AN: This chapter has been beta-ed by two betas. The old one, who wishes to stay anonymous, has stepped out and the new one, Camilla Gordellion, has stepped in.
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Chapter 20: Bucky Barnes - Purple Red Orange
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Pulling up into the assigned lot, I parked the motorhome. Nothing of worry on the way in. No familiar faces. The site just as active as the previous one. Another cursory glance later, still nothing. Sixteen people glanced this way, but nothing more.
A quick press of a button and the blackout curtains rolled down.
Pausing for just a moment, I glanced at the bedroom door. Where Valeriy had secluded herself in for the last seven hours and nineteen minutes. She'd been in there since the moment after we left Thunder Bay. Only coming out for a snack.
She'd have to come out eventually. I had no clue as to where we were headed next. Likely continuing westward on the same highway.
I settled down on the couch. Laptop opened to go over the footage outside. A routine now. Making sure there were no familiar faces among the people that surrounded us.
Blindly, I reached into the plastic box on the little table nearby and plucked the last cinnamon bun from its depths. Took my time with it. Savoring each bite. Every morsel. It might have been better when it was piping hot, but still delicious.
71 bodies. 21 men. 14 women. 28 children. 8 dogs. None of them familiar.
Satisfied, I moved onto the tablet. Opening up the internet application and continuing the opened article.
10 Exercises to instantly improve your memory.
It was only a movement of a shadow that caught my eye.
Grab the Benchmade SOCP from between the couch cushions. Throw between the ribs. Target incapacitated.
My head snapped up to find Valeriy making her way over. In her hand, the tablet she had brought back with from the drop. Her usual smile nowhere to be found.
"Val – "
She looked up from the floorboards. Eyes watering slightly. A sniffle to her breathing.
"What's wrong?" I asked, moving the tablet and laptop to the side.
"Could I…?' she managed to get out before digging a palm at her eye. "…Could I have a hug…? Would you mind?"
As silently as I could with the tablet screen, I tapped in three letters into the search bar. My scrambled brain could remember the spelling but not what it was.
"I tried on my own with pillows and blankets. It's not working anymore." Her line of sight fixated on the floor in front of my feet.
Verb. 1. Squeeze (someone) tightly in one's arms, typically to express affection.
"…It's kind of like a… a sleeper hold…? But with less squeeze and maybe not around the neck…? Just for a moment? Please…?"
Noun. 1. An act of holding someone tightly in one's arms, typically to express affection.
"I'm sorry. Just need to feel… to feel like I'm not falling to pieces…."
It's nearly muscle memory once I stood up. My feet took the step needed. Both arms coming up behind her. My own thoughts managed to scream for the metal arm to be dropped. To tug the new tablet from her hand instead as my arm moved on its own. Carefully pulling the small body to mine.
Valeriy fell against me. A sound coming out of her that I haven't heard since the night of the black out. When I picked her up from the shower floor. A broken sound. So soft I could hear the children playing outside better.
Her face buried into the hoodie. Her breath releasing through the thin material of the shirt I wore. Her arms wrapped around my waist. Squeezing tightly. Palms flat against my back. As if she were the one trying to hold together my own fractured pieces.
I was scared to use any strength. The metal casts might not handle a tight hold. Collapsing it would be bad. So I fought the urge to pull her closer and merely rested my arm lightly on her shoulders.
If only I had two arms….
The weapon hovered awkwardly to the side. There was nowhere else I could put it and it was still holding onto her tablet. I didn't want it to touch her. The thing that had sent her into a wall.
My head tipped forwards. The side of my face resting against her soft hair. My eyes falling shut as everything seemed to fade away. A lightness floated about in my chest. Almost familiar.
Something far more constricting. Too many jumbled emotions suffocating the air. So much fear.
"Bucky! You can't! What if – ! Promise me you'll come back!"
"I-I'll be back before you know it, Bonnie."
She only held me tighter to the point that breathing was difficult, sobbing into my shoulder.
"Take care of everyone for me, will you? I can't ask the others. You're the most responsible amongst us. Dad needs his medication. Don't forget –"
"I won't forget. Every other week, I'll get the money somehow."
"Mom likes Lisianthuses. Once a month, get some for her from me. Diana's – "
"Diana's has the best flowers."
"And Mrs. Murray, if you catch her with groceries, help the old doll out. She's usually back around – "
"Eleven A.M., almost on the dot."
"And go to Joe's – "
"To collect the scraps for the dogs and cats."
"And make sure you keep an eye on Irene. Don't let her volunteer. I'm doing this to keep you girls safe. Keep everybody safe. Before the war can come here. Stay safe, Bonnie. So I have a home to return to…. And once in a while, please check up on Ste – "
The arms slipped from my back. Valeriy let go. Taking a small step away.
Had to fight myself from doing anything other than let my arm drop back to my side.
She gave a little nod before a bright grin pulled across her face. "Thanks, Bucky."
Something felt wrong with the action. Something off about her expression.
"…Do you want to talk about it?" I tried.
"Nope."
The answer immediate. Changing her rather relaxed persona to that of one filled with tension.
"…It's just a lot of things piling…? And Eve has me doing this… thing? An apology for the whole trying to shoot Sparks thing? It's…."
Her face twisted as if she smelled sewage.
"I can help." I turned her tablet, and before I could turn on the screen, she lunged for it.
Slam side of tablet into temple. Target incapacitated.
I let her wrap herself around the device, watching her almost scramble into the table behind her.
"Valeriy?"
"You're not getting involved with this, Bucky."
"What the hell does she have you doing?"
"Oh damn…. Please. Please don't ask about this anymore…. I really don't want to say more about this. I'm only helping Eve… look for… somebody…. Predict where his… um… services…? Might be…. Urgh. I don't know how to word this. I just have to get this done before we get to Kenora for the drop."
"We're at Kenora…."
"…Damn shit…."
As she turned away for the bedroom, I grabbed onto her wrist.
"It's time sensitive. I'm supposed to be done alrea – 'Kay. 'Kay." Valeriy's shoulders sagged with a sigh. "Let me just find my glasses and how's your… I don't know… Thai? How's your Thai?" she asked, typing away on the tablet and showing me a screen of fancy symbols made of curves and circles. "Can you read this?"
"…No."
But neither should she. English and Dahlia only from what I've heard.
"And I placed your glasses in the top drawer next to where you sleep."
Something for her to see with if we had to make use of the dark.
"Thanks. I'll be right back." With those words, she disappeared into the bedroom again. Tablet still clutched to her.
'What the hell is she caught up in…?' I wondered, pulling a cushion to the floor to sit on. Setting up the laptop next to me while I returned to the page of Bring Forth Repressed Memories through Hypnosis on the older tablet.
It was easy enough to tell there was more to what the A.I. ghost had her doing. Something they didn't want me involved in. Be it secrets or danger.
Valeriy returned, blindly trying to navigate the straight hallway while reading the tablet. Glasses perched on her nose and a blanket draped around her shoulder. The edge of which scraped at the back of my neck as she climbed behind me.
Wrap blanket around neck. Target inca –
Her fingers crossed my vision.
Grab wrist and –
They combed through my hair. Lightly scratching at my scalp. Curling the locks around my ear.
"…So… we're running low on food," Valeriy pointed out.
"Sorry," I apologised. Having ate most of it.
"Bucky, you need to eat. Was just asking if you wanted to make a shopping list." She handed me her phone with a grin. "Whatever you want. I'll see if I can get it."
The side of her head dropped onto my shoulder. I could feel my own tilting towards her. Lightly resting against hers.
I could hear her scrolling on her tablet. From my periphery, all I could make sense of what she was going over were files. Personnel files. Each one of them above the age of fifty from the pictures.
Cinnamon buns.
That was all I could think of when I stared at the phone in my hand.
Pulled pork sandwiches.
Maybe there was something similar to the ones at the park where we met.
Frozen Pepperoni pizza.
Something the A.I. ghost had gotten more often than other things back at the house.
Plums.
Mentioned in the article I was reading.
Cinnamon buns.
I turned to Valeriy to ask what she wanted, but the face on her tablet….
I knew it.
"I know that face."
'But from where?'
"You do? Dude's old as shit. He's born in the 50s? Yeah, 1953."
"I don't care! I want his son killed in front of him! The bastard should think twice before crossing me again."
"Wh-why do you have someone from Hydra on-on your…?"
"…'Kay. Let me make a note for Eve about that… and this tablet is just files about anyone who's anybody who might… uhhh request the… services of…. Yeah…."
There could be more faces I'd recognise in there. People with pull. Someone with enough clearance that I'd see their face.
"You know what, if I recall properly… he should be at one of our stops. On a trip with his grandkids according to their… Twitter…? We can – "
"No. Whatever you're thinking, no. You're not going anywhere near this man, Val – "
"Oh why not? Why is everybody telling me to stay away from them?"
"Hydra's dangerous! They're not some game!"
"But – "
"He's protected! You're not going to get anywhere near the man! He's dangerous!"
"It's not like I'm a child."
"You are, and pouting like that isn't helping your case."
She huffed, settling down again and flicking her fingers across the screen. A new picture showed up. A woman. An unfamiliar one.
I grabbed the other tablet. Staring at the black screen.
'Are they… are they searching for an assassin…?'
Was that why they didn't want me to be a part of it?
Were they going to use an assassin…?
Trying to shake off the thought, I typed in:
Foods that improve memory.
Avocados. Dark chocolate. Beets. Blueberries. Strawberries. Acai berries
I added each to the growing list.
"There's a lot of fruits on this list…" Valeriy said over my shoulder.
"They might help with memory," I replied, head tilting back at the fingers combing through my hair.
"Hmmm…. Memory, huh? Remind me in a couple of days to ask Amber if she has something in her greenhouse or blends that'd help."
"Yes please. I'd… like that."
"I already asked her to help with whatever Hydra did to you…. Huh…? Red and purple oranges?"
"The ones you're always eating," I expanded.
"…Those… aren't oranges, Bucky…."
'…That explains why I keep getting blood orange instead….'
Whenever I searching them up on Google. The colours were just off. Nothing as brightly colored.
"They're pros."
"Pros…?"
"P.R.O. Purple red orange, so PROs. Amber created a mandarin orange based fruit due to my poor eating habits…. We have a bunch of them. A drawer full."
"…I… may have ate most of them…."
Sixteen of them.
"…How are you not shitting your guts out…? Those can't be eaten at such vast quantities…. Then again, you've got quite the body…."
"Wha-what are they supposed to do?"
"Provide nutrients? All of it? So long as a person eats two or three of those a day, they get everything they need. Just have to take in calories after that."
"I… I – "
"Don't worry about it. If you're not having stomach problems already, you're safe, I guess? Five and a half is my limit. Reaction's immediate."
"No. There's only one left…."
"Oh… Oh well. It'll be fine."
"But…."
"We'll be where we need to be soon enough. And my bracelet will let me know when I start fucking up my body again."
"…."
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The red dot on the phone screen had stayed in the same area for the last 28 minutes. Moving around in a serpentine pattern across the block.
8 new bodies joined the park grounds after Valeriy left. None of them had a familiar face to me. Still couldn't rule out the possibility that a face could have slipped through the cracks of my mind. The memories unreachable. Or no longer there. And they could send those who I've never seen after me.
Anybody could be Hydra.
A ring next to me caused me to flinch.
The phone.
Immediately, I followed the instructions on the screen. Dragging my finger across the screen and placing the phone to my ear.
I dare not say anything. Trying to hear what was on the other end.
An array of the same beep from different distances from her phone.
A rustling of what sounds like a thin plastic bag after the loudest beep.
A squeak of a wheel rolling and fading away.
Metal clattering.
Was Valeriy taken?
"Buddy? Hello?"
No stress in her voice. Light and airy, as per usual.
"…Buddy? You there…?"
"…Yes."
"What do you want for dinner? I checked Google and I'm thinking pizza or… I think it's Mediterranean…? Either of those sound yum to you? Or I can make another round in Safeway and give spaghetti another shot…?"
With a sigh, I said, "Mediterranean. Anything is fine."
I can't even remember what kind of food goes into that category. But it's something new.
"Alright," she chirped. "See you in a – Hey!"
Stress. I could hear it through that single word.
"I knew it. You are a little cutie, aren't you? What are you doing hiding such beautiful hair under this ratty old thing?"
My stomach dropped.
A stranger's voice. Male. Young. Muffled slightly by something. Likely fabric of some sort.
A huff was the loudest thing I could hear. A huff I knew belonged to Valeriy. "I'd like my hat back. Thank you."
A rustle of fabric sounded much like static over the call.
I could just manage to hear a heartbeat softly speeding up by the second.
"Val-Valentina…?"
"Oh, so cute," the male cooed. "Aww. Not going to jump some more?"
"Do not throw that hat in the rubbish. It belonged to my dead grandfather." The lie rolling right out of her with warning.
"Is that a slight accent I hear? Where are you from? How long have you been here? I haven't seen you around before. I'd definitely know a sweetie like you."
There was a stutter to the heartbeat before it got louder and everything else more muffled.
"Sorry. Not interested. Hat. Ple – "
"Hang up and come join my friends and I. You'll have the time of your life. I promise. We know the best spot to watch the sunset and the best club in the city. I'd enjoy seeing what other sexy tattoos you have."
"Seriou – Do not touch me."
"Did I not say to hang u – "
A couple of beeps and then silence.
"Valentina?" I called out.
Nothing.
"Val!?"
Just silence.
Took a second, but I raced for the cuttlefish octopus skin based mask. Slapping it onto my face. Barely checked I had a face in the reflection before I rushed outside. Keys in hand. Pausing only to lock the motorhome.
The moment eyes were off me, I broke into a full sprint.
1.4 Kilometers away.
And the red dot on the screen wasn't moving.
The A.I. ghost had showed me how to track the signal coming off the casts she had on her.
I took to the roof tops and stuck to the shadows when nature gave way to buildings. Stole a moped when I spotted one parked in a driveway. Taking the helmet with me.
Too much could happen in seconds. Let alone minutes. But it took minutes to weave through the streets and across the field of shortly trimmed grass.
A sniffle echoed at my ears. Louder than the wind roaring around me.
"Becky? Becky, what happened?" my own voice bouncing off the inside of my skull.
A young girl curled up by the side of her bed. Wrapped up in a winter coat in the sweltering heat. Tears streaming down her cheeks.
I could almost feel the patch of damp fabric on my chest.
"Th-the… The construction workers. Th-they were jeering and wouldn't leave me alone…. What did I do wrong?"
Something inside twisted at the memory. Speeding over the bridge and ditching the moped at the edge of the parking lot by the water. Ducking behind the nearest car.
The dot was here.
23 cars. 4 bodies. And a large dog tied to a bike rack by the building labeled Safeway.
'Valeriy.'
Walking down the road next to a row of cars. Bags filled to the brim held in both hands. The hat atop of her head. Though her hair flowed down her back. No longer tucked under the hat. Her body language was relaxed. Her limp hidden, walking with her head held high. Looking as if nothing happened. That she hadn't been dragged away kicking and screaming. Stuffed into the back of a car.
"What part of no do you kids not underst – Bucky?"
The whisper of my name almost silent in the summer breeze.
Her body leaned back against me. Head tipping back. Staring up at me with those gray eyes. But the face wasn't hers.
"What are you doing here? Did something happen?" she asked. Worry clear in her voice.
"You… you called…?"
Not quite trusting my mind anymore. Could the call have been a hallucination…?
"Was about to call you back once I put the bags in the car."
Unwrapping myself from Valeriy was a struggle. Taking the bags from her hands was automatic. Stepping away was reflex when she reached for them. All while trying to calm myself from the adrenaline.
Her eyes darted to the side, away from me. Just for a split second. Towards the building behind me.
A glance at the reflection of a car. There was a group of males at the door. Four of them. All dressed similarly, but not uniforms. Muscular, fit but not seasoned fighters.
Not a threat.
The door opened. One of the voices familiar. Matched the one on over the phone.
My own feet took steps towards them. To do what, I couldn't be sure. Only that something was clawing out from under my skin. That was until a hand wrapped around mine. Tugging gently.
"Okay, now is not the time for sexy intimidation strut."
"Wha…?
"Let's get into the car, 'kay?" she suggested lightly with a soft smile. Her head motioning to a sedan that the A.I. ghost likely set up beforehand.
With the bags in the trunk, Valeriy pulled out of the lot rather hurriedly. She glanced in the rearview mirror before her eyes moved onto me. "Maybe we'll snack on fruits and cinnamon buns for dinner instead. Sounds yum?"
The car went around a block before returning over the bridge. Heading towards the R.V. park.
No new bruises. No new scratches. She wasn't physically hurt by them. From what I could make out.
Her eyes weren't puffier than 42 minutes ago. So they hadn't made her cry.
Nothing about her seemed disturbed.
"…Thank you, Bucky. For worrying."
"Are you…?"
"I'm fine. Was more worried for them when you showed up than for your hat when he was hovering it over the rubbish bin," she joked, removing said hat and slipping it over my head. "I can handle an insecure boy. One who probably can't keep his hand off his dick for a second even if his life counted on it?"
"…."
'She's okay…' I thought, finally relaxing into the passenger seat. Just as the car parked.
Hearing the trunk pop, I hopped out of the car. Grabbing the groceries and a duffle bag before she could hobble her way there.
"Let me carry something, Bucky. I feel like a useless little shit."
To which I tossed her the motorhome keys and received Valeriy's indignant pout. The cuttlefish octopus skin based mask couldn't hide that expression.
The walk back was quiet. My eyes darting from one face to the next. Searching for something familiar and finding nothing. Caught a couple of kids climbing.
Once inside, Valeriy's hand rested on metal plates of the arm. "Why don't you get cleaned up first? I'll put everything away."
Glancing down, I saw just how muddy I got my boots and pants. With a quick nod, I hurried to the back, placing the bags down on the counter before closing the bedroom door behind me. A sniff at the clothing, and I decided another shower was needed.
The cool water kept it short. Didn't want to stay in the cold. But it still washed the stress away with the dirt and sweat stuck to my skin.
The wind from the air conditioning unit made everything colder. Even with clothing on. It cooled the water soaked fabric stuck to my skin. The hoodie helped blocked some of the cold.
The moment I opened the bedroom door, Valeriy started talking over the running water of the sink. "How does dinner in bed and a relaxing movie sound?"
'Bugs,' the word popping up in my head on its own.
"Bucky?" Her face peeking out from around the corner. A smile pulling at her lips.
"Hmm? Sure," I replied, ignoring the thought.
"Let me finish rinsing the fruit and I'll set up the movie."
Instinctively, I rolled up my sleeves, pausing when I started on the left one. I didn't want it to be seen… but she didn't seem to mind the arm. Still, I made sure to slip into the spot to her left.
With a soft laugh, she shuffled over a step to make room for me at the sink. Which was tiny compared to the one at the house. Not enough room for four hands.
"…I don't think this is enough food…" I pointed out.
"Got more calories in the freezer."
I do not like opening the freezer. It's cold. Even worse with wet hair.
Boxes of frozen pizza laid inside. That should be enough.
Pepperoni. Quattro Formaggi. Pepperoni pesto. Funghi. Pepperoni. Spincaci. Pepperoni.
'Pepperoni.' Quickly plucked out from a metal arm's length away.
"I'm going to go get the movie setup. We can pause and grab the pizza later," Valeriy chirped over her shoulder, walking to the bedroom with a plateful of baked goods and a couple cans of cola in her arms.
While waiting for the oven to heat up to temperature, I double checked the instructions for how long to leave the pizza inside. The A.I. ghost wasn't around to tell me when the pizza was done. Thirteen minutes. Six less than the average time I've waited on the A.I. ghost's instructions.
Before I could contemplate on it further, I gathered some of the fruits into my arms. The berries and plums.
Haphazardly tossed in the middle of the freshly made bed was part of our dinner. Valeriy stood in front of a blindingly bright blue television screen, prodding at buttons. Standing back a step and searching the screen in confusion.
"Got no idea where I lost the remote…. This is so much easier to do with Eve controlling everything…. Come on. Settle in, Bucky."
Stiffly, I perched at the edge of the bed. Food still in hand. The left side. Closest to the door.
"Eve, where have you gone? I need you. Come back to me. We want to watch a movie…" she partially sung to herself. "…Bucky, you're warming up the fruit…."
Instinctively, my facial muscles pulled towards the spot between my eyes. Disgust filling me. My brain unable to provide a reason for the reaction.
Warm fruit.
Valeriy climbed onto the bed. "You're going to – " Arm wrapping around my torso.
Grab Gerber Yari II under the mattress. Slice throat. Target incapacitated.
"I was going to say that you'd slip off, but it seems I'm a little late on that," she laughed, backing away and crawling to the foot of the bed. "But seriously, put the fruit down before you heat it up."
Straightening my legs from the semi squat in my attempt from falling to the floor with her arm, I added the fruits to the pile of food on the bed. I couldn't risk not being able to stop my reflexes around her, and carefully climbed to the headboard, settling down on the left side. Closest to the door. With the weapon farthest from her.
"So," she started. Yellow text changing from one word to the next with each click of a button. "We have the option of English audio, or Japanese audio with English subtitles. Do you know Japanese?"
"I have no idea." I doubt it'd be a skill I learned before….
"Hmmm…. Actually, I don't feel like reading anymore today. English dub it is."
With that decided, the screen shifted to a shot of a castle with fireworks around it before another blue screen showed up with a drawing of two rabbits. Studio Ghibli.
Valeriy buried herself under the pillows and comforter. Holding out a cinnamon bun to me while munching on a handful of strawberries.
Festive music blasted from the speakers all around us as a little white bunny marched across the blue screen. A sack upon its shoulders leaking little white dots in its wake. The dots grew into more bunnies. Nine of them. Morphing with holes in their bellies.
Enjoying the song, I bit into the cinnamon bun. Different from the previous versions she's brought. This one had more cinnamon than the others.
Two girls and their father moving into an old wooden house. That may or may not be haunted as the girls had suggested when they laid eyes on the building. Soot gremlins.
"I'm going to get the pizza," I stated when thirteen minutes was up. Shuffling out of the blanket cocoon I ended up in.
"'Kay," the young woman chirped from beside me.
With a click, the screen paused on the girl in yellow having found the stairs they've been searching for.
Peering into the oven, I realized why the extra six minutes were added. 'This doesn't look very golden….'
"Pizza?" Valeriy questioned, coming out of the bedroom. Still munching away. Though this time on a croissant.
"It's not ready…. Did you…."
"Did I?"
"The kid. The one who lived across the street…. The one with… abusive father…."
"Wondering if he got away from Hydra alright?"
I gave a nod.
'Is he safe? Is his mom safe? Are they having an easier time traveling than we were? Do they like where they ended up? Is he making friends? Is his mom healing?'
"The last report Eve sent said that they're at one of the safe houses in England. Last night we were trying to figure out where to place them…. We decided on one of our closed campus community thingies? They'll be living with two of Eve's semi dormant Puppets. Both are great fighters and one is medically trained. So the mother will have someone there at all times as she heals. They can stay there as long as they like. It's a happy home, Bucky, with twins."
"…Would he get along with them?"
"I believe so? They're all the same age. The boy's a little more than shy? But he sticks to his sister like glue and she becomes friends with everything that crosses her path. The kid should be fine there. I'll make sure they'll all be in the same class for when school starts up."
"Is that the same school you went to?"
"I wish. That school's awesome. I had to go to old schools with well-established histories, and me going to a school we own is kind of a…. It's not going to look good…" she ended with a shrug of her shoulder.
I couldn't help but go over her injuries. Remembering how she got each of them. Searching just to be sure she wasn't hurt trying to buy food. She might not be so lucky next time.
"Have you ever been taught how to fight?"
"I had a self-defence session with Sparks way back when? Broke my fingers in the first hour…. Exams have never been more annoying to write…. And then my schedule got in the way…. The ones at school were just the instructors trying to humiliate the martial artists in class to stroke their egos? I think Devon was going to teach me some things as a date but never got around to it… since we're forgetful shits."
"What if I taught you?" I blurted out faster than I could stop the words.
Instead of the offended anger or caution I expected, Valeriy's eyes, her body language, everything lit up. "Yeah! I'd love to learn!"
"After you're all healed."
"Sure!" she chirped, grinning from ear to ear. "And the pizza smells like its burning."
"Shit."
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AN:
The grocery scene is probably me favourite scene for a laugh. What's yours?