Aubrey spent the next day exploring the property and watching the horses graze. The following morning she ventured to the store, her pistol strapped to the small of her back. Her spine was ramrod straight throughout the whole store, every sense on high. Only when she got back home did she relax. When her phone finally buzzed Aubrey catapulted out of her chair to answer the text. Bucky was asking where in Potato Creek she was, after typing out a response she flopped back onto the lounge chair on the back patio. Putting her sunglasses back on, she had bought them on a whim that morning. Briefly, she wondered if this was how normal people lived on a daily basis. But she was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of a car rolling down the gravel road. Her superhuman senses recognized the old-sounding engine almost immediately. Standing to her feet she ventured back inside and through the house to the front door, not caring enough to put on any shoes. A smile ghosted Aubrey's lips as she watched Bucky exit the car, but the smile became real when a bouncing ball of fur catapulted out of the backseat and out the drivers-door. In several bounds Glacier had reached Aubrey, in just a week he had nearly quadrupled in size, reaching Aubrey's knees. His puppy bark had matured and Aubrey kneeled down, laughing as Glacier licked her face happily. Heaving him into her arms, Aubrey buried her face in his long fur, petting him as he calmed down, content to be in his owner's arms.

"That dog is nothing but a nuisance-" Bucky grunted as he pulled several bags out of the trunk. "-Don't know what you see in 'im"

"He's my good boy" She cooed at Glacier, who yipped in response.

"Well, your "good boy" managed to shred almost everything made of fabric at the last safe-house I was in. He also left a..gift in one of my shoes" Bucky growled, she chuckled at first but sensing his bad mood Aubrey frowned, tapping Glacier on the nose.

"Everything alright?" he only shrugged in response, surveying the country around them before stomping past Aubrey and into the house. Silently she followed, putting Glacier on the ground he stayed at her heels. Clicking the door shut behind them Aubrey watched Bucky throw his backpack on the table before tromping up the stairs to the loft. Dropping the rest of his stuff there and coming back down. He paused at the bottom and looked at her incredulously

"What?"

"You tell me, were you followed?"

he shook his head before going over to one of the windows and watching the horses in the pasture. Aubrey sighed, grabbing her sunglasses, and a sprite from the fridge. She had discovered the bubbly drink at one of the safe-houses and had consumed three already today. Before going out the back door, saying through the screen. "Well, when you're ready to stop stomping the house down I'll be out here," Aubrey said it teasingly, knowing that he had probably remembered something and was working through it. Her own mind had days where it seemed to turn on itself. Glacier faithfully followed Aubrey outside, deciding to lay beside one of the lounge chairs.

The back patio had an umbrella that Aubrey had put up earlier to block the blinding sunlight. But something caught her eye, one of the larger horses was grazing by the fence. Ever since she had come to the cabin and seen the horses something had been nagging at the back of Aubrey's mind. But the horses were skittish towards her, each morning she would spend some time at the fence and the horses had inched closer and closer. Pulling on her combat boots Aubrey ventured closer to the animal, keeping her steps quiet yet loud enough that the animal heard her coming. Lazily the horse lifted its head in greeting, nicking softly. Now that she was almost right beside the horse Aubrey realized that what she thought was mud on his dappled grey coat was actually scarring, all over the horse. Her brows scrunched and she slipped back into an old habit, clicking her tongue against her teeth. This horse had been through more than she knew. She reached out, tentatively stroking the horse's neck, fingers catching on spots without hair.

"Guess we are more alike than we thought huh big guy." She whispered as the horse nibbled her other hand. He nickered softly before bending his head back down to the grass. Aubrey had been so engrossed with the horse that she hadn't noticed the horse and rider approaching from across the pasture until they were right in front of her. Nervously she cleared her throat, warily watching the older man on his black steed.

"Afternoon-" he greeted "- Didn't know anyone lived in that cabin. Been empty for a while now."

Aubrey tried to smile warmly but it felt strained as she responded. "Just got here a couple of days ago."- trying to change the subject she motioned to the horse "- This horse...You didn't-" biting her lip Aubrey attempted to find the right words but the man got her meaning and frowned

"No, I would never hurt a hair on these guys'' heads. I run the ranch down the hill there, and we take in rescue horses like Olcay Von here. We call him Von but my granddaughter named him. Olcay means conqueror and Von means hope. He conquered his injuries and now lives a life of hope."

"That's..poetic" Aubrey murmured as she stroked Von's mane.

"He doesn't usually talk to people well, it's amazing he's letting you pet him," he commented. "You're more than welcome to come over to the ranch sometime and I can introduce you to the rest of the herd."

"I would..like that very much. Thank you" This time Aubrey's smile was real.

"Just ask for Grandpa Jack. I best be going now but I'll see you around." he tipped his cowboy hat to her and once more to someone behind her before clicking to his horse and trotting off. Aubrey had already sensed who had come out but turned around anyway. Bucky stood on the patio slightly up the hill from her, hands in his pockets. He stayed silent so Aubrey turned back to the horse, watching as he grazed. Crouching down her fingers deftly plucked grass from the dirt. Straightening she held it out, clicking her tongue softly. Von looked at her, puzzled at first but his eyes strayed to the grass and he hungrily came forward, eating it out of her palm and sniffing for more. Chuckling Aubrey picked more and offered it. She heard the grass rustling beside her but continued feeding Von, her fingers fiddling with his soft mane. Bucky cleared his throat from where he now stood beside her before speaking.

"Hi, Brie."

"Hi Buck" she mirrored, aware that he had something he wanted to say.

" 'M Sorry for being a butt earlier. I found out that being by myself with your troublesome dog is not good for mental stability."

"It's okay, I understand that we both have different things we are going through and may need time to figure our way out of it. -" Aubrey paused, usually when she asked this question Bucky brushed her off but she thought it was worth a try. "- I know that you don't like it when I ask this but sometimes it can help. Do you want to talk about it?" He thought about it for a moment.

"It..might be worth a try" Distantly a bell rang and Von lifted his head, whinnying before turning and heading towards the ranch. Together they walked back to the patio, Aubrey settled on a lounge chair. Bucky seemed unsure of the lounge chairs, he looked at the other one distastefully. "It exposes your whole body."

"But I have my bow right here and we have the vantage point, the whole cabin is on a little hill." Aubrey reasoned, grinning when Bucky sighed and unhooked various guns, laying them on the side table. Sipping her Sprite, which had lost some of its bubbliness, Aubrey watched as Bucky settled in the other lounge chair, but blinked when she realized he was holding his leather journal.

"Where did that come from?"

"Had it in one of my pockets."

"Oh." they lapsed into silence, she sensed that Bucky was trying to get his thoughts together. Minutes later he started to speak, but it all came out in a jumble of words, pausing, he sucked in a breath before starting again

"The first night I remembered some stuff and I dealt with it but the second night I woke up and thought I was waiting for extraction after a mission. It was several hours before your dogs barking brought me out of the trance. I had..trashed the house, so we left soon after. The next night...I remembered something...about you. Before Hydra..kidnapped you. Brie, they sent me to missions to observe you. The day of your kidnapping-" Bucky paused, looking disgusted with himself.

"Buck, if you don't want to talk about it then that's okay too." Part of her was afraid of what he was going to say.

"-No, this is something I have to tell you. You were at some sort of shop with a couple of other girls and you must have known something was wrong because constantly you were looking around. Your friends even noticed and one of them left the main group for a couple of minutes. She made eye contact and I got out of there as fast as possible. She followed me down an alleyway where I was supposed to use a cement door but she confronted me. I..didn't know what I was doing, If..if I had been myself I wouldn't have..didn't mean to." he stumbled on his words and Aubrey scrunched her brow, saying what he was afraid to.

"You killed her?"

"I don't know-" he breathed, putting his head in his hands. Aubrey watched him start to tremble. "- I threw a grenade, she screamed and started to run but I wasn't there for the blast. I don't know. I've killed so many people, this shouldn't faze me but...She was so young...all of you were. That's why they moved your kidnapping date up." His breath came out in a shudder. Aubrey didn't know what to say, her memory when it came to Before was spotty and she didn't remember much of the day before her kidnapping.

"We've both killed a lot of people.-" she whispered "-but it wasn't your fault. It's possible she's still alive too Buck. I..don't remember much from Before, that's why I wanted to go back to Nebraska. If she was my friend th-" the joke died on Aubrey's tongue as she cleared her throat, trying again. "-I'm not very good at comforting people." Bucky chuckled under his breath, meeting Aubrey's eyes.

"We're a mess. Maybe it would be good to go to your home...that way if she is..gone. I can figure something out… apologize." She nodded, deciding not to voice any concerns about being found, instead, taking the chance to ask

"Maybe in four days if there are no problems here then we start heading towards Omaha."

"Okay" Bucky didn't even fight, instead, he opened his journal and started to write. Aubrey retrieved hers from inside and did the same, finishing off her sprite and replacing it with another, making Bucky try one as well. He concluded that it was a lot better than the pop he got before the War. At that, she choked on her drink and made another joke about him being an old man, which was answered with a pillow to her head, they laughed together before lapsing into a comfortable silence. Glacier's soft snores sounding from Aubrey's feet.

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