Not that Bucky has been exactly talkative during this road trip, but his silence is particularly oppressive as they make their way to the safe house. It's like he totally shuts down. He responds to Steve's chatter with small grunts, he doesn't want to listen to music, he doesn't do anything but drive with a fierce intensity.
"You know," Steve says when they stop to gas up, "we don't have to do this."
"I do."
"I thought you didn't want to get caught again."
Bucky meets her eyes. "I won't. But I need to know who's after me. What I'm up against. I can find out at the safe house. They've got a computer."
"Not another Zola, right?"
"No." Then, more uncertainly, "I don't think so."
They park about a mile from the safe house and walk the rest of the way. It's fairly isolated, down a solitary road, surrounded by trees. The only other building around is a gas station, and that's about five miles away.
As they approach, Bucky grows stealthier and more alert. He gives Steve a few signals, indicating she should fall back, let him take point. Unwilling to get into an argument, she does.
He approaches the front door, gun in hand. Turns the knob.
The door is yanked out of Bucky's hand and Hydra agents explode out. There are at least twenty, maybe more. Steve can't tell exactly how many as she rushes to engage.
They're well trained. They're out for blood. They pull out all the tricks they have: magnetic handcuffs, tasers, automatic weapons, knives, the works.
They never stand a chance.
In the end, it's her and Bucky, standing over a yard strewn with bodies. Most of them are even still alive.
Steve goes around the yard, zip-tying the Hydra goons' wrists and ankles. Bucky's inside, gathering intel.
When she's done, she goes into the house. Bucky is sitting in front a screen, typing away at the computer, frowning.
"What are we going to do with them?" she asks.
"Termination seems to be advised."
"We can't kill all of them." She rubs sweat from her face. "I'd like to call Fury. He might have a few resources."
Bucky frowns, but he nods after a minute. A huge concession, Steve knows. Damn if she's not going to take advantage.
She finds a phone on one of the Hydra agents. Nick had made her memorize his number before he left, so it's a lot easier to recall than Sam's had been.
He answers on the third ring. "Who is this?"
"Nick, it's me. Steve."
"Rogers? What the hell is going on? I hear that you've been kidnapped by the Winter Soldier."
"Not kidnapped. I'm fine. But he and I just stumbled on a Hydra nest outside of Minneapolis."
"How'd you manage that?"
She shrugs. "Bucky wanted to come to the safe house. It was occupied. We took care of it. Only now we have yard full of Hydra goons and no idea what to do with them."
"Christ." Nick sighs. "All right. I'll call Coulson. Maybe him and his team can do something with them."
At first, she almost just nods and moves on. Then, she thinks, "No, that has to be a mistake." And then, she says, "You want to run that by me again?"
"Oh, yeah. Coulson is alive, he's running his own team, and he's not Hydra."
"Dammit, Nick."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm a lying bastard. I get that. Give me your exact location."
Steve gives him the coordinates. "We probably won't hang around. Bucky's, well. He's pretty intent on not having contact with anyone."
"That's fine. But we need a way to be in touch with you."
"I don't…"
"Get a burner phone. That's an order."
"I don't take orders from you anymore." Then, "What's a burner phone?"
Bucky looks up at Steve, frowning.
"It's a no contract cell phone. Hard to trace, easy to dispose of. You pay by the minute. Get one and call Sam and Romanov with regular updates."
"What about you?"
"Only if it's an emergency."
She smiles. "Okay. Thanks Nick." Then, a sobering thought occurs to her. "Oh, one more thing. Um. Bucky mentioned something that got me thinking. How hard would it have been to, um… uh, harvest my eggs when I was being unfrozen?"
There's a long silence. Then, "Son of a fucking bitch."
"Yeah."
"Under normal circumstances, I would say they didn't have the time. You thawed pretty quickly. But, then, they might have had the science to speed things along." He swears again. "I'll look into it.
"Thanks."
"Don't thank me. Probably should have thought of it when we found out about Hydra. Just what we need to worry about."
"It's probably nothing."
"Or maybe it's not. I'll get on it. You lay low and enjoy your road trip." He hangs up.
Steve looks at Bucky. "Burner phones are hard to trace and easy to dispose of. And Sam won't worry as much if I have a way to contact him regularly."
Bucky reaches for the phone Steve has. He crushes it with his metal hand. "We need to move quickly. Hydra is on its way." He pulls a flash drive out of the computer. "Here."
"What's this?"
"A list of all the remaining Hydra bases and their locations. Their purposes, too. If you ever go back, you can give it to the Avengers."
"You mean when I go back. I can't stay on the road forever."
Bucky gives her a dubious look, but then he nods. It's like he's humoring her.
They raid the house for money, weapons, and supplies. Bucky gets the car and they load it up. They leave just as a Quinjet crests the horizon.
They drive to Minneapolis and find a store where Steve can get a burner phone.
"Mind if I call Sam?" she asks after the purchase is complete.
Bucky nods.
She flips open the phone and dials Sam's number.
"Hello?"
"It's me."
"Where are you?"
She rolls her eyes. "I'm safe," she says instead. "We actually just took down a Hydra safe house, but we're both fine. We got the locations of all their bases around the world."
"That's great, man. But I'd really feel better if you and Bucky came back to DC. He needs help. After what he's been through…"
"I know. But he's not ready. I'm not going to make him do anything he's not ready to do. We're sort of feeling hunted right now."
"Are you?"
She glances at Bucky. "Actually, I'm not sure. Bucky thought he felt someone watching us the other day. We hit a safe house earlier, just to see, but I didn't… it seemed like they were mostly hiding out. Bucky, are we being watched?"
"Inconclusive." He didn't look happy.
"Yeah, we don't know."
"Come home."
"Soon. I promise. I need to go. I'll call you later." She hangs up. "So. What are we going to do now? Where are we going?"
"South Dakota. I've found a cabin in the middle of nowhere."
"Hyrda again?"
He shakes his head. "Found an advertisement online. I want to lie low for a few days."
Steve nods. "Let's go."
They drive about six hours before stopping at a motel. The next morning, they hit the road early and drive another four. Bucky pulls up in front of a house.
"Stay here," he says.
It's the first time Bucky's left Steve alone since this began. She watches as he walks to the front door of the house and knocks. A moment later, a man in his sixties, tall, gray, clearly ex-military by the way he stands, opens the door. He and Bucky talk for a few minutes. Then, Bucky pulls out a wad of cash and hands it over. The man steps inside the house and comes back out with a key. They shake hands, and then Bucky retunes to the car.
"That's it?" Steve asks when Bucky gets back into the car.
"Yeah. We have it for two weeks. Longer if we want it." He starts the car and they hit the road again.
It's another few hours before they pull off onto a country road. About an hour after that, they pull in front of a cabin.
"Here we are."
They do a quick tour of the house, Bucky going in with his gun, clearing every room before he allows Steve in. Then, they unpack the car of their food and supplies.
The cabin is furnished, rustic, and comfortable. There are books and magazines scattered in neat piles on the tables in the main room. There's a stereo and record player in the corner by the fireplace. Upstairs, there are two bedrooms, both with large, comfortable-looking beds. The water is running and there are even some canned goods in the pantry.
"What do you want to do about sleeping arrangements?" Steve asks as she looks through the linen closet for sheets and blankets.
Bucky frowns and worries his lower lip. "I can sleep on the floor. You take the bed."
"There are two beds, two rooms."
"I don't want to leave you alone."
That's what he says. But what Steve hears is, "I don't want to be alone," and, honestly, she doesn't want to be in a separate room from Bucky either.
"Bed's big enough for the two of us," she says. She unfolds the bottom sheet and spreads it over the bed. "I'm fine with sharing."
Bucky looks relieved. He watches her as she continues to make the bed.
"Enjoying the show?" she asks, feeling a little self-conscious. He's just standing there watching her, like she's his maid or something.
"It's been awhile since… I don't know. I haven't slept in a bed in years, much less seen one being made. Not sure I remembered you had to do that."
"Where did you sleep, then?"
He shrugged. "If I was out long enough, a sleeping bag on the floor. A cot if they were feeling generous. But I usually wasn't out long enough for it to matter. I can go days without sleep."
She smooths the top sheet over the fitted and then starts tucking in the ends. "Hearing things like that makes me want to go after Hydra sooner rather than later." She frowns. "I'm sorry."
"Don't."
"Bucky…"
"You didn't do anything wrong. You were dead."
"I should have gone after you when you fell."
"You would have been crazy to do that. It would have been a waste of resources."
"I don't think so." She looks up at Bucky, meeting his eyes. "If I had even the slightest idea that you were alive…"
"But you didn't. You did what you needed to do." He frowns suddenly. "Except you flew a plane into the ocean and got yourself frozen. Why'd you do that?"
She flushes indignantly. "There wasn't any other way. There were bombs on the plane and they were going to go off. I did what I had to do to save everyone."
"There had to have been another way."
"Not that I could see."
"Then you didn't look hard enough."
"You weren't there." Then she winces. "Because I let you down."
Bucky groans, his head tipping back. "It's like talking to a wall. Was it always like this?"
Steve breaks out into a grin. "Yup. Doesn't it feel great to be talking like this again?"
He snorts which just makes her grin harder.
She tosses the quilt on top of the bed and then brushes her hands. "Okay. So, that's done. Why don't we go downstairs and start on dinner?"
"Why are you always trying to make me eat?"
"Bucky, we're in a cabin in the middle of nowhere. What else are we going to do?"
He thinks about it a moment. Raises an eyebrow and purses his lips.
Steve smothers the smile at his expression.
"All right," he finally says. "But nothing too much, okay?"
"We're working off canned food and pasta. I don't think you have to worry about it being too flavorful for you. Now, let's go."