BUCKY BARNES walked out of her bathroom in her home in Brooklyn. They had gotten there only an hour before, but she was already making arrangements to get out of the state... possibly out of the country. There were a few things she needed to do before they left, but right now, she had to focus on him.
He wore a towel around him waist as he averted his eyes from her. She was sitting on the bed, packing two bags. She noticed his awkward gaze and pointed at the second bag. "Those are some of your things," she whispered softly.
Bucky nodded, reaching into the bag to find everything he needed. Walking back into the bathroom, Evelyn stood to brush her wet hair from the wash she had given it. When Bucky walked back out, he stared at her through the mirror connected to her dresser, just watching her as she did a mundane thing. It was almost relaxing. She smiled a bit mischievously, walking toward him with the brush.
"Can I?"
Bucky shrugged, sitting on the edge of the bed as she ran the brush through his hair. Bucky would not admit how much he enjoyed it. Evelyn let her fingers run through it once before she leaned forward and kissed his head, knowing she would not get much affection from him.
"I have something for you," Evelyn said after putting necessary items into her bags. She zipped them up as Bucky watched. Turning, she pulled the dog tags from under her shirt. "They were yours. I-I have our wedding rings as well, but I figured I'd keep ahold of them for now."
Bucky nodded, realizing how absolutely perfect the woman in front of him was. She handed him his dog tags, and he read over them before letting a small smile move onto his face. "Thank you."
She nodded again, moving to the three photos on her dresser. "We'll be back one day, Howie," she whispered to Howard's photo, not noticing Bucky's wince behind her. Turning, she said, "I have to make two stops before we get started."
Bucky agreed, knowing he would not deny her that. Placing sunglasses on her face, she grabbed a hat for him. Placing it on his head, she nodded, "That'll hide you for now. Let's go."
He grabbed both bags as she made sure to lock the apartment up. Hurrying to her car, she had Bucky get in the passenger seat as she got in the driver seat.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Barnes," Jarvis spoke causing Bucky to jump and look around the car. Evelyn blushed at the name he called her, as she had asked him to do so a long time ago. "I was to inform you that Mr. Stark is awaiting a phone call from you."
Evelyn smiled tightly at Bucky. "Jarvis is Tony's AI–artificial intelligence. Sorry," she said to which he nodded. "I'll call Tony in a bit. Thanks, J. If you don't mind, have one of Tony's smaller jets prepared."
"Yes, Mrs. Barnes."
Bucky let the smirk land on his face, and Evelyn almost... almost thought no time had passed with his comment of, "Mrs. Barnes?" with a teasing glint to his eyes.
"A girl can only hope," Evelyn teased back as she took off, driving the horrid speeds that only Starks seemed to drive. Making sure the hood of the convertible was latched into place, she let the car ride stay silent as she drove to the hospital.
"Where are we going?" Bucky finally asked.
"Hospital. I can't leave Steve and Sam without any proper explanation."
"You're going to tell them about me?" Bucky asked worriedly.
"Partly. Just that I have a lead and that I'm going after you," Evelyn said with a frown. "I hate to lie, but—"
"But I don't want him to know. Not yet," revealed Bucky. "I-I already am afraid to hurt you. I don't want to disappoint Steve anymore."
"You could never disappoint either of us, Buck," she said softly as she pulled into the hospital. "Stay in the car. Lock the doors. Head down." Bucky nodded. She reached over and hesitated to squeeze his hand once. "I'll be right back."
Walking into the hospital, Evelyn's famous click of her heels let everyone know who she was before she even made it into view. If not her heels, than the infamous sunglasses indoors gave her away. When she made it to Steve's room, she took a deep sigh of relief to see Sam and Steve talking. Both became quiet at the sight of her.
Steve noticed the dog tags were gone.
"I thought you went with him," Steve admitted to rid the awkward tension.
"I am," she said quickly. "Or rather, I have a lead, and I'm not losing him again." Steve sat up, hissing in pain. "I'm leaving, but I had to make sure you were okay."
"Are you?" Sam asked.
Evelyn lowered her sunglasses to reveal the nasty bruise under her eye. "This is all I managed to scrape out with. No problem."
"Evelyn, what if he's dangerous when you do find him. You should wait for us," Steve tried, pain in his voice.
"I will call you almost everyday if you want me to, but he won't hurt me. Not on purpose. I plan on finding him and bringing our Buck back when he's ready," Evelyn said, twisting the truth only slightly. "I know he knew you. He told me before he left. He just needs to find himself again."
Steve nodded sadly as she walked forward. She kissed his cheek with a smile before doing the same to Sam. "I'll let you know when I get somewhere safe. I'll be flying wherever this lead takes me."
"Stay safe," Steve sighed.
"Always," Evelyn said with a wink. "Don't do anything stupid until I get back."
"How can I?" Steve called with a smirk. "You're taking all the stupid with you."
Sam laughed as she waved at him. When she left the room, Steve waited until the clicks of her heels were far enough away to say, "She's lying. She knows exactly where he is."
Sam looked at him with wide eyes. "How do you know?"
"Her right foot fidgets when she lies."
When Evelyn was about to make it outside, a hand grabbed her arm from a room to her left. Turning, she saw Fury standing there with an odd look in his eyes. Walking into the room, he shut the door and sighed.
"I take it you're going after Barnes."
"Already on my way."
"Evelyn, I never meant for S.H.I.E.L.D. to end up this way. I never meant to keep so many things from you. As much as you won't believe it, everything I did was for your best interest. When you came out of the ice, I swore to Agent Carter and Howard Stark that I'd take care of you—mentally, of course. I just did not want to overwhelm you or make you hurt more than you already were. I care about you, quite honestly," Fury admitted.
Evelyn gave him a small smile. "You know, after everything, I care a bit about you, too."
"A bit? You Starks, so sentimental."
Evelyn was grinning now. "I don't blame you for what happened to S.H.I.E.L.D., or for what happened to Bucky. I only hope in the future, we work as friends. Trusting each other."
"Agreed," Fury said, extending his hand. She took it and pulled him in for a hug. "Don't go off the grid for too long, Mrs. Barnes. You're what the world needs right now. Hope."
Evelyn pulled away with a smile. "See you, Director."
Evelyn hurried back to the car, hating to leave Bucky alone for too long. As she made it outside, she noticed it had started to rain slightly. She rushed to her car, noticing Bucky's eyes searching around for enemies as she approached. He unlocked the door as she slipped inside, wiping her hands on her pants as she looked at herself in the mirror.
"One more stop," she revealed, which Bucky nodded.
"H-How was he? Steve?"
Evelyn smiled as she took off toward the museum. "He was okay. Worried out of his mind for you, of course. He wants to be able to talk to you."
"One day," Bucky promised.
"One day," she agreed as she made it the short drive to the Smithsonian. "You're coming in." Bucky looked around frantically. "Don't worry about anything beside the metal detector."
Bucky gave her a deadpanned look as she giggled slightly. Grabbing her umbrella, she opened it and walked around. Bucky unconsciously grabbed ahold of her waist to keep her close to him. He did not want any danger to come to her. Not on his behalf.
After the fight with the metal detector, Evelyn and Bucky made it to the Captain America exhibit. She was glad when he did not move his arm from her waist while she pointed out things here and there. When they made it to the large plague of Evelyn and Bucky, he looked at it intently.
He watched the video of them during the war. He saw Evelyn smiling brightly as a video popped up of the trio laughing at something. Bucky's eyes went to the letters he and Evelyn wrote to each other. He chuckled internally at some of the sappy things he would say to her after being apart. Finally, he read what the museum had to say about him. Him and Steve. Him and Evelyn. All three. He could feel some memories pushing through.
"I feel like..." Bucky started as he stared at it all. His head was beginning to hurt as if it was too much too fast. "I don't even know who I am anymore."
"This is a good place to start, right? I'll be with you from here on out. Anything you want to know," Evelyn whispered before noticing some stares. "Let's go. We have a flight to catch."
Bucky held her close as they left the museum and made it back to the car. He soaked the new knowledge in like a sponge, using a notebook Evelyn had given him to write things down. Evelyn was quiet as he wrote, not wanting to ruin his thought process.
Evelyn found herself smiling because she did not care that he had a metal arm. She did not care he hardly remembered who he was. Her James was sitting next to her. Safe. Content. He was all she needed to be happy with life. She would do anything to keep the happiness from here on out.