The Hurt And The Healing: Bucky X OC

Chapter Thirteen: Easier Than Pig Latin

By the time Mara woke up the M.A.S.H. rerun was playing . Her head was no longer on Nonna's lap, but on a pillow, and someone had draped a blanket over her. She sat up with a start and looked around. The living area was still dark, but the kitchen was lit. Bucky and Nonna were sitting at the table, talking. They heard her stir and looked over.

"Sleeping Beauty wakes!" Nonna said teasingly. "We were beginning to worry that a wicked fairy had cursed you to sleep for one hundred years."

"That would be more of a blessing than a curse," Mara replied dryly. She swung her legs onto the ground and sighed before pushing herself off of the couch and joining them at the table.

"James was just telling me about some of his adventures," Nonna explained. "He's been to over a dozen countries!"

"For work, not for fun," he clarified.

"I doubt anyone could mistake you for having fun," Mara replied.

"What makes you say that?" he asked, cracking a smile.

"You're spending your Friday night with a social recluse and her grandmother watching reruns of shows older than you," Mara pointed out.

"What, this can't be fun?" Bucky questioned. "Maybe I like the classics. And the company."

Nonna laughed and patted his hand.

"You charmer," she said, blushing. "Always ready with a comeback and a compliment!"

Bucky smiled bashfully and lowered his head.

"Well," Nonna rose and stretched before pushing her chair in, "This grandmother is off to bed." She kissed Bucky on the cheek and then kissed Mara on both of her cheeks before whispering in her ear, "play nice." She straightened, faced them both, and smiled. "Be safe, James. Don't stay up too late you two!"

Bucky and Mara bid her goodnight and watched her totter out of the room before turning back to each other.

"Your Nonna is a good woman," Bucky finally said after the silence stretched on a little too long.

"That she is," Mara agreed. She sighed and glanced at the clock. It was already past ten, and she was fading fast.

"Do you have work tomorrow?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm at the VA," she answered. "Until the world stops being a mess I'm shuffled around to every hospital that needs an extra pair of hands, which is most of them."

Bucky sighed and nodded. "Sadly, I don't think the world is going to stop being a mess any time soon."

"Do you have work tomorrow?" Mara asked, picking at her cuticles.

"I have a big assignment coming soon, but I'm waiting for more details before I make a move," he answered. Mara looked up at him, head cocked.

"So you'll be leaving town again?"

Bucky shrugged. "Maybe, like I said, I'm waiting for more details." He folded his hands, the ungloved one covering the gloved. "I'll give you and Nonna more of a heads up before I leave," he promised.

Mara frowned. "Don't worry about us," she said almost reassuringly. Almost.

"Can I ask you something?" Bucky said. He was staring at his hands but looked up when Mara didn't reply immediately.

"No promises that I'll answer, but sure," she said skeptically.

"Is there anything I can do to get you to like me?"

Mara thought for a moment. The theme song for M.A.S.H. played in the background, although it did nothing to fill the silence between them.

"Stop pretending to be someone you're not," she finally said. She saw Bucky wince at her bluntness, but pushed on. "In case it isn't abundantly clear, I always know when someone is bullshitting me. And I don't know what you're hiding, but I know that every time you come here I can smell it on you." She leaned back and crossed her arms.

Bucky was staring at his hands again. He was frowning, thinking. Mara let the silence fall over them like a weighted blanket.

"I'm not used to having people to share with," he said after a minute.

She remained quiet, leaving him to flounder in the mess that he was trying to hide.

"I respect you and Nonna very much, and it is not my intention to deceive you," he continued slowly, as if he was reading from a script. "But you're right, I'm not always the most-" he paused, trying to think of the right word. "The most forthcoming about myself."

"Any chance that's going to change?" Mara asked, matching his slow pace.

"I'm working on it," he admitted.

"Well, when you're ready to be forthcoming, let me know," she said cooly. She stood up and turned off the TV. Bucky was still sitting at the table, staring at his hands.

"The next bus will be at the stop in fifteen minutes, if you leave now you'll catch it," she said. He looked up at her with those deep eyes and she felt as if he were looking through her. She shivered slightly despite the stifling August heat.

He stood up and walked over to her, stopping just in front of her. "Thank you for being honest with me," he said softly, extending his hand to her. She shook it.

"You can always trust me to be honest, Bucky."

He nodded and left without a word. She locked the door behind him and turned to face the photos on the wall.

"What do you think, love?" she said quietly, walking over to the framed pictures and flag. "You're the one who always called me the walking bullshit detector. Do you think I'm being too harsh on him?"

She paused, listening for the answer that was never coming.

"You and Nonna want to see the good in people, but that's why you have me," she said, shaking her head slightly. "You trust everyone and I trust no one. Together we bat a thousand." Mara took the picture of Alex in his dress blues off of the wall and sat down on the couch. She ran a finger down his face and sighed. "He has that look in his eyes, like you did after your first tour. Nonna's right, there's something broken in him, but that doesn't mean we're the ones to fix it."

She paused, staring at the familiar face. Alex had always been cute, the little boy with gangly limbs and a penchant for knocking things over. But in this picture he was downright handsome. He had finally grown into his nose, and his olive complexion gleamed against the crisp dress blues. He had the same wicked grin, like he had just told a joke and was waiting for you to get it. His eyes shone out from beneath his visor, glittering in the light. He looked clean, innocent, with no idea of what life had in store.

Alex was the first person that Mara learned to translate faster than Pig Latin. He never knew how to hide his feelings, and he didn't want to know. He said that he didn't have time for pretending, there was too much to do. And so she picked up on all of his mannerisms. How he raised his eyebrows for a split second when he was surprised, how he rocked back on his heels when someone said something he didn't like, the way he folded his hands behind his back when he was angry. By the time they were twelve he was practically a second language to her. After that it was easy enough to translate everyone else.

Bucky was just as easy to translate. He folded his hands right over left, covering his gloved hand. He didn't smile often, and when he did it looked awkward, like he hadn't used those muscles in years. When Nonna and Mara asked him questions his eyes flicked to the left before he answered. But he always had an answer. That was the part that worried Mara the most.

"He all but admitted that he was hiding something tonight," she mused, resting her index finger next to Alex's face. "Whatever it is, it can't be worse than what my paranoid mind cooks up when I'm supposed to be sleeping." Again she paused. "If he was going to hurt us he would have by now," she continued. "But whatever he's keeping it from us, he wants it to stay hidden. So until he starts being honest, I'm not going to like him."

She stood up with a small groan and replaced the photo on the wall. "You always managed to get people to be honest with you," she said sadly. "Like they couldn't bear to deceive someone so nice. I sure could use some of that right now." She kissed her first two fingers and pressed them against his face. "Goodnight, love."

Mara was able to get into bed quickly, but falling asleep was another matter. She lay in bed, the clock ticking through the hours, thinking about the strange man with the gloved hand and secrets.