clear he's ready to fight if someone makes one wrong move.

His eyes scan the room carefully, calculating everything in a way that tells me he's not just some Average Joe. His eyes linger on me the most with a brief look of confusion. I meet his gaze evenly, noticing the clouded look in his eyes that speak volumes of whatever horrors he's faced. I wonder if the same look is reflected in my own eyes. He gives me a small incline of his head, respectfully and I return the gesture.

The stranger looks to my sister, as if asking her what he should do. Jazz just gives him a reassuring smile and a small nod of the head, causing him to relax instantly. His shoulders go slack with a small hunch and he releases a sigh of relief. My eyes narrow slightly, unsure of who exactly he is or what he is to my sister, and my eyes go to her for answers. Though she just keeps a grin on her face.

From the corner of my eyes, I see Tadashi, Hiro and Aunt Cass exchange unsure looks between each other as Ellie ducks behind Tadashi's legs for safety from the stranger.

"Danny," Jazz rolls her eyes as she sees that I'm still tense, "No need to get so overworked… This is James, my boyfriend."

She gestures her hand vaguely toward the man, a caring gaze on her face as she glances slightly toward him. James. Ah. So this is her mysterious boyfriend. I have to admit, I expected some shy, maybe dorky, lanky man with glasses. Not some experienced veteran. After a second of hesitation, James steps forward with an outstretched hand. I notice that it's not the same hand that the metal shine came from.

"Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes," he introduces himself, pronouncing his words carefully as if he doesn't know his own name, "But my friends call me Bucky."

Ah. So he is a veteran then. You don't get a title like Sergeant without some time in the field. Lots of time in the field, that is. It would explain the hooded, dark look in his eyes, but there's something else there akin to guilt that just doesn't sit well with that explanation. I eye his hand carefully before I finally claps his hand in my own. He has quite a strong grip for a human- clenching my hand firm enough that I can't help but squeeze back as if to say hey I'm strong too.

"Danny Fenton," I greet firmly, "Back there is my boyfriend, Tadashi, his aunt Cass and little brother Hiro… Ellie, come here."

I motion for Ellie to step forward, turning my back slightly to James (or rather Bucky) to look to her with an encouraging expression. She hesitates for a moment, eying the stranger before looking back and forth between Tadashi and I. Tadashi gives her a reassuring smile and a small push on her back to edge her forward. After a second, she finally steps forward, clutching her stuffed animal tightly to her chest as she all but runs over to me and jumps into my arms.

I smile and laugh a bit, spinning her around to adjust my grip on her so I can hold her close before I turn my attention back to James. He eyes Ellie with a soft expression on his face, though he seems a bit unsure of himself as if expects her to scream or cry or do something.

"This is my daughter, Ellie," I introduce, a big fatherly grin on my face, "Ellie, this is your Aunt Jazzy's boyfriend, why don't you say hi?"

She mouths the word boyfriend carefully to herself, musing it over with a thoughtful expression on her face before she looks up to James with a shy smile on her face. She gives him a shy, small wave that he hesitantly returns with a strained expression on his face.

"Did you have fun with your daddy," Jazz coos at Ellie, causing her to giggle and shyly bury her face into my chest.

"She had tons of fun, didn't you sweetie," I coo, "Tadashi and I even took her to the zoo~"

I smile at the memory of our zoo trip and even Hiro brightens up at the mention of it. He and I had a fun time together while Ellie was off with Tadashi. We saw plenty of creatures- though the observatory and aquarium were our favorite places to visit. We had lots of fun, took plenty of pictures, and pissed off a few of the zookeepers since we didn't exactly follow the rules. What can I say? Some animals are just so cute, you can't help but want to feed them or touch them. Though I did stop Hiro from petting some of the more dangerous animals.

At the mention of the trip, Tadashi takes a step forward, looking carefully between James and Jazz.

"We got plenty of pictures," Tadashi offers, unsure if he's intruding, "I can send them to you if you want…."

"Could you," Jazz beams, "That'd be great! I think you already have my number, so just feel free to send them whenever…. But for now, I have a cutie-pootie I need to take care of!"

She stretches her arms out toward Ellie with a childish grin on her face. Ellie giggles and all but jumps from my arms and into Jazz's waiting embrace, causing me to shake my head as my sister coos and fawns over her, squeezing her tight enough that I'm half-way expecting Ellie to phase out of her grasp. I watch them fondly for a moment before sparing a stray glance toward James, only to find him eying me up and down cautiously. Despite our friendly greeting, he still seems to be expecting me to turn into a threat.

"Don't worry, man," I give him a goofy grin and clasp his shoulder, causing him to tense, "I don't bite."

He gives me a weak smile at that, relaxing slightly as he shakes his head,

"It's… It's not that," his voice is a bit rough around the edges and soft, "You just… remind me of someone…. I have a friend who used to be a bit on the short side. Used to pack newspapers in his shoes when we were kids to make himself taller…."

His eyes gleam as he reminisces about the memories, continuing when he sees that I'm not going to interrupt him…. Even if he (indirectly) called me short.

"…. Guy had a golden heart- still does- and did everything he could to protect others, even if he's a lot bigger now…"

It occurs to me that I do give off a protecting aura- something I can't help, especially when it comes to being around the people I care about. I'm just a bit surprised that he's that tuned in on his environment that he picked up considering he seems a bit… out of it. As if he's only half-way here, half-way somewhere else. James takes a deep breath and shakes his head, offering me a friendly smile,

"Sorry, I didn't mean to- I just…. I'll take care of your sister. And your daughter. I promise."

I give a thankful smile at his words and we share a brief, friendly handshake. Is this guy dangerous? Yes. I can see it in his eyes. The way he stands. How he's looking for any signs of a threat. The movement of his hands. Is he dangerous to Jazz and Ellie? No. Not by far. He gives fond, caring looks to my sister that tells me he's never going to hurt her.

"I didn't think you wouldn't," I say honestly and I can see relief and a bit of surprise briefly flash across his face, "Take care, James."

He mumbles a small you too before I hand off my daughter's luggage to him and before I know it, Jazz is heading out after a fond farewell and a quick kiss with Ellie and James in tow. I end up watching the door a moment, even after they leave, not even noticing that Hiro and Tadashi have come to stand rigt next to me until they begin to speak.

"He seems like a good guy," Tadashi offers, clasping me on the shoulder, "They'll be okay."

Yeah. I hope so.