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SEPTEMBER 9TH, 1995
CYNTHIA AND MILLIE'S footsteps pounded on the New York sidewalk.
The bullets hit the ground around them, in between their feet as they ran, almost hitting them.
Before sending the kids off, Cynthia told Millie the truth: The truth about Bucky, about her, and everything in between. She was glad that Millie was disgusted by the fact she helped Bucky, but trusted her anyway because of how much Cynthia had changed since she'd known her.
Cynthia had met Millie a broken and very damaged woman, and compared to who she was now . . . Millie knew she had had a big impact on that healing.
"How can you be in love with that?" Millie panted to Cynthia as they rounded a corner into an abandoned building.
The duo heard Bucky jump down from the roof of the truck and onto the ground, his footsteps pounding towards them. "I don't know, but I am, and I hate it," Cynthia replied, panting as she placed one hand on the wall, and the other on her knee. She leaned over to catch her breath, and Millie laughed quietly, and said, "Thank god we gave me that strength, right?"
Cynthia laughed in response, peaking out of the storage house, and saw Bucky approaching. "Run," Cynthia panted, before taking off.
Hacking the S.H.I.E.L.D. computer system, and managing to obtain the recipe similar to the Captain America serum was hard. But, she did it. And gave it to Millie, who agreed to come on this god-awful wild adventure with her. They had stolen a plane (neither knew how to fly one in the first place either, which made for a very bumpy and panic-inducing flight from England to New York), but right when they touched down in New York, Bucky was hot on their trails.
But, perhaps, he wasn't Bucky anymore.
You would think, with Cynthia being there, he would stop. Yet he didn't.
Both girls wanted water desperately. They were so dehydrated, and they had been running for the past half hour towards Cynthia's apartment, where all her weapons were. She had left all her guns and swords there, for the safety of her and Jamie both. She had gotten kitchen knives, so she suppose she could have defended herself with those.
But what worried Cynthia the most as of right now, was where the hell David was. Were there punishments for him as well? And . . . Had they already punished him?
"I'm sorry for dragging you in this," Cynthia breathed as they ran, and Millie breathed a response back, "I'm the one who volunteered to be here!"
Sooner than expected, they ran into the more busier part of the city, surrounded by cars and traffic, and Cynthia saw the top of her skyscraper apartment building from far away, and said to Millie, "We're almost there!"
"Finally—" Millie's voice was cut off by the sound of bullets being shot off, hitting the cars, concrete, and other people around them. People screamed, chaos breaking out. Cynthia grabbed Millie's hand, and the two pushed through the crowd.
Cynthia looked back for a split second to see if there was anyone behind them. Bucky was now running towards them, his feet pounding on the ground as he propelled himself towards them. They about four buildings away from Cynthia's home. Or rather, her second home.
"Oh god, oh god," Millie panted as they ran, and Cynthia noticed the opening to a bakery, and pushed Millie through the door, closing it behind them.
"What the hell are you doing? They might find us!" Millie asked, catching her breath. Cynthia took off the necklace that hung around her neck, and handed it to Millie, out of breath.
"HYDRA doesn't know who you are," Cynthia explained. "So you're going to go to my apartment building, act normal, and go up to my apartment. The keys for my father's old car are in my apartment, on the kitchen counter, in the bowl that's covered in saran wrap."
"Wait, what? Are you saying that I'm supposed to leave you to HYDRA, possibly killing yourself in the process?" Millie snapped, and then exclaimed, "I can't leave you!"
"Well you're going to," Cynthia replied, and carefully set her hand on Millie's arm. "I'll find you, okay? When I get out, I'll find you."
Thank god the bakery was empty.
Millie shook her head, but then her eyes widened when she saw Bucky's shadow cast onto the door. Turning back to Cynthia, she put one of her hands on her cheek, and kissed her. "I love you," Millie said when she pulled away.
"I love you too," Cynthia said breathlessly, and Millie took one last moment to look at Cynthia before running out of the shop through the back door.
Cynthia turned, and placed her hand on the hot doorknob. She opened it, and said, "Looks like you've caught me."
Bucky stood still for a moment, before he grabbed both of Cynthia's arms and threw her out onto the street. She looked up, and saw a van and three men with their arms crossed across their laps. "Come on," Cynthia said, looking up the three men, feeling her nose starting to bleed. "You don't like playing chase?"
"This is her?" The man in the middle of the three asked Bucky, whose voice was muffled as he replied, "This is Cynthia Hayes."
Cynthia was then hauled up from the ground, and shoved into the van. She got one last look at her apartment building before the van doors was slammed shut after Bucky climbed in.
