Before I start, I just wanted to thank kotono3 for breaking me into 100 followers! Thank you so much not only to them, but to all of you who followed! I never thought this many people would be interested in my story. I hope you all stay along for the ride

"...What is this place?"

Bucky finally managed to spit those few words out. As he peeled out the window into his new surroundings. After melting the gate shut (To ward off lost tourists and the government, Rosa said), the two runaways slipped back into the car and followed the winding road.

An open, grassy plane laid between the dirt road, with thick blades of grass that visibly danced around the wind. Tall, monstrous trees stood around the plain like a little makeshift valley. Even with all of the nature that surrounded the two, not even bird was in sight. All there was was the cool, forest air and the slight sound of a trickle of a river.

Rosa uncomfortably stretched out her fingers across the steering wheel, as though the question itself was enough to throw herself out of the. With a quick sigh, she forced those feelings back in the depths of her mind.

"An old HYDRA hideout," Rosa said bluntly "I know what your thinking, I either lead you into a trap, or HYDRA's going to stumble in here. I honestly don't think the D.C incident destroyed those bastards once and for all. They're like cockroaches"

"I thought the latter" Bucky quietly responded, refusing to meet her light brown eyes.

"And I don't blame you. Trust me, they're not coming," The firebender assured "They have some kind of policy that they have to abandon a safe house 20 years after its registered. It's obvious because they lets this place rot and rust"

"Oh" He replied with a slight shrug.

"I thought HYDRA would teach a guy like you about that. I just know because that's what I heard"

In an instant, Bucky drew his eyes down to his exposed, rough hands and clenched his thumb close to his fist. Whatever HYDRA told him via protocol was stuck behind the Winter Soldier, the actual Winter Soldier just a few words away from being unlocked. Sure, some memories of his...actions were just the surface thoughts on his mind. Others...belonged to the Winter Soldier. That included mission details.

He swallowed, and glanced straight up "I don't remember"

"Oh..." Rosa replied ever so awkwardly. She gave a slight cough, before she locked her eyes firmly on the dirt path again.

"How did you hear about this place?" Bucky quietly asked.

"Because I used it, when I, um..." The firebender paused, and released a well needed sigh "When I escaped. It's ironic, really. I ran away from HYDRA, and ended up just coming back into HYDRA's arms. I've used it a few times ever since"

"What happened?" Bucky mumbled.

"...I don't wanna talk about it. It's in the past, so it's gonna stay there" Rosa cut through his curiosity like a knife. She opened her mouth in attempt to defend herself, but snapped it shut in seconds. She didn't need to defend her actions. Bucky knew that well enough.

"Anyways," Rosa quickly changed the subject "How's your shoulder feeling? I haven't taken a look at it for a while"

Bucky gently trailed his metallic, silver fingers across his murdered shoulder, feeling every little bump, crevasse, and abnormality that bullet created. Sure, it was pulled out, but even with his fast regeneration, he knew it was bound to leave some kind of scar. At least it wasn't on his face.

"It's fine" Bucky bluntly replied.

"No, really," the firebender pushed "You don't have to act all stoic and pretend there isn't a goddamn thing wrong on the world. I don't know how fast you heal, considering what HYDRA did to you, but it's gotta hurt. I have fast healing too, but small paper cuts are still a bitch. Honest, how does it feel?"

The ex-Winter Soldier once again drew his fingers across the bumps and crevasse that hid under his thin shirt. Triggered by nothing by touch, a stinging sensation stunned his shoulder slightly. It wasn't enough to make him groan or moan, but it was enough to cause him to dig his teeth into his inner lip.

"I've been better," Bucky broke his silence "I'll be alright"

Rosa opened her mouth to protest his lackluster answer, but immediately shut it. She knew that answer was much better than his 'it's fine' or 'it doesn't matter'. That was probably as much as she would get out of him at this point in time. But, it was some kind of progress.

"That's good," Rosa shrugged "After we get settled and everything, I'll take another peak. It's about time we change those bandages, anyways"

All Bucky did was nod.

Rosa drove the car into another thick line of trees, buying the vehicle within shadows and spotty darkness. Around a sharp bend, the safe house revealed itself. Surrounded by thick, rich plains stood a small, one story little abode. Built with stone, wood, and metal, it was a simple and sturdy refuge, large enough to house the two American runaways and small enough it hide itself from potential threats. It simply looked like a remote cabin made fishing and hunting trips. Nothing awfully suspicious.

"Here we are," Rosa said, as she slammed the car door shut. With a smirk, she breathed in the fresh, forest air "It's a beaut, isn't it?"

The ex-Winter Soldier carefully examined the little safe house from afar, studying every little detail that HYDRA crafted into their temporary home. To the naked eye, it looked like any other house: cozy and unsuspecting. To Bucky however, the details were everything. An extra door from the kitchen. A door to under the house. A large window in the attic. Highly flammable materials that made the house. The list went on and on for Bucky. He knew one thing, however.

HYDRA loved their comfort.

Rosa walked up the chipped stone steps "If I remember correctly, everything is powered by propane, so we might have to go into town for that later. The tank is near the...river, I think. Water is supplied the river and runs into a tank outside the bedrooms. That I actually remember"

"Food?" Bucky asked.

"There's a small garden just up the stone path. Everything is probably as dead as hell, so we'll have to get seeds or something. For other things...we'll have to go into town. Unless you want to eat rabbit and deer while we're here"

He carelessly shrugged.

"For now, I guess we'll have to live on spam. I know I gave you a hard time for it before, but I didn't know it'd pay off this much" Rosa admitted. She dug through her pockets and pulled out a pair of slightly rusted keys. With a simply turn, the door creaked open and revealed the innards of the safe house.

Even in the entrance, a simple, but ugly printed couch stood right in front of a heavily dusty T.V, rounded out and nearly grey from the blanket of dust that lined it. A few dirty tables and chairs were shoved to the side, in need of a good cleaning, or even perhaps a good hosing down. Sure, equally ugly wallpaper lined the walls like grandma's old kitchen (and it smelled like her too...), but Rosa couldn't complain too much. She had a roof over her head and a bed. If she had internet it would be perfect.

"Let's get our stuff and unpack," Rosa thought "I think I'll be able to make something tasty with your spam afterwards"

Bucky nodded in agreement, and headed for the car once more. With nothing more than a hefty black bag and a few plastic bags to his name, he quickly shuffled from the car to the nearest bedroom. Right when he opened the bedroom door, he caught a strong whiff of the forest air, dirt and all. He quickly scrunched his nose, and hurled his stuff into the small, plaid sheets. Although a small layer of dust coated the sheets, and everything around it, he knew a quick whack of the sheets would clean them enough. If not, he remembered Rosa packed some shampoo.

With a sigh, he zipped his backpack wide open and began to pull out his various small, black notebooks, packed to the brim with various thoughts. In a big handful, he yanked out at least 6 of those packed books, and spread them across the dusty dresser in one straight line. He knew when he wrote them simply by their condition. The one with a strand of tape across the cover was written while he found a permanent place to sleep. The one with the corner torn off was written when he found a couch for his little basement. The one coated in thick layers of tape was written only days after HYDRA and SHIELD alike fell.

He squinted his clear blue eyes, as drew them over to the notebook covered in yellowing tape. He knew its been awhile since cracked that particular one open. After he finished a notebook, he took a quick glance through it, then simply tossed it aside, and started the next one. He was a machine when it came to writing every little memory that popped in his head.

With nothing else to do, he picked up his first little black note poke, and began to thumb through it curiously. Various pictures of the man with the metal arm were scanned past by the ex-Winter Soldier. James Buchanan Barnes dressed himself in an army uniform, a hefty bag, and a smirk. That same lopsided smirk seemed to follow each picture in the notebook, fitted perfectly with the soldier.

No photos of Bucky were seen.

He stopped flipping as he nearly reached the end of the notebook, revealing a mess of words, lines, and various colored notes. Although no pictures were glued or taped on that particular page, the words were more than enough.

My name is (Name here) -James Buchanan Barnes(?)-Bucky. Today is August 20th, 2014. The man with the blond hair (The museum said his name was Steven Grant Rogers. What did I call him?-Steve I called him Steve), was on a run at 0600 across Lincoln memorial. He ran with another man (The man who flew through the air. Get name later). I think he ran a lot, in WW2 (Captain America IS Steven Grant Rogers-–Steve). He fought the bad guys (Nazis and HYDRA. Go to the library and pick up a book about them), along with James(Me). We-

"Bucky?" Rosa's voice suddenly filled his ears. In an instant, Bucky snapped the little book shut, and raised his head at the curious brown haired firebender, who leaned against the frame of the door. He stared back at Rosa with curious, clear blue eyes, as though he was a kid caught in the act of stealing a cookie from the cookie jar.

Bucky swallowed that thick lump in his throat, and drew his eyes to the frame of the door. No matter how hard he tried to hide the surprise in his face, Rosa read him like an open book. Which was odd to her.

She raised a brow "Are you ok? You look a little shaken up there"

The brown haired man pursed his lips, and nodded slightly "Yeah"

He quickly shoved that particular journal back into his backpack, and tossed the entire bag into the closet. Without another word, he squeezed past Rosa, amusing her to stumble awkwardly to the side. She continued to raise her brow as Bucky shuffled away into the kitchen, like the recluse he was. She assumed all he did was hide away from human contact as often as he could, considering all they shared together was a motel room. And potential deaths of one another.

Not wanting to poke around his thoughts too much, she shrugged her own thoughts off, and started in trek into the kitchen. Before she left however, she couldn't help but notice those familiar black books, lined up like little toy soldiers on his dresser. Like he did back in D.C.

New thoughts filled her unusually empty head. Very interesting thoughts.

Thank you guest for your review!

Sorry about how short the chapter is today. I pretty much got across what I wanted in these few words, so...I didn't want to drag it on meaninglessly.

In other news, I think I'm going to take a little break on this fic for now. Don't worry, it won't be very long, I'll probably just miss an update date or two, but I just need to go back and edit some chapters, for the sake of consistency and just making it better to my standards now. I hope you understand.

I hope you enjoyed! Reviews are appreciated!

- X-Xepher-X