Safe Haven | B. Barnes

like family

Bucky jolted awake when a heavy knocking came from the door. His eyes felt swollen to the point where they refused to stay open and his mouth was dry. He sat up on the bed and pushed his hair out of his face.

The knocking came again this time a little more urgent than the last. "Buck? You in there?" Steve's deep voice came from the other side.

"Yeah," he responded tiredly and rubbed his eyes.

He got off the bed and walked to the door. Upon opening it, Bucky saw both Steve and Sam there, ready to go with their backpacks and looking showered with their caps on. Bucky pinched the bridge of his nose, "What time is it?"

"Time for your lazy butt to get moving, Sunshine," Sam said dryly.

Bucky glared at Sam who raised his eyebrows expectantly. Steve simply shrugged and offered a lopsided grin, agreeing with Sam but not being so rude about it. Bucky sighed and shut the door.

It took him less than three minutes to change and brush his teeth and his hair. Yes, his hair. While he may be care less about beauty, he figured not having nappy hair wouldn't draw attention to himself.

It was beginning to get annoying, he was debating having it cut off but he had better things to do.

When Bucky opened the door once again, both Steve and Sam we're talking in the hallway. "Well you're gonna have to, Steve. I'm still a fugitive of the US government. You are excepted to be dead."

Bucky paused and placed his cap on his head, glancing at both men before walking forward.

The dreams he had last night left him very depressed when he woke up but he tried not to complain. It was a break from the faces that haunted him at night.

But still.

It hurt, which sucked because he was barely starting to feel again and the first thing that comes to him is the sinking, twisting, taunting, breath-taking, mocking realization of what he lost and could never get it back again.

"Steve?"

"Hm?"

"Did I ever want a family?"

Steve had to stop in the middle of the hallway and stepped sideways to look at Bucky. With an empathetically grim frown, he answered, "Yeah. You were going to name your first son after your grandpa." Steve sniffed and turned back to continue walking.

Bucky mindlessly followed the men back to the truck. Then he paused. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a man staring at him. Well not just him but all three of them. When Bucky paused Sam did also and casually glanced around before ducking his head into the car. "Officials?"

"No. Witnesses."

Somehow word must've gotten out that the three fugitives were in that city because as soon as Sam drove away, the man that was staring at them blankly pulled out his phone and began pointing at the disappearing car.

Steve huffed in frustration and began to rub his forehead. "Can't you ask her to meet us somewhere where prying eyes can't see," he asked Sam who involuntarily shrugged.

"Nat's gonna have to know because she's supposed to be waiting for us." Sam continued driving down to the appointed cafe where the men would meet with the spy.

Steve groaned and rubbed his forehead with his index finger in thought. Before heading down to Marge's house yesterday, Sam drove by the destined cafe and they went inside to check the place out.

It was a small, cozy - crowded in Bucky's opinion - setting and had moderate customers coming in and out. Enough to not attract unwanted attention but not too much to catch the attention of curious ears. When Sam parked the car in front the cafe, all three men looked skeptically inside. They couldn't see Nat at first but when they finally spotted her sitting with all the normalcy a spy could have, the three of them piled inside the cafe.

The waitress there, who seemed to be the only one working, smiled warmly at the three who either nodded or smiled in return. They slid into the booth Nat was waiting in, Steve had Bucky slide in first before sitting next to him and Nat had Sam slide in before she did.

"So what's happening?" Steve asked directly. Nat scoffed, "Well nice to see you too, Rogers." She reached into her pocket and leaned back against the back of the booth, thus allowing her to see the window and everyone one passing by. She could never be sure if someone followed her or not.

"Ross wants you back in the Raft. No, not the Raft you broke into to free your friends," she paused and tipped her head down to peer at Steve from over the rim of her aviators, "A new high tech one that not even Banner could break out of if he turned into the other guy. If he was even here that is." Nat finished and waited as the same waitress came to bring all four of them coffee. The men tilted their heads down so their caps could cover their faces. "Thank you, sweetie." Nat smiled warmly at the girl who smiled in return.

When the waitress was out of earshot, Nat began again. "Ross will stop at nothing to get you guys back under his eyes. You really hurt his pride and his money." Nat took a sip of the coffee after adding in some cream she got from the nearby cup on the side of the table. "Oh, this is good. Anyhow, my best idea is that you three stay out of sight until this passes over. In other words, no hotels or motels, or any place that can trace back to you."

Nat slid her hand into the pocket of her loose sweater and pulled out an envelope, "Some help if you need it." She slid it to Steve who peeled the lip back to see it's contents.

"Thanks for coming, Nat. We appreciate it." Steve jammed the envelope filled with money in the hidden pocket of his sports jacket. "Well, I do owe a debt. And California? Really?" Nat stood as did the rest. "Well, it was Sam's idea," Steve smirked playfully at his friend who feigned a mock betrayed expression.

Nat grinned tiredly in response and stood up after taking a sip of coffee and leaving a twenty under the cup as a tip. The men followed soon after. With this new information in mind, they all subconsciously agreed with Nat. "So now where do we go?"

"Think about it on the way to Marge's house. I wanna say goodbye before we go." Sam said softly and turned the car around to go back from the way they came. 

Hope this is a break from "Hydra is the all-time enemy" thing. Vote and comment if you like it!