Winter & Summer: A Marvel Story in an Alternate Universe!

Chapter 10

"Wanna hear a crazy story?"

Bucky took a deep inhale before responding to Summer's question. In what was to be a six-hour drive from San Francisco to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s West Coast headquarters in Los Angeles, Bucky intentionally took the driver's seat. He thought the act of driving may ease the boredom of the long commute - keep his mind occupied on a trip that was sure to be quiet and dragging.

But he should have known better. Especially considering the company he had sitting in the passenger seat.

By now, they had gone an hour, and while Bucky was mostly silent, Summer had hardly run out stories to tell. He almost wondered if her version of the Super Soldier serum had given her enhanced vocal agility too, because - boy, this woman could talk.

Granted, her voice had a pleasant timbre to it, and some of her stories were actually pretty interesting. He was particularly intrigued by her experiences as the Summer Soldier - the places HYDRA sent her and her various "signature moves," like the way she "used to step on people's heads and crush them like grapes." Bucky had similar stories of his own - although, he probably wouldn't have described them that way.

So, as if she hadn't already been recounting enough of her crazy adventures, she pitched yet another.

Bucky had nothing better to do but listen. "Sure," he responded.

"This is like, a massive secret, okay? I've never told this to anyone ever."

"Okay. Shoot."

"Okay," Summer said, breathing deeply, excitedly. "September 1969. HYDRA sent me to England to smuggle what was thought to be exactly 10 million American dollars stashed away in some old theater. I bust in, kick people, get the money, bust out. When HYDRA got the money, they counted exactly $9,999,900. They thought, eh, maybe they were wrong; maybe the total was just rounded up. But you know what happened to that hundred dollars?"

"What?"

"I took it." Summer squealed, cupping her mouth with her hands.

"H-what?!" Bucky exclaimed, a priceless look of confusion wrinkling his brow.

Summer sat frozen with her hands over her mouth, her wide eyes blinking.

"You pocketed a $100 from a package you stole on a mission?"

"Mhmm," Summer said, a little guilty, a little happy.

"What did you do with the money?"

"Took it to a record store and got a record player. And records. And for a second, I just hid in some alleyway, listening. People probably thought I was homeless."

Bucky's perplexed face contorted in a way that almost made Summer laugh. "How did this even happen?" he asked.

Summer shrugged. "I don't know. I really don't know. I just...felt like it? I don't know."

"No, how did this even happen?" Bucky articulated, his tone totally serious. "How did you feel like it? How was it even possible that you thought to do this?"

"I don't know! I was at a theater. I heard some song and...I'm not even sure what happened. I just felt like listening to music. It's kind of like..." Summer paused for a minute, trying to recount an experience from decades ago, formulating her feelings into words. "It's kind of like...when you're in the middle of a dream, and you're sort of conscious of it, but you're sort of not, and you can do things, and you can make decisions, but then you can't. It's like you can control it, but not really, and then you wake up and forget all about it. Does that make sense?"