Daylight | Bucky Barnes x OC

ix. strategy.

The dusk in Paris was a beautiful time. There was a faint sound of music in the distance from the buskers that were scattered throughout the streets. People were everywhere, laughing in the sun and the smell of various baked goods filled the air as Aurora roamed the city, hunting for somewhere to eat.

The sun was still hot, even though it was getting later in the day and this meant that Paris remained busy - but Rory didn't mind. As much as she enjoyed her own company, there were times where the loneliness set in and she needed the indistinct voices in the background to snap her back to her reality.

Eventually, after a small amount of wandering, Aurora stumbled upon a small bakery that was still selling fresh pastries. The buttery smell of the freshly baked buttery goods drew her in very quickly, leading her to purchase a croissant and a pain au chocolat for herself, as well as an extra croissant for the super soldier back at the hotel.

On route back to the hotel, Rory picked up a bottle of red wine from a convenience store before deciding to head back to the room and work out what the next move was going to be.

Rory took the elevator up to her floor and carefully opened the door. She stepped in quietly in case Bucky was still sleeping, but to her surprise - he was awake and was sat in the chair by the desk watching the news.

His hair was still damp from the shower he had had just before Aurora returned and his gaze was fixated on the remote control in his hand.

"You're awake." Aurora commented as she placed the bag of groceries down and kicked off her sandals.

"You're observant" Bucky responded in a dull tone which made Rory internally roll her eyes while externally trying to keep straight faced. 

"I brought food.. and wine" Rory offered, trying to maybe get a bit more than a few words out of him. Although their encounters thus far had been strained, Aurora wanted to try and figuratively build bridges with the man. 

"I'm not hungry" Bucky responded, still pressing buttons on the remote but not really getting far with changing the channel.

Rory noticed this and took the device from him "You've not eaten all day, you've gotta be" She responded.

He simply shook his head "I'm fine".

His bluntness was beginning to annoy her. Regardless of her negative feelings toward him, Aurora was trying her best to be civil and polite and try to search for a single redeeming quality in the man but so far was having no luck. To her, he was just blunt and rude and miserable.

Of course, her perception of him wasn't entirely wrong; however on this particular occasion, Bucky was still somewhat shaken from the vivid nightmare he had less than an hour before she returned. It wasn't a nightmare as such, but more of a recollection of various flashes of images. Images of cryo-tanks and trains and torture all flashed before him while he slept, images without context which left him wondering what it all meant while the blonde before him tried to force him to eat. The feeling of dread in his stomach meant that there was simply no space for food, but he could never explain that to her, at least not yet. 

Aurora sighed deeply at his response that he was fine. He clearly wasn't, but she didn't care enough to dig deeper to find out what was really wrong and part of her was unsure how he would respond even if she did.

"This is getting really boring, really quickly." Rory said, handing him the remote back "What's your plan, James?" She asked.

He looked at her "What do you mean?" He asked in return.

"Well" The blonde began. "We can only stay here a little longer and Rick said we should keep moving. I can't deal with all of this on my own. " Aurora stated. "So, what do you plan to do after this?" She asked once more.

This statement left Bucky thinking for a few seconds. Although he knew he was going to be on the run for quite some time, if not the rest of his life, he had never thought about what came after Paris but more importantly - he never thought about what he would have done without Aurora and how much she had done for his so far. 

As much as she annoyed him, she had helped him in a way nobody else had. She had given him a chance at freedom, despite the things he had done to her and the people she cared about. Rory had, in many ways, been his saviour and even though he didn't feel much like it - he should have been showing her a little bit of gratitude instead of being as blunt as possible and ignoring her.

"I don't have a plan." Bucky eventually admitted after a few uncomfortable seconds of silence.

Rory nodded, realising that it was probably a hard thing to admit so instead of making a sarcastic comment to make him feel worse, she decided to show him a little bit more kindness.

"Well, that isn't a problem because now we can come up with one." Aurora stated in a pleasant tone "But first, you really need to eat something. Please?" She said, handing him the croissant she had picked up earlier.

Bucky looked at her for a moment, surprised that she didn't use his lack of preparation against him and took the pastry from her. "Thanks." He said simply as he began to eat.

Aurora did the same, pouring herself a glass of wine while she thought of his strategy.

–

"We can't stay in Paris for too long. It's a really nice place, but it's a big enough city that eventually - someone will recognise you, and once that happens, it's too late to do anything" Aurora stated, half-way into her third glass of wine.

The two of them were hunched over the desk in the room with a map of France in the middle as they discussed what Bucky should do next.

"So what do you suggest?" Bucky asked in response.

Rory shrugged, moving her drink to get a better look at the map in front of them. "My suggestion would be to keep laying low. The best way to do that is to stick to ground transportation, cars, buses, trains, all that kinda thing." She stated "I guess we just keep moving until we get word we can stop, head back and settle down. 

"I don't think settling down is really on the cards for me" He shrugged.

Rory chuckled, finishing the remaining burgundy liquid which was in her glass "Me neither but hey, we've gotta have something to aim for - right" She shrugged and took out a pen, mapping the route from Paris for him.

"Right." Bucky responded, thinking about all of the things she was saying. "Rory?" He asked, making her look up from the map.

"Mhm?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

Bucky took a moment to find the right words "Thank you, for doing this. I know you don't like me too much, and that's okay but you have no idea how much you're really doing" He concluded, causing Aurora just to chuckle.

"Well, Steve thought you deserved a chance and to be honest - I think you do as well" She admitted, whether it was the wine in her system or the soft look in his eyes - she wasn't sure but Rory knew that she meant what she was saying. He deserved a chance.