"Are you sure he's still in DC?" Zeryn spoke to Clint over the phone while sitting on the leather couch in her dorm room at the X Mansion.
Her dorm was the size of a small apartment with a kitchen, living room, bathroom and one bedroom. All the furniture, which included a fold out couch and two chairs, were made of leather. The coffee table was made from wood. There was a flat screen TV hanging up on the wall, but it was set to only one station and that was an all 80's music station. The counters in the kitchen were marble and the flooring was marble as well. The bathroom had marble flooring, too. The rest of the floor was carpet.
"Hope he isn't planing to go anywhere anytime soon. Do you know where he's staying? How can I contact him?" She looked down for a moment as she listened to Clint, then nodded slightly to herself, "Send me any and all information you have on him up to this point. I'll figure the rest out from there…Thanks and have a good evening. Adios."
As soon as she had hung up and put the phone down, there was a knock on the door. She sighed slightly, then laid her head back on the couch, "The door is open." She called.
Within moments, a man with shoulder length brown hair was sitting on the couch next to her. He was wearing his signature dark brown trench coat, a pair of jean, boots and a purple button down shirt.
She turned her head to the side, "Did you remember to close the door this time, Remy?"
"I think I did." Remy said in a Cajun accent.
Zeryn looked at him for several moments before looking up at the ceiling and calling, "COOKIE!"
"What?! No!" Remy quickly jumped to his feet and ran over to the door, "I'm closin' da…NO!" He fell to the ground as an Australian Shepard jumped on top of him and started to lick his face.
Zeryn sat up and turned slightly to look over by the door. She grinned slightly before calling to the dog, "Cookie, kommen hier. Come here."
The dog quickly jumped off of Remy and ran over to the couch. She jumped up on it and sat next to Zeryn.
"Good girl, Cookie." Zeryn patted her head, then reached over to a small jar she kept on the coffee table that was filled with dog biscuits. She opened it, pulled out a biscuit and gave it to Cookie before putting the lid back on.
"Hey! Dat dog took ma spot!" Remy said as he sat down in the chair that was closest to where Zeryn was sitting on the couch.
"Well, you need to learn to close the door when you come in." Zeryn replied to him as she got comfortable on the couch. She pulled out the device from her pocket and noticed that Clint was able to send her a good amount of information as to where Bucky was hanging out in DC. He was even able to locate where he was staying, which was at one of the hotels near all the monuments.
Remy looked over at her as he raised an eyebrow, "Cherie…what are ya lookin' up?"
"As of tomorrow morning, I have a mission to complete for Steve." Zeryn replied to him as she grabbed her phone and texted the professor to see if he could get her a room in the same hotel that Bucky was staying in.
"Cherie! Ya shouldn' be gettin' yaself mixed up with dem." Remy replied to her.
"This has nothing to do with S.H.I.E.L.D. I'm helping Steve locate his long, lost friend. He's been brainwashed and saved Steve after he fell out of the helicarrier when it was destroyed. Steve's still a bit afraid to confront him, so he's asking me to bring him back here. Plus, Steve thinks that his friend will have an easier time speaking to me, since we both have 'memory loss', even if mine's more permeant than his."
"Can' he just suck it up an' go hunt his friend down on his own?"
"At this point…I think it's going to be hard for both of them to face one another." Zeryn passed the device over to Remy for him to have a look at who the person was she was referring to.
Remy took the device from her and had a look. He glanced up at Zeryn with a sort of fear in his eyes, "Cherie…"
"I know, but that's Steve's friend. He's been brainwashed by HYDRA. Steve said that he was able to trigger a few things within him and he believes that's why he saved Steve from the water."
"He's an assassin! How da ya know he might not try an' kill ya?!"
Zeryn leaned over as she gave him a serious look. She made her metal claws come out of her fists and then cut her arm. The cuts healed just as quickly as they had appeared.
"I'm not too worried about that. My only concern is if HYDRA is snooping around for him. But, I'm pretty sure they have other things to worry about than him." She reached over and took the device from him.
"What if they is?"
"I'm prepared for a fight. I feel that there's nothing we were ever trained for. Plus, my powers will come in handy."
"Tell me, mon amour, why do ya like ta play with fire?"
"Because I want to help my friend. Plus," She stood up, then walked over to him and sat down on his lap, "I'm ready for another fun adventure. And, you're leaving tomorrow anyways and I don't feel like dealing with Logan right now."
"Though he was headin' ta Canada in a few days." Remy wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him.
"He is…he just might not have a nice, new Harley Davidson to take him up there." Zeryn grinned slightly as she leaned back on him.
Remy pretty much gave himself a face palm when he heard what she was saying. He knew what that meant. He'd have to 'break' into Logan's room and steal the keys for her.
"Mon amour."
The next morning Zeryn and Remy were outside near the garage getting themselves ready for their long trips. Remy had promised to lead Zeryn to DC, then would head off to New Orleans from there. Zeryn finished putting the tail bag on the back of the bike before double checking the side bags to make sure they were on tight enough. She knew that the trip was going to be a little over four hours, but with rest stops along the way, it would be a little over five. Either way, she was excited to get to DC because she had never been there before. She had planned out how she was going to spend the rest of the day as soon as they arrived and how she was going to be able to get a chance to see Bucky the next day.
"Ready ta head out?" Remy asked her as he closed the truck of his Porch. He had won several different kinds of cars playing poker and even gave Zeryn one of them, but he did allow her to drive the others, "Da quicker we get down there, da quicker I can get ta my first game."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just do me a favor and don't hustle anyone clean, please." Zeryn said as she stood up and kissed him on the cheek.
"Can' make any promises on dat. Havin' da money is nice. I can use it ta spoil ya ta death!" Remy kissed her back.
"Oh geez! You don't need to do that, but I do appreciate the offer." She grabbed a leather jacket that was sitting on the seat of the bike and put it on. There was a large X with a circle around it on the back of the jacket. She got onto the bike, "Do me a favor and don't drive like a lunatic. I do need to keep up with you, you know."
"Don't worry, I won'." Remy reached into his trench coat pocket and pulled out an Bluetooth ear piece. He handed it to her, "So we can talk ta each other. Let me know when ya need a break…or need gas."
Zeryn took the ear piece and put it in her ear, "Need someone to talk to on the way."
"I know. Now," Remy pulled another ear piece out of his pocket and put it on his ear. He moved over to his car, then opened it up, "let us be on our way."
Zeryn started up the motorcycle, then waited until Remy had pulled out of the garage. As soon as he did, she kicked up the kickstand and followed after him on their journey to the Nation's Capital.
After over five hours and two rest stops, one for gas and another just to move around and stretch, they rolled into DC and towards the hotel. Things still looked a bit chaotic from the disaster that had occurred several days back, but it appeared that most of the people were going about their every day lives again. While the hotel required a parking garage, Remy decided to park in a parking lot across from it. Zeryn had pulled up next to him and was quickly off the bike as soon as it was shut off and the kickstand was down. She groaned slightly as she sat on the trunk of the Porch.
"UGH! The inside of my thighs! They hurt SO much right now!" She laid back on the trunk and looked up at the sky as Remy locked up the car and went over to her.
"Ya're da one who wanted ta drive dat thin' down here." He replied to her.
"Guess it's different when you're driving it. I've never felt like that when Logan would drive."
Remy shrugged, "Haven't driven one 'a dem thin's in a long while, so I can' tell ya." He had a look around, "Da place seems ta be calmin' down a bit."
"It'll take awhile before everything gets back to normal. I can only imagine what they must be going through. Another reason for me to hunt down Bucky and fast. I wouldn't be surprised if the police are looking for him."
"Ya betta be careful den. I don' think HYDRA's da only ones ya need ta be on da lookout for down here."
"The sooner I can get Bucky out of here, the better. He'll be safer in New York City with Steve until everything blows over. Right now, I need to worry about if he'll fall for my little 'trick' or not." She sat up, then jumped off of the trunk. She went over to the tail bag and opened it up. She grabbed her small messenger bag out of it, then closed up the bag.
"What da ya have in mind?" Remy questioned as he watched Zeryn take his hand and lead him over to one of the monuments that was a short walking distance from the parking lot.
"I was going to slip a note under his hotel room door saying to meet me at the local Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. I'm going to 'sign it' with the X logo. I'm hoping that'll give him a reason to come. Let him know that this person isn't a threat to him."
"Seems legit." Remy saw Zeryn take him over to the Wall of Valor, "What we doing here?"
"Steve said that Bucky's name is on the wall. I want to have a look. I'm going to need your help to find it. It's Sargent James Barnes."
Remy scanned the wall as he whistled, "Damn! Dere's a lot 'a names on here! Dis could take forever." He was so busy admiring the wall that he hadn't realized that Zeryn had let go of his hand and had moved further on down the wall. It wasn't until she called his name that he was able to snap out of the moment. He looked down and saw her waving to him. He quickly made his way to where she was standing.
"Did ya find it?" He asked her.
Zeryn pointed to the wall. While she had found Bucky's name, there was something wrong with it. It appeared that someone, mostly likely the person who's name it belonged to, tried to 'carve' the name off the wall as if they didn't believe this person was deserving enough to be on such a wall of greatness.
Remy stood awestruck by what he saw on the wall. While he admitted to doing stupid stuff in the past, he would never do a thing like this. "Damn…" Was the only word that could escape his mouth. It came out in a low, soft tone, but even Zeryn could pick up his words.
Zeryn walked up to the wall and put her hand on Bucky's name. She ran her hand down it carefully in order to feel the marks. They had been done with a knife, no doubt, and it seemed that the marks were fresh, meaning that they must have been done either the night before, or a few hours ago.
She removed her hand from the wall and took a step back while pulling her phone out of her pocket. If anything, she knew that she had to show this to Steve. Even though Bucky had been brainwashed, it was obvious that he felt he was not worthy enough to have his name upon the wall. She felt that was not true. Steve talked about how great of a soldier and a person he was. If only Bucky would have gotten help before hand, then his name wouldn't be covered in knife marks on a wall that he deserved to be on.
She took a picture of it to send to Steve, "Looks like he's already found the wall. It's a shame, really, that he feels this way." Once the picture had been taken, she quickly sent it off to Steve, "You can't erase your name off the Wall of Valor, no matter how hard you try."
"Tis gonna be hard for dem ta fix dat up."
"I doubt that." Zeryn put her phone back into her pocket, "He'll regret that once his memories start to come back to him, that much I can promise."
"Da ya really think ya can help him?" Remy asked as she held his hand and went back to the parking lot. He knew that her memory loss was permanent and nothing anyone told her or showed her pictures of would trigger anything.
Zeryn nodded, "Like Steve said. He kept saying things to Bucky and he could tell that he was trying to remember. Besides," She paused and faced him, "Bucky was always there to help Steve when he needed it. Bucky took care of him when his mom died. Bucky was like his big brother. He would never let anything happen to Steve. My guess is that when Steve fell into the water, something clicked inside of him to go in after his friend and pull him to safety. Bucky's still inside there. I doubt his situation is anything like mine. Well, it's really nothing like mine."
Remy hated to admite it, but he knew that Zeryn was right. There was a large difference between memory loss and brainwashing. He always asked these questions because he was scared for her. He was scared to lose her again. While he had met before her memory loss, he knew that she would never be the same girl that he had met back then, but he still loved her all the same. It had given him to opportunity to take her to places that she had taken him and vis versa. Giving her the same experiences she had given to him. The only reason he couldn't remember her when she came to the mansion with the memory loss was because she had drastically changed her hair style. He couldn't recognize her, even if she never changed her clothing style. He hadn't seen her in several long months after she started college. It wasn't until they went to see the psychic in New Orleans that the wheels in his head began to turn. It wasn't until they went to her parents' house to rest for the night that they were able to find pictures of them together and read through a journal that she kept that was about her adventures with him. He had, almost, lost her once and he sure as heck wasn't going to again.
"Just be careful, alright, mon amour." He leaned down, since she was shorter than him, and kissed her for several long moments before pulling away.
A slight blush was left on Zeryn's face after he had removed his lips from hers. She looked at him with a slight smile, "Don't worry, I will be. And, you, behave yourself down there."
Remy grinned slightly, "I'll do ma best." He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a box. He handed it to her, "Ya know what dis is. Use it wisely…if ya need ta."
Zeryn took the box from him and opened it up, even though she already knew what it was. Because Remy was able to pass on a bit of his kinetic energy powers to her in the past, he asked the professor to have a special cross necklace made for her that wouldn't be damaged when he'd lock his power into the necklace. While she could wear the necklace at any time, the power within could only be activated when she touched it with her finger or hand. The power, of course, was limited for if he were to transfer most of his power to it, he was sure to be passed out on the floor for several long hours until it kicked back in. The box the necklace was in was specially crafted to make sure that it wouldn't catch the power and end up blowing up.
She closed the box, then put it into her bag, "I'll keep this on me the whole time. I highly doubt I'll have to use it."
"If not, den ya can use it later an' blow some stuff up at da mansion."
"I think I'll wait until you get back." She took his hand and led him back over to the Porch and Harley, "I think I need to check in soon. Plus, I need to have a look at that exhibit before the institution closes for the day."
"Got yar whole day planned out already?" Remy questioned as he paused next to the driver's side door of the Porch and leaned against it.
"Pretty much. After I visit the institution, I'm going to have a walk around the Capital. I hear the cherry blossom trees are pretty this time of year."
"Den ya better be sure ta take a picture and send it to me." He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.
"Don't worry, I will. Just make sure you don't look at it until you get down there. No texting and driving."
"I won'. I'll message ya when I get there. Be safe." Remy opened up the door to the Porch and got inside. Before he got a chance to close the door, Zeryn was standing there blocking the way. He looked at her.
"Don't send anyone home without money, alright." She leaned into the car and kissed him, "I love you, Remy."
"Can' make dat kind 'a promise, but I'll try." He kissed her back, "I love ya, too, Zeryn. Don' go gettin' yaself mixed up in anythin'."
"Same to you." She moved out of the way and closed the door just as Remy started the car. As soon as he left, she rushed over to the motorcycle and made her way to the hotel just in time to check herself in.
Around ten at night, Bucky returned to his hotel room, which was on the first floor and the last room at the end of the hall, tired as hell. He felt like he had run a really long marathon…well, he had been running a lot today, but not because he was being chased. He was running to try and clear his mind. It helped…kind of, anyway. All the things the man on the helicarrier had told him kept running through his mind. Was this man really telling the truth or just trying to trick him? Right now, he was hoping that he'd have a better nights sleep. He ran his metal hand through his semi-long brown hair, that went down to the bottom of his neck, while opening the door with his other hand. As soon as he stepped into his room, he saw a note on the floor. He glanced around for a moment before kneeling down and picking it up. He closed the door with his boot, then made his way over to his bed and sat down.
The room he was staying in wasn't very big. It just had a bathroom, small closet next to the door, two beds, a night stand and a TV sitting on top of a small dresser.
He didn't care much as long as he had a place to hide out from HYDRA, then he was fine. He opened up the note and read what it said inside.
'Meet me at the Hard Rock Cafe between 11 and 11:30am. Lunch is on me.'
Under that was an X with a circle around it.
He stared at it for several moments. Obviously, it wasn't someone from HYDRA or S.H.I.E.L.D. trying to hunt him down, but he was at a complete loss. Who in the heck would sign their name with an X with a circle around it? What did this person want from him? Did they accidentally mean to send it to another room and it was sent to his by mistake? But, more importantly, what the heck was a Hard Rock Cafe?
He hadn't spent much time outside of HYDRA. And, when he did, he was just on a mission, then would return where they'd keep him locked up in a frozen prison until they needed him again. The thought of it brought chills down his spin as he gripped the blanket with his metal hand. All his emotions began to bottle up inside of him until he reminded himself about the note. He looked down at it again as all the emotions seemed to drain from him.
He figured that he should go. Maybe this person wasn't bad. Maybe they could help him out. Help him remember who he was and who he was suppose to be. But, that didn't mean that he would let his guard down. Who knows if any of HYDRA's agents were sneaking around looking for him. But, for now, all he wanted to do was rest…and figure out what the heck this 'cafe' was all about and…what does one wear to a place called Hard Rock Cafe?
