Work Text:
Bucky stops in front of the white building. Once more he checks the little paper in his jeans pocket. He has it for month, that little sheet of paper, fold in two on his room’s desk, he has it since Tony found where Rebecca lives.
Rebecca, his little sister, the youngest of the family. Bucky pushed away that moment for so long, visiting his sister, the last living member of his family.
When he started to feel better, he asked the genius and billionaire to look for his family. In less than two days, Tony found everything about the Barnes family and the last member. In barely few minutes, Bucky learned everything about his family, their lives after he “died” and their extended family.
Rebecca lived at the Forget Me Not Retirement Home in Brooklyn. She got married to a man named Ronald Proctor, they never had children, and Rebecca chose to go to a retirement house when she realized she couldn’t take care of herself anymore.
Bucky sighs, his sister life has been full. She knew happiness and sadness. He looks on his right, to the bouquet of pink roses he bought for her. Her favorite flowers. He remembered when he was at the flower shop. He offered her a bunch like this one for her tenth birthday in 1941 along with tickets to see the brand-new Disney movie, Dumbo. He remembers the huge smile on her tiny face, she was so happy. He worked so long and so hard to get the money to take her. She was so young when he enlisted for war and was declared dead. One of the first memories that came back to him was how close he was to the youngest of his sisters who looks like at him so much, same stormy bleu eyes, same chestnuts hair. How old was she now ? Something like 90 years old.
After a few minutes, he finally decides to go outside of his car. The rain is pouring and by the time he arrives to the front desk, he’s soaked. Behind the desk, there’s a woman with a nametag saying “Daisy”.
“Hello”, he says. “I’m here to see Rebecca Proctor please.”
“You are mister Barnes, aren’t you ?”, Daisy asks. Bucky just nods. “So, I’m the one you had on the telephone. I told your sister you were going to visit. She was very happy. But as I told you on the phone, I must warn you that she isn’t always lucid. She remembers a lot of things about you from before the war.” Bucky nods again. “As you look like the picture she has on her nightstand she should recognize you and maybe not realize that more than eighty years have passed. Follow me now please”, she concludes, making Bucky following her in many corridors of the retirement home.
Walking behind her, Bucky can observe a lot of old persons, thinking that if he haven’t gone to war nor being tortured by HYDRA for more than seventy years, he would have been in some house like this, Steve alongside him, probably waiting for his children or grandchildren to come and see him. Bucky sweeps that thought of his head. None of this happened, and now something illogical is happening, he looks younger than his little sister and he’s the one visiting her in an old people house.
Daisy stops in front of a door and knocks on it.
“Rebecca, can I come in ? It’s Daisy, I have a visitor for you”, she adds when she opens the door.
Daisy moves aside to let Bucky in. His gaze embrace the whole room. Rebecca is watching outside, her back to the door, long grey hair falling on her shoulders covered by a black cardigan. Daisy quietly goes outside of the room while Bucky walks towards his sister.
“Hi Becca”, he gently says.
Rebecca turns her head and a huge smile appears on her face. “James you’re here.”
“Yes”, he answers, crouching in front of her. “I’m sorry it took me so long to come and see you. I brought you flowers”, he adds, showing her the bouquet in his hands. “And I have a surprise for you”, he takes out of a small bag a DVD.
“Dumbo !”, Rebecca shouts, behaving like the ten years old she was when Bucky told her she was going to see the movie when for her birthday.
“A brand-new version”, Bucky tells her. “You will love it, I’m sure. Let’s watch it”, he says, helping Rebecca on her feet towards her bed.
She sits on it, excited like a small child, holding on a tiny Dumbo plush. Bucky remembers that Steve offered it to Rebecca for her tenth birthday, like Bucky for the movie tickets, Steve worked a lot to get Becca that precious present, without knowing that she would cherish this little elephant plush her whole life. Bucky comes back by the bed after putting the DVD in. He sits next to her and after a few minutes in the movie, Rebecca’s head falls on his shoulder, her hand searching for his, just like when she was a child. And it was like they were back in 1941, no war, no Winter Soldier, no old lady, no retirement home, just a brother and his little sister, a bunch of roses and a flying elephant.