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Peter is freaking out. He lost his wallet, and he can't even remember what he had for breakfast let alone where he might have left it. He can't miss work, again, so he heads into the coffee shop anyway.
Bucky is looking at all the different options for cat food on the shelf. They don’t make the kitty food he used in an adult version so he’s now attempting to decide what to choose. He settles on… all of them. He picks up one can of each brand, piling them up in his cart.
Bucky drops a few, reaching under the shelf to pick it up. He fishes for one, finding a worn wallet. “Huh.” He opens it, pulling out the student ID inside.
The ID features a guy with a big smile, named "Peter Parker". There's no cash in the wallet, just a beat up debit card and a gift card. There's a library card for somewhere in Queens, an old photo, and thankfully, a driver's license with the same adorable grin shining up at Bucky.
Bucky takes out the photo, making sure to be gentle with it. He could just leave the wallet. It wasn’t his responsibility. He’s far beyond trying to be “good”.
The photo is of the guy on the IDs, but younger. He's with an older man, and both of them are wearing matching "I survived my trip to NYC" shirts. They seem so happy, the man having his arm wrapped around Peter lovingly.
Bucky puts the picture back. He takes out his phone, pulling up an app Steve had introduced him to. Steve calls it “Instant Gram” but he’s pretty sure that isn’t right. He searches up Peter’s name, finding his account pretty quick. Thankfully the pictures match.
The account is public, and it has lots of posts. Seems like Peter enjoys the app.
There's photos of him with some friends at college, and with a woman who might be his mother or something. Further down, there's a post that has a picture of the photo in the wallet. It has a caption.
"Happy Birthday uncle Ben. Thanks for helping me survive living in NYC. We miss you."
Bucky groans. Way to make him feel guilty if he doesn’t return it. He grabs the rest of the cat food, paying for it.
He messages Peter. “Hey, I think I found your wallet.”
Peter is on his break, sipping a coffee and scrolling Instagram. He called May, and she hadn't seen his wallet anywhere. Neither had Ned or MJ. Great.
He raises his eyebrows when he gets a message from a random person. He sits up when he reads it, tapping his feet on the floor happily.
"Oh my gosh you are literally a lifesaver!!! where are you at bc I can come to you if I dropped it far away and i'd hate for you to go far"
“At the 7/11. I can come to you.” Bucky blinks. He’s never been an emotional lifesaver before. Only literally saving lives, usually at the cost of another.
"that makes sense I went there for a monster before class!! I work at a coffee shop here" Peter sends a link to the address of his job. "if that's too far it's totally okay just lemme know!"
Bucky just sends a thumbs up in reply. He shows up a few minutes later, holding the two bags full of cat food.
Peter is working the front register, and he waves to the person who ordered ahead of Bucky. "Have a great day!" He chimes.
When Peter spots Bucky, his cheeks flush pink. He seems stunned for a moment, then snaps out of it. "Hi! What can I get you?"
“Uh, just a black coffee?” Bucky looks pretty confused by everything on the menu. “Can I even order that here?”
Peter giggles, nodding. "Of course!" He playfully tries to block the menu. "They make it way too complicated to order. Don't tell my manager I said that." He chuckles. "You want any cream or sugar?"
“I think you’re sweet enough.” Bucky chuckles, taking out Peter’s wallet to pay, opening it. “Whoops, wrong one. Think this is yours.”
Peter turns red, smiling shyly as he picks up a cup and pen to mark Bucky's order. "Just two bucks for the regular coffee." His eyes widen when he sees his wallet. "Oh! Oh my gosh-" He takes the wallet, starting to tear up. "You're Bucky, right? You have no idea how much this means to me, you're literally a saint." He pulls out the photo of Ben, looking relieved it's still intact.
Bucky has filled the wallet with a few hundred dollar bills. He blinks, freezing a bit. A saint? He’s anything but a saint. He murdered a man just a few hours ago. “It’s nothing. I wasn’t really busy.”
Peter shakes his head. "No, it is something. I thought I had lost it for good." He chuckles. He blinks at the money, confused. "Uh, this isn't mine?" He looks shocked at the amount. "Did you...? I can't take this!"
Bucky shakes his head. “You can. Go get a new camera or some textbooks. Lord knows I have no use for that money.”
Peter tears up more, but does his best to keep it together. "Okay, coffee is on me then. You want a pastry? How about a muffin?"
“Sure.” Bucky chuckles. He puts down the bags of cat food, picking out a chocolate chip muffin.
Peter packs him up two of them. "You have cats?" He asks when he spots the food. He hands over the muffins, and he writes Bucky's name on the cup, along with something else, then hands it off to the batista at the bar.
Bucky nods. “Yeah. She’s switching to adult food, so I’m letting her try a ton to see what she likes.”
Peter smiles at that. "That's so cute! What's her name?"
Bucky chuckles. “Alpine.”
Peter looks disappointed when another customer comes in. "Hey, thank you again, seriously. I don't think 'thank you' is even enough."
When the barista hands over Bucky's coffee, it has his name with a heart next to it, and a phone number below.