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"No matter how long you run. No matter how far you run. You can't escape me."

But still I tried, doing whatever I could. Even if it wasn't much. I didn't want to give up.

"Did you trip again?" punctuated with an exasperated laugh, a hand clasping around mine and pulling me up right.

'Devon?'

"We're going to be late for the midterm."

'Huh? Midterm?'

My feet followed after his. My hand still held in his. My height a lot closer his.

A glance down and I was back to my body. A glance around and the H.Q. halls weren't there. We were outside under a covered bridge.

This wasn't my university. Either of them.

This wasn't any place I knew.

The architecture a clash of east meets west. The castles were built half into and half atop of two summits, clouds obscuring parts of them. They even poured onto the bridge.

'I wonder if we can pull something off like this in real life. Probably have some sort of oxygen problem.'

I dare not make a move that Devon didn't lead. It's how he worked in my dreams. Peace. He was the peace in the mayhem. So long as I don't make a move on my own.

'...I guess we're dating in this dream.... Been a long while since that popped up,' I thought, the panic of writing a midterm for who knows what sinking into my nerves. 'Why am I still dreaming of school...?'

The temptation of dragging my feet was difficult to contain. But I knew the moment I do, Devon would go missing on me, and the mayhem of my dreams will take over. Probably in the form of a nonsensical exam.

"What do you want to do after the midterm?" he asked over his shoulder, still pulling me along through the crowd of people.

'Try to fly? This place would be so much easier to explore in the air. Hopefully the wind doesn't fuck with me.'

Someone bumped into my arm and I instinctively clutched down on Devon's hand, but it was gone.

My eyes darted from the back of one head to the next, searching. Anxiously. He was easy enough to recognise for me. I could still recognise him in a disguise. All I needed was his posture or the way he moved. But nope. He was nowhere to be seen.

'Great. I have no shits as to where the exam is....'

And so I meandered the halls of this future meets past building, just trying to find my way. Maybe I'd stumble across the exam room.

"Sweetie."

'No....'

The strength in my body just left me. I couldn't use it. My lungs stopped breathing. My knees didn't even work, collapsing from under me.

"I've missed you so much, Sweetie."

'Please no. I can't. I... I....'

All I could do was curl into a tight ball on the ground. Hug my head and hope he couldn't see me. I couldn't even flinch away from the searing pain blooming across my back. I could barely breathe through the choking gasps, trying to get my crying under control. But I couldn't.

'I can't. I can't. Ican't.Ican't.Ican'tIcan'tIcan't.'

The terror running rampant through my body froze me in place. To whatever he wanted to do.

"There you are."

'...Devon...?'

The sounds of footsteps all faded away except for one. The beat familiar to me as it came to a stop right by me. Then a pair of hands picked my head off the ground, a warm calf tucking under my forehead.

Fingers combed through my hair. A gentle pat on my head. A stroke down my back. The world melting away at his touch.

"I swear one of these days, I'm going to turn around and find that you've actually tripped into a ditch."

I wanted to reach out, grab onto him. But I dared not move. I didn't want to risk him disappearing again.

It's safe with him.

Peaceful.

I want to stay here.

'Please let me stay.'

Where nothing else mattered.

Just the gentle touch on my head.

The fear melted away at his fingertips.

I could almost see the exasperated smile on his face.

But my head hit the ground before I could....

'Well fuck....'

I peeled myself off my side with a sigh.

'This isn't the school anymore. Where the bloody hell am I now...? Feels like a facility of some sort.'

Cold metal walls. Shiny polished floors. Wire windowed doors. Long ass hallways.

'Yay... more running and shit. Fun.'

I scrambled to my feet and almost broke out laughing at the old movie set ninja after me. That was until a katana sliced into the back of my calves.

I grabbed onto the top edge of the doorframe and sent my knee into their face, feeling the crunch of a broken nose. Using the momentum of the attack to try and slip behind him, I felt something almost too familiar.

'Oh? Yes! Muwhahahaha! I can fly!!!'

Perfect for how useless my legs were at the moment.

With a twist of my body, I half flew – half floated down the hall, searching for a way out. The mechanics of it all was more than shaky. Mind numbingly so. Felt a little like swimming through the air, but without so much flailing about.

'Huh... this is an aquarium now...? And I have no clue how to land.'

No matter how I tried, swimming, pulling, huffing, I stayed in the upper half of the room. My feet seemed to be lighter than my shoulders which didn't help at all.

'So much for blending in. At least I'm not bleeding a fountain.'

Just a simple trickle, especially for how my calf muscles were barely hanging onto my legs....

'I'll be waking soon I guess.'

If I'm lucid enough to fly.

"Valeriy?"

"Bucky?!"

'Oh god. Hahahaha. You look like you've just shot a Herbal Essences commercial! What the flying fuck brain?'

His hair was so much thicker and extremely shiny.

"What happened to your legs?"

Worry so clear on his beautiful face. He even started hopping about trying to grab a leg down.

'Awww. Pretty sure they're beyond help, Bucky.'

"Ran into a ninja?" I answered, glancing behind me. "Still after me.... Yeah still after me."

Bucky grabbed onto my dangling hand, booking it through the building.

'This sure beats being a sack of potatoes.'

"Oh shit. There's more of them," I pointed out.

Once outside, I wrapped my arms around him and took to the air. Or at least tried to. The man was so heavy and my flying rather wobbly. But we escaped the ninja horde.

'Now I'm in Hong... Kong...?'

Mostly just had the feel of it and skyscrapers on an island. Other than that, the skyline was utterly off and some of the bridges shot up into the clouds.

'Thank fuck I'm not driving....'

Preferred the dreams with a lot of death over the driving ones.

Bucky's laughter pulled me out of my head. "This is amazing."

Just to humour him, I forced myself to fly higher.

"It's the food truck."

"What?"

I floated downwards and it was the food truck at the D.C park. The very same one. Even had a bench nearby.

In no time at all, we were seated down with amazing smelling pulled pork sandwiches in hand. Bucky on the left. Me on the right.

He already wolfing down his sandwich.

I happily peeled back the wrapping of mine and opened my mouth.

'....'

It's quiet, which meant Bucky wasn't driving. Likely asleep now, so best not to disturb him.

'Can I sleep some more...?'

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Author's Note:

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