UNEDITED

It was dreadful, to make a choice like this. It was a choice of life and death and it was all up to me. I hated it, the fact that I had all the responsibility. I didn't even have enough time to make it.

"Dammmmit." I wobbled on my feet nervously, glancing between my two choices. Bucky was standig somewhere close behind me, probably getting irritated by now. I bit on my nails, my mind going hayware. I hadn't needed to use it like this for a long time.

"Grace, just make the choice." Bucky sighed.

"I can't!" My hands flew up towards her head. I bit on my lip, my mind creaking and weighing the pros and cons. "I think I'll go with..." I dragged the last word out. "Burger King!" I cheered, grasping Bucky's arm and dragging him towards the restaurant, leaving the Mc Donalds behind. I almost stumbled over my own two feet, probably because I was dizzy and maybe a bit too enthusiatic.

"Just look out for the cameras." Bucky sighed, his voice laced with irritation. He had probably noticed the shift of my mood by now, probably already considering to leave me behind.

"I know, I know!" I cheered as I practically ran inside the restaurant and ordered my meal, ignoring the pain in my chest. When it was Bucky's turn, I looked up at him expectingly thinking that he'd order some kind of menu.

"A cola would be great, please." He told the cashier at which I stared at him dumbfounded. He handed her the money and then took the tray of food, my grand menu included, and dragged us towards the far corner of the restaurant.

"A cola?!" I whispered/yelled at him in disbelief. "I just had to make a very hard choice to take you to the best restaurent and you decide to take a cola?!"

Bucky only rolled his eyes in response but allowed a small smile the play on his lips.

"I'm very dissapointed in you, James." I said after taking a huge bite of my burger, trying my best to fit it all in my mouth.

"It's Bucky." He said and took a sip of his cola, glancing around if there were any suspicious looking people.

"You know, I always went to Burger King after an exam. Took my mind off of all these enzymes and hormonses, you know?" I swallowed the food, not letting my eyes leave the delicious looking burger. "It's a miracle I'm not fat."

Bucky chuckled, taking another sip and finally letting himself relax in his booth.

"So where are we going?" I asked with my mouth half-full.

"I don't know, I was thinking about Budapest since it's crowded but with very low security. Maybe get an apartment over there." It looked like he had it all planned out already.

"Budapest?" My eyes widened. "We're pstill in Holland, how do you plan on getting there? That's like... Going to climb the mount Everest all the way from the sea!"

"It's not too far."

"It wil take us atleast a week." I countered, leaning back in the booth while looking at him with one eyebrow raised.

"It's the safest place for us to be." Bucky leanrd forward, daring me with his eyes to say anything back.

"What about Paris?"

"Too much security."

"Berlin?"

"Same story."

I sighed, leaning back in the booth. "What about Italy? Maybe even Rome or Florence. Or Verona! You know, the city where Romeo and Juliet lived?"

"Grace." He warned me, narrowing his eyes.

"Okay, maybe we should go all the way to Africa and camp somewhere in the wild, won't be any security there. The only thing you'd have to worry anout are the lions." I said sarcastically. It wasn't the fact that I didn't really like Budapest that bothered me, it was the fact that he had decided all by himself. And maybe the fact that I was feeling more dreadful by the minute but had only 4 or 5 pills left since I left most behind in London.

Bucky only shook his head no, putting his cola down on the table and staring out of the window. He was clearly not in the mood for arguing, what frustrated me even more.

"Look, James, I'm very gratefull for you helping me and everything but please just let me help decide or atleast have a choice in these matters. I know how to hide, I've been doing this for years." I leaned forward, trying to get his attention.

"This is different." He redirected his gaze towards me.

"How is it different? It's the same organisation that's been hunting me for years."

"Because they need you urgently now." Bucky leaned his arms on the table, leaning closer towards me. "And because you're with me."

"Need me?" I furrowed my eyebrows. "Why? How could you possibly know this?"

"Your parents were specialized in genetic manipulation and brain technologies, right?" I nodded, frowning at the fact that he knew this. "HYDRA has had some... problems with the Avengers and the Winter Soldier programm which-"

"Winter Soldier programm?!" I could feel the hatred boiling up inside of me. "They don't need me, they need my parents. Since they were stupid enough to kill them it's their own problem! I'd rather die than helping them, even if I had the same knowledge as my parents did." I practically threw the burger down on my plate in anger, my appetite gone now that my parents were mentioned.

Bucky clenched his jaw and looked away from my eyes once again. Only this time there was pain in his eyes, which he soon masked with a cloudy facade.

"They were the smart ones, not me." I mumbled, staring down at my plate while a lump grew in my throat. "Great, now I've lost my appetite." I shoved the plate away from me, leaning back in the booth and crossing my arms before my chest.

Even though I was furious, I couldb't stand the silence that hung over us. Bucky did seem like the silent type which frustrated me even more. What frustrated me the most though was the fact that he was angry with me, which I couldn't stand at all.

"So Budapest it is, then?"

~

"Has probably been for sell for 2 years now considering its state." Bucky said as he was trying to open the door with some lock picks. "Which means that it is unhabitet." He mumbled as he turned the doorhandle, grasping his handgun in his hands. He checked the whole house and then called me to get inside.

"Do they have some salt in here, like a sack full?" I shivered as I walked through the house after leaving my trenchcoat by the door. The floor was cracking beneath my feet and the dust was finding its way into my nose. It smelled like my grandma's house, which wasn't a very great smell since I never knew the woman but instead only visited her long forgotten house that had fallen into ruins.

"Why would you need salt?" Bucky's voice echoed through the empty halls and rooms.

"Because my ghost senses are tingling." I wrapped my arms around my nody, feeling the neasau and pain creep up. It was getting worse by the minute but I had to be careful with the medicine. They weren't available in shops anyway since only my parents and I know the recipe.

"You've never seen Supernatural, have you?" The lights started flickering, the light blinding my eyes for a few seconds. I really needed that salt.

"Don't think I have."

While trying to find my way towards his voice I bumped against various objects that were all covered by white sheets. One in particular caught my attention, not because of a good reason though because it looked exactly like a ghost.

"What the hell are you?" I walked up to it, my hand reaching for the sheet to tear it off. "You know what, I don't even want to know." I turned around but immediatelly regretted it because I bumped against something hard.

"Grace, are you allright?" Bucky suddenly appeared before me, making me jump slightly and fall backwards into the mysterious object. Before I could fall though Bucky caught me and pulled me back to my feet.

"Don't ever do that again!" My voice was shaking and as was my body. I was probably squeezing his arms with my hands, his left arm feeling quite hard but since I couldn't think very clearly I didn't really realize it wasn't normal. Or maybe it was because I was too distracted by his eyes staring down on me and his firm arms that were holding me in place.

"You're pale." Bucky continued and looked down at me worriedly.

"I'm fine." I waved it iff, walking further into the room. I wasn't fine at all though, my vision was becoming blurry and as was my mind. "Would you mind if we slept in the same room tonight?" I asked when my eyes settled on various dolls that were sitting in one of the closets. "I won't mind if I have to sleep on the floor. But I also wouldn't mind to be in the same bed." I then realized how it sounded. "Not in that way, of course." I turned to smile at him widely but then gave him a wink. God, I loved to mess with men.

"The chambers are full of rats so we already had to both sleep in the living room." Bucky said, touching some of the dolls. The moonlight gave them an eerie glow which made it even worse considering that this was in the exact same room we had to sleep in.

"This reminds me of some episode, you know, the very first to be exact. One where there's some lady who murdered her children and then hunts the forest nearbyp for cheating men so she can lure them inside the house to kill them. The house kinda looks the same, all alone somewhere in the middle of nowhere." I ranted, probably because I was scared as hell and wanted to get my mind off of things. Especially when I noticed a dark painting on one of the walls of a woman who looked exactly like the ghost in said episode. "It was a great episode, you should watch it sometime."

I heard Bucky's chuckle from behind me. "Are you always this talkative?" He asked.

"Well, you're the first person that has talked to me for months except for the horny drunk guys who only understand words like sex, football, beer or boobs on the street so-" stars clouded my vision, my limbs growing weak. Before I could fall my hand shot out and held onto one of the cabinets firmly, waiting for the dizziness to go away.

"Grace?!" I could hear his footsteps walking up to me. Later on I felt his hands on my shoulders, turning me around till I was facing him.

"I'm fine, really." My voice prooved quite the opposite, it being slurred and croaky and all. The usual tactic of blinking several times didn't really help with my cloudy vision. "I could really use some tea though."

"Jesus, Grace, your nose is bleeding." He looked down at the blood that was streaming down my face. What was even worse was that I coughed blood, now it was also streaming down from my mouth. Now I practically looked like the ghost.

"that's normal." I tried to push him off but only managed to fall down to the floor instead. It came to a point where all I could see were stars and the pain became overwhelming.

"Okay, maybe it isn't." I mumbled when even my legs refused to move and the pain was blinding my vision. Bucky's arm wrapped around my torso, lifting me up till I was resting against his chest.

"What is happening?!" He stressed, looking down at me as black streaks started to cover my skin. It was growing from my left side, slowly creeping its way through my veins.

"Left pocket... Inside..- trenchcoat." I mustered out, feeling his arms slip away from my torso. He ran towards the door, rumassing through all of the pockets till he found what he was looking for.

I tried to keep my eyes open, knowing that if I closed them I wouldn't wake up any time soon. The dolls made that hard though. It seemed like they were staring down at me with their mocking, broken, hollow eyes. Almost seeming to tell me that I'd become like them; broken, scarred and lifeless.

Bucky ran towards my side again, falling to his knees beside me and lifting me up in his arms with the syringes glasped in his hand.

"You need to inject me..." I was interrupted by another cough, each one sending another jolt of pain through my body. "Here." I pointed to where my heart was.

He didn't need any further instructions, he placed the needle in my skin and pushed the medicine inside my body. First all I could see was red, pure red like from a rose. Then I heard his voice, calling me over and over again and shaking my body for any response.

My vision cleared within what must've been a minute as the pain slowly crept away. I could see Bucky staring down at me. Taking in a deep breath I lifted myself up till Icould rest my head against his chest, letting out an exhausted groan.

"Damned mutans."