AN: This chapter was beta-ed by the Anonymous Second Beta.

The chapters have gotten up to where I've pre-written so posting will slow down. Each chapter takes quite some time to write and edit .

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Chapter 22: Valeriy Ayers - Kitchen Sink

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"Still okay?" I asked Bucky, watching him carefully while trying to use his body to block the bright lights of the eyewear store behind him.

Those blue eyes seemed to assess each and every person in our surroundings. The entire food court at my back. From the feel of it, he's more stressed now than when Hydra was closing in. He'll tire at this rate.

"Let me know if it gets uncomfortable," I added. "We'll head back, and I can pop by later for groceries."

"V-Val, I can handle this much," he huffed stubbornly, stress leaning just a hair's width into annoyance for a breath. Annoyance at my constant checking in since we stepped foot into West Edmonton Mall, and his stumbling with my alias, Valentina, which he just shortened to what basically everyone else calls me.

With a shrug, I stole another couple of fries from the massive spread of fast food items between us. At least one from every place in the food court. Whatever I felt like getting, eat my fill and Bucky would finish the rest… somehow. That was his idea and at the rate the food was disappearing, he'd probably manage before the food got too cold.

'Probably shouldn't be filling him with fast food…' now that I thought about it. 'I should probably get healthier foods at T&T…?'

"What's next?" Bucky asked, munching on the last of the foods. Chips coated with cinnamon sugar.

"There's a fun candy shop here, if I remember. Probably still around. Wouldn't mind some sugar to munch on the last leg of the trip…."

"That's all?" Blue eyes reading me like an open book.

A sigh couldn't help but escape me. I had to shake the tug of panic that I would be read. 'Note to self, work with Eve to weed out what's left of my tells.'

"I was hoping to buy some… ummm… undies…? May have destroyed mine when I tried to figure out the washing machine…."

Instantly, he put down those sweet chips and surveyed the people of the food court again. His cheeks turned a shade or two pinker. I could practically see it written on his face of how he's trying to come to terms with the notion of shopping alongside me in such a store.

'Never took him for someone so shy about semipublic nudity…. Wonder what he'd be like if I took him to the water park with how swim suits have changed.'

Part of me hopes that it's just how he was and the world almost a century ago was just that different or it was some quirk he developed as of late…. And not something to do with his time at the hands of Hydra.

"I can do that by myself, Bucky. You don't have to literally watch my back. I'll call if anything seems off."

"…Okay."

'And to avoid him covering every little kid's eyes…'

"I'll be awhile? So maybe you'd be interested in searching through some movies?"

That caught his curiosity.

"There's an H.M.V. here. They have a bunch of music too. I think the R.V. has a fancy C.D. player? Sure is hooked up for it… if the speakers all over the bloody place has something to say."

He gave a little nod.

I beamed him a grin, gathering up the empty trays and stretching out an arm when he tried to take some from me. Almost made a game of it, snatching up trays before the other and getting them to the rubbish bin.

Not even a minute into our walk when Bucky stopped in his tracks. A manmade lake.

'And there's that beautiful posture of his.'

His version of a grin, I guess.

But this time, he seemed to be fighting himself in taking steps forwards. Flinching a tad when I held onto his hand.

"Let's walk about the pirate ship," I chirped excitedly, tugging on those calloused fingers.

"We… can go on that?" He sounded so hopeful, while struggling with changing his path to go towards it.

"Yup. There's a little bridge."

"But…."

"We've got plenty of time, Buddy."

That's when he finally relented, letting me pull him towards the little bridge onto the ship. Halfway across, Bucky's strides grew, quickly over taking mine. Still his hand clung onto mine, pulling me along behind him as he explored the little area.

Ropes tied off the upper decks at the back but the front deck was open to the public. Bucky walked up with a bounce in his step. His eyes so bright as he took the fake surroundings in. His hand tightening just a fraction around mine. And when he turned to face me, the corners of those lips were tipped upwards.

I could almost see his face under that damn mask he wore. Not quite the happy grin he had while teasing about Devon so many nights ago.

Just a slight smile.

But a smile nonetheless.

One that crinkled the corner of his eyes.

'Note to self, when all this is over, bring him to a real old ass ship.'

His left hand reached out for the railing, but paused. So I rested the back my hand on the painted wood. The hand he held. His fingers curled away, first touching the railing before holding onto it with my hand stuck in between.

'Yup. Most definitely get him a chance to take the wheel of a real old ass ship….'

It's peaceful. A little pause. Even Bucky took a break from assessing the threat level of everything in the surroundings.

It wasn't long before he let go of the railing, but not of my hand. Even as he walked away from the fake ship, and when my arm started to tug from not being able to keep up, he slowed his pace, falling in step with me.

"We shouldn't stay too long…." Bucky said softly with a dash of disappointment.

"Maybe when this is all over, we can come back? There's a few new things here that look fun."

"…I'd like that."

'He doesn't think he'd get to come back here….' Going by his voice.

I led him inside the two story H.M.V. and showed him around the store. Told him about looking up reviews on his phone.

A plushie of an Ewok caught his attention. He stared right through it. Pretty sure he was remembering a teddy bear by how he didn't have terror in his eyes, and hopefully not something he came across when working for Hydra.

When he finally snapped out of the memory, I asked, "You'll be alright here?"

Bucky gave a nod, busy scanning the room.

"I'll call if anything pops up for any reason, and you do the same. I'll meet you back here when I'm done, 'kay?"

Another nod.

"I'm going to need my hand back, Buddy."

His hold tightened just a fraction before he let go. He shoved his hand into his hoodie pocket, mirroring his cybernetic.

Sending one more smile, I walked out of the store and headed straight for Victoria's Secret. 'And that takes care of Bucky.'

My fingers flew across my phone screen, setting up an alert perimeter for Bucky around H.M.V. if he were to leave the area. Slipping on my glasses, I scanned through the security cameras in the lingerie shop with one lens.

The other lens was set on the hallway around me, forcing me to navigate in third person. Gave me a view of everything around me without having to turn my head.

By the time I reached the lingerie shop, my stomach churned at the disorientated floaty spin my brain assumed the floor under my feet was doing.

'Hmmm, the four day break undid some neural pathways. Will have to get back into the habit of navigating via cameras.'

I had to free up some of the lens space to drop a tracker on one of the employees who would close up tonight. Needed my actually vision for that delicate task.

'And that takes care of my signal.'

Easy enough to slip past the people in the changing rooms, picking the lock of one of the doors for some privacy to get a blond ponytail wig situated on my head. A short pause for an employee helping out a customer later, I raced for the attached hotel while controlling their cameras. The elevator lobby, stairs and service elevator to keep an eye on who goes up.

Then a quick capture of empty footage to loop over any I would have popped up on. The elevator lobby, the elevator and the hallways.

'No signals coming out of the room. So they don't have remote senses here,' I noted while trying not to rip off the gloves I pulled on. They kept any fingerprints and D.N.A. to myself.

They'd never know I was inside this room.

The lock took a few seconds to get past. A couple seconds longer than if my dominant hand wasn't twitching from the electric current running through the pins that kept my bones in place. Another second was spent returning the lock cover to normal.

On my way in, I pulled up the scarf to cover my head. Just in case something of me might be left behind. If they found out I was in here, that'd make them utterly useless to me.

'No cameras and no mics. They don't have surveillance in their own room…? Probably paranoid of Eve in case her chains are loosened. Don't want to risk it, huh? No fun.'

One eye swept the meticulously neat room with two beds. The other kept an eye on various camera feeds.

'Ex-military… again….'

They were all ex-military. Mercs.

Nothing hidden in the bible or any of the drawers. Not even between their underwear.

Curiosity got the better of me, and I pulled up a holiday selfie of two kids with the old man Bucky clocked as Hydra in front of a window.

'Hmmm…. five windows right and two floors up… that seems about right…?'

Going by the view in the picture and from outside of this window, the room should be around there. So tempted to poke around that room as well. See what I could find out about Hydra without Eve's lens changing random details that were probably extremely important. Like their bloody damn logo.

Nobody should even be in their room. I could see the old man in the wave pool. His grandkids should be around there. Likely in the pool with him or maybe exploring one of the many waterslides.

With a sigh, I zoomed out and brought my attention back to the room I was in.

Next up, the paper pad by the phone on the nightstand between the beds. Hopefully they were dumb enough to write something of use on it. On the smooth surface, I couldn't find any indentations. No luck.

Nothing under the beds or between the mattresses. Nothing besides a sizeable dust bunny or two, and some kid's plastic candy ring.

'The safe it is then. Oh? Fancy.'

They brought their own damn safe.

'Hahaha, as if that'd actually slow me down.'

My injured hand would slow me down more than this safe could.

Placing one hearing bud on the top surface of the safe and keeping the other in my ear, I took barely a minute to get inside. Everything stacked oh so neatly.

'At least it's easier to put things back,' I thought, snapping few photos for comparison before I leave.

Took photos of everything. Files. Passports. Every page. A few bills of each currency they had.

If the files don't pan out, and if it came down to it, I could try to trace them through the movements of the currencies or go after their families.

A cinnamon bun popped up over my phone screen. Bucky. Picking up, I continued to take picture after picture.

"V-Val…?"

"What up, Buddy?"

"Everything alright?" he asked.

"Yup. You?"

"Reading about a movie called Spirited Away. It's in the same drawing style as the movie last night."

"Mmm. I do love that movie, but don't get it. I'll figure out another movie you can watch from the same director. But that one has a couple of things that might not agree with you. Maybe another time."

"…Okay."

"Sorry."

"No, I don't want to…."

"If you find George of the Jungle or Men in Tights, I'm down to watch that with you. I could use the laughs."

"I'll keep an eye out for them."

"If not, we can watch them when we get to where we're going."

"…."

"Anything else?"

"No."

"See you soon."

"See you soon…" he said, and we hung up.

'That took longer than I thought….'

But still, I had to take my time to make sure everything was back in place. Did not help that one set of my fingers were utterly set on twitching every so often. Nothing could be a hair out of place. It'd be likely that their type would notice and them noticing would make all I did here obsolete to me.

Checking that the footage of the hall outside was clear, I heard the lock engage behind me. Almost forgot to take off the blond wig in the elevator before making my way back to Victoria Secret.

'…Okay….? A European language….'

I flicked on the translator mode for one lens to superimpose English over the words in the pictures I took. Get a gist of what they had on me before getting back to Bucky.

'Estonian? 'Kay…? I guess I should see if that country links to any of this mes – shit.'

They knew a lot more about me than I guessed. They file was all about me. From my code name Cookie Dough to the scars that marred my skin. Things most people wouldn't know or notice. They have enough to interrupt anybody who generally matched my description. Just as they've been doing at this mall.

'This got so much creepier now…. Going to just… wait this out….'

Wait until they're done dropping pretty pennies on this stupidity.

With that thought, I tucked everything away and grabbed a bunch of bras in my size to try on. The first one that fit and didn't piss me off, I bought along with a handful of far too colourful panties. I almost forgot to disable the fake signal on the employee before I made my way over to H.M.V. as if I hadn't raced about the mall. As much as my throbbing ankle disagreed with that.

'Hmm…. I wonder if he really was a charmer like in the stories way back when or girls just threw themselves at him.'

Since one was most definitely trying. Though from the looks of it, Bucky didn't have a clue to all the flirting the pretty brunette was shoving his way. He was completely absorbed with reading the summary on the back of a Blu-ray case.

'Oh the poor girl.'

"Hey there, handsome," I chirped, reaching up and tucking a lock of soft hair behind his ear. Made sure to scratch at his scalp for the reaction I wanted. "Manage to find a movie for tonight?"

He gave a little nod, clinging onto the thin box in his hands as his expression started to take a turn for confusion.

At the other girl's squeak, I faced her. "Oh, a new friend! Would you like to join us for… Snatch…?"

'This might actually be a good one to see if he's good with something gorier…? After general violence is an okay….'

"Ah," the cute brunette fidgeted for a second in place, eyeing the bag in my hand and the two of us. "It's a good movie. A bit hectic, but good. I recommend watching with subtitles."

I sent her a friendly smile, handing the box back to Bucky and motioning for the cashier with a tilt of my head. "Then we must watch this."

He got the hint, and went off, sending me a worried glance on his way.

"I'm-I'm sorry," the young woman stuttered. "He didn't mention he had a girlfriend. I-I – "

"Oh, don't fret. He totally doesn't realize when people flirt with him."

"You're not…mad?"

I sent her a soft smile and a shake of the head. Hopefully something friendly. "Thanks by the way, for picking a movie for us."

"N-no problem."

"Have a good evening," I said, skirting around her towards Bucky.

"You too." With that, she scurried off.

'Hmmm cute girl,' I thought, hooking my arm around Bucky's.

"…She was…?" he started.

"Yup."

"I… I didn't…."

"It's okay. I did what I could to let her down easy?"

"I heard everything."

"I know."

"You invited her to join us."

"She wasn't going to say yes."

"What if she did?"

"She wasn't."

"…."

"I'm sure she wouldn't have agreed, and save Snatch for another time."

He gave a nod. "…Now what?"

"T&T? Stock up on food. We'll be where we're going in a day or so? This should our last stop for food."

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'Police…?'

Going by how Bucky sunk into the driver's seat, he spotted them as well.

'I made sure they weren't going to use the car this evening… so it shouldn't be reported as a stolen vehicle…?'

"There's a police presence. Two officers to the west. 29.7 meters," he rattled off, hand likely fidgeting from trying not to grab a weapon of some sort.

"Alright," I responded, taking in a deep breath. "Keep posture strong and confident, but force your strides to be… what mine were at the park. Should be enough to change your movements. The dash cam is pointed at our R.V. and walking gate can be used as an identifier."

Hurriedly, I stuffed the panties from Victoria's Secret under my heels inside my shoes. Makeshift lifts to change my height. They had my exact height. The lifts would change my gate too.

"If they approach us, I'll deal with them. Pretend you have a fear of interacting with strangers, and if they talk to you, whisper your answer in my ear. Use melting ice cream to get inside. Tell me you're going to do that. Take the keys with you and lock the door behind you. They're not allowed inside unless we let them or they hear sounds of distress."

"What if they're Hydra?" he pointed out.

"…."

'They're clearly staking out the R.V. and Hydra wouldn't look for you in there. It's why I picked this one over the small dented to hell one…' I almost huffed out while painting super glue over my left hand. Grabbing my finger prints was no longer an option.

"They could be the ones after you."

"Mmm. If I can't talk my way out of this… otherwise stay in the R.V. unless I call you out, and make sure to lock the door after…. Don't need them questioning about the guns and stuff…. And remember that you're my boss, 'kay?"

He gave a nod. "Got it."

"Just be confident. We'll be fine. Might have nothing to do with us…?"

With a nod and a forced smile, I exited the car, gathering up the various bags from our shopping trip. Bucky grabbed the rest of them and took the lead in heading to the motorhome.

I barely held in a sigh at the two faces that approached us. I had just taken pictures of those faces on fake passports. 'Jekyll.'

"Excuse us, E.P.S. Does this R.V. belong to you?" one of them questioned, flashing his badge in a manner that really only let us see a blurry streak of gold.

Bucky paused for a beat, his hands tightening around the handles of the bags. Fists ready for punching. Before I could rest a hand on him to remind him, he turned to me, leaning down. His lips almost brushed my ear as he whispered, "I'll get the ice cream in the freezer. Take care of this."

"Sure thing, boss," I almost chirped out in a manner much too chipper, but I squeezed my voice through my nose, keeping it high and squeaky.

"Hey! We need to speak to the both of you!" the other demanded, trying to step into the motorhome with Bucky, who managed to slam the door close before anyone was anywhere close. He was none too gentle with the locked door.

"My boss has sever anxiety in regards to talking with strangers, and he's putting away the ice cream," I stated calmly. "Please talk through me. I can answer any questions you have. So, how might I be of help, Officers?"

"You can let us into the R.V. to start," snapped the asshat still manhandling the door.

"Do you have a search warrant?"

"We're searching for a very dangerous and armed individual," his pal covered, signalling the other to back off. "She may not be traveling alone."

I had to force myself to take a step back and glance about the surroundings. Feign some semblance of a normal reaction.

"We believe she may be inside."

"Nobody's inside. Well, besides my boss now. We have an Ayers system. It would have notified us if there were a break in."

"We noticed you have cameras set up. Can we see the footage? Can we search your vehicle? For your safety," one of them said, charging for the door again. I stepped between them and the door.

"No to the search unless you have a warrant for such, but we do have recordings of the footage. You may have that."

They were not amused with that answer, towering over me.

'Awww, they're trying to be intimidating.'

They had nothing on Bucky. They were closer to being pouty kids than getting their way.

No matter.

I got out my phone. "May I have a number or email? I'll send the link to the Dropbox of the footage of our time parked here."

"Dropbox?" one of them asked, rather confused.

"A cloud site. Files are stored there. So, email? Text? Paper?" I tried again. Thumbs poised at the ready to type.

'They actually have a police notepad….'

One that I scribbled the link into, purposely holding the pen different in my left hand from how I usually would write. All to keep my handwriting away from any of my own. Official documents. Memos. School notes. Anything that could possibly be linked to me.

"Do you have a description or a picture of this woman? And how might I contact you if we spotted said woman?"

At that, I was trading business cards and staring at a face quite familiar to me. Mine. Snapped a picture of the photo as if I'd never seen it before and if I didn't, I'd forget.

I could feel their eyes burning into my masked face, probably debating if I was me. Likely due to the name on the card I gave them.

Valentina Mckinney.

I should have picked a different name but in the case that Val was slipped out, I had a cover for it. Though if there was a slip, these two probably would have shoved my head into a bag and dragged me off to who knows where. Or at least tried to.

"She's slightly shorter than yourself."

'Yay… the makeshift heel lifts worked…' I commented in my head, while nodding along with their words. "I shall call if I see this face. Is there anything else?"

"Where are you headed to?"

"Hard to say. The boss only works when we're driving. He picks a random direction when he feels like working."

"And what does he do?"

"Game developer."

It's written all over their body language. They still wanted in.

"Is that all, Officers?"

Reluctantly, one nodded his head, patting his partner on the arm, and they headed back to their car.

I waited patiently for a few seconds. Enough time for me to pick the lock, get in and lock the door again.

What I found inside made me pause.

Bucky stood there in the kitchen. Gun in hand poised to shoot one of the fake cops. The barrel shifted just the slightest, I bet following them to their car.

The laptop was open on the table in front of him, the camera footage of where we were talking on full screen. He didn't need it to aim. From the looks of it, he only needed his enhanced hearing.

"It's safe to talk. I'm not picking up any equipment to see or hear us inside this thing."

Money was spent on people, not so much equipment. They knew we could counteract anything electronic. We couldn't mess with human senses so easily.

"They're looking for you," Bucky stated through gritted teeth.

From how the fabrics of his clothing fell on his body, he had hidden at least half of the weaponry we had on his person.

"They are," I echoed.

"We leave now."

"We could. But that'd just add more suspicion that I'm probably in here?"

'Yup. Bucky sure pulls off intimidating far better.'

"Grab your things, Val," he practically directed urgently. "We'll leave through the skylight. Take a car and get out of here."

"Or we could just stay here? Leave at midnight as we planned." With the expensive as R.V. and avoid Eve lopping my head off for leaving it behind.

"But – "

"They'll come by a few times or just stay there. If we leave right away, they'll think I'm in here. So, we stay. Now put the gun down."

His hands lowered, even if his face said he would really rather not.

"You're not bloodying your hands for me, Bucky."

The look of disbelief on his face was heart wrenching, as if I couldn't possibly mean those words.

"We do nothing, Bucky. Go about as we have planned. We sleep. I can't have them confirming I'm anywhere near here."

"They're still outside," he pointed out.

He showed no signs of calming down. His face might have been tilted towards me, but his shoulders were still squared off with the squad car that neither of us could see. His muscles tensed and at the ready.

I took the few steps up to him, tugging the gun from his hands and placing it on the table. When he automatically went for another weapon, I held onto his fingers.

"They're grasping at straws. Whatever that might hint to me. They didn't even realize I was talking with them. It's going to be okay…. Breathe with me, Bucky."

The first breath was shaky, but then he followed mine.

"There's only two of them. I didn't see anyone else new," he said.

"Neither did I."

"If more show up…."

"Yeah. Means they know. Let's not give them any reason to suspect. I've got a couple of things to go over before I sleep. You should rest in the meanwhile."

He shook his head. "I'll keep an eye on them."

"I can do that. I got two eyes. I can spare one on them…. And I'm taking the laptop, so rest, Bucky."

With that said, I took the laptop and went into the bedroom. Pretty sure if I sat on the couch, he'd either pout or place me on the bed himself. Best not be by the door.

'Footage to dropbox – "

I barely had the time to setup the drop box when I heard the faucet turn on. Thinking I could pilfer a nibble of fruit from him, I snuck back to the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" I questioned.

"Doing the dishes."

"Why? That's a kitchen sink."

"The dishes are dirty. They need to be cleaned."

"Did Eve not tell you about kitchen sinks? Oh shit. Have you been doing the dishes this whole time?!"

He practically flinched away.

"Kitchen sinks are equipped with robotic arms to clean dishes and stuff. They're a little rough, so nothing fragile and most definitely bruised a lot of fruits…. Where's the cover…?"

The stainless steel sink was solid. Knocking on it confirmed it. I checked underneath and found nothing that belonged with a kitchen sink.

"The shit? Who'd put a regular sink in the kit – Oh bloody hell. 'Kay. It's probably one of those fucking things."

"One of what?" Bucky asked, hovering over me while I googled on my phone.

"One of the things that comes growing up with Gramps as your grandfather. My world is a little off compared to most people. I grew up thinking kitchen sink meant a sink fitted with the ability to wash dishes… and it actually means a sink in the fucking kitchen…."

"You don't need to look up how to do the dishes, Val. I'll do them. Your hand needs to heal."

"You're not here to do chores, Bucky."

"I'm here to help," he countered insistently.

"Both of us are living here. Let me do my part or at least something."

"…." With a sigh, he tossed a rag my way. "You can dry the dishes and put them away. Leave the ones on the top shelf for me."

"I can do that."

'Without the need to YouTube it…. I can't believe nobody told me that not all kitchen sinks have automated dishwashing….'

"Are you confident that they don't know you're in here?" Bucky questioned, handing me a soaking wet plate.

"…Not enough to tell you to put back the guns and knives," I answered honestly. "So better than escaping Hydra and SHIELD night but less than through the border? All depends on if I struck the right balance…. I could have pushed more and gambled some. Ask for their badge numbers to check. Would either scare them off or cause them to lash out…."

"I don't like the idea of staying here. Waiting for them to call reinforcements."

Thoughtfully wiping each droplet off the plates far slower than Bucky's agitated washing pace, I shrugged. More to myself than to him. "It's the least likely way to go without causing more suspicions…. Even if shit hits the fan, between the two of us, I stand a chance. More so than I would have if they found me alone."

"I rather not let this get violent."

The way he eyed my foot, hand and collar, I'm rather sure he meant You're going to get hurt.

"I'll try not to crash the car again?" I offered.

Bucky's shoulders shifted with the massive sigh he heaved. He sent me an exasperated glance, gathering the pile of plates and tucking them away.

'Oh shit. Bucky's going to have some weird ass assumptions about the modern day… no thanks to us….'

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.**.

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'Shit. Damn it. Fuck. Damn. Shit.'

Back and forth. Back and forth. Shuffle to the side. Shuffle to the side. And getting fucking nowhere.

'I can't park this bloody damn thing!'

Back and forth. Back and forth. Shuffle to the side. Shuffle to the side. Still getting fucking nowhere.

The time I made up on the road could very well be eaten up by my attempt to park this fucking bus of a motorhome.

'Ah fuck it!'

I threw the damn thing into park and took a quick walk around R.V. to calm down the irritation. Everybody's asleep. Nothing out of place.

'At least the Edmonton boys didn't tail us.'

They didn't call anyone to watch this park either. From some poking around, they never had anyone in this park. Most of the men in Canada were situated further than where our road trip ends.

'At this rate, should be there by evening…? I should ask Bucky about seeing the totem poles.'

There was audio coming from the back, so I doubt Bucky was asleep. With heavy footsteps and a soft knock, I opened the bedroom door.

"Bucky…? The hell happened?"

The young man was seated in the tiny pillow fort with eyes practically glazed over. His body rocked back and forth, hands covering his ears. He hadn't even reacted to the door opening or to me.

'…Princess Bride…? Oh shit!'

I shut the laptop with a snap.

At the sound, his forearm slammed against my throat. My back pinned against the cabinets. A knob jabbed into my back. His eyes filled with determination.

'Fun. He's going to fight his way through me if he has to….'

"Nothing's going to happen to you, Bucky," I stated calmly, though my voice faltered with the pressure against my throat. "All's good."

Recognition bloomed in those blue eyes and he shuffled away with a thud to the night table.

"All's good. Just breathe with me, Bucky. Come on. Breathe."

"I-I… I'm sorry – I didn't- didn't mean to – P-p-please don't put me in the chair. Please. I-I'll do anything. I'll be good. I promise. Plea-please. Please don't put me in the chair. Anything but the chair. Please. I w-won't – I-I won't disappoint you."

"Shhhh, Bucky. No chairs," I assured, feeling like my arm was about to crack under his desperate grip. "No chairs."

Whatever that meant.

The panic drained right out of him, leaving him in a semi sobbing mess. Thank yous slipped out between choked gasps.

I pulled him into a hug in the tight space, running my fingers through his hair. "No chairs. No torture. Nothing's going to happen to you, Bucky. You're safe. With me," I repeated over and over again.

As the seconds ticked by, his breathing evened out, his words falling silent. His head didn't move from the crook of my neck. His hands didn't let go of my shirt, still clinging to it as if this reality would slip through his fingers.

"Did I hurt you?"

"All's good, Bucky…. And I'm sorry. I got careless. Should have looked at what you bought. I'm sorry, Bucky."

His head leaned back, shaking a soft no. "Stop blaming yourself, Valeriy…. You can't be comfortable like this."

'Yup. My leg is cramping up and my abs are burning.' So I moved to back away from half holding myself up over him.

But as much as he said those words, Bucky was still reluctant to let go of my shirt, and I couldn't really move.

"Going to just sit on the bed," I suggested lightly, watching his face for any disagreement. "Like yesterday, 'kay?"

Instead of climbing onto the bed myself, just like yesterday, Bucky placed me on the edge and tucked his shoulders under my knees. And just like yesterday, he hung onto my good ankle as I dragged my nails along his scalp.

No words were exchanged.

Eventually he'd figured out that nothing was going to happen to him.

No pain.

No torture.

No chairs.

Right?

That it'd only be soft things.

Down Pillows.

Fluffy blankets.

My hand that wasn't encased by metal.

Only soft things for Bucky.

But he wouldn't settle down. His muscles stayed tensed. His grip kept changing pressure, bordering on pain when it seemed he was struggling with where he was.

'I don't know what more I can do….'

What made me feel safe when I was trapped in my head?

I escaped.

I escaped reality.

Binge watching movies at this moment probably wasn't a wise choice.

I doubt stuffing him into the closet would do him any help.

Cold water was an overall bad idea.

'What do I do…? What can I even do…?'

I curled around him, arms wrapping him up in a hug and head resting against his. Hide him away in a curtain of long hair and fluffy blankets.

'I should get more blankets.'

His head lightly rested against my thigh, half hugging my right leg. His posture relaxed from what felt like both bracing for pain and on the cusp of lashing out.

With a soft sigh, Bucky half sunk into the pile of pillows between him and the bed frame. "Where are we going next? I'll start driving."

I pulled him back from his attempt at standing up. "Was actually on my way to asking if you'd mind us checking out some totem poles that are in this park. Sun up is about… two hours away?"

"Okay."

With that, Bucky's head dropped against my thigh, hand holding onto my ankle again. I continued on with running one hand through his hair, the other cast covered one propping up my head. He didn't need his hair being tangled in the joint systems.

It took a little time, but his breathing changed. Once in a while, a soft almost snore sounded from him.

Testing, I tried to pull my leg back, but without waking, he tightened his grip. A shrug of the shoulders later, I laid back, staring up at the ceiling.

'Probably a dumb idea…?'

But I strained to reach a pillow I liked sleeping on to tuck under my head and another I liked to snuggle with. Not bothering to try and yank the duvet from under me, I just wrapped myself into a burrito to sleep. Still half off the bed.

.

.**.

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AN:

Anybody have suggestions for movies safe for Bucky to watch?

I messed up with Wall-E.

Should have watched it before picking it, but with Eve around, I can say that she edited out Wall-E being basically tortured and predict that they'd be asleep before Wall-E gets amnesia.

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