First We Were Friends - A Bucky Barnes Novel

Chapter 22. Shadows (Emotional trauma)

Warning: Deep emotional trauma

The mission lasted two more days but Julia never said anything to Bucky on their video calls, preferring to tell him in person. He could tell something wasn't right and asked her about it several times during each session.

"Bucky, I can't tell you over the phone," she finally said. "This needs a face to face conversation. It's nothing you've done because we're good. It's something to do with a cold case. Please wait until you get home before I tell you."

He studied her face over the screen image and finally let his breath out. "Okay, I'll trust you on this," he said. "Whatever it is, I'll be there for you. Just so you know Avengers security has made some headway on their investigation. They took Terry Edwards into custody. Once he became aware he was facing federal charges he started talking until he lawyered up, a high priced lawyer at that. Edwards would only say that a woman approached him. There's two woman of interest. The first is La Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine. I've never had any dealings with her but Yelena Belova used to work for her until she found out she was being manipulated with lies. She runs a kind of private black ops group, but has managed to keep her hands clean so no charges have ever been filed against her. You remember I told you about John Walker, who they named Captain America after Sam returned the shield? He works for her."

"She's behind it?" she asked. "But why?"

"Not sure but she does have some shady clients," he said. "Avengers security won't speculate on who her client is but they've put her and John Walker under surveillance. The second suspect is a woman who used to be a friend of Steve. She helped us with the Flag Smashers but since then it's become obvious she's dirty. There's evidence she was actually behind the attempt to recreate the serum to sell on the black market but it was stolen from her by the Flag Smashers. It's possible she's behind the kidnapping attempt. Either way, we don't want to take any chances. It's likely we may have to put an Avenger with you when I'm on mission."

Julia sat back, obviously bothered. "A couple of days ago I flashed you and we laughed," she said. "Now there are possibly two people that want to take me or Rebecca or both. Then this cold case that ... I don't even want to say anymore until I see you in person."

Someone said something to Bucky off screen and he smiled at them then turned back to Julia. "Just got the word," he said. "I'll be home tomorrow. You stay as relaxed as you can until I get home. We'll have a serious talk about all of it. I love you, babe. I'm sorry you're dealing with this on your own but when I get there I'll share the load."

Julia nodded. "I love you, too," she said. "I'll see you tomorrow, Bucky."

He arrived back the following mid afternoon while Julia was in the middle of baking to deal with her stress. As he walked into the kitchen he could see her hands were covered in flour and he put his arms around her from behind, kissing her neck. Then he went to Rebecca picking her up from her bouncy chair and gently cuddling her as he kissed her cheek. She squealed a little at his kisses which made them both smile. He never said anything about any of the issues which Julia was grateful for and once she got the baking in she began prepping for dinner. After putting Rebecca back in her bouncy chair he grabbed a knife and began chopping vegetables with her. She told him that Jason Welburn had a full crew at her parent's house since the incident and was always checking up on her and Rebecca.

"Good," he said firmly. "Jason's a good man. Did you manage to get some good sleep?"

"I did the grounding exercises before bed," she replied. "It helped."

Their conversation dried up and both continued to get supper ready. It was a chicken pot pie so once the preparation was done Julia waited for the baking to finish, then popped the pot pie into the oven, set the timer and picked up Rebecca.