Mosaic (Bucky Barnes X OC / Winter Soldier x OC)

Chapter 20: Bucky Barnes - Purple Red Oranges (Part I)

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Pulling up into the assigned lot, I parked the motorhome. Nothing of worry on the way in. No familiar faces. The site just as active as the previous one. Another cursory glance later, still nothing. Sixteen people glanced this way, but nothing more.

A quick press of a button and the blackout curtains rolled down.

Pausing for just a moment, I glanced at the bedroom door. Where Valeriy had secluded herself in for the last seven hours and nineteen minutes. She'd been in there since the moment after we left Thunder Bay. Only coming out for a snack.

She'd have to come out eventually. I had no clue as to where we were headed next. Likely continuing westward on the same highway.

I settled down on the couch. Laptop opened to go over the footage outside. A routine now. Making sure there were no familiar faces among the people that surrounded us.

Blindly, I reached into the plastic box on the little table nearby and plucked the last cinnamon bun from its depths. Took my time with it. Savoring each bite. Every morsel. It might have been better when it was piping hot, but still delicious.

71 bodies. 21 men. 14 women. 28 children. 8 dogs. None of them familiar.

Satisfied, I moved onto the tablet. Opening up the internet application and continuing the opened article.

10 Exercises to instantly improve your memory.

It was only a movement of a shadow that caught my eye.

Grab the Benchmade SOCP from between the couch cushions. Throw between the ribs. Target incapacitated.

My head snapped up to find Valeriy making her way over. In her hand, the tablet she had brought back with from the drop. Her usual smile nowhere to be found.

"Val – "

She looked up from the floorboards. Eyes watering slightly. A sniffle to her breathing.

"What's wrong?" I asked, moving the tablet and laptop to the side.

"Could I...?' she managed to get out before digging a palm at her eye. "...Could I have a hug...? Would you mind?"

As silently as I could with the tablet screen, I tapped in three letters into the search bar. My scrambled brain could remember the spelling but not what it was.

"I tried on my own with pillows and blankets. It's not working anymore." Her line of sight fixated on the floor in front of my feet.

Verb. 1. Squeeze (someone) tightly in one's arms, typically to express affection.

"...It's kind of like a... a sleeper hold...? But with less squeeze and maybe not around the neck...? Just for a moment? Please...?"

Noun. 1. An act of holding someone tightly in one's arms, typically to express affection.

"I'm sorry. Just need to feel... to feel like I'm not falling to pieces...."

It's nearly muscle memory once I stood up. My feet took the step needed. Both arms coming up behind her. My own thoughts managed to scream for the metal arm to be dropped. To tug the new tablet from her hand instead as my arm moved on its own. Carefully pulling the small body to mine.

Valeriy fell against me. A sound coming out of her that I haven't heard since the night of the black out. When I picked her up from the shower floor. A broken sound. So soft I could hear the children playing outside better.