Otherwise Known As... | Bucky Barnes

Chapter (20) Twenty ~ ...the girl who met an old friend

Tony, Morgan, and Avery had just left. I was back sitting on Steve's bed, slowly going threw each of the letters Jamie and I sent each other.

"We only really knew each other from our letters, you know," I said out loud. I had felt the new presence in the room when it first entered, choosing to ignore it and continue reading.

"People seem to think you feel in love through your letters to one another. I think you two are the reason Love Letters are still a big thing nowadays." Fury's deep voice said as he walked over to one of the chairs that were still out.

"I think I did." I slowly nodded, my head still not moving to look at the director. "I can't say the same for Jamie, but I think, at some point... I began to feel more than friendship towards him."

The two of us sat in semi-comfortable silence for a moment, before I broke it once more.

"Is anyone I knew still alive? Tony told me about Howard and Maria, but what about anyone else?"

"As a matter of fact, there are two people who are still with us." My eyes shot up to the Director, hope, and excitement starting to course threw my veins.

"Who?"

"Agent Carter, and your old nurse friend. Liv Odin."

"Really?! They're both still alive? How are they?" My eyes went wide.

"Agent Carter is currently in a nursing home. She was recently put in there due to her recent battle with Alzheimer's. She hasn't been doing too good recently, and her kids couldn't look after her anymore, so they put her in a home." My heart sank at the news of what has happened to my friend over the years.

"What about Liv? What happened to her?"

"Now, that's a bit harder to explain." Fury started. "She's more or less the same from when you last saw her."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"So sorry I'm late, Nickolas. I didn't feel like flying so I had to catch a plane. Oh, and I left Aria with Maria if that's okay." A familiar voice came from the doorway.

"Liv?!" I yelled, standing up from my spot.

"Oliv! Look at you! Seventy years in the ice did your skin wonders! How are you, darling?" The woman smiled at me.

"How am I? How are you?! How do you look the exact same as you did seventy years ago?"

"Oh, yes I suppose I never got to tell you, did I? You see, I'm not exactly mortal." Liv nonchalantly said as she sat in the chair beside Fury.

"What?"

"Yeah, I'll leave you two to it," Nick said, walking out of the room in a hurry.

"I'm not done with you yet, Nick!" I yelled as he shut the door behind him. "Jesus Christ that man has too many secrets," I mumbled.

"Oh, don't I know it. It's exhausting knowing all of them, too." Liv said. "Let's get started on the Q and A, shall we?" She clapped her hands excitedly.

"Why are you so hyper about all of this?" I looked her up and down. She was wearing a flowy blue dress that went down to her knees. The long sleeves were a mech fabric with polka dots, and her waist was accentuated by the bow around her waist.

"Oh, it has been so long since I have talked to someone I knew from long ago. My one friend from home visits when he can, but my brothers have been quite a handful and have needed his constant watch. I've been in need of a friend who gets as confused with modern technology and slang as I do."

"What- hold on a moment, Liv." I held my right hand up, my left one going to pinch the bridge of my nose. "I would like to think I have a pretty good reason as to why I look the exact same as I did in the forties. What's your excuse?"

"I told you, dear. I'm not exactly mortal." Liv said in what almost sounded like a 'duh' tone.

"You said that yes. But what does that mean?"

"Well, I come from a realm different to this one called Asgard." Liv seemed to mellow down some as she spoke.

"Asgard? Like from those Norse myths?"

"Oh darling, some of them are anything but myths."

~~

"So, how did it go?" Fury carefully walked back into the room. Liv had left not that long ago, and I had been sitting with my head in my hands for what felt like hours.

"She has wings. And powers." I mumbled, not looking up.

"Yeah... it was hard for me to process too."

"So she's been alive since..."

"...since way before the Vikings." Fury finished for me. "And she's been stuck here since the Vikings, too. It's sad what happened to her, really."

"Yeah, but I'm sure you're glad it happened. You now have a goddess on your side."

"What do you take me for, Stark?" Fury glared at me with his one good eye.

"An opportunist."

Fury chuckled at my remark, slowly starting to pace back and forth with his hands held behind his back.

"Stark, you used to be an agent for the SSR. One of their best too, from what I hear." I nodded along to his words, remembering how even though I didn't actually go on missions, I was still able to climb the ranks pretty well with Peggy by my side. "In 1949, the SSR became SHIElD, with Peggy Carter, Howard Stark, Liv Odin, and Colonel Philips leading it. Because of this, you are technically no longer an agent."

I felt my heart sink at that. Besides being an engineer, being an agent is all I ever came to know. I loved scaring all of the men on base by sending them a simple glare, rummers spreading every year on the next worse thing that I supposedly did to some poor soul that crossed me. It was great.

"However, I have a solution for this, if you want it." I perked up a little at this, interested in where he was going with this. "If you pass a series of tests that all our agents go through, plus a little extra, you can get your previous position back. Maybe even a promotion, depending on how you do."

"My last position was a mix of engineering and protecting my brother. Would this new one have me protecting someone too?"

"That's where the promotion would come from. If you don't get it, you would most likely stick to our engineering department. After becoming acquainted with everything, the hope is that you become our new head of the whole thing. That would involve everything from weaponry, vehicles, and any other tech we could need or want."

"And if I get the promotion?"

"Then you would still be the head of it, just doing more paperwork and supervision than actually getting your hands dirty. We also already have someone in mind that could use an extra set of hands in terms of protection." Fury shrugged his shoulders a bit, looking out the fake window at the backdrop.

"And who might that be? And stop doing that. It's not like any of that's real." I rolled my eyes at his dramatics.

"Me."

"Excuse me?"

"You would be like my second command. If things went exceptionally well, you might be able to get a higher clearance level than even my two top agents, Coulson and Hill."

"And what if I don't want it." I challenged.

"You're a Stark, aren't you? You'll want it."

He was right.

I wanted it.

"Fine. When do we start?"