Hello Sergeant (Bucky Barnes)

Parts of a whole

James' POV

I smiled when I saw Steve come back in from the garage with Sarah's dad. His relaxed posture and easy smile told me he'd been successful in getting her dad's approval, but I'd known he would. That meant he was one step closer to making sure she'd be with us forever. This way, even if Hydra got ahold of me again, Steve wouldn't be alone this time. Sarah'd make sure he didn't do anything stupid.

"Well, that must have went well," Betty murmured to me as she handed me another dish to dry. "What do you think?"

I nodded. "Don't know why Stevie was all worked up about it."

"He overthinks things at times. I hope Archie didn't string him along like he said he was going to."

"Of course he did," I scoffed. "I would – how often can a guy make Captain America sweat and get away with it?"

"Spoken like his best friend," she said with a smile. "Have you started to remember most of what you forgot when they reset you?"

"I think so. I've re-read my journals and went to a couple of places that connected pieces together for me. It took me longer the first time, when I first came to DC. Some things stayed this time – mostly things that weren't connected to my past, like Jace and Sam."

"It's nice you got to keep some of yourself. Do you want to continue your cooking lessons while you're here? I was starting to teach you how to make some easy dishes."

I smiled at her. "That would be nice. I keep setting off the beeper thing every time I cook, so I took the batteries out of it for now. Steve thinks I'm improving because it hasn't went off for a week."

She tried to hide a laugh, but gave up shortly. "You said something very similar at Thanksgiving, James. That's why I initially offered to teach you."

"Oh," I said in surprise, not remembering that. "That would be nice of you. I want to learn how to do things myself."

"You've come a long ways already, James. When I first met you, you needed to be near either Sarah or Steve at all times. Now, that doesn't seem to be a requirement. You want to be near them, but it isn't a necessary for you to function."

"I still need Sarah and Steve, but I can function when they're not around," I said, drying another plate. "I've been talking to Sam a lot and I'm trying something new for my anxiety. The other meds they gave me fogged my brain and made it even harder for me to remember things.

"Sounds like you've made a lot of progress, dear." Betty gave me a smile.

"He has," Sarah said, coming up behind me and putting her arms around me. "I'm so proud of you, James. You've been working hard at learning all those protocols for work and getting to know new people without Steve and I hovering over your shoulder." She let go of me and leaned against the counter to talk to us.

"They're not all new – some of them I've met before and of those people, half of them live in our building, I swear. "

"I'll give you that. Skye's going to FaceTime me in a little bit. Want to talk to her with me?"

"Sure. She still dating the Strike guy?"

"You can ask her yourself if you're just going to give her crap for it. I'm not giving you nothing, Barnes."

"I think she likes Jake. She always asks about him." I said, waggling my eyebrows at her.

"Too bad he's still dating that bim-uhh-barbie."

"Sarah Maria Evans!" Betty scolded Sarah, who didn't look very repentant.

I faked a cough to hide my laugh at her quick save, even if it didn't fool her mother. Sarah wacked me on the back a little harder than necessary before looking back at Betty.