The Snow Queen
Colony: Glassmere. December 8, 2197.
When Jane opens her eyes Bucky is asleep in the front seat. She stretches her legs as much as she can before sitting, being as silent as possible as she does. The windows are completely covered by snow and Jane purses her lips because she knows now that she underestimated the snow storm the night before, and then curses because she needs to pee. Jane glances at Bucky and reaches for the front seat, reaching for the iPod to distract herself while Bucky slept for a few more minutes. She looks at the screen panel in the dashboard and sees they are low on energy but the sun was already coming out anyways. She tries taking the iPod from Bucky’s hands but the man starts to stir awake, gripping her wrist before his eyes are even open.
“What are you doing?” Bucky asks, and when she looks at him he’s frowning.
“Looking for this” Jane answers, looking at his lap where she had the iPod in her hands, “I… We are kind of snowed in” she explains, “And I need to pee” She mutters.
Bucky lets her take the iPod and looks around, yawning as he rubs his eye with the back of his hand, then he pauses realising what Jane just said – Not the needing to pee, the part where she said they were trapped inside the car. Jane leans back on the backseat and puts the earphone in her ears, trying to ignore the pressure her lower abdomen. In a few more minutes the sun will be out and the panels can start charging, she tells herself.
“I need to take a leak” Bucky says trying to stretch in the seat, Jane frowns tilting her head, “Pee”
“Ah” Jane nods bitting the inside of her cheek, not wanting to chuckle at the peculiar phrase, she glances at Bucky and then back at the window, “Wanna try to open the door?”
Bucky quirks an eyebrow at her and then shrugs, he reaches for her foot and puts his hand around her toes and she realises she was moving her feet nervously. The man leans back, stretching his arms to reach for his coat, Jane’s eyes follow the movement. He probably can push the snow though, Jane forces her gaze on the iPod screen, trying and failing to not look at Bucky too much.
Bucky turns the engine off, but leaves the car unlocked, “We have to open the doors” He says, gesturing at her coat and boots left aside the night before, “The panels must be covered in snow”
Jane slaps herself mentally for not thinking about that and she nods, reaching for her boots to put them on. When she finishes zipping up her coat – regretting not looking for gloves in Rocket’s bus – Bucky is already trying to push the door open, leaving it ajar. The cold air from the outside enters the car, and she can see Bucky is immediately affected by it. The man tries to push the door open with his shoulder, managing to do it just barely. He licks his lips and throws a glance at her.
“Come here” He says, Jane blinks and he sighs heavily, “Climb out the window”
Jane scowls, “I was thinking I could try and open this one”
“If I can’t do it alone, much less you” Bucky chuckles, “We have less that thirty percent of energy, let’s go” he rolls down the window, “Once you are outside, you pull and I push”
Jane purses her lips and nods. It’s awkward trying to climb out the window without sitting on his lap, she accidentally knees him in the groin but he doesn’t say anything, simply grunting and making a face, at the end she practically jumps outside and he practically pushes her. the snow is covering the whole car, except for the hood since the warm engine had spent all night on, so she starts removing the snow from around the door first, unbeknown to Bucky, who pushes once hard and Jane doesn’t realise until the door hits her in the face.
“Jane, wake up”
Jane shuts her eyes tighly, covering her face as a reflex. Every morning Julia woke her up right after the sun went out, opening the curtains covering the windows for the rays of sun to enter her room. Jane didn’t like being woken up early even thought, as Julia always says, she must already be used to it and ‘the early bird get the worm’ or something. But this time, when she finally does open her eyes, the room still dark and outside there is no sound or movement at all. Still, from her spot in the bed she can see and hear Julia pacing around her room like she did every single morning since she has memory.
“Why did you wake me?” Jane mutters rubbing her eyes, “the sun is not even out yet” she adds, “Or is this another new morning thing now that I am soon going to be ‘a lady’” Jane makes airquotes and she can see the older woman scowl.
“You are a lady already, Jane” Julia says, she leaves folded clothes on the foot of Jane’s bed.
“Really?” Jane gasps dramatically, “I thought it was suppose to happen the day of my sixteenth birthday as soon as the clock striked twelve”
Julia presses her lips, “If you keep acting like this you’ll become a pumkin instead”
Jane barks out a laugh.
The older woman rolls her eyes, a small smile quirking her lips, “You father asked me to take you to see Ice Tower”
“Why?” Jane asks, kicking the covers off, “That thing doesn’t work”
The last time the massive lighthouse – called Ice Tower because it was painted white and always covered in snowy ice – worked had been three years ago, Jane had been eleven and Darcy had told her that it was forbidden to go inside but she had a friend who had been inside as a dare. She never really understood why they kept it working, there were no planes or boats that she knew of and, apart from the fact that it was a beautiful architectural structure, it serve no other purpose at all. She yawns and stretches her arm, as Julia chooses a pair of shoes for her.
“They are going to turn it on again” Julia says, she sighs and turns to her, “It was suppose to be surprise, the light inside was finally replaced with a new one, our friends from Roseburn did it”
Jane nods and makes a zipper over her mouth, making Julia smile softly. The last time Jane had hears about ‘their friends from Roseburn’ had been a few months prior during some kind of festival held in the colony. It was the first time she ever left Glassmere, according to her father the festival was a tradition in Roseburn and this year was special because for the first time in decades people from other colonies would be there. That day her father had told her that she would meet someone very important to her, Darcy – to Julias dissaproval – had told her that it was a boy she was suppose to marry once she turned twenty one. Thor was a nice boy, he had walked with her through the strawberry fields, he had told her about his favorite movies, that he played the piano, about his horse Caspian, and that he owned a very big collection of music records from the Old World. Jane knew what arranged marriages were but she never thought she would find herself in one, they seemed to be things of the past. Julia later told her that it would straighten the colonies’ relationships, and Jane understood, she also wanted the New World to be more than her own colony’s limits.
“Jane, please, hurry up”
“Do you think is important for father to have that light on?” Jane asks as she starts dressing.
Julia smiles, “Of course” she answers, “It should also be important to you”
Jane bites her bottom lip not sure what that meant. The older woman chuckles softly and moves behind her to brush her hair, Jane starts buttoning up her shirt as Julia untangles her hair with her fingers.
“It’s… A symbol of hope, Jane” Julia says, “The world… Even the New World has always been a dark place” Jane frowns, “Everyone, always, needs a light to guide them”
“Home?” Jane asks, pursing her lips when Julia pulls from her hair (maybe) unintentionally.
“Home” Julia nods her head softly, “Even in darkness you can always find home”
She hears the door being slammed and Bucky kneels next to her. His lips move and his cold hands cups her jaw, making her look at him. Jane chuckles, taking a fistful of snow and taking her hand to her pounding forehead, shutting her eyes close.
“Jane” Bucky calls and she looks at him, “Are you alright?” Bucky asks, “I told you to pull-“
“The was snow blocking the door” Jane says, she sits slowly, Bucky’s hand on her back, “Sorry”
Bucky presses his lips, “You alright?” he looms over her, reaching for her forehead to wipe the snow there.
Jane nods taking Bucky’s arm to finally stand from the cold snow. The man looks around, as if trying to figure out his surroundings, or maybe just checking if there is anyone near them. Jane knows there isn’t anyone in miles, the night before she had woken up by the sound of howling, it meant the wolves that live near – very few, very dangerous – started to move south, the winter solstice was almost too much for them, the night before had been the first snow and even Jane had underestimated it. After that, she hadn’t been able to go back to sleep immediately, so she stared at her colony from afar, realising that not a single light had been lit despite the darkness that fell upon it. She looks at Bucky who had wiped the snow off the solar panels on the hood, and now was kicking the snow off each side of the car.
“Start the engine” Bucky tells her when he catches her staring.
Jane nods. She enters the car and do as she is being told, before rolling down the widow and peaking her head outside.
“I think we can enter the colony” Jane starts, “I saw no movement last night and- and it seems abandoned”
Bucky licks his lips, “Sure?” he asks, “We could take the backroad like you said”
Always so cautious, Jane thinks.
She shakes her head, taking a deep breath in, “It’s empty, Bucky” She sounds defeated and Bucky looks at her, “It doesn’t matter”
The man stares at her for a few seconds, his eyes scanning her face for something she didn’t know. Maybe doubt, but she is sure there is nothing and no one left in Glassmere. After a few seconds, Bucky nods.
A pause follows.
“I need to pee”
“Let’s eat something first”
They say in unison.
Jane chuckles nervously, “Right” she looks around and spots a some pines a few feet form them.
“I’ll… After you” Bucky says, and he opens the door.
Jane waits until he enters the car, and sees him reach for the supplies and pick a can of food. She takes a look around as she starts walking towards the trees.
It’s even more depressing than he imagined.
As they descend slowly down the hill, Jane’s hands gripping the steering wheel so tight her knuckles had gone white, Bucky realises there is absolutely no sound coming from… Anywhere, No birds, no other cars apart from theirs and no people in sight at all. Which, if he recalled Jane telling him correctly, meant that the whole colony had evaquated to Maraud after they were attacked by Arcadia. He looks at Jane, expecting to see her looking around for any sign of someone or something that reminded her of her home, but her eyes are glued ahead as she stares at the road and nothing more. Not that there is much to look at. Glassmere was small indeed, but as far as he gathered – by reading the signs outside of some buildings – it had several stores, restaurants and two schools. He could almost picture the stores full during the weekends, the restaurants crowded during lunch time, and children playing in the now snow covered swingsets they passed by slowly. But now, the many buildings are covered by at least ten inches of snow, no lights inside or people, and some of the doors are still open, the cars in perfect condition, some in the middle of the streets and others aligned perfectly against the sidewalks.
It was as if every person in the colony had disappeared in a blink of an eye. Spirited away.
The car suddenly comes to a stop and he turns to Jane with a scowl in his face. Jane takes a deep breath before she reaches to unbuckle her seatbelt.
“Stay here” She says.
“What?” Bucky circles her wrist as she opens the door, “Where are you going?”
Jane’s eyes glance between them, where his hand is holding her, and then at him. Bucky lets go slowly, his eyes still looking at her with a questioning look on his face.
She sighs, running a hand through her face, “I’m- I want to-“
“Ok” Bucky nods once, “But I go with you”
She glances outside the window and then back at him, gnawing on her lower lip before she finally nods, and lets out a whispered 'yes' as she reaches for her coat. Bucky looks out the windshield, before he leans back and zips up his coat. Both remain silent as they leave the car, and once they start walking he looks back at it realising Jane left it parked perfectly. Bucky licks his lips, feeling them chaped because of the cold, and wipes them with the back of the hand as he hurries his pace to catch up with Jane, how was a few feet away from him already.
“Who taught you to drive?” He asks once he is behind her.
Jane turns to him, “George” she answers slowing her pace so Bucky caught up to her, “My father’s driver”
“Ah” Bucky says, trying to catch his breath.
“My father never knew thought, he was…” She chuckles, “Not strict but… Overprotective”
“How do you mean?”
Jane shrugs, “He didn’t like me doing things by myself, I guess” Bucky looks at her, she sounds like she resented him for it, “He… He liked to treat me like some china doll” She puts her hands on the pockets of her coat, “I eventually realised I had to hide a few things from him"
Bucky hums, “What else did you do behind his back?” He asks, and Jane looks at him trying to suppress a smile, “What?”
She stares a few seconds more before shaking her head, “Nothing” she sighs, and then a few seconds later, “I wasn’t much of a rebel”
A smile tugs from one side of Bucky’s lips. He figured Jane had been not only quiet or lonely, but… Amenable, compliant when it came to her father, or Julia – who she felt she had to be that way if she wanted to follow Erik’s steps – despite the headstrong nature underneath. The same one she had learned to hide so well after years of living in the ice fortress that had been built around her. For her. it was the reason why she had turned to Darcy, who he understood was the complete opposite of her – it was the reason why their bond was so strong despite seeming so different. Deep inside they were the same. Free spirited, restless and unruly. Maybe, in months or years, Jane would realise she was always meant to be that way.
“Julia on the other hand was strict” Jane says after a few seconds, “Old-fashioned too” she chuckles, “She didn’t like driving, parties, or drinking, and insisted that pants were supposed to be wore only by men” Bucky chuckles, “It’s baffling that she ended up with a daughter like Darcy”
“Did you and Darcy grow up together?”
“Practically” Jane nods, “She and Julia moved to live with us when I was about five, after her dad died” she continues, “We were inseparable, I remember crying every morning when she had to go to school” she says with a chuckle, she sees Bucky frown, “I was homeschooled by Julia and my father”
Bucky nods, “I imagine you didn’t have many friends” he says bluntly, “Apart from Darcy”
“No” Jane glances at him.
Jane takes a deep breath in and stops walking, before looking around like she is lost. If Bucky had been paying attention instead of asking Jane questions, he would have realised that they had been walking in circles for about ten minutes. He checks their surroundings and realise that the town – citadel, Jane calls it – is so far that the houses and buildings look too small for his liking.
“Fuck”
He grips his jaw and turns to Jane, noticing she is a few feet away from him looking around lost. As he walks towards her, he hears her say something under her breath, something he can’t quite catch, so he starts stomping his way to her before he notices how her whole body is tense, her fist clenched tightly on each side of her body. The anger building up inside him dissipates as he sees her knuckles turning white.
Bucky had seen Jane do it before, when she was lost in thought or nervous – maybe even scared – Jane would sink her nails into her palms as if… As if she meant for it to be painful. A pang blooms in his stomach. He didn’t like it, or the idea of that being the reason why. He reaches for her hand slowly, but Jane jumps slightly and turns to him rapidly. He reaches for her wrist the, holding her before she moves away.
“What is it?” Bucky asks, keeping his tone soft.
“You startled me” Jane says quietly, she swallows tightly.
“Sorry” He whispers, his thumb caressing the back of her hand and when he sees Jane unclenches her fists he lets go, “You don’t know where we are?”
Jane frowns, “I do” she nods, “it’s just- I was looking for…” She trails off, “Nevermind”
Bucky licks his lips, looking around, “We should find somewhere to stay tonight”
But Jane isn’t paying attention to him. She looks at a point behind them and stares, her lips slightly parted and condensation leaving her mouth when she lets out a deep breath. Bucky follows her gaze and notices a man standing several feet away from them, he moves infront of her protectively, a hand stopping Jane from walking towards him. And then he realises it’s not a man, as Jane releases herself from his grip and starts walking at a fast pace towards the statue in the middle of the plaza. He looks back at where they came from, not being able to see the car, and he decides it’s better to stay close to it. But when he turns to tell Jane, she is gone.
“What the-“ Bucky spots her practically running towards the plaza, “Jane!”
He winces realising he had shouted, but her name doesn’t echo around him like he thought it would, the snow absorbing the sound and making his voice unable to reach Jane. He curses and glances around, before he starts running behind the woman. Running on snow it’s a lot more tiring that he thought it would be, the untouched snow sinking under his weight with every step he gave, almost like running in a dream, and every breath of cold air he took making his throat feel dry. Bucky sees Jane then, panting heavily as she comes to a stop. Jane walks towards the steps underneath the bronze statue he had mistaken with a man – well, it was a man, just not a real one – and starts wiping the snow from its feet with her hands, and then moving upwards.
“What the hell, Jane?!” He growls, panting heavily as he walks towards her.
Jane doesn’t seem to pay attention to him, reaching for the statue’s open wide arms as she wipes the snow off almost frantically. Bucky’s jaw works his teeth, feeling annoyed by her silence, and he is about to reach for her when Jane’s fingers find a rope, tied around the left arm of the statue, and when she pulls it looks like it was cut.
My family was hung on the plaza.
Bucky’s eyes widen in realisation of where he was standing. And the fact that the rope Jane was holding was the same one her father had been hung with. And Julia next to him. Bucky feels his chest tighten when Jane’s shoulder start shaking, the rope gripped tight in her hand before she turns and buries her face in his chest taking deep gasps of air, like she was trying too hard not to cry. Bucky’s hand remain on each side of his body for a few seconds, before he places them on her back and he hugs her tightly.
Bucky swallows tightly, “I’m so sorry, Jane”
Jane shakes her head, “I needed to see if they had been left here” she takes a shaky breath in.
Jane wanted to know if they had been buried.
For a second, Bucky wonders what would have happened if their bodies had been left there, to freeze as they hung on the statue, a reminder of what had happened to Glassmere when Arcaida invaded the citadel one night. And he feels angry, knowing that it sounds like something a man like Alexander Pierce would have allowed, and holds her tighter. Jane pulls back, and she looks at a point behind him, when he turns he sees a pile of snow in the distance surrounded by a gate, and when he looks back a Jane he that’s what is left of her home. He isn’t sure if he wants Jane to see it too, as Jane moves away from him and gives one step in that direction, his hand holding the sleeve of her coat before a voice inside tells him that he is nobody to stop her from doing so. So he lets her go, slip through his fingers and walk away.
He sees the rope on the floor, and then remembers Jane had removed the snow from the statues feet, and that it had been to read the carved golden plate.
“Glassmere is not made of glass but of ice,” He reads, “come winter we shall become… Stronger”
He hears whistling. And when he lifts his gaze, Jane waves at him from where she stands several meters away. Bucky takes a deep breath and starts walking in her direction.