Like Real People Do

Making Amends, Treats, And The New World Order

Winnie grabs the coffee pot and pours herself another cup standing beside her cork board in the kitchen. She grabs a pushpin and attaches the pictures off of Joaquin's phone. The new group, the Flag Smashers, know how to keep a low profile and slide in under the radar. She tried tracking the symbol on the masks, but a red handprint has been used on so many things and none of them connect. Winnie tries asking around on message boards for anything but trolls quickly take over the chat. Sometimes she really hates the internet. She looks at the clock and curses.

"Damn it, don't be late." Winnie grabs her phone from the charger and shoots off a quick memo to Bucky containing the Senator's schedule for the next few days and instructions for the car remote. It was a new little gadget Winnie had come up with when she was at Shield. No one took it seriously so it wasn't mass produced for the other agents. Winnie runs to her computer and finds the security cameras outside the meeting place for Senator Atwood. She sees Bucky and cuts the connection.

W- Cameras down, you have five minutes, then get out of there and grab a malt.

B- Will do.

Bucky walks over to the empty white car and sticks the gadget under the car and walks off to a shaded spot to wait for the Senator. The microphone on the gadget connects to an earpiece Bucky has on. He can hear the conversation of Senator Atwood trying to silence another senator. He starts the car and locks the doors with the gadget. Bucky reverses the car and then jerks it into a parking spot. Walking up to the car he rolls down the window.

"Remember me." Bucky says into the window.

The bodyguard points a gun at Bucky. He grabs his arm and knocks the guard out.

"I'm no longer the Winter Soldier. I'm James Bucky Barnes and you're part of my efforts to make amends." He smiles halfheartedly.

Bucky hears the sirens and walks away having completed part of his mission for the day. He walks off to the grocery store and begins to look for ingredients for a chocolate malt. He picks up chocolate sauce, malted milk powder, vanilla ice cream,milk, and maraschino cherries, and tosses it into his cart. Once in his apartment he sets the cherries on the counter and begins blending the other ingredients. He pours the malt into a cup and grabs a handful of cherries. Steve would have loved this. Bucky remembers armwrestling over the cherries. He always let him win because of Steve's love of cherries. He tosses the handful in. Bucky sends W a picture of the malt.

W- How's it taste?

B- So good, I was missing out.

W- What does your tomorrow look like?

B- Ugh, therapy appointment why?

W- That bad?

B- Yes

W- Why?

B- I don't like it.

W- Why not?

B-"I don't like the whole getting out of your comfort zone to heal."

W-"You're healing when you've stopped treating yourself like the enemy. Simple things can be healing, like take a walk, going on a date..."

B- "That's actually really insightful."

W- " You're surprised?"

B-" A little,a few days ago, you told me to: Get that head, Get that bread and leave.

W-" Well I'm a well read insightful person.

B-" Favorite book?

W-" It's a tie, between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings."

B- Going to bed.

W- Night Buck.

Bucky wraps himself in his blanket and lays down on the floor with his phone next to him. Maybe W is right, he thinks, it's the little things. He closes his eyes and slowly falls asleep to the whitenoise of the television playing an old rerun of a sitcom.

"Give me your phone, then." Dr. Raynor asks.

Bucky hands it over.

"You've been ignoring Sam's texts..but you've been answering W's. Who is W?" Dr.Raynor asks.

"She's from a book club." Bucky lies.

" Do you expect me to believe that? The Doctor asks sarcastically.

" Yes." Bucky lies again.

"What book?"The Doctor calls his bluff.

" The Hobbit." Bucky answers smoothly remembering last night's text.

" When do you meet?" The Doctor readies her pen to write something.

" Tuesdays." Bucky adds.

" What is the next book?" The Doctor asks indulging him.

" Lord of the Rings." Bucky answers.

" Those are some long books for a book club." The Doctor comments.

" I'm a fast read." Bucky smirks.

" Cut it out, what does she actually do?" The Doctor puts down the notebook.

" Fine, she's a hacker. She found me on a message board and offered her services. She tracks the people I helped with Hydra." Bucky answers hoping that W doesn't find out.

" Remind me what's rule number 1." The Doctor narrows her eyes.

" I can't do anything illegal." Bucky reminds.

" So you hired a hacker." The Doctor adds.

" I didn't hire anyone. She volunteered." Bucky interjects.

"Do you trust her?" The Doctor questions.

" She's good at what she does, and she's easy." Bucky answers earnestly.

" Little tip, never call a woman easy." The Doctor picks up her note book again.

"Easy going." Bucky explains.

"So she's more important to you than your friendship with Sam."

Bucky doesn't say anything and Dr.Raynor starts writing.

"Again with the notebook, Doc."

Winnie microwaves her forgotten mug of coffee. The news plays in the background.

"Unrest in the wake of recent events has left us vulnerable. Every day Americans feel it. While we love heroes who put their lives on the line to defend Earth, we also need a hero to defend this country. We need a real person who embodies America's greatest values.We need someone to inspire us again, someone who can be a symbol for all of us. So on behalf of the Department of Defense and our Commander-in- Chief, it is with great honor that we announce here today, that the United States of America has a new hero. Join me in welcoming your new Captain America." The television says.

Winnie looks at the television and says to herself " Huh, let's see who the man with the shield really is." She pauses the television on the face of the new hero and begins taking pictures with her phone to scan the internet for any and everything on this man. There's something she doesn't like about this.

Why would anyone trust the United State's government with a weapon like Captain America's shield?