II: The Girl Who Ran: Little Monsters

II: You Know Me?

Tatiana picked up a bright yellow shawl and held it against herself. She turned to Snowy. "What do you think, Snowy?"

Snowy glanced from her face, to the shawl, and back to her face. His mouth was barely open and his head tilted. He closed his mouth and shook his head, "Don't call me that."

She ignored him, "Yes. I suppose it is too bright for my complexion."

He picked up a plum and asked the man behind the stand, "How much are these?" in Romanian. The man answered but Tatiana didn't hear him. She stared at Snowy. The years hadn't been kind to him. His hair was long enough to hang below his chin, which was covered in brown and gray stubble. His eyes were puffy with a lack of sleep. He wore several layers of clothes and gloves. She'd noticed this morning when he'd put on a hoodie to cover his arm, as if she hadn't already seen it. Of course she noticed it, she'd designed it! He still walked with the swagger the weight of the arm gave him. Had he even taken it off since she died?

She sighed, "Well then, I am going to leave you here to haggle over exorbitantly priced fruit while I look at the hats over there." She pointed vaguely across the market.

The only response she received was a nod.

She had also noticed that he barely had talked to her. She didn't know what they did to him after she was gone, but it couldn't have been good. The glint she saw in his eyes was hard as vibranium.

She walked over to another stall, full of chickens. An elderly dark woman sat with closed eyes on the ground in the midst of the cages and feathers. Tatiana squatted down and tapped the woman on the shoulder to see if she was awake. Her eyes flew open and Tatiana started. The woman's eyes were a milky gray. The woman spit words at her in Romanian and Tatiana replied in the same language, "I am sorry! Please slow down, I do not know these words very well!"

The woman leaned forward and placed her hands on either side of Tatiana's face before she could move. Her fingers traced her features, her eyes, her nose, her lips. Tatiana tried not to breathe.

The woman spoke slowly, "Little one, little one. You have returned, haven't you? I recognized your voice. So strong. So pure." She leaned forward and yanked the white strand of Tatiana's hair, "You are deceitful! You thought I would forget, huh? No! You got him, but you will not get me. Even our descendants will remember each other with malice! So run, little one! Run far away! You will not get me!"

The woman let go of her hair and Tatiana scrambled up, saying, "I am sorry! I am sorry!" She turned away and ran straight into a broad chest. She looked up and saw Snowy's face. He was frowning and a line had appeared between his eyebrows.

"We gotta go. Now." He spun around and jogged away.

Tatiana raced to catch up with him, the wound on her thigh stung as the scab tore away from the bandage. "What? What is wrong?"

Snowy handed her a newspaper and she opened it. On the front page there was a grainy picture of him, and above that a headline that read, 'Winter Soldier bombs UN meeting in Vienna!' in Romanian.

"Oh." Tatiana's phone vibrated in her back pocket and she pulled it out, "My contact just messaged that there are a bunch of German military people coming to kill you. But Captain America is going to beat them here. ETA is around six minutes."

"That's not helping. And who is this 'contact'?"

Tatiana smiled, "A good friend of mine. She almost killed me once."

They passed the front desk and started to ascend the stairs, "Wha--? You know, I can't deal with this right now."

Tatiana ignored the warm trickle of blood that was dripping down her leg. When they reached his room, Snowy looked through his pocket for the key and unlocked the door. Tatiana looked up and down the deserted hallway. "All clear."

Snowy opened the door and pulled Tatiana into the room. They both looked toward the door at the sound of hurried footsteps somewhere below. Snowy shoved her into the bathroom and turned the light off, "Stay in here. Don't come out for anything."

Tatiana smiled, "I hope you have good insurance."

He sighed and closed the door, but Tatiana reopened it a crack. She peered out into the room. It was empty, but she heard the door open.

A man in uniform stepped into her line of sight. She recognized him immediately. Steven Rogers, Snowy's childhood friend. Steven's eyes flitted around the room, to Snowy's sleeping bag, to the newspaper-covered windows, and to the neatly piled dishes on the shelf above the sink. He turned his back to her to look at something on top of the refrigerator.

Tatiana saw Snowy come in and stand by his sleeping bag, facing Steven. Steven mumbled something and turned around, freezing when he saw Snowy. He stared at him for a moment, breaking the silence when he asked, "You know me?"