Stranger Who Knows All My Secrets [A Marvel FanFic]

Chapter 48 - Life Altering Realizations

Bucky hoped that when he woke up in the morning everything would have gone back to normal. He'd open his eyes, and find himself at home in Brooklyn where he could run downstairs to his mom who would chalk the previous day up to nothing more than a bad dream, or at the very least, he'd wake up as the man he was destined to become and have a good laugh about the whole thing with his friends. Neither of those scenarios came to fruition, and instead, he woke up in the oversized bed of the unfamiliar room in the oddest building he'd ever been in which was planted in the middle of the woods.

He only knew it was the woods because of all the trees he saw out of every window the previous day, and at six in the morning, the naked branches looked ominous in the fresh layer of snow and the moonlight. It didn't sound like anyone else was up yet so he sat in on the windowsill and killed the time by debating how he would ask for a change of clothes because his jumpsuit was starting to smell from how much he'd sweat in it the previous day. Bucky also continued to scroll through the phone he had found under his pillow, browsing through the pictures in the camera trying to untangle the life he was supposed to grow into.

A blurry shot of a shoe, the cover of a book in another language, a snowy white cat, the biggest dog he'd ever seen, and a lot of pictures of the curly-haired woman he was certain was the little girl Magdalena. Bucky honestly couldn't believe how much space she occupied on the strange machine, one image after another of her doing very ordinary things like reading, walking the large dog, and folding laundry. There was even a picture of her eating with chopsticks set as the background image of the device and numerous messages about what to have for dinner, picking up milk, and other very domestic things.

The thought dawned on Bucky very dramatically that he was probably much better friends with her than the others. His brain nearly exploded the instant he finished assembling the clues which flat out told him they lived together and if they lived together, they were probably married. It was a terrifying reality for him because it meant he indeed was an adult with responsibilities and he started to silently panic the way Sam had the day before at the idea of having bills to pay. A mortgage, utilities, groceries, and life insurance!

Bucky swore that God was eavesdropping on his thoughts because at the exact moment his mind began to race with a million questions like what in the hell had possessed him to get married, a metal clang sounded from down the hall. Truthfully, he had hoped it was Stevie, that his best friend would finally be awake so he could spew word vomit at him about all of his mounting anxieties regarding the strange future they had found themselves in but alas it wasn't.

It was Magdalena that Bucky found in the kitchen and she was digging through the trash can of all things. She didn't see or hear him as he stepped into the archway that divided the kitchen from the lounge, she just continued to rummage through the bin before pulling out what seemed to be a half-eaten piece of bread in aluminum foil which she opened, sniffed and then shoved it in her mouth as if it was a completely normal things to do. Bucky nearly had a heart attack at the sight, he practically shouted her name as he rushed to her side to pry open her mouth and make her spit out what she was trying to eat.

"What are doing!?" Bucky questioned, throwing the half-chewed bread back in the trash after a small scuffle.

Magdalena either didn't understand him or didn't care because she glared at him briefly before once again picking through the trash like the curly-haired chaos gremlin she was. He struggled to stop her from eating several abandoned potato chips which resulted in them fighting over the bin full of scraps. She punched, scratched, and pushed him as if her life depended on it until at last he yanked the whole trash can from her grubby little hands. Magdalena whined wordlessly, stomping her feet as he set the can aside.

"No!" Bucky told her firmly, bracing both hands on her shoulder to emphasize his point.

"We do not eat out of the trash." He said slowly and without breaking eye contact, hoping that she'd understand that he was just looking out for her.