The Coffee Shop Girl ~ Bucky Barnes

Chapter 4

Katia leaned her head back against the seat as she felt the rhythmic jolt of the van on the road. She was sat in the passenger seat and could hear the woman driving humming along to the radio as she navigated the roads towards the other reaches of New York.

"I love this song." Alice muttered as she stopped her humming.

"Of course you do," Katia grinned. "It was played at your wedding after all."

"You make a good point." Alice responded, tapping her finger against the steering wheel as she glanced across at her friend and colleague. "You're doing it again."

"Oh," Katia muttered, suddenly aware of the way her fingers were moving across the dash as she imagined how she would play the song. It was a habit she had developed when she learned to play the piano and it had only grown worse when she was no longer able to see the instrument in real life. "Have you been back since the incident."

"No," Katia mumbled, she had been part of a group before her accident and she had loved it. But when she lost her sight, she decided it was too much to go back and try to act like nothing had changed. Everyone had been very understanding when she told them she wasn't coming back, but she did miss it sometimes. Music had always been a way for her to express herself as she had never been much of an artist or an actress. "I couldn't."

Alice gave an understanding hum and she placed a hand softly on Katia's arm. The blind woman smiled gently at her friend, before going back to tapping out the tune on her leg once more.

The remainder of the journey was short, with Katia spending most of it thinking about the musical group she used to be a part of, and how much she missed all of the people there. When she finally felt the van slow to a halt, she pushed her long brown hair back from her face and felt along the door until she reached the latch. Pushing the door open, she quickly retrieved the extendable stick from where it sat at her feet and climbed out of the vehicle. She could hear Alice opening the back door of the van and retrieving the boxes but aside from that there was no indication of noise. That was at least, until she heard the great grinding of large gates before a familiar voice rang through the air.

"Kat! How's my favourite agent?"

"Hello, Anthony. What did Natalia do to earn being demoted?" Katia asked, throwing her arms around the man as he brought her into an embrace. Though he himself was not particularly fond of people invading his personal space, he trusted Katia with his life and knew that she was really just making sure he was alright.

"She placed all of my car keys inside the vents in an attempt to track Barton, but he took them all and refuses to say where they are, so I can't drive anywhere." Katia gave a hum of laughter before leaning back from the man and offering some consolation.

"If it helps, I brought Walnut bread." She told him, before leaning forward and whispering to ensure no-one else could hear. "And I'll do my best to get it out of Clinton."

"Thanks, Kat. You see, that's why you're my favourite." She could hear the grin in Tony's voice even if she couldn't see the expression, and she smiled back.

"Is Kat here yet?" She heard Clinton yell and rolled her eyes at his laziness.

"Why don't you come out and see for yourself?" She shouted back, though she could feel herself smiling despite her irritated tone. The archer never changed and she couldn't be more glad for that, their relationship hadn't been changed at all by her accident and she knew that Clint would never treat her like she was delicate unless she told him he could.

She let out a surprised breath before laughing as she felt two strong arms sweep her up and twirl her through the air. Though she had been able to tell from his voice how much he had missed her, she was still surprised by the force with which he hugged her as she spun around.