Run and Hide - (s. rogers)

fourteen

"Are you sure about this?"

Bucky tore his eyes away from the glass container, there was such sorrow and pain in his eyes, a slight smile on his lips, "I can't trust my own mind."

I sighed. There were men and women in white coats standing behind the container, waiting for Bucky to move. It was achingly familiar. I could picture the secret lab where Doctor Erskine and Howard Stark injected me with the super soldier serum.

The emptiness in his eyes would haunt me.

I watched him continue to eye the glass. He was trying to be brave, but I could see the struggle as memories came to mind.

As I watched him, Jack came to mind. And the aching pain that haunted her. What was her story?

My train of thought crashed as Bucky stood. He took three steps and climbed into the container.

The lid came down around him and the glass became frosty as the temperature in the container dropped. It pained me to see Bucky's closed eyes, his shallow breathing. But he was completely relaxed. I could tell.

No more monsters haunted him in his coma-like state.

I hoped that I could take comfort in that. After going years thinking Buck was dead, thinking that he was gone for good, I could barely hold myself together when I looked at the present-day Buck.

Ever since that day on the bridge.

The image of Bucky in my head was no longer the happy, sarcastic man who lived back in 1942. He was tortured. He was haunted. He was lost.

I turned away from the container, unable to utter a goodbye.

I found T'Challa standing outside the chamber. He was looking out over his land. He was king now.

"Your friend and my father, they were both victims. If I can help one of them find peace..."

I took a deep breath, calming my raging emotions, "You know, if they find out he's here. They'll come for him."

A beat passed.

I glanced at T'Challa.

He met my eyes, "Let them come."

I held back a grin at his confidence in his country. I turned my head and glanced out the window. The view was beautiful. The morning mist was rising, covering the jungle with white mist. You could see for miles from this area of T'Challa's compound.

I excused myself and moved through the compound, heading for my room.

The place was mostly empty, considering that this facility was secret. T'Challa had explained that his father had wanted a place to store the country's discoveries. The discoveries that were too dangerous to show to the world.

Bucky was dangerous.

That thought brought back the image that I hadn't been able to shake.

Jack, with Bucky's fingers wrapped around her neck.

I breathed deeply, trying to assure myself that Bucky was okay. But in truth, I knew, deep down, that he would never be the same. That lingering hope, the hope that Bucky could change, was fading with each passing day.

I pulled open the door to my room.

When we first arrived, Bucky had remarked that the rooms reminded him of a cell. With the gray walls and bare furniture, I could see how he made that connection. But I took comfort in the rooms. They reminded me of my old apartment back in Brooklyn.

I moved past the desk that sat in the corner and sat on the bed. No, on the cot. I laughed to myself, hearing Bucky's voice in my head.

I could picture us laughing together. Bucky defending me. Teasing me. Pushing me further. My whole life was shaped by Bucky.

I shook my head and grabbed the small cell phone off the top of my backpack. I pushed speed dial for Sam.

I waited a few minutes for it to connect to him.

"Hello?"

"Sam." I leaned back on the cot, "How's it going?"

"Um... well we've hit a slight bump."

I tensed, "What?"

"Well, we got to Jack's grandparent's house about three days ago. It looked empty, but it wasn't. Jack and I went in to check it out."

I waited as Sam spoke to someone in the background, "Sam."

"I'm back. Well, there was a woman upstairs. She had a panic attack when she saw Jack."

"Why Jack?" I mused aloud.

"Well, it gets better." Sam spoke sarcastically.

"That's great." I muttered.

"Yeah, well. I glanced at Jack. Steve, get this. She was as white as a sheet. She froze. Well, the woman collapsed, so I helped her through the attack."

What about Jack? I wanted to voice the question, but didn't.

"And when I turned around, Jack was gone."

I frowned, "What do you mean?"

"Steve, she's gone. Clint said that she ran into the barn out back and drove out a few minutes later. Apparently, there was a car in there."

I couldn't believe it, "She's gone?"

I could see Sam shaking his head now, "Yeah, man. She hasn't made any contact since she left."

I was silent for a moment, "What about the other woman?"

Sam sighed, "Her name is Jade Raids. She used to live with Jack's Gran. She was coming back to the house to pack up her things, since the old woman had passed."

"Did she say anything about Jack?"

"Yeah. When I asked if she knew Jack, she said that wasn't her name. That she didn't know a Jack Trix. But the woman she saw was named Addilynn Pearson."

Addilynn.

"What about her?" I could feel my heart start racing. It felt wrong. Why did Jack affect me like this?

"She said that Addilynn was her old neighbor when she lived in Oregon. Apparently, something bad happened, Steve."

"Did she say what?"

"No."