Tangled Paths | Bucky Barnes

Chapter 14: James

14
James

Darla awoke on the blow-up mattress Sam had put out for her in the spare room. She laid and stared at the ceiling for a while, wondering if the team was okay. She texted Steve and waited for a response but after a while, she sighed and rolled out of bed. She got dressed and headed out into the living room where Sam was eating a bowl of cereal and watching the news.
"There's coffee for you in the pot if you want some. Oh, and I booked three plane tickets," Sam said to her as she made her way to the pot. She froze and turned to look at him.
"What do you mean three?" She asked groggily. Before Sam could reply Bucky walked in the side door with a duffel bag over his shoulder and a baseball cap on his head. Darla gritted her teeth at this. She locked eyes with him for a moment then finished making her coffee and without a word headed back to her room.
"We're leaving in an hour!" Sam called after her, then her door slammed.

Once the trio got to the airport in separate cabs Darla took in her surroundings and made Bucky lead so she could keep an eye on him, every time she'd get too close she'd stop walking for a few moments and wait for him to get further ahead of her. Sam walked with Darla and explained things to her about the security involving commercial flights these days. Darla was upset she couldn't smoke in the airplane and Bucky chuckled from ahead of them causing Darla to shoot him a look. She said she was sure there were things about the future that he didn't enjoy. Bucky mutters something under his breath that she didn't catch. Sam had booked two seats together and one further back in the plane. Not liking the idea of Bucky sitting behind her and not being able to see him she opted to sit alone in the back of the plane while Sam and Bucky sat up front. She couldn't help but think about her and her father's flight to Austria when they moved there in 42.

When they first landed in Vienna, Darla was excited to see everything again. However, she began to get emotional and worked up by the time they were finished in Baggage. Finally, they'd arrived in the rental area. Darla was trembling slightly while she had a smoke. She almost didn't even recognize the airport. It looked completely different from when she'd come in last. She was beginning to realize exactly how much she'd missed. She was so zoned out that when Bucky's voice brought her back to reality that her lit smoke had almost burned all the way down.
"Hey, you okay?" Bucky asked as he packed all their bags into his rental. Darla pulled herself together as a sense of panic washed over her. She threw her poker face back on when she realized she let herself look weak in front of him. She cleared her throat and stepped out the smoke.
"I'm fine, you don't need to take care of me," Darla said to Bucky harshly. Bucky cleared his throat and gave a small nod in response then looked away. Sam opened the passenger door to his rental car for Darla so she walked over and climbed in. Sam closed the door and gave Bucky a nod.
"Lead the way." He said to Bucky before getting in the car.

After a few hours, Darla saw the Sign that welcomed them to Épiris. Darla hadn't spoken a word to Sam the entire drive. Her phone began to buzz on the dashboard and she stared at it. "Are you gonna get that?" Sam asked her. Darla was too busy staring at the back of Bucky's rental and thinking about her time here in the 40s. "Darla?" Sam asked again. Darla pulled herself out of her thoughts and looked at him.
"Hm?" She asked him, completely unaware of what was happening.
"You just missed a call," Sam said to her. Darla reached forward onto the dashboard and grabbed it to see she had a missed call from Steve.
"Ah shit." She said out loud as she unlocked her phone to call him back. Just as she was about to a text came through.

'Hey, It's Steve.
I just wanted to check in on how things are going there. Don't worry about us we're safe.
-Steve'

"Oh my god, he texts like he's writing a letter," Darla said out loud.
"Oh yeah, Steve? I've told him so many times he doesn't need to address himself twice when he's sending a message but I guess he just doesn't get it." Sam smirked. Darla stared at the text message for a minute unsure how to reply. Finally, she settles with 'you'll know when I know, glad your safe' And put her phone down as Bucky pulled into the hotel parking lot. Darla sighed and climbed out of the car to stretch.