❛ 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫 ❜

❝  trouble never looked so damn fine. ❞

          ANASTASIA awoke with a sharp inhale, her head jerking up. Her chin doubled as her brown eyes blinked away the heaviness. The studio was dark; a twilight blue filtering everything. Twilight, Ana assumed by the room's dim brightness.

The aged woman sat up with a slight groan, feeling a pinch in her lower back. She was alone, she noticed. Eyes turning towards the bathroom, the door was shut again. As her face held stiffly with sleep, she pulled her legs out of bed and pulled on two sweaters, layering away the morning chill.

She was still wearing yesterday's clothes.

In the low light, Anastasia navigated her way towards the balcony, opening the door to peak out.

Her gaunt fingers found the discarded pack of cigarettes, fishing another one out. It hung from her dry lips.

Albeit the weather was near freezing, Anastasia lowered herself into one of the metal chairs, trying to light the end with a lighter.

These things were hard to turn on, especially with the metal band down the middle.

After several tries, she inhaled the nicotine, pulling it deep into her hollow lungs. Her body awkwardly leaned back, positioning her hand close to her mouth as her elbow rested on the arm bar.

Some of the songs that were played from yesterday still rang in her head, not that she complained. She realized quickly that music was one of the biggest things she missed.

Anastasia really enjoy Ray Charles, and the band ABBA.

As the names ran through her mind in silent thought, a smile broke at the corner of her lip. It tugged slightly. She personally enjoyed herself last night. Anastasia couldn't tell for James though.

Her head turned, staring at the door that led inside.

They only figured out how to pronounce the names of everything after Anastasia built enough courage to go down to Elena to ask. Elena told them no problem, before also informing Anastasia that she needed a shower. Mentioning 'from one woman to another'.

Anastasia's lips suddenly plummeted into a frown. Not from offence, but from lack of remembering. She hadn't showered in a while. Whenever the last time was...

Her chin wrinkled in disgust, suddenly snuffing out the cigarette by smushing it into the table's glass. She stood, watching the horizon to her left. It wasn't much brighter than before, but she noticed red starting to leak into the dark blue sky.

She returned inside slightly, grabbing her entire bag of clothes. As stilled her movements, listening for anything behind the bathroom door.

When she only heard the ringing of silence, Anastasia piled together Bucky's clothes, which wasn't much.

Shoving on her shoes, Anastasia excused herself to the main lobby in the early hours of the day with two bags of clothes slung over one shoulder.

The walk down was echoed with the tapping of her soles on concrete flooring. She enjoyed being alone in this moment.

When she made it to the lobby, a different woman was behind the desk.

It was another dark skinned woman, having large box braids pulled into a side ponytail. As her dark eyes met Anastasia's, a kind smile stretched on her plum-coloured lips, "Buna dimineata. cineva se trezește devreme." [Good morning. Someone wakes early.]

Not having the heart to correct her in getting no sleep, she offered a demure, tired smile back at the woman, "Dimineaţă." [Morning.]

The woman glanced at her bags, gesturing towards them and then at a door. "Dacă aveți nevoie de unde să spălați rufele, avem mașini în camera respectivă." [If you need somewhere to do laundry, we have machines in that room.]

Anastasia's eyes found the wooden door, spotting it at the far wall saying LAUNDRY ROOM in Romanian. Nodding in a silent appreciation, she moved for it.

The door loosely swung open, revealing two walls of washer and dryer machines for the complex's residence. There was a younger man at the far corner, staring at his phone as he waiting for his load to finish its cycle.

Anastasia shuffled for the closest machines, placing down the bags. She dug out each person's clothing, making two piles.

Deciding to do Bucky's first, she opened the door and shoved his clothing in. As she did, a slight waft of sweat hit her, reassuring this was long needed.

Closing the machine, she stiffened, realizing she didn't have anything to do laundry.

Glancing over at the stranger, Anastasia abandoned her clothes and went for the front desk.

Just as she reached it, Elena appeared from the Employee's Only room. "Ana, te-ai trezit devreme. De ce ai nevoie?" [Ana, you are up early. What do you need?]

"I don't know how to work the machine. Or have anything to do it with." Anastasia replied in English, her mind slipping for a moment.

The woman smiled, bending down to reach for something, "I have some change..."

Elena cocked a brow, glancing between her and Anastasia, "Nu cred că v-am prezentat pe voi doi. Ana, aceasta este soția mea, Simone." [I don't think I've introduced you two. Ana, this is my wife, Simone.]

The former assassin gave a smile to Simone, offering her hand to shake. Simone grabbed it, shaking gently. Her palm was soft and her hold was kind. "It's a pleasure, Anastasia. Elena has mentioned you several times."

Anastasia's brows pinched down, "Toate lucrurile bune, sper." [All good things I hope.]

Elena and Simone laughed together as Elena stepped closer to her wife, "Da. E o plăcere să ai în clădirea mea. O să iau niște chestii să te ajut." [Yes. You're a pleasure to have in my building. I'll grab some stuff to help you out.]

Ana's shoulders relaxed as she watched her move towards a supplies closet. Pulling out two large jugs, Elena motioned for Anastasia to follow.

The two women bent down at the washer. Elena stared at her shoved in clothes, frowning at her.

"What?" Anastasia asked timidly, seeing the graveness in her eyes.

"Trebuie să separați culorile și albul. Nu știi că roșul se poate scurge?" [You have to separate the colours and the whites. Don't you know that reds can leak?]

Anastasia pursed her lips, holding her breath. Letting it out sharply, she shook her head. "My...mom didn't really teach me growing up."

Elena tsk'ed at her before starting to do so, like a mother. "Aici, fii atent." [Here, pay attention.]

Anastasia pressed to the woman's side, watching and listening to everything she was talking about. After getting two machines running at the same time, and the piles set up for the following cycle, Elena turned to Ana.

"Acest lucru vine dintr-o parte grijulie, dar știi să faci duș?" [This comes from a caring side, but do you know how to shower?]

Anastasia's shoulders tensed for a moment, "You can smell it, can't you?"

Elena suddenly pinched her upper arm, making her flinch away, "Da! De ce fumezi? Știi cât de rău este asta pentru tine?" [Yes! Why are you smoking? You know how bad this is for you?]

Anastasia didn't answer the older woman, watching as she walked away. Following, Elena went behind the Employee door. "Come."

Behind was a small room. It had a desk to one side, and a twin mattress by the other corner. A bathroom was to the right, having a small shower and toilet in it. "Acum faci duș, nu suport mirosul ăsta din clădirea mea." [You are showering now, I can't stand this smell in my building.]

She flinched as the bathroom door slammed shut, leaving her alone to shower.

IT was only after an hour, Anastasia finally emerged from the bathroom, wearing the same clothes and having her hair slicked back as it air dried.

Elena bedded another resident a good day before she turned to Anastasia. "Dat seama?" [Realized?]

"Așa cred. Mulțumesc." [I think so. Thanks.]

Elena nodded, placing a hand on her shoulder to lead her back to the laundry room, "Ultimul tău ciclu este aproape terminat. Asigurați-vă că luați totul înapoi cu dvs." [Your last cycle is almost done. Make sure to take everything back up with you.]

She was silent going back into the room. There were a few more residents doing their own chores, not minding her. Ana checked her both of their things, making sure nothing was missing from their belongings.

Taking her warm clothes, Anastasia poorly folded it all before packing it back her bag. Hauling both bags up, she made for the stairs; making sure to thank Elena once more for everything so far.

When Anastasia finally made it to the very top floor, the door to their apartment opened. Bucky's body passed through the threshold, head hung low. Anastasia's head rounded up in time, inches away from crashing into him.

"Oh—"

Bucky flinched back when he finally noticed her, moving enough to bump into her. His hands reached out, grabbing her arms to save her from falling down the stairs.

Both paused, watching one another, saucer-eyed.

Up close, Anastasia seemed to finally notice how large Bucky's frame was. His shoulders stretched out wide as his chest expanded with air intake. Her head was angled up, gazing up at the man. He stated back down at her.

Bucky let go stiffly, seeming to have a different aura about him. He was upset?

Anastasia quickly moved her shoulder forward, emphasizing his personal bag of clothing. "Look, I, uh, washed your clothing. We haven't really left in a while."

"Right." Bucky muttered, gently taking his backpack back. "T-Thanks for doing that. I thought you just took my stuff and left."

Anastasia stuck out her bottom lip, shaking her head with a soft smile, "Oh, no. I don't have the heart to do that... Just, thought I'd save you the trip. But, a shower would be wise."

Bucky was quiet, glancing down at himself and his old clothing. "You're probably right. But, we don't have anything in the bathroom. Everything is still empty."

She paused for a moment, diverting her eyes with an edge of awkwardness, "Yeah, I still don't have a lot of stuff."

Anastasia gestured towards their apartment, prompting him to go back in. "Want to go out for some stuff?" When he nodded yes, she continued, "Go down to the lobby and talk to the two women, they're super nice people. I feel like I could trust them. How about we wash up and then we can go out?"

He placed his belongings down beside the bed, picking fresh clothes to change into after his bathe. With an awkward exit, Anastasia sunk onto the bed. Her bag slid off her shoulder, falling onto the quilt.

Letting out a breath, she stood and grabbed some clothing to change into. Another pair of black jeans, a dark grey sweater, and a tattered brown corduroy jacket she found.

She changed in under a minute, tossing her old clothes and underwear into the corner to wash for next time. Anastasia sensed a routine in the distance.

Anastasia rubbed her thighs, feeling that her jeans were too tight.

Skinny jeans...they were called. The name sounded weird.

She felt nervous. Going down on her knees, she peaked under her bed.

There, she held her stash of money. She grabbed it, recounting the Euro bills. Anastasia noticed she was running more low than she thought, and wanted.

Biting her inner lip, she pondered for a moment.

It dawned on her about the caches of supplies in various Hydra bases, all across the world. Surely there was one nearby she could raid. All of them held at least one. If not, more.

They informed the Soldats that if a base (more so whichever location the Winter Soldiers were encamping at) to ever go under, they were to come back and collect the stockpile; backup information - future plans, files - money, survival supplies, and much more...

She hoped to find an abandoned one...would make the trip much easier on her part.

With her luck, it would make up stock for more than one person. And last them a while. Which, was perfect.

Sitting back on her knees, the jeans went taut around her sinewy thighs. Leaning over, she use her hand to unzip a small front pouch. Fishing inside with her fingers, she pulled out a black hair tie.

Using her fingers, she took her time to brush back her damp hair, gently pulling into a Dutch braid.

When she looped the last hair strands into place, Anastasia tied off her braid tail.

She sighed, standing to collapse onto the mattress. Her lids fell closed, the fatigue too great to fight.

ANASTASIA felt a squeeze on her knee, causing her eyes to stir beneath closed lids. Bucky's right hand shifted on accident, squeezing her skin above her knee.

"Anastasia, I'm ready to go."

Her eyes fluttered open, seeing him standing over her. He smelt freshly washed; smelling of the same soap she used. She sat up, combing some of the dried baby hairs out of her face, "All right, let's go."

The rest of the trip was quiet. Bucky stepped back, giving her a wide girth as he pulled his jacket on. Both of them already had their shoes on, and he opened the door. Anastasia grabbed their hands, slipping hers on before giving Bucky his.

While Bucky stuck with his black baseball cap, Anastasia wore a dark grey toque. Another piece of thrifted clothing.

Anastasia ducked out, turning back to hand him a silver key. Bucky shut the door, flinching to a stop when he realized she was still standing behind him.

Glancing down, he hesitantly took the small cutout of metal. Palming it in his flesh hand, he gazed up at Ana in a silent question, the gears turning beneath his eyes.

"I, uh, was given two keys when I first got here, and I figured you could take it since you'll be here a while. I mean, I assume."

His lips twitched unintentionally, fidgeting with the key once more. It started to feel heavier in his grasp the longer he held it.  "...Thanks."

Turning by the torso, he locked the small handle before making his way down the stairs. Ana was close behind. Their heavy shoes made their steps more clamorous than usual.

After a few flights, Bucky angled his head to the side, "You think a brick would be a good hiding place, for a key? Like, u-under it."

Anastasia's boots echoed down the stairwell, layering over his footsteps. "I think it would be good if our door was outside. It would make more sense that a brick is near a door. If we put a brick in here, that looks off."

He hummed in thought, gazing up at all the stairs they travelled down already.

Passing in the lobby, Ana waved while Bucky nodded towards Elena.

Elena sat her wrist on her hip, staring at the two before giving a small nod in return.

"She seems nice." Bucky murmured flatly to Anastasia as they turned down the pathway. Although his hands were gloved, he shoved them deep in his jacket pockets.

"Elena is rough around the edges, but she means well." Anastasia huffed lightly, tilting her head back as the bracing wind hit her face, stinging her cheeks. She could already feel her braid freezing.

The air was colder than before, dropping more and more as they neared the New Year. A couple more weeks.

Licking her lips, Anastasia jutted her head to the side, "Her wife Simone seems sweet. Very polite."

"She was nice to me." Bucky responded with more disbelief than he wanted to. "Let me use her shampoo and conditioner."

She gazed up at his hatted-hair quickly, her eyes found her boots once more, "It does look nice."

Bucky blinked, closing his lips. He wondered if she had said it by accident, choosing not to ask her and confirm.

Up head, was the nearest convince store. Walking a bit faster, Bucky pulled open the door for her.

authors notes;
sorry for this long awaited update!
I'm excited to write more about them :)
time jump in the next chapter!
fyi, romania (and canada) uses celsius,
so I will be using celsius as well!