The Soldat, The Captain and The Asset

3.4: The Raid

In an outdoor food market in Bucharest, a man, Bucky, is wearing a dark red top underneath a black jacket. He has a rucksack on his back, it buckled across his chest so that he doesn't lose. His hair is long, reaching his shoulders and hidden partially underneath a dark baseball cap. He walks over to one of the fruit stalls, picking up a couple of plums with his gloved metal hand, his other hand kept in his pocket.

He looks up at the vendor as he holds them. "Cum sunt? Sunt bune? Dă-mi șase, mulțumesc. (Romanian: How are they? Are they good? Give me six, thank you)." He tells them, watching as the vendor puts the plums into a small plastic bag and hands it to him. Bucky takes the bag in his hand and turns around. A woman with dark skin and and dreadlocks walks over to him, a smile on her face. She's wearing a dark blue jacket and a burgundy top, a black and white bum bag strapped around her waist.

"Yawa." He says softly, walking over to the woman. She whispers something in his ear, looking away from him, her eyes surveying the area. "No, it's safe here." He reminds her kindly. "No one will find us."

She shakes her, subtly pointing over to the news-stand wear the vendor is putting out today's newspapers. "Not you." She says quietly into his ear, her voice soft enough that no one else notices what she had said. "And you forget to get me my grapes." She chuckles slightly, pointing at the bag of fruit that Bucky is holding in his hand. The vendor is looking at the front page of the newspaper and looks up. His eyes glance back at the newspaper, his eyes widening in shock before quickly running from the kiosk.

Bucky quickly goes over and picks up a paper, skimming it. On the front page there are surveillance-photos of a man that looks similar to him with the headline: 'Winter Soldier cautat pentru Bombardmentul din Viena' (Romanian: Winter Soldier wanted for Vienna Bombing). Bucky glances around tensely, and Yawa nods slightly. He looks at her and they quickly walk quicker, going towards where they had been hiding out.

— — — — —

Steve makes his way up the stairs wearing his dark blue, armoured suit, his shield strapped to his arm with magnetic clamps locking it in place for when he needs it. He quietly makes his way inside of a small apartment. Upon quick inspection, he looks around and sees there's a single mattress in the corner of the room with a small blanket, a couch off to the side with a slightly bigger blanket, the indents in the furniture making it obvious that someone had been sleeping on that too. All the furniture looks cheap, or if it had been picked up by the side of the road.

He walks further inside, his eyes taking everything in, the small house, if you could call it that, slightly depressing. It doesn't pass Steve's eye that there is only the living area with the kitchen and mattress, and a tiny bathroom with just a toilet and shower shoved in the corner, a flimsy curtain surrounding it in a failed attempt to stop water from leaking out. He walks over to the fridge, noticing a book being hidden on top of it. Carefully, he picks it up and flicks through the pages, his eyes skimming through the pages.

"Heads up, Cap." Sam says over the radio in Steve's ear. "German Special Forces, approaching from the south." He warns.

"Understood." Steve answers, placing the notebook back where it had been hidden. He turns around slightly and notices that Bucky is standing there. His eyes drift to the side to where Yawa is standing in front of the door, almost as if she was making sure he couldn't make a break for it. Steve's eyes go back over to Bucky, looking at him softly. "Do you know me?" Steve asks him kindly.

Bucky stares at him for a moment, not moving. "You're Steve." He answers, sounding slightly unsure with his answer. "I read about you in a museum."He says simply.