The Ghost Initiative (Avengers Next Gen)

Book 2 Chapter 4

P.O.V Bucky

The closer I got to the kitchen, the more I could smell Casey's cooking; the smell of garlic, onion and some spices hit my senses, making my mouth water. I could see Becky slicing something on the counter; Steve was leaning across from her, with a dorky smile as he watched her. Her laughter was echoing off the wall, melding in the boisterous chuckles and jokes Amelia and Casey were sharing further along the kitchen. Slowly I approached the area, now fully aware of how bad I must look after that short conversation with my doll.

" You might want to set an extra couple of plates, Ros- Alex is sitting in my room at the moment." I had attempted to sound nonchalant, pressing my arms against one of the chairs near Steve, smirking slightly at the shocked look on his face.

 " Don't worry; I'm planning to shave beforehand... The hair, however, may be a different story." Steve let out a sharp laugh at that, although I could tell by his face that he didn't fully believe anything about Alex.

I watched as Steve repeatedly opened his mouth, trying to think of the right thing to say. The sentences ' Are you hallucinating Buck' and ' Maybe you should get be getting some more sleep' stop on the tip of his tongue. Instead, it seemed like he made the decision to let me live in my happy mental breakdown a little longer if it meant I cleaned myself up.

" I've got some clippers in my room, let me just go grab them, and we'll do something about your hair and beard." Steve walked off, and Becky turned to me.

" So, James, Bucky, Buck, Buckaroo... what are the chances I can get you to finally talk about that date you went on five months ago." She had that same obnoxious smirk on her face I had given her after the first date between Steve and Her. Wanting every little detail.

"Do you honestly think I would tell you; besides, I'm older, so you can't MAKE me tell you a single detail." I watched as her face turned red slightly, and she huffed, shoving my shoulder.

" 6 Minutes does not make you immune to having your arse beaten, James Buchanan Barnes." She slowly made her way around the counter towards me as she spoke before jumping towards me and attempting to knock me over. 

She uttered an annoyed grunt as I obviously didn't move from my relaxed stance at her pathetic attempt to knock me off balance, letting out a half laugh before moving my weight slowly over to her side. 

I watched with a lazy smirk as her eyes widened, and she attempted to keep her balance with my own weight on one of her sides. Failing, she fell to the floor, yet, with her hand firmly grasped onto my arm, I felt her tug, and I landed roughly against the tiled floor beside her. Laughter fell loudly from our mouths as we lay beside each other on the dining room floor.

" Mum would have killed us if we ever made this much noise at home." I laughed out from my spot, smiling as Becky let out a groan of agreement.

" Children, what on earth are you doing making so much noise? You're disrupting this whole household" Becky let out a crude impression of our mother, laughter cracking through every now and again. " Rebecca and James Barnes, you are both old enough now to be past these childish games; you're 116 years old. I swear you two never know when to behave yourselves."  

Amongst our laughter, we mustn't have heard Steve arrive because, eventually, he stood above us with a look of amusement. Looking down at us, he held up his clippers and a razor blade, already prepping some sarcastic comment about my appearance.

" I say we go find our Bucky Barnes; what about you, Sweetheart?" He held his hand out to Becky with a slight chuckle at the annoyed look that had landed on my face.

" What? are you gonna through me a Star Spangled sidekicks uniform there, Captain Spandex?" Steve kindly dropped the clippers directly onto my stomach at the comment, gracefully helping my sister to stand up before grabbing a chair for me to sit on. 

As soon as I had sat down, Becky started to fix my hair. The sound of scissors snipping followed by clumps of my hair falling to the ground, and eventually the sound of Clippers filled the empty air, and while she had me stuck to the chair... They asked all their questions. Great.

" So, Alex looks good, all things considered. I'm surprised she got let out of the hospital room before any of us got told she was awake, though." Steve was sitting across from me. " On the topic of Alex, You never did get the chance to tell us how the big date went. Did you guys have fun?" He was looking at Becky now. Of course, he would ask about that.

" It went fine; we went on a couple of rides and got some food; I even won her a couple of prizes at sideshow alley without spending all my cash. Although, I'm pretty sure she was doing something to help me win because some of my throws were definitely not going to hit the balloons. " I tilted my head slightly to help Becky guide the clippers. " Besides, it was really lovely to get to know her. She'd never been to a fair before, Wilson apparently kept promising, but someone was always busy, so they never actually went. We stayed and watched the fireworks... It was just a really fun night; I'm glad she agreed to go with me"  I could almost feel the stupid smile that had made its way onto my face. 

" That's good to hear, Buck. Does that mean you'll ask her out on another one when she no longer looks like she'd snap at a strong gust of wind?" I nodded slightly before Becky started swiping leftover traces of hair from my shoulders.

" great! Now, Bucky. Go. And. Shave. Before I hold you down and do it myself. I'm gonna go check if Alex is actually in your room and if she feels up to joining us for dinner. "  She skipped off slightly, and I watched as she froze for a second, staring into my room before she squealed and rushed into it, dropping the clippers that had still been in her hands. 

I went to a nearby bathroom and finally saw the mess my face had become. My beard had grown out, and my eyes had dark bags beneath them, an expected response to not sleeping, barely eating and spending all my time staring at the picture stripe I had framed beside my bed. Happy squares of us at the fair taunting me for months.

" Has ANYONE seen Alexandra Stark? She freaked and ran off when she's not meant to be out of bed yet." Breanna Banner was stood in the living room, and I could see Casey and Amelia freeze as they looked at her. 

Bree's face paled, and she let out a small laugh rubbing a hand against the back of her neck as she noticed the entire compound except maybe 4 or 5 people were standing in the dining room getting ready for dinner. Including one James Howard Stark, who looked about as bad as I did.

" By the way, I forgot to mention... Alex woke up about an hour ago, and her new labs show she's gonna be A-OK."