Chapter Three – An Unlikely Story

It was the middle of the night when JARVIS woke Steve from a rare deep sleep with the information that there was an important call he should take.

"Rogers," he said into the phone, wondering who on earth it could be.

"Hey, punk. Couple of friends and I could use a ride."

Steve actually took the phone from his ear and stared at it for a moment. Then put it back to his ear.

"Bucky?" he whispered incredulously.

"That's me. I'm back."

"How?"

"It's a kinda complicated and unlikely story involving a very beautiful woman," Bucky said, and Steve couldn't help but start to laugh, certain now that it really was Buck.

"When were your stories not complicated and unlikely and starring a beautiful woman?"

"Those ones were pretty much all made up. This one's true and way stranger than a pulp."

"Okay," Steve tried hard to compartmentalise, to deal with the crazy joy bubbling up inside him. Bucky. It's really Bucky. Somehow. "You said you needed a ride. Where are you?"

"Rome."

"Rome, Italy?"

"There's another Rome?"

"Yeah, in Texas – you know what, never mind. I'll fly over and get you."

"Not here, though." Bucky was watching over Wanda's shoulder. She'd brought up a news channel on the tablet and was watching a broadcast already featuring images of all of their faces as 'wanted terrorists'. "We need to get out of the city. We'll head south: I reckon they'll be expecting us to head north, into France or Switzerland, maybe try to head back east to where my friends come from. I reckon we head south, make for the coast and steal a fishin' boat somewhere…"

At the other end of the line, Steve was grinning. It really was Bucky, coming up with a brilliant plan on the spur of the moment. Just as he used to when they were kids, and later with the Howling Commandos. "You're the man on the spot, Buck. Call me when you're ready. We'll get over there and wait for your call. Just, um, one question?"

"You always ask a million questions, punk, what makes you think you can stop at one this time?"

"I'll try. Who are your 'friends'?"

"Well," Bucky looked down at Wanda, seated on the edge of the bed, and at Pietro who had fallen asleep with his head against his sister's leg, "That very beautiful woman I was talkin' about? She's my soulmate. And she and her brother have been havin' some trouble. The multi-headed mythological monster kind of trouble." He didn't want to say HYDRA out loud.

There was silence at the other end of the line for a moment, and then Steve said incredulously; "Your soulmate?"

"Yeah." Bucky couldn't stop looking at Wanda. She was so lovely, with her pointed chin and magnificent eyes. She looked up at him as he caressed his free hand lightly over her dark hair, leaned into his touch. "Yeah, I found her, Stevie. She saved me, and then I saved her. I'm not gonna chance losing her."

"All right," Steve's voice was quiet. "We'll wait for your call, Buck. We've got a plane that can land anywhere, we don't need a runway. I'll see you soon."

"See you soon, punk," Bucky said, and clicked the phone off, tossing it onto the bed.

Wanda reached up and took his hand, lacing her fingers with his and pulling him down to sit beside her. It already felt so natural to wrap his arm around her, to have her lean her head on his shoulder as they looked at the tablet screen together. She had the volume turned down very low but he could hear it clearly, hear that the three of them were wanted fugitives.

HYDRA hadn't wasted any time, Bucky thought wryly. Obviously there'd been other agents apart from those in the facility; well of course there would have been. They'd trashed the place in the middle of the night and better than half the staff would probably have been at home in their beds. With von Strucker dead they might be temporarily leaderless, but it wouldn't be long before someone stepped up to fill his shoes.

They needed to get clear before HYDRA got any more organised. With that in mind, he stroked his fingers lightly over Wanda's hand.

"You got any ideas, doll? Because you seem to be far more familiar with the modern world than I am. I've only been let out to kill and then fridged again right after, for many years."

Her fingers tightened on his, and she leaned into him a bit more for a moment before turning her face up to his.

"My power works by manipulating probability. So I can get us a car, easy. Make it likely that anyone looking for us will just not recognise us, especially if we can change our appearance a bit."

He was looking at her utterly puzzled. Wanda sighed. "Okay." She held up the tablet. "What would happen if I threw this at that wall?"

Bucky shrugged. "It might break. Might just fall to the floor."

"But it would definitely hit the wall and then fall, wouldn't it? As long as none of us tried to stop it?"

"Yeah…"

"That is a certainty. Not a probability. I can't do anything to change that. What I can affect is what happens when it hits the wall. I can make it shatter into a hundred pieces – or I can make sure it falls to the floor without a scratch."

"Ah," Bucky suddenly got it. "So if something's possible, you can make it more likely."

"Yes. So it's quite possible that someone juggling a briefcase and his phone and car keys and maybe a hot coffee, might drop his car keys as he walks away from his car – and also possible that he might not notice until he finishes work and has to drive home."

"Clever. And I suppose the more likely something is, the easier it is for you to ensure it?"

"Exactly. So if we're disguised, it's less likely that we'll be recognised, which makes it easier for me to ensure that we won't be. Which means we need a change of clothes each, and a hat to cover Pietro's hair, and some sunglasses for all of us, but especially you because you have such distinctive eyes." Wanda lost herself staring into those blue eyes for a long, long moment.

Bucky was leaning in for a kiss when Pietro cleared his throat behind them.

"Any chance you two could hold off on the revolting face-sucking thing I can tell you want to do until I'm, you know, not actually in the fucking room?"

Wanda sighed against Bucky's lips, he actually felt the soft brush of her tender mouth. And was tempted to just pretend Pietro hadn't spoken. But the twins were obviously close, and he really did want to stay on Pietro's good side. So he leaned back and looked at the other man.

"In my defence, you were asleep."

He got raised eyebrows for that, and then Pietro climbed off the bed and headed over to the window, clearly jittery. "I'm hungry. And we need to move."

Wanda sighed and stood up. "All right. Leave it to me." And off she went again, leaving two very worried men behind her.

It was more than an hour before she returned, and Bucky was almost frantic, but trying to hide it because Pietro was clearly panicking. But finally the door handle turned and Wanda entered, eyeing them both and rolling her eyes.

"I promise you the chances of anyone spotting me were pretty much zero even without using my powers," she said dryly, dumping a couple of bags on the bed. And then she waved a set of car keys with a grin. "I got everything we need."

Pietro was already investigating the contents of the bags, one of which was exuding enticing smells. It appeared that Wanda had stopped by a pasticceria, the bag contained fresh pastries and bread.

Bucky stared as Pietro groaned with pleasure, biting into a bread roll. He made no move to help himself, though.

"Bucky?" Wanda said softly, touching his arm. "Aren't you hungry?"

It had been so long since he'd eaten real food. Eaten anything other than a protein shake or a cold meal ration. It smelled amazing but – he honestly wasn't sure if his stomach would take it. He mumbled as much to Wanda, who stared at him, trying to conceal her pity. Pietro didn't bother.

"Sheesh, you've had an even tougher time of it than us."

"Pietro!" Wanda glared at her brother. Drew Bucky to sit down, gently. "Here. We'll need to get you used to normal foods, then. Let's start small." She took a plain bread roll, broke it apart and offered him a piece. "Try this."

He took it from her hand hesitantly, bit in – and almost groaned as the taste exploded on his tongue.

It was the best thing he'd ever eaten. He remembered, in the distant past, a few fancy meals in nice restaurants, but damned if anything had ever tasted as good as this simple crusty roll.

Wanda made him eat slowly in case it upset his stomach. But she did let him have a second one when he'd finished the first and felt all right.

Pietro ate like a ravening wolf. Wanda explained quietly that he needed to refuel after using his super-speed so much last night. It burned a phenomenal amount of calories and he had to replenish them quickly or he could fall into a coma. From the way she watched every bite into Pietro's mouth, Bucky suspected that had actually happened. That HYDRA had been somewhat careless with these two assets. He gritted his teeth. What had his Wanda suffered?

She wasn't eating. He pressed her gently to take something.

"Using my power doesn't burn energy like Pietro's does," she replied absently.

"No, but breathing does. And walking around, both of which you've been doing for a fair few hours without a break. Eat something, Wanda. For me." She was too slender anyway, all skin and bones. He felt a sudden urge to feed her up, to cosset her, to see her thin face fill out into true beauty. "For me," he repeated softly, finger brushing over her cheek.

She smiled shyly up at him, selected one of the few pastries Pietro hadn't demolished yet, and bit into it.

While the twins finished eating, Bucky investigated the clothes she'd brought. Plain and simple, they'd indeed help them blend in. The hoodie he guessed was for Pietro, to hide his distinctive white hair, and passed that over before stripping unselfconsciously.

Wanda choked on a crumb. Pietro clapped his hand over his sister's eyes.

"Sheesh, Barnes, take it in the bathroom, will you?"

Bucky blinked before realising suddenly that he wasn't in HYDRA's facilities any more, wasn't expected to strip off his gear before being hosed down and put in the cryo chamber. And he'd just stripped his clothes off in front of his young, innocent soulmate…

"Shit, sorry!" he grabbed the new things, backed into the bathroom. "Wasn't thinking!"

The worst part was, he could see Wanda peeking at him around Pietro's hand over her eyes. "I'm not complaining about the view," she murmured quietly, but Bucky heard, and his cheeks burned red before he hastily shut the door.

Bucky's making assumptions about Wanda's experience, or lack thereof, I know. He isn't wrong, though. In my headcanon, the twins recently turned 22 and HYDRA have held them for 7 years, so they were mid-teens when they were last free, but they have spent small amounts of time out in the world since, so they're not as out of the loop as Bucky is.