Trying Your Luck - Bucky BarnesxOC

Part 40: Not in Kansas Anymore

They dress and tidy up the loft in silence. Their only form of communication is flirtatious glances and soft giggles. Bucky picks Shannon up and carries her into the house, her arms wrapped around his neck and her feet brushing against the warm summer breeze. Sam is at the kitchen table sipping coffee while Janice and George put on their shoes and jackets. The three of them are still mid-conversation when Bucky carries Shannon through the doorway, both of them giggling and kissing each other.

"Now, these two?" Sam says. "These two are a problem."

Janice and George chuckle.

"What did we do?" Bucky asks as he sets Shannon down on the ground.

"You're just in love and it makes me sick."

Bucky rolls his eyes.

"Where are you off to?" Shannon asks her parents.

"Going for our daily walk. We'll be back in plenty of time for lunch."

Shannon smiles and gives them both a big hug, telling them to be safe, while Bucky waves as they slip out of the kitchen and out of the house. Bucky heads for the coffee machine, grabbing as big a mug as he can find and filling it up. His bones ache with exhaustion, but his body is still pumped with endorphins from their makeup sex. Shannon grabs a plate from the cupboard and as she's loading it up, he quickly reaches over to cover a fresh hickey on her neck.

Sam appears beside him.

"How'd it go? – I see that hickey, Shannon. You can't hide from me."

She lets out the dorkiest laugh Bucky has ever heard and skitters to the table to eat her breakfast. Bucky shakes his head.

"Good." Bucky takes a sip of his coffee and sighs. "Listen, man, I'm sorry about last night, I was —"

"You were having flashbacks. I get it, Buck. It's okay."

Bucky still feels the hot familiarity of shame rising in his chest. Sam looks at both of them as Shannon comes back to the counter and fills up a plate of eggs, bacon, and french toast for Bucky. She loads it with syrup and powdered sugar, just the way he likes it.

"I take it you guys are good?" Sam asks.

Shannon nods at Sam, who smiles.

"Perfect, because I wanna use this time to get as much information on Will as we can."

He sits down at the kitchen table and opens up his laptop. Shannon hands Bucky his plate and perches next to him, her eyes bouncing between watching him eat and watching Sam log into whatever weird database he's using to gather intel.

"Now, Shannon, I take it you use your maiden name now?"

"Yep. Will's last name is Ryder."

Sam types away as Bucky chews and watches him flip through databases and dossiers – or at least he assumes that's what Sam's doing. He can only make out some of the computer screen reflected on the window behind him.

"What are you searching this stuff on?" Shannon asks, leaning over. "Google?"

Sam chuckles.

"That's cute. Google is kid's stuff. This database has everything — more than everything, actually. They've got you mapped out down to phone records, credit card transactions, the works."

"That seems invasive," she mumbles with a hint of bitterness that makes Bucky smile.

"Well," Sam sighs. "A lot changed after the Blip. If you came back, you were immediately put into the database because of the GRC."