Special Touch Part: Three

Chapter Twenty

"I don't think he knows he did it," She admitted quietly as Cory ran to greet Ollie and Valerie, who came over after Bucky had to leave, tackling them in hugs, "He just took my hand and then it...was like I never took a bullet."

"And he didn't react? At all?"

"No, he just smiled up at me and kept walking."

"I mean...that's good, right?" You offered weakly with a grimace and she took a deep breath, taking your hand in hers as the two of you made your way into the kitchen.

"I think so."

You both sat there, practically reading each other's minds, because this was all new territory.

Cory should be at least a little shaken or something after going through what he did, and you don't know whether to be relieved or worried that he's not. You want him to be comfortable with his abilities, something that took you years to be, but you didn't want him to just push aside his true feelings and not accept them.

There was a knock on the door, and you groaned, getting up to answer it after kissing Natasha's cheek on the way. You trudged over and peeked through, surprised by the random visitor.

"Hey, Jimmy," You smiled tightly at your old landlord, "Long time no see."

"Hi," He smiled brightly, "I know this is an inconvenience, but I lost your number and well, I missed seeing you around the building, so I thought I'd stop by?"

"You missed..." You trailed off in disbelief, but then shrugged, "Yeah, sure, come on in," You opened the door wider and stepped aside so he could get through, "Nat's in the kitchen and Cory and Val are upstairs in his room with the dog, helping him unpack."

"Wow, this place is amazing," He said it in awe, looking around at the house that was worth more than his entire apartment building, "Someone got an upgrade."

"Hey, Jimmy." Natasha greeted him with a small wave, not the biggest fan.

"Nice to see you again, Mrs. Romanoff," He nodded once, formally, and then Ollie came tapping down the stairs, going to greet the new guest, "Hey, boy!"

The three of you sat around the island, catching up, and you couldn't help but to notice how Ollie stood in the doorway that separated the kitchen from the hall, the stairs directly behind him. He was watching Jimmy carefully, just like he always did whenever the man would drop by for rent or to fix something in your old apartment, but this felt different, and you chalked it up to them not having seen each other in a while.

You ended up making tea and then started cooking soup for dinner, because Cory's favorite was chicken noodle, so you chose that.

"His middle name is Alexei-Luke?" Jimmy was asking, a soft smile covering his features, and you thought maybe things have really changed for him since you barely recognized how he was acting compared to what you were used to, "Luke after my..." You nodded with your shiny eyes and Natasha narrowed her own, thinking the same thing you had been before, "That's so sweet of you, I didn't know you guys were that close."

"He was like a father to me," You shrugged, missing Luke more than you'd care to admit, "And when Cory was born, well, I kind of wanted a piece of him in our family, if that makes sense."

"It does." Natasha assured, kissing the top of your head as she moved behind you to get the sugar for her tea and you smiled warmly.

"You served, right?" He suddenly asked and you furrowed your eyebrows, not sure you had heard him right until he added, "In the army?"

"Military." You corrected carefully, wondering why the subject changed.

"Luke served too," He said, and you nodded, shaking off the suspicion, "And so did my brother."