Chapter 3
The next day Rebekka gets up early, so she has enough time to stop for coffee on her way to the gym. Back in Plymouth, before the Blip (she heard that's what people call it), she had this morning routine every saturday:
First she got coffee and something small to eat, like a croissant or bagel. Then she went to the gym for a zumba or boxing class, followed by a real breakfast in her favourite bakery just across the street. Sometimes Jason had joined her or Erica (the girl, that her ex cheated with and then married, while Rebekka was blipped), but most of the time she was alone and she had liked it that way. Just her, a good breakfast and a book.
The last few weeks living in New York she had found a nice fitness studio in walking distance from her flat and a few bakerys she wants to try out to decide which one she likes best. She wants to try and get her old routine back as best she can, so she feels more normal and at home.
The boxing class at the gym is just right. The instructor is good and at the end of the class her muscles are aching.
Afterwards, during her breakfast she texts Jason.
R: Hey, U up yet?
J: Yup. So how'd it go?
R: Ok I guess. Didn't talk much
J: Oooh ^^
R: 🙄
We watched the show!
J: And? 😏
R: And nothing. ☝🏻
He liked the show. Will come over again on sunday
J: Good. Wear smth sexy! 😈
R: I always do.
What U doin?
J: Still in bed. You?
R: Was just @ the gym & had breakfast. But heading
home now.
Rebekka takes the last bite of her (really good) breakfast waffle, empties her glass of orange juice and puts the money on the table, before she stands up to head back to her flat.
She spends the rest of the day cleaning up their leftovers from last night, doing her laundry and finally talking to Jason over the phone while unpacking the last of her moving boxes.
Sunday morning Rebekka gets up at 9am. After jogging for 45 minutes she gets an iced coffee on her way home and checks the weather report for the day. It's supposed to be sunny, so she decides to go on a little ride with her motorcycle after breakfast.
Coming out of the shower Rebekka hears someone knocking on her front door and quickly wraps herself in a towel before going to open it.
She decides she'll buy a bathrobe the first chance she gets. It's just uncomfortable opening the door in just a towel wrapped around ones body, no matter what shape you're in. At least that's how she feels - always has.
That's why she just opens the door enough for her head to fit through the space to see who it is. She expected to see the mailman or janitor, but it was neither of those two.
"Morning.", Bucky says. He frowns slightly, his eyes flickering to her wet hair briefly. "Bad time?", he asks.
Rebekka raises her eyebrows in surprise and shakes her head softly. "Good morning.", she replies, "No, I just got out of the shower, don't worry. What's up?"
He licks his lips and clears his throat quietly. "I just wanted to ask if tonight still stands? And if so when do you want me to come over?", he asks, making her smile.
"Of course. Just come over at six..", she tells him and he nods.
"I'll be there."
Rebekka comes home from her little tour just ten minutes before Bucky's supposed to come over. Just enough time to get out of her leather suit, freshen up and put on something more comfy.
He knocks on her door at almost exactly six o'clock.
"Be honest, you stood there for minutes waiting, didn't you?", she asks as she opens the door for him.
He doesn't laugh, just huffs and lifts one corner of his lips.
"Sorry.", Rebekka chuckles, "Hi. Come on in."
After that second TV evening the two of them decide to have one of those at least once a week. She notices him getting more comfortable around her soon enough. He doesn't sit as stiffly on the couch anymore and even starts to smile like, really smile, not just that little curling motion of his lips that never reached his eyes.
One evening Rebekka decides to ask him to hang out outside, since it's starting to get warmer day by day.
And he actually agrees.
So, the next day she puts on her favourite sundress and knocks on his door at the agreed time. She raises her eyebrows in disbelieve when he opens the door in his usual longsleeve and the gloves.
"You do realize it's like 90 degrees outside, right?", she asks, gesturing towards his attire and he just shrugs.
"Yeah.. so?", he replies.
Rebekka sighs and shrugs too, leaving him to it. He'd notice his mistake, when he got outside.
"Do me - and yourself - a favour and take a short sleeved shirt with you at least? If you have one?", she offers and he nods slowly.
She plays with the hem of her dress, while waiting for him in the hallway.
"Okay.", he says, stepping outside and locking his door.
When they step outside into the heat Rebekka notices his face change. He scrunches up his nose and squints his eyes, making her chuckle. She places her sunglasses on her nose and falls into a slow stroll beside him.
"Told ya.", she teases in a light tone.
Bucky just grumbles something inaudible and shoots her a sarcastic smile. She giggles and swats his arm lightly.
After they walked around for some time and stopped at a little shop to buy some sunglasses for Bucky she notices how he struggles with the heat and sighs, stopping in her tracks. He turns around and looks at her with a confused face. She looks around and nods at the extra shirt in his pocket.
"Put that shirt on now, before you get a heatstroke.", she orders.
He sighs and looks around as well. Spotting a public restroom he sighs and nods, making his way over.
Rebekka sits on a bench near the toilets, while he disappeares into one of the stalls. She takes out her phone to look up the closest ice cream stand and sighs. "95°... great.", she mumbles to herself, when she sees the temperature is even higher than this morning.
She doesn't pay much attention to her surrounding, while on her phone, until she hears someone take in a sharp breath and people around her suddenly stop and start whispering to each other. Confused she looks up to see what the fuss is about. And then she sees it - or better: him.
Bucky is coming in her direction with quick steps, not looking anyone in the eye and with an even harder frown on his face than usual. But what catches her attention - and that of many others - is his left arm.
It's not that she's never seen someone with an artificial limp, but this one stands out. Big time.
Because even though she's a small town girl she has heard of the infamous assassin called the Winter Soldier and all the horrible things he's done.
But this is Bucky - her friend. She got to know him a little the last few evenings and is pretty sure he couldn't hurt a fly. Even if he is that guy... Didn't he fight Thanos with Captain America and the other Avengers?
'Wait... is he an Avenger?!', it shoots through her head.
"Alright... Can we go now?", Bucky says, stopping in front of her, his eyes darting around in obvious discomfort.
Rebekka quickly nods and stands up. "Yes.", she says and starts walking slowly.
After a few steps she lightly bumps her shoulder against his right arm, gaining his attention.
"You want ice cream?", she asks.
He looks down at her, searching for something in her eyes for a moment. When he doesn't seem to find it his shoulders relax a little and he shrugs and nods.
"Yeah, let's get ice cream.", he agrees.
She smiles at him warmly to show him that she's not affraid of him and nothing has changed for her after seeing his arm.
"You okay?", Rebekka asks, while they wait in the queue of the ice cream stand.
Bucky takes a deeo breath, closes his eyes and nods once.
A little boy in front of them suddenly turns around and stares at him. She saw the kid glance over his shoulder once or twice already, his eyes widening when he spotted Buckys metal arm. Now he obviously finally got the courage to take a full look at the man behind him.
Bucky catches the little boys eyes on him and when the kid opens his mouth to say something he puts a finger over his mouth, a secretive look in his eyes. The boys eyes widen even more and he nods quickly and mimicks the gesture. Bucky nods and winks, a small smile playing around his mouth, before the boy turns back around, grinning widely.
Rebekka watches the exchange with an amused smile on her face and ellbows Bucky lightly afterwards. He frowns, looking down at her, but she just grins.
"That was sweet.", she states.
The man just scoffs and shrugs.
When it's their turn to order the man behind the counter glances at Bucky's arm a few times curiously, but is clever enough not to make a comment about it.
Rebekka steers them towards Prospect Park, licking her ice cream happily. Bucky is still incredibly tense and after they pass a group of staring teens she stops apruptly.
He stops too, looking down at her in confusion.
"You know I don't care about that, right?", she asks, gesturing towards his left arm.
He freezes and visably gulps, stepping closer to her. "You-", he takes a deep breath and lowers his voice. "You do realize who I am, do you..?"
Rebekka looks up into his serious blue eyes and nods, her face completely blank.
"You are Bucky. My friend.", she states matter of factly. She knows what he means, but wants him to know that she doesn't care one bit about his past.
He sighs and licks his lips, something she noticed he does when he's nervous or impatient.
"My name is James Buchanan Barnes.", he tells her seriously and furrows his brows. "I used to be the Winter Soldier.", he adds, his voice now almost too quiet for her to hear.
"Okay... As I said: You are Bucky.", she repeats and bites a piece out of her ice cream cone. "Or aren't you?", she asks.
He nods and opens his mouth to say something, but she doesn't even let him start.
"And I intend to have a nice day outside in the sun. So get your head out of your ass and relax, for gods sake."
She raises an eyebrow and stares at him daringly, challenging him to protest, but all he does is steo back and nod.
"Good. Let's go then.", she nods and starts walking again.
They stroll through the park, looking for a slightly less crowded place in the shadow of a tree. When they finally find the perfect spot Rebekka lays down on her back and closes her eyes, relaxing in the summer heat, while Bucky sits down with his bacn against the tree, that's shielding them from the sun a little bit.
"You really don't care at all?", he suddenly asks, making her take a deep breath.
"Do you still run around and kill people on command?", she asks back bluntly.
"No... I don't..", he mumbles after a moment of silence and she opens her eyes slightly to look at him.
"Then I don't care.", she tells him softly and smiles a little.
"But... doesn't it freak you out?", he asks further, "That I killed people?"
Rebekka takes another deep breath and holds his gaze, shielding her eyes from the sun.
"No.", she states and as she says it out loud she realizes that it's true.
She knows him a little by now and is pretty sure that he is just Bucky. Not the Winter Soldier or anyone else.
She notices his eyes darting to something behind her and turns her head to see what it is.
There's a group of kids with their parents, who look completely horrified and are currently trying to gather their things- and kids - to leave, while repeatedly looking over at Bucky.
Rebekka groans and turns her head back to him.
"You shouldn't give a single fuck about those people.", she states, making him look at her.
"They're affraid... I can't blame them after all that I did." He shrugs.
She sighs and sits up, crawling towards him, until she is kneeling in front of him. She grabs his head with both hands, forcing him to look at her.
"They. Don't. Know. You.", she says, empathizing every single word. "Fuck them!"
She sees his mouth twitch with somewhat of an amused smirk and then he says something that catches her completely off guard.
"I rather not.", he says and she furrows her brows in confusion.
"Huh?", she asks, letting go of his head and sitting back on her feet.
"Fuck them.", Bucky states and raises an eyebrow.
Rebekka stares at him in disbelieve and then bursts into laughter, making a few more heads turn into their direction, but she doesn't care one bit.
"Did you just make a joke?", she asks, still giggling and he shrugs.
"I guess I did, yes..", he nods.
"Good. I like that." She grins and lays back down in the grass.
"This actually explains a lot, you know...", she mumbles after a few minutes of comfortable silence between them.
He hums, signaling her to go on.
"You being who you are..", she says slowly, "The empty apartment, the flip phone, your cluelessness about anything popular from the 21st century..." She lets the end of the list open, knowing he'll get her point.
He hums again, making her smile.
She opens her eyes and props herself up on her ellbows, looking at him leaning against the tree and twisting a piece of grass in his right hand. He looks so harmless and peaceful - it's hard to think of him as a brutal, merciless and inhuman killer.
"Hey, Bucky?", she asks after watching him for a few moments.
"Hm?", he responds and looks up.
"Can I ask you some questions?"
Bucky nods and Rebekka doesn't even has to think about the first thing she wants to know, it just slips out of her mouth.
"How old are you?"
"Technically I'm 106."
"And physically? I mean- You don't look like the typical 106-year-old...", she jokes, making him chuckle.
"About 31 or 32, I'd say.. I was 28, when H.Y.D.R.A.-"
She nods, letting him know he doesn't has to tell her any more.
"And... your birthday?", she asks quickly to stop him from thinking too much about whatever made his face turn so dark in just one second.
"March 10th 1917."
She raises her brows. "I was born on March 1st.", she tells him and he smiles.
"What year?", he asks.
"1996..."
He squints his eyes, thinking hard about something before he speaks again.
"So you're 27.", he concludes.
Rebekka smiles and shrugs.
"I would be.. If the blip hadn't happened..", she says and he nods.
"Right... So you are.. 22? Right?", he asks and she nods.
"That's correct, sir."
"That'd make you 10 years younger than me.", he states, making her scoff.
"Try 79 years..", she muses and he nods, a defeated look on his face.
"Okay, back to my questions.", she then commands.
"Yes, ma'am.", he smiles.
"So... Where are you from?"
"From here.", he says casually.
"Really? You're from Brooklyn?"
"Born and raised.", he nods.
She has to stop herself from asking the next question that pops up in her mind, being sure he wouldn't appreciate being reminded of his dead best friend right now. So she asks the next thing she can think of, as silly as it is.
"What kind of music do you like?"
"That's easy. 40s."
"And your favourite movie?"
"Don't know."
"Book?"
"The Hobbit."
She continues asking him questions about his favourite food, band and song, just for fun, until his phone rings.
He looks at the screen and groans, ignoring it instead of picking up.
"Who is it?", Rebekka asks, wondering who he's ignoring.
"Just Sam.", he simply states and rolls his eyes.
"Sam...?", she repeats and furrows her brows in confusion.
"Wilson."
"The Falcon?!", she blurts out.
Bucky nods and sighs in relief, when the ringing stops.
"You're ignoring him?", she asks and he nods again. "Why?"
He shrugs. Rebekka senses that he doesn't want to talk about it, so she drops the topic and asks him if he wants to go back home instead. He nods and stands up, holding a hand out to help her up. She takes it and pulls herself to her feet. Bucky doesn't move a single muscle as she does that, spurring another question in her.
"You got that super soldier serum, right?", she asks, hoping that doesn't bring up any bad memories.
"I did.", he answers shortly.
"So... how strong are you?"
"Very." Another very short answer.
She doesn't let it slide that easily this time. She wants to know just how strong that serum made him.
"Yeah, but... I mean exactly.", she bores and he huffs.
They are strolling through the Park now, on their way home, and Bucky looks around, making her frown. Suddenly he grabs her around the waist and lifts her up bridal style like she's nothing. Rebekka squeals in surprise and, out of reflex, slings her arms around his neck, which is, of course, completely unnessessary.
"Like lifting a bag of flour.", he tells her as he lets her down again.
"Okay. I'll remember to never get on your bad side then...", she states and raises her eyebrows.
"You're too pretty to ever get on my bad side, doll.", Bucky says, surprising her and, obviously, himself too.
Rebekka feels a slight blush creep up her face at his statement and she doesn't know what to respond, so she stays quiet for a while.
"Sorry, I'm-", he starts to apologize, but she quickly shakes her head and laughs nervously.
"Don't be! It was a nice thing to say.", she assures him. 'So he flirts now...', she thinks to herself and smiles softly.