No-One But You (The Mystic Consultant) - Part 2

Chapter 73: Technovore(Part 3)

Donna Strange made plans with her brothers to see them in a couple days. She'd already spoken to their parents, so that detail had already been worked out.

One detail was beginning to bother her, so after she concluded the mini-meeting with her brothers, she looked up toward the abandoned chess game.

Victor took off to speak with Ezekiel, and Stephen started talking with Steve Rogers. That left Donna to look amongst the group, and she had to roll her eyes when Wong volunteered to spend time with the man named Wade Wilson.

It was extremely random, but whatever. Wong obviously wanted the night off. Donna Strange shrugged at the thought, then her busy mind focused in one direction. Something didn't seem right about James, so she quietly made her way up in his direction. Bucky Barnes kept his eyes closed when Donna eventually walked in his direction.

He fixed his posture, and he moved his chair around a bit where he sat. She asked him if she could sit down beside him, and Bucky almost asked her to explain why. WHY? Stephen just dumped him off there, and Bucky was in the worst possible mood…

He felt like shit, and he actually didn't want to be there at all. He was forced to be there, and it wasn't like he could fix the situation. He was in the same situation that Wade Wilson loudly proclaimed. Bucky's cellphone didn't work, he didn't have a vehicle, and he didn't feel like walking down the mountain.

Remaining there with his cigarettes was his only option, so the man inwardly questioned WHY his presence was even needed. His mind was consumed with the thought, so he didn't look in Donna's direction even once. He was glad to know that she wasn't hiding herself any longer. Bucky hated seeing her disguised as someone else.

He didn't like it, and he almost said something, but he didn't…

"You don't seem like your normal self. I just wanted to talk to you, and see if you're doing ok?"

Donna Strange approached with caution. She noticed that her older brother started looking in her direction, but she gave him a wave that everything was fine. She didn't want Stephen coming over, but she did plan to talk to him again before he left the Kamar taj. It seemed like things were wrapping up down there, so the sister began to feel a bit torn.

Something seemed very wrong with James, and she hated seeing it.

"I'm doing fine Donna. Thank you for asking."

Bucky looked over at Stephen as well. His mood was shit, but Bucky did his best to watch his tone and how he was responding. None of it was Donna's fault, so he sighed. He wasn't sure what to say to her, or how to go about having a conversation. The Winter Soldier looked at Donna's shoes again, then he finally looked in her direction.

She really did look like she could model for Vogue, or whatever it was Natasha said. Donna was beautiful, so Bucky returned his focus back toward the training grounds. He settled on something that was said down with the group. Bucky found something to say to Donna, so the brooding brunette finally spoke up.

"Your brother isn't sure when you guys are going to Nebraska."

Donna gave him a friendly smile. Three days. That's what she said to her brothers. Donna planned to clarify that information with Stephen soon, but she took in the words that James decided to say. The young woman figured it wouldn't hurt to clarify that information in that moment as well, because obviously he brought it up for a reason.

"We plan to head there in three days. Would you like to join us?"

Donna didn't know what was going on, but he was always welcome at her family's home. She wanted to tell him that, but she wasn't sure if it was a good idea. The man sitting next to her had never behaved like that before in her presence. James was always kind, and sweet. He never seemed angry, so Donna wasn't sure how to proceed.

"Why are you asking me to join you?"

WHY? That was the question of the year for Bucky. Donna didn't want to live with him, right? So, why? She didn't want to be with him, and she was obviously fine without him. She left, and he moved on. Now that went to shit, so why was he dumped off there? And why was he being invited back to Nebraska?

Natasha was fine without him as well, along with Tony and Steve, so why?

Donna was picking up on a lot of pain from the man beside her, and it became a bit overwhelming. The sister brought her hand up for just a moment, and she wrote a little note up above her hand. She sent Stephen a note about when they were meeting in Nebraska, and she said that she was unable to talk to him before he went home.

Bucky watched her hand. He understood what she was doing, but he was unable to see the message that she composed. He thought to himself that it was a simple question, yet no one around him seemed to have an actual answer. He only wanted to know why he was there, and maybe it was time he was on his way?

The thought crossed his mind, and Bucky had been in that position before. He looked at Donna Strange again, because maybe she didn't hear the question that he asked her. Donna Strange took that moment to finally face James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes and clear the air up about a few things. They "broke up" a long time ago, right? But Donna could tell that she recalled the series of events a bit differently than the person next to her.

"I don't think you heard me at all when we were stuck at the safe house, how long ago? Do you even remember the conversation that we had there?"

Did he remember the conversationbeforehe suddenly left with "Agent" Natasha Romanoff? Donna had to wonder. Bucky felt a tone shift when Donna finally responded to him. Did he remember a conversation at the safe house? Bucky turned a bit more in her direction as he thought it over. She seemed ….

"I remember all of us at the safe house. Yeah, you, me, Clint, Victor, Natasha, and Ezekiel.."

"YES. You and I had a conversation there. Do you remember?"

It was very simple, and it took place AFTER Donna left his apartment. Bucky did his best to recall the day. A ton of shit had happened since then, so he wasn't sure where to even begin. Bucky's mind recalled chasing after Victor and Ezekiel, because they locked themselves in the bathroom or whatever.

Memory of Donna speaking to him did carve its way through after a moment, so Bucky Barnes started looking for his pack of cigarettes again. Yeah, his mind recalled what Donna did and what Donna said. He looked at her in that moment, and he gave her a somber shrug. Donna took that moment to move in a little closer to him.

"You remember now, don't you? What did I say to you?"

Donna told him that sheSTILL WANTEDto see him. Hello? She didn't want to jump back in his arms and move back in with him at that point, but Donna strategically kept the door open. She let him know at the safe house that she wanted to be with him, and Donna still wanted that, but he was with Natasha Romanoff within the week. James was the one that moved on, so all she could do was wait for him to get a clue.

"SO don't ask me WHY ever again. You know why I want you to join us in Nebraska. You know WHY you've been brought here. We care about you, and we want you around. I care about you, and I've always wanted you around…"

Donna wanted to either slap him at that point, or sick one of her brothers on him to finish him off. She felt upset, and stupid. Bucky heard her and he listened to her perspective. He remembered what she said at the safe house, and how they were behaving. Well, Bucky did have an opinion to offer up about that, because there was something going on that Donna Strange had failed to understand.

"You told me that you wanted to come over to my apartment, sometimes, if you were thinking about it. I don't want that. You shouldn't want that, or expect that from me."

That's why he went with Natasha, but that didn't work out either. Bucky Barnes had a mess of a love life, but the notion of casually hooking up with Donna Strange wasn't something he wanted at all. Bucky of course wanted to do things on her terms, but not that. Bucky thought about grabbing for his cigarettes for the millionth time, but now the conversation felt a little heated, so he pressed his point even further.

"If I'm with you, then I want to actually bewithyou. Not sometimes with you, possibly with you, or occasionally with you. That's why I just let it be.."

There. That was his take on the whole thing. Bucky wasn't interested in Donna leaving and showing up on a whim. He got plenty of that with the Black Widow, so he only wanted to have what was going on before. Donna lived with him, and it was great. Bucky loved that, but he fucked it up by telling her everything about Steve.

Ancient history. Kids stuff. Bucky didn't even want to discuss it, so he grabbed his lighter and he lit up his cigarette.

"Great. Well, thank you for clarifying that."

"You're welcome."

So, what's next? Bucky wasn't really sure where their conversation was leading them, but the cigarette was working wonders on his mood. The Winter Soldier looked down at the group again. The numbers were dwindling and he wondered how he was going to make it home. He looked at Stephen's sister for just a moment, then he sighed and put out his cigarette.

He felt bad smoking it right in front of her, so the somber brunette snuffed it out against the table.

"I can take you back to Brooklyn if you want to leave. But, since Victor and Wong just left… I have to remain here at the Kamar taj. We do things on a rotation, and I guess it's my turn to hold down the fort."

Donna just explained away her current situation, and Bucky Barnes rocked back in his chair just a bit. He liked to hear that they did things on a rotation, because that's the way things are supposed to be.

Chapter: END

NOTE: This chapter references a conversation that happened here:Thunderbird (Part 7)and here :Thunderbird (Part 9)

Thanks for reading.