Hello Sergeant (Bucky Barnes)

Conspiring

James' POV

I perked up when I heard Sarah say my name. "James is here, too. I'll put you on speaker, okay?"

She took the phone from her face and tapped it once, putting him on speakerphone so he could talk to all of us at once. It's how we normally talked to him if we were all together when we called.

Thanks, I heard his familiar voice on the line.

"Go ahead," Sarah said, grinning. "Can you hear me now?"

He snorted at a joke I didn't quite get. Yeah. Hey guys!

"Hi Jace," Steve said, smiling at me.

"Are you coming to DC?" I asked as I grinned in return. "I feel like I haven't seen you in forever, man."

I wish I could, but I can't this weekend –  even if it wasn't for the storm. I've got overnight guard duty. At least you still remember me, Uncle James. Guess I made an impression on you or something.

"Or something," Steve agreed, rolling his eyes. "How are the roads?"

Closed, or I'd be there already. The storm's really nasty out here – guard duty's going to be extra awesome tonight with less than zero visibility.

"Keep telling yourself that," Sarah said with a laugh. "I need to get up and move around, but you can talk to the guys for a bit, okay?"

Okay. If it's about any girly stuff I don't want to know about it.

"Wuss," She teased, handing me the phone so she could stand up, heading for the hallway to give us time to talk.

"She's out of the room now," Steve said, "Are you on a secure line?"

Yes. Director Gregg was kind enough to allow me to use one to call today. He's expecting some information, though. What am I telling him?

"That she's doing a lot better and not to worry. It just wasn't developing as expected."

 Whose baby was it? Sarah didn't say.

We shared a look and I pointed at Steve. He nodded, knowing what I meant. "Officially it's mine," Steve said. "So that's all you need to know. The group that's really interested in Bucky's whereabouts doesn't need another reason to look closer at Sarah."

Wow. I didn't see that coming. There was a brief pause while he absorbed that information. Are you both doing okay?

"We're working on it, but it's going to take a while," Steve said. "It was all pretty sudden and I don't think we've processed it all yet, but Sarah's alive – that's the important thing."

"Both of us are watching her like a hawk," I put in. "She wanted to go home today but Tony and Doc didn't think she should. Doc refused to release her."

How'd you manage that? You a miracle worker or something?

I could hear the disbelief in his tone, so I snorted. "No, I just made sure Tony was there when the doctor came in to talk to her and Steve wasn't so she couldn't talk him around."

Whatever works! You guys coming home for Christmas? The twins have been pestering me to ask every time I call home to talk to my parents.

Sarah came back in the room looking a little tired. I started to walk over to her but she shook her head. "I'm going to shower, okay?"

"Sure, doll. You want me to call the nurse in?"

"I talked to her already. She said she'd check in on me in a little bit."