Unchained Melody

Chapter 2

"Why are you being such an ass about this Steve? It's just a dance, and he asked me! You could have told him not to but you didn't say shit so he asked me." A young woman with light brown hair stood in a mirror, gently fixing her necklace as she looked at herself up and down, making sure her dress looked alright. She turns a little to see a boy sitting on the bed next to the mirror.
He had medium-length blonde hair that went down to about his ears. His body seemed frail as if he was sick. He snarled in response to her words, "He didn't even ask me if it was okay."
"Steve, it is just a dance. Nothing is going to happen."
"My best friend has no right asking my little sister to a dance with him."
"You're acting as if he doesn't already scare everyone off for you. He's doing me a favor. Trust me. He's too pretty to like anyone like me. And he has like the prime pick of all the girls."
"Don't be so hard on yourself, Doll. The boys like you, trust me." Another voice came from the doorway. She turned to see a young man standing there looking at her. This one seemed to look just like The Soldier, but slightly younger, around 18 possibly.

My whole body jolted as my eyes shot open, violently coughed as I attempted to spit out any water that made it into my lungs. I threw myself to sit up, leaning forward as I tried to catch my breath.
"In, Out. In, Out." A rough male voice got closer to me as I struggled to breathe. Getting down on his knees next to me and placed his hand on my back. "You got this. In. Out. In. Out."
As soon as I was able to figure out how to breathe correctly I couldn't help but just begin to cry. Everything had gone so wrong. I have no idea what will happen to us now. They could kill us. No, they will kill us. And what were these dreams I was having? Who is Melody? They will hurt me just like they hurt him.
I reached out and grabbed onto the Soldier's vest, pulling him towards me as I pressed my face to his chest as I sobbed, taken over by a plethora of emotions. "They are going to kill us. I-I..."
He wrapped his arms around my body, shaking his head before resting his chin on my head. "No, they won't. We will figure this out. I think-"
"You heard what Pierce said. We fucked up, like, royally fucked up. When we get back they are going to kill us. Or hurt us. Or do whatever the fuck they did to you last time." My grip on his vest tightened as I began to shake him slightly. I pulled away to look up at him, smacking on his chest as the tears stopped. "Why- did- you- do- this- to- us!"
He grabbed at my wrists and held them up so I couldn't smack him anymore. "We aren't going back. You're not going to die. They won't hurt you anymore. I won't let them." He lets go of my hands and uses his thumb to wipe the tears away from my cheeks.
I pushed him away from me to lay back down, rolling over to face the lit fireplace next to me. Making sure my back was to him, I used the back of my hand to wipe away the rest of the tears while still choking back more. "I knew him. Before HYDRA. He remembered me... I think I remember him. I don't know though. It doesn't make sense."
He nods softly as he reaches over to gently rub my shoulder before getting up, walking over to the bedroom, and closing the door behind him.
When I heard the door close, I turned my head in that direction before trying to stand up. Taking a second to get my balance before I made my way over to the kitchen area.
He had brought us to a small apartment that had clearly been abandoned. The furniture was wrapped in plastic, coated by a  thick layer of dust. It was a small room, everything connected, one of those open concept kinds of apartments. The only rooms that were separated from the living and dining area were the bedroom and bathroom. The cabinets were empty. No dishes, cups, or silverware. Not even a box of mac and cheese, everyone always left mac and cheese behind. The water worked though... thank god for that.
I grabbed all of my hair and held it back as I flipped the water on and stuck my head under the faucet. First taking a drink of the water before moving enough to just let the water run on my face. Waking me up slightly as well as lessening the swelling of my eyes from all of my crying. I pulled my face away from the sink and went to grab my shirt, lifting it to wipe off my face before turning around to look around the apartment. The only thing that lit the room was the fireplace which was slowly dying out by now. I made my way over to the bedroom where the Soldier disappeared, knocking softly before opening the door.
"He remembered me too. I don't know what from. I don't know how he did. But I think he knew my name." He was standing by a dresser, putting on a baseball cap and some gloves. He let out a sigh looking at himself in the mirror.
"Bucky?" I walked over to the bed and sat down criss-cross, looking up at him. I paused for a second before sticking my hand out towards him, looking at him in the mirror. A large smile spread across my face as I tried not to laugh. "I'm Melody. Nice to meet you Bucky."
He looked over at me straight-faced before zipping up the bag. Unamused by my attempt at a joke. "How are you feeling? You've been out for a couple of days. Smacked your head pretty hard when you fell."
"A couple days? Really??" I spun around to get off the bed. Walking over to the window to look outside. "Damn. Alright."
It was nighttime. I would assume around 7 or 8 pm. You could hear the sounds of people talking and cars honking through the crack in the window. Neon lights lit up the room through the window.
"Is there anything that you need? I'm going out to get some supplies." He turns to look over at me as I shake my head. He nods and walks out into the living room towards the door to the apartment.
I rush to grab a hoodie that was sitting at the end of the bed before following behind him. Throwing the jacket on as the door slams behind me. "I will go with you though. I'm hungry and want to walk."
He nods as he leads me to the staircase. Guiding me down a few flights of stairs before we walk through the lobby and out to the street.

We walked for a while before we came across a museum. Outside was a bunch of fliers and advertisements for a Captain America exhibit that they had inside. The museum was pretty empty, no one was really in there. It will probably close soon.
"If we want answers we might as well start here." I sighed softly as I looked over at him.
He looked up at the building, giving me a subtle nod before he began up the stairs. He pulled my hood up, adjusting it to make a shadow over my face before adjusting his hat, making sure that no one could make out who we were.
When we got up to the exhibit the first thing you saw was all of the army rank uniforms, with Captain America's uniform smack in the middle. We wandered around for a little before he came across a piece of the exhibit that talked about a 'James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes'. An intercom talked about him and how he knew Steve when they were little. The Soldier sat in awe as he read over the exhibit while I continued to wander around.
Shortly I came across a part of the exhibit titled 'Melody Rose Rogers'. It was set up just like the other one. An intercom spoke about the woman who was pictured on a large glass wall. A picture of me? It looked exactly like me.

There were multiple pictures shown. The first was just of the woman holding medical supplies from what looked to be the war. It was hard to make out completely but it looked as if she was laughing at something behind the camera. She looked almost exactly like me, maybe just a couple of years younger than me. 'Melody setting up medic supplies after joining her brother and friend in the war. Taken in 1943'
The second was of her with the frail man from the dream that I had. Her arms were wrapped around his neck and her head was resting against his. This picture was most likely posed. She looked to be maybe 20, he was maybe 22. 'Melody and Steve. Taken in August 1940'
The third and final picture was of Melody and Bucky dancing. There seemed to be chemistry between them, but they seemed extremely happy together. 'Taken in 1945, just before their deaths.'
'Melody Rogers was the younger sister of Steve Rogers. Steve and her were inseparable throughout their childhoods. She would later grow up to join the Howling Commandos, formed and led by Steve Rogers, working as a medic. She was taken from them when she lost her life in the train accident that also took the life of Bucky Barnes.'
I studied the pictures and their captions, holding my breath in shock. Then I read the written portion, over, and over. Unable to process the information I was taking in. It feels like I stood there for hours, just reading this small paragraph.

Loud, rushed, footsteps pulled me out of my trance before my arm was being crushed by metal wrapping around it. I turned around and looked up to see The Soldier, Bucky. "W-What's wrong?"
His normally emotionless face was covered in panic as he looked down at me. "Don't walk away like that. Got it?"
I shook my arm to get him to let go. "Yes sir." I rolled my eyes and turned back towards the glass wall. "What did you figure out?"
"He knew me. He was right."
I nod before pointing to the second picture. "He was in my dream. And that's us?" My finger slid down to the third picture of the couple dancing. I could feel a tug on the back of my hoodie as his hand gripped it as if he was holding me to make sure I didn't go anywhere.
I turned to walk away from that section of the exhibit, looking at all the other stuff about Steve. Trying to piece everything together in my head.
"Hey, you two." An unfamiliar voice echoed from a distance.
The tugging on my jacket got more intense as it pulled me straight back into Bucky. I turned to see an older gentleman in a security uniform walking toward us. "Hello, sir!"
"The museum will be closing soon. Please finish up and make your way towards the exit. The museum opens again at 8 tomorrow morning."
I smiled at the man and started to make my way towards the sign that was labeled 'Exit'. Bucky followed close behind me, not letting go of my jacket. "Thank you. Have a good night!"