Retrograde▸bucky barnes

9. Static Electricity

a/n: now arrives the inclusion of TFATWS plotline so *spoilers*

Lena awoke to the sound of her phone ringing. Blindly she searched her bedside table and turned it off, not yet ready to speak to anyone on a Monday morning. In doing so her hand crumpled across a piece of paper. Slightly frowning she opened her eyes and brought the note to face level.

I enjoyed yesterday and would love to discuss the fine details of the musical love lives of teenagers over breakfast. Call you in the morning.

B

She smiled, warm butterflies blooming in her chest. Hastily she reached for her phone to find that it was Bucky's call she had just missed. Pressing his name she returned the call, laying back and staring at the ceiling, eyes tracing the incomplete constellations. He picked up on the first ring.

"Did I wake you?" Bucky asked immediately.

"Yeah but it's alright," she said, her smile audibly seeping into her voice.

"Well, in any case, what time would be good for breakfast?"

Lena pulled the phone away from her ear and put him on speaker so she could check the time, "In an hour?"

"At our favorite coffee shop?"

"I'll see you then," she said, still smiling, feeling like a little girl as she hung up.

The exchange filled her with a sort of excited apprehension. She had not let herself be this close, this emotionally intimate with someone for decades out of fear that it was not really herself in control of her emotions. Her time spent under HYDRA, later the CIA and eventually S.H.I.E.L.D had left her untrusting of her own emotions and her capacity to judge if becoming close to someone was good for her or even safe for them.

The last time she had done so had left both herself and him heartbroken. She still loved him to this day, that man from the late 70s rock scene, but she still was weighed with the immense guilt that her involvement with him had endangered his life, that she had subjected him to her trauma and left him without real explanation as to why.

She remembered nights where she would wake up screaming and she could never tell him why, she could never give him the opportunity to fully know her because he would not have believed her, superhumans or anything like her did not "exist" back then.

But times were different, Lena thought as she stepped into her shower. The Avengers had long been making news headlines and supernatural beings were not present only in the minds of conspiracy theorists. There was even public documentation of her existence somewhere out there. Typically she tended to avoid doing any research on herself or anything into her past because knowing that other people knew of the atrocities she had suffered and committed made her feel like throwing up.

Thoughts swirled in her head as she concluded her shower. Hands shimmering with power, she raked her fingers through her hair, drying it instantaneously into its typical shoulder length style. One last check of her reflection before leaving her apartment let her conclude that yes, this new century would be much more accepting of someone with superhuman powers, but there was no reason to spring that on anyone until it could no longer be avoided. And right now, disclosing her true self was completely avoidable.

When she arrived at their coffee shop, Lena slid into the booth that Bucky was at and he pushed an already present cup of coffee toward her. She accepted gratefully and inhaled deeply looking at him over the rim of the mug.

"Why do you always insist on stealing my heart before I even get a chance to eat a meal?" she asked, blushing as she said it, realizing too late that it came off as much more flirtatious than she had intended.

A soft blush rose in Bucky's face, "I did not know that buying you coffee was stealing your heart."

"Coffee always steals my heart," Lena said, chewing on her lip nervously.

Bucky's blush deepened but Lena pretended not to notice. A parade of butterflies had suddenly entered her stomach despite this interaction being no different than any other she and Bucky had shared. Perhaps it had to do with him having tucked her exhausted self into bed the night before and leaving hand written notes on her bed stand.

"So, the musical love lives of teenagers," Lena began.

Bucky laughed and the conversation soon strayed past the musical franchise as they ordered and waited for their breakfast sandwiches to arrive. Finally an employee set their neatly wrapped breakfast sandwiches on their table. Bucky slid hers toward her, their hands momentarily touching.

"Oo sorry, static electricity," Lena said, pulling her hand away quickly, knowing it was likely her own powers acting out.

"You seem very prone to that."

"Actually you seem very prone to being shocked more often than usual. Do you have any conductive metal implants?"

Bucky looked like he was trying hard not to laugh, "Um, no?"

"Why are you laughing, it was a legitimate question."

"Nothing, nothing, just a funny question is all."

"Okay?" Lena said, shrugging her shoulders as she unwrapped the sandwich. Mid-bite her phone vibrated, the name "Joaquín Torres" flashing on the screen.

Hastily Lena put down her sandwich and answered the call.

"This is Lena."

"Hey lovely lady, how are you?"

"I'm doing pretty good," Lena said, smiling at Bucky, "haven't heard from you in a while though."

"I've been busy doing super top secret military things, which is actually why I'm calling you."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Have you heard of the Flag Smashers?"

"The name sounds familiar."

"I've been doing some research for ah- someone and I'm making a trip to Switzerland to track them down. I could use some backup."

Lena sighed but a shiver of excitement went through her body, "When? Where?"

"Switzerland. As soon as you can get here."

"I'll be on the next plane to Zurich."

"Thanks old friend."

"Don't make me sound so old."

"But you are over a hundred-"

Lena laughed, "See ya."

She hung up the phone meeting Bucky's expectant eyes.

"To Zurich?" he asked, chewing slowly.

Lena felt a wrench in her heart that she was about to walk out on their breakfast, "An old friend. He survived the Blip and helped me get back on my feet. I owe him, he owes me, so I show up whenever he needs an extra hand," she said, choosing her words carefully.

Bucky smiled like he understood completely, "Then go, don't wait, you'll miss the next flight out."

"I don't want to leave our breakfast-"

"Old friends are important. Raincheck on breakfast."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course Lena," Bucky said looking at her intently as she packed her things, "Don't waste time on behalf of me."

Lena smiled, "But you're worth wasting time on."