Let Me Go (Book Four)

Chapter: 22

DAY: 276

Lark

Two days passed and Bucky still had not come back, and I hadn't heard anything from him. Thor stayed, Natasha showed up late the night Bucky left. Natasha's been keeping me company, allowing Thor his distance while also his own presence in the room. I hadn't moved much from the living room, sitting in the window watching the snow and the early morning light glitter against it like broken pieces of glass. I had had nightmares every night since he had left. The faceless men with the gloves had appeared again, bringing back terrible painful memories from the cells and from before then.

I couldn't tell anyone about this, no one would listen or take it seriously. Natasha would tell me it's just a dream, Thor would give me some scientific, philosophical look on the dream while also sharing with me beliefs of his people. Bucky would tell me that it's just my mind retracing it's steps, looking back on the hard empty days I'd spent in the cells or being tortured or pursued, only to erase them later one layer at a time. To me, they were just bad dreams, by things that kept scratching at the back of my eyes, screaming at me to pay attention and remember.

I got up from the window and walked into the kitchen, pulling out a mug from the cabinet and flipping on the facet, letting the water drain into it, I looked out the window. It was dark outside, the stars glittering against the velvet sky.

"Hey kid."

I jumped at the voice, dropping the mug into the sink, I spun around and saw Logan sitting at the table, he stood up.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

"Dammit Logan, you always have to scare me like that?" I shook my hand out, shaking the water from my hand to the floor. I turned around and turned off the water, setting the mug upright in the sink. I looked back to Logan, I leaned back against the counter, my hands on either side of my hips.

"How you holding up?"

"Just fine." I answered him. "You? How's solo life?"

"It's lonely, but then again it's comfortable." he told me grinning. "You're looking good, kid."

"Thanks. Not too bad yourself, mountain man." I said back. Logan chuckled to himself.

After I poured clean water into my mug and sat at the table with Logan, drinking tea, I relaxed a little.

"How you been holding up here?" he asked me, leaning back in his chair. "Must be nice, being all alone out here and all."

"Well I've got Natasha and Thor here, so I'm not really alone." I said.

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah, I know what you meant." I said, pausing. "It's lonely up here, even with Bucky. We don't have any neighbors, which granted is nice, there isn't anyone for miles and miles of this cabin."

"Hows the soldier doing? Heard he left you to go looking for some scientist with Fury."

"He left two days ago." I answered him. "Before that he was doing just fine, but when he got the call that he was needed I'm not sure how he changed. I don't know how he's doing now, I haven't heard from him."

"I bet he's doing fine, that guy's been through a lot worse." Logan leaned his elbows on the table.

"I was told that you wouldn't be coming here, that you were already wrapped up in a previous engagement." I said, leaning back, fiddling with the handle of my mug.

"Had to find some way to stay out of Fury's line of sight. To be honest I didn't actually want to come up here to visit, but I heard Bucky had left on a mission and thought you'd need some friendly company."