Flesh and Bone ◇ Bucky Barnes ◇

Chapter II: The Time Inbetween

Joana

It was 1945. 3 years had gone by since Joana Kegley had last seen her boyfriend and her best friend. Winnie had gone to college, so Jo only got to see her on the weekends. Grams' was flourishing, which kept Jo busy enough to attempt to keep her mind off of the war raging in Europe. When she wasn't at work, she was at the library, trying to teach herself as much as she could.
She felt alone so often, that she took to wandering the streets. There, she often found homeless people or those who are being abused by passer-byers. That was something she couldn't stand. If there was anything that Steve had taught her over the years, it was to never let the bully win. If you even turn your cheek, you're letting them win.
As Jo walked home from letting Bucky go that day 3 years ago, she saw a man on the street, shivering in the cold, letting the pouring rain wash the dried blood off his face. He sat across the street from her. She froze, staring through the rain at the man. Her heart, which had broken for her love, was now breaking again for the man in the cold. She stuffed her hands into her pockets and crossed the street. As she neared the man, he lowered his face to look at her. She said nothing as she sat next to him.
Together, they sat in the rain, both shivering in the cold for a few minutes, gazing at the gloomy sky above them. She stood.
"Would you like some food? My Grams' isn't far from here. We have food and warm clothes and an extra bed," she told him. He looked up at her, almost as he did staring up at the sky. Tears swam in his eyes as she offered out her hand. It took him a few moments to take it and pull himself up. Silently, she walked him home.
The man was named Robert Merrick. Grams made food as Jo showed Robert to the showers. She provided him with some of their store clothes and a razor. When he sat down to eat, Jo could tell how much the shower, a beard shaving, and a new set of clothes could do for a guy. He must have been in his mid-thirties, and she wondered why he was living on the streets, but she thought it too rude to ask.
Now, 3 years later, Robert worked for Grams. He and the girls got alone beautifully and they treated him like an older brother. He never forgot what they had done for him.
Ever since she picked Robert off the streets, Jo felt obliged to continue to do so. She always carried food with her and extra money and slips of paper with the shop's address. She handed these things out freely. She could be found in alleys around a fire, sharing her wild stories with those who lived without a roof over her head. She befriended the homeless children and woke up early in the morning to give them breakfast before Grams' opened.
But she didn't stop there. If she saw any kind of assault on the streets and in alleys, she had no choice but to intervene. Grams would sigh every time she came home with a ripped dress, a black eye, a bloody person under her arm.
Surrounded by the scum of the street, Jo finally felt as if she was making a difference. The people she befriended didn't care about what gender she was or the color of her skin. They repaid her kindness with stories and information no book could teach her.
In 1945, Bucky and Steve stopped writing letters, but Jo had no fear, for she knew the war was drawing to an end. And then, the day came when it was confirmed that the war had ended. At the first sound of the news, Grams, Robert, and Jo celebrated. Jo went afterward to meet her friends off the streets and gave them the same news, to which everyone rejoiced. When Winnie got home, there was another celebration. The only thing that Jo could think about was the fact that her boys were coming home.
Her boys are coming home.
Her boys are coming home.
Her boys are coming home.

A few days later a woman walked into Grams'. She had a bright red hat and her lips were painted the same color. The way she walked pulsed confidence and strength. Jo went to greet her with a smile.
"Are you Joana Kegley?" The woman asked, her accent obviously British.
"Yes ma'am, I am," Jo responded.
"My name is Peggy Carter. I worked with Steve Rogers and James Barnes," she said. Jo's smile wavered.
"'Worked'? What do you mean? What's going on?" It was then that Jo recognized the look on Peggy's face. It was disdain, despair, grief, pity. Peggy Carter didn't need to answer the question. Jo felt nothing except a sudden, sharp pain in her chest. She grabbed the cloth of her dress, curling it in her fist. She grabbed the table behind her and gripped it tight, using it to keep her upright.
Peggy reached into her purse and pulled a stack of letters.
"They never stopped writing you," she said, her voice wavering. Jo choked on a sob. Peggy held the letters in her hand, her wrists shaking.
"I'm so so sorry. Joana, James and Steve have died." And thus, Peggy opened the floodgates of Jo's eyes. She let go of the table and fell to the ground, knocking over a few of the models as she did so. Peggy jumped, reaching out her full hands to try to keep the girl off the ground. Jo sat on the floor, tears rolling from her eyes. Her eyes were wide open, her nose burning, her jaw aching. Her breath came out short and ragged, as if someone was squeezing her lungs repeatedly. Peggy crouched before her, setting the papers down. Jo ran her hands through her hair, trying to catch her breath. Peggy reached forward to give the bawling woman a hug.
"No, no, no, no, no, no," Jo whispered as Peggy wrapped her arms around the young woman. Jo clung to Peggy's arm. She sunk her teeth into the cloth of Peggy's dress, not even realizing that she was doing so.
So there she was, a 23-year-old woman in the arms of another, the two crying over those they loved and those they lost.
That day, Grams', which had previously been so full of happy memories, was stained with the tears of two broken hearts. Nothing would be the same again.