Flesh and Bone ◇ Bucky Barnes ◇

Chapter XXXV: Caged Bird

Joana

She went to work the next day feeling better than she had felt in 70 years. She went with a smile and no desire to forget. Her boss noticed a difference, but he still wanted her to go home after lunch, thinking that she was still sick. She would get the day's pay and nothing made Joana happier. All the wanted to do was go home to Bucky, especially after the night before. Her face flushed at the thought of it.

Unfortunately, I must inform you reader, that there was a bombing in Vienna not a day before and Bucky was the main suspect. But not only were there German police officers after him, but a man in a suit made of impenetrable metal, and a soldier who he once called friend.

When Joana arrived at her apartment building, she didn't even have to enter to know something was amiss. There were people talking in hushed voices, looking up at the building beside her own. In the sky was a helicopter, one very different than the kind she had in the 40s, but its was one nonetheless. A man with wings, a literal man with literal wings, came out of no where and hit the back end of the helicopter, shoving it off course. Joana ran towards the building feeling utterly helpless. She knew in her heart that Bucky was up there. They both knew that someone was going to come after them eventually. Eventually came too quickly. Bucky jumped down from the top of the building and landed on the ground with a thud a few feet away from her.

"Run, Joana!" He yelled as he sprinted past her.

"I don't-"

A man covered head to toe in black came falling from the sky after Bucky and, completely ignoring her, chased after Bucky. And only seconds later, a man in blue came falling from the sky. All Joana could think was 'It's raining men'. Looking up for a brief second to see if anyone else was coming, Joana ran after the three of them. She was ten times slower than all three of them, which was aggravating. It was worse even when they all three jumped through a skylight in a tunnel that was at least two stories high. Joana wouldn't survive the jump. Looking behind her, she saw the flying man coming, probably following the other three. She waited and as he flew over her she jumped, grabbing on to his leg.

"Hey!" He yelled angrily as he dove into the tunnel. He shook his leg but Joana held on until he flew over a car when she let go and fell flat on her stomach on the top of the SUV. He then shot ahead. Joana stood on top of the car, trying to keep her balance. Preparing for a jump, Joana ran, leaping off the hood of the car and on to the one in front of her. The cars were going much faster than she ever would have been able to run, yet she was no where near as fast as the four men she was following. The sirens of a police car wailed behind her as she landed on the top of a Mustang. The car was going much faster than the others and would probably catch up before she did. So she waited for the right time, getting ready for the jump.

She leaped from the Mustang and hit the car with a jarring land that swept the breath from her lungs. She clung to the top of the speeding car, her ears ringing from the siren just inches from her face. But the police car was too late. She was too late.

There was a wall of cement barricading the car from going any further, but it wouldn't stop Joana. She slid off the top of the car as it stopped.

"Hey! You, freeze!" The cop inside yelled as he climbed out of his car, but Joana was already scaling the cement. When she jumped down from the top, she realized how slow she really was. The other three men were being shuffled into a van, while Bucky was being forced into a chair of some sorts. He seemed resigned, as if he was fine with being strapped down, but Joana saw this and remembered all the years she spent chained to a chair.