Saving Bucky (Bucky Barnes x Reader)

Chapter 87 - Ackee

"Don't give me hope, Y/n."

"I'm serious," you laugh quietly into the receiver, glancing at James who lays asleep on the couch in the middle of the living room in the palatial suites. "I think we're close."

"You're lucky Laura likes him."

"I appreciate you taking him in and not leaving him to fend for himself out there," you whisper, keeping your hand over your mouth as you talk to muffle the sound. "How's his head?"

"Better. Much better, actually. He still has his moments, though."

You let out a relived sigh. "Do you think I could talk to him?"

"Sure, hold on. Hey...Hey! MICK! Get over here, you have a call."

You stifle a giggle as you hear muffled shuffling from the other end of the line before a heavily accented voice speaks.

"Ja?"

Your heart leaps into your throat and suddenly your mouth is dry. It's the first time you've heard Mikolaj's voice since you left him behind at Gabe's safehouse in the Ozarks. 

"Hallo?"

"M-Mikolaj?" you stammer, unsure of yourself. "Can you hear me?"

The line is silent for a moment. You can hear some indistinct mumbling and Clint's voice in the background. It sounds like Clint's arguing with Mikolaj for a moment before he speaks once more.

"Who is 'zis?" he questions suspiciously. 

"Um, I...it's...um," you stammer, fumbling over the words in your mouth. You're not sure why you expected him to recognize you. After all, it had always been your face he recognized. Your eyes. 

"Here, give me that. Y/n? You there?"

You let out a sigh of relief as Clint takes the phone back. "Yeah, I'm here," you answer quietly. "I should have known better. He didn't recognize my voice."

"It's probably a good thing," Clint says. "Might confuse him."

"Does he understand why he's with you?" you ask. "Has he asked?"

"Oh yeah, he's asked," Clint laughs. "He wants to go home. Back to somewhere in Tennessee. Won't tell me where."

"And what are you telling him?"

"The only thing that's making him stay," Clint says, voice growing somber. "I told him that I'm a friend of his family's. That they asked me to watch over him until they could find a way to get home."

"So he remembers us," you sigh. 

"Yeah. I think he remembers more than he's letting on."

"What does that mean?"

Clint is silent for a moment, thinking before he speaks. "Listen, Y/n, I don't know what the old guy was like when you met him. But he's told me stories about his wife and his daughter. He's even talked about-," Clint cuts off. You can hear the hesitance in his voice. 

"About what?" you whisper in question.

"About his grandson. And...his granddaughter."

You inhale sharply as you pull the phone away from your face, staring at it as if it had just grown arms and legs of its own. 

He remembers me?

"What did he say?" you whisper urgently. 

"Not much," Clint answers. "But...are you sure you want to do this right now? Sounds like you have a lot on your plate."