Haunted By Him

Chapter Five

Day three on the train. They’re halfway there. He’s laying in his bunk and his arms are up behind his head and she’s dangling her feet over the edge of her bunk across from him and grilling him. The answers come pretty easily now. After all, he’s spent hours memorizing, and he closes his eyes and enjoys the rumbling of the train while he spouts them off.

“Where were you born?” Natalia asks.

“Brooklyn, New York,” he says.

“Day?” She asks.

“March tenth,” he says.

“How many siblings?” She asks.

“Three,” he says.

“And their names?”

“Rebecca, Marie and Daniel.”

“And why do you always wear gloves?”

The Winter Soldier opens his eyes and glares over at her.

“That’s not a Bucky Barnes question,” he says.

“No, it’s a you question,” Natalia replies. The Soldier closes his eyes again and frowns.

“They make a wonderful fashion statement,” he says dryly.

“And what’s that?” Natalia asks.

“They say, ‘don’t touch me’,” he tells her.

“Do they, now?” Natalia says. He can practically hear her rolling her eyes. “I’m gonna guess germaphobe.”

“Sounds like a great assumption,” the Winter Soldier replies condescendingly because he doesn’t want to have this conversation and he certainly doesn’t want to tell her the truth. Let her guess what she’ll guess. He doesn’t care.

The train stops periodically through cities and at first, the Winter Soldier was anxious about it. He hid at every stop and spied on the boarders, but by the second day, he’d relaxed a little. He thinks Hydra must have lost him. They don’t know where he is. For the first time he can remember, he’s starting to breathe easily.

At least, he is until there’s a knock at their compartment door in the middle of this conversation and his heart stops. He looks over at her, alarmed, and she’s already climbing down from the bunk to answer it. She notices his expression and he expects her to roll her eyes, but to his surprise, she takes pity on him.

“Calm down,” she says gently. “I’m sure it’s nothing. Just stay here, I’ll take care of it.” He’s already pushing himself up into a sitting position and cramming himself into the corner between walls and he watches her leave the bedroom.

He can hear the conversation.

“Can I help you?” Natalia.

“We’re looking for a fugitive.” A man’s voice. The Winter Soldier’s mouth dries up and he panics. “A man who looks like this. Have you seen him?”

Already, the Soldier is looking for a place to hide. Their sleeper compartment is tiny, with a bathroom and a bedroom and a sitting area and it’s cramped and small and there are no real places to hide. He doesn’t know what to to do.

“Oh, he’s scary-looking,” he hears Natalia comment and in any other situation, he would have resented her for the jab, but he thinks she’s trying to buy him time. She’s talking louder than the men, probably hoping he can hear. “What did he do?”

“Sorry, ma’am, but that’s classified.”

Is there a closet to hide in? Something to crawl under? A window he can throw himself out of? Even then he’d have better chances than with the people looking for him.

“Well, I’d love to help you, but I’m afraid I haven’t seen anyone like him around here.”

“We’d like to search your compartment, please. Just protocol.”

“Protocol?? Absolutely not! Show me some ID!”

“Here. … We have a warrant.”

“Oooh… Well, of course, come right in. I’m sure you’ll find this compartment fugitive-free.”

The Winter Soldier thinks he might have a heart attack right there in the bedroom. He can hear footsteps, he’s pressing himself up against the wall at the back of the room, he’s breathing hard and tears are starting to fall down his cheeks without permission. He’s shaking so hard he can hardly stand. He’s preparing to snap necks if he has to. He’s preparing to kill himself if he has to.

The footsteps grow closer with every millisecond and then the doorknob rattles and the door opens and Natalia’s standing there, looking urgent. She thrusts her hand out to him. His eyes flicker to the ground and he sees two men in suits crumpled to the ground behind her.

“What are you waiting for??” Natalia hisses. “We haven’t got all day, Barnes! Come on!”

The Winter Soldier reaches forward shakily and she grasps his hand and yanks him out of the room. They step over the bodies and then she’s dragging him by the wrist down the hall, breaking into a faster and faster run.

When they reach the end of the car, Natalia yanks the door open and pulls the Soldier into the connecting hall with her. She looks at him.

“Help me break this wall,” she orders.

“What?” The Winter Soldier cries and she gestures to the flimsy wall in front of them.

“We’re kicking it down!” She says. “Then, get ready to jump and roll!” Then, she raises her foot and the Soldier realizes they’re really doing this and he balls his left hand into a fist and together, they pummel into the wall.

It’s flimsy and it’s meant to be removeable and he can hear screaming in the cars on either side of them as alerted Hydra agents tear through and then the wall falls away and he gasps to see Russian countryside rushing past them so fast he can barely register it. He can see agents running towards them through the windows in the doors and then Natalia grabs his hand and looks into his face and screams, “JUMP!”