His Little Ballerina- B. Barnes

Chapter 18: Bucky (2014)

Lithium, don't wanna lock me up inside

~Lithium, Evanescence

I didn't have much time to think. I just immediately grabbed Veronica by her shirt collar and took off running, dragging her for only two seconds before she caught on and began to run beside me.

Surprisingly, she could keep up with me.

Huh, weird.

Stop it. Just focus. Get yourself and the girl out of here.

I told myself this repeatedly until it was second nature. My instincts took over and the only objective right now was making sure Veronica Avonalliv didn't die.

Not today, at least.

Everybody dies, and there's nothing I can do about that, but I can keep her alive until she's out of this shit.

I don't want anyone else's life getting stolen away by Hydra like me, that includes Veronica.

She didn't seem phased at all by the situation. If anything, she thought it was normal. Strange, but normal. Either that, or she was very good at bottling up her emotions.

As we raced down the street, I notice she wasn't behind me at all, but rather, she was ahead of me, which was impossible since my speed and strength are enhanced.

What the-

I couldn't finish my thought because another bullet was fired, and it just barely grazed Veronica's shoulder. She didn't flinch, but instead made a hard right into an alley, and I followed, almost tripping over my own two feet in the process.

We didn't stop running, not even if we thought whoever was shooting at us was long gone by now.

We just kept running and running, trying to avoid as many people as possible so that they wouldn't get caught in the line of fire. As we passed certain buildings, I could see images of... I suppose me...

They were... images... of my past... the past I can't remember.

I could see kids in suspenders and newspaper hats, playing in the street.

Snap out of it.

I had to keep telling myself this in order to focus on getting the two of us somewhere safe.

I heard another gunshot ring out, echoing through the alleyway until it came into contact with Veronica's shoulder.

She still kept going, and didn't think about it. Must be the adrenaline...

It was then that I saw it. The old warehouse from my dreams... where I always saw myself retreating to after a nightmare melted into a memory. I used to play here as a child... this would be perfect to hide, there's so much shit in there it'd take only two seconds to find the perfect spot and years to be found.

I took a hard left, and Veronica followed as I raced ahead of her, staying close to the shaded areas.

We were so close, and that's when another bullet stuck her in the thigh and she collapsed.

..........

I don't know how I did it, but I got us inside without another attack. Whoever was shooting at us clearly thought she had done what needed to be done.

Veronica did wake up for about two hours, and when she did she let out this shriek that still makes my left ear ring.

I dashed over to her, praying she wasn't dying. Instead, she had pulled the bullet from her thigh, and had it clutched between two blood coated fingers.

All I could do was hand her some alcohol I found in a fridge here that was probably no good and her scarf to patch up her wound.

She did everything by herself, as if she'd done this thousands of times before. When she was done, she gave me a puzzled look. "Why haven't you patched yourself up? Didn't you get hit in the arm or something?"

Shit.

I just scratched the back of my neck awkwardly and sat down on an empty crate that was right next to her makeshift cot I put together. "Well uh... you see... I kind of have this-"

She cut me off before I could continue. "Please tell me you're not with S.H.I.E.L.D. The last thing I need is them on my tail again... I just wanted some fucking answers... "

What the hell was she talking about? "Hey, I have no idea who those guys are. Maybe you might wanna explain a few things to me because I honestly have no idea who I am, or why I'm here, why the hell you look so familiar to me!"

I know yelling wasn't exactly the best thing to do in this situation... but I couldn't help it.

Look, I'm sorry that Hydra wiped my mind. I'm sorry I can't remember everything I'm supposed to remember.

Veronica just glared at me, gripping her thigh and trying to swing off the cot, and ended up leaning against it. Her brown hair was messy and tangled, kind of like mine was right now. It shocked me how much she reminded me of... well, I don't know exactly. "Okay, Mr. Mysterious. Let's get this straight. I've got a past that I'm unsure of. I want answers. So long as you don't turn me into the feds, we'll get along fine."

"Are you implying that we're a team? I don't do teams, Miss Avonalliv." I snapped, crossing my arms and pretending the awful smell of old rusty warehouse and mildew didn't bother me.

Veronica just simply nodded her head. "I need help, and since the people chasing after you are apparently chasing after me, you're the only lead I've got." She then again looked at my left shoulder, where a bullet hole had torn through my jacket. "We can start by telling each other a little about ourselves so we aren't at each other's necks."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. There is no way I am ever showing her that metal monstrosity. Every inch of it makes me feel less human than I already am.

"Come on, I swear I'm not judgemental."

It was almost as if she could read my mind.

Well... here goes nothing...

I didn't tell myself I was okay, in fact, I was the opposite of okay as I slide off the glove and the jacket, revealing the glimmering silver I've learned to fear.

She didn't stare in horror. Instead she just mumbled one little word.

"Soldat."