Trying Your Luck - Bucky BarnesxOC

Part 71: California (Part 2)

Rebecca leads them inside a large, open kitchen with a small table near the window that looks out on the party. She gestures for Shannon and Bucky to sit down while she fixes some tea. Bucky's immediate instinct is to help his younger sister, but she swats him away.

"I'm not twelve anymore, Buck."

"Right," he laughs. "Sorry."

Rebecca looks up at him and gives him a gentle smile and pats him on the arm.

"Have a seat."

He nods and sits down beside Shannon as Rebecca fixes some tea.

"Why didn't you come and see me earlier?" She asks.

Bucky clears his throat.

"My mind wasn't exactly my own for a long time. In '43, I got kidnapped by HYDRA. Experimented on. Brainwashed—"

"Well, that explains a lot," Rebecca replies as she brings them their tea. "Did they juice you up, too?"

"Yeah," he whispers. "And put me on ice."

Bucky takes off his gloves and Rebecca's eyes immediately flick to his metal hand.

"Was that part of the experiment?"

He nods.

"You might have seen me on TV a couple of years ago. I was framed for killing King T'Chaka. It was all over the news."

"I don't have a television anymore," Rebecca replies. "Too much noise."

Shannon smiles. She must have seen it in the papers, or she's chosen not to remember. Maybe she didn't think it was real. Bucky sighs.

"I didn't get my mind back until a few years ago, and then half the world vanished. Including me. I've sort of spent the past while getting my life back together."

"Tess, too," Rebecca whispers. "The snap got her, but not her kids."

"I'm sorry," Bucky whispers.

"It's all right," she replies. "I have her here now. And my grandson."

He cranes her neck and points outside to a young dark-haired man who looks an awful lot like Bucky when he was young. Rebecca reaches for his metal hand, not flinching at all when she grasps his fingers.

"Tell me about you." She looks at Shannon. "And this beautiful woman beside you."

"It's a long story," Bucky laughs. "But you remember Steve, right?"

"Of course I remember Steve," Rebeca laughs. "He never stood a chance against me."

"But you know who he was," Bucky insists. "You remember."

"Captain America!" Rebecca replies. "I remember. I saw Sam Wilson's speech at the Smithsonian. My grandson showed me... I'm so sorry, Buck. I know how much it must have hurt to lose him."

Bucky nods.

"I'm okay. I had a lot of help to get over that."

He glances over at Shannon. Rebecca reaches over and squeezes Shannon's hand. She smiles.

"Tell me about yourself, dear."

Shannon giggles.

"Um, I'm a chef. I used to work in a restaurant in Brooklyn, but recently, I've started working with our friend Sarah at Wilson Family Seafood. We're still working on revamping things, but it's coming along. Bucky and I met on a dating app... almost a year ago now?"

He nods.

"Tinder?" Rebecca asks.

Bucky's eyes go wide. How does she not have a TV, yet she knows about Tinder?