A Second Chance

Chapter 15 - Only Human

Roxanne woke up early the next morning and went to the Garcias' kitchen to start making breakfast for her family and their guest. On her way, she passed the living room where Bucky was sleeping on their couch, or at least, he seemed to be sleeping. Bucky had actually woken up about half an hour ago and was only pretending to be sleeping to avoid disturbing his hosts. After spending so much time alone with only his anxious thoughts, Bucky found the sound of Ro rummaging through the kitchen oddly comforting.

Bucky contemplated "waking up" and helping her. On one hand, helping with breakfast would be more useful than lying around pretending to be asleep, and he and Roxanne could spend that time getting to know each other better like they had yesterday. On the other, Bucky had no idea how to cook or help out in the kitchen, and he'd hate to be an inconvenience to her or her family.

However, before Bucky could make up his mind, a certain younger brother had snuck over to the couch and whispered, "Psst. Hey, James, are you up?"

Still keeping his eyes closed, Bucky nodded.

"Look, I know Ro told me not to bother you, but can you just tell me if you're her boyfriend or not?"

Bucky cracked one eye open and turned towards the boy. "I'm not, and between you and me, your sister deserves better. She's much too good for me."

"Oh, sorry to hear that," Manuel replied. "If it makes you feel any better, you'd be a step up from the last guy she dated. If I ever see that cabrón again, I'm going to kick his @$$."

Bucky had no idea what the kid had just called his sister's ex-boyfriend, but he could tell by the boy's tone that it was probably not very nice and that it might even be a curse word in whatever language the Garcias often spoke.

"If you'd like, I could hold him down for you while you do that," Bucky remarked with a smirk, making the young teen laugh.

"Manuel!" Roxanne scolded, causing Bucky and Manu to turn towards her in surprise. "I thought I told you not to bother him."

"He wasn't bothering me," Bucky explained, fully sitting up. "We were just talking. Besides, it can't be easy for a boy his age to have no one at home but two older sisters for company."

"Finally, someone who gets it," Manu exclaimed.

Ro could have sworn that Bucky broke out into a genuine smile at her little brother's antics, but the smile disappeared as soon as it appeared. A pained grimace took its place as Bucky clutched at his left shoulder. She wasn't the only one who noticed this.

"Hey, man, are you okay?" Manuel asked Bucky.

"Yeah, I'm alright. My left arm just starts hurting every now and then. It'll pass eventually," Bucky assured him. He turned to Roxanne and forced a half-smile, trying to reassure her as well.

"Hold on. I'll get something that'll help." Manu got up and ran to the bathroom, returning with a tub of VapoRub. "Pa says that this can fix anything. It even helps Ro with her woman problems, and nothing works on her."

"Manuel!" Ro cried, turning red with embarrassment.

"Woman problems?" Bucky repeated in confusion.

"You do know what that is right?" Manu asked.

Those two words and Roxanne's flustered reaction to them triggered another Steve-less memory from Bucky's pre-Winter Soldier past. In it, a 23-year-old him had run into a 13-year-old Becky sitting in the middle of a rather homey-feeling hallway, sulking.

"Hey, Becky, is everything alright?" he had asked.

"It's Rebecca now," she had spat bitterly, not even looking up at him.