Broken Glass (Book 4)

1.2

Location: Bucharest, Romania

The flight was nerve racking. Not for me, I was calm and had fallen asleep a couple of times during the flight. But Bucky on the other hand... Well that was a different story. Before I had a chance to fall asleep as the plane took off, I saw Bucky, curled up into a ball, breathing in and out. He was having a panic attack. I had plenty of them before but it was different watching someone else go through it. I stood up and sat down in the seat next to him. I stared at him for a second, a little nervous to touch him. I wasn't completely sure what they did to him as the "Winter Soldier" so I wanted to make sure I didn't make him more nervous and switch that flip in his brain accidentally. I slowly moved my hand towards his hand and gripped it. He looked up at me, his eyes filled with worry and panic. "Not a fan of flying?" I ask him, smiling a little at him as I try to make sure he doesn't freak out any more. I rubbed my thumb over the back of his hand. He didn't have to reply to me for me to know he was nervous. I just held his hand for the rest of the trip until we touched ground.

As soon as we landed, I thanked Peter and quickly walked away, leading Bucky through the busy city. We were careful not to draw too much attention to ourselves as we maneuvered our way through the crowd of people. When we reached a tall building, rustic looking, I opened the door, making sure Bucky followed me inside. I made sure to close the door behind me and walked up to the front of the room. It was an old apartment complex. Nat and I had a mission here a while back and a couple that owned this place, let us stay here and made sure no one found us. "Bine ati venit." {Welcome!} A familiar male voice rang out. I saw Andrei walk out and he smiled when he saw me. "Dragă. Mă bucur sa te revad." {Dear, I'm glad to see you again.} I smiled at Andrei and hugged the old man.

"Acesta este prietenul meu, Bucky. Avem nevoie de o cameră." {This is my friend, Bucky. We need a room.} The old man nodded, understanding. I told him that if I ever came back here, it would be the same as last time. We needed to be completely off the grid. I paid Andrei up front and he nodded, smiling at me. He handed me the key and I thanked him. Bucky looked confused as we walked away.

"What just happened?" I smiled at him.

"I know Romanian. He is an old friend." Bucky looked at me as I unlocked the door to our room, locking it behind me. "I can teach you, if you want?" I shrugged as I put my bag down near the first bedroom.

"Huh?" Bucky asked, looking over. I smiled to myself as I saw him eating a plum that I had picked up on the way here.

"I can teach you how to speak Romanian." Bucky nodded and gave me a small smile.

"I'd like that. Thank you." In that moment, it was like he was ok.

⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛⊛

While staying inside all day for who knows how long wasn't ideal, it was the only thing that would keep Bucky safe. Neither of us knew who was out there and it wouldn't surprise me if there was someone out there looking for him. And even if no one was looking for him, we certainly couldn't go back to the states. Both of us had prices on our heads.

Days were long, especially with nothing to do, but we tried to do things to entertain us. I helped Bucky with his Romanian. He was a quick learner. Probably because of what they did to him. So far, none of his memories have returned. He had some memories already but since we had come to Romania, he hadn't had any new memory flashes. I was on the couch one day, looking out the window, staring at the rain fall. I didn't hear him come in the room, but when I turned around, he was there. I jumped and it caused a startled look on his face. "Sorry." He murmured, looking out the window. I turned back towards the window with a small smile on my lips.

"It's ok." It was silent for a few more seconds before I looked back to Bucky. I was just watching him. He wasn't the man I used to know. But he wasn't the Winter Soldier either. He was someone I didn't know, but I wanted to know him and for our own sake, I think I had to get to know him. "Hey Bucky?" He looked over at me, but I could tell that Bucky was still a foreign name to him. "I got you something." Walking over to my room, I came back with 2 things in my hand. I handed them to him. "A journal. Anything you want to write down, you can. Maybe nightmares or any memories you have or just thoughts you have during the day." He nodded as he flipped through the empty pages. "And that's a photo album. Whether you're ready. We can go through them and maybe it'll help you remember something." He gave me a smile that reminded me of Bucky from back in the day.