A Strangers Hand

Chapter 1

After taking longer than usual to pull yourself out of bed, you stepped out into the world, with a restless feeling shadowing over you. It was an unusually calm morning in New York, but for some reason, you couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right.

It had been a few weeks since John Walker had taken the mantle of Captain America, and as much as you wanted to be supportive of Sam's decision to turn over the shield, you could feel in your heart of hearts that a terrible mistake had been made. Trying to shake the ominous possibilities from your mind, you continued down the sidewalk.

Just as you were leaving your favorite coffee shop, large cup in hand, you felt your phone buzzing in your back pocket. You clumsily tried to maneuver your free hand around your body to grab it, while holding the door open for an elderly couple making their way inside. You narrowly managed to grab ahold of it before the last ring and answered without looking at the screen.

"This is Y/N."

"Y/N, Hey, it's Sam."

"Hey, stranger!" You chuckled "So weird, I was just thinking about you. What's up?"

"How fast can you get on a plane to Latvia?" You nearly choked on your coffee at his question. You had unofficially retired since everyone returned from The Blip. So getting a call like this, out of the blue, was nothing short of bizarre.

"Latvia? What the hell is in Latvia?"

"Look, I can give you whatever details you need when you land. But we could really use you here."

"We? Who's we?"

"Look, Y/N, I'm sorry but I can't talk about all of this right n--"

"Sam. Who else is with you?"

He let out a long breath and spoke evenly into the phone "Bucky. He needs you, Y/N. Just get here, please. Call me when you land." He ended the call abruptly after his final word, not giving you the opportunity to respond. Not that you would have been able to anyway, since your breath had been caught in the back of your throat from the moment Sam had said his name.

You felt like you were in a trance, from the moment your phone call with Sam had ended, everything was a blur. You hardly remember going back to your apartment for the go-bag that was stashed under your staircase, let alone how you made it to JFK and boarded a plane unscathed. There was a tightness in your chest when you realized that you had 11 hours ahead of you with nothing to distract you from your thoughts. 11 hours of wondering why the hell you got on this plane to begin with. 11 hours of anticipation, until you got to see him.

Aside from when he first walked through the portal from Wakanda, to fight Thanos, you had only seen Bucky once since he returned after The Blip.

About 7 months ago, a week after Steve left, Bucky had come over to your apartment and despite not seeing him for 5 years, you knew immediately that something wasn't right. The way he looked at you, it's like he was saying goodbye before the words had even passed his lips.

You could feel your heart start to race at the memory, so you tried to force your mind to wander somewhere else; to focus on any moment but that one.