"Everyone knows I'm right about one thing,
You are my only vice."
Before I Ever Met You; Banks
-O-
December, 2003
"Come with me now and maybe I won't kill everyone in this bar."
His voice was a low snarl to her left, and she could just barely feel the feather light brush of his lips against the shell of her ear. His chest pressed into the top of her spine, and she could feel the Kevlar vest through the thin material of his shirt. Continuing to stir the drink in front of her, one calm look around told her that the bar wasn't occupied by much more than a couple of drunks who would be much better suited in bed with their wives at this hour.
When he stepped back only slightly, she finally turned her stool around to face him. Simply taking in his appearance, she noted that he was most definitely under a disguise, whether for this encounter or from one of his more recent ones. His once dark hair was now a platinum blond that was almost the exact shade of the rotting gallon of milk that was sitting at the other edge of the bar. His eyes, pale before, were big and brown and made him resemble something more of a puppy than the soldier he actually was.
Her lips quirked upwards and he lifted a light eyebrow quizzically, although he was still glaring down at her. "You have thirty seconds before I put a bullet in every single one of their heads, Alina," he murmured softly, and a glove-clad hand trailed a path down her jawline lightly. It was covering his metal appendage quite well, besides the small sliver of silver that peeked through the gap between sleeve and glove.
Alina gave a small nod, but made no move to rise from her spot at the counter. She turned towards her drink to finish it in one long sip, relishing the pleasant burn as the liquid slid down her throat. When she turned back towards him, his jaw was set and he gestured towards the door impatiently.
Alina shook her head with an easy smile, running a hand through her dark hair. "No."
He looked her in the eyes, before a grin slid onto his face as well. He let a small laugh escape from his lips, before he shrugged and reached into his back pocket. "Do it," she urged when he pulled out a handgun.
"Oh, look how much you've changed in the last few years, Alina." He turned and shot one of the men straight through the head with alarming accuracy. When he noticed that she was still unfazed, he continued to do exactly as he had promised.
When he had finally finished, blood spattered nearly every wall, and Alina had shifted so that she was lounging against the counter, her head dropped back. He allowed his eyes to drift over her lithe form, before he stalked across the bar to lean over her relaxed body with a hard stare. "Come now, Alina, we don't want to make this difficult, do we?"
"Why not?" she teased, lips twisting into a delicate pout. "You should know that a little difficulty is interesting by now, James."
He stiffened at the sound of the vaguely familiar name, before he was shaking his head. "Not when it involves me snapping your arm in half."
"They'd punish you," Alina replied serenely, not at all effected by his tone. She stood from her stool to move past him, grazing his chest with her shoulder on her way towards the door. "They always do, darling." She was correct; they both knew this well enough. HYDRA was unforgiving when it came to matters such as these, especially when someone they were trying to get to was needed alive and in their best condition.
But before she could get far enough, his hand was reaching into his coat pocket. Whirling around, she caught his wrist, bringing it out along with the electrified baton that was now currently in his grip. Alina clucked her tongue. "Naughty boy," she chided gently, as if scolding a mere child.
She continued her trek to the door after throwing the baton carelessly across the room. Alina grabbed her coat from the rack and slung it over her shoulder. She turned slightly, throwing one arm out in a challenge.
James took it.
He charged her, and she slipped under him easily. He was bigger, stronger, and quite possibly even smarter than her, but she was smaller and faster. She could dodge just about as fast as he could punch and kick, but it could only prove to last for so long. But the strategy seemed to be effective with him, for the most part. James had encountered her too many times and had failed his missions for her one less than that.
His back was to her when she stood from his crouched position, and Alina took the time to land a spinning kick the back of his solar plexus. James coughed, but whipped around quickly, just in time to catch her foot that was flying towards his shoulder. He held it for a moment, a small smirk creeping its way up to his lips, before he yanked it up harshly.
Alina fell to the ground with a grunt, trying to ignore the pain that radiated throughout her elbow. James stepped closer to her, throwing her foot down and placing a booted foot against her windpipe. Her airways closed, and she clawed at his ankle, disappointed when she couldn't find any available skin to tear into. Panic overwhelmed her senses as her lungs ached, but just as soon as the foot was there, it was gone.
She gasped for breath as James crouched down beside her, palm flat against her sternum to keep her down on the ground. When he pulled out a pair of handcuffs, she managed a weak grin. "Ooh, kinky."
"Shut your mouth, Alina," James spat, but his eyes gleamed with something similar to pride. He flipped her onto her stomach and cuffed her, forcing her onto her knees and then her feet. She had been messy this time, they both knew that. She had been out of action too long, and he was conditioned any chance he could get. She couldn't have afforded to be as careless as she had been without a price.
Alina looked up, staring up at the wooden rafters above them with a heavy sigh.
"They want me back, Winter, and I guess even I can't deny them that."
-O-
I hope you guys liked the prologue, because it's been so long since I've actually written anything. I took a break from writing for too long, and it's sad that I lost interest in my other stories. That's why I moved them to my backup account to have a clean start on this one again.
I figured that I would start with a Bucky fic, seeing as I'm just not as into Teen Wolf as I used to be a couple of moths back. If any of you had read my other stories, you would know that the writing in them was very . . . unedited, so to speak. Maybe one day I'll go back and edit them, but I'm not quite sure as of yet.
The next chapter and most after that are all what leads up to this little predicament, so be prepared.
But tell me what you think!
