Venus | James B. Barnes✔️

xxxiv. 𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚎

2015; Venice, Italy

BUCKY STARED at the table as Evelyn had made the pair breakfast a week later. They were in Venice, Italy—an absolutely gorgeous city, of course. They had a small apartment that overlooked the canal flowing through the city. It was not much to keep the pair away from prying eyes. Evelyn had always worn something to hide her face when they would go out on those rare days. Bucky was worried those left of Hydra were looking for him, and Evelyn was worried someone would recognize her and photograph her with Bucky.

Placing the plate of food, she watched him eye it as he had every day so far when she would cook or when they would order something. "Buck, I promise I didn't poison it," Evelyn whispered, sitting across from him. And, like every other day, he waited for Evelyn to take a bite and swallow before deeming it safe. He hated that his brain was programmed a certain way. He just wanted to be normal. He wanted to be the man Evelyn deserved.

"Thank you," Bucky stated as he was eating. He thanked her for everything. Evelyn thought it was redundant. She kept telling him that he did not need to thank her. She was over the moon that she was even sitting with him right then. "What are we doing today?"

Evelyn hummed for a moment, taking a sip of her milk before saying, "I have to call Tony at some point. The idiot has been trying to figure out what I'm doing. I figured we could go out and visit the Campo San Polo and other little features Venice has to offer." She noticed his face. "Unless you want to stay inside. We could watch movies. Get you caught up on how to use your phone. I can tell you some memories?"

Bucky shrugged. "Whatever you want to do," he replied.

Evelyn laughed quietly. "Buck, you have an opinion on what we do. I'm not forcing you to do anything."

Bucky bit his lip as he finished his plate of food. "Can we stay inside today?"

"Of course," she replied with a small smile as she stood to pick up the plates.

Bucky stood abruptly, wincing at the sound of the chair scraping. "Let me," he practically demanded as he took the dirty plates and cups to go wash them. She nodded as he walked to the sink.

"I'm going to call Tony," Evelyn told him to which he only nodded. Walking over to her already packed bags, she shoved her hand inside to find her stupid cell phone. Picking it up, she realized she grabbed the phone she bought for Bucky. Placing it next to her, she reached inside again to find hers. "Aha," she whispered, picking up the stupid thing. She frowned at the missed calls from Tony and Steve since she had found the silence switch on the side of the phone.

Dialing Tony, she heard his gruff greeting of, "Oh, look who decided to call me."

"Hey, Tony," Evelyn greeted a bit more enthusiastically. She took a seat on the couch, smiling over at Bucky when he walked into the small living room and sat next to her—leaving a good amount of space in between them. "Don't be mad."

"Let me just turn off my mad switch. No! I'm pissed, Evelyn," Tony grumbled. "Where the hell are you? Rogers and Romanoff have no idea. I have no idea. Who has an idea, huh? Where are you?"

Evelyn sighed. "I'm still following leads for James, Tony."

"Did you ever think that we could help you?" Tony asked rhetorically. "One sweep of security cameras and I'm sure I could pinpoint a location—"

"No!" Bucky jumped at her words. She sent him an apologetic look. "No, Tone. He's already nervous enough that those Hydra thugs are coming after him; he doesn't need all of us appearing out of nowhere. I'm going to find him. And, when I do, it'll be his decision whether or not we tell anyone. I can't—I can't lose him again."

Bucky wanted to reach over and grab her hand at the break in her voice.

Tony sighed. "Fine. I still would like check-ins. If I have to call someone else to know your well-being, you're going down as the worst aunt in history."

"You don't mean that. You love me," she said cheekily. "Are you okay?"

Tony chuckled. "We're about to start raids to find Loki's scepter from the alien invasion. When the S.T.R.I.K.E. team took the scepter, we did not know they were Hydra. We've got Thor, Barton, Romanoff, Banner, and Rogers back together again. You should swing by if you find the time. They'd love to meet you."

"Yeah, I'll come back soon. Keep me updated. If I have to come help with those raids, I will," Evelyn promised—ignoring Bucky's look of worry at her words. "I have to go. Love you."

"Love you," Tony chirped back before ending the call. Evelyn tossed her phone aside as she let out a large sigh. Her head fell back on the couch as she let it slowly hang to look at Bucky. She smiled at him.

"I was thinking we start with the Star Wars movies," Evelyn revealed with a mischievous look on her face.

Bucky furrowed his eyebrows. "What's that about?"

"Aliens. Jedis. Lightsabers. Skywalkers. A Yoda," Evelyn listed with a smirk. "I think you'll like it."

Bucky only shrugged. "Whatever you want to watch."

So, Evelyn managed to find the movies on the television. As the night grew later, Bucky and Evelyn went out to find something to eat quickly. When they returned home, they finished the second movie after eating. Bucky was asking questions here and there when he did not understand something, and Evelyn chuckled to herself when he wrote something in his book when something on the television reminded him of a memory—somehow.

Bucky jumped a bit when Evelyn's head fell from its spot on the back of the couch to land on his shoulder. It was his left shoulder—which was his metal one. He noticed faint snores coming out of her lips, so he paused the movie as best as he could after fighting with the remote for a moment. Pulling a blanket on top of her, he did not move a muscle in order to make sure she stayed sleeping. At some point, she moved to where her head was resting on his lap. He could not help but use his right hand to slowly move through the strands of her hair as she curled up to him as if she had done it her whole life.

He did not allow himself to sleep—worried a nightmare would take over and he would hurt her. Lying back, he waited the entire night as he kept watch to make sure no one would hurt his Evelyn. Now that memories were returning, his protectiveness only strengthened for her. Both he and Evelyn had been through enough, so he would protect her for the rest of their lives, however long or short they were.

Bucky noticed her phone go off late into the night. He managed to grab it, reading the text from Steve that exclaimed how much he missed her. Bucky frowned as he read the next part that begged her to let him know if she found Bucky. Bucky shook his head, knowing he was not ready for that.

Evelyn moved on his lap, so he placed the phone down and went back to sitting as still as possible to make sure she would be comfortable for the rest of the night.