Promises, Promises
“Bucky, wait”
He turns to Steve and takes a finger to his lips, gesturing him to be silence. The blond purses his lips and shakes his head, but ultimately follows him. They are in their – second favorite – place in the colony, the old dock with the abandoned and wrecked ships. Steve doesn’t like much there, he prefers the old Big Wheel, the incessant rocking of the boats make him sick every time, and Steve spent a lot of time sick without the help of the sea.
“I might get sick” Steve says in a whisper.
“Fine” Bucky rolls his eyes, “Just don’t puke all over me, punk”
He hears him chuckles softly, “Jerk”
Bucky glances at him and offers him a smile. It was Bucky’s idea to go there. The High Commander had announced that a new fishing boat – the one Arcadia had gifted them – would be named that day and he wanted to see it before it was unveiled. He had woken Steve before dawn so they could go to the docks.
“It’s not going to be used to fish”
Bucky stops on his tracks and Steve bumps into him, but before he can say anything, he turns and covers his mouth. Steve’s wide blue eyes turn into a glare before he too hears the two men than Bucky had seen.
“They are going to try getting to the other side, or explore underwater, I think” The stranger continues, “Arcadia paid for the boat and they are sending equipment from The Cinders”
Steve and Bucky exchange confused glances and when Steve shrugs, he turns, hiding behind a wall to look at the two men without being noticed. He hadn’t seen them before, and Bucky and Steve knew pretty much everyone in Catalean, they spent their days walking around the colony after school since they can recall. The two men were inhaling something, Supernova, Bucky’s mind supplies, a drug that was only found in Arcadia.
The second man snickers, “Why don’t they just tell these people?”
Good question. Bucky thinks.
“You think Catalean would share if they found something?” The man scoffs, “Why do you think they sent us all the way from Arcadia to supervise?” he makes airquotes.
“Oh, man, what do you think we’ll find?” The other man chuckles, “Have you seen Titanic? That big rock the old lady throws in the ocean”
Both laugh, “Whatever, man, I’ll work two months and then back to Arcadia, the air smells odd here”
Bucky frowns. Steve pulls from his arm then, and before he can turn to him, his foot sinks on a rotten wood palet, making a creaking noise that echoes loudly. He then glances at the two men and they turn to him quickly.
“Hey!” One of the men say, “You there!”
“Steve, run” Bucky whispers harshly.
His feet move before he finishes the sentence.
They can hear the men calling after them, Bucky’s lungs are burning and his legs are weak under him. they have been running for what feels like hours but they hadn’t being able to lose them. It was best to hide inside one of the old boats, The Mirage, he knows it well. The wood was rotten and the salt water had ruined the painting outside of it and Bucky wonders why do they keep them anchored to their docks if they are not useful at all. The two men see them, the light of their flashlights pointing at them and when Steve jumps inside Bucky follows.
He makes a wrong turn and falls, and he’s submerged underwater for a few seconds, before he swims upwards, legs kicking and arms flapping to stay on the surface. Steve looks down at him and reaches for him.
“They are on the boat!”
“Hold my hand!” Steve says.
Steve’s hand shoots out to reach him, but it’s just too far. And the men are right behind them, their voices getting louder as they moved closer. He knows they aren’t going to make it, not the two of them. He stretches as much as he can, the weight of the water pulling him down as he finally, finally reaches Steve’s hand. it’s cold and wet, the fingers circling around his wrist are long, white and shaky. He looks at Steve, and when he licks his lips they are wet and he can taste the salted water, dripping from his hair. He can’t let anything happen to Steve, he always promised to keep him save.
So he lets his hand go. Slips through his fingers like the water drowning him.
“You have to go!” He yells at Steve, head on the surface again, “They can’t catch both of us”
“No!” Steve shuts his eyes tightly, “It’s you and me!” he says, “Until the end of the line!”
When Bucky looks up, blue eyes, much like his own, are looking at him wide as plates and scared. It’s dark, and he can barely see, the only thing he can hear is the waves crashing into the boat, rocking the wooden floor Steve’s standing on. He knows they can’t both leave.
"You go” His voice strained, and it breaks before he can finish, “You go first”
“Bucky, no” Steve shakes his head.
“There! In the water!” One of the men yells, too close to them.
“Steve! Go!” Bucky yells, “I’ll catch up!”
Steve takes a few deep breaths in looking at the flashlight lights come closer. Bucky nods at him before starting to swim to the shore, it’s for show, he will never make it. And when he turns Steve is gone, he would run home safely while the men followed Bucky instead. It was the end of the line, and Bucky had gotten Steve safe through it. He opens his mouth and takes a deep breath in, before yelling them to catch him if they could.
“Bucky!”
Bucky blinks his eyes open, feeling his eyelids heavy when he does, he can hear Jane talking to him and then to someone else. Yondu, his mind supplies, the memory of what had happened… Minutes? Hours ago? Returning as the blood starts rushing to his heavy head. He feels Jane warm next to him, and when he turns he frowns at her, as she returns the look with concern in her eyes. He tries to figure where he is, as he looks around and feels something like leather under his fingers, the floor vibrating under his feet. A moving vehicle. Coulson had told Bucky that Yondu and his band were nomads, moving around Desolation collecting “antiques” like they called them, and sometimes they stole things from the supply trucks that traveled from colony to colony. Daisy had told him they called themselves…
He shuts his eyes trying to remember.
“Bucky, I need you awake, Look at me”
Jane cups his cheek and he does.
“I cleaned the wound, but I gotta do something before I close it”
Jane’s face is inches from his, a strand of her har falls over her cheek and he wonders when did she tied it up, her cheeks are flushed, and her eyes roam over his body, falling on his left arm. He feels sleepy but not tired. He glances pass Jane when she leans look at his arm examining the cut closely, there’s a window behind her but there’s only darkness behind, the landscape moving too fast until is almost a blur.
Jane holds his jaw making him look at her again, “The cut on your- the dagger was poisoned”
Yes, Jane. He makes an effort to nod.
“You need anything, sweetheart?”
Yondu is behind Jane. Jane shakes her head and moves away from Bucky, explaining Yondu about the poison as she reaches for the bag. Daisy had told him she packed everything they needed, the medical kit inside was full of medicine and bandages, but he wasn’t sure what could Jane use. The poison in Zola’s dagger was one found in a plant that the man grew himself, and if just the small amount that entered his body through the cut was making him feel like that, he couldn’t imagine what it could do if ingested.
He looks at Yondu and the man raises an eyebrow.
“It smells like honeysuckle so this could work” Jane says, and shows him a small autoinjector like the ones Mordo used in some of the fighters, “I just- Bucky, I- I’m not sure if-”
He makes a noise, deep from his throat. Jane takes a deep breath and nods.
“Sure you know what you’re doing?” Yondu asks sceptically.
Jane glances at Bucky, “Yes” with shaky fingers she reaches for his belt, and Bucky scowls as she unbuckles it, Yondu raises an eyebrow, “Put this in your mouth”
Bucky opens his mouth as much as he can and Jane puts the thick leather between his teeth, telling him to bit down into it as hard as he can. So it’s going to hurt, he thinks, as he follows her instructions. He looks at the roof, white metal as far as his sight reaches and then he feels the needle sink into his arm, it wasn’t that bad, until a throbbing pain takes over the entire left side of his body. Jane’s puts a hand on his chest and bites her bottom lip. The last thing he registers is Yondu putting an arm on her shoulder and Jane telling him it was working.
Jane wipes the sweaty hair from Bucky’s forehead before she sits on the cot infront of him, finally able to catch her breath. When she looks at her hands they are covered in his blood, the rest of what was left of Bucky’s leather jacket was laying on the floor, so she reaches for it and uses it to wipe the blood off her fingers one by one as she stares at the man’s chest, making sure he continues breathing. Mentally, she thanks Daisy for packing them that medical kit, and promises not to complain about it being too heavy next time she has to carry it. She closes her eyes and drifts into a light sleep for a few minutes until the bus that Yondu had taken them in, hits a bump in the road and she stands, putting a hand in Bucky’s knee.
“t’s alright, sweetheart, he ain’t gonna to fall”
Jane turns to Yondu, who is holding to one of the bars attatched to the roof, and nods while rubbing her eyes with the heel of her hand. He stares at her, before offering her a somehow wicked grin, and for a second she remembers the gold dagger she had taken and put inside her satchel a few feet from her. Zola’s poisoned dagger, that she had taken without Bucky noticing. Yondu doesn’t seem that dangerous though, besides, Bucky seemed sure they were there to help. She looks outside the window and sees other cars and two more buses, all moving in the same direction. When she accommodates on her seat and looks around she realises the bus looks like a hospital inside, with several cots – like the one Bucky was laying on – medical kits (that are empty), a door at the end of the hall that she asumes it’s a bathroom. Yondu and his fleet, The Ravangers he had said, were nomads. And yes, they were pretty much like pirates.
The sound of a horn pulls her out of her thoughts and Jane glances at Yondu before kneeling on the cot and looking outside the glass window. The Ravangers start honking inside their vehicles, the cacophony becoming almost deafening.
“This means we are far enough from the colony” Yondu tells her.
Jane’s lips quirk upwards and puts a hand on the glass, feeling it vibrate. She stares at he distance for a few seconds, her eyes searching through the darkness. A few feet from them she sees it.
It was Horizon.
Before the war that ended the Old World, a train had been built that traveled through all America – what was above the water that is – for travelers to move without the need of cars or airplanes. After the colonies were stablished, they realised the train crossed all five of them in a period of six months, and started using it to deliver their food all over from colony to colony without having to waste fuel from the few trucks available. Jane’s father had told her that when it stopped one could walk inside of it with tranquility, but once it started working again it could not be stopped. She remembers seeing the horses running next to it, while some men stocked the train full of supplies on one side, and they picked up the ones belonging to Glassmere from the other. The ten mile long, monster machine was one of the few man-made things that survived the war, alongside the great wall of China and the Panama canal, Jane hadn’t seen any of the three but in pictures.
Until now.
Jane doesn’t even realise the bus stopped until she sees Horizon disappear in the darkness, the two red and white lights at the tail tiny spots that look like the stars shinning above them. Jane takes a deep breath, realising how beautiful they look. The north star marking the way to her home, and her eyes water when she remembers Glassmere wasn’t hers anymore and that they would have to go to the other direction anyways.
“What’s your name, sweetheart?”
She turns to the older man, “Jane” she says, “Jane Foster”
Yondu smiles, “We are going to stop for the night” he says limping towards the exit doors, “Get some food while he rests”
Jane looks at Bucky and then back at the man, offering him a nod. Bucky’s wound is no longer swollen, the antidote she used already making affect, he needed the rest and Yondu wouldn’t leave them stranded in the desert since he wanted his pay. She reaches for the satchel – the gun and the dagger inside – and follows Yondu outside. The other cars are all parked already, the two big buses like the one she steps out from too, and Jane can see some of the Ravangers already made a pire to keep the people warm. She looks at the watch she had taken from Bucky’s wrist. They had traveled for about two hours and she didn’t feel tired despite having little to no sleep, when she looks at Yondu to ask where they were the man is gone. Jane stands awkwardly as people pass by her, some give her strange looks and others simply ignore her.
“You with the man in the bus?”
She turns. A woman raises an eyebrow at her, while she taps her heavy boots on the ground. Jane nods and she gestures her to follow.
“I’m Aleta” The woman says, “You came with the man?”
“James” Jane answers nodding, “My name is Jane” she adds quickly.
“We weren’t expecting him to be accompanied until a few days ago so we didn’t have much time to get you clothes”
Aleta makes her way through the crowd at a fast pace, with the other people – loud and clumsy as they walked – making it hard to keep up. Jane can see a few men unloading boxes from one of the buses, the one with the number two painted on the side, containing food and bottles. Aleta stops and she bumps into her, when the woman turns with pressed lips Jane apologizes quietly.
“That is Bus 2” Aleta says, “Food mainly” She points at the other bus, “Bus 3 is weaponry and clothing and the one you came in is Bus 1, we use it to… Recover people from Arcadia and we had medical but out doctor got killed a few days ago”
Jane swallows, “Sorry to hear that”
Aleta’s lips quirk and she shrugs, “We are never sorry someone died, but happy that we served together”
A small group passing by them heard Aleta and they make a cheer, before they start singing a song familiar to Jane. We are the Champions, Jane’s mind supplies. Aleta chuckles and shakes her head fondly at the men. She starts walking again, and Jane walks behind her, keeping close to be able to hear what she’s saying. Jane feels like she should be writing down whatever comes out of her mouth, he hands almost itching to do so. She clenches her fists on each side of her body, feeling her nails dig into her palms.
“I apologize in advance for all the yelling and cheering” Aleta says, “We just came from Glassmere with a supply of Sweet Wine”
Jane’s heart skip a beat, and her knuckles turn white. The older woman glances at her hands but doesn’t point it out.
“Here” She says, “Bus 2”
The bus inside is as spacious as the one she had left Bucky in, but there weren’t as many cots. There were several books and magazines scattered all over the floor, and piles of clothes and shoes, and like Aleta said, weapons. There were so many, some looked like parts of them, and Jane wonders why did they want Bucky’s gun if they had plenty already. Anyways, it was a mess. To Jane it looked like the place everything one lost ended up in. Aleta puts something against her chest, when she looks at it, it’s a duffel bag similar to Bucky’s and when she is about to thank her she hears a crash and Aleta sighs heavily, walking towards the end of the bus.
“Rocket!”
The young man she called Rocket couldn’t be more than 19, brown hair and eyes, not at all taller than Jane, steps out from behind a wooden wall that divided the bus. He’s wearing protective googles with a light attached to it and thick rubber gloves, a small device in his left hand and a screwdriver in the other one. When he sees Aleta, he leaves both on a table near him, and takes off the googles. Jane glances at Aleta.
“I told you not to use that while on the road” The young man winces “wait until we stop for fuck’s sake” Aleta sighs.
Rocket purses his lips, “But Yondu said he wanted this working when-“
The older woman throws him a look a he stops talking, shoulder falling as he takes off his rubber gloves looking almost defeated, before wiping his hands on his shirt. He frowns when he sees Jane, like he just realised she was standing there. Aleta notices and raises an eyebrow at him.
“This is Jane” Aleta says, “Jane, this is Rocket, our… Mechanic”
“Did not like that pause there” Rocket says, walking towards Jane, he offers his hand, “Nice to meet you, Miss”
Jane shakes his hand, “Likewise” she offers a smile.
Rocket smiles widely as he shakes her hand enthusiatically. Aleta clears her throat and Rocket lets Jane’s hand go, scratching the back of his head, blushing embarrased. Aleta tells him that Jane needed clothes, Rocket sighs and says something about not being in charge of that but doesn’t refuse helping. The older woman then turns to Jane and pats her shoulder telling her to find a woman named Mantis on Bus 2, the one she had pointed out to her a few minutes ago, after she is done and with that she leaves. As soon as the bus door closes, Rocket puts his googles on and continues tinkering with the device. Jane stands awkwardly before she clears her throat.
“Hm?” Rocket looks at her, “Oh, right! Just…” he glances around, “You can take what fits, Miss, whatever you’ll need”
“Anything?” Jane asks, looking around at the piles of clothes.
Rocket nods and goes back to his work. Jane nods and looks around, rummaging through the piles of clothes something that could fit her. she wasn’t sure if Aleta knew where they were going, if Coulson had told them anything really, but she understood they had already gotten Bucky everything he needed, still when she finds a worn black leather jacket similar to the one she ripped and a few other things that could fit him, she puts them inside the duffel back too. After she’s done, she turns to find Rocket splayed on a small cot and snoring loudly. Jane consider waking him up to announce she is leaving, walking towards him as quietly as possible, but when the young man moves slightly and then continues to snore, she regrets it. She sighs, and is about to leave when a small box next to Rocket’s cot calls her attention.
There are several clocks inside, some broken and some in good condition, but what she needs, she finds in the bottom of the box. An old silver compass in nearly mint condition. Jane wonders if Rocket repaired it or if it was found like that, but she doesn’t bother in asking the sleeping man, she puts the compass inside the satchel on her shoulder and smiles softly at Rocket, before leaving as quietly as possible. The cold air from the night hits her face, and she hugs herself, adjusting the heavy bag on her shoulder before walking towards the other Bus so she can find Mantis, and hopefully something to fill her stomach with.