The Hurt And The Healing: Bucky X OC

Chapter Twenty Six: The Opposite Of Stuffing It

Captain America tended to have an effect on people. It was like the President had entered the room and it didn't matter whether or not you had voted for them, you were still in awe. Bucky remembered how it was when Steve was Cap. Bucky went from the golden boy constantly reminding people about the pipsqueak in the corner to being the pipsqueak in the corner. He hadn't minded. Steve always made a point to include him. But still, it had been weird. Now that Sam was Captain America Bucky didn't mind being in the corner. It gave him the tactical advantage and the perfect place to watch people react to meeting Captain America. Everyone took it a little differently. Sometimes they laughed, sometimes they got shy, occasionally they flirted.

In Mara's case, she cursed.

"Shank my ass and send it to hell," she said excitedly. "You're- you're him!"

Sam laughed. "You must be the infamous Mara," he said as he shook her hand. Mara was beaming and Bucky wasn't sure how he felt about her reaction, other than that he knew he was going to tease her about it later.

"Yes, sir. Is it sir?" she asked awkwardly.

"Just Sam is fine," he said kindly. "And you have to be Nonna!" He said, turning to face the old woman who was staring at him in a daze.

"Oh my fucking..." Nonna said breathlessly as Sam shook her hand. He laughed.

"I see where Mara get's her vocabulary from," Sam teased. Nonna blushed.

"And you're Yori, right?" Sam asked, taking a step towards the old man. Yori was clearly processing a lot of feelings, but when Sam stretched out his hand Yori grabbed it in both of his hands and shook it vigorously.

"Yes, yes, yes," he said eagerly, coming close to dislocating Sam's shoulder.

Bucky watched their interactions with a bemused look on his face. Sam was good at this, always making people feel comfortable and a little star struck. After a few minutes Mara, Nonna, and Yori had all calmed enough for everyone to sit down. Sam took the seat beside Bucky and firmly patted him on the shoulder as a greeting.

"So, I hear y'all are in need of a vacation," Sam said, facing Mara and Nonna. "Bucky filled me in a little bit, and you can tell me more when we're on the plane."

"Where are we going?" Mara asked. Sam looked over at Bucky.

"You didn't tell them yet?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

"I was getting to it before you had to make your entrance," Bucky retorted. "Like I was saying," he continued, turning back to Mara, "I'm still trying to figure out why someone would come after me through you. There are plenty of people who I know that could have been targeted. But they chose you. Movoniv's questions confirmed my suspicions." Bucky inhaled, steeling himself. "Whatever is going on, I think it has something to do with why Hydra sent me to kill Alex."

His words landed on them like a bomb. Mara nodded grimly, and Bucky was almost relieved to see that his conclusion didn't surprise her. Nonna looked horrified. She clasped Mara's hand tightly and wiped away a few tears. It had been a while since they even mentioned the fact that Bucky had been the one to kill Alex. And while both women had made it very clear that they didn't blame him, Bucky still knew that they struggled to accept what had happened.

Yori was silent, watching the two women. Re-earning Yori's trust after Bucky told him the truth about RJ's death had been grueling for them both. When Bucky had left Yori's apartment that night he was certain that the old man could never forgive him. But after Mara offered Bucky some pointers on what parts of his story he should never leave out, Bucky returned and explained himself further. After that Yori ate lunch with him, asking him questions and eventually coming to the same conclusion as Mara and Nonna: that Bucky had had no control over the Winter Soldier. When Bucky had asked for Yori's help, he agreed, not asking questions even though Bucky would have gladly answered them. Yori was a good man, and having his forgiveness meant more to Bucky than he could ever express.