Retrograde▸bucky barnes

3. Coffee Shop Girl

"Seems like there's a story there?" Bucky asked.

Lena blushed, formulating how she could tell the story she wanted to in a way that would make sense to someone not 102 years old.

"I grew up in Berlin. And it was different in those days," she did some mental math calculating what should have been going on if she had been an average human with average lifespan. "The Berlin Wall had fallen a few years earlier and the following years were a bit tumultuous. My family was not in the best position, but we made the best of it. Later on as I got older, I wasn't able to see them as much, and the little joys I so loved about Berlin vanished."

"And I was wondering if I was just imagining your slight accent every now and then," Bucky chuckled, taking her story as truth. Lena saw no reason that he should not, but it felt peculiar to reinvent a story for her life.

"Yes, I've been in the States for long enough that most people don't notice it."

"I have," he paused as if considering his choice of words, " worked with enough people from around the world to be able to catch on to accents quite quickly."

"And do you speak German?" Lena asked in German."

"Not as much as I used to," he responded in Russian, grinning.

Lena laughed, "And when did you learn all of this?" she replied in French.

"I could ask the same of you." he replied in Spanish.

"That is a story for another day I think," Lena replied in English.

Bucky chucked, and Lena felt a blush rise in her cheeks, knowing five languages was a very unique skill that she was not sure how to explain of herself. Nor was she sure why anyone else would be so well versed.

"I see," he said in semi-broken French, "But it is quite uncommon to meet someone so fluent in so many languages."

It was Lena's turn to laugh, "I think French is not your forte."

"No, it's not," he said, switching to German, "but that doesn't answer my question."

Lena found that she had been leaning in across the table. She leaned back and caught the eye of a young woman at a nearby table.

"I think we're concerning the other patrons with our language switching," she continued in German.

Bucky shot an eye in the woman's direction and she blushed and ducked her head back toward the book she was reading.

"Or she thinks you're cute," Lena said, internally cringing at her boldness.

Bucky raised an eyebrow, "Or she thinks we're spies conspiring on a secret mission."

Lena laughed at the irony, if only he knew. If only I had never been a spy that went on secret missions. If only I was just a girl flirting with a random guy in a coffee shop.

"I don't think we particularly look like we're on a secret mission. You're drinking hot chocolate and I'm reading Lord of the Rings. Not very spyish."

"Spies are supposed to be covert. Maybe we're just blending in."

"Hmm I see. Regardless, I think that overhearing strangers converse in five different languages in the same conversation is at very least intriguing to most individuals," Lena continued in German.

"What's to say we have to stay here concerning these individuals?"

"Oh?" Lena said, eyebrows raising.

"Maybe our secret mission is to take us elsewhere."

"And where is elsewhere?" Lena grinned.

"I don't know, I hadn't thought that far," he said, switching back to english.

Lena laughed again, relishing in the ease of the conversation despite veering dangerously close to subjects she couldn't explain to a stranger. It was not often she connected so naturally, let alone engaged in colloquial conversation. Perhaps this was a side effect of being free from the brainwashing she had been subject to for so long. Regardless, she wanted to steer the conversation away from being spies; covert missions were no longer a part of her life, she was a civilian now.

"Croissant?" she said, pushing the remaining pastry toward him.

He hesitated, almost surprised at the gesture. Lena supposed that such an offering was far more an establishment of friendship than she had imagined.

"I insist," she said.

"Only if you insist," he said, winking.

"Did you just wink at me?"

"Maybe, why?"

"No reason, you're just giving me the impression of a very exceptionally cliche pre-war romcom."

"And by pre-war you mean....?"

"Like it's the 1940's and you're a dashing army officer and I'm agirl in a foreign coffee shop who will become the real heroine of the story."

Bucky laughed loudly, causing the young woman to look over again.

"And why is that so funny?"

"No reason, no reason," he said between chuckles.

Lena leaned back in her seat after finding that she had been leaning toward him again.

"What makes you think you're the heroine and the 'dashing army officer' isn't?"

"Because that is always the cliche. The hero always thinks he's the hero, and secretly wants to be the hero but realistically it's always the female side character that really gets the job done. Or at least makes it possible for the 'hero' to be able to do the job."

"So then is the woman the hero because she never intended to be the hero?" Bucky said.

"It all depends on your definition of hero," Lena said.

"I see."

"Like um," Lena thought of her limited knowledge of the Blip, "are the Avengers heroes for reversing the Blip? Are they all heroes in the same capacity? Iron Man was certainly pretentious about being a hero from the beginning? Does that make him more or less of a hero?"

Bucky looked like he had swallowed a lemon. He quickly rearranged his features, making her wonder if she had imagined the expression. Then he spoke slowly as if he was trying to conceal the fact that she had hit on something he didn't want to talk about.

"I think-" he started.

"Sorry, I know that a lot has happened with the Avengers over the years that people don't like to talk about."

A half smile briefly appeared, "I lost someone close to me because of stuff with the Blip. You know just ah, post Blip reappearances and stuff."

Lena smiled and nodded, sensing she had killed the mood. There was silence between them for a moment, not uncomfortable but certainly enough to warrant an adjustment in shift in the atmosphere between them.

Bucky's phone vibrated to interrupt the increasing silence. "Ah, I forgot about that. How unfortunate."

Lena raised her eyebrows.

"As much as I was enjoying our plotting of the latest pre-war romcom, I have to go." he said standing up."

"It was," Lena searched for the right word, "fun to see you again."

"Until next week then?"

Lena blinked at him and then impulsively pulled a pen out of her purse and scrawled her phone number on a receipt and offered it to him, "or until the army officer wants to see the coffee shop girl again?"

A slight flare of red flashed across his cheeks as he accepted the paper, "Until then."

...

Lena crawled into bed for an early retirement of the day, commending herself on her "normal person" activities of the day. Her phone buzzed, an unknown number flashing on the screen.

"Does coffee shop girl care to join the army officer for lunch on Tuesday?"

A faint flapping of butterflies twisted in her stomach, "Coffee shop girl would be delighted."