Part II: New World

The bar is crowded despite it being a Monday.

Bucky considers going back to the hotel room instead since Jane must be there by now, but as soon as he enters he changes his mind. The atmosphere is a serene one, not the loud and dark one from The Sticky Horse – as much as he liked Coulson, his bar was mostly frequented by the worse kind of people – a warm lighting fell on the tables, the walls were painted a nice shade of orange, and the ceiling was sky blue, fishing nets hanging from the lamps and roof fans. There were shells decorating the walls, alongside paintings of the sea and boats, and pictures of people he obviously didn't recognise. Still, a large part of him felt like he had been there plenty of times before. It felt... Familiar.

He makes his way to the bar and chooses a stool far from the few ones already occupied. There are three men on the far right corner of the bar talking loudly and laughing, some of the booths are also occupied by people talking as they listen to the jukebox play a song loudly.

"What are you having?"

Bucky turns to find a dark skinned man looking at him. He must be a few years older than him but not many, he offers him a serene smile that reaches his dark eyes. He remembers the question and looks at the wall, not being able to recognise any of the names on the bottles filled with liquids of almost every color, several different brands he never really heard of.

"You have beer?" He finally asks, tapping his fingers against the bar. 

The man nods, "My very own creation" He smiles. 

"I'll have that" Bucky says, "To start" 

The man lets out a sonorous laugh as he reaches for a tall glass, "To start he says" Bucky chuckles, "The name's Luke"

"James" 

It slips, but he doesn’t worry much about it. Luke leaves him his beer and Bucky reaches for it, but the man moves it away from his reach. Bucky frowns, and looks at him. 

"You are not from around here" It's not a question.

Bucky shakes his head, "I'm a...” he trails off, not sure what to say. 

“Don’t worry about it” Luke waves a hand, sliding the beer towards him, “Where are you staying?” 

Bucky looks at him, “The Eye of the Sea” He takes a long sip from the beer.

“Fancy” The man says, “That’s right across from Shell’s Kitchen, ain’t it?” Bucky nods, “Met Jessica?"

“The waitress?”

“Owner” Luke corrects him, Bucky’s brows shoot up.

The man chuckles at his reaction and tells him that Jessica doesn’t like to brag about it. Bucky nods and then empties the glass in his hands. 

“Are you friends?” He asks.

“We’re… Very close” 

Luke’s lips quirk upwards and Bucky frowns slightly before he understands what he means. The man reaches for the glass infront of him, refills it and then gives it back to Bucky. 

"Enjoy" he offers him a small smile. 

“Thanks”

Bucky takes a long sip of the beer, leaving it half empty once the glass slams against the wooden bar. There's a bowl of peanuts infront of him and he reaches for it, grabbing a fistful and taking them to his mouth realising he hadn’t ate much, and it was not a good idea to start drinking on an empty stomach.

"If you need anything, holler" Luke tells him.

Bucky nods mouthful before the man disappears in a door behind the bar. He thinks about telling him that he won't stay for long once he comes back, Jane would be waiting for him... But the atmosphere is so familiar that he feels the need to stay a while longer. Jane would know her way around alone, better than Bucky probably would in any other colony, and Catalean seemed to be a lot more safe than Glassmere. She will be fine without you. He tells himself as he nurses the last of the beer infront of him. Without him having to ask, Luke comes back and refills his glass a few minutes later, and Bucky slides his credit card to him deciding to stay longer. The man stares at it and then shakes his head sliding it back to him.

"I’ll tell you what” Luke says, sliding the card back to him, “As long as you stick to beer, It’s on the house”

Bucky frowns slightly, "Thanks" He says putting his card back inside his pocket. 

Luke chuckles, "You've been traveling long?" 

"Feels like it" He stares at the glass in his hand, he glances around noticing people was still entering the bar, "A lot of people come here, huh?" 

“It’s the most popular joint in town” Luke answers proudly.

A group of men enter the bar, laughing loudly and settling in the booths at the far corner of the bar, next to the jukebox. They remind Bucky of Yondu’s Ravangers, and he remembers that they didn’t belong to any colony, but traveled from one to another as they pleased. Luke notices him staring and tells him that those are fishermen, celebrating that the summer had been kind to them and they have enough fish to last all winter.

Catalean had two stations only, the warm sky blue summer accompanied by sunny days, or the chill winds of winter that came with heavy rains instead of snow. It was hard to fish in winter because of the cold winds of the north, so fishermen would try to fish as many as they could during summer. Part of it would go to other colonies too, carried by Horizon. 

“Here’s for them not getting in a fight with the Ravengers over there” Luke says nodding at the adjacent corner, a small glass filled with yellow liquid in his hand that he drinks in one sip.

Bucky chuckles, “Do a lot of Ravangers come here?” Luke nods, “What about people like me?” Bucky adds, “travelers”

Luke nods, "Of course" Bucky hums looking at his glass, "And every since the ferry started working, we get a lot of folks from Cinders"

Bucky lifts his gaze, "Cinders?"

The man nods, "About a year ago the Commanders of both colonies met” He starts “with Cinders being just on the other side of the cove they decided to merge both colonies" he shrugs, "A ferry ride is all that takes now to cross, it used to be about two or three days traveling" 

Bucky frowns, "Why?"

Luke shrugs, “But if you ask me, it was about time” he continues, “My pops always said it would happen”

"I mean, why now? I don't remember that being possible when I was-" he stops himself, frowning at the once agains empty glass.

Luke eyes him curiously, "Where did you said you were from?”

Bucky looks at him and grips the glass tightly, “I didn’t” he says, jaw clenching his teeth.

That’s when Luke’s eyes go wide, and he whispers loud enough for Bucky to hear him despite the music and the chanting from the fishermen. 

“I know you” Luke says, he grips Bucky’s jaw, moving his face form left to right, “You are Winnie’s son!”

He scowls, wrenching himself from the man’s grip, “I don’t-“

“Bucky!”

Bucky tenses looking at the man with wide eyes.

“It is you!” Luke grins widely, “I would recognise that scowl anywhere!”

“I’m not who you-“

The man shakes his head, “James Buchanan Barnes, do not bullshit me” chuckling amused.

Bucky thinks about making an excuse, maybe an apology too and then he shuts his mouth tightly. Luke knew his name, and maybe he knew more about him that just that, but before Bucky can gather his thoughts and ask anything, Luke pulls him in for a tight embrace across the bar. Bucky taps the man’s back awkwardly and pushes him off him slowly. His eyes fall on a picture hung on the wall. A woman smiling to a crowd, a super trouper shinning on her sequinned dress as she waves at them. Bucky knows that smile, he remembers those eyes looking at him. Luke turns following his gaze, and then looks at him with a smile still on his face. 

“Beautiful isn’t she?” The man reaches for the picture and takes it off the wall.

Bucky takes the framed photo from him.

He feels the man’s gaze on him as he stares at the picture of his mother, and his mind is flooded with fragmented memories of his past. She used to wake him up for breakfast every saturday, the sweet tone of her voice gone as she scolded him for skipping school, a smell of lemon and honey that emanated from her hair as she kissed his forehead before he went to sleep. But apart from that, nothing else comes to his mind, those memories were from when he was a kid, when he still had to look up to see her face and she had to kneel for him to throw his arms around her neck.

“She died before I was taken” Bucky whispers, gripping the frame tightly.

When he looks at Luke, the man frowns slightly, “She died when you were barely old enough to reach this bar, back when it was my father who stood behind this bar” He then narrows his eyes, “You don’t remember?”

“I don’t remember anything” Bucky leaves the picture on the bar and shakes his head slightly, “Nothing before I was taken at least” 

When he looks at Luke, the man frowns slightly, “What do you mean taken?”

Bucky looks at him, not sure if the man was being serious. If Luke knew who Bucky was, he would also know that he had been gone for the past ten years, that he was kidnapped and then… Or he could be lying, and Bucky’s mind was playing tricks on him. the woman in the picture wasn’t his mother and he had never seen the man behind the bar before. He looks at the empty glass infront of him, and remembers that he hadn’t eaten much before he started drinking. Luke doesn’t ask again, instead continuing to talk as he reached for a bottle behind him despite Bucky not paying attention to him.

“… And then you left and a few years later Steve did too-” 

Bucky heart starts racing at the mention of his friend’s name. Steve. The man who haunted his dreams for so long, survived. Maybe he is somewhere away from Catalean, Bucky doesn’t ask where because all he cares is that Steve is still alive. Luke pours an amber liquid on a small glass and slides it towards him. Bucky shakes his head and Luke shrugs, drinking the content of the glass himself. 

Bucky clears his throat, “Did you say he left?”

“Steve?” Luke nods, “After you left, he stayed for a few years, like he was waiting for you to come back” Bucky scowls at his glass, “And then, about four years later Sara died, he had nothing left after that” He sighs, “I still remember you two sneaking in here to be able to see Winnie perform” Bucky feels a smile tug from his lips, “Pops always made me keep an eye on you two”

Bucky tries swallowing the knot in his throat. As much as he tries he is not being able to remember that, and now he knows that Luke and everyone who knew him back then thought that he had simply skipped town. But Steve was with him, he had seen the two men in the docks that night, then same men who knocked him out and took him. Steve, who had left Catalean years later too. Maybe he hadn’t told anyone about that night, and the men who took him had seen Steve and threaten him somehow, so he left Catalean fearing that those men would come back for him.

Bucky runs a hand through his face and hair. He wants to think about it more, but at the same time to just… Let it go for a while, have a drink and let go.

Luke looks at him with a cocked eyebrow, “Why did you come back?” he asks, “After all these years”

“I… I was just passing by” Bucky offers him a smile, and before Luke can ask anything else he taps the rim of the glass infront of him, “May I have another beer?" 

Luke nods.

The man takes the glass and refills it, when he puts in infront of him Bucky whispers a thanks but Luke isn’t looking at him, his eyes drifting at a point over his shoulder, and he straightens before he lets out a low whistle. Bucky frowns turning to face in the same direction, and he blinks several times as Jane makes her way from the entrance. The fishermen, now drunk and even louder than before cheer and whistle, some shoving eachother and others taking their hands to their chests dramatically, as Jane looks around like she’s lost. Bucky doesn’t even realise he is standing up when she spots him, her eyes burying into his before she walks in his direction. 

“Don’t tell me she’s with you” Luke says behind him.

“She’s… My friend”

Luke hums, and then asks, “Close?”

Bucky hears him but doesn’t say anything, feeling his mouth dry as a desert. His eyes are glued to Jane as she walks directly towards him, the warm lighting of the place falls on her brown curls, cascading down her shoulders freely, and the sky blue summer dress she was wearing flowing with each step she gives until she is standing next to him. Bucky swallows staring at her, then noticing one strap of the dress had fallen off her shoulder, he wants to reach and fix it but Jane does it before he gets the chance. 

He wants to tells her she looks beautiful, but when he opens his mouth, “Were did you get that?” comes out instead.

Behind him, Luke lets out a snort and then a disappointment sigh, and Bucky sees him shake his head with the corner of his eye. He turns looks at Jane, who looks down at her dress, fingers twisting infront of her lap as if she is nervous. He curses mentally, not knowing why he said that, or what else could he say.

“I… At the Bazaar” Jane says, taking a seat next to Bucky, “They had so many, they were all so pretty, and the woman selling them was nice so…” She trails off, looking at Bucky as if waiting for him to say something else.

But he simply nods, reaching for the shot glass that Luke left infront of him without him noticing. He feels the liquid burn his throat and settling on his stomach, spreading a warmth that was almost unpleasant. Or perhaps it was just the words he had swallowed with it. 

Jane accommodates next to him, resting her forehands on the bar. Bucky can still hear the men talking about her, even above the music playing from the jukebox a few feet from them, so he moves closer to her glancing – glaring – at them over his shoulder before resting a hand on the stool’s backrest, not possessively just… Protectively. Luke chuckles infront of him, and when Bucky looks at him with a frown the man smiles, turning to look at Jane. 

“What will you have, beautiful?”

Jane looks at Bucky, and then at the empty glass in his hand, “I… What he was having just now” 

“Sure?” Luke asks, and Jane nods, “Very well”

The man leaves a small glass infront of her and reaches for the bottle with amber liquid behind him, pouring it on her glass until it almost touches the rim. Luke slides it infront of Jane, spilling it a little on the wood, and Bucky stares at her expectantly. Jane takes the glass to her lips, drinking the content while Bucky stares at the curve of her neck as she swallows, when she finishes it she leaves the glass on the bar, wrinkling her nose before she shivers and shakes her head.

“It’s horrible” Jane says, looking at Luke apologetically she adds, “Sorry”

Luke lets out a sonorous laugh and Jane chuckles, her cheeks blushing slightly embarrassed. Bucky’s lips quirk upwards and Jane turns to him, smiling softly when she finds him looking at her, still unable to find something to say Bucky simply offers her a small smile that she accepts. Luke, who had been staring between them, clears his throat.

Bucky and Jane turn to him.

“Are you having anything else?” Luke asks, “I can make you a softer drink, sweetheart”

Jane nods, “Please, thank you” she looks at Bucky, “You?”

Bucky nods, realising that Jane wants to stay a while longer too, “I’ll stick to the beer”

He slides his credit card towards Luke, and this time the man accepts it, winking at him before he goes to make a drink for Jane.

The handsome bartender, who tells her to call him Luke, smiles charmingly at her when he comes back a few minutes later, with a sweeter drink for Jane and a tall glass with beer for Bucky in his hands. She takes a sip from her drink, humming happily at the sweet taste, despite still being able to taste the alcohol. Bucky drinks from his beer remaining quiet as Jane tells him about what she did the rest of the day after they parted ways. She tells him about her lunch, and Peter Parker and his aunt May – she lets out the men in black – finally, that she went back to the hotel but decided to come look for him.

“I’m sorry I spent-“

“Don’t worry about it, Jane” Bucky cuts her off, he glances at her dress briefly, “You… It’s a pretty dress”

Jane nods, looking at her glass. It had been the longest alone time she have had in… Since forever, and it had felt great not having someone to tell her where to go or what to do, how to or how much to eat, she felt free. Jane doesn’t tell that to Bucky, staying in silence as she looks around. She liked the atmosphere from the bar, when Claire told her about The Bait being the most popular bar around, she had imagined it being similar to The Sticky Horse. Instead, despite being full of people and having loud music, it seemed like a safe place. She feels Bucky lean closer to her, and she looks at him.

“I found out about Steve” He says.

“Oh” Jane nods, “Is that why you are so quiet?” she doesn’t mean to ask but it come out.

Bucky’s brow furrows, “I didn’t realise I was being” he says, reaching for his beer again.

Jane lets him take a sip, unable to take her eyes off him as she sees his adam’s apple bop when he swallows. Bucky is clean shaven and he had left his jacket in the motel, wearing only a thin grey shirt that stretched across his torso, the dark jeans covering his muscular tights perfectly, Jane can’t help but wonder how could he look so handsome to her in something she had seen him wear before. And then why didn’t he say anything when he saw her wearing something he hadn’t seen her wear before.

She didn’t buy the dress to impress him, but even the stranger behind the bar had offered her a compliment. The strap of the dress falls off her left shoulder again, and she slips it up again, trying to ignore the fact that she feels bothered by not being complimented byBucky. 

Bucky tells her that Steve is alive, but he doesn’t sound too happy, and when he tells her that the only family he had was his mother who died when he was little, she understands why. He points at the picture on the wall, a picture of his mother he tells her, and Jane stares in awe of how beautiful she was.

“She was a singer here” Bucky says, he chuckles sadly, “I didn’t- still don’t remember that” 

Jane scans his features. His eyes go from sad, to relieved and he stays quiet quiet for a few seconds.

“But… Bucky, Steve is alive”

A small smile quirks Bucky’s and he looks at his glass, “He is”

“Maybe more will come to you in the future” Jane continues, “About your mother, and your life here” she says looking at her glass, “If you decided to stay…”

“I don’t want to stay” Bucky says.

Jane looks at him, and their eyes meets for a split of second before he looks away.

“I have nothing here, Jane” he says, “just the possibility of remembering a life that… It’s gone”

Jane stares at him a little longer. She realises how close they are from eachother, she can feel the heat coming from him, and that he had thrown an arm across her back not so long ago. As he reaches for his beer and finishes it, Jane moves closer to him without him noticing, enjoying how his hair smells like the air at the beach and his skin like the after shaving cream he had left in the sink that morning. 

“Those men had sung every song the jukebox plays” He nods at the men on the corner, wiping the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.

Jane glances at them over her shoulder, “Yeah” she turns to him, “I didn’t ask how long you were here”

“You didn’t” Bucky looks at her, “Almost two hours, maybe” he answers, “It passed fast, so…”

“Everything alright here?”

Luke smiles at the both of them, and Jane nods at the same time Bucky tells him they are alright. He asks for a refill to his beer and Luke complies happily, telling Jane to “hollar” if she wanted another drink. 

“He’s nice”

“I didn’t think you would come” Bucky says at the same time, he then chuckles, “Sorry” 

Jane waves a hand, while the other one plays with the rim of her glass, “I would have gotten bored at the hotel anyways” she answers, she glances around noticing there is a lot of women in the bar too, some are dancing and other drinking, “If you… If you rather… You know…” Bucky frowns as she stammers, “Mingle” she finishes looking at two women talking a few feet from them.

Jane had seen them staring in Bucky’s direction before she sat next to him, and she didn’t blame them. Bucky was… Hot. With his broad shoulders, musculas arms, that velvety voice as he spoke, electric blue eyes and chiseled features. He wouldn’t even need a pick-up like they do in movies. She realises she says it out loud too late, when Bucky frowns. And her eyes glance at the women again.

Bucky follows her gaze, “Ah” he looks back at his glass, “Not really”

Jane tilts her head curious, not sure if Bucky doesn’t want to “mingle” – she winces mentally at the wording she used – or if it is because feels like he can’t leave her alone. She bites her bottom lip at that thought, not sure why did her mind went there. You want him to say he rather stay with you, a voice inside of her says. And yes, she admits to herself, she really does.

“You rather sit here with me and mope over a glass of beer?” Jane asks nonchalantly.

“It’s really good beer” Bucky retorts, “And I’m not moping” he cocks an eyebrow at her, “I’m… Reminiscing” 

They stare at eachother for a few seconds before she sees a hint of a smile pull from one side of his lips, and Jane’s own are split by a smile.

“If you want to ‘mingle’ you can” He says, and then leans towards her, “Those men over there literally cheered when you walked in” 

Jane doesn’t look at where he glances, instead keeping his gaze on Bucky. The man, looks back at her, the almost sardonic smile still on his face. For a second she thinks he’s pulling her hair, or maybe making fun of her for… Whatever it was that was so funny to him, but then his smile and gaze soften and she feels his thumb caress a spot between her shoulder blades. She feels embarrassed by the way her skin bristles, and how fast a warmth spreads through her belly. 

“It’s settled then” Jane manages, “We don’t mingle”

Bucky leans back and chuckles, taking the glass into his lips, “Guess we don’t” he says before taking a long sip from his beer, “I’m going to take a leak”

Jane hears his glass being slammed against the wooden bar. She looks at him and nods, looking back at her glass as Bucky stands from his stool, and she follows him with the corner of her eye until he disappears in the crowd. Jane lets a shaky breath out, rubbing her arms to try to get rid of the bristles she could still feel, feeling embarrased at how little can make her stomach twist. She looks at the wall infront of her, filled with bottles of different shapes, colors, and sizes, some framed pictures and old newspaper cut outs, as she tries to distract herself. There is an old radio in the corner too, that reminds Jane of one Darcy kept in her room. She used it to send messages to her friends from the citadel when Julia grounded her for hanging out with said friends, Darcy had repaired it herself and her mother never found out about it. 

“My father got it from some ravangers about ten years ago”

Jane blinks several times, being pulled out of her thoughts by Luke. There was a picture next to it, a younger looking Luke next to a much older man that resembled him, his father, who she understood had been the owner of the bar before he passed it down to his son.

“Does it work?” Jane asks.

“Of course” Luke nods, “It can radio all the way to the Cinders” he continues, “I got myself a few friends over there, it’s easier to just message them than pay for the ferry every time I want to talk to them” he then adds, “And cheaper”

Jane nods softly, not really paying attention to what he said after he mentioned The Cinders.

“This friends of yours…” Jane starts, and Luke hums, “Do they know people?”

“How do you mean?” Luke asks.

Glancing towards the bathrooms to see if Bucky was coming back any time soon, she leans towards Luke. Bucky was an extremely cautious man, if Jane ran the idea of messaging someone about Darcy, he would simply shut it down. So Jane decides to do this herself. The worst that could happen would be Luke’s friend not knowing anyone named Darcy. So Jane tells Luke she is looking for a friend of hers, she had moved to Cinders a while ago and she hadn’t heard of her.

“My buddy knows pretty much everyone in town” Luke nods, “Imma put a word for you”

Jane smiles brightly, “I would appreciate it” she says, “Bucky and I are staying-“ 

“The Eye of the Sea” And when Jane frowns, Luke waves a hand, “Bucky told me” he winks.

“Oh” She lets out a relief breath, “I-“ 

“Can we get more of these?” 

Jane glances at Bucky, who slides the empty bowl of peanuts towards Luke. The man nods and picks up the bowl, before he leaves them alone. Bucky sits next to her then without saying anything for a few seconds, before he runs a hand through his hair and looks at her, eyes traveling from her feet to her eyes. Jane cocks her head, and Bucky offers her a charming smile, with just the right touch of cockiness.

“How'd a nice girl like you,” He asks, “wind up in a place like this?”

A small smile tugs from Jane’s lips as a warmth rushes through her, and Bucky’s lips quirk upwards. In that moment Luke comes back with a new bowl of peanuts and refills Bucky’s glass. Bucky leans back on his seat reaching for the beer and taking a long sip, unbothered by anyone else’s gaze on him other than Jane’s.