Honesty ♧ Bucky Barnes

An Old Friend

A slightly shorter chapter this week, I'm afraid. But STEVE COMES BACK so hopefully that makes up for it. 

Also, if anyone watches Star Wars, I've just started a Kylo Ren / OC fic called Friction that I hope will be pretty good, so check it out if you're interested. 

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There was a strange noise in the gym. A high-pitched continuous ringing that echoed through the empty room, electronic-sounding.

Steve tried to ignore it, focusing entirely on punching the same bag over and over again, getting his anger out any way that he could. Eventually he stopped, breathing heavily, and looked around, searching for the source of the sound. The mysterious ringing was coming from his bag. He walked over to it, confused, and pulled out the mobile telephone that Tony had deemed it necessary to give him.

Of course, that explained the ringing. Steve still wasn't at a point where he could identify it immediately. He looked at the screen.

'UNKNOWN NUMBER CALLING'

Steve tapped the little green button and held the phone up to his ear, confused. Only a few people had this number, who could be calling him?

"Hello?"

"Steve Rogers?" A British accent came from the other end of the receiver.

"Yes..." He answered warily. This wasn't a voice he knew. The woman on the phone gave a sigh of relief at his voice.

"Steve, you may not remember me, but I was a science worker at S.H.I.E.L.D."

Steve blanched. Of course that as what this was about. He had sworn to himself to have nothing more to do with S.H.I.E.L.D.

"I'm not interested. I don't do that kind of thing anymor-"

"I don't work there anymore," The woman backpedalled, stumbling over her words, "I'm a teacher now. My name is Erin Jefferson."

Erin Jefferson. Steve had to admit, the name rang a bell.

"The girl with the truth serum?"

There was a laugh from the other end of the phone.

"Yeah. The girl with the truth serum. Bruce gave me your number, I'm sorry for calling you out of the blue like this. There something I think you can help me with."

Steve pursed his lips. He was always willing to help someone in need, but he was apprehensive about this strange woman he knew nothing about. He had a deep distrust of S.H.I.E.L.D, especially after everything that had happened. HYDRA had been infiltrating the organisation from the inside for years, turning the core of the company rotten.

"What?"

There was a pause on the other side of the line. A pause that was slightly too long to just be an intake of breath or the time taken to formulate a thought.

"Bucky is here."

Steve's eyes widened, his mouth actually hanging open in shock. Surely she didn't mean...? The last time Steve had seen Bucky had been on a helicarrier, and he had very nearly not survived the encounter. His best friend had beaten him half to death, then dragged his limp body out of the river beneath and onto dry land. Since then, Steve hadn't been able to find him, regardless of how much tracking he had done.

"Are you serious? How is he? Is he alright?" Steve barraged her with a list of questions, his gym session completely forgotten. He froze. If Bucky was alive, surely there was a chance that he could still revert back to the Winter Soldier?