Recollection ★ Bucky Barnes

When Do We Start?

Even though he and Bucky hadn't truly seen each other in the better part of seventy years, he still knew his best friend better than he knew the back of his hand. He didn't, however, know what it was that Bucky was feeling at the moment. He knew Bucky was angry and upset because of the current situation he was in, but there was another emotion he noticed hiding in those familiar blue eyes of his. Steve noticed just how much Bucky cared about Marlena, so much that it was consuming him, and he couldn't recall him ever acting this way about a female.

Throughout high school, and even after high school, Bucky had had quite a lot of girlfriends. Most of his relationships were casual and happened more so along the lines of trying to boost Steve's confidence with girls. Bucky cared about them, of course, but never to an extent such as this one. Bucky was willing to risk everything to bring Marlena back to him, no matter who he had to hurt or kill in the process, and although Bucky was one of the most caring people in the world back then, Steve doubted he would do something so drastic for those girls. It was a new side to the old Bucky that Steve was beginning to notice, and he was slowly working on the mystery of what exactly it could be.

"You're goin' after her, aren't you, Buck?" Steve asked as he leaned against the door frame. Hearing his name come out of Steve's mouth comforted him slightly, but it was not enough to remove him from the agony of the situation he was feeling inside.

"You don't have to come with me," he said with furrowed eyebrows.

"I know—when do we start?"

Bucky gave his old friend a small smile in response. He stood up and shoved Marlena's cell phone into his pocket before heading over to Steve. He was more than ready to head out of the door until he remembered Mason. He hadn't seen the boy since he had ran upstairs to Marlena's room, and the thought of something happening to him as well scared him even further. He couldn't lose another Claire. He was barely holding himself together because of Marlena's absence, and he didn't know what he would do if he were to lose Mason too.

"Where's Mason at?" Bucky asked Steve frantically.

It was more than obvious to Steve that Bucky cared deeply about the Claire family, despite not having known them very long. Steve cared about them as well, but his affection had more to do with the fact that they were the descendants of one of his very dear friends. Bucky's emotions were based solely off of the time he had spent with them, as well as how much they contributed in helping bring him back. He was grateful for them, and he had every right to be.

"I'm not sure," Steve answered, stepping out into the hallway to look for him.

Bucky angrily ran a hand through his hair in an attempt to keep from punching Marlena's bedroom wall out.

He was about to head out of the room when he heard sniffles coming from inside Marlena's closet. He rushed over and pulled the door open, startling the small boy sitting on the floor. He was holding one of Marlena's sweatshirts in his hands, and Bucky frowned when he noticed the tears running down his face.

"Is my sissy gonna be okay?" he squeaked.

Bucky knelt down in front of him and did his best to smile at the boy. "She's gonna be fine, buddy."

He had a hard time trying to convince his own self about Marlena, but he didn't want Mason to be upset. He looked so much like Marlena that watching him cry was almost like watching her cry, and he did not need images of a crying Marlena inside his head. It would only make him feel worse than he already did.