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As the days went by, he would sit on the uncomfortable mattress and stare at the brown wall in front of him.

He was starting to remember more, and it frightened him to know that he changed so much from a carefree lad fighting to protect his country.

It hurt to even think about it, so instead he thought about her. The woman that wasn't afraid of him.

For the hundredth time he glanced at the number in his hand.

Then reaching for a burner phone, he punched the numbers in and waited as it rang in his ear.

"This is Clarissa Sparrow." Came her voice.

His courage died and his voice faltered.

"Hello? Anyone there?"

He held the phone tightly in his metal hand, and when she finally hung up, he crushed it.

As he stared in surprise at his hand, the broken shards of the phone fell to the ground.

Standing up, he left the mess as he left his apartment.

Hands in his pocket, cap over his eyes as he walked to the market place down the street. Unnecessary for the sun was setting, but it comforted him to have something routinely.

There in one stall sat an old woman with a scrunched up face. When he neared, she smiled showing the stumps of her teeth.

"înapoi deja?" Back already?

"Da, it broke."

She chuckled and also switched to English. "You buy another?"

He grimly counted out the money and traded it for the phone.

"Mulțumesce." He said stiffly before turning away.

"Your welcome." The woman called after him as he made his way down the street, slowing when he heard scuffling from an alleyway.

Immediately he changed from relaxed to stealth mode as he hugged the alleyways wall, staying in the shadows.

His eyes adjusted to the darkness, and he saw a teenage male throwing punches at a younger, smaller male, who refused to surrender.

A pain exploded in his mind, and he doubled over groaning as a new memory came in.

Him finding his friend getting beat up by a man.

Him stepping in to help, and helping his friend up after the fight.

Him treating the younger fellow like a brother.

With a start it stopped, and he looked up to see an empty alleyway.

He stood there lost in his thoughts until a rat ran across the pavement, causing him to jerk back to reality.

Casting one final glance down the alleyway, feeling strangely alone, he opened his new burner phone and typed a number in.

"Hello?"

"Clarissa, it's Bucky."

"Oh, hey! What's up?"

"Can we talk?"

Bucharest || Bucky BarnesWhere stories live. Discover now