Bucky groaned and rolled off his mattress. He'd had a nightmareーan especially gruesome oneーand just couldn't fall back asleep. It felt like he was insulting the memory of the people he killed by trying to sleep the nightmares of their deaths off. So instead, Bucky thought that going on a morning stroll would be a good idea.

Except, it wasn't because it was five in the morning and almost nobody was around. There was nothing to distract himself. He was left with his own mind; something that never ceased to torture him in some way. Really, the only thing hat kept him going was when he thought about his old lifeーit wasn't an easy one. He and Steve weren't exactly rich, but they had fun and they had each otherーthat was all that mattered to them.

Maybe he'd start walking to his work a bit early. His job as a construction worker was a bit shady, as he purposely chose it so that he could avoid having to use any sort of identification, just like his rented apartment. Not leaving a track record was essential to hiding, otherwise, someone would eventually catch the slip-up and it'd all be over for him.

So Bucky drew his hood up and hid his backpack and journal. If someone were to ever find those he'd be caught for sureーthey were the most important possessions he owned.

It was the same routine as he'd been following for the past month or so. He would make his way down the huge flight of stairs with the red railings that needed a paint job. Then he'd quickly make his way out the door and walk to the work site. It wasn't an exciting life, but it was better than killing for HYDRA. If he had the chance, he'd go back to his old life. But Bucky didn't even know if he could do that because he certainly wasn't the same man that would flirt with the women passing by or have a good time with everyone.

He was just a weird scramble of everything who was wasting his life away in hiding.

Except this day, his routine didn't go the same.

"Hey James," a voice said.

Bucky snapped his head to the side, caught off guard by it; 'it' was that girl again. Didn't she have anything better to do? Why the hell was she even up at five? It was then he realized she was tying up running shoes and wearing athletic clothes.

"Hey," was all he said in reply. Maybe she'd take a hint.

"I never see anyone around this early. What're you doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep."

"I'm about to go on a jog, you should come with me," she suggested, then added; "running reduces stress too, it'll be good for you."

For a moment, he truly considered it. Running would definitely be a much better option than wallowing in guilt. Maybe he could find somebody to talk to, considering how lonely being in hiding could get. But then again, if he made one slip up all cover would be blown. There could be too many risksーthe side of him that was an assassin clearly said no, but the other side, Bucky Barnes, craved attention and to be around other people.

Because with all the shit HYDRA had done to him, they could try to replace him with the Winter Soldier, but it would never work. They could never take away who he was in the end, even if it cost themーand himーeverything.

"Okay," he answered, his old self, winning out over The Winter Soldier. As long as he didn't say too much and his arm was covered, he'd be fine. Nobody would know if, for once, he stopped hiding for even a moment and allowed himself this break in monotony.

"Great!" She exclaimed, then examined him. "Aren't you going to need a water bottle or something first?"

Bucky shook his head. He'd managed with much less while out on missions, a jog was nothingーespecially since he was in shape. But then again, Clara didn't know that.

"Okay," she said slowly, then held the door open for him.

She was probably regretting asking him at that point, but it was probably worth it so that she'd get off his back after the jog.

"So I was thinking that we should jog to the park and back, do you have enough time for that? I have to be at the gym by seven-thirty."

"I have somewhere to be at seven," he told her. Okay, 'somewhere' sounded a bit too vague and shady. Word choice was definitely something he'd have to work on in the future if he wanted to keep hidden.

"Alright, to the park it is."

Stepping outside, Bucky realized just calm it was outside. Sure, there was no sun shining down on everyone quite yet, but there was little people outside and the wind barely moved a branch on the trees. It painted a peaceful sceneーwaking up early would probably be a good idea from then on.

"So do you ever go to the gym? A guy like you had to go sometimes, but I've never seen you there. And I know there aren't many gyms in this area. Hell, our gym is almost falling apart."

Well, she had no qualms about being blunt.

"No, I don't," he answered, making sure his shoes were tied.

"You should come to the gym sometime, maybe try boxing with me."

"No."

"Why not?"

"I don't box."

"Why?"

"Because I don't." Because if he did, people would know.

"Okay, well let's get going then," she said.

Could his bluntness not deter this girl? It wasn't that he didn't want to go with her, it was that he actually couldn't. If he used his metal arm in that situation, someone could find out or be seriously injured trying to fight him. So sadly, he couldn't say yesーno matter how much he desired a normal life, he would never be able to have one.

So they started jogging to the park. Not many words were exchanged between the two of them, making Bucky feel as though he'd been a bit too harsh in rejecting her. But he needed to get the message across. Besides, he'd be nothing but trouble for her.

"Sorry I can't go to the gym with you," he finally said as they took a tiny break.

"It's okay, I understand people have other commitments. I'm surprised you even agreed to come jogging with me, honestly."

"It's better than wondering around," Bucky shrugged.

"Is that what you do when you can't sleep? Do you have insomnia? I'm a little stressed out myself and get insomnia all the time."

"I get insomnia sometimes," he replied cryptically. He knew better than to give out too much information. Just in case.

"You know, boxing is a great cure for that," she tried again.

"Not going to happen."

"Okay, well how about jogging every morning?" Bucky took his eyes off the house across the street to meet her eyes. From what he could see from beneath her bangs, they were filled with the hope that he might say yes. Why in the hell did she want him to go out places with her? He'd barely said anything and had been civil at best.

Clara was definitely an odd person, and that just made him more suspicious.

"Why?"

"To help with insomnia...? Besides, my morning jogs get pretty lonely. I was thinking about getting a dog to come with me, but I don't think that the landlord would really appreciate that."

For what felt like the first time in forever, Bucky smiled a bit. The landlord would definitely would not approve of that. He was a short stalky man who was very adamant that people follow his rules and paid the rent. Even if he didn't seem to care what condition the building was in.

"No, he really wouldn't appreciate it," he replied, the faint smile still present.

"Exactly so a person is the next best thing."

Okay, so maybe she wasn't that suspicious.

After the conversation about the jogging partner, they didn't say much. They just continued on their way to the destination because it was pretty difficult to chat and jog at the same time. One tended to run out of breath very quickly if they did that.

So instead, Clara turned her thoughts to James. Like she had previously thought, he was an odd person, but she was beginning to like him. He didn't say much or even try to be nice to her, which is exactly why she liked him. He didn't put up a fake front of politeness or make excuses about not going to the gym. He blatantly said no; a clearer cut way of letting her know he wasn't interested rather than 'oh sorry, I have somewhere to be. Blah, blah, blah.'

And, unlike some men, he wasn't immediately weirded out that she boxed. In fact, he seemed to accept very quickly. She definitely liked that about him.

Now she was one step closer to making a friend. Step two? Get him to talk to her further. She knew very little about him, and likewise, he didn't have very much on her. Maybe going out for lunch would work.

Clara got excited once they arrived at the park because that meant she'd be able to ask James if he wanted to go have lunch with her sometime.

She observed the trees that were without leaves briefly before turning to James. "Hey, would you like to come with me for lunch sometime?" She asked hopefully.

James met her eyes momentarily before averting his gaze. He was pretty jumpy sometimes, but she could be too.

"To where?"

"I don't know, I was thinking one of the places around our apartments?"

James really seemed to think about her request, before shaking his head.

Step two: failure?

Clara didn't care what people thought of her anymoreーnot since she fled from her home. So, without hesitation, she asked; "why not?" That wasn't the sort of question you'd typically ask somebody you just met but she was quite curious about James.

"I don't typically have time for lunch."

That wasn't the type of response she was expecting, and it didn't exactly sound like an excuseーand if so, nobody had used that as an excuse to her before.

"Okay, that's alright," she said, adjusting her shoelaces that didn't actually need to be re-adjusted. Just because she didn't care what people though didn't mean rejection didn't sting any less.

"Let's just get going back then."

And so they made their way back to the apartments.

Two days later, Bucharest:

Clara was a bit pissed off at James currently. He said that he'd go jogging with her, yet he was a no show for the past two days. Maybe she'd scared him off because she was too pushy? That would really suck if she did because she thought that she was finally making progress with him when he'd smiled at the suggestion of a dog.

Or maybe he just really liked the thought of dogs. Okay, that sounded pretty silly when Clara thought of it, but still. Why didn't he show up?

She thought about knocking on his door, but that would be going way past the boundary. Yes, she didn't care what people thought, but that would be going overboard.

God did she ever just want to be home and not jogging by herself in the cool winter weather.

James had been purposely avoiding Clara for one sole reason: he'd almost accepted her invitation for lunch before the calculating side of him stepped in and firmly said no. He had one goal: survive and hide. But the more he thought about it, the less it made sense. What was the use of living if you couldn't enjoy yourself for even a moment? He wouldn't be found out if he let himself have some sort of life, right?

Pacing around his apartment in the early hours after waking from a nightmare certainly didn't help his decision-making process, but he didn't care. It was probably too late to catch Clara down in the lobby to go jogging, but he could wait for her to come back.

Bucky tossed on a black sweatshirt, gloves, a cap, and jacket so that his metal arm would be hidden, then left his apartment. Walking down millions of flights of stairs was always an annoyance, but at least it left people in shape. The irritating part would be the amount of time it took to actually make it to the bottom.

The main floor was devoid of peopleーusual for the time of dayーaside from weird people like Clara and himself, supposedly.

Outside, from what Bucky could see from the windows, was a rather calm day. The branches on the trees weren't moving and the sun was only beginning to rise, giving a warm glow to the scenery outside. In other words, it would have been a great day to go jogging. Instead, he'd spent the morning pacingーtrying to forget the subject of his nightmares.

And then the sight of people dying by his hands came up again and then regret slammed into him at full force. He really should have gone with Clara because the staying hidden stuff was bullshit. He had to try and build some sort of life there in Romania or he'd go mental with the enormity of guilt and regret he felt. Without some sort of distraction, he'd be an empty husk of a human; devoid of all motivation and emotion as it would be so centred on remorse.

He needed to be somewhere that wasn't inside, immediately.

Bucky looked for anything that could fend off the unwanted memories. Even the birds flying around the street would do. Maybe he could think up apologies to tell Clara. As long as he wasn't focused on the murders.

Half an hour had passed, he'd only looked at his watch once to make sure he wouldn't be late for anything. And in the passage of time, it felt like an eternity had passed as he desperately clung to miscellaneous thoughts.

"Hey James, long time no see," came a voice that sounded slightly pissed.

And she had every right to be pissed. He didn't show up for the past two days, even after he said he would.

"Clara, I'm sorry. I got a little freaked out after not being able to sleep well for the past few days," Bucky explained. A little honesty would do him good.

Clara played with the zipper on her jacket before responding. It seemed as though she was avoiding something. "James, I think somebody is following me."

What? That was definitely not what he was expecting her to say.

"Where? Who?"

"I noticed the same man twice when I was on my way back here. He was wearing all black and jogging too. I wouldn't think he was that suspicious if I didn't know that I'm the only person around here who goes for morning jogs. What's worse is that I saw him yesterday."

Oh god. He should have known better than to have gone jogging with her, because whoever was following her was probably after him. And now he'd placed Clara in the line of danger just by going on a jog with her.

But what he really wanted to know was who was following him and why? How had they found him?

Now that whoever was tailing them knew about both him and Clara, it didn't make sense to hold out anymore.

"Then I'll keep going on jogs with you. Also, sorry I can't have lunch with you, but dinner sounds good."

A large smile came across Clara's face. "Really? That sounds great! Starting tomorrow?"

"Yes, starting tomorrow," he said. Starting tomorrow, he'd be trying to find out who was following him and why. He'd also be trying to start some semblance of a normal life by making a friend. Why not hit two birds with one stone?

To say Clara was terrified was an understatement. What if the authorities had found her? What if the new life she started was about to become destroyed? All she had worked for in her entire life could come crashing down if she got arrested.

Nobody believed she was innocent back home. And why would they? They had 'hard' proof.

What a bunch of idiots, Clara thought. She'd been framed for a murder and had been wanted ever since; escaping to Romania had been her only option. Only her parents believed her, but it didn't count for much considering they couldn't even provide an alibi.

She briefly considered leaving her apartment before realizing what a dumb move that would be. She'd have to find a new place to live, a new job and meet all new peopleーnot something she was prepared to do considering her financial situation.

Maybe she was just being paranoid and the person jogging was some random man who'd taken up running recently. Besides, James had just agreed to go jogging with her and life had finally been going smooth-sailing since she had fled Hungary.

Or she was delusional.

AN: Oops, I'm not used to writing this much for one chapter, but I know people like long chapters so I'm pretty sure it's a good thing. Also, thanks to those who left feedback last chapter! It really motivates me to write more and write faster.

Again, sorry about the hyphens. I should probably fix that issue lol.

Thanks to MaryLikesRoses, artemis7488, Ec1aire and Cross for reviewing! It means a lot guys!