Soldiers Aren't Supposed To Cry

Chapter 3

Bucky wakes up before any of the others in the tower, and decides to make some breakfast for everyone. He whips up some pancakes, or at least tries to. The first few are either a little burnt or a bit raw, but he finally gets the hang of it by the end. Bucky smiles to himself as he places the pancakes in the oven at a low temperature to keep them warm. He writes a quick note explaining where he's going before heading out to answer a question that had been on his mind.

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"Hey, have you seen Bucky? He wasn't in his room." Nat asks, walking into the kitchen. Bruce shakes his head before digging into another pancake. Nat looks over to the oven where Tony is grabbing a stack of pancakes.

"I don't know where he is, but he made pancakes." Tony replies, closing the oven before heading over to the table, and sitting next to Bruce. Tony shovels a few in his mouth before wiping the syrup off his face and continuing to speak. "He left a note on the counter if you want to read it." Natasha nods, walking over to the counter where the note is sitting.

"Good morning. I made pancakes for everyone. Syrup and butter are right inside the fridge. Bottom few are a bit messed up, eat them if you want." She reads aloud. Nat sighs before grabbing a pancake and looking around the complex for Bucky. By the time she runs back to the kitchen, Bruce and Tony have finished their pancakes and are cleaning up. "Seriously, do you have any idea where he is? I can't find him anywhere."

"I'm sure he's fine. I'll call him for you." Bruce responds, smiling at her before pulling out his phone and dialing Bucky's number. It only takes a few rings for the classic Apple ringtone plays through the kitchen. A few seconds of searching leaves Tony holding the soldier's phone in his hand.

"Do you think he's fine now?!" Nat yells, eyes widening. "Oh god, oh god." They continue to run around the complex searching for the missing soldier when the sound of a door opening comes from the main entrance. The three avengers stop abruptly and race to the front of the complex where Bucky is walking in the front door with a bag of what looks like fruit.

"WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?!" The three ask in unison. Bucky jumps from the sudden yelling and a look of confusion forms on his face.

"Didn't you guys read my note?" He questions, looking at the three of them. They nod and he sighs before shifting the bag to his metal arm. "Did you read the back of the note?" They shake their heads. Bucky glares at them before walking to the kitchen, placing the fruit in his compartment of the fridge.

"Where did you even go?" Bruce asks, noticing the bag is handmade. Bucky sighs before closing the fridge and turning around.

"When Peter found me, he brought me some plums. I told him about this fruit stand Steve would always go to on his way home from teaching art to the elementary kids. Steve would get me a couple plums and something for himself. I wanted to see if it was still there." He explains.

"And?" Nat asks.

"It was. Changed a little bit over the years. Mainly run by his granddaughter now, but the original guy still helps out from time to time. He recognized my name. Asked if I was the same Bucky that Rogers always swooned about while he got Steve's order ready. I said yes and he asked 'Whatever happened to good ol' Captain America?'. I told him about the final battle and what Steve did, he apologized, gave me a hug, and sent me on my way telling me to come back whenever I wanted." Bucky whispers, tears pooling in his eyes. He hadn't described everything in that conversation, but he didn't want to expose what him and Steve did way back when. Nat takes notice of the tears and walks over to him before hugging him, Bucky's arms slowly wrapping around her as well. She smiles up at him before stepping away and walking out of the room.

"By the way, good pancakes, Buck." Tony compliments, walking out after Nat and smiling at the soldier.

"Thanks." Bucky responds.

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A knock at the door pulls Nat from her sleep and she groans before getting up to open it, seeing Bucky standing on the other side. He's wearing one of Steve's old shirts and some boxers, but the first thing she notices is the tear stains on his shirt.

"Hey Buck, what's up?" She asks, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand in an attempt to wake herself up. He scratches the back of his head before answering.

"My phone is glitching and I don't know how to fix it." He responds, holding out his phone for her to see. The screen is glitching between his home screen, a picture of him and Steve on the 4th of July, and a blank white screen.

"Has this happened before?"

"Um, a couple times."

"How did you fix it before?"

"I didn't."

"What do you mean?"

"Steve was always more technologically skilled than me, so I usually would hand it to him and say 'help'."

"Oh-"

"And I,um, can't exactly do that anymore. So I came to you."

"Um, yeah I can fix it, just come in." Bucky steps inside, handing his phone to the woman in front of him. She taps a few buttons and explains how she did it for future references.

"And you should be good. Now you know how to do it." She adds, giving him a small smile. He smiles back and whispers a soft "thanks" before walking out of her room.

"Goodnight Buck!" She calls.

"G'night Nat." He replies, stepping inside Steve's room and flopping on the bed, staring at his home screen as he slowly drifts to sleep.