The Red Soldier: Rise of the Red Soldier

ISSUE #4

(Y/N) (L/N) stood outside the small café on the corner of the village high-street, rubbing his hands together in an attempt to generate some warmth. There was no snow down in the village, but it was still bitter cold. His eyelids fought to close and let him resume his disturbed sleep, but he kept them open, looking towards the mountain in hopes that Bucky Barnes would arrive soon.

Thankfully, after a short five minute wait, he spotted James Barnes stalking down the street in the clothes he'd left out for him the previous day, hands in his pockets, and his flat cap on his head.

'Thanks for altering your clothes for me,' Bucky said when he finally reached the corner where (Y/N) stood, 'and for lending me your jacket.'

'It was yours first,' (Y/N) (L/N) reminded him, 'but you're welcome. Should we go in?' Bucky nodded his head and then led the way into the small coffee shop, holding the door open for him.

It was empty inside, so the pair had their choice of table. (Y/N) picked one, the small table beside the window. Whenever he went into the village, which was not often, he would treat himself to a hot chocolate and sit at that table, watching the people outside as they went about their days. Sometimes he would see a mother with her children, herding them into the gates of the school, or he would see a drunk wobbling down the street on his way home from a lock-in.

'Did you sleep alright?' asked Bucky. (Y/N) found the small talk a little funny. Neither of them did small talk, especially not with each other, or at least they never had.

'Yeah,' he lied. He didn't like being away from home, even if the bed was a lot more comfortable than the settee which was probably older than him. (Y/N) (L/N) also missed his houseguest. After almost seventy years of living alone, it was nice to have somebody to live with. It was nice hearing somebody else's footsteps – somebody else's breathing.

The plump little lady who had served (Y/N) the last time he had been there met them at the table by the window. She had a lovely warm smile, and he remembered talking to her about his life on top of the mountain outside the village. She'd assured him if he ever needed any extra blankets that she'd be happy to knit him some. He had appreciated the offer, and told her that he would let her know, but he liked making his own, it gave him something to do.

'Awfully cold out their today isn't it lads,' she greeted them, 'what can I get you? We have a lovely warm vegetable soup, and our signature plum pudding has just come out the oven.'

'Just a tea for me,' (Y/N) told her, and she jotted the order down on her little notebook.

'Coffee,' Bucky nodded, 'and a bowl of that pudding, if you don't mind.' She grinned at them both before tootling off back behind the counter. Neither of them uttered a word until she came back with two mugs, a jug of milk, a bowl full of plum pudding, and a small jug of double cream. Bucky lathered the sponge in cream, picking up his spoon and digging in hungrily. He had finished the whole thing before (Y/N) had even gotten the chance to pour the milk into his teacup.

'Hungry?' he asked, sarcastically. James Barnes nodded, using the sleeve of his jacket to wipe the remnants of pudding from his lips. 'Do you want to start?'

'I guess I should tell you everything first – I think you deserve that.'

'Thanks.'

'What happened when you fell, how are you alive?' asked (Y/N), getting straight to the point before taking a sip from his mug.

'Woke up in a cold room, strapped to one of those tables they had at the HYDRA base in the war,' Bucky replied, his voice quiet, 'had a dozen needles sticking out of me, and this thing.' He shook his left arm, letting its hand clank against the table like a heavy spanner. 'I was terrified. I wasn't sure what they had done, and all I could think about was you, where you were, whether you were alive or not.'