Mosaic

by FlyingRedPanda

(Bucky/OC, Winter Soldier x OC) "The broken pieces… take the ones you do have, the ones you'll find, the ones you'll make and build something… build someone, who you could live with." A story about two people and their interactions with each other, the people they come across, and the world around them. All while being hunted by friend and foe alike. (Re-editing, still posting new)

14. Bucky Barnes - Frozen Cows

Previously:

"Are we headed to Mexico?" I asked when I realized we were mostly headed south now.

"…I sure hope not. I don't want to deal with that kind of heat. You see any more of those asshats? Can I slow down yet? Well shit. Guess not…."

The light bathing the little car reminded me too much of the helicopter. Gaining on us. Fast.

Especially when Valeriy slowed to take a turn at the A.I. ghost's prompting. "Brace your – !"

Shoot driver between the eyes. Targets incapacitated.

I leaned out the window, drawing the Glock 21 and lowering my aim to one of the tires. But before I could squeeze the trigger, a loud crunch hit my ears. The momentum forcefully shifted into a swing. A blow to my left knocked me back into the seat, searing the skin on the side of my face, as the car spun out of control.

With another jerk of momentum, it all stopped.

.

.

Chapter 14: Bucky Barnes - Frozen Cows

.

.**.

.

All at once, reality crashed around me with a panicked gasp for air.

'How long was I out?'

Was I back with Hydra?

Still in the car. Not with Hydra. Strapped in place by the seat belt.

'They don't have m – Valeriy.'

Still in the seat next to me. Slumped against the dashboard.

'…Valeriy…?'

Not a twitch to her fingers.

'No…. Please don't be – '

I reached for her. Needed to find a pulse. Anything to tell me she's here. Alive.

A bullet weaved right between my fingers. Far too close to Valeriy. Nicked the scarf around her neck. Before burying itself into the driver seat.

Instinctively, my hand reached for the dart revolver. Eyes snapping up to the front.

We were surrounded. Four bodies lit up by the street lights effectively hiding their headlights from the helicopter.

I hated how naturally my hands went to another weapon. COP .357. A far deadlier option when the revolver wasn't found.

A man in a black suit held the still smoking M&P. "Hands up. Get out of the car.," he ordered. "Keep your hands where I can see them."

I couldn't risk another shot like that. The next might not miss her. Kicking out the door, I stepped onto the pavement. Fingers still wrapped around the COP .357. The rest drawing the Gerber from its sheath strapped to my leg.

Shoot them all between the eyes. Targets incapacitated.

'No.'

I had to find a better way. A less lethal way. Fists against bullets. Not the best of odds.

"They're SHIELD," the A.I. ghost said in my ear. "Not Hydra."

'What's the difference?'

"If you see the chance, run. Take the alleyway to your right."

"Sergeant Barnes," the older man called out. "We're not here to hurt you. Just come with us peacefully. We'll take you to somewhere safe."

"Sergeant Barnes."

"Sergeant Barnes."

"Mr. Barnes."

"Sergeant Barnes."

"Shut up!" I yelled. Covering my ears only to realize I could still hear everything. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"

Anything to get that voice to stop echoing.

"Sergeant Barnes."

"Sergeant Barnes!"

"Shut up!"

"Sergeant Barnes."

"Bucky." Her voice cut through the haze. Barely even a whisper in my ear.

My eyes snapped back to the car.

To my horror, the Asian woman had been dragging Valeriy's body out of the car by the pack strapped to her back. She didn't struggle as she was towed against the pavement. Completely limp.

Had she really spoken?

"Don't touch her!" I roared.

Draw the COP .357. Shoot through the neck. Target incapacitated.

The younger Asian fired a shot and it bounced right off the metal shoulder. She stumbled back a step when I squared off with her.

Gerber between the ribs. Target incapacitated.

The older man stepped in front of her, protectively. M&P at the ready. "Sergeant Barnes! Calm down!"

"Sergeant Barnes."

Toss grenade. Targets incapacitated.

"Sergeant Barnes."

Then laughter filled the air. The Asian woman dropped to the asphalt. Rolling side to side. Gasping for breath.

"May?" one of the agents called out.

I couldn't help the shiver at the sound. So misplaced in the situation. But she was unable to stop. Not even able to pull out the little dart imbedded in her cheek.

'Valeriy.'

A dart sailed through the air from the revolver in her hand. No hesitation in her fingers as she pulled the trigger over and over again. Her battered body tried to keep up with what she demanded of it with broken movements. Trying to make herself less of an easy target for their bullets.

Amidst the chaos, I made a mad dash for her. Desperately, I reached out, wrapping my arms around the young woman. With a kick off the asphalt, I launched us backwards, taking shelter behind the wreck that we once rode.

They had seven bullets left, but three bullets hit the little car before nothing. Only spine chilling laughter filled the air. Different voices echoing each other.

The only one left standing was the middle aged agent. The click of his magazine sliding into place barely heard through the storm.

Then there's Valeriy, noisily digging through her pack, and her right hand… it wasn't listening to her. Struggling to do what she wanted of it before being used to pin her revolver against her leg to reload the darts.

"There's another agent on their team," she whispered quickly. Gray eyes not even flicking up over the surprisingly unscathed glasses for how swollen her cheek was. "I don't see him. No idea as to why Triplett's here. He wasn't on their team last I checked. There could be others."

There should be others. A four man team would be unwise when dealing with me.

I searched the shadows for movement. Checking the sky for the helicopter. Far in the distance. Only a matter of time before it'd spot this mess and Hydra descends.

"Do you know if I darted anyone more than once?" she questioned, clipping mic to her scarf.

"You missed half your shots," I stated through gritted teeth, trying to shake off the laughter that surrounded us.

"Fitz, have you seen anything like this before?" the older agent whispered into his comms.

I could hear the fear in his voice. I could hear the panic that responded. Couldn't make much sense of the words through all the laughter.

"Can you hold this for a moment?" Valeriy asked, tossing a little golden ball my way. Intricate patterns swirling around the surface. When it landed in my hand, it opened in half on its own. Or the A.I. ghost's doing.

"He's approaching." My other hand so easily slipped its way around the Gerber again.

Throw Mark II at the center of his forehead. Target incapacitated.

She quickly shoved three darts into the ball before slipping it into her pocket, and with a deep breath, she popped up. Right out into the open. An easy target.

I wanted to drag her back down. To the safety of cover. Out of harm's way.

But she held out her mangled hand in a clear sign of stop. Leaving my flesh hand in the air. Caught between the gesture to stop and the overwhelming want of yank her to the ground.

"Your biochemist won't be able to figure this out in the eight minutes before this giggling becomes permanent," Valeriy stated coldly. Joking left aside. In a voice I couldn't recognise. Too high to be hers. "I'm the only one who knows which bottle on me is the antidote. And there are a lot of bottles. Half of them deadly."

I could see him in the reflection of the windows around us. The twitch to his M&P had me springing up, shielding her with my own body. He had every intention to maim her enough for an interrogation.

"You pull the trigger and I'll pull mine," she stated so calmly. Her revolver nuzzled right against her temple. "You won't be able to wake me up in time to pry the antidote out of me and they will die. Be it from starvation, dehydration or exhaustion. Now that you have some idea what's happening to them, shall we begin the negotiations, Agent Coulson?"

"Who the hell are you?!" the agent demanded angrily.

"I could ask 'Isn't SHIELD supposed to be dismantled? Aren't you supposed to be dead?' But I doubt either of us will get any answers, will we?"

And that was the tone I was used to. Light and airy. As if the clock wasn't ticking on three bodies. As if she was merely asking which sandwich I wanted.

"What the hell are you doing?" I hissed at her, taking stock of all the potential sniper nests around us. Still not finding the agent she mentioned.

"Getting leverage," she whispered. The seriousness back in her tone. "If I shoot myself, run for it."

I hated the order.

Hated that I still felt the need to follow it.

Hated that she still had that muzzle against her temple. Finger on the trigger.

Wanted nothing more than to rip the revolver out of her hand, but I forced my eyes away. To the shadows. To the windows. To the roofs.

'No movement. Why even try with a four man crew…? Unless somebody's enhanced.'

Like me.

Hopefully it's one of the laughing agents. And not the pissed off one. Could be the fifth Valeriy mentioned.

"You're… Are you protecting him…? You're not Hydra..." the agent pieced together. Confusion so clear on his face. Even through all the rage.

'Why would anyone protect me…?'

But here she was. Standing next to me. Doing just that. Side stepping me whenever I tried to get between them.

"The man beside you is dangerous. He's unstable. Do you know who he is? He's a fugitive. A terrorist. He's the Winter Soldier," the agent explained patiently.

As if he was talking to a child. To someone who's been by lies. To the point they wouldn't know what was real.

Like what they did to me.

"You're not turning me on him," she stated so easily. Like it could never happen.

Like how I could have never turned on St….

"…You're the woman the kid – "

"So you're the one who led Hydra to our doorstep. Lovely. Do you still have the kid? Or is he easy pickings for Hydra?"

"I've got him. Currently in the process of moving the parents. They'll all disappear. Nobody will be able to find them. Not even their annoying little hacker girl. You're on the clock."

The stumble in the agent's feet to get a little distance from her annoyed words made it seem like he couldn't be Hydra. That he cared for the kid. The little blond boy who saw us.

"Step aside. Hand over the antidote. Let us handle Sergeant Barnes. And I'll forget about you. We won't bring you in as – "

"Sergeant Barnes."

"Not interested. Have fun watching them laugh themselves to death." Valeriy gave my side a little push to start walking. "We're leav – "

I barely had enough time to yank her out of the way of his bullet. I could see that confident mask of hers fracturing. Feel the tremble in her arm under my fingers. Hear the shaky inhale as she tried to calm herself.

"You're not going anywhere," the agent seethed.

"I do believe the chopper's spotted the crash."

I couldn't help but stare at the black helicopter headed straight for us. My heart pounding louder at my ears the closer it got.

"I get the whole agent thing and having your orders you need to complete, but right now, he's the least of your problems," Valeriy stated. "Though it won't stay that way if you keep leading Hydra to him. Next time, I'm not going to use some obscure poison. I'll be shooting to kill. No questions asked. No words exchanged. You've been sufficiently warned."

With that, she handed me the revolver. The very thing I've been wanting to pry out of her fingers before she could shoot herself. She plucked the golden ball out of her pocket, and held it out towards him on an open palm.

"Is that…?"

"The antidote for your friends? Yeah, it's inside."

Wings unfurled off the golden surface and with a couple fluttering flaps, the ball took off down the street. Speeding through the night air.

"Ball's in your court, Agent Coulson."

Precious seconds ticked by as they stared each other down. Neither moving.

The helicopter closing in. Getting louder and louder.

The moment those dark eyes glanced away from us, I tossed Valeriy atop of my shoulder and booked it. Making the decision for us. Going right down the alleyway the A.I. ghost had pointed out.

"Huh…. I guess this works," Valeriy commented over my shoulder. Her hands slipping on the back of my jacket as she tried to prop herself up.

"Go left."

"Holy shit. You can run," her voice light and rather excited. "You should have just ran for it when we left the house."

"Anyone following?" I asked her, ignoring her comment in favor of concentrating on running as fast as I could and keeping an eye on the environment in front. No movements.

People should still be asleep.

"You have two operatives in play who are unaccounted for. Predicted to be close by."

"Don't you see everyth – "

"Oh, I think I see one," Valeriy pointed out, cutting me off. "On the roof…. With a rifle."

And another moved in the shadows in front.

Use body as a bat. Impale lung onto broken railing. Target incapacitated.

I aimed the revolver at the one in front, leaping to the right in the same instance. Whatever came out of the rifle wasn't a regular bullet, and for a rare moment, I was rather glad for the metal arm.

Didn't need to be knocked out.

Didn't need to be doubled over in laughter.

Didn't want to forget with whatever messed with memories that Valeriy had on hand.

Or whatever else people shot each other with.

As a round face fell out of the shadows, I spun around, searching for the next target and was met with the exact same face on the roof.

Dart in the face. Let fall over the edge. Target incapacitated.

I ground my teeth together. I couldn't pull the trigger. The risk of him falling over too high. The chances of him surviving the fall too low.

"Keep running."

All too unexpectedly, the man slumped to the side. A dart sticking out of his neck.

"This one covered."

With an unsettled feeling in my gut, I ran.

"Ooo, your Pup-ple are here, huh?"

I could feel the tense muscles of her abdomen relax just a fraction.

"Mind seeing if Coulson left anything behind? Amber wants to know how he's back from the fucking dead."

"...Your priorities are horrid…."

"Did the two agents not show up on your cameras?" I questioned, bringing them back to the situation at hand. Hopefully. The bickering and distractions would only serve to bring Hydra closer.

The A.I. ghost saw everything. The two agents were in plain sight. They couldn't have been unaccounted for until just then. Unless they were enhanced in some way that left her blind to them.

"Uhhh… Well, the uhh truce? No, collaboration? We have? Had? Haven't worked with them for some years. But thanks to a deal Gramps made, Eve's left with these gaping gaps in her purview…? When it comes to SHIELD. She can only act against them when we're in direct conflict… which was a just contingency. Never thought we'd use it…. I still don't see the male agent on his team. Where the fuck is he?"

"Take the next left. It's a little ways to the rendezvous. If you had only bought me a little more time in their systems, I would have been able to confirm if he was Hydra."

"…No, Coulson's not Hydra. He can't be. No, he's – he's Coulson."

"We were talking about Ward. A right and a straight shot from here."

"…So is he here with Hydra then?"

"...I haven't managed to confirm much about him besides that he isn't here with Coulson at the moment. Since somebody didn't buy me enough time."

"We were out of time," I interrupted. Had to stop the bickering. "You could have bought yourself more time just now."

"Wasn't my call."

The alleyway gave to a main road. Empty and completely hidden from the lack of working street lamps. Wouldn't doubt it being the A.I. ghost's doing. From the helicopter, it could be easily passed over in the darkness of the night.

I stayed in the alleyway, checking for an ambush. Eyeing the semi-truck parked directly across from us. No one in the cabin. No movements anywhere.

"Get in the truck already. The road's clear. You're wasting time."

With a mildly irritated huff at how relaxed they suddenly sounded, I adjusted Valeriy's weight on my shoulder and quickly crossed the open area. Stuck close to the side of the crate to minimize our profile.

"We're not driving this monster. To the back," the young woman pointed out and I turned on a heel, hurrying my steps. "We're cargo. Assuming this is one of our trucks. I sure hope you like hot and cramped…."

An icy blast of air slapped me in the face when I swung open the truck door.

I could feel my heart drop down to my stomach. Barely even felt my feet stumbling back a step.

Didn't even register the body that fell off mine until a face blocked the horrid sight. Warm hands settled on either side of my face. Just enough to distract me from the frozen bodies hanging from meat hooks.

"Hey, eyes here, Buddy. We need to get insi – "

I shook my head, backing away from the cold air. "Please…. I can – I can protect you. I promise. I'll do anything," I begged. "Please don't freeze me again…. I can protect you…."

"You were frozen…? What? They had cryonics worked out so long ago? The hell?"

"Please. I'll be good. I'llbegood. I'llbegoodI'lldoanything. V – "

"Shhhh." A hand covered my mouth, muffling my words. "You're not going to get frozen. It's about thirty seconds of cold and then it'll be all toasty, 'kay?"

That had to be a lie. The container's a damn freezer. Nothing warm about it.

"And yeah, the cows look really demented… so just keep your eyes on me."

Her hand dropped to mine, tugging on it. Trying to pull me closer to the cold. The other trying to slip back into a glove.

"Twenty seconds. You don't have time."

A wince passed over her features as she stripped out of her hoodie. "I'm sorry for this." She pulled the warmed fabric over my shoulders, holding onto the front together and pulling the hood over my head. "Get to the back of the freezer and wait for me."

And with those words, I had no choice but to follow inside. As she paused at the door, I hurried to the back, weaving through all the filleted bodies. With the thundering heartbeat in my ears, I could barely catch a creak of the door closing, but definitely heard the metal on metal clang of the door sliding into place. Drove home that I was stuck in here. In the cold.

"He's been out of cryo too long."

A light lit up the darkness. Moving straight for me. Strapped to the side of the young woman racing between the bodies. On the last meter, she dropped to her knees, sliding right into the wall next to me. Her hands shoved upwards, pushing a panel to reveal another compartment.

"Give me the rifle and get in. You'll warm right up. Not going to let you freeze."

I scrambled for the hole and handed her the Nemesis in one movement.

The compartment was tiny. Didn't even have the width to fit my shoulders. Even if I hunched them together. Barely had the height if I didn't slouch as much as I could.

She wasn't joking about it being toasty. It was damn near suffocating. I couldn't feel any of the cold air from the open hole just 71 centimeters away from my face.

I couldn't hear much beyond the mechanical hum that muffled everything my ears could pick up. Made my world that much smaller. Narrowed it down to just the truck.

"Put him back into cryo."

Valeriy tossed her phone inside, lighting up the straps that crisscrossed the ceiling. She tucked her pack and the Nemesis above them.

Took everything in me not to fight my way out at the roar of the engine. A sway of the truck and it started moving. Driving. Somebody was up front driving.

Music blared loudly around us. Screaming and thumping. I could feel it from the walls and floor. Beating against me. And my world became a 103 centimeter by 82 centimeter by 49 centimeter compartment.

"Get inside already."

A rough turn had Valeriy tumbling inside. Her legs curled up. Hers hands batted at the metal sheet wall.

I couldn't help the full body flinch at the loud bang of the hidden panel falling into place. Or the second bang of my head colliding with the far too low ceiling.

"So… I remember this being slightly roomier last time I had to share one of these compartments…. How are you hol – ?"

Valeriy's head lolled back. Gray eyes staring up at me. That couldn't be good for her neck. For the cut. For her spine.

" – Oh, you are not okay. You are so not okay."

A mess of limbs flopped about until she managed to face me. Somewhat. Pressed up into the far wall. Legs tangled over and under mine. Part of one was even stuck up over my shoulder. Boot braced against the metal until a squeak of rubber screeched at my ear.

"You'll warm up. You're not going to freeze," she assured, grabbing onto my ankle. Above the sock and under the pant leg.

A frown, a clench of her other fist and a nod later, she was back to the limb flailing. There wasn't much room for it.

"What are you trying…?" I managed to get out before an elbow hit my jaw and her bottom dropped onto my lap. "Val – …?"

"You'll warm up. I'm sorry. Won't let you freeze. I'm so sorry. It'll be warm. I'm so sorry Bucky," she practically chanted over and over again. Her voice coming through the ear piece in a whisper.

It only took seconds to freeze.

Her back sank against my front, following the curve of my slouch. Her hands frantic between rubbing up and down the sides of my legs, my arm as well as the metal one, and cupping my face. The usual light gentle touch of hers nowhere to be felt. Rough, pushing into my flesh as if to confirm that was where I was. But still far from the pain of Hydra.

At my shiver from all the contact, her movements sped up. Practically smacking me in the face in her rush.

'She can't even feel the temperature, can she…?'

"You'll warm up."

Being mindful to keep the metal arm away from her, I gathered her wayward hands. She fought it for a second. Likely not realizing I had one of her hands until she couldn't move it.

She finally stilled. Letting me hold onto the wrist of her injured one.

"I'm not cold," I told her.

Three long seconds of burning pain.

Again her head rolled her neck into a bad position. Resting it against my shoulder so she could stare up at me. "I'm sorry."

I shook my head at her.

For the first time in my shattered memories, I didn't feel cold. Not the cold in my surroundings. Not the cold deep in my chest. Not the cold of the arm fused to my side.

A moment of warmth in the suffocating hot box. Cared for and not alone.

"We'll get out of this. They won't get you," Valeriy assured. Not that she could be sure of it. No matter how confident she sounded.

"Your neck's going to break if you keep doing that." But that felt like the least of our problems.

She lifted her head to stare in front and took a deep breath. Her body tensing as if expecting a hit. "What's – " A heavy sigh escaped her. "…What's the damage?"

"One BWM i3 and a few bricks. That's about it. Clean up is mostly finished. As if nothing happened. I'll have a professional come in the morning to double check the building's structural integrity after that crash. My safe house passed Hydra inspections."

"The bomb?"

"Unhappy residents were woken up. I should be able to dust it under the rug as a gas leak or the like."

"Coulson?"

"Got away from Hydra. Didn't manage to find blood or something of his. He's the only one who's seen you tonight and will remember. If he spends some time on your interaction tonight, and he will, only a matter of time before he concludes who poisoned his agents."

"Mind running interference for that?"

"I don't have the permissions for that."

At the side of her head, her fingers twitched couple of times and her body slumped with a sigh. "…You will…. And the kid?"

"The kid and his family are already on route to the new destination safe from Hydra."

"The dead?"

"None, and the two of you are going to make it out if you learn to be quiet. Overall, not bad."

"Not bad?" I repeated. Annoyed. Tired of how everything seemed to be a joke to them. "I can't believe we made it this far."

I had half the mind to think all this had been dreamt up. Thawing out. Still stuck with Hydra. That I never escaped. That St… that he wasn't alive. That she was never real. That this was all but a dream.

"We're up against Hydra and you're fooling around with Pacman and running other objectives as if they weren't on our tail and you weren't being shot at."

"Bucky, we don't – "

"Do you have any idea what you're up against?"

"K – "

"You almost died tonight."

"Yeah, but I didn't – "

"Would you have…?"

Valeriy almost carefully shifted off me, curling up into a ball against the far wall. Roughly dragging her sleeve across her face. "Would I have…?"

"Killed them. Would you have killed them? Would you have given him the antidote if he didn't cooperate? Would you have run over that agent if I didn't knock him out?"

I couldn't help the wince at how it looked when she ran her clearly injured hand through her hair. The crack of a bone shifting in her right hand mostly muffled by all the sounds around us.

Her face disappeared into the crook of her elbow. A sniffle crossed through the ear piece, and I doubt the A.I. ghost could sniffle. A shaky inhale later, the young woman ground out, "Empty threats are dumb and I wasn't bluffing about the poison."

"…You don't want blood on your hands, Valeriy. It's not something you can hit restart and undo…."

But how I wished it were. A simple little button and all those lives spare from my hands. Everything undone.

"They have families. People who care – "

"Save the lecture, Bucky," she huffed, refusing to look at me. "You're too late…. Years too late."

"You can't predict everything. With the job you do, you're bound to lose a couple of people. It's not the same as – "

Even in the dim light, I could see those pale gray eyes when they turned to me. Begging me to stop. Tears screaming out that there was so much more to all this.

"Can't un-know things, so be careful what you ask."

Did I want to know?

And I found myself wondering if there wasn't always a world's distance between her and the physical location of whoever she was supposed to protect. That she was at ground zero and right in the thick of it.

Or that maybe she didn't have the easiest escape from her previous captors they've mentioned.

Or that she could actually bloody her hands. Like she had tried tonight. To protect me of all things.

Did I really want to know that?

"…Just so you know, you're coming up to a Hydra perimeter road block."

"Does the driver know of us?" I asked, taking the change of topics.

"Nope. He just thinks his radio is broken. Time to learn how to be quiet. Val? Sorry. Light's out."

As the light went out, I surged forwards. Covering Valeriy's mouth with metal. Forcing her jaw shut barely in time to muffle a scream. Wrapping my arm around her neck when she started to struggle. Locking her limbs into place with my legs. Squeezing down when she tried to fight back.

Crush neck. Target incapacitated.

The truck rolled to a stop. 18 seconds ticked by and the engine was killed. The music stopped. What once deafened me could have been our cover. Now there was nothing to stop a bump against a metal sheet or a scream from revealing our hiding place.

Nails dug into my leg that pinned Valeriy's when pushing didn't work. The mangled hand barely able to use any strength.

A clank and then a creak sounded before footsteps echoed along the metal. Growing louder and louder. Closer and closer.

Break ribs. Target incapacitated.

Her fingers lightly tapped against my leg. Two taps in quick sessions. Over and over again. Oddly soothing. Tugging on habits long forgotten to let her go.

I fought the instincts. As trained. Squeezed down tighter. Stilling her insistent shifting. One wrong move on our part and we would be heard.

I could tell exactly where the person was. Walking along the back wall. The wall right next to us. His feet less than 13 centimeters away. I could heard a gloved hand sliding across the metal surface.

Keep pressure. Target incapacitated.

"It's clean," I managed to catch over the mechanical hum. Steps pattering out faster than it did coming in.

"I do hope you haven't killed the girl."

Her words as cold as the ice flooding through my veins.

"Not picking up much from camera and mic, not even breathing."

I quickly loosened my grip on the young woman. Still pinning her down. Waiting for the screaming to start up in the darkness. For the struggles to give us away. Nothing.

Only my racing heartbeat thundering in my ears and a faint movement of her lungs taking in air. She's alive. I hadn't killed her. Not yet.

I let her go.

Before I could do her more harm.

Her head made no attempt to stop itself from rolling into an uncomfortable angle. She had to be out cold.

It felt like an eternity before the metal on metal sound of the closing door. Before the engine roared to life. Before the music shrank the world down to just this compartment.

.

.**.

.

.

AN: And that concludes the end of the first bit of Mosaic and the start of moving into the next bit.

(Yup, that is an HP Golden Snitch. Cause why not when Val's total a geek at heart.)