Unchained Melody

Chapter 3

I stood outside of a little general store while Bucky was inside, buying some food for us. Nothing big. Just non-perishables like cans of soup.
He had pawned off a bunch of guns he was able to get his hands on while I was out cold in the apartment. Getting him enough money to take care of us for a bit while we were on the run.
The sound of my stomach gurgling interrupted my thoughts. Letting out a soft sigh I turned to look into the window at the front of the store, to see if I could spot Bucky at the checkout but he wasn't there.
"Heh. I bet Steve heard that wherever he is." Bucky chuckled from behind me. His sudden reappearance startled me enough for me to yelp. My body forces me to back up.
"Where the hell did you come from?" I whined as I reached over to smack his shoulder. "It's not nice to scare people, asshole."
He smiled as he raised a burger wrapped in tin foil towards me. "I can't reveal my secrets, Mel."
I took the burger and opened it as I began to head down the sidewalk. Taking a small bite and chewing before looking over at him, "I think we should find Steve. I know you remember a lot but I don't remember much."
"I don't remember everything. But a lot of it is still coming back in bits and pieces. I remember Steve and meeting him. I remember when we were kids. The war is still a little foggy though. I don't remember much of it. But everything they made me do. Every time they made me hurt you, the thought of that kills me. And all of the people we killed, Mel."
"I still think he could help..."
"OR he will turn us in."
I turned my head to glare at him while I continued to eat my burger.
"Ya, you're right. He wouldn't do that."

I decided to try and look for Steve. I wanted to reach out and figure out more about myself. Over time Bucky was able to tell me more about what he remembered, but I felt like he was holding back some information from me. And I feel that if anyone knows everything about me it would be Steve. Bucky wasn't completely on board with me trying to find him. No matter how deep I dug or how much time I spent just searching I couldn't figure out how to find him without getting caught. He was too close to HYDRA, he never stopped trying to end them. Bucky was too uncomfortable to let me near anything that even had HYDRA's name attached to it.

Bucky and I were able to rebuild our friendship in the time that we spent together. After a short period, he felt like family. I assumed that's how we used to be. My memory wasn't coming back like his memories were, I couldn't figure out little things or even big events like what he had been remembering. Whenever he remembered stuff that we did he would tell me about it. He told me about my family, and his family, and things that we did. Little stupid things that he remembered about me. Things like my favorite meal, where I would sneak off to when I wanted to be alone, or even how when I got mad I would use his last name instead of 'Bucky'.
He even told me about the dream that I had back after we first escaped HYDRA. When we were in high school there was a school dance and no one had asked me to go so he asked me last minute, which Steve was not too excited about. I feel like there was more to it than just that but he kept claiming it was just because he wanted me to be able to go and have fun.
He told me that he remembered the picture of me at the museum. Steve had me travel to their base as soon as he was given the O.K. for having me help as a medic. He told them that he didn't want anyone that wasn't me there to help him. Apparently, while they were trying to take a picture of me, I was telling them that it wasn't the time and I was busy. I wouldn't smile at all for them until Bucky had tripped over a box and fallen face-first into a pile of mud, which had me keeled over crying on a stack of boxes.

It took me years to try and find him. We went to Sokovia after the Avengers had taken over a HYDRA base. Trying to gather as much information as we could without being caught. There was a whole attack thing that went down. Something about an AI taking over and trying to lift a city out of the ground and drop it to kill everyone? At least that is what I got from the news. I was very confused by the whole concept. Bucky made us leave Sokovia before that even happened though. Due to being hunted by HYDRA, Bucky had us moving as much as he could until we were in Bucharest, Romania. He got us an apartment and we laid low for a while.
It was a tiny apartment made for one person. The bed was in the living room, for an easy explanation. I slept on the bed while Bucky slept on the couch that was pressed up against the little island in the kitchen. The windows were boarded up so that no one could see in. We did have a small balcony though, it was cute. I spent a lot of time watching the stars out there.

In 2016, different governments around the world had decided to sign an accord, the Sokovia Accords, that was placed to try and make people who were enhanced or members of the Avengers liable for actions that can affect other countries. The signing was bombed.

I was finally able to convince Bucky to get us phones. He's always against anything that could get us caught but I was able to convince him to get them on the condition that I would stay in the apartment and he would be the one to run errands. They were cheap burner phones. The ones that weren't really attached to anyone's information.

"Can you go out to the market and get us some food?" I peeked my head out of the bathroom to see Bucky sitting on the small couch that my bed was pushed up against. I made a little pouting face and batted my eyes. "Pleeease."
He sighed and stood up. "Fine. I will be back in an hour tops. Don't go anywhere until I get back. Got it?"
I let the door swing open as I took my hair out of the towel that was on my head, walking out of the bathroom after grabbing a hairbrush. "Be careful, please."
He walked over to gently peck the top of my head before grabbing a bag and walking out the door. Gently knocking on the door with the secret code that I created, waiting for me to lock it behind him.
I locked the door and then repeated the code back to him letting him know that he could leave. I could hear the echo of his footsteps as he walked down the staircase. I turned around and walked over to the bed where I sat down and brushed my hair before putting it up in a bun and then laying down to scroll through my phone for about 35 minutes. I looked at the news, there was stuff about the bombing that happened in Austria. I didn't pay much mind until I saw Bucky's name on one of the articles. It said something like he did it. I sat up and went to click on it before my phone started buzzing with text notifications.
'Mel. I need you to hide.' It was a text from Bucky. 'Please trust me.'
Before I could even respond I heard the lock on the door fidgeting. No knock. Bucky knocks before he enters and never comes in unless I unlock the door. Something was wrong. I made my way over to the bathroom, climbed into the bathtub, and sat in a position where I could see through the crack in the door.
It was Steve. He was in his Captain America uniform. He walked over to the fridge, grabbing my journal off the top before he turned around. Bucky was standing at the end of the bed, I could barely see him through the crack in the door.
"You know me?" I could hear Steve talking but I couldn't see him.
"You're Steve. I read about you." Bucky said calmly in response.
I attempted to crawl out of the bathtub to try and make my way around the door so I could see what was happening.
"I know you're nervous, and you have every reason to be. But you're lying."
"I wasn't in Vienna. That wasn't me."
"Well, people think you were. And they are coming to get you. They don't plan to take you alive."
"That's a good plan."
I cut them off before they could say more. Looking down at my feet trying not to make eye contact as I headed for Bucky, grabbing onto his hand before tugging him towards the door. "Let's go then. Before they-"
"I thought I told you to hide." Bucky intertwined his fingers with mine as he stood still. Letting me pull on him but not moving.
"If what he's saying is true I would be dead if I stayed hidden." I turned my head to look into his eyes. "I don't want to fight anyone. I want to go..."
"Melody?" Steve interrupted our conversation as he took a step toward us, causing Bucky's head to snap back to him.
Before anyone could say another word, flash grenades were being thrown through the window. Steve hit one with his shield back out the window. Covering the second one. As soon as the third window broke Bucky threw up the mattress and shielded me to cover my eyes. I got down low towards the ground as we began to hear banging on the front door. Bucky flipped the small table to wedge the door shut before he handed me the supply bag that he had brought back with him.
Bucky grabs my arm and pulls me to look at him. "You know where to meet me. We have talked this through. Stay hidden until you see me."
I nod before I turn towards the balcony door. Stepping out of the way as a soldier crashed through the door onto Steve, using the distraction as my opportunity to sneak out the door and climb over the railing. And dropping down to the next balcony before rushing into the apartment. Making my way down to the fire escape and climbing down to the ground before running into the busy city streets.