|3| Coda • Bucky Barnes

Chapter 14

Later that night they sat down for dinner with the whole of the X-Men family. There were probably over thirty people sat at the long table staring at the two. On one side of Bucky sat Amelia who had his flesh hand on her knee.  I'm He liked the comfort of being able to feel she was there and Amelia loved his muted warm that bled through the fabric of her clothes. Although she kind of wished they were alone, so his hand could slide higher up. On the other side of Bucky was Mary who insisted she'd be sat next to him. On Amelia's other side sat Eric.

When he had to use his hand to eat instead his leg was pressed up against the side of hers so they had the constant relief of knowing they were there for each other. They both found this a very stressful situation the only difference was Amelia was more familiar with it.

Bucky gazed at Amelia's hands as she cut her dinner. He didn't particularly want to make eye contact and have to talk to any of their new 'allies' so he took comfort in watching her delicate extremities.
Her hands were a story in themselves. She had the knuckles of a boxer, with the precision of a surgeon, the steadiness of a sharp shooter and the grace of a dancer. He was enthralled by there seemingly floating movements.

"So what do you do?"
The silence as they all waited for his response woke him from his trance.
"What?" He asked, looking at all the eyes on him.
"What do you do?"

"Nothing. Not really." He said in a disinterested tone and looked back down, shoving at his food with his fork.

"Amelia? What about you?"

"Well..." She starts talking about her days doing opera and her love for languages and her shirt short time being a translator as Bucky thought about how he did not like this kind of situation. Amelia was the exact opposite. She was a social butterfly.

"Bubby," Mary whispered to the super soldier next to her "can you helwp me?" She asked as he leaned down to her level.

"What is it Bumblebee?" He asked as his mouth twisted to a smile. She giggled at his nickname before cupping her hand to his ear and moving closer.

"I can't find my crayons. Can you helwp me wook after dinner?"

"Of course. What colours do you have?"

"Bwue and Red and pink!!" She exclaimed and Bucky feigned excitement. After this he noticed the odd silence and looked up. Everyone was staring at him again, all wondering how the seemingly cold soldier was so nice to the little girl.

"What?" His face returned to its blank glare and Amelia smiled to herself.

"So Amelia," A new man she had been sat opposite, who's name was Scott, asked her "how long have you been doing this?"

"It's coming up on five years I think?" She nodded as she confirmed it.

Then the question of how young she was when she started came up. To which she answered fifteen. There was a pause as they calculated her current age and thought about what that must have been like.

"So do you have a lot of experience?"

"More than you'd think." she laughed slightly uneasily. There was a pause.

"What about you Bucky? Much experience?"

A lump rose in his throat as his lips pursed.
Amelia clenched her jaw and swallowed thickly. Charles immediately mentally spoke to Scott and told him to drop the subject while he still could.
"He does." She said at length while trying to stay polite.

After that the conversation left the two newcomers and they were left finally in peace.

Later that night they stood in Amelia's room. Sadly they had to have separate rooms.

"This is stupid." Amelia grumbled and hugged Bucky's toned torso tightly and rested her head on his peck.

"I know doll. But you'll be fine on your own." She pulled away and looked up at him unintentionally through her eyelashes which made his heart leap.

"What about you?" She asked and gnawed at her lip.

He suddenly realised he would be in a unfamiliar place with no Amelia to comfort him. He stiffened and plastered a smile over his worry knowing if Amelia saw his anxieties she would do anything to get rid of them, possibly compromising what they were doing here. She looked after him like that.

"I'll be fine." Bucky nodded to convince himself but neither of them believed it.

"Your staying in my room."

"Melie-"

"Nope," She  silenced him "you're not changing my mind. Go get your bits and bobs and come back here." She instructed him and turned away to carry on with her nighttime routine, smearing moisturiser on her face, not hearing another word from him.

The next day while Amelia was planning the days activities for the two Bucky scopes the place out and silently crept into the living room a few of the older mutants were in watching a horror movie. As he stood in the doorway Bucky realised this was the first twenty first century horror movie he had watched. Heck, it was the first move he'd watched that Amelia hadn't vetted in a long time. Even though he knew he probably shouldn't be watching he was intrigued by it.

After Amelia had planned everything she went in search for Bucky. When she found him and saw what he was watching she gave out a slight yelp and yanked him roughly out of the room before he saw anymore.

"Amelia?" He questioned as she dragged him wordlessly further away from the screen so he could no longer see or hear it.

"What was that?! I've seen that movie it's no good for you!! It could have triggered you! Please be careful." She exclaimed while gesturing wildly.

"I didn't know." He bowed his head in embarrassment. He knew he should have made sure he was ok to watch it. But he felt like he was so much better that he wouldn't be unsettled by it. He also wanted to know he could be normal in that way.

"I'm sorry I got upset. I just," she paused "I have to protect you." She shook her head.

"I know. I am the one who did something wrong." He assured her to which she shook her head quicker.

"No. You know what, lets watch it. You can watch it." Amelia smiled.

"If you think I can." He nodded hopefully.

"You know, you don't need to listen to what I think is best for you. I shouldn't be so overprotective." It was her turn to bow her head in embarrassment.

"I know I don't. I also know you all always right. Remember? You told me that?" He tilted her head back up to meet his eyes with his finger.

"I remember everything." She bit her lip to hide a grin and they both walked back into the living room together.

They sat and watched the movie together. Amelia had her legs draped over Bucky lap and he had his arm around her waist. At only one point did Bucky have to look to Amelia for comfort as the gunshots rung out in that scene. She looked at him, nodded reassuringly and they continued to watch. After that she no longer vetted books or movies for him, only recommended.