The Séance • Marvel

The Falcon & The Winter Soldier: Chapter 18

Vanessa stood in front of the amusement park with a large smile on her face. "An amusement park?" Bucky asked. Vanessa nodded and ran inside, feeling like a little kid again. Bucky sighed and calmly followed in her direction. They both spent a good few hours riding the rides, forgetting about the problems they each had.

"Rollercoaster?" Bucky asked Vanessa. "No." "You made me get on the Fireball. The least you could do is get on the rollercoaster with me." "I don't like rollercoasters. Besides the last time, I rode one I nearly went out flying. I'm not getting on" she told him. Vanessa did get on the rollercoaster and it didn't take much convincing. "I still hate it," Vanessa said as she got off of the ride. "It wasn't even bad." "Tell that to my stomach."

Vanessa and Bucky sat on the sand watching the water. "I hope you don't mind me saying this" Bucky said interrupting the silence between the two, "But you are very different for them. I mean your siblings. It's not a bad thing. Not just your mannerisms, but your looks." Vanessa chuckles, "Even before the accident I was always the odd one. Never did quite look like them. I was the only one with blue eyes." "The same color as your powers" Bucky remembers. "Huh? I never connected the two."

Bucky looks out towards the water where people are playing, remembering simpler times. Before The Winter Soldier, before Hydra, before the war. Happier times. Vanessa closed her eyes, she could feel the gentle summer breeze in her hair. She liked to believe that the breeze was Jason reminding her that he was still there, even when she couldn't see him.

Unbeknownst to her, Bucky looked over at her. He knows that Sam was right and he did have a staring problem, but at this moment he can't help it. Vanessa looks so at peace and calm that to Bucky, she almost looks angelic. "It's beautiful isn't it?" Vanessa says, suddenly opening her eyes and looking towards the glistening water. Bucky doesn't look away from her, "Yeah beautiful" he says.

They stayed silent for a minute. Vanessa looked down at her watch and with much reluctance said, "As much as I'm enjoying it, we should get going. If we leave now we might make it back by nine. Come on." Bucky let Vanessa grab his hand, rather enjoying the warmth of it.

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Hour 6:

"Musicals?" Vanessa suggested. "Never watched any." "Disney movies?" Bucky shook his head. "Oh we are definitely watching a Disney movie when we get home," Vanessa said. "Aren't those movies for children?" "So? They are enjoyable for all ages, not just children. We're watching some."

Hour 7:

"Just stop your crying It's a sign of the times. Welcome to the final show. Hope you're wearing your best clothes. You can't bribe the door on your way to the sky. You look pretty good down here, but you ain't really good" Vanessa sang. "You know that one is not that bad. Quite calming" Bucky said. For the past hour, Vanessa had been playing random songs that she thought Bucky might like. So far there had only been two: Like Real People Do by Hozier and Sign of the Times by Harry Styles. Vanessa had been quite disappointed when he said he didn't enjoy One Direction but overjoyed when he liked Harry Styles.

Hour 8:

After driving for most of the day, Vanessa was feeling tired and hungry. During one of her many yawns, Bucky finally says, "Vanessa just let me drive. It's been a long day, emotionally and physically. Let me drive so you can get some rest." "I'm fine Bucky, really," she says, "But I am hungry. Are you hungry? Let's go get some food."

Hour 9:

Vanessa looks over to the passenger seat after a few minutes of silence. She finds that Bucky has fallen asleep with his head against the window. Vanessa smiles, glad that he feels comfortable enough around her to let his guard down. "Keep your eyes on the road," says a voice from the backseat. Vanessa looks through the rearview mirror to find Nate sitting there. He places his legs on the glove box. "Yes make yourself comfortable," Vanessa says sarcastically, "What are you doing here?" "Come to check up on you, but from the looks of it, you are doing just fine. I might even say better than fine." "What's that supposed to mean?" "You know for someone who is quite smart, you sure are clueless. I'll let you figure it out on your own" Nate said with a smirk. Vanessa continued looking through the rearview mirror until he fully disappeared.

Hour 10:

Bucky woke up a bit surprised. He'd been asleep for about half an hour and with no nightmares. Which was something new. He heard low humming coming from the driver's side. Bucky kept his eyes closed and listened. "There's blood on your lies. The sky's open wide. There is nowhere for you to hide. The hunter's moon is shining. I'm running with the wolves tonight. I'm running with the wolves" he heard her hum to the tune. He stayed silent and listened to her calming tune. Fighting the urge to open his eyes and smile.

It didn't take much longer for them to arrive home. Vanessa opened the door and saw that the clock read nine forty. She instantly took off her sandals and went to lay on the couch, feeling much more tired than before as she was running on a few hours of sleep. "You okay?" Bucky asks Vanessa. "Just tired." Bucky walks over to the couch she is laying on and pats her legs, signaling her to move them so he can sit. "You know there is another couch over there," Vanessa tells him. "Yeah well, I already sat down."

After a few minutes of silence, Bucky asks, "What now?" "About what?" "What are you going to do?" Vanessa shrugs her shoulders and says. "I don't know. Move on. What else is there I can do? They obviously don't want anything to do with me, so I'll give them that." "But is that what you want?" "It doesn't matter. I'm going to bed. We'll have to raincheck that movie I promised." "Goodnight" "Goodnight Bucky."