"I want to know who you were before everything happened to you." -Maram Rimawi
"Oww," I heard Soldier grunt from the bathroom loudly and then I heard something fall against the sink.
I knocked on the door to announce myself before entering, "You okay?" I asked as I noticed Soldier leaning against the sink, his head slumped down.
"How are you supposed to shave with those things?" Soldier turned around and showed me the razor he was holding.
I was struggling to keep myself from laughing at his confused expression. It really wasn't that hard to use a razor, even when he did use shaving machines back at the base.
I shook my head at him and stepped closer, "Give me that," I grabbed the razor from his hands, "sit down." I ordered and he sat down on the edge of the bathtub.
I took the shaving cream and smeared it gently over his chin, around his mouth and everywhere else he had stubble. He kept his eyes focused on me during all this. As I got done with the cream, I turned the faucet on and grabbed the razor and started shaving his facial hair. I was trying to be as careful as possible so I wouldn't cut him, like he had done before.
I rinsed the excess cream off the razor once again and then started struggling to move around him to shave the part around his mouth. He seemed to notice my uncomfortable position, since he laid both of his hands gently on my hips before ushering me to move to stand between his legs. I wasn't sure whether the position made me more uncomfortable or whether I was enjoying it. Nevertheless I laid my hand on his shoulder to balance myself while I was still working on his facial hair.
"Have you done this before? Shaving someone's beard, I mean." Soldier finally broke the silence while I was rinsing the cream off again.
"I'm not sure." I answered honestly, but then added, " It's not that hard to use a razor though."
He gave me a weak smile in response to that, which I returned and continued shaving his face in silence until I was finished.
"Alright, all done." I said and put the razor away, before leaving to let him wash the rest of the cream from his face off.
* * *
"Soldier?" I called out for him.
No response. Where on earth could he have gone? I knew I heard him go outside while I was having a shower, but I thought he would be back by now. It had been an hour already. Where on earth was he? He didn't even tell me where he was off to.
"Soldier?" I decided to call once more, even though I knew I wouldn't be getting a response.
The apartment we were staying at wasn't that big. It had a bathroom, kitchen, bedroom and living room. And since he wasn't in any of these rooms, I had absolutely no idea where else he could have been.
I sat down on our couch and started thinking. Maybe someone had captured him, I thought, but quickly shook my head at that. They wouldn't have just gotten him then, they would have gone after me as well. So where was he? For a moment I thought that maybe he had gone outside to get some more clothes or food, but even that seemed hardly unlikely. I mean, we had just got new stuff two days ago. There really was no need to get anything.
We usually only went out during night time, when it was darker, so no one would notice us. We also kept walking around with hoods over our heads or with hats on to cover our faces as much as possible. Clothes and food shopping usually happened during the last minutes that the stores were open, so there weren't many people there either.
After a few more moments I pushed myself up from the couch and decided to go look for him, since he clearly wasn't here. I grabbed my boots and slid my leather jacket on before heading out. Damn, it would have been so much easier if we still had our earpieces, so we could communicate with each other.
I stepped into the empty hallway. It was always empty. Soldier said that the whole building had been a safehouse at one point, which explained where the money and furniture had come from. However I remember being freaked out about the information at first, but he told me that there wasn't anything to worry about, since no one knew who the building belonged to and even when anyone from Hydra was still alive, they would be on the run, trying not to get caught so we were supposedly safe.
I had to admit that I was getting more comfortable with living here as the time went by. I also trusted Soldier with what he did and said, it had been a little over a month that we had spent here now and there didn't seem to be anyone trying to capture us, which didn't mean that we weren't trying to keep a low profile.
"Soldier?" I called out again, hoping that maybe he was somewhere around here.
I heard shuffling coming from above me and then the door that led to the roof opened, "Over here." Soldier said and held the door open for me as I walked over there.
As soon as I stepped on the roof I quickly pulled the leather jacket closer to my body, since the wind was cooler than it has been in a while. Well it was November now, so it wasn't that surprising.
"What are you doing here?" I asked Soldier as he closed the door.
He shrugged his shoulders, "I just like it out here, it's quite peaceful." he said and climbed up the ladder which led even higher, "You coming?" he asked when he sat down and noticed me still standing next to the door.
I didn't need to be told twice, I quickly climbed the ladder and sat down beside him. It was dark outside, but thanks to all the city lights no stars were visible. I pouted lightly at that, but stopped as soon as I noticed I had started.
"It's weird." Soldier spoke after a while, making me look at him confusedly. He sighed and continued, "Brooklyn, I mean. I'm from around here."
"What?" I asked as my mouth fell open at his confession.
He looked at me for a moment and then looked down at his feet that were hanging off the side of the roof, "Yeah, I remembered that a few nights ago. I haven't had the chance to tell you though."
I looked at him, still in shock. He looked distressed and for a moment I felt an urge to wrap my arms around his shoulders to try and console him, but something in me was not ready for that. Not yet at least.
I focused my eyes on my feet as well and sighed, "What else do you remember?"
I could feel his head jerking up to look at me for a moment before he turned his gaze at the city in front of us, "It's so different in my head. All these streets and buildings, everything has changed so much."
"Anything else?" I asked and looked at the cars that were passing by.
The silence that followed made me look at him. He had looked up at the sky as if asking for help from someone up there. He seemed to be in a battle with himself about what to say next. He then closed his eyes for a moment before letting out a shaky breath.
"My name is James Buchanan Barnes."