Control (A Bucky Barnes Fanfiction)

Chapter 14

TW: Mentions of rape when italics begin

The following day, Adeline began her progress on becoming who she wanted to be. She woke up at seven without Natasha there to bug her. She ate an energizing breakfast before beginning with her stretches then going to the gym. During her time alone, she had gotten lazy about her routine and she wanted it back as her first act of becoming who she wanted to be.

Already by the afternoon, she was feeling the morning's workout in her body, but she pushed on to do another session of stretches before calling up Nancy for a chat, then Sam to see if anything new popped up in the Bucky case.

"You're sounding chipper today," Sam commented.

"I'm working on it," Adeline said, playing with a lock of her hair. "Anything new with Bucky?"

"Not much," Sam admitted. "Just that the CIA still has it classified as an open case. There was an update stating that he was possibly seen in a rural town in Russia about two weeks ago."

"If that's true, then we know he hasn't been found by someone else yet," Adeline said.

"Exactly. I just hope it stays that way until we find him," Sam said.

"I hope he's doing okay," Adeline mumbled.

|July 4, 2015|

Adeline labored in the kitchen, wiping the sweat gathering at her brow with her forearm. It was Steve's birthday and she was determined to make up for last year, which was a pretty dismal party consisting of simply watching some movies together. With Adeline's free time she had gotten way too into baking shows. The kitchen had turned into a disaster zone. Powdered sugar coated the counter and failed cakes sank in on themselves, tilting into sad blobs of undercooked sponge. She narrowed her eyes as she pipped on Happy Birthday Steve 97. She stepped back.

"Well, it wouldn't win any awards in the presentation department," she admitted to herself. The frosting layers were uneven and the piping was sloppy. Adeline looked up at the clock. Hopefully she could clean up this mess before they returned. Her hopes came crashing down when she heard the elevator doors open. She turned, putting on a guilty smile as Tony, Natasha, and Steve stopped in their tracks.

"Um, happy birthday, Steve," Adeline attempted, presenting the ugly cake.

"Thank ... thank you, Adeline," Steve choked out, distracted by the mess behind her.

"I tried to make it like on those baking shows," Adeline admitted. "It took a few tries, as you can see, but I think it's completely baked through. And I promise I'll clean up the kitchen."

"It looks like a war zone in here," Natasha commented.

"Oh! Hold on," Adeline said, wiping her frosting covered hands on her apron before rushing to her room, bringing out a single birthday balloon. "And I set up a bunch of board games in the living room."

"This is ... great, Adeline," Steve said. "Thank you, really."

"I'll order some chicken wings," Tony said, walking out, leaving the mess to the three of them.

"You didn't have to bake me a cake, Adeline," Steve said.

"I wanted to," Adeline insisted as Steve looked down at the masterpiece.

"You certainly didn't have to put my age on it," Steve said dryly.

"It's an accomplishment," Natasha assured, patting him on the shoulder. "Not everyone looks as good as you do at 97. Except for Adeline." Natasha gave her a wink and she rolled her eyes.