RAISON D'ÊTRE ( bucky barnes ) 一 under editing

TWENTY-SECOND

RAISON D'ÊTRE
TWENTY-SECOND

2016 一 BUCHAREST, ROMANIA
LIFTING ONE OF HER HANDS, Rome attempted to shield her face streaming through the newspaper covered windows, and she let out a small groan. She'd asked Bucky several times if they could get either more newspaper for that particular window or change the position of their bed, but each time he had said no. He liked feeling the sunlight hit his face in the morning, and the bed was in a fine spot without obstructing anything.

Strong arms wrapped loosely around her midriff, and she turned her head just enough to see Bucky's face inches from hers. She smiled to herself and slowly pried his arms off of her, fingers gently tugging his hands away as she struggled to not wake him up. Bucky had tossed and turned repeatedly through the night, waking up from nightmares twice, and Rome had done her best to reassure him and tell him everything was okay. Sometimes she thought that he was getting better, that the days with HYDRA were truly in the past, but then there were nights such as this where he screamed and cried in her arms and she'd kiss his head.

With his arms now off her, she pushed herself off the small mattress and stretched her arms high above her head. Her elbow made a loud cracking sound that made her wince, but she still stood and headed towards her bag. Grabbing her clothes, she started to change. In the beginning of their relationship, despite them having already shared a bed, Rome had felt the tiniest bit uncomfortable changing in front of Bucky. She had scars, all of them much too ugly, and she'd grown red with embarrassment each time she imagined Bucky looking at them. But as time went on, with each day showing more of their love to one another, Rome had grown happy with reassurance. It comforted her to know that she could reveal herself so easily to someone, both mentally and physically, and she was glad it was Bucky. They'd both gone through much together, each obtaining scars of their own, and it felt nice to know that there'd always be someone who could relate to her pain.

When she finished changing, pulling down her shirt to cover her torso, she turned around to spot Bucky starting to sit up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and wielding a sleepy grin. "This is already a great morning."

Rome grinned, shaking her head and sat on the edge of the bed. "Good morning to you too," she said and pressed her lips against his. She leaned closer, feeling his hand press against the small of her back, and she smiled. When they pulled away, Bucky was smiling at her and playing with the necklace around her throat. He liked playing with it sometimes, twirling the wine red gemstone between his fingers like she sometimes did when she was anxious. "It's been a while since we've gone outside. And I suppose it's time for grocery shopping, don't you agree?"

"That sounds like a plan," Bucky said and pressed another kiss to Rome's lip.

∞ ∞ ∞

The witch tugged at the scarf around her neck, playing with one of the many tassels dangling off its end. Looking up, she could spot Bucky down the street, his figure much taller and much more muscular than anyone else in the market area. Other than that, he would have looked like any other man in Romania 一 dressed in a casual outfit of a jacket, jeans, and a hat, Bucky could have passed for anyone. Rome turned her attention back down to the stall in front of her, looking at the several books set neatly atop the table. Some of them were stories, fairy tales she recognized easily and some she didn't know, and some of them were grimoires. Besides the familiar rough texture of its cover and the yellowing, wrinkled pages, she could easily tell what it was based on the power practically pulsing from it. Rome knew that the woman running the stall was human, but she wondered how much she knew. Did she know the power these mere books held? Perhaps she knew more than she was letting on, or maybe she was just as clueless as the rest, thinking it nothing more than an old book with strange words and symbols.

She could feel a familiar body press up against her back, and felt breath tingle against her ear. "Find something you like, doll?" Bucky whispered, and she smirked.

"I suppose there are a few things that have caught my eye," she replied, green eyes still fixated on the books. Tilting her head back to rest against his shoulder, she asked, "You wouldn't happen to have a bit of money to lend, would you?"

Bucky smirked, pulling away to reach for his wallet. "Drain my wallet, why don't you?" he teased, and Rome bit back a laugh as he handed the paper bills to her.

Money was always a scarce thing for the two, especially with accumulating it. They had gone through some rather unsavory ways to gain money, some legal and some not so legal, and most of their money had gone straight to them being able to keep their crappy little apartment or food. The rest had stayed in Bucky's wallet, where they doubted it'd be stolen with his reflexes, and spent on things such as spell ingredients and grimoires such as this.

After purchasing a grimoire with a musty brown covering, Rome had placed it within her bag and took Bucky's hand in hers. They spoke quietly to each other, of little things such as how long they might stay out or what they could have for dinner with the food Bucky had just purchased. But his voice had gone low, his body still as they waited to cross the street. His gaze drifted across the street, and he shifted uncomfortably.

Rome had noticed immediately, squeezing his hand gently and leaning into him. "Is something wrong?" she asked, and when he didn't immediately answer, she called his name gently. "Soldier?" She followed his gaze and saw that he was looking at a newspaper vendor in his stall, who stared at the pair with trepidation evident in his eyes. The man's jaw dropped as well, looking down at something on his desk before looking once again at them.

Pursing her lips, Rome tugged on Bucky's hand, almost dragging him with her as they crossed the street. As they neared, the man had darted from his stand and straight into the market. Seeing that had made her heart clench and she narrowed her eyes, still pulling on Bucky. Once they reached the stand, Bucky dropped her hand and reached for the stray newspaper sitting atop the counter. While they had been living in Romania for quite some time, Rome still relied heavily on Bucky for translating and reading, but she managed to catch on to a few words. However, she didn't need to know Romanian in order to understand the cover. A picture was plastered in the center, a blurred image of a hooded man looking past the camera. In any other normal circumstance, Rome would have shaken her head and called it a day, but her eyes latched on to certain key words 一 HYDRA, Vienna, Winter Soldier.

But... it couldn't be him. The date on the newspaper was from that morning, with the incident being placed just the day before, and unless Bucky could teleport, she knew that it couldn't be him. They stayed inside all day yesterday, with Rome only leaving once for a few minutes to tell their neighbors upstairs to keep the racket down (they did not).

Rome looked up at Bucky, eyes growing wide. "What the hell is this?"