Deadpool Syndrome - Spider Soulmates

Chapter 11 - I Guess We'll Just Have To Adjust

***PETER***

Bucky goes to grab himself a cup of coffee - black with two sugars. "I've always taken it like this," he says in response to my weirded-out look at his strong brew. "It's not a reflection of my bitter inner turmoil or anything."

"Wasn't gonna say that," I say. "Was I? Anyone?" The others, except Gwen, shake their heads. She knows me too well.

"How 'bout we start at the beginning?" asks Pietro.

Bucky sips his coffee - judging from the curl to his lips, he probably has to take a while to get used to it, much like I usually do when drinking the stuff. Although I always order mochas or espressos or Americanos with lots of sugar, nothing nearly as powerful as what he's drinking. "You mean the time when I was staring at the Captain America exhibit at the Smithsonian and trying to remember why he was my friend?" he asks. "That's about the first thing I remember. On my own, anyway. Without having seen any of the movies, I mean."

"He's not kidding," Wanda says, looking directly at his head. Bucky glares at her, and she responds, "As your friend Steve would say, 'Language!'"

This finally gets Bucky to crack a smile. "Don't tell me what I can and can't think," he says, putting his hand over his coffee for a second. He then lets go, releasing a good-sized cloud of steam, which he then blows in Wanda's face. Is this his way of flirting with her? If so, his tactics need work, and that's the kindest way to put it.

Either she gets the same idea as me independently, or she just hears it in my head. In any case, Wanda's response is, "Sorry, Bucky, but you're too young for me. I prefer older men."

"Apparently, that's what I am," he says. "An older guy. One who was kept alive and young by evil Russian super-science. So, in a way, I'm almost like my old friend, the Capsicle."

"Except not really," I say. "You were frozen in time, not frozen for real."

"Who knows?" Bucky says, tilting his head my way. "I've not unlocked all my repressed memories yet, I don't think. Maybe I spent a few decades under an Arctic shelf too." He laughs to himself. "Which would actually be preferable to Russian brainwashing. No offense," he adds hastily, looking at the Maximoffs.

"None taken," Pietro says. "We're not even Russian. We speak the language, but we're actually Sokovian, remember?" He scratches his head. "Erm...you saw the movie, right?"

"Yeah." Bucky looks even more embarrassed than ever. "Yeah, I'm sorry...stupid me." He does a facepalm, downs a little more coffee, then says, "I actually thought Sokovia was just another one of those fake Eastern European countries. Or just a province of Russia or something."

"We might as well be," Wanda says sourly, "given we're literally on the edge of the former Soviet Union. Not like Transia - that's where we were born. Transia got absorbed by Russia when communism fell. Sokovia gained independence, except not really."

"Do we really wanna know what that means?" Gwen asks.

"No, 'cause I doubt anyone not from the area would understand," Pietro says. "I barely understand it myself."

"Nor do I," says Wanda.

"That's how complicated it is," Pietro jokes.

"No," Wanda says, rolling her eyes. "It's more like we spent so long being the permanent guests of the good Baron von Strucker that we don't know too much about our country's modern history."

With his metal hand, Bucky uses his finger as a stirring stick for his coffee. "Must be tough stuff," I say, pointing to the metal, "if it's coffee-proof like that."