Chapter Text
Chapter 1 —------ Bucky
When the Sentry had caught his metal arm, later tearing it off, Bucky was reminded of another he had once met. A teen in a red and blue suit that talked too much and crawled on walls. Spider-boy or something. The memory flashed through the back of his eyes as he remembered the boy catching the metal arm with a nerdy exclaim of, “Dude, you have a metal arm!” Bucky asked himself, after the fight with The Void, once the team was in the tower and safe, what had happened to the spiderling and where he was now.
Bucky had ended up asking the rest of the team inconspicuously if they knew of the young vigilante, or hero. They weren’t exactly helpful, to say the least. Well except for Yelena. She ended up asking her friend or whatever, Kat Bish, about spider-boy. Kat was helpful and revealed that he was still active, somewhat.
The light ringing of an overhead bell nudged Bucky back into reality. He stepped forward into the dimly lit cafe, the air smelling of all different kinds of coffees with a whiff of some sort of pastry. The shop was small, homey, the walls were painted a tan color, with the counters a redwood blend. There were but two booths filled and three workers that could be seen.
Bucky stepped up after reviewing the menu and checked the current barista’s nametag. Peter, was the guy’s name apparently. This Peter looked to be like 15, he seemed so young. His eyes were round and brown, with his hair being a similar walnut brown. He looked plain, well except for his eyes. They were familiar, like a mirror looking back at Bucky, or like those of the team that had forged through pain and mistakes. They were old, too old for a kid to wear.
Blinking, Bucky noticed Peter’s mouth moving, ah, he had spaced out. Luckily, he was able to catch the tail-end of the boy’s sentence, “-for you?”
Oh, he was asking for the order. Bucky blinked again before ordering a simple black coffee with a tiny bit of cream. The brunette raised an eyebrow at the order but only asked for his name.
“Bucky,” He answered Peter, passing some money into the boy’s awaiting hands and walking to a secluded booth. Once Bucky had sat down he got back to thinking, even though this cafe is small and definitely not well known, anyone would recognize the Winter Soldier, or now Bucky Barnes from “The New Avengers” as Val had dubbed the dysfunctional team. But, Peter, he still asked for his name, curious. There was also a strange feeling etched into the teen’s expression, Peter seemed to be sad at the sight of Bucky, yet there was recognition. Even more curious.
“Black coffee with cream for Bucky!” A familiar nerdy voice rang out. Bucky blinked and tried to remember where he’s heard that voice before as he stood up and walked to the counter. Oh, that’s right, It’s Peter, the barista who had taken Bucky’s order, of course he would recognize the teen’s voice. After all, it was just a few minutes or so ago. These spacey thoughts and brain is why Bucky had needed a coffee.
Bucky sat back down and took a sip of his coffee, surprised by how good the simple order turned out to be. His mind went back to wandering, despite the tangy taste of the coffee. It was a true test of strength to catch the metal arm that connected to Bucky’s scarred shoulder. Steve had struggled even with his shield, no, it’s Sam’s now. Yet, this spider-kid had caught his arm without a strain. Weird.
Something crinkling in front of him made Bucky blink out of his mind once again. God, he’s spacey. When Bucky looked up he saw where the noise had originated from, it was Peter, standing right next to his booth in the corner with a clear-like white plastic tube.
Peter extended his hand holding the plastic before setting the tube onto the table with a small smile, “these help me when I get…. spaced after The Void incident.”
Peter stood there awkwardly for a minute, probably waiting for a reply, before speaking again, “you can have all of them.”
Once Peter had walked away and Bucky had finally stopped staring at nothing, he inspected the clear tube. Oh, it’s crackers. Carefully he opened the bag before slowly biting into the cracker with caution, he slowly chewed one of the pieces. It’s salty. And surprisingly good. Hmm. Bucky grabbed another and another and ate, they were good, really good.
Once he ate enough crackers and drank all of his coffee Bucky stood up and threw the empty cup away before walking back into the bustling of the familiar New York streets. Somehow, Bucky’s mind was clearer, less foggy and he was actually in the present. He once again could study the people curling around him, their steps hitting the cement with a slight pound that played in sync. Bucky could notice anything coming towards him and hear every sound again. Oh. Maybe Bucky was out of it after the scenes he had watched, played out in the same way in a never ending cycle. Round and round. Over and over again. All in The Void. Huh.
Bucky safely made it back to the tower and headed up to the common room via elevator. Ava is probably anywhere and everywhere. Yelena is most likely hanging in the vents, possibly napping. Alexei is definitely taking his nap and Walker is usually watching his family from afar. Bob, being Bob, is most likely washing dishes. Bucky snuck a cracker into his mouth as the elevator door opened and he found Ava lounging on the couch with some weird space movie playing on the flat screen TV. The woman curtly nodded in his direction before returning to her show.
It was always quiet in the tower, each person who called the building home preferred silence to a bustling environment. The TV’ s buzz and humming was but one of the only sounds that could be heard in the silence.
Bucky carefully sat on the couch, respectful keeping his distance from Ghost before clearing his throat and awkwardly asking, “Where are the others?”
Ava swiftly picked up the remote and paused the TV, her hair not moving an inch despite the movement. The woman turned her attention to Bucky and hummed softly, “Walker is where he always is, Guardian is grocery shopping, and Yelena and Bob are playing games on Yelena’s floor.” Huh, Bucky had been wrong about what most everyone had been doing.
Bucky nodded in understanding before slowly standing up and stepping towards the kitchen. Once in the kitchen he scoured the cupboards for crackers of similar taste to the ones gifted to Bucky by Peter. When he ended up empty handed Bucky walked back over to Ava and asked, “Do you have Alexei’s phone number?”
Bucky ended up having to head down to Yelena’s floor when Ava shook her head. Maybe they should all exchange numbers eventually. He pressed the button for Yelena’s floor and waited for the elevator to ding with the sound of arrival.
Bucky stepped onto the wood floor and found Yelena and Bob perched on top of the kitchen island with playing cards in their hands. Bob pounded the island with a triumphant exclamation of “31!” Yelena sighed in defeat as she laid down her cards.
The blonde noticed his arrival first with a nod in his direction. Bob, noticing the nod, turned his head to see Bucky, “Hey Bucky.”
“Hello, Bob and Yelena,” Bucky replied before turning almost all of his attention fully to the blonde, “can you text Alexei for me?”
“Depends,” Yelena replied, her smooth Russian accent rolling off of her tongue, “What do you want to say?”
“Can you ask him to pick up some crackers that are like salty while he’s out?” Bucky asked.
Yelena hummed while she shuffled the cards they had been playing with, “yeah sure.”
Bob turned to Bucky with a small grin etched into his features, “Bucky, you should join us for a game.” Bob reminded him of a puppy, huh.
With a small pause to think Bucky decided, why not? “How do you play this again?”
So Bucky sat on a chair like a respectful human being while Bob and Yelena lounged on the island like freaks. Yelena finished shuffling the cards, passing them out, while Bob explained how to play 31 and the rules. It was pretty easy to pick up actually.
While waiting for her turn, Yelena had pulled out her phone, most likely texting her father.
After playing a round, Bucky decided to play another, what was supposed to be one game turned into many. It got him thinking. Maybe Bucky should go to the cafe again someday soon. Maybe get to know the nice boy with the sadness swimming in his eyes. Peter.