In the Dark

The Interview

Bucky zipped up his last suitcase and placed it on the white marble floor. After a long and serious talk with the King and Queen of Sokovia they agreed to let him go. They had other people who could look after Wanda in the meantime.

There was a soft knock on his door while he gave the room a quick once over scaring him slightly. He turned to look at the entrance and Wanda smiled at him sadly. "Rumor has it you are going back to America."

Bucky took in a deep breath and grinned. "Yeah. I don't have much of a choice. Steve likes to say yes before he talks to me about it first."

"It will be good for you. It is boring around here," she tilted her head. "Sofia Gonzalez, right?" Bucky raised a brow and Wanda chuckled. "Word travels fast. Her life is way more exciting than mine."

"Nothing is as exciting as the life of a princess."

"Are you sure? You did seem quite bored the majority of the time."

Bucky shook his head.

She sighed. "I will miss you, Bucky."

"I'm going to miss you, too, Princess."

A few days later, Sofia was out with Peggy on a breakfast date at a little cafe in the city of Burbank going over details that needed to be overseen before Bucky arrived in a couple of hours. Sofia sat with her cap low and large aviators perched on her nose sipping on a glass of orange juice while Peggy drank hot tea, shielding the sun away from her eyes with her hand.

"Put on my damn sunglasses!" Sofia reached to take her glasses off her face.

"No," Peggy shook her head. "It's fine."

"Your arm must hurt," Sofia whined. "Please, will you just put them on?" She held them out.

"Fine," Peggy huffed, taking them and putting them on her face. "You're such a bugger."

Sofia smiled at her friend and silently cheered when she finally lowered her hand down. She might have to buy her a pair like hers; they looked good on her.

"Are you excited to meet him?" Peggy asked as she flipped through some paperwork.

"I guess—" Sofia shrugged nonchalantly. "—I've met other bodyguards before. This isn't special."

"Right," Peggy drawled out. "This isn't special at all."

Bucky had landed in Los Angeles at around 4AM on Friday, getting a cab to the hotel Steve had booked for him and sleeping for a couple of hours before getting ready for the interview.

All he knew about the interview was that Peggy and Sofia would be there and that it would be taking place at a building in a studio lot in Burbank. Bucky felt nervous. didn't matter how many times he had done it before, it always made him anxious for what could possibly come. Especially if the client was going to be right there in front of him.

He drank the last of his coffee and tossed the paper cup in the nearest trash can before smoothing out his dress shirt and pants and heading out to hop into the car service.

Once outside the studios, he spotted a brunette with red lipstick waiting outside the gates. He imagined that it was Peggy since she did say she was going to wait for him. He got out of the car after thanking the driver and took in a shaky breath as he walked up to her. She was kind of intimidating even from afar.

"James?" She smiled.

Oh, she's got an English accent, Bucky thought to himself. He smiled at her and stuck out his hand to shake her's when he was a couple of feet away from her. "Hi, you must be Peggy Carter."

He wasn't sure if it was the heat, but he caught the tiniest hint of red splash upon her cheeks. "Yes, hi!" She smiled. "Nice to meet you. Follow me."

Bucky followed her through the gates of the studio, going through a metal detector and then being checked in by the security personnel. He looked around in awe as they hopped onto a small golf cart and made their way through the lot, spotting props that belonged to movies and TV shows lingering outside the studios or being taken from one stage to another.

They soon came to a stop in front of plexiglass building that was located in the far back part of the lot. Peggy hopped off the cart, smoothing out her navy blue skirt and nodding towards Bucky to follow her. They walked into the small, three-story building instantly greeted by the young woman at the front desk as soon as they walked in through the doors.

Bucky looked at every poster that was hung up on the wall; a lot of the movies he had seen when he was a child. Some were new but he didn't know what they were about or who the stars even were since he didn't have much free time anymore. His life revolved around work for years now.

Peggy opened a conference room door and Bucky walked in with her the sound of a giggle quickly filling the room. It was light and airy. It was new to his ears. He liked it.

"Sofia, I'm back."

"Huh?" She spun around in the swivel chair and smiled. A sudden flutter in her stomach made her feel like a school-girl all over again. James was even better looking in person.

Sofia stood up from her chair, slipping her phone into the back pocket of her denim jeans and walked over to Bucky. She stuck her hand out and he took it in his, both of them literally shocking each other. They pulled away quickly, awkwardly laughing and apologizing as Peggy watched with a joking, but disgusted look on her face.

"Have a seat!" Sofia gestured to the empty chairs.

Bucky grinned and softly mumbled "thanks" before pulling out a chair across from Peggy and sitting down. Sofia walked around the table to sit next to her manager and clasped her hands upon the table.

"So, James..." Peggy started. "Steve told me you were working for the Princess of Sokovia."

Bucky nodded, "Yes. I was."

"How was that like?" Sofia's eyes lit up. Something about royalty had always intrigued her.

Bucky locked eyes with her, chuckling slightly. "It was... uneventful."

"What?" Sofia cried. "You're telling me it's not like the movies?"

He laughed again, "Absolutely not."

Peggy quickly cut their conversation short, asking Bucky more questions. Especially about his work with President Wilson. He had served as his bodyguard for both terms and she wondered how close they had gotten. Peggy always wanted the best for Sofia, not only as her manager but as her friend.

"I mean... we got pretty close—" Bucky shrugged. "I don't know if that was inevitable or not when you spend about 24 hours out of 7 days together."

Peggy pretended to write down his response, but just scribbled nonsense on the corner of the page. It wasn't like there was a right or wrong answer. Phil and Sofia were close. Of course, it was more of a father-daughter bond that they had but she was sure Bucky would keep it professional.

"So... are there aliens?" Sofia leaned over the table slightly to meet Bucky's eyes.

"I wouldn't be able to tell you that even if I knew."

Her shoulders fell and she crossed her arms over her chest. "Fine. But you're not getting any film secrets out of me."

Bucky smiled, instantly growing a liking for Sofia. He was a bit afraid of her when he first found out who he was going to be looking after. She was a big Hollywood starlet. If that wasn't scary in the first place, he wasn't sure what would've been. Then, he found out about all her issues with stalkers and break-ins, not to mention close calls with death due to the former. But she was sweet and humble from what he could tell. She seemed to be everything most Hollywood actors aren't. There was no faking it.

"One last question," Peggy cleared her throat. "Why should we hire you?"

Bucky sat up straight, taking in a deep breath. "You should hire me because I will do anything I need to do to make sure that my client is always safe and protected even if it means that I'm not. She will always come first."