Guardians Of The Galaxy

P2 : C3

"Do you think the telepath helped?"

"I think so, I can't be sure. We've tested on a few occasions to see if the trigger words activate, and so far they don't." Barnes was sitting in a swivel chair looking beat up and exhausted. "Sorry I don't have much. A lot is still being dug up here at home, we're on the same page of confusion."

"Guess so." I paused and took a breath, thinking of what else to say. "How's Cap and the others? You still have that girl?"

"Steve's okay, a little messed up from the last intruder we had show up in Wakanda, but we're getting along fine. And yeah, you still remember her?"

"Wild haired cutey with the weird white eyes and the-"

"Yeah, you do." He smiled, suddenly lighting up. His eyes caught attention somewhere past the screen and he waved. "That was her, I'm needed in med bay, got to get this stitches removed." Barnes pulled up his sleeve to show me a gnarly gash up his bicep.

"Damn! You could have lost another arm, dude!" I laughed, impressed by how clean everything looked despite the size.

"Happy I didn't." He rolled his sleeve down. "How's it going on your end? Space doing alright?"

"So far it's still holding on, but I don't know for how much longer. New fights are sparking up and people are falling apart."

"What about your girl?"

"She's one of them." I scratched my chin, sighing heavily. "I don't know what to do. We're trying so hard to make things right, turning over every leaf we can to see what pops up or hints towards recovery but so far we're just turning up empty. It's like we've reached a dead end or an abyss with nothing but darkness. She's a different person, completely, everything about her has changed and it's scaring me."

"Keep fighting for her, alright? She may not want it but she'll surely need it when the time comes." Barnes sighed. "It's going to be tough, but that's how it works. It won't come fast, but it will touch down here and there with fragments and pieces that don't quite add up until you sit down and sort it all out. Just stay with her, be the rock. It's good to have someone you can still talk to even if you feel like complete strangers."

I was surprised by what he said, his words were endearing and honest. He spoke of wisdom well beyond my years, and god was he old enough to prove he knew better. But he was right. He had Captain America taking his side to every fight, working through the dark times with him no matter what. That's exactly was Vele needed for herself, all of us needed someone to lean on and it seemed like that was getting harder and harder to muddle through without feeling something like a burden to the other person.

"And whatever you do, please be patient. That's all it takes for something bad to happen, a single pinched nerve could set something off down a path you can't pull them back from." Barnes paused and frowned, shaking his head. "Ah, I wish I could help you out better, man."

"No, this is great. Gives me foundation to work from. Thank you, Bucky. I really appreciate all of this."

"Bet it eased your conscious, huh?" He grinned, "Well hey, keep in touch will ya? I don't have too many friends around here so the silence get's kind of boring. So don't be a stranger?"

"Sure thing. Don't be afraid to call in either, I'm always around. Take care, soldier."

Barnes saluted and the link ended. I slumped back on my cot, relieved to have finally made that call. Bucky Barnes and I had become unsuspected friends, even I thought I was going to hate him when we first met a year back, but things definitely changed when he told me his screwed up story. If anyone was going to give me advice of having their mind played with it was him. He told me to take it slow and work with the progress given, time has to be your friend and take each day as it's own. I may be too literal but it's hard to count days here in space when everyone else is on a different day than you. If that makes sense. At all. I toss the pad away beside me and shut my eyes.