Free Bird (Bucky Barnes/OC)

𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑇ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑒

°°°°°°°°°°

𝙇𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙮 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨 back, realizing she'd ventured to the left of the concrete within her quest to dodge the cracks, practically walking straight for them.

She looks towards them, smiling, "Hello," she chirps happily, moving her head to the side when a gray cloud of smoke travels towards her.

The blonde man and James were leaning up against the wall, James with a cigarette between his ringed fingers, the sleeves to his button-up were rolled to his elbows and his pants were wrinkling from the way he slouched against the bricks. The other man had a kind smile on his face.

Letty steps back again, coughing slightly at the musky smell of the nicotine that filled air. James drops his cigarette at this, grounding it into the cement with his shoe.

The blonde man looks over to James, giving him a knowing look before pushing off the wall and walking towards Alouette, sticking his hand out, "I'm Steve," he introduces himself.

She blinks, looking down at his hand and back up at him before stepping forward and connecting her palm to his with a smile, "I'm Alouette. Nice to meet you."

It was weird, two people she'd never seen before were now standing in front of her. After this encounter, she would definitely be wary about announcing that she knew everyone in town. Though, she supposed she had met him before- she just didn't remember.

Steve lets go of her hand, stepping back and looking at James again. But, it's not in the sweet way he looked at Alouette, it was almost taunting, playful, like he was trying to say something through a shared glance.

And apparently James caught onto his message because he shakes his head and looks away, now looking at Letty. He jerks his chin at her, "You don't know how to walk?"

She knows it was meant as insulting, or maybe not. It definitely sounded like it should insult her, but his tone didn't come off as rude. It sounded like it did in the library and on the bench- unmoved.

"I do," she nods. He scoffs, looking away from her. She walks forward to them, "Are you guys new here?"

Steve furrows his brows and shrugs, "Depends on what you count as new."

She smiles, "Mm, two months."

"Then no," he shakes his head, "We're not new."

"I'm surprised I don't recognize you," she points to James, "Ivy said you worked in the library for three weeks." He doesn't answer her, just lets her keep talking, "Do you recognize me?"

He licks his lips, blinking at her, "Sure. You're the girl who I can't seem to get away from."

She ignores his comment, unaffected because, once again, it didn't sound like it was supposed to be demeaning.

She looks at him curiously, and she can't help but notice the corner of his lips tug up. He hadn't realized she had a dimple on her left cheek.

She smiles at him again and this time his smirk turns into a full on grin- if only for a moment. She learned that from Nat, if you smile at someone long enough, they'll eventually smile back.

She practically glows, happy she got an emotion out of the indifferent guy, but then his smile turns down into a smirk. She feels a sense of humor in his expression, but decides to ignores it.

"Your phones ringing," he taunts, pointing to her pocket, making her realize why he was smiling- because she was staring at him rather than answering her phone.

She snaps her head down, pulling her phone out and looking at the screen, sure enough, it was ringing.

She was confused- why couldn't she hear it? In fact, when she looks up at the men before her, she see's Jame's lips moving, no doubt muttering something passive- but she can't hear anything.

She feels a tightness in her chest, a pull in her throat and a light-headed feeling, flowing like a river down her body, now blinding her sight.

She knew exactly what was happening when she feels her eyelids get heavy and her head start pouding. She trips forward, her legs going weak underneath her. Steve's face contorts into confusion as he takes a step toward her out of concern.

She outretches her arm, not wanting to bang her head on the floor, her insides beaming with gratefulness when James seems to understand that somethings wrong.

He grabs her arm, and as if on instinct, she falls into his hold. He looks to Steve with worry, then back down at the woman, completely helpless when her eyes flutter shut and she starts shaking in his grasp.

°°°°°°°°°°

"What the fuck?" James mutters from the waiting room of the crowded hospital. He was just trying to enjoy a cigarette with his friend, and now he was waiting for medical news on a woman he hardly knew.

He turns around when he hears a frantic voice calling his name. "Are you James?" She asks him.

He gives her a short, though somewhat confused, nod. She takes a seat in the chair beside him, grabbing her face in her hands.

The red-head looks up at him, "A nurse called me and told me you and your friend brought Letty in?"

He nods his head again and she stands, "Well- thank you." Another simple nod. "I'm Natasha," she puts her hand out.

He shakes her hand back. "Is your friend going to be okay?"

She drops his hand, a look of cluelessness on her face as she see's a blonde man coming up behind him with a cup of coffee in his hand. He looks to James, then Nat, "You're Natasha, the one the nurse called, right?"

She nods her head, "Yeah."

"Your friend only had a minor seizure, I assisted the medical team to the hospital to make sure everything was okay. She should be fine, but, we thought waiting for her would be best in case no one showed up," he explains.

The way he talked gave off the evidence of experience, and when her eyes rake further down her body, she recognizes the sight of scrubs hugged against his muscular frame.

She sits back in the chair, "You're a doctor?"

The blonde man nods his head, "Yeah."

She sighs, "You guy's can go now, I know you probably didn't expect to be here today. Thank you again, for bringing her though."

"No problem," Steve says, holding his coffee out to her, "You could probably use this more."

She takes it with a grateful smile, the heat from the cup warming her palm. She looks up at him, tilting her head when she see's a familiar tint in his blue eyes, "You look familiar," she says.

He looks back, squinting his eyes when he recognizes her as well. Their eyes widen simultaneously, and he steps back with an awkward smile. "You're the girl from-"

"Yeah," she cuts him off with a smirk, not at all as nervous as he was about meeting again.

"Okay- well I'll... see you around. I hope your friend's okay."

"Thanks," she expresses and he nods, ignoring James' amused chuckle as they both leave. Natasha takes a look back at them, before turning around and taking a sip of her coffee, standing abruptly when another doctor comes towards her.