THE FADING FALLEN ● Bucky Barnes X OC ● 18+ ● ENGLISH [COMPLETE]

Chapter 69

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On the streets of Georgia, December

Bucky sat behind the wheel of the old emerald green classic car as they made their way across the states to Delacroix.

It was close to Christmas and they were heading to Sarah, AJ and Cass to share the holidays with their friends.

At first, Bucky didn't know what to make of the idea of a two-week, nearly 900-mile road trip. Especially not with the aging Mustang Shelby.

But Emilia insisted.

After sending the parpier stuff to the necessary authorities for the establishment of the charity organization and finally settling the sale of the property in Madripoor, her grandfather's old heirloom was the last thing she still had left of her family's inheritance. Nevertheless, she had to slowly say goodbye to it as well.

A bit wistfully the two-week trip with Bucky started, which was at the same time the first real vacation together.

She kept the fact, that she only shortly before the trip received another rather mysterious letter, in which someone unknown asked her to meet that person in a specific place at a specific time, to herself.

Emilia suppressed the feeling of trepidation that was spreading through her. Something made her believe that it was just a prank played by the rebellious neighbor boy. Whether it was so, she wanted to find out, though, when they returned.

All that mattered now was the upcoming time together with Bucky and her friends.

They made a few planned stops in Washington DC and Richmond. There they shopped a couple of Christmas gifts.

During their side trip to the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest, they rented one of the small private cabins there for four nights.

Emilia just loved the countryside and couldn't do without it. Bucky, too, was noticing more and more that living in the big city didn't appeal to him as much as in the past.

This wasn't necessarily due to the lack of nature but rather to the countless people, the constant noise and the sometimes unbearable sounds when there was a shooting somewhere or the ambulance raced along the streets every two minutes. All this triggered not only some bad memories, but also again and again the crushing nightmares.

The fact that they were otherwise little worth mentioning was solely due to the woman, who at that moment slept a little rolled to the side under the white wool blanket on the passenger seat.

Bucky could hear very clearly the soft breathing beside him on the snowy Interstate 83 just ahead of Atlanta.

It was that steady soothing sound and Emilia's peaceful-looking face that scared away the horrific images of his memories every night when he woke from sleep haunted by the victims and his actions.

With one hand on the steering wheel, his other lay under the blanket on her raised thigh. Gently, he stroked the fabric of her jeans there with his thumb.

When he saw the signs whizzing by, he squeezed lightly.

"Hey, little dimple. Wake up. We're almost there."

Emilia could hear his calm voice, but hung on in the slumber for a few seconds longer before blinking several times to open her eyes.

"Mmm..."

Lolling a bit, she looked up at him still half lying down.

"Where are we?"

He couldn't help but grin at the sleepy look in her half-open eyes.