Red Winter [Bucky Barnes]

Chapter Six: Midnight Train to Moscow

I watch as the snowy barren Siberian land flies past us, some part of me wishing that we could go back to the bunker. There was something brewing deep in my stomach, as if I knew that everything would change when we arrived at Moscow.

Would I be ready to go back home? Could I even call it home, knowing everything that they had done to me. As it twisted as it was, there were moments that I could look back at happily. Performing at the Bolshoi, nights spent wandering the streets in the snow.

Even when I was younger, I was so excited to live in Moscow, I had grown up in a small village in the middle of nowhere. I had always dreamed of growing up and living in Moscow, which looking back now was ironic. What would young little Katerina think of the woman I had become?

I think she would be scared of me, scared of all the unthinkable things I had done. Hell, even now I was terrified of who I had become. They had conditioned me to become numb to the world, but slowly emotion was slipping through the cracks.

There was only one thing that seemed to have spurned this change in me; Barnes.

My eyes glance over to him, who was slouched in chair across from me. Somehow we had been stuck in the same cabin, even though Hydra owned the whole train we were on. I guess they were shipping out a bunch of us to Moscow at the same time.

Still, I didn't mind spending this time with him. It seemed like every time we were together, I chipped away part of his cold exterior. Was that why I was so drawn to him? Did I just want to crack him, or was there something more?

"Staring is rude, Katerina," he says softly as he turns to look at me, a small smile on his lips. "Did your parents raise you in a barn," he quips, his smile growing as he waits for my comeback.

I smirk as I lean back in my chair, mimicking his posture, "Funny, I was going to ask you the same question." I exaggerate as I slouch down in my chair, huffing as I kick my legs up. "Seriously Barnes, how do you not wake up with back pain," I ask as I fix my posture, groaning as I rub my now sore back.

He laughs as he sits up straighter, "Should have known that a ballerina like yourself was so delicate," he teases. He pauses, as if he was waiting for me to snap back. With a small flick on my finger I sweep him out of his chair. He groans as he hits the ground, and I can't contain the smile on my face.

"Careful Barnes, your cockiness might get you killed one day," I whisper as I brush my hair behind my shoulders, remembering the way it felt when he pulled it. I watch as his eyes go dark for a split second, before he quickly shuts them.

"We should get some sleep, we have to hit the ground running when we arrive in Moscow," he says suddenly, changing the subject. He begins to set up the bed, but pauses when he realizes that they had given us a cabin with only one bed.

He looks at me hesitantly and a little nervously, which was strange, I don't think I had ever seen him nervous. "You can take the bed and I will sleep on the couch," he tells me as he motions to the stiff and poorly cushioned couch across from me.

I raise my eyebrow as I cross my arms, frustrated with him. "Seriously, Barnes," I sigh as I shake my head, "we're both adults, we can share the bed. Besides I'm worried about how that weak spine of yours would handle the couch," I attempt to make a joke, hoping to lighten the mood.

He shakes his head as he heads over to couch, turning his back to me. "Get some sleep Katerina," he whispers, curling up into himself, obviously cold. Dear god, could this man be anymore stubborn? I offered him a bed with sheets and he was going to let himself freeze on this couch.

Frustrated with his stubbornness, I sigh loudly as I slide into the bed, turning by back to him. Why was he so hot and cold? There were times when he would be warm and welcoming, hell, I could even see a little sense of humor slipping through. But then I would say one thing and he would shut down, retreat back into himself.