.

.

. ** .

.

'Blah blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah... blah...? Sure Gramps. Sure. This makes so much fucking sense.'

All the words were English. English riddled with an absurd amount of jargon and project numbers. Most of which I had to search up on our database.

'How much did they do in only four years?'

If only the person who up kept the databases after I walked away did a satisfactory job. They found someone who translated their gibberish into a different kind of gibberish. Gibberish I couldn't make sense of.

So that left me trying to translate the original gibberish with information that was probably five years too old....

'I should have never walked away. This would be so much easier....'

But from how my stomach churned, I doubt I'd have lasted at all. Or I'd be having some health problems.

'Maybe if I bash my head against the binder enough times, it'll magically make sense.'

Even if it's never worked before.

Leaning away from the big binder of Gramps notes on some new energy source, I flopped onto the warm broad back behind me. My head landed against the soft spot between his spine and shoulder blade.

A large hand rested on my head and those fingertips dug into my scalp, massaging away the tension there.

I stretched up against his back towards his hand, a content hum escaping out of me.

"Maybe you should take a break," Bucky said through the music playing on my earbud.

"I'm only on page fucking three.... How are your lectures going?"

Prerecorded online lectures from different campuses. The mandatory English course, which Eve butchered and pieced together the lessons after screening the readings. War and disturbing subject matters have been completely cut.

"Good. Still not sure what I want to study yet. There's so many options.... I'm working through the mandatory courses in the meanwhile," he answered, hitting pause on his video and taking his hand away from my head.

I had half the mind to just grab onto his hand, but he turned his torso as well.

And then gave his hand to Ixie.

I could feel myself pouting and trying to shoot laser beams out of my eyes. Maybe Amber figured out a way to make real eyeballs do that. There wouldn't be a stare down I would lose with those things.

"It's about dinner time," Buck pointed out, gingerly moving the dogs off of us. "Do you feel like pizza?"

"Pizza!" I chirped back.

It's practically routine now, him going for the oven to warm it up and me heading into the freezer to grab the food. A win-win. I'd avoid burning my eyeballs again, and he wouldn't get a blast of cold air.

I grabbed an armful of boxes. I was hungry enough to finish one and Bucky needed more than two.

'...We may be eating too much pizza....'

Supposedly, Eve got us a two week supply. There's three left, and it's only been a few days. Would explain the pimple growing on my forehead.

With a shrug, I made my way out of the freezer and tossed the boxes at Bucky, fully enjoying the sight of the young man grabbing them right out of the air without so much of a glance.

'Definitely has eyes on the side of his head.... Probably.'

"You know what?" I gasped, hobbling my way to the box of new binders.

"Figured something out?" Bucky urged, humouring my outburst.

"That thing sounds like it came from something living, so Gramps probably got that thing from something Amber made. This binder would make so much more sense if I had a handle on the other thingy."

"Sounds like a puzzle." He didn't bother looking up from tearing the plastic wrapping off the pizzas.

"I guess? Mixed with a scavenger hunt without the list. Hopefully, this stuff becomes fun for me again.... But the info in the binders might be randomly useful. Maybe it'll give me an idea as to what the fuck I can't fix in your arm."

"I feel that after I graduate from university, I still won't understand the binders here."

"Probably? New discoveries are always making info in books obsolete. They don't bother to change it either because of money or rep. So..." I shrugged. "From what I figured out yesterday about the neural communications, a bunch of binders on... that? Probably that shelf is old useless info."

"If I study the right subjects, I'll be able to understand some of the binders here?"

The face he wore, eyeing the shelves and that little pout to his bottom lip. He definitely cracked open a few of these binders and found gibberish written in English.

If only he flipped to the back of the binder and found my notes dumbing down most of it. Only way I ever understood anything they wrote and shoved my way.

"Maybe?" I shrugged. "I grew up with this madness, so I have a base of info to build on. Got no idea how other people understand this mess."

'I had no idea Gramps and Amber worked together on so many projects since I left the team....'

If it weren't for the shadow looming over the papers, I would have jumped when a warm arm snaked around my shoulders with just the lightest squeeze. His soft locks brushed against the side of my face as his head leaned against mine.

"It takes time," he stated softly. "The brain is a muscle too. It needs to warm up."

I half sunk into his side. "Yeah, and five years is a lot to catch up on.... I was worried that they wouldn't reach out to each other when they got stuck. I was their middleman. Knew who to go to when one of them was stuck with something out of their specialties. It's nice to know they don't need me."

"...Have you talked to your friend...?"

My nerves clenched and twitched at the notion. "I haven't.... I'm scared," I admitted.

"...She sounded upset, last time I heard her."

"...You heard the conversation in the R.V.?"

My heartbeat pounded away in my ears. Adrenaline pumped through my system. Made me want to run right through the near indestructible glass.

Bucky tipped his head in a nod. "I thought you said best friends don't give up on each other," he tried to keep his voice light.

"I'm not giving up on her. I'm just nervous about pissing her off again," I huffed. "She clearly doesn't want to talk at the moment. She had Sparks fucking call me instead. So I'll give her space. It's what she wants."

"...I could talk to her?" he offered with all the confidence of a shy kid stuck in a school play. "You did your best to watch over her."

"Thanks Bucky. But we'll be okay. As you said, we're best friends. She'll reach out to me when she feels like it. If I didn't have these nervous moments with Amber, I'd probably bug you about contacting Captain Rogers."

Those bright blue eyes averted to the side. Even pulled his arm back, letting his hand fall between Ixie's ears.

"For now, you figure out what you want to study, and I'll figure out what the hell these binders are talking about."

.

.

.

Author's Note:

If you enjoyed this part, please consider leaving a vote. They're very much appreciated. ^^

And a big thank you to TinselA/Bunny Carrot (https://www.fanfiction.net/u/7591081/) and the Anonymous Fifth Beta for Beta-ing this chapter.