A/N: DON'T HATE ME FOR THIS CHAPTER! I found this one extremely boring to write and I hope it doesn't bore you guys to death! They had to get away by traveling and traveling is so dull! I filled it will fluff, but it won't always be this way, I swear! I promise it'll get better after this chapter, just bear with me!
Musical Inspiration:
Map of the Problematique by Muse
Sweater Weather by The Neighborhood
King and Lionheart by Of Monsters and Men
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OCs.
Chapter 7
On The Run
Lacey awoke to an uncomfortable pain around her left bicep. She moaned a bit as she came back to consciousness and found herself staring down a leg to a black combat boot.
What the hell?
Lacey tried to sit up, but grimaced when the pain increased on her arm. She looked down in confusion and saw a metal hand clenched tightly around her bicep. Lacey sat up and found herself almost nose-to-nose with sleeping Bucky.
"His arm must have locked up in his sleep...I'll have to fix that once we get to a more stable hiding place," she thought as looked at his gentle, sleeping face close-up.
"Bucky," Lacey whispered, trying not to admire the angular curve of his scruffy cheek.
"Wha..." Bucky opened his clear, steel-grey eyes and looked her dead in the eye.
Lacey's throat suddenly felt dry and she forgot for a moment why she awoke him.
"Um, your hand...do you think it would mind letting me have my arm back?" Lacey chuckled, her joke coming out a lot lamer than she'd intended.
Bucky's brow furrowed, then he looked down at the bionic grip around her bicep.
"Oh!" he exclaimed, letting go quickly, "Are you all right?"
Lacey rubbed her sore arm and put her hand against his chest to help herself sit up without thinking. She quickly pulled her hand back, feeling flustered as she responded, "Uh, yeah, I am. But we gotta fix that the next chance we get."
"Which will be...?" Bucky made a face at Lacey as she stood and stretched.
Lacey thought for a moment, then her face lit up as a mental picture burst into her mind,
"Oh! I just remembered something! Someone who could help us!" she exclaimed, reaching down and quickly picking up their blanket and stuffed it into the bag.
"Who?" Bucky inquired, grimacing as he stood up, his muscles still burning from his wounds.
"His name..." Lacey squeezed her eyes shut, remembering a man who lived in the States in Seattle.
For some reason, Lacey remembering he was someone who they could trust.
"His name is Jack Jefferson and we are going to need a plane to get to him," Lacey replied, throwing the duffel bag over her shoulder.
"How are we going to get on a plane if we don't have passports?" Bucky asked, putting his shirt and jacket back on.
Lacey smirked, "You find the right pilot."
Hours later, they found themselves on a personal jet of a sketchy pilot that Lacey had found in the closest town. She'd told Bucky that they'd just visited the town the night before, but of course he didn't remember.
Bucky didn't like planes, he sat completely still in the broken-down mini-jet, his seat belt on as tight as he could get it without breaking his pelvis. His cybernetic hand grasped the armrest so hard that the stuffing popped out of the seams.
He'd been on the plane for far too long. They landed for a bit to gas up, letting Lacey and Bucky stretch their legs. But to his dismay, they had to get right back in the plane and continue on.
Scratch not liking planes. He hated planes.
Lacey walked in from speaking to the pilot and looked at Bucky and chuckled. She sat down next to him, saying, "Hang in there."
"I'm going to die on this plane after all I've lived through," Bucky grumbled dramatically.
"You're not going to die on this plane," Lacey returned matter-of-factly.
The plane lurched when it hit some turbulence. Bucky slammed his eyes shut and gripped his seat even harder.
"Hey..." Lacey said gently, pressing her fingers against his sleeve, "It's okay, we aren't going to crash."
Bucky licked his lips nervously, keeping his eyes squeezed shut.
"Why don't you talk to me, that'll keep your mind off things?" suggested Lacey.
Bucky seriously doubted that talking would help, but nonetheless he opened his mouth, "How the hell did you pay this guy if you weren't really getting paid for your job."
"Dr. Schweitzer went too far with making things seem realistic. He knows I always keep lots of cash on my person so he continued to make me think everything was normal by sticking wads of cash in my pockets."
"Your bad habit came in handy in this case. But really, you stand a big chance of getting robbed, you know that?" Bucky scolded her.
"Thanks, mom. I'll keep that in mind," snorted Lacey, pinching his arm lightly before letting go.
Bucky wished she'd settle her warm fingers against his arm again, a simple touch was unbelievably comforting this situation.
He almost tried to start the conversation again, but when he eyes flicked over to look at Lacey, there was a distant glaze in her emerald eyes.
"What is it?" Bucky asked.
"Nothing...it's just that made me think...I can't remember what happened before my imprisonment in Switzerland. I have no memory of my parents..." she returned quietly.
Bucky smirked bitterly, "I don't either, so you're not alone."
"I guess that all doesn't matter now. Even if I did have parents once, they're probably dead or have forgotten me," Lacey responded, trying to look as if she didn't care.
The plane shuddered again and Bucky whined in the back of his throat, putting his head against the headrest and closing his eyes once again.
"Oh, hey, that reminds me. I found these sniper gloves in my jacket and thought you should use them to hide your cybernetic hand," Lacey said suddenly.
Bucky glanced over and saw her holding a pair of leather gloves. They were very good-looking, professional gunman gloves, so he took them gratefully.
"Thanks..." Bucky murmured and slipped the gloves over his metal and flesh hands.
"We'll be at the landing strip near Salem in just about 2 hours, miss," the co-pilot called from the cockpit.
"Salem? I thought we were going to Seattle?"
"We can't land at a commercial airstrip, so the pilot is landing at a strip owned by a relative of his in Salem, Oregon. We'll have to drive the rest of the distance," Lacey explained, settling comfortably back in the work seat.
"How are we going to get a car? You've spent all your money on this plane trip," Bucky pointed out.
Lacey gave Bucky a devilish grin, "We'll borrow a car."
Bucky looked at her skeptically, "You know how to steal a car?"
"Borrow, Barnes. Borrow a car. Now please, let me get some rest. You should sleep too and work on healing that arm of yours. We still have a long way to go," Lacey murmured, closing her green eyes.
The plane vibrated violently again and Bucky grimaced, "That's easy for you to say."
Lacey ignored him and Bucky looked out the window at the dark world below. He let his tense body ease as his mind wandered.
He wondered how the United States was now? He'd been shocked to find out new things about the world today. Lacey informed him earlier that not only were there now fifty states in America, but picture shows could now be viewed in Technicolor on a small television set right in people's living rooms! Everything Lacey told him sounded so flashy, he was almost ecstatic to see the US now.
Bucky let his head lean against the headrest as he gazed out the window, letting himself drift off into a light sleep.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Bucky exclaimed loudly, standing in line at a McDonald's in Salem with Lacey.
Lacey turned around sharply to see the tall man gaping at two men in the next line over kissing passionately.
"Bucky!" hissed Lacey, grabbing his arm and tearing his eyes away from the gay couple.
"Did you see that?! They were kissing each other! On the goddamned mouth!" Bucky whispered back, looking over at the couple with a terrified expression.
"I think we need to discuss a few things..." Lacey said nervously, cheeks burning as the couple looked over at Bucky angrily.
"Is...is that a thing now?"
"Yes, that's a thing now, so please quit pointing and staring!" Lacey returned, swatting his stomach with the back of her hand.
Bucky looked appalled, but Lacey knew she couldn't really blame him. Homosexuality wasn't as common back in the 1940's, so he was bound to be a little shocked.
Lacey sighed and changed the subject, "What do you want to eat? I've got like 10 dollars left, so pick a couple of things off the dollar menu so we can stretch this money as far as possible."
Bucky stared at the menu, then looked at Lacey strangely again, "It's a dollar for a hamburger? That's rather high...maybe we should go someplace cheaper?"
Lacey almost laughed out loud at his confusion. Again, back in his day, you could get a lot more for a lot less.
"Sir, it doesn't get any cheaper than Mickey D's. It's the Wal-Mart of the food industry," Lacey snorted.
Bucky opened his mouth again to reply, but Lacey cut him off, "And no, Wal-Mart is not a place where you buy walls."
Bucky stared disdainfully down at the cheeseburger Lacey had purchased for him from a place called Wendy's as they neared Seattle. It was, unfortunately, the second time on their travels that he'd had to consume a meal from a 'fast-food' restaurant. It was the most disgusting food he'd ever had the misfortune of eating.
Bucky glared at the sandwich as if it were going to turn into the devil himself, then glanced at Lacey, who tore into her burger while she drove through the rain.
"Finally, there's the sign for Seattle!" she said through a mouthful of food, making Bucky's stomach feel even more queasy.
Bucky quietly stuck his burger back in the bag, settling for drinking the Coca-Cola Lacey had purchased for him. At least some things didn't change. The world still had soda pop.
"Do you know where in Seattle this friend of yours lives?" Bucky asked, chewing at the end of the straw protruding from the top of his cup.
"Vaguely. I know the area, but I can't really give you the name of the place. It's rather strange..." Lacey replied, "Pull that map out and tell me what exit I should take ahead."
Bucky did as ordered, pulling out the map from the glove compartment in the old Toyota Camry they'd 'borrowed' from the McDonald's parking lot.
After thirty minutes of entering the city line and driving around clueless, Lacey finally saw something that caught her attention.
"I can't see the road sign because of the rain. What does it say?" she exclaimed, leaning forward to look out the front window.
Bucky easily answered, "Schmidt Avenue."
"I remember! The house is at the end of this road!" Lacey said joyfully, turning on the road which wasn't even paved.
Their car creaked as it tried to pull through muddy drive, but it was slow going. Ten minutes later, they came to the end of the line for the odd avenue and saw a strange two-story house.
"He lives right there. I know he'll be able to help us," Lacey told Bucky confidently, pulling up and putting the Camry in park.
Bucky wasn't as sure, though.
"Maybe I should go check it out first and make sure it's safe..." he murmured, watching as Lacey turned the car off.
"Don't be ridiculous. This man is a friend, I know it. I'm not sure how I know, but I know," she snorted, opening the car door.
Bucky opened his own door and got out after her, cringing at the cold rain that instantly pummeled him. He drew his arms around himself, following Lacey up on the house's front porch.
Lacey knocked on the door without hesitation and tilted her head towards the super soldier and grinned proudly at him. Bucky couldn't help but smirk at her expression, she must have felt so clever and free. After all, she figured out she was stuck in an infinite loop at the site in Switzerland, then got them all the way over to Seattle, Washington in wits alone.
Bucky tore his eyes away from the girl in front of him when a man about fifty abruptly opened the door and stared out the screen. He took in Bucky's strong and towering appearance and a flash of fear mirrored in the man's eyes, but then his gaze flicked to Lacey.
"L-Lacey? Is that you?" he gasped after a moment, throwing the screen door open.
Lacey looked elated and confused at the same time. She was familiar with the man's face, but Bucky could tell she didn't know exactly who he was.
Apparently the man noticed her confusion as well, because he excitedly reminded her, "Lacey, it's me. Jack! Your father!"
