Safe Haven | B. Barnes

diane ramsey

Marge sighed and opened the door, greeting the officer and the official-looking woman with a cautiously puzzled smile, "Yes, Officer, what can I do for you?" she asked politely.

While the mothering woman's attention was caught on the tall, balding officer and the slim woman, Marge failed to see the second police officer in the truck, pull a boy with green eyes and brown hair from the back seat.

"Well, we found one of your boys, Elliot Cruz, ditching school today. He was spotted in a McDonald's about two miles from his school," Officer Kane paused and stepped aside as the female police officer guided a sheepish looking Elliot up the stairs of the porch. "Is that so?" Marge said, a chasting, directed look at Elliot.

She noticed the boy's mannerisms. He was standing straight up, head up and shoulders back but his eyes were cast to the ground below him. His facial expressions remained stoic as he slowly shuffled closer to her. "Elliot, I'll talk to you inside," Marge said in a gentle but firm tone. Elliot bowed his head and stepping inside.

"Thank you, officer." The tall man smiled politely and motioned to his partner to head back to the police car. However, the woman from the black car didn't move from her spot, a black briefcase in her hand. Marge stopping her trek back inside, "And what can I do for you, miss?" At this point, it became evident that the woman was not there on a social affair.

The woman, however, smiled a polite smile and stuck her hand out for a handshake, "My name is Mary Coleman, I'm the lawyer for Diane Ramsay, the aunt of Angeline Ramsay. I have a few matters concerning Angeline. May I step inside?"

~~

Steve accidentally nudged Bucky from the back, almost causing him to lose his balance from his perch on the corner of the banister. "What's going on?" Sam whispered to Steve from behind.

Bucky lowered his brows, "I don't know Sam, maybe if you shut up, I can hear." Bucky whispered aggressively in reply to Sam who grunted softly. Steve, who was sandwiched between to two, sighed and refrained from hitting both upside the head.

Elliot, still as irritated as ever, trotted up the stairs and turned down the hallway the men were hiding in. He paused briefly and acknowledged the guys before slipping past them to get to his room to drop off his bag.

"Oh, so that's what happened," Sam concluded, his joking charm back after realizing that they were no longer in danger.

Still, Steve, ever so cautious Steve, waited for Elliot to return from his room to ask. Sure enough, the boy was walking out of his room when Sam intercepted him, asking him the very question.

"The cops are gone. But there's a lady downstairs still." Elliot answered briefly, excusing himself to head downstairs. "Psst!" Sam called him back.

Elliot, who's simmering attitude fell when he finally apprehended the odd behavior from the two Avengers and the most feared ex-assassin on the run, paused and glanced at them oddly. Before he could say anything, however, the front door opened once again. Instead of one voice, two more came in.

"Please, have a seat, Ms. Coleman," Marge said loudly, clearing her throat in hopes the men upstairs would adhere her warning.

And they did.

Ms. Coleman passed an odd look at Marge's direction but paid little attention to what Marge was glancing at.

"Would you like anything to drink? Water? Tea?" Marge offered politely.

"No, I'm fine, thank you," Ms. Coleman returned a sort of polite grin before sitting herself on the couch facing the window. Marge nodded and smiled politely in return,"So what's this I hear about Angie's aunt?" Marge wasted no times in small talk. Once formalities were passed, Marge was curious to know about this aunt of Angie's she'd only learned of a minute ago.

"Yes, Miss Ramsay is the only sister of John Ramsay, Angeline's father. About a week ago from today, Miss Ramsay received a letter from the state of California informing his family that John was killed in a prison riot," Ms. Coleman said matter of factly.

Marge's brows furrowed and her hand subconsciously went over her chest in shock. While she held no good feelings toward Angie's monster of a father, she felt a small feeling of remorse. Now Angie would go on the rest of her life without reconciling with her father.

"Miss Ramsay had not spoken to John nor heard of him since he ran away from home when he was seventeen and she was twelve. At this point, she didn't even know John got married and had a child until this letter reached her." Marge nodded as she glanced away, her thoughts going a thousand miles an hour.

However, when she caught three full-grown figures silently trodding down the stairs, Marge kept a straight face as she listened and nodded at what Coleman was saying. From the corner of her eye, she spotted them tiptoeing so silently, it would put a bug to shame. They were headed outside and Elliot followed closely trying to cover their tracks by leading the attention away.

Soon, Elliot planted himself in front of the doorway, one shoulder calmly resting against the post a behind Coleman. He was silent as he nodded once to Marge. Marge grinned at him while Coleman paused to reach into her briefcase to pull out a handwritten note from the person of the hour, Miss Diane Ramsay herself. One by one, each man passed as best and as silently as he knew how to cross over to the other side of the dining room. Steve somersaulted, Bucky side somersaulted and Sam army-crawled over. When all three men passed over safely, Elliot announced that he would be going outside.

Now that Steve, Sam, and Bucky were safe, they all went to the backyard where Angie had stayed and was sitting on the porch where Bucky last left her. Elliot groaned, "Angie, have you been in my stuff again?" he asked as he held up the pilers Bucky was using for his arm. Angie furrowed her brows, "Why would I need your stuff?" she asked with a scrunched nose.

"I got it. I was using it for my arm. It's been bothering me." Bucky said calmly and held out his only hand, "May I use it?" Elliot turned to the healing man, "Sure. My bad." he said as he put them back on his hand.

"You know machines?" Steve asked as he leaned his weight against the wooden railings of the porch and crossed his arms. "Yes, sir," Elliot responded with a proud glint in his eyes. Steve frowned in thought and nodded his head while looking down at his feet before looking up at Elliot, "Can you fix Bucky's arm? He's too proud to admit it but," Steve looked at Bucky who's head was bent over, inspecting the pliers in his hand and smirked, "he can't fix his stub," he explained.

Elliot nodded, "Sure. What the matter?" he asked Bucky as he pulled off the black fabric yet again. "It's messing with my real nerves because they're rubbing together, " he said gruffly. "Mkay, sit here and I'll do what I can," Elliot said and pulled a dusty old stool closer to him.

Bucky stayed still as Elliot gently fixed his wires, "You have a few dead ones here. It'll be worse if you keep them it could affect your real nerves. I'm going to cut them," the mechanically-inclined boy said expertly and reached over for the wire cutters. Bucky said nothing as he snipped away and rearranged the wires.

By this time, Angie watched carefully as Elliot did his thing. Eventually, Angie neared closer to the impossibly still Bucky Barnes until her chin touched his forearm. Bucky refrained from trying to find a way to scratch the light itch that came with Angie's chin resting softly on the crook of his elbow.

Despite her past experiences with men, Bucky noticed Angie felt very comfortable around him. And he around her.

Just as Elliot began to wrap up his operation, Marge opened the screen door, "Angie? Come inside, baby, there's someone I want you to meet." Marge said as she motioned with her hand for Angie to come inside.

Angie obediently did so, as Angie left, however, Marge updated them on what the woman was here for, "A lawyer from Brooklyn, New York is here. Apparently, Angie has an aunt I didn't know about and now she wants to contact her."

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I know its kinda slow and hopefully not to repetitive but... What do you guys think?

Good or is it going to slow?

Feedback would really be appreciated.