Blue || Bucky Barnes

14. On The Run

Leia

Something heavy hits my head and pushes me down making my eyes spring open. A massive piece of steel pushes me deeper into the water.
I hold my breath as best I can but I can feel the water in my lungs. Trying to swim under the piece of metal is no use, it's too heavy. I conjure the dark blue currents from my hands sending it flying towards the steel. It splits it right down the middle and the pieces sink to the side. I plough through the water avoiding more debris and up to the surface. My lungs feel like they're going to explode even though I know they won't.

I gasp and cough as I pull myself up onto the grassy bank, spluttering the water from my lungs. My hair is sopping wet and I squeeze it out, sitting up.
After I catch my breath my eyes land on the scene in front of me. The air above the river is smokey from all the explosions and there's piles of debris in the water and on the surrounding land. My arms rest forward on my knees and I hang my head. There's a tremendous tingling sensation coursing through my brain.
They got into my head, again. Those stupid Russian words. No matter how much my body heals itself, if someone mutters those words I'm done for. The steel hitting my head must've knocked me out of the trance. I can't go back there, I need to get away. But where's Bucky, I can't leave him with them. The metal armed man surfaces in my brain. For some reason I'd grown quite a liking to the soldier. Even though he'd say very little to me when I would heal him, he seemed nice. I shake my head picking myself up off the grass.
My feet carry me through the park land trying to find my mission companion. Suddenly I hear a stick crack and I fall back into the defense stance. My fingers tingle ready to fire at whoever. I look around, turning in a circle. My eyes scan the tree line and I see a glimmer of silver.
My body relaxes and I stand up straight, tilting my head to the side. I advance forward, disappearing into the trees as well to get out of the open. I peak around the trunk and see Bucky sitting down, his chest rising and falling heavily.

"Hello." I say warily crouching down next to him.
He doesn't say anything while his eyes dart around, seemingly lost in thought. "Are you okay?" I ask quietly. My eyes search his face and I see bruising beginning to form around his eye and there's small cuts on his cheeks. He keeps his lips sealed shut but I'm not surprised. He's never talked that much. "You don't have to talk but I'm going to help you." I say and he finally looks over at me. I raise my hand and let the small currents curl into the cuts and bruising.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?" I ask.
"My arm." He says not taking his eyes off me.
"Okay." My voice comes out barely above a whisper as I hover my hands over his right arm. The currents curl their way into his broken limb and heals the injury quickly. My hand jolts and it's as if everything pops back into place.
The man in front of me searches my features. "What's your name?" He asks me.
"Leia... What's yours?" I ask even though I know.
"Bucky?" His tone is almost questioning as his eyes wander mine. "Have we met before?" He asks quietly.
"Yes, I healed you after all your missions." I say.
Bucky scrunches his eyes closed and rubs his temples.
"Oh god." He runs his hand over his forehead. It's almost as if things are coming back to him.

I'm saddened as I look down at the man in pain. "Bucky..." I start and he raises his eyes. "We can't go back. We're free we could just run." I say to him.
"We can't. They'll find us." He says.

Right at that moment I hear tires skidding along the gravel. I look up and see the familiar black sprinter van that transported us in the first place.
"They're here. Bucky listen to me." I turn back to the man. He looks up at me slowly. "We are not going back. I'm done being a pawn in their game, and so are you. Now follow my lead." I say sternly pulling him to his feet. I think he gets the picture because he follows me closely. I narrow my eyes and we emerge from the tree line. My mannerisms are nonchalant and Bucky's mirror mine. Neither of us say anything as a man opens the back of the van pushing us inside.

There's two men in the front seats and two others in the back. Bucky sits opposite me and the two men sit beside us as the van begins to move. I can hear the tires still crunching over the gravel road. I look up at Bucky and his eyes catch mine. I nod my head the slightest I can muster. My elbow flies up into the mans jaw next to me knocking him out completely. I see the man next to Bucky fall limp too.
"Hey!" The man in the passenger seat turns around clicking the safety off the gun in his hand. Bucky kicks up the gun from the man below him pointing it straight at the passenger. The mans gun goes off and it flies straight through my stomach and I stumble back slightly. Bucky's goes off and hits the man in the shoulder, not killing him but disabling him. I see the driver grabbing his gun but I send a current at his head quickly knocking him out. I open the back door and chuck the two men out the van while Bucky deals with the men in the front, also pushing them out. The car starts to veer off the road and he jumps into the drivers seat quickly, controlling the vehicle. I then jump over the console and sit in the passenger seat.

"We need to ditch the van, they'll be tracking it." I say and he speeds out onto the main road. Bucky doesn't say anything, lost in his own world, driving through the streets until we see a small alleyway. He turns the wheel harshly pulling into it. There's a small hatchback sitting by itself. Bucky pulls the van over and gets out. "Any idea how to hotwire a car?" I ask as Bucky stands next to me. He doesn't say anything but opens the drivers door, slipping in and before I know it the car roars to life. I quickly fall into the passenger seat again, while Bucky pulls out of the alley as if nothing happened.

A silence falls upon us and I can't decipher it. It doesn't feel uncomfortable but I'm also not entirely comfortable. Bucky drives through the city trying to find a place to stop and stay. After a long while we come across a row of houses just outside the city. There's graffiti covering every inch of the outside walls and they look totally abandoned. Bucky steers the car up the street before getting out without a word. I follow him closely as we walk back to the abandoned block. He kicks one of the doors harshly and it swings open easily. We walk into the hallways and it's eerily dark. The door closes behind us plunging the space into further darkness. I bring my hand up creating a bright blue light at my fingertips, shedding a neon light through the house.

We stalk in warily, making very little noise. Bucky pulls a small lighter from his belt and flicks it on, walking further into the house. I ascend the staircase up to the second level. My heart pounds with anticipation as I check every room, only to find nothing at all. I walk into the largest room and see a dusty old mattress on a rickety bed frame. There's a small chest of drawers opposite and I walk over to it, investigating. Opening the top draw and there's a few items of dusty clothing, that appear to have just been thrown in. I pull out a large blue grey flannel and a dark jacket putting them aside. The next draw holds more items. There's a pair of grey jeans which I also pull out.
The third draw holds smaller clothes, still men's. My fingers graze over a grey collared jumper and another jacket, as well as a pair of black jeans. I unhook the belt from around my waist and unzip my suit changing into the civilian clothes quickly. Ripping open the fourth drawer to see all kinds of different hats, I retrieve a navy blue one as well as a black one which I secure over my hair.
The corner of the room holds my discarded suit. I won't be needing that anymore. Collecting the spare clothes I raise my hand again making a bright ball of energy. I walk back down the stairs and see a fair amount of warm light coming from the next room. I trudge in and see Bucky had lit a fire in the place and it blazes away.
His back is to me as I walk over. "Here you go." I capture his attention handing him the clothes.
"Thanks." He mutters.

I look around the room and see two old couches facing the fire. I curl up on the smaller one in the dull room. Bucky disappears for a moment before reappearing in the casual clothes.
"You should get some rest." I say to him.
"I'm good." He mutters focusing on the fire.
"Alright, well if you don't then I will. Wake me up later and we'll swap watch." I say lying flat on the lumpy couch. I close my eyes and let my horrid subconscious take over.

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