Hello Sergeant (Bucky Barnes)

prototypes

James POV

Sarah laughed. "Well, they certainly come in handy working with the Avengers. You know how many government officials I have to schmooze whenever an incident comes up that we have to deal with? Most of them refuse to speak anything other than their own languages."

"Yes, and you can have them all back in a couple weeks," Maria said with a smile. "Especially the Portuguese consulate. If he hits on me one more time, I'm not going to be responsible for my actions."

Sarah grinned, showing her dimples. "Thank you, Maria. Sorry I'm a sucky PA."

Maria laughed. "How many times do I have to tell you that's just your cover. You're an Avenger, kid."

"I will be when I have a good super hero name. Until then, I'm just your PA that happens to get sent into the field a lot."

"What is a PA?" I asked in confusion. I couldn't tell from their conversation alone.

"I'm supposed to be Maria's personal assistant. It's my job title at Shield."

"What does a personal assistant do?"

"If my Papi had his way, it would be a boring office job, but in my case, it involves whatever needs to be done: hacking, schematics, planning, requisitions, recruiting – you name it, I do it. I get missions ready to be run and sometimes go along with the teams when they need my skills."

"Sometimes? Most of the time, Evans!" Maria scoffed.

"Don't let her fool you, James," Natalia said with a smile. "Sarah likes to downplay her role, but she's an essential member of the team. She fights alongside the Avengers and provides them backup and tech skills."

I looked over at Sarah, who shrugged. She got up and went back into the kitchen and I heard her moving around in there. I looked over at Natalia, who only smiled. "She won't admit I'm right. I won't let her downplay her true value. She's the glue that holds our team together."

"She has a way with people." Maria looked at me. "It's a gift, actually, to be able to get such a strange group of people to be a cohesive team, relying on each other."

I looked at Natalia closer as Maria turned to talk to Jace. "She's your friend, too. You never used to allow people to become so close to you, Natalia."

"No, I didn't because they could be used against me. Relationships were weaknesses to be exploited by my handlers, like when they found us together." She crossed her legs and sat back, folding her arms over her chest. "But yes, Sarah is a very good friend and I trust her. Are you still okay with staying with her, James?"

I nodded. "It is very different from my previous life with Hydra, Natalia."

"Night and day?"

"That's an apt description, actually. How did you know?"

"Because I remember the Red Room and that kind of life all too well. It's nice to not live in constant fear, James; to be free from discipline...free to be with whomever I want to be with."

I took her hand in mine and smiled. "That is the best part – freedom. It's still strange, knowing that you are not forbidden anymore, that no one will punish me for looking at you."

"Yes, it is. I never thought I'd be able to touch you again when they took you away from me, James." She brought her other hand up to my face, placing her palm on my cheek. I covered her hand with my own, savoring the contact. A movement from the corner of my eye made me look up to see Sarah watching us with a small smile on her face.

"You care for her, yes?"

"Yes," I said after a long moment. "I know that she's not Peggy."

"Your brain acknowledges that they are different people; does your heart?"