Free Bird (Bucky Barnes/OC)

𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑇𝑤𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑦－𝑆𝑖𝑥

°°°°°°°°°°

𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙨 back towards Leo, stopping when she reaches the side of his bed. He stares into her eyes and sighs, "I'm sorry," he says, and it shocks her more than anything.

Leo didn't seem like the guy who would apologize for anything- whether it be his fault or not.

"O-oh. Okay," she stutters, stunned. "For what?"

He points to the cigarettes and she nods understandingly, "I've been trying to quit. But, then I figured there was no point, you know?"

She nods slowly, remembering the conversation they'd had that day, "Because you're gonna die anyway, right?"

He chuckles weakly, giving a tilted nod, "Yeah. 'Cause I'm gonna die anyway." His gaze falters and he licks his cracked lips.

She gives him a small smile, her hand reaching out to his. He seems shocked when she gives it a squeeze, his hand cold and bony.

He pulls his hand away from her touch, seemingly uncomfortable with the concept of being sympathized. She respects his movement, placing her hand back in her lap and pushing her back towards the seat of the chair.

She bites at her lip nervously as he stares at the door. After a moment, he finally starts speaking, his voice cracked and dry. "I've been sick since I was nine."

It's a short sentence, hardly any words, but it speaks loads. The fact that someone like Leo tells her something personal about himself shocks her, especially considering how closed off he was the last time they met, and just moments before.

"It's been eleven years of this, and none of it has been good. I mean, I've just been dying slowly this entire time."

"Well aren't we all just dying slowly?"

He laughs, a small vibration mixed with a cough. "Spare me the half-glass-full statements, sunshine. I'm not interested in positive thinking, or unicorns and rainbows. I know I'm going to die. I'd like to know it peacefully."

She nods her head apologetically, sitting with him in silence until he speaks up again.

"Everyone thinks I'm a bad person. I get it. I'm mean, I'm inconsiderate, and I snap easily. But, I mean...look at where I am right now- there's not even one person in my life that will just be there for me."

She gives him a sad smile, "How about me?"

He scoffs, "I don't even know you."

"Sure you do. I'm Alouette Clementine, fellow cancer patient."

She almost thinks she's hallucinating when she sees his mouth widen, a cracked smile appearing on his thin lips.

"You have a nice smile, Leo."

"Yeah, well yours isn't so bad either."

°°°°°°°°°°

After hanging out with Leo a little, Alouette decided she would take the subway home. She hadn't ridden it in a while, and the stale smell of bustling people was nostalgic to her.

Stepping into a section, she takes a seat next to a man reading a book. His eyes are focused, earphones inside his ears as the doors close and the vehicle starts to move.

She leans back in the chair, her head lightly tapping against the window with the movement of the bus. Her eyes are closed, relaxed as she melts into the comfortable noise.

She had promised Leo that she would visit him at least once a week. She felt horrible that he had no one. Not even his family came to see him.

During their extended conversation, he admitted that he was kind of the black sheep of the family. Instead of going to college like his sister, he dropped out of high school and started working at the animal shelter.

That's basically all he'd been doing until his cancer got so bad, he could hardly get out of bed. Now he was staying full-time in the hospital.

And to be realistic, he wasn't going to be there for long either.

It made Alouette scared. It terrified her. Was that her future? Was that what she had to look forward to?

She wouldn't be able to walk anywhere, to feel the cement on her naked feet. She wouldn't be able to enjoy a day in the sun or gaze at the stars.

When the subway reaches her stop, she gets off. Standing on the sidewalk with people pushing past her, she looks up at the sky. She stares, brown eyes wide as she drinks in the clouds and the sun, the beautiful blue that blinded her.

She commits it all to memory, every last inch. She watches as the birds fly past her freely, as they soar through the sky without a single thought.

That was all she wanted. But if Leo was any indication of her future, the closest she would get to it, was this memory. The one that she burns into her brain, searing it into her mind so that she would never forget.

So that she would never forget what it feels like to be able to stand under the sky, to feel the wind on her face.

So that she would never forget what it feels like to be free.