CHILD one-shots | james b. barnes

[ Gameboy- ii ]

Gameboy

[ when two new guards are hired to guard the Winter Soldier's cell, Angelika finds herself wanting to be their friend ]

Sometime in 2022

THERE WAS NOTHING Angelika hated more than entering a school. She felt as though Rumlow would jump out around the corner- which was an idiotic thought since his death was confirmed, along with his crushed corpse- but she walked with taut shoulders, legs stiff as she turned the hall.

She had no reason to be there- she was applying for college after all- but she'd tracked down one person she'd thought had died along with the rest of HYDRA.

The woman at the front office was absolutely terrified and confused when she walked in, because she hadn't come alone.

It'd been a month or so since the Winter Soldier had been put under government watch but somewhat free- he could go where he wanted whenever he wanted as long as a member of the Avenger's were around.

Tony bent the rules like he always did, and Angelika counted as one. Besides, he was too lazy to come with them.

So, with her papa in tow, Angelika stepped down the hall, glancing down at the room number a few times. Supposedly the agents were both chemistry teachers and worked in the building- for a moment she wondered if why they joined HYDRA in the first place- but decided there must've been some sort of reason.

She stopped in front of a classroom and took a deep breath.

"So you said they were good people, right?" Bucky said skeptically, grasping Angelika's arm.

He was yet to remember everything in his life, and was concerned with blatantly approaching two HYDRA agents, which he had no recollection of.

"I promise, they used to sneak us bread." She said, peeking her head through the window in the door.

There were students sitting in their designated desks, quietly working on something- a test maybe?- but Angelika didn't really care and pushed open the door. She poked her head inside, Bucky standing to the side with an uncertain frown tugging at his lips.

The teacher inside looked up and raised a curious eyebrow.

Angelika gave him a good two second stare- he had blonde hair pulled neatly to one side, bright blue eyes swirling with confusion.

"Did you forget something?" He said and Angelika glanced at the students who looked up for a moment.

"Um. . .no, sorry, I'm looking for a-a Shane Yahontov?" She said slowly and he gave her a genuine smile.

"Oh that's me." He said, stepping over towards her. "What do you need?"

She took another second look at the students before rubbing the side of her arm.

"Could we talk outside?" She asked and he furrowed his eyebrows.

"I'm afraid I can't right-" he started and Angelika gasped when Bucky pushed the door open wider.

He crossed his arms over his chest, the faintest hint of silver peeking out from his leather jacket. He stared at him for a moment, disregarding the class who seemed to freeze in place.

Without saying a word Shane stepped towards them and beckoned them out of the room. He turned his head, giving his students a small smile.

"Hey- no cheating! I've got eyes on the back of my head." He joked and his students gave him a small nod.

He shut the door before looking between the two.

"Kid?" He said slowly, and Angelika grinned.

"Hi Shaney." She said nervously with a small wave.

"You talked!" He said and she nodded enthusiastically.

He turned his head and looked at Bucky, swallowing thickly.

"Soldier?" He said and Angelika teetered back and forth on her feet, knowing that would simply trigger her papa.

Bucky narrowed his eyes. He thought hard of the man- he looked oddly like Steve, and felt a tingle in the back of his mind- as if he'd seen him before. He had, hadn't he? But he didn't know- he couldn't remember, again.

"Um, no. . ." Shane tapped his chin quickly, "Barnes? No. . .it was James!"

Bucky blinked, wondering if he had told Shane his name himself whilst he was still under HYDRA's control.

"I don't think he remembers." Angelika explained quietly and Shane's eyes darkened.

"I tried- I tried to convince Karpov to lower the voltage but I think I only made it worse, and I'm sorry." He said and Bucky had to register what he said.

"It's. . .not your fault." Bucky said before frowning.

"How did you leave HYDRA in the first place?" He questioned and Shane sighed.

"After Karpov found out we were trying to help both of you he threatened Ryan and I- that we'd be your next mission." His frown deepened as he averted his eyes to the ground. "He let us leave because he practically raised us. Of course, he didn't let us leave without giving a lasting message."

Angelika looked at him with confusion.

Shane gave her a sad smile.

"Ryan's paralyzed from the waist down, so I've been taking care of him." He said and Bucky winced.

He had a feeling he'd been the one to injure this supposedly nice guard, and he felt guilt crawl up his throat.

"Oh. . .well, um," Angelika grasped the small box she'd brought along with her, tied with a nice little bow, "here. I wanted to give this to Ryan."

Shane looked slightly confused and grabbed it from her. He untied the bow and pulled open the box. Inside was a carefully placed gameboy, plated with gold and silver- courtesy of Stark- and Shane's eyes brightened.

"He's going to love this." He said with a smile and Angelika beamed.

"I'm glad you survived- from the police, from the Avengers, from HYDRA." Angelika said softly and Shane shoved his hands in his pockets.

"I hope you can experience life like you should- as a person." He said, eyes flickering over to Bucky.

"Thank you, even if I can't remember you." Bucky said with a small nod and Angelika pulled a small card from her pocket.

"If you ever want, you can visit the Avenger's Compound. Maybe you could bring Ryan along too." She smiled and his lips twitched upwards.

"Thank you for saving us- Ryan and I." Shane said and Bucky furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he returned to his classroom.

"When did you save them?" Bucky asked with confusion and Angelika patted his arm in response.

"That's for me to know, and for you to find out." She grinned mischievously.

"Can we get ice cream?"