It's only been a short time since Lacey Williams grandfather died, leaving her his ramshackle home in a remote rural area. The last thing she expected to find was an injured fugitive hiding in the garage. His soft spoken manner conflicts with ever...
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This chapter covers several episodes of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Rather than duplicate all the dialogue I chose to paraphrase the interactions with the characters and create new dialogue where needed. In making the mood board for this chapter I put the title in an open space and realized that "So Far Apart" didn't just refer to Bucky and Lacey but also to the dynamics between Lacey and Clint, forcing her to leave the safety of the farm, Bucky and Dr. Raynor, Bucky and Leah, Bucky and Isaiah Bradley, and finally Bucky and Sam. I love serendipitous discoveries like that. Please vote and comment as it helps the creative process. ************
Lacey didn't want to hear it anymore so she walked outside in the middle of Clint telling her again about Bucky trying to give him a letter to her. As she could hear his anger erupting even further she walked towards the tree house, wiping the tears away from her face. She wished Clint had taken the letter so she could at least begin to understand why Bucky left her. There had to be a reason but until she heard it from Bucky herself everything else was speculation. Her phone, stuck in the back pocket of her jeans, rang and she pulled it out, standing in the middle of the field.
"Hello?" she asked.
"Lacey," said the clipped accented voice of Shuri. "I thought you would be at the memorial."
"I couldn't," replied Lacey. "Was Bucky there?"
"Yes, he was there," said Shuri carefully. "He looked terrible, like a man full of regret."
"Good," said Lacey. "What did he tell you?"
"That he made a terrible decision and hurt someone he loves," said the young scientist diplomatically. "Based on what he told me I think it was his PTSD that was talking."
"Well, I guess that can always be used as an excuse," replied Lacey bitterly. "He left me in the middle of sex, Shuri. Pulled out, took the condom off, said we were a mistake and left. What kind of man does that?"
Shuri sighed. "A man who is still afraid of his memories," she said patiently. "He had a vision of something the Soldier did and it frightened him as he thought he was capable of doing it to you. He flinched when I touched his arm; a sign of regression.
Lacey could feel her throat constricting as sobs threatened to overwhelm her. She breathed deeply several times trying to deal with it.
"Then it would have been better if he stayed away until he could deal with them," she finally said. "I can't be jerked around like that; not by any man. You tell him when he has his shit together I'll talk to him. Until then he should just stay away."
Shuri sighed again. This was going to be harder than she thought. "He has already turned himself in and we are leaving for Wakanda within the hour," she stated. "I don't know when I will see him again."
"Well, that's unfortunate for him then," answered Lacey curtly, then she softened her tone. "Look, I still love him but he hurt me deeply when he did that. Tommy is devastated. Until Bucky fixes himself Tommy and I can't be around him. If that's harsh then that's how it is. Thank you for trying though."
