December // A Winter Soldier Story

15

ｄｅｃｅｍｂｅｒ ２３ｒｄ， ２０１３

２３°

ℒℯ𝒶

She is sitting in the big grey chair in her living room, watching more snow fall from the white sky, when there is a knock on her front door. Two quick, polite raps on the wood.

She freezes. It is painfully quiet in her house, and the knock has stirred her from her thoughts.

She'd been in a sort of trance since Bucky had left, having been left wondering what she'd done wrong, why he'd been unable to stay, and why she'd been so haunted by his absence when she'd hardly ever experienced his presence.

It was like she'd been existing as nothing more than a shadow for all her life, but when he came, he was the sun that dissipated her cool shade and let her experience warmth for the first time. When he'd been here, she had finally felt needed by someone. She hadn't felt lonely. But then he'd melted back into the snow outside like he'd never even been there, and the cold had come creeping back into her home like slow moving tendrils of smoke.

She is now certain that she's never been colder all winter than she's been since he left. The temperature outside hasn't changed, but she feels colder, now that she knows what it's like to feel warm.

This is what she is struggling with when she hears the knock on the door, and this is what she must push from her mind as she forces her stiff limbs to rise so she can go see who it is.

Her sock-covered feet make quiet scuffing noises on the floor as she moves down the hallway. She is two feet from the door when a spark ignites in her heart: what if it's Bucky? What if he's come back for her?

Suddenly invigorated, she reaches out and pulls the door open, only for her heart to sink as she sees someone she does not recognize standing on the other side. She tries to cover the look of disappointment that she's sure is spread across her face as she quickly analyzes the man before her.

The first thing Lea thinks is that he's tall, definitely over six feet. His hair is blonde and styled up in the front, his eyes are blue and kind, and strangely enough...his face looks familiar. A brown leather jacket adorns his upper half, over top of a white shirt with blue jeans on his legs. Although he's wearing a jacket, she can tell that he is heavily muscled, and he reminds her of Bucky in the way that his body is shaped. Whoever he is, she thinks he probably knows how to fight, and is probably even stronger than he looks (which is saying quite a bit, because he looks like he could stop a car if he wanted to).

He gives her a warm smile that she can tell is genuine, thought there is a tinge of sadness to it that leaves her a bit confused.

"Can I help you?" Lea finally finds her voice long enough to ask. He doesn't waste much time before speaking.

"I think you can, actually. My name is Steve Rogers," he begins, sticking out his hand for her to shake. She is skeptical, but reaches out and accepts it anyway. "I think you may have recently met a friend of mine that I've been looking for. Would you mind if I came in?"

❄❄

Five minutes later, and Lea has invited the stranger inside, given him a mug of warm tea, and sat him on her couch. She can't believe she's allowed this. Hopefully he's not a murderer, or else she's a real idiot for letting all of this occur.

"So...Steve, is it?" She tries to start, then pauses to double check that she has his name correct. She'd only been half listening to it earlier. Steve nods. "What brings you to my home?"

Steve places her mug carefully on the glass coffee table before them. "I'm looking for a friend of mine. He's been missing for quite some time, and I have reason to believe he's in a lot of danger, both from himself and from others." He pauses, swallows, and continues. "I know he's been in this area, and I'm pretty positive he was hiding here."