Avenger Arising → Bucky Barnes [3]

05|WHO AM I

And then Ally ran after him, her heart pounding so loudly she thought it would burst from her chest. She followed him closely, watching him try to shield himself from her eye as he turned a sharp corner into an alleyway. The irony was there, cold and unfair, the two had met in an alley, far from there and years ago. She didn't know where she was nor did she know where he was heading. She doubted herself, knowing he was running fast to stay away from her. He didn't want to be found and she had found him. Ally flung herself over dumpsters and brick walls, trailing behind him as he kept running. She knew she had to keep running forward. Not stopping for anything.

They came into a dim road, buildings covering the Romanian sun. They both were left gasping for air when they realized there was nowhere left to run. Bucky had ran all the way to where he was living, Ally had ran after the man she once loved. Ally wiped her arm across her forehead, getting rid of the excess sweat she had obtained. She untied her neck scarf and let it drop to the dirty ground, then took off her black heels once more and rubbed her feet.

She looked up at him, his eyes watching her like a timid animal. Ally almost shrugged her shoulders, as if mocking him. He had nowhere to hide, she trapped him. She leant against a wall, her head tilted to the sky as she let out a raspy question. "Do you know who I am?"

"Yes."

Ally nodded her head, rubbing her temple in slow, circular motions. "Do you know who you are?"

"Not yet."

Their eyes were lifeless. The spark that existed before had vanished, or maybe it was still there but hidden under years of hardships and HYDRA. There was nothing left, not an ounce of life in their eyes. Their lips were slightly perched open, but nothing came out even though they desperately wanted to say something to the other. "Are you going to invite me inside or are we just going to stand here?" the sarcasm in her voice was almost comforting, a forgotten memory. "Guess they took away the gentlemen aspect of you too huh?"

Bucky looked at her blankly, waiting a few seconds before shuffling to the door and fishing out his keys. The atmosphere was tense but not awkward. You could cut the air with a knife and it still wouldn't be strong enough.

The door swung open and the two matched their steps as they walked up the stairs. Bucky knew he couldn't run, Ally was too smart and too fast to let that happen. She was on her guard, watching for anything slightly unordinary. This would kill him and they both knew it.

His apartment was messy. A single mattress on the ground, a dusty kitchen, a tiny bathroom with no tub, just a dingy shower. It smelt weird, like air that hadn't been filtered right. Ally guessed he wouldn't open a window, no matter what circumstance. Considering all the windows were covered with newspaper anyways, it probably was a good idea anyways.

"Are you turning me in?" he asked, his back pressed against a kitchen counter. "Is that what this is?"

"No."

"I don't work like that anymore," he watched her as she looked around. "That isn't me."

"I know," she confirmed. "I'm not here to arrest you."

"Then why are you?"

She stopped, her eyes meeting his since they were already looking at her anyways. "I haven't come up with that answer yet," she admitted. "Who am I to you?"

Bucky opened his mouth to say another failed attempt of words. He couldn't piece together the sentence so he took a long stride towards the fridge, pulling a small notebook off of it. He handed it to her, stepping back from her, not wanting to be anywhere close to her, he was scared.

The small notebook rested in her hand as she opened the first page up. The notebook had been filled with news articles and scribbled drawings, notes in English, German, Romanian and even Italian. A photo of her caught her eye, it was from the 40's, when her hair was light and her smile was bright.

"Who am I to you?" she repeated. "Who am I to you without what HYDRA told you, without what the world says?"

"You're Ally," she waited for him to carry on. "You were my fiancée before I fell, my best friend."

She waited, wide-eyes looking at him, a lump in her throat so big she was one wrong move away from breaking what she built. She felt weak as she watched him pull out memories he knew to be true. How did this happen? She didn't deserve this.

"You named your son after me," he continued. "You are the Alchemist. I tried to kill you."

His emotional pain seeped out of every word and it hurt her to hear them. "Yes," Ally cleared her throat. "That's right."

He looked at her again, remembering what it felt like to be near someone who cared about him again. It took everything in him to hold onto the small memories he had of her, of his Alchemy Jones. His mind was messy, the world he had known was forgotten. He didn't know what he was doing as much as she did.

"I'm not turning you in," she said again. "I just wanted to find you."

"After all that—" his words were raw. "You still love me enough to find me?"

Ally's body cringed as she put a hand through her hair. "I don't know anymore," she held her breath so no tears would escape her eyes. "But you're still my family, I wasn't going to let you disappear alone."

Bucky couldn't find any words to say, and he wish he could. He wanted to say something to the woman in front of him, but he didn't know her anymore than she knew him. They were strangers, in a different world, they would've been grandparents  sitting on the front porch under the summer sun. At least he knew that.

"I want to help you," Ally finally said. "Please."

"I'm not sure you can Ally."

"I can," she pushed. "One step at a time."

"I tried to kill you."

"Everyone has tried to kill me," she snorted. "No one was ever successful."

He almost smiled.

"No one knows I'm here," she urged. "I am a doctor ya' know."

"Right," he nodded. "Doctor Jones."

"Don't run," she muttered. "I know you don't know me, I'm just another stranger that's ran after you. You have no reason to trust me or let me help you, but I can be something, so you aren't alone."

"Like what?" He questioned with disbelief.

"A friend?"

He chuckled. "One step at a time."

Her lips tugged upwards. "Fair enough."

—

Ally's body cringed as she put a hand through her hair. "I don't know anymore," she held her breath so no tears would escape her eyes. "But you're still my family, I wasn't going to let you disappear alone."

A/N: Hey everyone! I know I've been gone for a bit but now that my summer has started, Avenger Arising will be completed by the end of my summer vacation. Thank you to all of you who have continued supporting and reading the trilogy. This will be my last book on Wattpad which is why it is important for me to finish the story. Ally Jones has been a very important character that I have written and to anyone who actually loves reading this book as much as I have loved writing it, thank you. Always feel free to private message me, ask me for my IG, snap, anything. I'm here to listen or just to chat. You'll be getting daily updates from now on. So keep reading!

Xxx