I sat up so fast from my sleeping position that I banged my head against the window, recoiling back from the pain and in to Bucky's elbow, which jabbed in to my middle back. "Woah, woah, woah!" He grasped my shoulders with his hands to still me as I choked on the air filling my lungs, still feeling as if there were a hand around my throat. "It's okay! You're still with us!" He reassured me, quickly turning me to look at him. I took several rapid deep breaths and groaned, my head throbbing from hitting the window with such a large force. "It's a wonder I didn't crack the glass." I mumbled as Bucky pulled my hand away from my head. "No, but you did give yourself a good bump there." He chuckled and placed his cool vibranium palm on my head. My muscles instantly relaxed at the relief and I let out a sigh of contentment. It was then that I noticed the car was not moving and Sam was gone.
"Where are we?" I asked, looking outside the rear window and seeing trees everywhere. The faint glow of the sunrise illuminating the leaves. "It's a safe house for you. We've been here for a few hours." He explained, my head snapping back to look at him. "I've been asleep for hours?" I asked as he nodded his head. I hadn't realized how tired I was before, but it made sense with everything I had gone through in the last 24 hours. "Wait..." I froze and looked Bucky in the eyes, my eyebrows furrowing. "Have you been sitting with me the entire time?" I questioned. He leaned back in his seat and looked flustered. "Uhhhh..." He reached up and scratched the back of his head, his face scrunching up. "Well, yeah..." He answered honestly. "I have."
My heart could've melted at that moment. "Thank you." I expressed my gratitude as sincerely as I could. Having him and Sam put themselves in danger for me was really eye opening, and causing me to think about all the movies and tv shows I'd seen with them so differently. Bucky gave me a small smile and reached for the door handle. "Let's get you some food and actual clothes." He said as he pushed the door open. I did the same on my side and took a step out of the car, my feet coming in contact with the cold soil on the ground. I shivered while snaking my hands in to the sleeves of Bucky's jacket so it wouldn't fall off my shoulders.
We began heading up a little stone trail as I took in the scenery around me. We were in the middle of the woods at the end of a long dirt driveway that curved out of sight. A few yards away from the car was a cozy looking cabin. It was made from red wood and had a green roof as well as a wraparound porch with string lights hanging from the ceiling. "Wow..." I whispered, hearing Bucky let out a laugh as he followed behind me. "It's a good thing you like it." I stopped and spun around to look at him.
"You look happy." I blurted out, regretting saying it almost immediately as it left my lips. It felt weird to know so much about him when he knew nothing about me. I had some fear that he would feel creeped out by anything I said. Not to mention that I've only seen bits and pieces of who he really is. It seemed rude to assume anything about him but he did seem happier than what I remember. He had stopped walking and stared at me, looking a little uncomfortable.
"I'm so sorry. I should just keep this stuff to myself..." I began showing off my bad habit of scrambling to string thoughts together. "I can't just come in to your life like I know you and Sam..." I whirled back around and started walking back up the stone pathway. "I just meant you seem less moody and depressed..." Then I turned back around and held my hands up defensively. "Oh god! I didn't mean moody!" I glanced at him, a look of complete horror on my face. I was surprised to find him smiling and laughing to himself.
"Relax. If something like this could easily scare me then I wouldn't be in the right business." He strode up to me, twirling me back around and pushing me up towards the cabin. "How about we talk more inside?" He suggested. I sighed deeply and nodded my head in approval as we made our way up the steps and on to the porch. The door to the cabin was open, but blocked by a screen door. I could hear music coming from inside, as well as the smell of something delicious permeating through the screen. My stomach growled at the thought of food.
Bucky pulled the screen door open and motioned for me to go in ahead of him. "Such a gentleman." I joked. He bowed in an exaggerated manner and tipped an imaginary cap at me. I grinned and walked through the door, the heat from a fire in the fireplace covering my skin like a blanket. "Good mornin', sunshine!" Sam yelled from the kitchen to the left of the living room I was now standing in. Bucky entered the room after me and closed the door, making sure to lock the numerous locks that had been installed on it, recently, it looked like. He ushered me to the kitchen where there was a round modern wooden table sitting. There were four chairs surrounding it, one of which Bucky pulled out for me to sit in. I hesitated for a moment before I slid in to the seat, flinching when Sam put a plate full of eggs on the table. He chuckled and placed another plate with toast next to it. "Sorry about that."
Bucky disappeared in to the kitchen for a second before coming back with a pitcher of water and some plates, three forks sitting atop the plates. He put the pitcher down and placed one plate in front of me, one plate across from me, and one plate right next to me. Sam went back in to the kitchen but this time came out with a plate full of bacon. "You really know how to show a girl a good time." I quipped, Sam smirking and shaking his head. "You don't know the half of it." He joked back, sitting in the chair across from me.
Bucky sat down next to me and placed a piece of toast on my plate, along with three strips of bacon. He then used two of the forks like tongs and laid some eggs on my plate next to the bacon. Sam and I watched him, interested in the scene playing out in front of us. Bucky stopped and looked up at us, freezing just as he finished putting the eggs down. "What?" He asked, looking back and forth from Sam and I. "I'm just trying to help." He mumbled, leaving one of the forks on my plate and using the other one to scoop eggs on to his plate.
Sam chortled and grabbed some bacon. "He just likes how you keep thanking us." He pointed out, Bucky shrugging and raised his eyebrows. "Not a lot of people do!" I broke out in laughter, surprised by how at ease I felt around these two. People always say not to meet your hero's but I don't think that really applies in this kind of situation. It was like sitting down with two old friends. We began eating and joking like the fabric of space and time didn't just spit me in to a new reality less than 24 hours ago.
When all the food was eaten and all the laughs were had, we could all feel something lingering in the air. It was a bummer to take away from the good time that was being had but we needed to get to the bottom of what was going on. "So, Charlie..." Sam began, shifting in his seat uncomfortably. "You say that we're just a bunch of fantasy characters in your reality, right?" He asked. I nodded my head in agreement and he cleared his throat. "Now, I'm not saying that I don't believe you, however, is there any kind of proof you can provide for us?" His question was fair, but it also worried me.
What if I told them things I knew and it completely messed with the lives of everyone involved? There was only so far, I had gotten in watching the movies and shows that I was left in the dark, same as them. Could I keep the information small enough to not cause complete chaos but big enough that they actually believe me? Or should I just go balls to the wall and reveal something huge? It seemed I was silent long enough to concern them. "Lottie?" Bucky gave me a nudge with his shoulder. I snapped out of my thoughts and bit the inside of my lip.
"I know who the Power Broker is."