Till the End of the Line

Olivia's townhouse was divided over four floors: her bedroom was on the first floor, a guest room with a double bed and another small room occupied the floor above, the kitchen, living room and a study on the ground floor, and a tiny basement where she kept the washing machine.
When the initial shock of Sarah and Bucky's sudden arrival at five in the morning had passed somewhat, Olivia took them upstairs to the guest room. She had had the sense not to ask them too many questions, as both of them were still recovering from everything that had happened.

Once they were alone in the room, Bucky put Sarah down on the bed before sinking into the sofa that stood beside it. Exhausted, Sarah tried to resist the urge to close her eyes and let sleep take over. Now that they were alone and the anxiety had worn off a little she could finally ask Bucky to tell her what the hell had happened in her apartment that night. She could see he was almost on the verge of nodding off as well, so she cleared her throat and started: "I know we're both tired, but I can't wait any longer... Wh- How the hell.. did it happen?"
He looked up at her from the sofa, his eyes already heavy with sleep. Sighing, he hoisted himself up a bit, "Well, those men were some of the people I told you about... They've been looking for me for some time."
"How did you know they were coming?"
"When you fell asleep... I found a microphone in the delivery box: they bugged us, they probably heard me talking about the time Steve rescued me and my division during the war. I realised they probably didn't want to lose any time: they probably wanted to get me while I was sleeping, 'cause they know they could never take me when I'm awake..."
Sarah frowned, "It was in the pizza box?" He nodded slowly. "But then..." Sarah suddenly felt as if a block of ice had dropped into her stomach, "they found us... because of me," she swallowed, "it's my fault..."
Bucky sat up quickly, "Hey," he said in a hushing tone, "don't blame yourself. They were set on finding me and they're not gonna stop until they get me. If bugging us hadn't worked out, they would've found some other way of discovering where I was."
Sarah bit her lip and turned her eyes away from him, still feeling intensely guilty. Evidently Bucky noticed this, because he got up from the sofa and crouched next to her, leaning on the edge of the bed with his elbows.
"Seriously, Sarah, don't blame yourself," he said softly, and when she still wouldn't meet his gaze he touched his hand to her arm, "Please..." he murmured. A little reluctantly, Sarah glanced up at him and gave a small nod in response.

Feeling as if she had slept for days, Sarah woke up around one o'clock in the afternoon. For a while she just lay staring at the spots of sunlight dancing over the ceiling, but then she rolled onto her side to look at Bucky, who was still fast asleep on the sofa. For a moment she simply looked at him, at his handsome face hidden behind his dark hair, a patch of light on his cheek from where the sunlight reflected off his metal arm. In that moment she felt peaceful and content, but then a wave of memory crashed over her as the events from the night before started to replay in her mind. Her body tensed when the sounds of gunfire echoed through her head. Everything seemed blurry now, but she remembered the fear, the noise, the shaking floor. She remembered how Bucky had fought all those men by himself, how he had protected her… even killed while doing so.
Even though she was grateful that he'd managed to get the both of them out alive, there was something unsettling about the fact that he was able to kill and stay so calm about it.

In an attempt to rid herself of these rather grim musings, she sat up and pushed the duvet off her to examine her ankle. It still felt as sore as before she had gone to bed. She wondered if she'd manage getting to the shower without help, and swung her legs over the edge of the bed to test how painful it was going to be. It took her a while, but eventually she had made her way to the bathroom by hopping on her uninjured foot and groping the walls for support. Twenty minutes later she returned to the bedroom, still hopping and groping, quite pleased with herself for at least being able to handle a small trip like that by herself.
Bucky had clearly just woken up. He was sitting up straight, rubbing his eyes with his knuckles as Sarah came hopping into the room. He looked up, probably to see who was making all the noise, then shook his head when he spotted Sarah and rushed over to help her get back on the bed.
"You shouldn't be walking around," he murmured, sitting down next to her as she lay back into the pillows. When she had propped herself into a slightly more upright position, Sarah pretended to be momentarily engrossed in folding her towel, just so she could take a moment to collect herself. It had been alright when he was asleep, but now that Bucky was up Sarah felt a little anxious. Her mind was bursting with a ton of questions and feelings she needed to convey. Towel now folded, she had no choice but to turn her attention on Bucky, who was surveying her with an inscrutable look on his face. As she hadn't yet figured out exactly what she wanted to say, and how she was going to say it, she merely looked back at him.
"Did you sleep okay?" he asked tentatively. She could tell he was picking up on her nerves, and evidently they were making him nervous too. She nodded in reply.
"Did you?"
He shrugged, "Well enough, all things considered..." Sarah ignored this hint that he wanted to discuss last night in more detail as well, because she wanted to have everything clearly spelled out in her mind before doing so.
"If you want a shower, it's through there," Sarah said briskly, pointing out the bathroom door, "Liv put clean towels in the cupboard. I'm going to get some breakfast," she rose from the bed and started hopping towards the door. Bucky immediately jumped up to assist her.
"I think I'll be okay," she said, holding out a hand to stop him from lifting her, "going down is easy. Save your strength for when I have to go up again: I plan to eat a lot of comfort food today." The corners of his mouth twitched upwards slightly, which in Bucky's range of facial expressions constituted a smile. Sarah returned it with a small smile of her own, then spun round towards the landing and resumed her one-legged voyage down the stairs.

Olivia had to work until six, which meant Sarah and Bucky had the house to themselves. For Sarah, who had been a frequent visitor before Bucky had entered her life, this was almost as exciting as having the house to yourself when you visit your parents: there was always better food, better heating, and just so much more space.
Sarah sat in her little nook on the couch, pouring muesli into a bowl of yoghurt, thinking about (and simultaneously trying not to think about) Bucky. Since last night their situation had become considerably more problematic: now that it was known where Bucky had been hiding, and who had been hiding him, it would be impossible for them to return to the apartment. Sarah realised with a pang that she, like Bucky, was now a fugitive. Leaving the house was now as much of a risk for her as it was for him. But they couldn't stay with Olivia, not for long anyway, or she'd become exposed to the same dangers they were facing. They would have to figure out where to go next. Thankfully, they wouldn't have to worry about making a plan just yet, as Liv had insisted on them staying until Sarah was back on her feet again.

Now that they were staying with Olivia, however, Sarah and Bucky had to take certain things into account. First of all, as she was also an employee at the Smithsonian, there was a chance that Olivia might recognise Bucky from the pictures shown at the Captain America exhibit. Luckily, Olivia's line of work didn't involve her in a lot of the actual exhibition, but she had come to visit Sarah a lot when she had been working on it. But Bucky's appearance, although unaltered in age, was very different now than it was in those pictures: there he had been clean-shaven with short hair, whereas now his hair almost reached his shoulders and he hardly ever shaved these days.
Then, there was his name. Sarah had never called Bucky by his name, except on one occasion. There had never really been any need for it, but still she thought of him as Bucky rather than James and she would have to take care not to accidentally call him Bucky in front of Olivia. Bucky, in turn, had to remember to react to this name (even though it was his actual name), as he was still not really used to be called by any name whatsoever.
Bucky's metal arm, which had to be concealed from Olivia to avoid any unwanted questions, provided a problem as well. When they arrived, Bucky had been wearing gloves, but they'd have to think of something different now that they would be spending most of the time indoors. Sarah had found some gauze in the bathroom, which they had wrapped around his hand and as far up his arm as they could manage. They simply told Olivia he had injured his hand during the fight.
And lastly: they had told Olivia they were a couple, which they weren't, but now they would have to act as such.

When Olivia had returned from work, and they had had dinner on the couch together, she and Sarah remained seated while James took the dishes to the kitchen.
"He's an attentive one, isn't he?" Olivia said in a low voice once he had left the room. Sarah nodded. "I don't think any of my exes ever did the dishes voluntarily," she continued. Sarah smiled in reply. Olivia took a sip from her drink, deliberated for a moment, then fixed her eyes on Sarah again.
"Do you know if they caught them yet, those guys who broke into your apartment?" she asked tentatively. Sarah could tell she was trying to get more information about the supposed break-in, and she knew she had to play along or Liv would try to get involved, which might lead to more complications. Her family was rather important and well connected, which meant that Olivia often appealed to her father if she ever needed someone to 'pull some strings'.
"No, not yet. They're looking for them, though," Sarah answered quietly.
"Hm," Olivia pursed her lips, "would it help if daddy had a chat with the police, you think?" There it was.
"No, I think we're just going to have to wait and see."
Olivia looked as if she wanted to pursue the subject, but at that moment James returned from the kitchen, asking Olivia if he could turn on the TV to watch the news.

While he and Olivia focused their attention on the television, Sarah's mind drifted off. She felt strange; lonely in a way. The realisation that she was now forced to leave behind everything she had built up in the past year, her job, her apartment, her social life, suddenly hit her. And it almost felt like a physical injury, as if someone had literally taken a chunk out of her body. She would have to run, and stay on the run until either Bucky's pursuers gave up on him, or caught him. She could go back to England, but she was afraid of what might happen to her family if those men followed her. No, she'd have to go somewhere else; she'd probably have to stick with Bucky. He'd promised to protect her if they got in trouble, and seeing as she had created the mess they were in (regardless of what Bucky had said to her, she still reckoned it was her fault) it would be unwise and ungrateful to let him deal with everything on his own.