Making Up For Lost Time - [James Barnes x Male OC]

1

Bucky's Point of View

I was sitting on the examination table, while everyone sat around me.

Shuri and Tony were standing around a hologram of the timeline we were in the process of creating for the United nations, per their 'request'.

Request is a nice way of saying command, honestly.

But, anyway, we ran into a problem.

"Are you sure you were asleep?" Tony asked for the tenth time, looking at me.

"Yes," I answered. AGAIN.

"But it says here you were awake. Hydra wouldn't have messed that up," He argued.

Shuri looked between me and the file which held the times I was woken up and put to sleep, thinking.

"James? What is the last thing you remember leading up to you being 'asleep'?" She asked, and I furrowed my eyebrows, thinking.

"I just finished a mission, and I was doing a sweep to make sure I didn't leave any traces. I walked into a building. That's the last thing I remember."

Shuri sat down in a chair in front of me, looking me in the eyes.

"Close your eyes, James. I want you to think deeper than just what you saw. What did you smell? Hear? Feel? What was the temperature? Was it warm or cold?" 

I took a deep breath, and closed my eyes, thinking.

"It was raining outside, and cold . . . inside was warm."

"Good, good. What did the building sound like inside? Was it loud? Quiet? What noises did you hear?" She asked, her voice calm and gentle.

"it was quiet . . . I didn't hear anything but humming. Someone was humming." I answered, nodding as I remembered the sound.

It was actually a very nice sound.

"Was someone in the building with you?" She asked. "Yes. One person. A man."

"A man? Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I know because he asked me if I was lost." I heard Steve chuckle, making me crack a smile.

"Alright, what did the building smell like?"

I took a moment, thinking so hard my brain started hurting. 

"It smelled like- I'm not sure." I shook my head. "Just do your best, James." She said, pushing me to answer.

"It smelled like coffee, and really good smelling baked stuff." As I recalled the smell, my mouth started watering.

"Ok. Now focus on the man; what did he smell like?"

"He smelled like . . . I can't really say, just that he smelled nice?" I offered.

"Alright, what did he look like? Was he tall? Short? Muscular? Thin?"

"He was tall; taller than me. He was tan, and muscular."

"And what did his face look like?"

"His face- . . ."

I froze.

I couldn't breathe- I couldn't think.

"Bucky?"

'James?'

With that, and everyone starting to shake me to get me to stop, I fainted.

-----------------------Flash Back-----------------------

I stumbled into the first building I saw, and was thankful nobody was there.

Well . . . at least, I thought nobody was there, but someone was humming.

very nicely, but that meant I wasn't alone.

A man popped his head out from behind the counter of the- what I assume is- coffee shop.

"I'm sorry, sir, but we're- are you ok?" He asked, noticing the blood on my clothes and hands. it wasn't my blood, so I just nodded slightly.

He hopped over the counter, and when he got a couple feet away, I backed up quickly.

"Ok, sorry, I won't come any closer . . . are you hungry?" He asked, and I hesitated, before nodding. He quickly grabbed a muffin from behind the counter, and held it in the center of his palm, holding it out to me.

"You can have it, if you want."

I slowly reached for the muffin, before I pulled back, not wanting to get blood on it. He noticed my predicament, and set the muffin on the counter. "Do you want to wipe all of . . . that . . . off?" He asked.

Clean the blood off?

I'm allowed to do that?

He saw the hesitation on my face, and walked into he back room, coming out holding a bowl of water and a wet towel.

he stood next to a table, and smiled at me awkwardly. "I can clean it off for you, if you want."

I thought about just how mad my handler would be. But . . . what he doesn't know won't hurt him, right?

I sat down, and the man gently wiped the blood off my hands, removing my blood soaked gloves and setting them on the table.

"My name is Stefan. What's your name?" He asked, handing me the muffin.

My name?

I don't have a name, so I shrugged. "You don't know your own name?" He asked, and I shook my head. He stared at me for a few minutes as I ate my muffin, confusion and concern in his eyes.

"Can you speak?"

I paused for a minute.

". . . yes." My voice was rough and hoarse from lack of use, but he still heard me, giving me a small, gentle smile.

"Are you in trouble?" He asked, and I finished my muffin, thinking of an answer.

"Yes."

"Do you want to call someone?" I quickly shook my head, looking at him with panic in my eyes.

"No!" 

He nodded, holding his hands up in surrender. "Ok, ok. Do you need a place to stay? A point in the right direction? Where are you headed?"

"I . . . don't know." I answered, and he nodded slowly, thinking deeply.

"Ok, well, you need new clothes, and a bath." His nose scrunched up in disgust as he sniffed.

It was cute.

He held his hand out to me. "You can stay with me. Let's go and get you cleaned up."

I stared at his hand.

He wanted to help me?

Was he gonna take me back to my handler? Surely not; he would've done that by now.

I stood up, and held out my hand, which he took in his, gently tugging on it as he led me out of the coffee shop, holding my gloves in his other hand.

He locked the doors to the coffee shop, and put the keys in his pocket.

". . . thank you." I whispered.

He smiled at me, his smile making me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

I like this feeling.

"Don't worry about it. let's get out of the rain."