Flesh and Bone ◇ Bucky Barnes ◇

Chapter XXXII: Flesh and Bone

Joana

Tears Joana didn't think she had left sprang into her eyes.
Pierce hand sent Bucky to kill her. This was the end, the end of the road she'd started on. She kept her gaze fixed on the Winter Soldier as he approached her. She would not show fear. She would not show him weakness.
Yet, something looked off about him. He seemed to be limping. He wasn't marching Ike he usually did. He looked rushed, like he was in a hurry. The horrible feeling in her gut that something had gone wrong suddenly magnified a hundred fold. Something was very, very wrong.
If his appearance wasn't bad enough (even though she could barely see him through her blurry eyes), he didn't have a key to the door of metal bars separating her from him. Using what little strength she had, Joana tugged against the chains around her wrists, using one last ditch attempt to get free before he killed her. As The Soldier began to pry the bra apart to enter the room, Joana began to whimper. She wasn't ready to die, she wasn't ready. And definitely not by his hand.
When the Soldier had pulled the bars apart enough for him to slip through, Joana stopped struggling. What was the point? He was stronger than her and faster than her even at full health, there was no way she was going to survive this.
He walked towards her, slowly. Joana's hear pounded in her chest, roaring like waves in her ears. He stood in front of her. Joana's body trembled and she held back sobs. She lowered her head so she didn't have to look him in the eye. He crouched down, squatting in front of her. Up close, she could see how beaten he truly looked. Many of his wounds looked partially healed, but some were still fresh. He was dirty and his hair was a mess. His uniform was torn in places and he wore a leather jacket to hide that fact.
He looked at her quizzically, tilting his head side to side. Looking into the eyes she knew so well, the eyes that once looked at her with love, the very same eyes that belonged to the man who was going to kill her. The thought made the tears in her eyes start to rolled from her eyes in large droplets. The Soldier reached up his hand and Joana choked back a sob, closing her eyes. She waited for the hand to reach around her neck and strangle the life from her, but it never happened.
An unintentional gasp came from her mouth when the hand she thought was her death, brushed the tears gently from her cheeks. She opened her watery eyes and her was just squatting there in the same position, the same look on his face as before. His fingertips grazed across her cheek until his hold hand was cupping her face. She closed her eyes again, but not in fear. She leaned against his hand and the remnants of the tears fell from her eyes.
"I know your face," he finally said his voice softer than she had heard in a very, very long time. "I know your face."
When she opened her eyes, recognition befell has face. He pulled his hand away so suddenly that she jumped. He grabbed the chains around her wrists and ripped the metal straight off of them, standing as he did so. As soon as her wrists were free, she pulled the cloth from her mouth. She thought about throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him close to her, but she didn't want to frighten him, but before she could say anything, he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her into his chest, putting another arm around her shoulders. Joana let out a sob of relief and put her arms around his waist in return.
"I know you," he whispered into her hair. "I know you."
Joana's already weak legs gave out beneath her so Bucky led them gracefully to the floor. Joana threaded her hands through his long hair, taking in his scent It was different than she remembered, but the underlying smell was the same as if had always been; smoke and shaving cream.
Joana realized how soaked Bucky's shirt was from her snot and tears only when she finally pulled away from her. He cupped her face in his hands and stared into her eyes. Joana's hands lay on her hands on his chest.
"Your name," he breathed. "I don't-"
"Joana," she said with the faintest of smiles. "I'm Joana."
Bucky stood quickly, having heard something Joana could not. He took her hand and helped her to her feet.
"Can you walk?" He asked her. Joana nodded. It felt like a dream, like this was all fake, like it was some sick joke Pierce was playing on her. But she followed him anyway. Even if it was a dream, she was going to follow through with it.
While she thought she could walk, Joana didn't realize how slow she really was. Her legs were shaking and she felt like her core was no longer there. Her balance was off and her feet didn't agree with her. Bucky had a hand on the small of her back as they left the vault and started into the hallway she had never seen.
It was vacant.. The bank was a ghost town. Papers flitted this way and that, guns lay beside dead bodies.
"What happened?" Joana asked, grabbing on to Bucky's arm for support.
"HYDRA fell," was all Bucky said.
"What?" She asked, freezing in place. "It fell? Rumlow, Pierce, Karpov? They're dead?"
Bucky flinched at the sound of the names.
"I don't know, but I would assume so."
Joy burst forth from Joana's heart in the form of a smile and a laugh.
"Are we really free?" She asked him as her smile faded into seriousness. "Is this the end?"
"It's just you an me, Partner," he told her. Memories of the older days in Russia, when Aleksi and the Commander were still alive, flashed through her brain. She thought of Danika and suddenly, Pierce's supposed death wasn't enough. Letting go of Bucky, she bent down and grabbed two guns off the floor.
"They won't be needing these anymore," she said quietly, checking for ammo. She turned to look back at Bucky, who almost had the ghost of a smile on his face. "Let's get out of here."
They walked forward, almost out of the back room when the final door opened. The wood hit the wall with a bang, the only sound echoing through the halls.s Joana didn't breathe. Bucky didn't breathe. Alexander Pierce, the man on the other side, didn't breathe. He had a bullet hole in his shoulder, coloring his white shirt a deep crimson.
"Joana," he breathed. Fear was recognizable in his voice. Terror. "Joana, please."
Rage boiled through Joana's veins. It turned her vision red. It made her fingers tense around the triggers of the guns she held. Her toes curled beneath her feet. Her eyes twitched.
"Joana," Bucky said from behind her.
"Don't try to stop me," she seethed.
"I wasn't going to," he told her. "He deserves it."
Even though she didn't need permission, she took his words as such. She lifted the guns and strut forward towards the already dying man and pulled the triggers, once, twice, three times, not hitting him anywhere vital, but enough to cause him pain. When she finally got to him, he had fallen to the floor, blood seeping from all the holes in his body.
"Joana," he gasped. "Please."
Joana put her bare foot over his neck. He gagged and tried to push her off of him. Adrenaline coursed through her, pushing the pain and weakness in her body away for later moments. She pressed her foot harder against his neck and leaned down.
"I hate you," she sneered. "I want to sit here and watch you suffer for everything you did to me. You will bleed out and die painfully in minutes, but oh how I wish I could prolong it. But I can't stay here that long. See, Bucky and I are leaving. We're getting out of here and there's nothing you can do to stop us. All your work, all these years, and looks what you've become." She stood taller, moving her foot away from his neck to the bullet hole in his shoulder. He cried out in pain. "All your work has been in vain. Everything you've done is wasted. I am stronger than you think. You made me stronger and look what's become of you. You are nothing but flesh and bone. So I'm going to kill you and I'm going to be the last thing you see. And I'm going to be the last thing you remember as you rot in hell for the rest of your life."
Before he could say anything, she lifted her gun to his head and emptied the clip into his skull. As she made the move to empty the second gun into his already obliterated skull, she felt Bucky wrap his arm around her waist and pull her away.
"That's enough, Joana," he said, "Enough. We need to leave."
Growling in anger, tears of hate growing in her eyes as she looked at Pierce's mutilated body, she pulled against him, but his metal arm was too strong and kept her pressed against his side.
"We need to move. Find you some clothes and get the hell outta dodge."
The surprise in how Bucky-y that sounded to Joana stopped her from trying to escape his grip. She turned to look at him and nodded once.
They looked around at the bodies near them. One female HYDRA agent was laying on the ground near Pierce. Sidestepping the dead body of her abuser, Joana stripped the woman and put on the black jeans and black T-shirt, which mostly fit, and the dark shoes that matched. Joana grabbed the woman's spare knives, replacing the guns for them. They were more conspicuous than guns were, she knew. When she turned to Bucky, he nodded at her once and together they looked towards the door that Pierce had come out of.
One the other side was something Joana hadn't seen since the 1940s. It was enough to make her heart swell.
"Is..." her voice broke, "Is that the sun?" She asked.
Warm, yellow light flitted in through the windows of the abandoned bank. Joana walked slowly across the floor until she made it to the the place where the sun hit the floor. The sun, reflected from the windows, felt good on her face and her arms and her chest.
"We need to keep moving, Joana," Bucky reminded her, walking up slowly behind her. "We need to get out of America."
Joana turned away from the sun and followed him out of the bank. She wanted to simply stand there and relish in the way the wind blew through her hair and the way the sun beat down on her face and caused sweat to roll down her face. But Bucky was right, they needed the leave. They weren't welcome here, that much was obvious. Joana needed to find some place to \regrow her strength, a place for Bucky to remember. A place far, far away from all of this.
Somewhere finally safe.
Bucky flipped up his collar. They were on a street that Joana didn't recognize. The buildings were tall the the cars were large and loud. Joana jumped at every sound.
"You'll get used to it," Bucky whispered to her. Joana rolled her lip between her teeth, but she nodded anyway. fear suddenly struck her. Everything was so big, so flashy. There were people walking by and talking to each other. Someone across the street selling hot dogs. A yellow car that looked like a small taxi almost ran someone over in the middle of the street with a loud honk of his horn. People stared at Joana and Bucky as they walked by.
Bucky put his arm over Joana's shoulder.
"Public displays of affection make people uncomfortable," he told her. "We need to blend in until we can get away."
Joana nodded, not finding the courage to speak. Bucky laughed as an older couple walked by. Joana managed the fakest laugh she'd ever laughed. They walked down the street, his arm over hers, her body shaking as they went.
"We need to get you some food. I know a place."

Joana hadn't had much good to eat since she joined HYDRA, so anywhere Bucky took her would have tasted like heaven, but he took her to Chipotle. Or that's what he said it was called. With burritos ad tacos. They didn't used to eat that kind of food in the 40s. There weren't many people, as the clock on the wall read 3:00, which meant people were still at work (or so Bucky said).
"Careful," he told her as she scarfed down her food. "Don't give yourself a stomach ache."
People around them watched in disgust at the black girl shoving food in her mouth by the handfuls. Once they were finished with Chipotle, Bucky told her his plan.
"We get on a boat, someone who is still loyal to HYDRA. They'll trust us. We get on that boat and we go to Europe, find a place to lay low. After that-"
"After that doesn't matter," Joana said, her voice gruff. "One step at a time."
Bucky looked down at her and dipped his head.
"One step at a time."

***
Is it a bird? Is it a place? No, it's two updates in one day! I'm shocked, actually. I can't believe I finished this chapter today.
i hope you liked it. I guess it's pretty rad that they're free. I hope it wore it well enough for y'all to get the emotions??? I don't know. Who even knows.
I'm tired.
Anyway, good day to you.
Hope y'all are living your lives and not letting your schooling interrupt your education (ah, good ole Mark Twain).
Have a wonderful evening/day/morning/afternoon.

Go with freedom,
authorsbane