To Go Unseen (A Natasha Romanoff Story)

2 [Pennsylvania state line, almost into Ohio]

It was noon and the sun was just above them. Bucky had turned on the radio, but he was staring out the window and looking at frozen grass hills and fields instead of listening. He could hear Natalia beside him humming cheerfully to the songs he didn’t recognize through the low growl of the car heater.

“I thought you were going to get snacks?” Bucky said, looking around the car.

“Oh!” she exclaimed. “I forgot.” She made a face.

“It doesn’t matter,” Bucky said. He smiled at her. “It’s fine.” It was, however, strange to him that she had gone into the store with one purpose and had spent so long there, only to completely forget. It was unlike her, was all.

He’d had a bad feeling all day.

“Are you hungry?” Natalia asked and looked over at him. “We haven’t eaten since breakfast this morning and I think there are some fast food places coming up.”

“Sure,” Bucky said and a few minutes later, Natalia pulled into the drive-through of some burger joint and got them both meals. They sat in a secluded part of the parking lot to eat and, tired, Natalia leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder while they ate. Bucky thought she must have been quite exhausted because the shoulder she was leaning on wasn’t flesh, but she still had her eyes closed. Bucky put down his food and wiped his hands off as he leaned over and kissed her head.

“Hey,” he said quietly, putting his hand on her shoulder gently to stir her. “Hey, come on, Nat.” Natalia’s eyelids fluttered and Bucky shifted to take her in both of his arms, scooting uncomfortably across the seats, stopped by the gear shift in between them. He laughed a little and she smiled and let herself be held, scooting as close to him as she could come. “You’re going to have to stand up to switch me places,” he said to her, because of course, she needed to rest. “You up for it?” Natalia laughed and rolled her eyes, but she remained snuggled into his chest.

“I guess I could use a nap,” she replied in mumbles and Bucky smiled and rubbed her back.

“Well congratulations, you get one,” he said and then he pulled away from her, making her sit up blearily, and he picked up the garbage from their meal and opened his door. “I’ll throw this away, you sit here,” he told her and stood.

The nearest garbage can was all the way across the parking lot, up next to the restaurant, so Bucky began walking there. And he didn’t want to believe it, but suddenly he remembered quite vividly the gas station experience of earlier, and the strange, silent, staring people. The hair on the back of his neck stood up and Bucky stiffened. In the middle of the parking lot, he stopped and turned. Behind him, all the people in the parking lot were staring. Bucky felt his mouth go dry and he looked back quickly to Natalia at the car. She was standing by his door, halfway inside, and she was staring back at them. He watched her turn and look at him and she looked alarmed and Bucky turned back and ran for the garbage can, throwing the paper bag, and then making record time back for the car. He threw himself into the drivers seat and Natalia did the same and Bucky stepped on the gas pedal. He nearly hit a few of the offending starers on the way out, but they dodged just in time.

“What is that?” Bucky said loudly once they were on the road. He looked back behind him, then at Natalia, whose face was white. “That happened at the gas station too, they just… What was that??”

“Don’t get alarmed,” Natalia tried to comfort him, but she didn’t sound very convincing. “It’s probably nothing…”

Bucky gripped the wheel and drove faster and he couldn’t stop a strange fear from washing over him.

“It’s usually me,” he said, panicking. “But it’s not me this time. I’m even wearing gloves, I’ve got a hat on, there’s nothing for them to stare at! I don’t look like anybody special!”

Natalia didn’t respond.

“Nat?” Bucky said and looked over at her and she was sinking back into her seat and staring at the ceiling. She looked afraid and suddenly, Bucky felt bad. He looked back at the road and let the quiet speak for itself for a while, and then he looked at her. “You need a nap,” he said and his voice grew pitying. “We can talk about it later, it’s okay. Try to sleep.” Natalia turned her face away from him and Bucky watched her for as long as he could before he had to turn back and try to concentrate on the GPS instructions.

This, however, was not the end of the strangeness for Bucky. Natalia fell into sleep, or at least, something like it, and Bucky was left alone in the quiet of the car and with the other cars on the road.

It was a four-lane highway he was on. One of the huge ones, with the crazy speed limits and lifted roads above them on ramps. They were coming into a city, one they’d planned to stay the night. That’s when the car in front of Bucky began to slow down. Confused, Bucky backed off the gas and let the car slow and when he looked around to find a lane around him to switch to, he found that all the cars in front of him had slowed. At least, all the ones immediately in front of him. They were in a line, blocking him off. He was stuck. Bucky’s mouth opened and he didn’t know what to do except to slow down with the line of cars. Then, behind him, another line, speeding up almost to hit the back of his car and Bucky cried out and leapt forward and almost got hit in the front. He could see out of the corner of his eye cars from the back speeding up a bit to completely block him and he realized with a confused horror that they were boxing him in.

“Natalia,” Bucky said. “Nat!”

“Hmm,” Nat said and began to stir and then Bucky saw just coming up, a road splitting off the main one into a different direction and it was one lane. This is my only chance, Bucky thought in a panic and as soon as it was close enough, he slammed on the gas and yelled loudly, jerking the car to the right. One of the cars that had intended to box them in began to swerve to avoid Bucky and he swept past them, but he could hear the side of their car scrape against the other. He didn’t have time to care. He was still screaming as soon as they got onto the ramp and he slowed down and turned and watched the offending box of cars continue, empty, down the road.

“What the hell?!” Natalia screamed at Bucky and he looked over at her, sitting up and gripping the sides of her chair with white-knuckled hands, and back to the road.

“Ask them!” He cried and he looked forward and gripped the wheel and danced just on the edge of what could be considered speeding on the new road.