Twisted Fates | mcu au

⇨ three ⇦

Bucky gives Beth a smile and a wave when he walks into the coffee shop, the Fellowship of the Ring in his hands. He thought that he could come to the coffee shop near closing and stay a little while after. He wanted to talk with Beth about it after he finished it. (Only two chapters left!) He stops in his tracks when he sees someone in the (his) booth.

Beth walks up to him. "He said that he knew you were coming, so I thought it would be okay..."

"Yep," he says tensely. He manages a smile. "Thanks, Beth."

He walks over to the booth and slides in across from the man. "Fury," he greets.

"Barnes," Fury nods. "How have you been?"

Bucky resists the urge to ignore him. "Fine."

"You seem to like this place."

"Hm." Bucky looks out the window.

Fury sighs. "Barnes, SHIELD needs your help."

Bucky drags his gaze from a dog and its owner crossing the street to meet the other man's eyes. "Help how?"

Fury pulls a file from his trench coat. "Something of ours was taken by a man named Loki. He's... not from around here."

Bucky's eyes flick between Fury and the innocent-looking file on the table. "Not from around here, how?" he asks as he moves the file closer to him.

"Loki, the Norse god of Mischief and Chaos."

"Ah." He opens the file and stops. "Whatthefuckisthis," he exclaims when he sees the glowing, blue cube.

"The Tesseract." Fury, at least, has the decency to look a little guilty. "I know you fought for that—"

"Fought for it?" Bucky hisses. "I died for it. Steve died for it."

"I know—"

"Then why'd you come to me lookin' for help?"

"SHIELD is putting together a team. And I want you on it." Fury hesitates. "As Captain America."

Bucky's head snaps up. "What."

"You heard what I said."

Bucky glares at him and raises his voice a little, but not enough to bother anyone else in the loud coffee shop. "I can't believe you have the audacity to come here two weeks after I woke up, tell me that the fucking cube I fought and died for was stolen, and then tell me you want you to join your team as Captain America, who happened to be my best friend who's dead." Bucky's glare hardens once he realizes Fury isn't going to say anything. He grabs the file and walks out.

---

Beth watches as James leaves the coffee shop, curious about his conversation with the man. Once the man leaves, she goes over to clean the table, but there's a book.

The Fellowship of the Ring

That's James' book.

She picks it up and tucks it under her arm, promising to return it. Once the coffee shop closes, she grabs James' book and begins to walk home. She only knows where he lives because she lives in the building across from him.

His apartment building is only a few blocks away, so she is there in just a few minutes. She asks around and finds out which one is his, and she knocks.

---

Bucky jumps slightly at the knock on the door, not expecting it. He opens the door and sees Beth.