Chapter 3
“Elena sent me” James says, it works like a charm, because Steve Rogers is standing in front of him 10 minutes later.
“Hi” James smiles and Steve stares, “Yeah, I know I look like him. Can we talk?”
“Uh, sure” he nods, leading the man to the private conference room.
“I’m James” he says, “It’s so cool to finally meet you. Mom used to show me your photos, you know. And grandma had all these stories about you and uncle Bucky.”
“Is he okay?” Steve asks.
“As much as can be expected” James tells him, “I’m here about something else.”
“What?” Steve frowns.
“When grandma got old, her mind kinda went” he says, “Started thinking I was him.”
“I can’t blame her” Steve says, James shrugs.
“It was near the end” he says, “When she pulled me in, and told me she’d kept my secret. That she never told anyone. Said something about ‘you and Stevie’ and our secret.”
“Secret?” Steve frowns.
“She never told me what it was. But she didn’t tell anyone. When she passed she gave me a key to a safe” he continues, “And she told me that, if little Stevie ever shows up, to give it to him.”
“I don’t get it” he frowns, “I died.”
“Ah, yeah” James snorts, “Thing is, Grandma idolized her big brother. So she used to say that, since Bucky had to keep you safe, you were still out there somehow.”
“I only knew her as a little girl” he says, “I’m glad she had a good life.”
“You know, she used to tell me that museums wanted to get their hands on this stuff” he tells Steve, “She took her job seriously, keeping it all safe. Oh, Bucky wanted me to give you this.”
He digs around his pocket and hands him a photo, “Said he did some research and couldn’t find a picture of her anywhere online.”
Steve takes the picture, his eyes fixated, “Thank you” he mutters, “Can you give him something from me?”
“Yeah, sure” he says, “As long as it’s not a tracker.”
“No – no” he shakes his head, “Just – a letter.”
“He’s doing well, you know. And he’ll come back. We’re just trying to figure out the legal side of it” James tells him, “So we don’t have to lose him again.”
“I understand, really, I do” Steve replies quickly, and James feels kind of bad for him.
“Okay – uhm, wait” he sighs, pulling out his phone and pulling up a video he made last week, showing it to Steve.
[…]
Steve has never felt as vulnerable as he does now. Sitting across this man who looks so much like Bucky, who knows where he is.
“Here” he says, sliding the phone towards him and pressing the play button on a video.
The video shows Bucky, with the little girl, Winnie, sitting on his lap. He’s reading her a story from a picture book.
“But then the next princess walked in with her brother and the prince froze” he reads, turning the page, “Oh my, the prince says. What a beautiful prince. I want to marry him.”
Bucky frowns at the pictures, “You know, I keep forgetting that’s all legal now” he smiles to himself, turning another page.
He finishes the story and Winnie hugs him, tugging a bit at his hair, “Your hair is too long” she complains, “daddy should cut it, he’s really good at it.”
The video ends there.
“Thank you” Steve smiles, “He was always good with kids.”
“Winnie adores him” he says, “We all do.”
“He’s got quite the charm.”
There’s a silence between them, as Steve looks at the picture, “He’s doing better, right?” he asks again, James nods.
“Yeah” he says, “He is. Getting better every day.”
“Okay” Steve, “Thank you.”
He wants to say something else, but his phone starts beeping loudly and obnoxiously, “And, that’s my cue” he gets up, and James follows his example, “You’ll be in touch?”
“Yeah, I’ll come by again” he says, “Or someone else will.”
[…]
“Is that James?” Bucky asks, looking at the picture of a young Betty holding a baby.
“Oh, no” Miles sighs, “That’s Olivia.”
“Who’s Olivia?” Bucky frowns, he hadn’t heard the name before.
“James’s sister” Miles says, looking away for a second as he takes a deep breath.
“Where is she?”
“We don’t know” Miles replies, going to a cabinet and pulling out a binder, “See, Olivia is a journalist. She was working on a story last year, and about 6 months ago we lost all contact. There was a video, saying they caught the American Spies, but no names and no photos. So we don’t know if it’s her.”
“Has anyone gone looking for her?” Bucky asks, Miles shakes his head.
“Not that we know of” he says, “Betty tries not to think about it too much. I’m gonna be honest with you buddy, I think Olivia disappearing was a big motivation for Betty to bring you home. Not knowing what happened is the worst part of it. My little girl is somewhere, alive, dead, I don’t know. I just want to find her, you know?”
“I understand” Bucky looks down, “When I was 13, mom sent me to the market with Becca, she was about 6 then. I looked off for a second and suddenly she was gone. After that I had my radar on for any unattended child I saw.”
“You must have been a great big brother” Miles says, “Rebecca loved telling stories about you. Never told that one though, probably too young to remember.”
“Yeah” Bucky frowns for a second, “Uhm – do you think there’s a way I could call or text Steve without him being able to trace it?”
“Hmmm” he looks surprised by the question, but seems to think about it, “Should be, yeah. If I can get him an encrypted phone, and you. Actually, I might still have the right materials laying around from my security days. Give me a day or two and I will make it happen.”
[…]
He delivers an envelope to the Avengers tower. A simple message with “to Steve from Elena” written on it.
[…]
Bucky thinks about it for a moment. Typing the message and deleting it at least 4 times before he closes his eyes and hits send.
J.B. “You have to find her.”
S.R. “Find who?”
J.B. “Olivia. Becca’s granddaughter. She went missing 6 months ago.”
S.R. “I’ll look into it.”
S.R. “I hope you’re well.”
S.R. “I miss you.”
Bucky sighs, turns the phone on silent and shoves it into the top drawer of the little desk in his room.
He’s not ready for this.
Steve keeps his promise. He also sends a message every once in a while.
[…]
His hands are shaking when the message comes in. He knows it’s from Bucky. He knows that this means Bucky wants to reach out, wants to talk to him.
“You have to find her”
He frowns, who?
“Olivia. Becca’s granddaughter. She went missing 6 months ago.”
He doesn’t send another message after that. All he can do know is find Olivia and keep his promise. He asks Tony for help, and Tony delivers. He always does. He also tells Steve not to get involved in the case, because it’s too close to home for him. it takes some convincing from Natasha before he agrees.
Steve keeps the phone in his pocket. He tries not to – he really does. He tries to give Bucky the time and space he needs, tries to wait until he sends a message himself.
He fails.
It starts with an occasional ‘good morning’ or ‘sweet dreams’.
It evolves into a ‘Hope you’re doing well’ and a ‘I miss you.”
And then, after two weeks of nothing, he sends a message complaining about TV and Netflix.
“How am I supposed to catch up on 70 years of bad tv?”
“They made me watch a tv-show called ‘say yes to the dress’, and I hate it”