The Winter Wraith

Chapter 20

“We were?” Adina softly spoke up.

“Yes, yes, we were,” Bucky said, nodding at her with wide eyes, “I told you about it this morning, okay? Let’s get going then.”

Peter was still standing in the hallway as the others passed by his dumbstruck figure.

“Come on, Peter. You can have supper with us,” Steve offered as the pair of ex-Hydra soldiers disappeared from view.

“Thanks, Mr. Rogers, but I actually promised May I would be home in time for dinner with her. We’re going to have chicken pasta, we were supposed to have it yesterday but—oh, no, I forgot to pick up the chicken again! Sorry, Mr. Rogers, I’ve got to go!” Peter frantically rushed through his words, already running to the stairs.

Meanwhile, Adina walked herself over to Bucky’s room. He said he was going to clean up and change before they went out. It was going to be her first time being out of the Compound and in the city since she first arrived here. She was very excited, but while she was thinking through it, she realized one thing that slightly dampered her joy. So, she found herself reaching up and sharply rapping her knuckles on Bucky’s door.

The door was harshly yanked open, an angry Bucky on the other side.

“What do you want this time, Sa—oh, Adina. What do you need?” Bucky said, his irritated demeanor swiftly dropping for a calmer one.

“I don’t have any long-sleeves, and…” she gestured to her conspicuous power dampener resting on her wrist.

Bucky went back into his room. A few moments passed with Adina awkwardly waiting outside. As she was about to just leave, Bucky came back out and threw a black jacket at her.

“This should work,” he said as he started walking away in the direction of the garage.

Adina looked at the leather jacket crumpled in her hands and quickly slipped it over her arms. It was a bit big on her 5’4” frame, but it would do. She followed Bucky in her new jacket.

~~~~~~

“You know, Bucky, when someone says ‘wait up’, the other person is supposed to wait up. You almost left me behind, man,” Sam said as he squeezed back into the small booth, a drink in hand, next to Bucky.

“Yeah, because that would’ve been so unfortunate,” he sarcastically replied.

Adina inwardly rolled her eyes and tuned them out; she had had enough of their bickering in the car on the way here. She just wanted to eat her pillowy pancakes in peace. They were de-lic-ous. She’s not a world renowned food critic, but Adina would definitely rate these five stars. She hadn’t had pancakes this good since, well, whenever she last had them before Hydra.

“Adina, why are you drowning your pancakes in syrup? I think that’s enough.”

“Let the kid do what she wants, Bucky. Plus, it tastes better that way,” Sam replied, giving a knowing look to the teen.

“Bucky, when can I train with everyone with my full abilities?” Adina suddenly spoke.

Both men were caught off guard by the sudden change in topics. Adina must've been thinking deeply about this for quite some time to randomly bring it up. In fact, she had been. She didn’t have much else to think about during the team’s sparring sessions. She’d much rather dwell on her newest strange memories, but that seemed to be a dead end so far.

“When you’re ready,” Bucky gruffly replied, going back to cutting his steak.

“I am ready.”

“That’s not for you to decide.”

“It’s not fair to me to not let me train and develop my powers. I need to be ready for when they come back for me. I have to be able to protect myself when that happens,” she pleaded, her voice straining at the end.

“Look,” Bucky started.

“She has a point. It would be good for her to gain control over her abilities,” Sam interjected.

After a long moment of silence, Bucky let out a sigh.

“Alright.”

Sam thrusted his hand out to her, waiting for a high-five, to which Adina flinched at before completing the universal sign of victory and celebration. She had been practicing on how not to flinch, but the pesky old habit kept slipping through the chinks of her armor. It embarrassed her to show plain vulnerability like that in front of others, especially when they meant no harm.

“Good job, kid,” Sam praised, causing Adina to beam.

“Thanks, Sam. First, I think I should work on—”

“Uh, uh,” Bucky interrupted, shaking his head, “you didn’t let me finish. I’m just going to talk to the team about it. There’s still a chance the rest will decide you aren’t ready.”

Adina’s smile drooped.

“But, it’s a small chance, right?”

Bucky sighed again, knowing the varying and unabashedly harsh opinions of the team. Sam kicked him underneath the table, giving him a pointed look, before he could answer.

“Yeah, sure, a small chance. Just finish eating your pancakes,” he said dismissively, gesturing to her unfinished dinner, as he went back to his own meal.

He didn’t miss how her small smile slightly widened at his reassurance.

Published: 7/5/22

A/N: I can't believe it's already chapter 20; I thought I would've been much farther into the story at this point. Thank you for so many views and sticking with the story. If you have any recommendations/constructive criticism please leave it in the comments  :)

Also~~AP scores came out today and I got my first 5 on one of my exams!