LIGHTNING STORM |b. barnes| [2]

CHAPTER 19

THAT NIGHT, Anastasiya broke out of the hospital with Bucky. She only went back to her apartment to change into different clothes and gather a few belongings.

Hydra broke into her house hours later, finding it abandoned.

ATM footage caught her emptying out her bank account. That was the last they saw of her.

And now, she was camping out in an abandoned apartment building with the Winter Soldier.

His arm had healed quickly, only being in a sling for two days before it had fully healed. Ana was amazed and a little jealous as she was still sporting an injured rib.

The building sat downtown of the DC area, where there was mostly condemned and empty buildings. Filled with drug addicts and the homeless. To any outsider, they were squatters.

Bucky had barely spoken. Only nodded and shaking his head as responses. Ananya was slowly starting to go crazy, just wanting a decent conversation. That was the least he could do since he dragged her into his mess.

Well, not really dragged. She chose to help him, probably because of the hopelessness that he held in his steel blue eyes. 

She wanted to help him remember, but he was making it kind of hard. Whenever Ana asked him about his past, he'd clam up.

They took turns on watch. One would sleep on the stained mattress that sat in the corner while they other sat by the window that overlooked the street.

It took a while before Bucky trusted her enough to let her take watch alone. He was always afraid  she'd either shoot him or run away while he slept.

Not that he slept much anyway. It would only take a few hours of sleep before his nightmares would scare him awake.

Ananya would often watch sadly as he cried in his sleep. She understood, she had nightmares too.

Two weeks after the fall of SHIELD, Bucky had taken over watch, letting Ana sleep for the remaining hours of the night.

They were waiting for DC to calm down before going anywhere else.

She only slept for four hours, not completely trusting the Winter Soldier yet, either. She had just opened her eyes when Bucky spoke,

"I remember you..." He stated, staring out the window as he kept watch, "November 16, 2010..." Ana sighed and squeezed her eyes shut as she remembered the events of that day, "I remember aiming the gun at your head, standing over you as you slept."

Ana sat up, the thin blanket pooling by her hips, "Why didn't you do it?" She asked quietly but knew he heard her, even over the sounds of the cars honking and the city coming to life,

All these years she wondered why her life was spared but not John's. And now... now she was getting answers. Finally, after four years.

"You were pregnant." He answered and her breath hitched, "I saw the picture you put on the fridge. The scan of the baby. I tried to pull the trigger, but I couldn't."

"So you kill my fiancé instead?" Ana questioned, "Why were we targets?"

Why did someone want to kill them in the first place?

"Johnathan Murray Blacberne was recruited for HYRDA. He wanted some time before he made a decision. HYRDA couldn't risk that so they sent me to eliminate the threat. I was supposed to make it look like a robbery gone wrong. I had to assassinate both of you."

Ananya stayed silent as she stood from the mattress and slipped on her jacket. She walked over to stand next to him, staring out into the city, "It wasn't you. It was the Winter Soldier. Hydra."

"I'm the Winter-"

"No, you're not." Ana turned to face him. 

His steel blue eyes were sad as they stared out the window. His scruff had been growing out the past few weeks, it's almost turned into a full beard.

Ana sighed, "You're James Buchanan Barnes. World War II veteran. Part of the Howling Commandos. Best friend of Steve Rogers."

Bucky closed his eyes, "I keep... hearing that name."

Ana stared down at the flyers that littered the street, "We could go to the Smithsonian. They have a Captain America exhibit. I'm willing to bet they have something on you as well."

He shook his head, "Too public."

"We can't just stay hidden away forever, Bucky." Ana took a few steps back and grabbed her gun from under the mattress, "I'm going to get food. I'll take over my shift after."

Bucky stared back at her, his eyes piercing her, "I'll be back, Bucky."

And after grabbing some food from down the street, she was back. Once he ate, he passed out on the mattress.

Ana sat by the window, eating her fries slowly. They can't stay here, not for too much longer.

Bucky began whimpering and Ana sat up. She looked over at him and he was twitching and sweating profusely.

"Bucky?" She mumbled, standing and walking over to him, "Buck?"

Ana moved her hands to brush his hair away, "Bucky-" She whispered,

Once her hand made contact with his skin, Bucky shot up. He wrapped his metal hand around her neck, flipping her over and pinning her onto the mattress,

"Bu..cky..." Ananya gasped, her hands wrapped around his wrist, "Stop." She begged, struggling to get air into her lungs.

As black spots filled her vision, she reached up and her hand hovered by his temple before she sent a bolt of electricity to his head. Bucky held his head in pain and fell back on the bed.

Ana leaned over and began coughing, trying to suck in air while rubbing her sore neck.

Bucky quickly recovered and stared at her in horror as she recovered from his attack on her. He swiftly got out of the bed and rushed out of the room,

"Wait." Ana called our hoarsely, "Buck..." She ran out of the room and looked around.

The front door was open, and the room was empty.

Ana went over to the window and threw it open before looking up and down the street, trying to find any sign of the soldier,

"Bucky!"