Kinda short, but I'm building up to the next chapter.

ArtemisLuna85: Yes, he will very soon.

DarylDixon'sLover: Well...she will eventually.

Guest: You will see...you will see...

Tiphanie: No, it's worse. My evil genius is coming on strong right now.

Chiharu-angel: Yup. Feels everywhere.

Mini 2612: I love to hate cliffhangers as well. Don't worry, I get you.

hateme101: Yeah, I love the Hobbit, and the idea of Bucky reading it to me made me all tingly, so I had to throw it in there.

Queen Of The War Flowers: Aww I'm so glad you're enjoying it! Studying is important though...good luck on your exams hon!

hkhorch: Hello Hannah, and welcome to my morbid brainchild. As far as how I know so much about injuries, some of it comes from experience. I was raised on a farm with two older brothers by a single dad, so lots of fights and my second oldest brother and I beat the living crap out of each other all the time. Plus I ride horses, so lots of injuries from that as well. Then, the entirety of my mom's family are all doctors, so if I have a question, I can usually just ask. And, if I don't know from there, I just usually look it up. I try to keep things as realistic in my stories and I try to keep all the facts straight so I do a lot of research. I actually went on Google maps and looked up the distance from Italy to Slovakia, and Hungary to Bucharest and so forth. So I do a lot of research to keep things as realistic as possible. And I don't mind if you read the other responses, that's why I do them, so I can answer questions, talk to my readers. Find out what they do and don't like. So strap yourself in because it's gonna be a wild ride.

Enjoy!

Her fists were hitting him as he tried to hold her still. She managed to get one good hit to the side of his face, but it had barely jostled him. She was crying again, screaming, trying to get away from him. He held her down as she pleaded, begging him to let her go. His attempts at calming her were useless. He finally got her pinned down, her wrists in his flesh hand, his metal arm holding her down.

"Olivia, calm down."

His mouth went dry when she looked at him, fear...no, terror in her eyes. They were glassy with unshed tears, her breaths shaky as she stared at him.

"Please don't hurt me." She whispered, voice shaky.

He released her, and she pushed him back, jumping off the couch before cornering herself in the kitchen. He didn't approach her, staying where he was.

"Olivia, talk to me. What's going on?"

"You ruined me." She whispered, his sensitive ears picking it up. "You ruined my life! I was fine, happy! But then you came along and ruined it! You, and HYDRA!" She was screaming at him now, holding on to the counter to keep herself upright. He could see her legs shaking under her, running off of sheer adrenaline. "I could have had a life! I could have fallen in love! Gotten married! Had a...had a..." She covered her mouth as a sob left her, sliding to the ground so she was curled up against the cabinets.

He swallowed the lump in his throat as he stared at her. She wasn't wrong. HYDRA had ruined her life. And by default, so had he. He took a step towards her but her head shot up, the look in her eyes stopping him. She got up, wiping her face before walking out of the kitchen, using the cabinets to hold herself up. She took a step, but stumbled and he reached out to steady her.

She pushed him away, and he let her. "Don't touch me." There was venom in her voice. Anger. It stung a little.

She pulled on her shoes, and her jacket and hat before grabbing her backpack. He watched her walk out, waiting until he couldn't hear her on the stairs anymore before copying her actions. The last thing he needed was her getting hurt again. And at his fault.

He followed her as she stumbled weakly through the streets of Bucharest. It wasn't hard, she wasn't moving very fast. Most who passed her probably thought she was either drunk or high, usually giving her a wide berth. One man bumped into her, sending her sprawling on the ground, but he didn't bother stopping, probably mistaking her for a homeless person. He almost revealed himself then, as he watched her struggle to her feet, and he wasn't alone. She got lots of pitiful looks as she stumbled, catching herself on a pole. But no one offered her help. But he knew her well enough to say she didn't want it.

He continued following her until it got dark, and she found a spot on a park bench to sit. He kept an eye on the surrounding areas, knowing she was a sitting duck. Alone and injured in a park at night. She was just asking to get hurt again. Or worse.

He moved when he saw the group of men walking down the pathway, thankfully not spotting her yet. He sat down on the opposite side of the bench, watching them pass. He waited until they were gone, and he couldn't hear anything but crickets anymore.

"You're just asking to get hurt now." He said, keeping his gaze in front of him.

"You followed me?" Her voice was hoarse, and weak, and she didn't look at him either.

"Of course. You're not in any shape to be going out on your own. You weren't that hard to follow either. Girl stumbling drunkenly through the streets of Bucharest. I'm pretty sure everyone who saw you would remember you."

"Except the asshole that ran into me."

"I almost helped you, then. But you wanted to be on your own. You needed time to think."

She didn't say anything for a while, both of them sitting in silence. Neither of them knew what to say. She was the first to break the silence.

"My head's bleeding." She said, reaching back to touch her neck, before showing him her hand.

Her palm was scraped up, a couple new cuts there from when she'd fallen today. And indeed there was blood on her fingers.

"I can help you with that." He said. "But you have to let me."

"I don't know if I want you to." She shook her head. "Everything that happened kind of came on at once and I lost it. I almost got raped again. I must have pissed off someone upstairs. Oh, Olivia's going outside, let's have her almost get raped. Make her suffer more. I don't know how much longer I can just shove that aside."

"Well, if you go to the hospital, don't give them an address, or your real name." He said, standing up. "And if you want, you can come back. Feel free to let yourself in if I'm not there." He said before turning and walking away.

He should have just taken her back kicking and screaming. He shouldn't have left her there. He knew she needed to think, and she needed to figure things out, and he wasn't helping her by smothering her all the time. Things had been going so well...but then they just kind of fell apart. He should have listened to his heart and stayed with her. Because the next time he'd see her, he'd regret ever walking away.

I knew it was dumb, trying to be out on my own. Thinking I could survive like that. Injured, half out of my mind. I should have listened to the voice in my head, telling me to go back to the apartment and talk to James. But no. I was stupid and decided to just leave.

I regretted my decision as soon as I made it out of Bucharest. I was still stumbling drunkenly on some back road, trying to hitchhike my way somewhere. I didn't care where I was going...just as long as I got away. I should have been smarter, but my head was pounding, I was bleeding, tired and hungry.

I nearly cried when an old pickup truck pulled over. In hindsight I should have remembered every horror movie I'd ever seen. Because when the driver spoke English to me, in a foreign country, it should have registered that something was very wrong. Not that I could have ran away. Because the man had hopped out of the bed before I'd had time to blink, covering my mouth with a cloth. I tried to struggle against him, but I was already weak, and could barely stand as it was. Darkness was almost a relief, a chance to get away from the horrors that were awaiting me. But this time, I didn't have James to save me.