.

. ** .

.

"I thought you trusted him."

"I do."

"Then why are you raiding my gun safe?"

"Since you haven't been able to move me, pretty sure I might need a few things in here."

Like a little pouch of drugs. Amber's special blends. I do not want to use these, but if shit hits the fan, I didn't want to be without them.

"Bucky's alright, yeah?"

He'd been out for a few hours, and the sun had already set.

"Sergeant Barnes is on his way back. Fifteen minutes out."

That was enough time to pilfer his closet for some clothes for the bugout bag.

"Why is it that you call him Mr. Barnes when he's not around? You refer to Apple Pie by his name and rank."

"Call it a hunch. I wouldn't try calling him Sergeant Barnes. Unlike Captain Rogers."

'Why how secretive of you, Eve. Getting so fucking tired of dealing with this shit....'

The one secret of hers I needed to figure out fast was why she hasn't been able to move me out of this stupid house. She's made it clear that her hands were rather tied on this matter. That I probably shouldn't rely on family connections to dig myself out.

Between Bucky's arm and keeping an eye on family safety, I wasn't left with much time to search for a few places to hide out until Jekyll gives up. Or how to fucking get there.

But as annoying as she was at the moment, Eve wasn't wrong about the words Sergeant Barnes. The first and last time I tried, his eyes went wide as if he saw a ghost. Even went a little green. Probably remembered something highly unpleasant.

'He might like the dart gun better.'

Less fatal. Less damage in general. Though he'd probably have much better aim with real bullets, even if we did try to make the dart guns' handle as similar as we could get it. Or so I've been told. Highly doubt Hydra had him playing with dart guns. Then again, he'd probably figure out all the quirks in a couple of shots.

So two dart guns, a box full of empty bullet sized darts, and a bottle of sedatives all went into the bag. With a fleeting thought of childhood stories from Gramps, I snatched a rifle as well.

"If that's for Sergeant Barnes, I'd suggest the one with the electronic firing mechanism. It'll let me disable the gun if he goes sideways on you."

"...."

"I'll let you keep your oddly blind faith in him. He could use someone in his corner. But I didn't raise you to be this dumb, Val. He's not the man in Father's stories. Not anymore. He's dangerous and unstable."

"It's not blind faith."

Not completely.

"And he has people in his corner. Apple Pie. Gramps. Hopefully, he has a chance to find who he is now before people force him into a bloody peg hole. Like you are. He's not a tool, Eve."

"I do what I can to protect you. You'll understand eventually."

"What if I don't want to understand....?"

'Much rather leave the stones unturned.'

"How long do you think you can blind yourself before you wake up to nothing? Run and hide all you like –"

"I have to... even if I'm tired of the collateral damage around this family...."

"I can't have you being one of those causalities."

"Too useful of a bait?"

"You do bring the unsavoury people into my realm of operations."

'Then why the fuck is Jekyll still up and running?' We should have dismantled and absorbed them by now....

"But at the end of the day, we love you, Val. Though I must admit that some of us are worse than others at showing it."

"...."

Pushing the words to the back of my mind, I checked my pack. 'Tools, guns, ammo, first aid, Amber's blends, cash, food and... I don't want to haul around water....' But two bottles were better than nothing. Seeing the logic in Eve's words, I switched the rifle and shuffled for the entrance of the crawl space in the basement.

A misstep on the way down and the boxes I piled up as a staircase scattered, taking me with them.

"Ow... I think this hurts more than the bloody wall."

Tiles were no fun.

"You landed in a pile of Lego blocks... if you haven't figured it out yet."

"Why is there Lego here?" I groaned, trying to move without having sharp corners dig into me. It wasn't working. My limbs just slid around with those damn corners.

"Some of my people like to interact with physical objects. Some don't like working with a holographic game plan. Perfect, my door is stuck. You managed to barricade yourself in...."

"I managed to bury myself too." I kicked a box off me, flailing about rather unsuccessfully, and then everything went dark. Pitch black.

"Val, listen to me. Hold it toge – "

'Nononononopleasenononono.'

I couldn't breathe. The air so thick.

I couldn't move. No matter what I did, my limbs slid away from me.

But I couldn't feel anything pulling on my wrists or ankles. So I shouldn't be tied down.

'EscapeIcanescape. Where...? Wheredoordoordoordoor Haveto – Have to find. Need door.... Before – before he comes.... Can't... I can't do this again.'

Everything went cold.

I choked on a waterlogged gasp.

Hands pulled at my hair. One tucked under my chin, forcing my head up. Hard and unforgiving.

In a panic, I bit down, catching nothing between my teeth.

"Valeriy, you're going to break your teeth on that."

I knew that voice. In the darkness, with a click and a beam of light, a familiar face appeared.

"Bucky...?" The name burned my throat.

He quickly hushed me with a finger to my lips. "Your voice needs rest. You wouldn't stop screaming."

He quickly snapped his hand back when I tried to bite off his finger.

"Valeriy, I'm not trying to hurt you." His voice soft, lacking in irritation and easing my tattered nerves.

When he shined the flashlight at my face, I couldn't help but try to wince away from the bright light. His grip on my chin didn't let me move much. Those bright blue eyes searching my face. For what? I had no idea.

'They're blue...? Not brown. Blue. Blue eyes. Bucky. Not him. It's Bucky.'

Almost seemed like a peace offering the way he held out the flashlight. I half expected him to pull it out of reach before I could touch it, but he didn't. He let me snatch it right out of his hand.

I tilted my body to the side, trying to peer around him with the help of the light. 'Basement bathroom. D.C. Puppet house.'

"There's nobody else in the house. Just the two of us... and her..." he said, waving a hand loosely about the room and slightly towards the camera. "Let's get you out before you freeze to death."

The shower turned off. Towels draped around me. A careful arm scooped me up off the cold tile, cradling me against a warm chest.

He kept glancing down, probably paranoid that I'd take a chunk out of his neck if given the chance.

I couldn't blame him. I just might try.

"There's a power outage in the neighbourhood. Be careful wandering around the house. The windows aren't connected to the backup generator. They take up too much power. Therefore, the lights won't be used. Would be bad if we stood out. Everything else is perfectly functioning."

"G-Great," I huffed out shakily. "You can smack us silly with the doors in the dark."

I really did scream my throat raw.... I sound like an old bat who's been smoking a couple packs a day.

"Quit talking," Bucky chided and stopped his steady swaying with each step he took. "I can't see where I'm going if you shine that thing in my eyes."

I pulled at the ends of the flashlight clutched in my hands, and pulled out the frosted plastic. The lantern feature. The darkness all around us ran away. At least for the basement hallway.

"Now what are you doing?" he demanded softly, though he wasn't moving his head away from my fingers that pulled and lightly scratched at his face.

'No mask. No wig.'

He even patiently faced me when I tried to turn his head. His brow rose in question, as he came to a stop in the middle of the stairs. There were no clear rings around his irises.

'No contacts. Blue eyes. Bucky.'

I tried to pull a smile, but I could feel the muscles twitching. It probably looked hideous with the under lighting.

"I need you to turn off the light for a bit."

The words felt like a stake to the heart. The air suffocating me. The fear strangling me.

"...Or not. The light can stay on," he said softly, lowering me until I sat on the steps curled up around the flashlight.

"S-s-sor –"

"Hush. Your voice needs rest."

When he reached for the light, my instincts were to kick out. And somewhere inside me, I was glad his reflexes were damn quick, catching my bad ankle before I could hurt either of us.

"Wasn't going to turn it off. It's too bright to go upstairs. They'll see, and you don't like the basement."

'How does he know that?' One too many horror movies to thank for that.

Didn't help that the edges of my vision were darkening. As much as I tried to use the flashlight to clear it, the smart part of me knew it wasn't going to do a thing.

"...Valeriy, listen to me. Close your eyes," Bucky said in a calm voice, kneeling down in front of me on a lower step.

I tried but my ribs felt constricted at the very thought. I shook my head desperately. Every time I blinked, I fell back there.

"Alright. How about taking big breath? You can do it. There you go. One."

"I'd suggest you count backwards."

"...Three. Two. One. Let it out. Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.... Another deep breath. Three. Two. One. And exhale. Ten. Nine. Eight."

Bucky continued with the steady counting until well after my vision stopped spinning.

"Is there a way to dim that? Will you be alright with a dimmed light?" he asked.

I glanced down and gave a nod. The switch was a slider from what I could feel from a testing nudge. Fiddling with the line to my sanity, I set it to the dimmest possibility.

"...Still too bright."

I stuck it under my shirt, tinting everything reddish. I could still make out my surroundings, and that was enough.

Bucky shook his head but then removed his jacket. He slowly wrapped it around me, probably waiting for me to lash out again. He made a tent with just me and the light inside. His arm scooped me up, and the walking continued. Though this time faster.

I found myself curling into his warmth. It assured me it was him. Some part of my brain functioning well enough to remember that Bucky had an unusually high body temperature. That this warmth was his.

Resting my head against a broad shoulder, I couldn't shut my eyes. Even if the light was starting to hurt. Too afraid that this wasn't real. That was I back there.

'He's not here. I'm safe. Bucky's here.... I'm safe.'

It wasn't long before I was sitting on carpet again. Bucky plucked his jacket off my head, and I found myself sitting at the mouth of my closet.

"Get dried. Keep the light low. I'm going get something for your throat. If anything happens, don't scream. Just say something and I'll be right here. I'll hear you. Remember, keep the light low." He quickly left the room, closing the door behind him.

I could almost laugh at how useless the door was. There was a giant hole right next to it.

"What was that?" I could hear him ask as he walked downstairs, into the darkness of the house.

"She... doesn't do too well not being able to see."

'That's an understatement.'

"I suggest not asking about it."

With a heavy sigh, I crawled out of the icky wet clothes. I wanted nothing more than to wrap myself in just a fluffy blanket on a pile of fluffier pillows, but instead, I forced myself into some long sleeves again before settling into the far corner of the walk-in closet, behind the hung shirts and sweaters. The blanket replaced by Bucky's jacket I curled under with the light. Hidden from sight.

Trying to keep my head on, I took a big breath and held it. I could almost hear Bucky's voice counting down.

"What's all this – Valeriy?"

"Closet. Again."

His usually silent footsteps thudded against the floor, coming closer and closer. I could hear it stop in front of me. Then the screech of the metal hangers sliding against a metal bar made me curl into a tighter ball. Maybe if I were small enough, I wouldn't be noticed.

"Valeriy...? It's Bucky...."

'It's not him. It's Bucky. It's Bucky, you fucking idiot.'

Peering out from the jacket and letting a little light out, I could make out Bucky's large form, hunched over and crouching down on the other side of the shirts. A mug in one hand, a bag in the other and a rifle slung across his back.

I reached out, snatching his hand holding the bag. Those metal fingers twitched as if to pull away, but I was already yanking them to me.

He merely stretched his arm out to humour me. When he moved away, I tried to fight it, pulling harder only to have my body move instead. I quickly let go, scrambling back against the wall. Probably trying to disappear into it by osmosis. Probably.

But Bucky seemed to have understood what I wanted. He was just going out of his way to keep that cybernetic arm of his away from me.

He shuffled to my side of the shirts, settling down just within my arm's reach. He leaned the rifle up against the back wall, far away from me on his left side. He used the bag to keep it from toppling over our way.

I quickly adjusted the shirts and sweaters to cover him as well, making sure they hung as they were supposed to. Even pushed his legs into him. Though he did draw the line at stuffing him under the leather jacket with me, leaving me to cling onto the flashlight like my life depended on it.

There was a long pause between us before Bucky held out a mug to me and a little red packet, a Chinese natural herbal remedy. My favourite for a sore throat from my time in the East.

Obediently, I downed water. All of it, as he motioned. And never once letting go of my flashlight.

"What are we hiding from?" Bucky whispered when I was trying to get every last drop out of the little packet.

"Closet's safe. Didn't find me last time. Can escape when he's out looking."

"...He's not here.... Only Mr. Barnes and I know where you are, you idiot."

"You can't be sure of that," I snapped. Speech now easier on my throat.

"And whose fau –!"

"Enough," Bucky cut in. "...No more of this bickering. Please."

And then silence.

Neither Eve or I had any response to that. Never had anyone actually asked us to stop tearing into each other, so we didn't have the usual person, Gramps, to scream over.

With nothing to distract me, I went back to the breathing again. Controlled breathing guided by the echoes of Bucky's voice counting in my head.

The smart part of me knew that the chances of him finding me here was the same as what mine were escaping with a broken leg and barely half a useable brain: possible. Though highly improbable.... Hopefully.

The dumb part of me was busy being stuck in the mindset that the closet's apparently a safe place. That Bucky of all people needed to hide with me. Unless it's Hydra, or an enhanced being, or an army knocking, this was utterly ridiculous.

As usual, dumb me held the reins.

"What's all this?" Bucky asked after coming up unsuccessful in his search for a more comfortable position that didn't result in me shoving his legs right back where they were.

The man was made of pure muscles... probably. He didn't have to move for anybody, let alone a little girl. But he did.

At my lost stare, his head tilted towards the bag that kept the rifle from falling our way.

"Bugout bag...?" I responded.

"...Do you even know how to use this?" This time his head motioned to the rifle.

"Sort of? But that's for you."

He looked so betrayed.

"Not asking you to kill people, Bucky. But a bullet in the knee might deter some unsavoury people? Little difficult to run with a bullet to the knee."

His hand waved at the ether, or Eve. Probably still thought of her as a ghost of some sort.... "Did she say something?"

I shook my head. She couldn't say anything about it if she wanted to from the sounds of things.

"I'm just getting a little antsy..." I mumbled, not quite wanting to admit it or add to Bucky's list of things to worry about.

For now, my struggle was to find a way to block enough of the flashlight that it wouldn't be noticeable, but so that I could still see. No matter what I did, this corner, without the leather jacket tent, would be the first corner the eyes would be drawn to. With the light and surrounding darkness.

A crinkle of foil caught my attention and Bucky held out a few large, orange foil wrapped coins to me. "She told me to give you these if you start to cry."

I ended up with another twitching smile while taking the handful of chocolate mints. "Thanks.... Don't worry about the water works. Bad idea to be bawling in the middle of a shit storm."

His hand hovered between us. He didn't rest it back on his knee. He didn't reach out either. His fingers twitched even though they weren't his cybernetic ones.

After my fifth attempt at trying to open the troublesome wrapper without my dominant hand clutched around the flashlight, Bucky snatched the treat. He carefully unwrapped it and placed it back in my hand.

"Thank you.... Wait a sec. Eve, how the hell would a person eat while crying?"

"Some choking would be involved I assume, going by videos online."

I forced a laugh, nibbling on the chocolate coin and relishing the crunchy mint pieces. I tossed a coin over Bucky's way, motioning for him to have a taste with a tilt of my head.

It's always fun to watch his expressions while trying new foods. So easy to read the curious eyes to the thoughtful half frown to the small nod of approval.

He liked it.

He bowed his head a tad when he caught more orange coins out of the air. The pair of us munching on the chocolates in silence broken only by the crinkling of foil.

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Author's Note:

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