The Captains Granddaughter (Bucky Barnes FanFic)

Everyone Needs a Sam

~~~James~~~

Maggie showered while Sam and I worked through some things on the couch. Sam had folders of groups after her. "Ok so why her?"

"She's got the pedigree that Hydra wanted," I said looking through a file on the Flag-Smasher. 

"Not that. You were dancing with her when I rolled up." Sam pressed.

"Can't I just dance with someone?"

"Anyone else, you pick her. Why?"

"We talked at the bar. She looked like someone once I knew. My therapist told me to dance with someone. So, I did." I flipped through some pages. I've read these files before. After a while, all these groups look the same.

Sam read over her file again. "There is literally nothing in this file that can help." I picked it up to see what they had. "It doesn't have much on either of her kidnappings." The document didn't even mention her mother's name or that her mother was kidnapped. "Just that she disappeared about 2 years after the second one. Only to return to New York City a few years ago." When Peggy died. Steve sent her somewhere two years before the battle of New York, to keep her safe. Steve kept her out of sight when his younger self was living in New York. 

The water turned off.

"What am I not seeing." Sam threw down his file.

"Probably the obvious."

"Shut up."

I looked at the kitchen clock. "Once she's out, let's get breakfast. The only thing she's had in the last 12 hours has been alcohol and coffee."

"Is your suggestion really to hit a diner, with someone with a giant target on her back?"

"I go to the diner with you."

"Not what I mean."

"They don't want her dead. They want her alive. Plus, she's not going to stay in the tower if we tell her to. She's too much like Peggy."

Before Sam can react, Maggie walks out wearing jeans, my undershirt, and a zip-up hoodie hanging open, add a worn baseball hat or sunglasses and she can disappear. Her wet hair was toweled dried and tied back into a messy braid. She had rewrapped her bandages and is trying not to limp. "Breakfast sounds great." She opened her backpack and grabbed a pair of glasses out of the front pocket and socks and worn running sneakers out of the bag. She started re-lacing the sneakers before putting them on. A trick runners use was to change how the shoes were laced to make them tighter or looser. "I'm starved."

Breakfast was uneventful, or at least as uneventful as someone running from multiple shadow organizations can be. She had to sit with her back to a wall in the booth, I sat next to her and Sam across from us. Her eyes traveled around scanning faces as we talked. While Sam and I scanned the crowd, she memorized the crowd. Her eyes kept falling on a runner getting breakfast at the bar.

"What is it?"

"He's out of place. He's eating too much. If he's about to go running, he's eating too much, but he doesn't look like he even started." She profiled him and I kept an eye on him.

"What if we reached out to the power broker to find out how much the bounty is and how it was approved?" Sam suggested. "All high price international bounties usually go through them."

"That's not a bad idea. But there's a different question I'd ask. Why'd she approve it?"

"It's obvious," Maggie said, finishing her omelet. "I'm an easier target." Sam and I exchanged looks. "What?"

I put my coffee cup down on the edge of the table. "The power broker is your cousin Sharon."

"How is that possible? She just called a few weeks ago. She didn't say anything about me having to hide or run or anything." Maggie held onto the edge of the table as she rattled in her own head. "There were times she told me to lay low and told me when it was fine. She said nothing this time." The table started cracking where Maggie was holding onto.

"Maggie." Her eyes were hyper-focusing on the coffee cup in front of her, lips moving but no words coming out. It looked as her lips replayed the last conversation she and Sharon had. "Maggie." I put my hand on hers pushing them off the table. "Maggie." She finally broke out of it and looked over at me. It was only fear in her eyes. "Maggie. We'll figure it out."

Maggie is blaming herself for missing something that might not have been in the conversation. "She said there was unease. Nothing that she wouldn't have wrapped up. But that was it." Her eyes focused on where the runner was. "We need to get out of here. I don't know where we need to go. The runner is gone."

Sam grabbed the check, and we were on our way back to the tower. Sam and I flanked her as we walked the two blocks. She popped her hood up to blend in and block the wind. She kept her body looking relaxed. Trying to join in the conversation as we walked but kept having bits of quiet.

As we walked, I spotted Samantha from last night across the street coming out of a bodega with a cup of coffee. She was dressed for work like it was any other Friday morning. Business casual with sneakers, a large bag. Her hair still had some features from last night, one of the victory curls but was intact but the rest of her curls were smoothed out to a new finish hanging down mid-back. She was heading to the same street corner we were. I slowed my pace pulling Maggie down to my speed and edged her closer to the building. Sam continued walking to the corner. Samantha crossed towards us and pulled out her phone. Once she was on our corner, Samantha's eyes brightened and ran over to Maggie.

"Maggie! You're Ok!" The two girls embraced. Maggie's face changed and the hood fell down. "I was so worried! What happened to your lip? It looks like you got punched? These guys showed up looking for you last night. Your grandfather got them to leave. But there was a crash in your apartment, and he went up to your apartment with the crowbar and these clowns ran out after a few more crashes. I was so worried! Are you safe? Do I need to make a scene? I can make you a scene just say the word and I'll get you away from tall and broody and his friend. Are they trying to sex traffic you? I saw something on TV about this. Just blink three times if you need help." I'm not sure Samantha was breathing between these words that were rattled out so fast but Maggie took over. Samantha dropped her tone "Is this a sex thing? Cause I'm single and I'll take either of your seconds. I'm not picky. These two are fine!" The speed that blush washed over Maggie was impressive.

"Samantha! Sam! I'm fine! I'm fine, I promise!" Maggie's eyes brightened with a different sort of panic than earlier. "It's not a sex thing." She processed through everything that monologued. "Gramps knows them. He knows I'm fine." She put her hand on my elbow. "You remember James from last night. This is his friend Sam. I guess everyone needs a Sam."

Sam and I smiled. "OK Frodo, when this is over, you get your ass back to the Shire and if you tell us some weak tea, you'll never hear the end of this. I gotta get to work! Oh! I need that dress back when you can. It's dry clean only, judging by that lip, I expect it had a great night. But I have a date with the soldier's boys from last night! It's my lucky red dress. Seemed lucky for you too!" She hugged Maggie again and ran off to work.

Sam and I watched her bounce past the diner and keep going. "What the hell was that Gilmore Girl shit? Is she always like that?" Sam asked. I'll have to look up Gilmore Girls later.

"Yeah. You get used to it." And Maggie started walking, flipping her hood up and balling her fists in her pockets. "I know it's a terrible idea for me to check on Grandpa but can one of you stop by. Or send someone. I'm sure you have people. You have people, right?"

"Yeah. Sam'll go check on him while you and I try to get in touch with your cousin."