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For Ellie
[Bucky had stayed in Quarantine for as long as possible. Not because he had any particular attachment to the place, most of his tentatively made friends had gone long before the end happened, but because there was less of a risk of HYDRA there. Sure, Pierce had shown up and that was really not fun, but by and large the population could be trusted.
All good things must end, though.
The portal he took dropped him somewhere in the Ukraine, and he made sure to get himself several countries away before he stopped to rest. He felt rusty, too long in a small world not having to look always over his shoulder, and he has to mentally reset as fast as possible. Get too sloppy and it'll all be over. It's not just HYDRA looking for him, after all, it's the remnants of SHIELD, the Avengers (led by stupid Steve "end of the line" Rogers), and about half the world's governments.
He lets his body run on autopilot for a while. No matter what happens, he doesn't think he'll ever forget how to be ghost, how to just disappear from a crowd and never make the slightest of waves when he travels from city to city.
It's been about a month, and he's out in the middle of nowhere. A mountain range in North America, nothing but bears and forest and birds for as far as the eye can see. Or it should be. But he spots a spire of smoke that shouldn't be there -- campers don't usually set up this far out, and the rangers wouldn't make a fire. So who is it? He creeps closer to get a look, and damn near falls out of the tree he's chosen for surveillance when he catches sight of a familiar looking teenage girl.
Ellie?!
No.
No, it can't be.
This is just one of those things, one of those inexplicable things between worlds where people share a face. Maybe this is an alternate Ellie, one from his world and not from a zombie infested wasteland. He'll only scare her if he approaches. So he just watches for now, silent and focused.]
All good things must end, though.
The portal he took dropped him somewhere in the Ukraine, and he made sure to get himself several countries away before he stopped to rest. He felt rusty, too long in a small world not having to look always over his shoulder, and he has to mentally reset as fast as possible. Get too sloppy and it'll all be over. It's not just HYDRA looking for him, after all, it's the remnants of SHIELD, the Avengers (led by stupid Steve "end of the line" Rogers), and about half the world's governments.
He lets his body run on autopilot for a while. No matter what happens, he doesn't think he'll ever forget how to be ghost, how to just disappear from a crowd and never make the slightest of waves when he travels from city to city.
It's been about a month, and he's out in the middle of nowhere. A mountain range in North America, nothing but bears and forest and birds for as far as the eye can see. Or it should be. But he spots a spire of smoke that shouldn't be there -- campers don't usually set up this far out, and the rangers wouldn't make a fire. So who is it? He creeps closer to get a look, and damn near falls out of the tree he's chosen for surveillance when he catches sight of a familiar looking teenage girl.
Ellie?!
No.
No, it can't be.
This is just one of those things, one of those inexplicable things between worlds where people share a face. Maybe this is an alternate Ellie, one from his world and not from a zombie infested wasteland. He'll only scare her if he approaches. So he just watches for now, silent and focused.]
no subject
And she's in it.
And it's. Well.
She gets brought in by the cops about the thirtieth time she digs her lunch out of a dumpster. The whole bullshit runaround. Where's your parents? Where are you from? What's your name? Why don't you have a social security number? They grill her for hours like she's a criminal. Now, she's a decent liar but she can't fool a system she doesn't even understand. She plays dumb until a social worker gets there, and then she slips the system and is out on her own again.
Rinse. Repeat.
She hitchhikes sometimes, her pocket knife a sturdy weight in her pocket. One guy gets a bit handsy. One. So she stabs him in the thigh and tells him if he ever thinks about touching a kid again she's going to find him and feed him his own dick. It works. Or at least it works for now. And she escapes, and now she's. Well, she's here.
She thinks about finding Joel. Even gets so far as to sit in a library and figure out a computer (she finally knows all about Facebook, and her time in Quarantine made her better with technology than she'd ever had the chance at before) so she can look him up. Turns out Joel wasn't much of a tech guy either, even before everything went to shit. And her mother would be like, ten right about now. That'd go over well. Hey, I'm your fucked-up sixteen year old kid from the future. How'd'y'do?
So she's out here. In a place that's easier and more familiar than the bustling streets with the cars and the busses and the sounds and the smells, and she's cooking a rabbit she caught herself, and fussing with the torn edge of a sleeping bag she definitely stole from a thrift store. It's spring, so it's not freezing, but the temperature drops fast when the sun goes down and it's well on its way there. Maybe half an hour left of twilight.
Funny how she's not even a little worried about animals. Wolves, bears, whatever. Bring it on. She sleeps like the dead knowing there's no fucking clickers in this world.
But you get a sense of your surroundings. Maybe it's intuition or what-the-fuck-ever, but she's real keen on it. You know who's with you. You know when you aren't alone. The difference is that Bucky's good. Probably the best she's ever met, so she's happily oblivious to him, poking sullenly at her fire. Talking to herself, because isn't that what you do when you're almost insane?]
It's not like Joel would even know who the hell I am, anyway! Even if I did find him.
[It's obviously an argument she's retread many times now. She throws her hand up in frustration and pokes at the rabbit corpse where it's skewered over the fire.]
Ugh, I'm such an idiot. I should've just stayed in Quarantine, but nooo, couldn't do that. Come on, Ellie. Fuuuck. [a loud, theatrical groan.] Clark would kill me.
no subject
He's missed them. Missed all of them.
It's just before she starts talking that he almost slips away. He's just realised that sitting up a tree staring silently at a teenage girl is probably creepy, even for him. That there's no perverse tendencies there doesn't make it much better, and he should go before she notices him. And then...
And then...
It's her. It's really her.
Without consider how it will look, acting on pure instinct rather than any of his honed skills or carefully cultivated ideas about security, he just drops straight down to land at the edge of her camp. His hair is loose around his face, greasy and tangled, and he's dressed in some tattered jeans and a faded red hoodie.
He doesn't speak. Can't. It feels like words have become locked in his throat, he just stands there, four feet from her, and stares.]
no subject
James, holy shit are you for fucking real right now? Is that you? Fuck, I'm sorry, I could have killed you!
[Of course it's him. She'd recognize his scruffy hobo self anywhere. And that look on his face like a hungry wolf? Yeah. No way that isn't the man she knows and cares for. Ellie lunges for him across that small space and wraps him up in her arms, probably squeezing tightly enough that it's uncomfortable. Is she crying? Probably. How stupid is that? It's not like she's hurt or someone died, it's just. It's James and he's here and suddenly she's not alone anymore and she knows without needing to be told that he isn't going to just leave her and that he'll give her a minute's peace if she asks. So sure, she'll cry into his (probably dirty) hoodie and not give a fuck because he's a friend. Her friend and he's here. And suddenly the fact that she's spent like, two fucking months here in this weird place all by herself just doesn't even seem to matter anymore.
In a small, muffled voice against his chest,]
Dude, you stink. When was the last time you had a shower?
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It's a stupid little thing, but he hadn't realised until that moment how much he's missed having a name again, having people to speak his name and make it real. He's come further from being a ghost than he thought, and it's been hard to slip back into the reality of his world.
There's a moment when she launches herself at him where he almost lashes out through instinct, he doesn't do a whole lot of touching that isn't violent in nature and she's coming in so fast that it could be an attack. He's... glad that he manages to keep himself still, her arms around him are like an anchor holding him steady in choppy waters.]
You don't smell so good yourself, kid.
[His voice is a croak, he obviously hasn't spoken much to anyone in weeks, but there's a thin thread of amusement running through his words.]
Where the hell did you come from?
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( he remembers her. he knows her. those stupid sobs just keep happening and she can't even do anything to control it except hiccup vaguely and feel like she's fucking hail mary full of snot right now.
she smacks her closed fist down against his chest. )
Fucking — Quarantine, that's where! Christ, I went through one of the portals, and then I wound up here, and — everybody always talked about how amazing this time is but it's not. It's bullshit! Do you have any idea how many times I've been picked up by a truancy officer? Fucking nosy assholes! Can't anyone mind their own business? What the fuck is wrong with your time!
( it's definitely an outburst. and she's definitely still upset, though this time when she whacks her hand against him there's no heat behind it. softer, )
Holy shit, James, I thought I was never going to see you again.
no subject
Believe me, I wasn't expecting to run into you either.
[And isn't that the understatement of the millennia?
It takes a moment or two more of wading through the way his head is already spinning off on all the different consequences there could be of her being here, but he finally makes himself step back and get a proper look at her.]
...hey, you're safe now. I know people who can help you, make sure you don't need to worry about truancy officers any more.
no subject
(shirt, also definitely stolen from a thrift store.) )
I don't need reassurance, James. I'm fine. It's just. It's a lot, you know?
( it's a lot, and she misses joel, and... weirdly, that sense of danger. fight or flight. survival. that came along with her world. )
And you guys are past the year. No infection for you. Guess that's something, right?
no subject
[Jesus, it never even occurred to him that Ellie's world might have been his future, and that on top of all the HYDRA and SHIELD bullshit, they'd also have to deal with everyone becoming zombies.
Suddenly, he's just a little bit grateful for the run of the mill assholes out there.
He rubs a hand through his hair, off-kilter and confused and aching with relief to see someone he can actually trust. As much as he trusts anyone.]
I meant what I said, though, I know people who can help you out.