Chapter 5

They had been driving for hours, the sun was already set, it was dark, when Bucky stopped to an outdoor store in Victoria, Texas. He parked the car in front of it.

"What are we doing here?"

"We are working on leaving the states. We can't cross the borders like normal, we are going to need equipment."

"But for everything we need is going to be expensive."

"That's why we are going to steal."

"You know stealing like this is going to send us to prison for life."

"Have any other ideas? I'm open."

She stayed silent, knowing it was their only option.

"Can you find out if there's any security cameras or alarm?"

She pushed her mind to read the employee's thoughts.

"There are cameras but they are fakes. We should be fine."

They waited for the last employee to leave and broke into the store. They grabbed all the stuff they needed and left in less than fifteen minutes.

Bucky drove the rest of the way to a gas station not to far away from the borders to grab food and water.

"What are you planning on doing with the car?"

"Might have to light it on fire."

"What?" She replied, horrified.

"We don't really have a choice, Robin. Our finger prints are all over it."

"I'm not letting you light THIS car on fire."

"Well I'm all ears for another idea."

She took a second to think.

"You said the trail is not to far from here. So we can abandon it here. We should grab our stuff."

They then hid on the side of the gas station. Bucky watched her concentrate, closing her eyes. It took her a few minutes by a man walked out of the gas station and straight to the car. He sat in it and drove off, no hesitation.

"Farewell, dear Chevelle." She simply let out, sighing.

"What was that?" Bucky asked.

"I'm not proud of the use of my power, but I did just become the inside voice of that man and told him to steal the car and drive it around."

"You're never going to see this car again, you know that?"

"I know..." She sighed. "But trust me when all this is over, I'll get that car back."

Bucky led the way through the darkness, walking fast and stopping regularly when he didn't hear her panting breathing.

"Are you going to survive?" He cracked the joke after they've been walking for a few hours towards the Rio Grande river.

"Are you going to be an ass the whole time?" She answered making him chuckle at her response.

"Are you a good swimmer?"

"Depends on how deep the water is."

"Than stay close to me. We'll cross slowly."

He stepped into the cold water and gave her his hand to help her. She took it and stepped in. When the water hit her legs, she froze.

"What?"

"It's too cold, we are going to die of hypothermia the second we get out of the water. The desert is a harsh environment. Hot by day but cold by night."

"We'll find a place and stay for the night. We can't make a fire though. It would attract attention."

"Than why don't we wait for the sun to come out in the morning?"

"Robin, we don't have time to wait. I would be miles away by now."

"Yeah, right. Cause I'm dead weight. Thanks for the reminder." She replied insulted, her eyes giving him a look that could kill.

She pushed his hand of her way and walked straight into the water, slipping on rocks but getting back up and getting deeper in the cold waters. Her teeth were chattering, she had to clench her jaw to stop them from making too much noice. A few times, Bucky had to swim and grab her by her bag because the courant was taking her away and with her left arm in the brace it was hard for her to swim.

"I got you." He let out everytime, pulling her in his arms, making sure she was breathing, waiting for her to stop panicking before letting her swim again.

He stayed behind her the entire time, afraid she would fall in and he wouldn't hear her.

They managed to cross the river half a mile away from where they first entered. She layed down on the ground, shaking, trying to catch her breath.

"Come on. We can't stay here, we need to find a place for you dry." Bucky insisted, helping her on her feet.

They walked for a few minutes, until Bucky found a tree and rocks where they could be hiding. He helped her out of her bag and took the brace off her arm.

"Take your clothes off." He said turning his back to give her privacy.

She did her best, even though will shaking like a leaf made everything three times longer to take off. Without looking he gave her dry clothes they kept in dry bags. He pulled her sleeping bag and put it over her shoulders. He changed too, his back towards her. Even though she tried to avoid looking at him and concentrating on getting warm, her eyes looked at him.

With the moon light, she could see multiple scars on his back. Some were rounded in shape, like bullet wounds and others were straight lines, probably from knives. He turned to face her and she rapidly avoided his eyes. He put his shirt on and then tried to put the tarp on so they could lay underneath it to sleep.

After a few minutes, he came back for her.

"Come with me."

He layed her sleeping bag over her inflated matress. She got in her sleeping bag, still shaking from the cold. He layed next to her back in only his sleeping bag. He wished her good night but didn't receive an answer. He thought maybe she fell asleep but he could still hear her teeth chattering. He reopened his sleeping bag.

"Come here, Robin."

"Wha...What?"

"Turn around and come here." He lifted the sleeping bag.

She looked at him, eyes wide open. Seeing he meant it, she sneaked in his arms, her face burried in his chest. She felt the heat immediately, her muscles starting to relax a little and her teeth stopped chattering. Bucky could hear her breathing slowly calm down until she fell asleep.

It felt different to have her in his arms, to smell the delicate perfume of her hair. He fell asleep for a couple hours but woke up before the sun got up. Robin was still laying next to him, her head under his chin. He got up without waking her up, picked up his stuff and gave her one last look. It was time to leave. She was dead weight but it wasn't her fault. She wasn't trained or have no knowledge on how to deal with all of this. Now that she was in Mexico, far away from harm for nom, she will be able to find people to help her.

He felt bad to leave like this, his heart was telling him to stay with her but his brain feared he would get taken back by HYDRA. He walked for a couple hours, multiple thoughts coming in and out of his mind, debating on his actions.

The sun came up, bringing warmth and a colorful sight from Bucky to enjoy. Only inconvenience; all he could think about was Robin, her beauty, her laugh, her intelligence, her personality. He knew at this moment that he messed up, his heart won the battle. He turned around and walked back to their campsite.

The sun light hit Robin's face lightly, waking her. She opened her eyes and realized Bucky wasn't next to her anymore, neither was his stuff. She sat up and looked around the campsite. No sign of him anywhere. Fear grabbed her guts with both its claws and squeezed real hard. She couldn't even hear his thoughts, she was alone. She realized he had abandonned her, in the desert, with no plan. She was scared, she wanted to cry but she knew she had to hold it in if she wanted to survive on her own. Shaking from anger and fear, she picked up her stuff and put it back in her bag.

She started to have a panic attack, her breathing began to be irradic, her heart was pounding in her chest. She had to sit down, her head in between her knees. She started crying. She had nobody. She was alone. Bucky abandonned her and her mother was dead. She had no one to turn to.

She didn't know how long she was down but she managed to get over the attack. She figured out she needed to move if she wanted to live. Find a village was item number one on her list. She put her brace and bag on. She put the Rio Grande river behind her and left the campsite. The sun was already midway up and it started to get hot.

She had been walking for half an hour when she saw a silhouette in the distance. She stopped in her footsteps and waited to see it form into a men's shape. She pushed her power to read his mind and found out it was Bucky. Her blood was boiling. She wanted to run and scream at him, punch him right in his beautiful teeth. But she took a deep breath, did a 90 degree turn and started walking in that direction. Anywhere but towards him.

Bucky had been walking at a fast pace for a while when he saw a dark shadow coming his way. He knew it was Robin and he saw the shadow walk away from him.

"Robin!" He yelled out as loud as he could, but she kept on walking.

He started running towards her and with his Super Soldier abilities, he arrived behind her in a short amount of time.

"Robin, stop." He tried to grab her arm.

"Don't touch me!"

He walked in front of her to stop her, but she just went around.

"Robin..."

She spunned around in anger.

"You left me. You said you were going to help me, that I should trust you. How is this trust? I really am just dead weight for you."

"Robin, please. I'm sorry. I didn't leave you because you're dead weight. You're not. I just thought it would be better for you if I wasn't by your side. I am not what you can call a good person. I was brainwashed and tortured. I have killed people in the past because I was told to. I'm a danger to you if I get taken by HYDRA again. I thought I was doing the right thing. But I realised it wasn't the right decision. That's why I came back. I came back to you. Because I do care for you and I want you to be free. To not go through what I went through."

She could hear anger in his voice but it wasn't pointed at her. She stared down, still angry at him.

"Robin, I care for you. And at my surprised, I found out you were important to me. You are the first real, friendly interaction I had in years. And I appreciate it more than you might think." He leaned to look into her eyes. "Can you forgive me?"

She lifted her eyes and stared directly into his.

"How do I know you won't pull the same trick later?" She paused, her jaw clenched.

"You don't because I can't predict the future. But I can tell you I'm never going to leave you ever again on my own will. I will always stick with you. Till the end of the line. That's my promise to you."

At the sound of the words Till the end of the line, Robin softened. She heard it in his mind when they talked about his past and his best friend; Steve Rogers.

"Why do I believe you?"

He smiled gently.

"Because you can read my mind and you know I'm telling the truth."

"It might take me a moment to forgive you..."

"I'll take it." He smiled at her. "Come on, I saw lights a couple of hours from here, we might find a ride."

He led her south of their position. He walked at the same pace as her, trying to avoid the whole dead weight situation.