Soldier in Winter (A Bucky Barnes FanFiction)

Cold

Cold. Cold, cold, so damn cold. Ellie held on tightly to her little brother with her right hand, carrying a ratty basket with her baby sister in the other. She could feel her brother trembling. The rain fell down violently, soaking them all to the core. They couldn't stay on the streets tonight.

It had been so long since the siblings had slept indoors. They were on the run, unable to stay in one place for very long. Ellie had been scouting out an old, rundown apartment building and had discovered that there was an empty room that had never been rented to anyone, and she had never seen anyone inside. She had a plan to go in undetected. After living on the streets for nearly two years, she knew what to do.

As Ellie raced down the nearly-emptied streets, she suddenly felt her little sister beginning to cry.

"Ava, hush, please, Ava. You need to be quiet," Ellie said, her frustration beginning to show. The rain was barreling down, and it was completely miserable. "We're almost there. Please, Ava."

The fussing quieted, but Ellie could feel her brother squeezing on tightly to her hand and knew that he was about to cry.

"I know, Charlie, I know you're cold and scared. We'll find something, okay? We're almost there."

They arrived at the apartment building, and Ellie immediately took them to the back alleyway where she had spotted an entrance the previous day. She turned to her little brother, "Charlie, I need you to be a big boy for me, can you do that?"

Charlie simply nodded, shivering from the freezing rain.

"I need you to hold your sister and stay behind me, do you understand? And if anything happens, you go to our secret place and you stay with Ava, okay?" Again, a nod. Ellie was satisfied with his response and turned back to the apartment building. There was a back door that had been propped open by one of the workers who often went out for a smoke. Ellie took a deep breath.

"Okay, stay quiet and stay behind me," she whispered, opening the door. Her brother followed silently behind her. They made their way up the stairs, with Ellie counting the number of flights they had gone up. Fifteen, we need to get to fifteen. The apartment on the east side on level fifteen.

...thirteen...fourteen...fifteen.

She glanced around, counting the number of apartments. There were two in total on that floor, and she knew that one was occupied by a few junkies, but the other one was empty. Ellie swung her backpack off her shoulders and pulled out a bobby pin. She bent over the lock on the eastern-most apartment door and silently unlatched the door.

She opened the door slowly and peered in the apartment. It was pitch black. She entered the apartment, ushering her brother in behind her. Just as she was about to shut the door, she was flung up against it, something metal wrapped around her throat. She could barely breathe.

"Cine esti tu?" A husky, male voice came from right in front of her. She could barely make out his silhouette as she struggled. Ellie couldn't think of a response in Romanian. They had only been there for a few months.

"Please-" she croaked. The man's grip loosened for a split second before he regained his defenses. 

"Who are you? What do you want?" He said, in perfect American English.

"Let-let them go, please! We were only looking for a place to stay the night. Please, please! We didn't see you, we were never here. Please let my brother and sister go!" She felt the grip tighten on her neck and she gagged, trying to push the stranger away. He turned to look down at Charlie, who was crying silently; Ava wailing.

Suddenly, he dropped her, stepping back, "Shit, I'm sorry- I- I don't know what got into me."

"We-we're just leaving now," Ellie said hoarsely, rubbing her throat.