James Buchanan Barnes, also known as Bucky Barnes.

That's one hell of a name, if you ask me. It has a nice ring to it.

I've been here with him for a few days. He's been somewhat quiet. It's a little awkward between the two of us. We're not friends, we've never even met before and now we're just both stuck in these cells. We're the only somewhat sane ones around here. The others next to our cells are either brainwashed and lifeless or gone. Perhaps both.

I don't blame him for being quiet. It's not like it's easy to strike up a conversation in a place like this. "So how did you get here?" Was a question that I got the answers to the very first night he was brought in here. He fell off a train. HYDRA had done experiments on him which lead him to somehow survive the fall.

Yes, HYDRA. The exact same shitbags that have captured us.

If I had the guts and if I didn't know what the consequences of disobeying and standing up for myself were, I'd probably do anything to get them to listen to me and even consider freeing me but they would never do that.

I turn my head to Bucky's cell, seeing him staring right ahead of him with a sad look on his face. I open my mouth to ask him what he is thinking but close it, not sure if I should talk.

I turn my head away and lie down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling as I see tiny rays of sunlight peeking through the small windows that are high up on the walls. The sun must be rising.

I hear the clatter of a cell door and I jump, catching Bucky's attention. He looks at me, alarmed.

I start hearing screams and I place my hands over my ears, not wanting to hear those horrible, gut-wrenching sounds. Too bad my hands only mostly muffle out the noise.

I squeeze my eyes closed and bury my face in my knees, trying to block out every kind of view or noise about what's happening outside.

The screams get louder and louder with every second that passes and I prevent the tears of fear from slipping down from my eyes.

I shake my head, refusing to let myself look up as I hear the screams coming from right in front of my cell. I shake my head more as if trying to drown out more of the sounds.

As I hear the screams stop, I turn to look at Bucky, seeing him stare at the hallway with wide eyes. I slowly lower my hands from my ears and carefully move closer to him. "Are you... Are you okay?" I ask and he turns his head towards me slowly.

"Yeah," he says quietly, very quietly.

"Bucky, it's okay if you're scared," I tell him, moving even closer. "You don't have to act strong for anyone."

Bucky ignores me and looks away. I sigh and lie back down on the bed, looking up at the ceiling.

I decide to stay quiet. I rest my eyes and just enjoy the quietness that is finally broken after a while.

"How often does that happen?" Bucky asks and I sit up, seeing him look at me.

"I can't say. Sometimes it doesn't happen for days, sometimes multiple times a day."

"How long have you been here?" He asks, surprised by my answer.

I shrug, "I have no idea," I mutter out. "There's no way I can keep track of the time. Feels like an eternity, though."

Bucky frowns, turning away once again. "Have you ever thought about escaping?" He suddenly asks, out of the blue.

"I'm not sure if we should talk about that out loud." I try to lighten up the mood with a chuckle.

I see the corners of his lips flicker up slightly and find my breath hitching in my throat. Even with the smallest smile, he still looks absolutely gorgeous.

Silence falls over the two of us again and I let out a quiet huff which draws Bucky's attention back to me again. "What?" He asks.

"Nothing." I shrug. "It's just... I guess I thought that having company meant more talking," I say honestly. "But it's all right, we don't have to talk."

Bucky's brows furrow as he looks at me, observing me. I lift my hand over my cheek to hide the blush creeping up and clear my throat awkwardly.

"So you... You want to talk?" Bucky asks, letting out a sheepish chuckle.

I shrug again. "Do you have any topics in mind?" I ask, swinging my legs on the bed and crossing them. I rest my hands on my lap and turn towards him, waiting for his answer.

He puckers up his lips slightly as he thinks about something, probably a topic. He looks immensely adorable with his lips slightly puckered up like that.

"You told me you didn't have any friends. Why is that?"

"I was mostly helping my mom at home or I was working. We had to get money somehow. She was at home taking care of my little siblings."

Bucky nods, listening intently. "You didn't have much free time, huh?"

I shake my head, "No," I say with a sigh. "How about you? Did you have any friends other than Steve?"

"Friends, yeah. Good friends? Not really." He chuckles.

"A girlfriend?"

He takes a deep breath end lets it out through his nose as he shakes his head. "I was never one to commit," he says as he scratches the back of his neck. "Never found the right girl."

"Did you—"

"I was known for being quite the ladykiller." He interrupts me before I even get to finish my question. "I've gone out with quite a few dames," he says but makes sure to add, "But I never treated them with other than respect."

I look at him, seeing him smiling at me and I turn away, hiding the blush on my cheeks.

I shake my head a bit and turn back to him, hoping he didn't notice me blushing.

"My brother never let me go out with any men." I sigh and turn to look ahead of me, at the hallway. "Once I snuck out and he ended up beating the poor guy."

"He was just protecting you," Bucky says as if he knew exactly what went on. "I always did the same with my sister Rebecca."

"Are all brothers protective like you?"

"No," he says, laughing. "Some people don't care at all. Be glad that your brother did."

I never thought about it like that. I just assumed he thought of me as a child and didn't want me to grow up. I guess he just didn't want to see me get hurt.

"Well, then Rebecca was a lucky girl to have a brother like you," I say and give him a small smile.

He shrugs with a sheepish smile on his face. "I try my best," he says honestly.

And for a while it's quiet between us again.

"So where did you work?" He suddenly asks.

I can't help but smile as I realize he wants to keep the conversation going. Of course I answer him and the conversation continues for hours as we cover many topics about each other's lives.

This one is basically a filler so this story doesn't move on too fast. Decided to post it now since I have a lot of these chapters written, I just need to make adjustments and read them through to make sure they are as good as possible.

What do you think about this HYDRA base so far? Not much has been revealed yet.

What do you think about Bucky?

What about Marie?

Tell me in the comments if you want. I'd love to hear your thoughts.