No Longer His (Bucky x OC) (2/2)

Chapter 4

March 2014

Stacy had thought that HYDRA would have attacked by now, but she'd been living in Steve's apartment for two months now and she was getting anxious.

"Ready?" Steve asked as she walked out of her bedroom. They had gone for a run around the capital before sunrise every morning.

"Yep." The two left the apartment and made their way to the capitol. Stacy and Steve ran side by side for the most part, aside from when Stacy got ahead now and again. 

"On your left," Steve stated as he ran past another man, he said it every time he passed the other runner.  The runner heard Steve and Stacy coming up behind him.

"Don't say it. Don't you say-"

"On your left."

"Come on!" Stacy laughed as she continued running. 

They only ran a couple more laps before ending their run.  Stacy heard heavy breathing and walked up to the other runner sitting against the tree with Steve behind her.

"Need a medic?" Steve asked. The man chuckled.

"I need a new set of lungs. Guys, you just ran like thirteen miles in thirty minutes."

"Guess we got a late start."

"Really? You should be ashamed of yourself. You should take another lap. Did you just take it? I assume you just took it." Steve ignored it but Stacy couldn't help but chuckle.

"What unit are you with?"

"The 58th pararescue. But now I'm working down at the VA." The man held out his hand for Steve to help him up. "Sam Wilson."

"Steve Rogers."

"Yeah, I kinda put that together. Must have freaked you out coming home after the whole defrosting thing."

"Takes some getting used to. It's good to meet you, Sam." Steve started to walk off but Sam called out after him.

"It's your bed right?"

"What's that?"

"Your bed? It's too soft. When I was over there I'd sleep on the ground and use rocks for pillows like a caveman. Now I'm home, lying in my bed and it's like-"

"Lying on a marshmallow? I feel like I'm going to sink right to the floor. How long?"

"Two tours. You must miss the good old days, huh?"

"Well, things aren't so bad. Food's a lot better, we used to boil everything, no polio's good, internet, so helpful. I've been reading that a lot trying to catch up."

"Marvin Gaye, 1972, Trouble Man soundtrack. Everything you missed, jammed into one album." Steve pulls out his little notebook and writes it down.

"I'll put it on the list." He pulls his phone out of his pocket, "All right, Sam. Duty calls. Thanks for the run, if that's what you call running."

"Oh, that's how it is?"

"Oh, that's how it is."

"Oh, okay. Anytime you want to stop by the VA, make me look awesome in front of the girl at the front desk, just let me know." 

"I'll keep it in mind." A black Corvette pulled up beside him and rolled down the window.

"Hey, fellas. Either one of you know where the Smithsonian is? I'm here to pick up a fossil," Natasha joked.

"Hilarious." Steve got in the car and shut the door. "Can't run everywhere."

"No, you can't." 

"You know your way back, right?" Steve asked Stacy.

"I can figure it out. Go." She shooed them away with her hands and the car drove off.

"How do you know, Steve Rogers?" Sam asked her.

"Can I trust you not to say anything to anyone?"

"I guess."

"I lived next door to him when we were younger, he was my best friend, and then I married his best friend. I'm Stacy Barnes. But you really cannot tell anyone you even saw me. Not many people know I'm alive and they can't know."

"How come?"

"I have a feeling you'll find out soon enough. Now I'm gonna home so I can eat." Sam chuckled as she turned and began walking off.

"Bye Stacy," he called after her.

"Goodbye, Sam." Stacy started her short run back to Steve's apartment but when she got there something felt off. She walked up the stairs to the apartment and put her ear to the door. 

She didn't need to listen long to know that someone was in there. She slowly opened the door, preparing herself for who may have broken in, and shut it softly once she was inside. At first glance, it would appear as if the place was just how they left it. Except for the window, which was slightly open. 

She could hear someone rummaging through her room and grabbed a handgun from under the table by the door. She walked to her room and pushed open the already cracked door. She could only see his back but immediately knew who it was.

"They sent you after me, didn't they?" She asked the man who was standing by her bed.

"Ana, I came to warn you."

"About what, James?"

"They know I let you go and that you can't be controlled by them anymore. They want me to kill you and anyone who has had any interaction with you." 

"Do they know who?"

"Yes, past and future. There's nothing I can do. Not once they-" He didn't want to finish that sentence."

"How much time do you have?"

"Enough."

"Good." The two sat on the bed together and talked. In earlier years, she tried to do this as often as she could to remind him of his humanity and it seemed to work at first, and then it didn't. James reached behind him and grabbed the photo album he had pulled out earlier.

"Where did you get these pictures?"

"Our life. We had a pretty good one. I was never able to tell you before, but now that I'm out and a target is on me, might as well." She laughed sadly. "Back then we knew a lot of people with cameras, so there were a lot of pictures taken of us. A few of them ended up in the museum, but the super special ones are in this book. Some of them I didn't know existed until they showed up in our mailbox a couple of days after our wedding. Each picture tells a different story." She opened the book to the first page. 

"This picture is the most special picture of them all, I think. A nosy neighbor of ours took it. This was the day we met. I bumped into you because I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and you caught me from falling. The neighbor said they had never seen love at first sight until that moment. I didn't think about it like that back then, but when I look back on it, I know he was right."

"I can't remember you before HYDRA. I wish I could because the man I see in these pictures is who I know they will never let me be."

"I know, but at least you have your humanity back, I don't think they can take that away again."

"I'm sure they'll figure out a way."

"Not if I have anything to do with it. But you should go, I don't want them to hurt you more than they already do." She watched as he stood and walked out her bedroom door without saying a word and heard the window shut before there was nothing but completely unbearable silence.