Winter In Training(ON HIATUS)

James Barnes Pt 3

The next day, James awoke in a good mood, ready to start anew. He took a deep breath.
"How are you doing?" Shuri asked in the morning. James wasn't sure what to actually say to the young girl. As smart as she was, there was no way that she would understand what he was going through.
"I'm doing fine, Shuri" James said, his eyes looking around for his friend. He knew that it was going to be a rough day if it was the same as yesterday. "Do you know where Steve is?" James asked, still looking around.
"I think he is meeting with T'Challa this morning. They won't be done until lunch time, I think. You have a daughter, Ava, right. How about you tell me about her?" Shuri asked and James nodded. They found a place to sit down and she looked over at James. "So, what is Ava like?" Shuri asked again and a happy look passed over his face.
"Well, Ava, she went through a lot of the same stuff that I did. Except that she had people there to keep her from giving into the darkness. She is so strong. She has such a heart of gold and she loves everyone. She looks so much like her mom. She has the best and the worst parts of both of us. But it makes me so damn happy to have gotten to know her via Steve" James said and Shuri got quite confused. Her face scrunched up in confusion.
"What do you mean by 'via Steve'?" she asked and James smiled at the girl.
"So, Ava, she was kidnapped when she was younger and she, umm, became part of Hydra. She was later found by the Avengers and taken in as one of their own. Once Steve, my best friend, found out who she was, he took her under his wing. They got close and eventually, he legally adopted her. So, when I fought with Steve and the others against Tony Stark, I got to meet my daughter" James explained. "She is so goddamn smart. Like I don't know where she got it from. She makes me so happy to have her in my life. You might get to meet her. She's supposed to be coming by in a couple of months. Just to see me" James said, a small smile on his face. Shuri smiled as well, happy to see him happy.
Down the hall, Steve and T'Challa were exiting the meeting. Steve went to go look for James but he saw him speaking to Shuri. He was smiling, something he hadn't done since before Hydra. Steve knew right then and there that he was talking to Shuri about Ava. A small smile came onto Steve's face as he clapped T'Challa on the back.
"So this Ava, she's yours and his" he asked and Steve nodded. The king was still a little confused so Steve began to explain it to him. But before he could, Shuri came running up to her brother.
"Brother, I have something for you in my lab. Come" she said, obviously using this as a ruse to get Steve and James alone.
"James, what were you talking with Shuri about?"Steve asked, even though he knew full well what James had been talking about.
"I was telling her about Ava. Maybe you can tell me some stories about Ava. Stories that will help me get to know her a little better" James asked, looking into Steve's eyes.
'What do you want to know?" Steve asked, smiling at his friend. He would tell James anything and everything about Ava, except for her sexuality. That was something that she had to do on her own terms and there was no way in hell that Steve was taking that away from her.
"Tell me about her. Tell me stories about her and her friends. Does she have friends? Please tell me she has friends" James began to ramble and Steve smiled at his friend. This was the friend that he had back in the 40s.
"Ava, she has a beautiful soul. No one cares about other people more than she does. Ava, she used to be friends with Lydia Lopez and Lillian Stark, the daughter of Tony Stark. But then after the fight between Tony and I, they began to distance themselves from her. It broke Ava's heart but then that Spider-Kid? He picked her back up along with his cousins Rayne and Reece. They now are inseparable, especially Ava and Reece. Those two are attached at the hip" Steve explained, looking at James. James nodded, smiling at Steve. James was happy that his daughter, his Ava, was happy.
"Have you seen Ava? I mean, after the fight? Have you seen her in the flesh?" James asked, hoping to see a picture of his precious Ava.
"No. Actually, I got the information from Sharon and Pepper" Steve explained and James began to get a little angry at his best friend. Ava was supposed to be his pride and joy and he just left her to fend for herself at the hands of Tony Stark. The man who took her family and broke it iapart.
"Steve, how could you do that to Ava? She's your daughter" James said, scoffing at his friend. Why in the hell would he just leave his daughter to fend for herself in New York.
"James, I was doing what was best for her. I'm on the run, remember. I didn't want Ava running around the world with me. That is putting her in danger.I trust Pepper. Tony, not so much. But Pepper and Sharon would do anything for Ava. And so would I and you know it" Steve accused and James nodded, understanding what Steve was saying. But it didn't make him any less mad at his friend.
"So, how are you and Sharon?" James asked, changing the subject. He was still a little mad but maybe James could see his side of it.
"Well, we're actually not together anymore" Steve said and James raised his eyebrow at his friend. "Yeah. We realized that we are better as friends" Steve explained but James still felt as if Steve was leaving something out. James took notice of the guilty look on his face and the fact that Steve wasn't really looking him in the eyes. James gasped, coming to the realization.
"No. Steve, you didn't" James said and Steve nodded.
Flashback
Her words rang in his head. The words that changed their relationship.
"Steve, I'm pansexual" Sharon had told him that evening and he still wasn't sure what exactly that meant and entailed. He was currently at a bar about a mile away from Sharon's place.
"How are you doing, man" Steve said to the bartender. The bartender's eyes widened at the sight of Captain America in his bar but Steve just handed him a twenty, bribing him to keep quiet. The bartender nodded, taking the twenty and putting it in his pocket, walking over and pouring Steve a drink.
"So, handsome, what are you doing here?" a beautiful blonde said, leaning on the bar. Steve turned to her, his eyes glancing over her body. Her eyes did the same. He watched as she failed to recognize him for Captain America. Steve smiled at this woman, appreciating the fact that she didn't know who he was.
"Just having a drink. What about you" Steve asked, looking at her. Her blue eyes focused on his and it made Steve's heart race. Something that hadn't happened since the beginning of his relationship with Sharon.
"Looking for someone to take the pain away. You wanna volunteer?" she asked, getting up from her seat. She began to walk out before giving Steve a look. Part of him knew that this was a bad idea but another part of him just wanted to forget. He put down a twenty and followed this woman out of the bar.
Flashback
James glared at his friend who looked guilty.
"Why in the hell would you do that?" James asked and Steve shook his head.
"I don't know, James. Okay? I have no clue in hell why I did that. I loved Sharon. I did. But that was a lot to put on me, okay. I didn't know what to do. But James, I was feeling lonely and this girl, she made me feel not so lonely. She made me feel seen" Steve said and James scoffed at his friend's stupidity.
"Of course she did, you dick. She wanted to see yours. Did you ever think about Sharon's feelings?" James said and Steve just shook his head, looking down at the ground. "Of course you didn't because you were only thinking with your dick" James accused and Steve nodded, hating how this conversation was now going. James, however, was so disappointed in his friend.
"I know and I feel bad. I wanted to tell Sharon but then she broke up with me" Steve said and James nodded. He knew that this was going nowhere.
"Let's go, Steve. Let's continue to look at the scrapbook that May left" James said, walking away from his friend. Eventually, James and Steve found themselves in James's room again. James picked the scrapbook up and placed it on his lap.
The next picture had one of Uncle Eugene and Sarah. The girl. The text read "August 1947. It was Sarah's first day of kindergarten. She started crying when she saw all these kids getting dropped off by both parents so Eugene began chasing her. She was happy again pretty soon. James, if you ever see this, don't lose time". Once again, James teared up. That was their line to each other. To let the other know how much they were loved.
"James, are you okay?" Steve asked his friend and James gave his friend a look, on that told Steve to back off.
"Ok" Steve mumbled as James turned the page.
"Oh god" James muttered as he saw his baby girl in a graduation cap. The text read "May 1959. Today, my baby girl graduated third in her class. Every day, she reminds me more and more of her dad. She will be in the Yale Class of 1963. James, she did it. She made it". James just broke down. He dropped the scrapbook and just began sobbing. Steve immediately pulled a sobbing James Buchanan Barnes into his arms.
"Shhh! Shhhhh!" he said, running his hand through his friend's long hair.
After a few moments, James pulled away from Steve, blinking away the last tears. But something caught his eye. Something had fallen out of the scrapbook. James bent down to pick it up. It was letters. Letters from him to May.
"Steve, what are these?" James asked, showing Steve the letters