Hi, everyone! I am pleased to say not only that this is one of the longer chapters, but that we're officially starting Captain America: Civil War. I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. These scenes are parodied to be from Bucky's perspective, but I did not come up with the idea. No copyright infringement intended. Full rights go to Marvel Studios.

Chapter Eleven

I keep working for months. I go to the stores and talk with people. I got clothes and things for the apartment. I made better friends with people at the diner and got to know Adela better. The things I did were simple, but they were significant to me. As each day passed, the life I had earned here grew more and more real. I didn't stop looking over my shoulder or having nightmares, but I suspected people less, and I dreamed of better things. It got easier to smile and look people in the eye rather than flinching whenever someone moved too quickly.

I discovered that I remembered more and had happier dreams when I ate plums for some reason. It could be a coincidence, but it also couldn't be. The flavor of them could be reminding me of something before the War. Either way, I would take anything that would help me remember, and I wrote it all down, stowing the notes in the backpack I had under the floorboards of the apartment. I tried to keep them organized by date with the different color sticky notes I got, but I didn't remember things in order. I would remember something from the War before I remembered school with Steve or something.

I kept the last knife and grenade from my Winter Soldier uniform in the pack, fresh water and made sure that there was still food inside in case I needed to leave quickly, though I didn't want to leave. I like it here. The people were nice, and they didn't ask why I always wore the same hoodie, and they also kept me updated on Steve, though they always called him Captain America and never by his actual name.

Apparently Steve and the other Avengers were involved in a floating country called Sokovia and some explosion in Nigeria. What was Steve doing? He could get himself killed. I told him before I left not to do anything stupid, but I'm pretty sure getting experimented on by a random German scientist and fighting against armies of humans, aliens and robots qualify as doing something stupid. Next time I see him, he is so getting punched.

About a year after I started working at the diner-two years after DC-Sebastian said I could have Saturdays off because I had built up his trust or something. I had money saved up, so I was alright if I didn't work, though I was better when I had to. It kept my mind distracted.

One Saturday morning, I took some of that money and went back to the street vendor that sold the plums that helped my memory. I waved to Adi as I approached his stand.

"How's it going, Bucky?" he asked.

"Good. How about yourself?"

"Good, good! Morning's always slow, but nothing too bad."

I smiled and laughed lightly as I reached out with my gloved left hand. I had practiced feeling with my metal arm. It was dull and distant, and I still had to concentrate on it, but I could still feel with it, and it had gotten a lot stronger recently. I gently grasped one of the plums in Adi's basket and carefully tested its thin skin to see if it was ripe.

"Same thing I assume?" Adi mockingly wondered.

I smirked as I picked up a few more of the small fruits and tested them. "They're good," I laughed.

"But you get them weekly," he countered.

"Hey, at least I build up your line this early in the morning. It makes you look more popular," I laughed, passing him the small handful of plums I had picked out.

"True, true," he agreed as he put the plums in the bag. "But don't think that means you get a discount."

I smiled. "Wouldn't dream of it."

I took out a few bills from my pocket and handed them to him in exchange for the fruits. I glanced around out of habit as I took the plastic bag of plums back from Adi. I've gotten better with the paranoia, but that doesn't mean I'm perfect.

"Have a good day, Bucky," Adi wished.

I nodded and looked back at him. "You too."

I walked off towards nowhere in particular. It was nice to be able to walk around on my own without true threat. I looked around just in case, but since two years ago, there hasn't been any problems.

I stopped at an intersection and checked around me again. A pale man at a newsstand caught my gaze and tensed. He looked around wildly as the cars passed between us before taking a few stumbling steps backwards.

I walked towards him when the flow of traffic got cut off as the light changed to red. I didn't know why he was afraid of me, but he had no reason to be. I wasn't going to hurt him. I won't talk to him, but I'll show him I'm not a threat.

The closer I got to his stand, the more the man scrambled to get away until he broke free of the collection of people surrounding him and ran off.

I sighed and cast my gaze to the floor. I had my arm covered, but did I still look that dangerous?

As I looked down I spotted the newspaper on his desk and raced towards it. I picked it up and read the headline. Then I read it twice more just to be sure I read it right the first time.

"Winter Soldier Bombs the UN."

There was a slightly blurred, black and white picture of someone who looked like me leaving a building through a garage.

I didn't. I couldn't have. I've been here in Bucharest for almost a year. And as far as I remembered, I've never even been Vienna or any UN building.

I took a deep breath and forced myself to slowly put the paper down before I tore it in my tense grip. I looked around me as I walk away from the stand, straining harder than ever to find any HYDRA agents.

This could be a trap to flush me out and send me back to Siberia, but even if it wasn't, it was best I left before people looked at me like that man did.

Why did I let my guard down? I never should have. I shouldn't have stayed here. I should have kept moving.

I didn't want to leave. I felt safe here. As far as I knew, no one was out to hurt me, and if I went somewhere else that might change.

I race back to my apartment as fast as I could without drawing attention. I waved to Adela as she left for work as I normally did, but the moment she was gone, I practically ran up the stairs. I needed a moment to calm down and think. It was safe in my apartment. The only HYDRA there is in my mind.

I was about to put my key in the doorknob when I spotted scratches on the keyhole that weren't there before. Someone picked the lock.

I slipped the key back into my pocket and slowly turned the doorknob.

Maybe it wasn't as safe here as I thought. But HYDRA would blow the entire building to smithereens. Not pick the lock.

I quietly push the door open and take slow, silent steps into the apartment, closing and locking the door behind me. A dark silhouette stood in front of the fridge looking down at something in his hands. His suit was dark blue and he was wearing a helmet. "Understood," he muttered to someone who was probably over the radio in his ear.

I recognized his voice instantly. But I can't know him. Not if HYDRA's here. They'll hurt me worse if I do. I can't know him. Not until I know for sure that HYDRA isn't involved.

Steve turned around, his shield glinting in the limited light of the apartment. He came armed. Maybe this was HYDRA.

"Do you know me?" he asked.

I took a slow breath to keep my voice steady. "You're Steve," I answered shortly. "I read about you in a museum."

The time I last saw him jumped to mind, bleeding and bruised in DC. He needs to leave. I didn't realize it would be this hard to see him.

"I know you're nervous," he said, placing one of my books down on the breakfast table and taking a few small steps towards me, "and you have every reason to be, but you're lying."

I was more than nervous. What if I kill him? I don't feel HYDRA's order anymore, but I was still terrified that this entire thing was a trap set by them. I might have to kill him to get out, or they'll capture me and make me kill him.

Just say that I don't know you. Please. They might be listening, and I don't want to hurt you.

It didn't matter. If they were listening, they already knew that I was lying. He's probably here about the UN bombling, so I could make him leave if I told him the truth. "I wasn't in Vienna. I don't do that anymore."

Steve glanced out the window nervously. "Well, the people who think you did are coming here now. And they're not planning on taking you alive."

"That's smart," I dismissed. "Good strategy." Whether it was HYDRA or not, it would be better for them to kill me. I would kill them if they didn't, and it might be better for everyone if I wasn't around at all because of the words that they put into me.

Footsteps sound above us and outside the door. We don't have anymore time to talk about this. They're here to kill me. Kill or be killed. Just like it always is.

"This doesn't have to end in a fight, Buck," Steve says as I turn towards the door.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding as the sound of heavy footfalls silence. "It always ends in a fight."

"You pulled me from the river. Why?" Steve questions as I take off the glove that consealed my metal hand.

"I don't know," I mutter, looking back at him.

"Yes, you do."

Something crashes through the fire escape window and soars towards Steve. He hits it with his shield, sending it back where it came from. The second window breaks and something else rolls towards me on the floor. Grenade.

I kick it towards Steve, and he covers it with his shield. A muffled bang and a flash comes from underneath his shield as bullets fly through the window, shattering it more. I pick up the mattress I had slept on and shielded myself with it as a loud bang sounds at the door.

I drop the mattress and rush towards the breakfast table. I use my left hand and launch the table towards the door. It got wedged in between the walls before the door, keeping it in place.

Both windows shatter further as soldiers in black body armor burst through on wires. I rip the carpet out from underneath one of them and he falls to the floor, sending a spray of bullets through the ceiling.

The remaining man races towards me and tries to grab me, but I duck his hands, and snatch up the cord he used to get in here. I pull it sharply as I move, flipping him over.

The door to the fire escape opens, and Steve grabs the barrel of an assault rifle. I rush forward and kick the soldier in the chest, sending him to the floor.

"Buck, stop!" Steve orders. A hand lands on my shoulder and I instantly flip around, thinking it was another soldier. "You're gonna kill someone," Steve points out, panicked.

No more orders. I'm going to leave before someone actually does die, and he can't stop me.

I take him down with a quick movement, flipping him onto his back. I fist my hand and punch through the wooden floorboards where the backpack waits.

"I'm not gonna kill anyone," I mutter, ripping the bag out of its hiding place.

I toss the bag out of the window and to the next building's roof as one of the soldiers gets back up, and bullets fly. I put up my left arm and cover myself with as much of it as I could. Bullets clanged painfully off of the metal for a moment before they suddenly stop. Steve covered me with his shield.

Maybe I shouldn't have figured out how to amplify the feeling in my left arm.

Another soldier comes through the second window with a shotgun, and Steve moves to cover me. I push him towards the soldier and they both go through the window.

Another soldier fires at me, and I put my left hand out as I advance on him. His bullets clang off of the metal of my hand. It stings a little, but the pain is quickly fading. I pick the man up by the throat and throw him to the ground, destroying the bookshelf that came with the apartment.

One of the soldiers on the floor gets up, and I take one of the cinder blocks that had come dislodged from the wall and slam it into his chest, throwing him into the door that led to the bathroom, which collapses under his sudden weight.

Gunshots sound outside the door, and though these soldiers were taken care of, there will soon be more of them, and I need to get into a more open space to fight them better.

I dislodge the table from the door and the walls as the wood from the door splinters with the gunshots. I fist my left hand and punch through the door, sending it several feet forward. I run into the hall and grab the guns of the soldiers, kicking the one to my right in the knee. He stumbles backwards and falls down the stairs, taking the one behind him down, too. I use my hold on the other soldier and flip him onto his back as the dusty skylight above me shatters, too.

Another soldier zips down on a wire. I shield myself with my metal arm as he sprays me with bullets. As he reaches my level, I grab his gun and throw him into the wall. His wire yanks him back, and I reach down for the battering ram that they tried to use to open the door. I use my left arm and slam the makeshift weapon into a charging soldier's chest. Another soldier comes charging up the stairs with more behind him. I hit him hard in the knee with the battering ram, sending him to the floor.

More and more soldiers are entering. I need to get to the other roof before they overpower me.

I jump onto the back of the unconscious soldier dangling from his wire and both of our weight sends me down a few levels of stairs. I jump onto the platform and grab several soldiers guns, punching and kicking them several feet away.

"Suspect has broken containment!" someone shouts in Romanian. "He's headed down the east stairwell."

Great. Now more will come. I don't want to kill these men, but I might have to.

One of the soldiers grabs my upper arms behind me, and though it restricts my movement slightly, it doesn't prevent me from kicking the other in front of me. Steve jumps down to the stair landing I'm on as pull myself from the soldier's grasp and elbow him with my metal arm.

Another soldier comes down the stairs, but I grab him by the front of his armor and throw him down the empty middle of the curling staircase. Steve grabs him at the last second and looks at me with disappointment in his expression as he shakes his head slightly. "Come on, man," he groans.

Shut up, Steve.

I elbow the soldier coming up behind be before he could subdue me and use my metal hand to rip the guardrail from the concrete. I use it to swing myself down another level and kick another soldier through a door.

Two more men come up on me. I take the hook one had for a wire and attach him to the other before throwing him over the guardrail of the landing. The other was pulled along with him, but I shove him into the wall repeatedly until he's unconscious.

A gun cocks behind me and I turn to find a soldier with a shotgun. Steve's shield comes from the landing above and knocks the soldier to the floor before getting lodged in the concrete wall.

I'm grateful to him, but it's time to go.

I jump over the guardrail and fall several floors before grabbing onto a different floor's rail. I cry out as the metal of my left arm pulls sharply on my shoulder, emphasising the constant ache.

I shove the pain to the back of my mind and pull myself up onto the landing. I kick open a nearby door and plead the whoever lived there wouldn't be home. I raced through the hall and through crashed through the window that led to their fire escape. I fell several stories to the next roof over, though I barely made it. My knees gave way when I landed hard on the roof's edge, but I used my momentum to throw myself into a roll that led me to my backpack that I tossed over here. I instantly force myself up and snatch the backpack up from the ground. I run as fast as I possibly can, the edge of the roof coming up fast.

The looming shadow of a man consumes mine, and I turn to find a black suit flying towards me. The man tackles me, but I roll away enough to remain out of his reach. I get to my knees and watch the man as he gets into a fighting stance. He's dressed entirely in black with silver stitching along his facemask that almost made it look like he had whiskers. The suit gave him pointed ears, and as he put his hands up, sharp claws extend from his fingertips.

And now there's this guy. What's with the cat suit?

It doesn't matter. He's standing in my way, and I need to leave.

I rush at him, and throw a few punches that he easily blocks. I manage to get around him and gain access to the other side of the roof, but he still comes at me. I throw a punch at him with my metal arm, but he ducks underneath it and swings at me. I dodge his clawed swing and punch at him again. He blocks with his arm, but there's something strange about his suit. It's almost like my arm and Steve's shield.

He shoves my arm away and knees me in the chest. His kick is so strong that it sends me into a ventilation box that's on the roof. I look up just in time to duck the man's claws. He digs into the side of the metal box instead of my head. The man turns back around and comes at me with his other hand, but I spin and dodge this hand, too.

All I wanted was some plums this morning. What the heck?

The man in the black suit jumps up and kicks off of the metal box, using it to spin towards me and kick me to the floor. I start to get up, but he flips and grabs my arms, pulling me back down.

The man lets go, and I grab for a metal bar that was resting next to me and bring it up, blocking his clawed swing at my face. He rips his claws out of the bar, snapping it. I toss the pieces away and bring my hands up to grab his wrists as he extends his claws back towards me.

Seriously, who is this guy? And what's with the cat suit? Last I remembered, the weirdest I've seen thing was Sam Wilson's wings.

The dull beat of helicopter blades sound, and bullets start to fly. The man looks up and looks over to the helicopter, bullets bouncing off of his suit.

A winged man flies up and kicks the end of the helicopter, making it spin out of control. The man flies off again, and I only catch a glimpse of who he is.

Wilson's here, too? What the freak?

I use Cat Suit Guy's distraction to my advantage and flip him onto his back, getting to my feet again. I grab my bag and instantly run to the edge of the roof, dropping down to the ledge several feet below. I glance up and see the Guy dig his claws into the side of the building and slide down it, leaving claw marks behind.

I jump down the rest of the way and land hard on the concrete ground. The man lands a second after, so I turn and take off as fast as I can.

I don't care if this guy is HYDRA or SHIELD or even working with Steve. He's trying to kill me.

The helicopter returns as I run, tearing up the stone ground with a spray of bullets. Helicopters can't fly in small spaces, and there's an underground road a few feet from here with a decorative hole in the top to let in more light down there.

The brick ledge of that hole comes up fast, and I instantly jump down it. I land on the road and several cars honk and swerve to get around me. I turn and run in the same direction as the cars as sounds of two more people impacting the ground reach me. Sirens wail, and cars honk at me as I run, but they're not loud enough to drown out an amplified voice. "Stand down!" he shouts in English. "Stand down!"

I just have to keep running. These men can't follow me forever.

I jump up on top of one of the cars rather than slowing down to go around it. I run along its roof before hopping back to the ground and continuing, going as fast as I can.

It might not be enough. It was never enough before. I ran from them every time I could, but they always caught me. I'm not letting that happen again.

Cars with flashing red and blue lights rush into the tunnel in front of me, and I can barely stop myself in time. I jump the barrier of water tanks to the other side of the road, though the cars are coming at me now.

I need to move faster. They're closing me in.

The roar of a motorcycle engine reaches my ears, and the owner of it comes into view soon after. I skid to a stop and grasp its handlebars with my metal arm, flipping it around and jumping up to straddle it. I take off on the motorcycle, leaving the owner behind.

Cars swerve out of my way, and I cross the lanes back to where the cars were going where I was. I push the bike as fast as it can go, dodging the cars I come up behind.

I could hear faint sounds of footsteps on metal, and I glance behind me to find the Cat Guy launching himself off of a car towards me. He grabs for my pack and I wrestle him as best I can with my metal arm while keeping one hand on the steering. The motorcycle wobbles and starts to tilt to the left. I put my hand out and brace myself against the concrete ground. Sparks fly out from underneath my metal hand as I glance back at the man clinging to the back of the bike. I manage to kick out, push him off and shove the bike back up quickly, its speed making it stabilize quickly.

I reach behind me and undo the zipper to the small, front pocket of the pack and pull out the small grenade that was made to cling to surfaces. I activate the grenade, and it blinks red. I toss it up towards the concrete wall of the tunnel, and it sticks, its blinking speeding up. I push the motorcycle even faster and race into a more open space as the bomb explodes behind me, showering me with dust and pebbles.

The back of the bike suddenly lurches to the side, and I think that it was caught in the explosion. The bike falls to the ground, and I tumble off of it, rolling away. The sound of breaking metal somehow reaches me through the destruction, and the moment I come to a stop, the black-suited man is standing above me with his claws extended.

In a flash of dark blue, the man is gone, and Steve is standing in his place. I force myself to my feet as the man gets into a crouching position, flashing lights and sirens behind him.

I'm being surrounded. I didn't do anything. Why aren't they letting me leave?

A heavy and dull thud comes from next to me, and I glance at it to see another black-suited man, only his suit is made of metal, and there's a glowing circle in his chest and on the palms of each of his hands, and there's a large gun strapped to his back.

I fist my hands and tense, preparing to fight my way out. They will not take me again. I can't go back. I'd rather die than go through that again.

Steve puts his hand out in front of me, holding me back. Why is he telling me it's okay? It's clearly not.

"Stand down now," the man with the large gun orders.

His order only makes me tense more. I didn't fight HYDRA. I will fight them.

But I'm grossly outnumbered. Steve is with me-I think-but that will do nothing against the army surrounding us. A car door open and more soldiers spill out of them, pointing guns of all kinds at both of our chests.

"Congratulations, Cap," the metal man voiced as Steve secured his shield onto his back and put his hands up. "You're a criminal."

What did you guys think? Are y'all excited to finally dive into the main film? I sure am. Then again, I'm always excited to dive into a character's psychology.

I hope to see you soon for chapter 12!