The Winter | Bucky Barnes Fanfiction |

Chapter 7

The snow only continued to get worse as we continued on our path further into winter. The roads were covered in snow, but they were still traversable. Bucky and I had made considerable progress in the week that followed Scott's phone call. He was finally opening up, and honestly answering the questions I had for him about his time with Hydra. I would be lying if I said this didn't make me nearly ecstatic.

I decided to continue the guided meditations after Scott left. My headaches had finally died back down, and I had made a mental note that proper preparation for the meditation was of the utmost importance. Next, of corse, to Bucky's health and sanity.

"Bucky!" I called out from the dining room. It felt strange to hear myself call him Bucky out loud again. I don't think I had in over a month, not sense the eventful first venture to the 1940s. We were both becoming more comfortable around each other. No longer was I fought with sarcastic remarks... well, not as many.

Bucky walked in to the room wearing an all black get up. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was rather flattering.

"There are some plates in that china cabinet, would you mind grabbing them for me?"

He nodded, and pulled them out, taking care not to clatter them around too much. He placed them at each of the three place settings as I followed being him with the silver.

"Are you sure that you're alright with Scott being here? I can still tell him no."

"It's fine, really."

I knew there was something off, but I decided not to press the issue. I learned that the more I pressed for information he was reluctant to share, the more it made him not want to tell me. I usually just waited for him to tell me on his own accord (which was sometime never).

Scott didn't arrive for another fifteen minutes, just as I was finishing up the pasta dish I had been working on for the majority of the day. Bucky followed far behind me as I went to open the front door. He stayed back in the dining area while I invited him in.

Scott came in with his heavy coat on. The shoulders of which were specked with snow.

"Magnolia! It's great to see you again, love!" He gave me a brief hug before pulling back and taking off his coat. He hung it on the hall tree to his left.

"I'm glad the snow didn't hold you up too much. People from your part of the states often have a hard time with it."

"And what part of the states would that be?" Barnes chimed in. He was leaning against the arched entry way to the dining area, back lit by the yellow bulbs in the fixtures.

"You must be the patient Magnolia was talking about," He walked past me and held his hand out to Bucky. "I'm Scott Creak, I'm an assisting psychologist for Shield. I'm from Southern Texas, hence the snow comment."

The tension in the room started to rise, but Bucky shook his hand while slipping the other in his pocket. He was intentionally hiding the silver appendage in any manner that he could.

"Sargent Barnes."

"It's nice to meet you Sargent."

I broke Bucky's intense eye contact by stepping in, "Well, If you would both like to find your seat at the table, I can being out everyone's bowls."

"That would be great, Doc."

I was farad to leave them alone in all honesty. Still, it gave me a chance to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Are you enjoying your stay, Sargent Barnes?" Scott was chatty, and had no problem with filling a room. He's probably one of the reasons why Texas was more extroverted than the average state. He fit the bill in physical traits, too. He was the tall and strong type, one of the boys that would have fit right in in a college fraternity. A blond by nature, the only sign of aging I had seen were the starting cracks around his green eyes.