THE PHANTOM ๏ BUCKY BARNES

Welcome to Budapest

Getting to Budapest was easier than you'd think it would be. Sneaking on to the ship was easy enough, and thanks to being a super soldier, opening a shipping container wasn't too hard.
Taking a few trains, buses and ferries to Budapest was basically the last thing needed.

You and Bucky rarely left each other sides. You just found someone that you remember. Someone that can related from what you've gone through. In fact, the only person, and you weren't letting them slip through your fingers again.

You found a place to stay. It was the 31st floor in an old building that was rusty. There weren't much colours and the stair railings were steel and bars. There wasn't an elevator, so you had to walk up 31 flights. You pity those who live in the 50th floor.
There was a guarantee of no rats or bugs in the whole place, and so far it was true.

You and Bucky took the newspaper off the lobby table and stuck it over the windows with sticky tape you stole from the front desk. Without the natural light, the place was dark.

There was a single mattress lying on the ground with nothing on it and the bathroom was in the room next to it. At the end of the room there was a kitchen. It was small, but enough for two people.

There was a door leading outside, but you and Bucky didn't ever go out it. The only light in the main room worked well enough to provide light for the room, but the one in the bathroom was much brighter, so you swapped them out while Bucky started to make a hole in the ground.

"Might I ask what you are doing?" You watched a Bucky placed a backpack in the hole he made.

"A fail-safe." He said, putting the ground back together and grabbing super glue from god knows where.

You shrugged to yourself and walked to the mattress, flopping down on it. It was thin. You could feel the springs holding you up and it felt hard.
"Every second day I'll have the mattress. I'll sleep on the floor tonight."

"No, you sleep on the bed, I can go on the floor." Bucky protested, standing up and leaning against the counter top.

"I'm not fighting with you. You in the bed tonight, then on the floor tomorrow." You cross your arms as you sit upright.

"You get the blanket then."
You roll your eyes. "Fine."

There was a moment of silence in the room, but the feeling of wanting to talk was high. The silence was broken when Bucky spoke.

"The floor feels better, doesn't it." He scans his eyes over the dingy mattress.

"Yeah." You sigh. "...Guess I've gotten used to it."

"Well, all that's missing is the rats, puddles of water and rotting smell." Bucky shifts and moves closer, sitting opposite of you.

"Don't forget the metal bars and rocks." You add.

"...It's bad we're bonding over this."
"Yeah, this isn't normal."

A chuckle escape Bucky's mouth, and a smile sweeps over your face.
"There it is."

"Where what is?" Bucky's eyebrows show confusion.

"A laugh. I haven't heard you laugh since... 1937." You rest your head on your hand.

"God, we're old."
"Ancient."

You sigh, falling backwards and bouncing slightly on the mattress. After a moment, Bucky follows you down, lying next to you.
The ceiling looked like it was made of concrete. There was also mold growing in the corner near the bathroom.

"How long do you think we'll be able to stay here without being caught?" You asked the million dollar question.

Bucky was silent for a moment, trying to find an answer. "Hopefully long enough... In their eyes, we're criminals. We've killed a lot of people."

"You know it wasn't us. We never had any option. We couldn't even chose when to sleep when they had us under their control." You firmly stated. "People are going to have to get with that fact, but we have to get with it first."

"You say that like it'll be easy."

"Ha, as if." You said, sarcastically. "What we did...it's going to be with us forever. Moments and memories are going to come back to us, weather we like it or not."

Bucky rested his hands on his face, running them through his hair as he let out a long sigh.
"can't wait."