Trying Your Luck - Bucky BarnesxOC

Part 59: East of Eden

Shannon and Janice stay at the hospital until just past six. Janice reads while Shannon's eyes are fixed on the news. It's just playing that clip of Walker over and over again until the images are burned into her brain, and she can still see it when she closes her eyes. Bucky hasn't texted her yet. Every time her phone buzzes, her heart almost stops. When it's not him, she feels a maelstrom of terror and relief unfurling around her. She sends him a text.

Let me know if you're okay. Please.

He doesn't answer.

The doctor comes around and advises them to get some rest, that George will still be here in the morning. Janice is reluctant to want to leave his side for the first time in two days and it takes Shannon and the doctor a few minutes to convince her that everything is going to be all right. Shannon books them into the same hotel that she and Bucky stayed in. It feels like years ago. She stares wistfully at the bar as they walk in, remembering the time before all of this when things were easier. She flushes slightly at the memory of flirting with him at that bar. He was so beautiful. Janice notices. She notices everything.

"I know that look," she muses. "I still get the same one when I look at your father."

Shannon sighs and tucks her hair behind her ear.

"I'm worried about him."

"Shannon, he's a grown man. He would never do anything stupid on purpose."

She smirks.

"You don't know him like I do."

"Fair," Janice laughs as they sit down at a table and order some food. "I know you're afraid, but I promise you, Shan. That boy loves you. He's coming home."

"I believe you."

"Really?" Janice asks. "Because you don't look so sure."

"Mama, what he and Sam are fighting, it's... it's an ideology."

"So is every war this country has ever fought," Janice quips. "I know about the Flag Smashers. I agree with their cause."

Shannon blinks.

"You do?"

"Sure. You and I saw what happened after everyone came back. The world has changed. People are suffering because the people in power are hoarding resources. Your dad and I are victims of it all the time. And that new Captain America? He's not a hometown hero, he's a government agent doing publicity stunts on Good Morning America."

Shannon has to laugh. She's right about that.

"You said he seemed nice."

"And then he murdered a man in broad daylight! That's not Captain America. There's more than one side to all of this, Shannon. The Flag Smashers want a world without borders, without patriotism, where everyone is fed, cared for, and equal. You know, after watching the chaos of the past six months with the displacement camps all over the world... and now, looking at your father in the hospital and knowing the long road to recovery and the bills we're facing... it's hard not to want some of that ideology to become a reality. So, yeah, I agree with them, but do I agree with the way that they're fighting? Of course not. They're people with good intentions doing bad things."

"Wow," she whispers.

She's never had this kind of talk with her mother before. In fact, Shannon's mother has never been particularly political. She always thought of her parents as blind patriots because of her dad's military history. But then again, the fourth of July is just another day for them on the farm. It always has been. Janice sips at her drink.