Taming The Ghost

Chapter 19

After withdrawing all of my savings, we headed to a cell phone store to pick up a burner phone, just in case we got in deeper than we intended and needed to blow our cover and call for help. Throughout all of this, Bucky stayed in the truck. I couldn't risk someone recognising him and calling the cops. We'd come too far for this to fail. Freedom for him was so close.

It took us almost an hour to get to Newark airport. I would have gone to JFK but it would have put us at a higher risk of being spotted as it is significantly busier than Newark, so I made an executive decision. Once there, I instructed Bucky to stay close to me and keep his hat pulled all the way down so his face was pretty much fully covered. He wouldn't be able to see what was in front of him but he would be able to see my feet so I could guide him to the best of my ability. As we queued for our tickets, I turned to my left where he was stood and said

"Hold my hand."

"What?" he replied, swiftly lifting the rim of his hat

"Put your hat back down and hold my hand. It'll make us seem normal and less awkward." I held out my hand to him and, tentatively, he slid his right hand into mine. His palm was clamy but warm, his grip gentle, like he was afraid that if he put any effort into it that he'd break my entire being. I looked up at him as we moved forward. He was watching me intently out of the corner of his eye, as if waiting for me to decide that I no longer wanted to be near him, to drop his hand and walk away. Instead, I gave him a small smile and squeezed his hand in comfort, reassuring him that I was sure of what I was doing. As I did that, his grip tightened ever so slightly, making me happy that he trusted not only me, but himself as well. Not shying away from physical contact, although small, was a step in the right direction.

"Hi there, do you have your boarding pass and passports with you today?" came a chirpy voice from the beaming blonde sitting at the check in desk.

"Actually, we don't. We have our passports, but we were hoping we could buy our tickets on the day, it's kind of a spontaneous trip that myself and my partner here just decided on this morning. Isn't that right, honey?" I improvised, looking up at Bucky and dipping my head in a slight, undetectable nod, hoping that he would react in some way to what I was saying. Right on cue, he nodded to the airline receptionist. Thankfully, she played along with our story

"Alright, and where will you two love birds be heading on this fine day?"

"Bucharest. I've heard Romania is such a beautiful country, I've always wanted to go." I beamed, playing the roll to the tackiest of my ability.

"Oh, it is! Myself and my husband went there on our honeymoon and it was just incredible." Lucy, whose name I now knew from reading her name tag, recounted, smiling fondly as she remembered, "And when will you be returning?"

"Oh, actually we thought we'd just go until we see everything we want to see and then come back, we didn't pick a specific day." I hoped that she wouldn't question us getting one-way tickets and just let us go without interrogation.

"That's no problem at all. I wish my husband were as spontaneous as you guys are, it'd be so nice to get away from work and just get lost for a while." I could tell that, although she tried not to show it, she longed for a job away from her desk, to go to a destination that she only sees on customers' boarding passes. "That's all booked for you, that'll be two-hundred and fifty-two dollars please. Will you be paying by cash or card today?"

"Cash, please." I said as I pulled out my purse and handed over $300.

"No problem at all. May I just see your passports just to confirm that you are a valid flyer."

"Of course." I replied, handing over my real passport and Bucky's fake one, hoping she couldn't tell that his had been forged. If she could, I'd have to have a word with Stark about his tech when this was all over. Lucy examined them for a moment before deciding we were ok to fly and asking us to place our luggage on the scales to be weighed and tagged before being shipped off to the storage bay of our plane.

"Ok, so here are your boarding passes, forty-eight dollars change and your documents. Please have a lovely flight and I hope you enjoy your trip!"

"Thank you so much, Lucy. Have a great day." I smiled, taking our things and walking away with Bucky in tow, still holding my hand. That was the easy part over, now for the difficult part. Security.