I'm so sorry I've fallen behind, guys. I just moved to a new state a pnd started a new job so I kinda put this on the back burner. But I'm back now! Enjoy this new chapter!
Lacey awoke to bright lights, needles in her arms, and laying in an unfamiliar room. Where was she? She couldn't seem to recall...anything. What had HYDRA done to her now? At that moment, a strange man walked through the door. He looked like a doctor, but if there was one thing Lacey had learned since being kidnaped, it was that people were not always who they seemed to be.
Noticing that she was awake, the man gave her a big smile. "Look who's up! How are you feeling?"
So that's how they were going to play it? No, she refused to fall for tricks. "Please," she pleaded. "Let me go, I don't know how many times I have to tell you people, I don't know anything. I'm of no use to you. I won't even tell anyone. I'll just go on with my life." Lacey was in hysterics by now. Tears were pouring down her cheeks and she couldn't seem to catch her breath. She had been through this torture for too long.
The doctor was at her side instantly. "Listen, ma'am, you're safe now. We've been looking after you while you've been healing. We're the good g-"
"No! Shut up! Stop lying to me," Lacey screamed. She began panicking, attempting to rip the needles out of her arms.
The man tried stopping her but she reached out and slapped him before he could. At that moment, a different tall, broad man ran into the room. "What the hell, doc? What did you do to her?" The man pushed past the doctor to reach Lacey's side. His voice dropped to a whisper. "Hey, sweetheart, remember me? Shh, you're ok. You're safe. We got you out of there, remember?" He slowly reached out and brought Lacey's hands to rest in her lap. She struggled to calm down but his reassuring tone made it easier. For such an intimidating person, he seemed to be rather gentle. She barely noticed the doctor leaving the room.
She looked at him closely. His face looked so familiar. Long dark hair, clear blue, grey eyes. Where did she know him from? He had on dark jeans, combat boots, and a black short sleeved shirt. Lacey struggled to think. Suddenly, a memory of being strapped into a chair came to her. Jamison. The guards. Blood. "Wipe her." And this man. He had saved her. Her breath slowly began returning to normal. "You...did you get me out? Am I out?" she questioned.
He nodded. "Yeah, you're safe. We took care of them, they can't hurt you anymore."
She was so happy she began to sob all over again. After all this time, had she finally been set free? It was so overwhelming. Lacey put her head in her hands and gripped her hair near the scalp.
"Hey, calm down. I know it's a lot to take in, but don't hurt yourself. Listen, what's your name?"
Lacey took deep breaths. It took her a few minutes but she finally was able to speak. "L-Lacey...Lacey Hannigan."
"It's nice to meet you, Lacey. I'm Bucky. I'm going to be looking out for you for awhile. Does that sound ok to you?" He seemed uncertain, almost scared of her answer. How stupid of him. At the moment, he was the only person she trusted. Lacey looked at him, startled.
"Your name is Bucky?"
"No, ma'am. It's James Barnes but everyone calls me Bucky for short. You can call me whichever you'd like."
Lacey looked at the man for quite awhile, just studying his face. He didn't seem like a Bucky. Someone with that name was supposed to look carefree, happy. This man looked like he had shed his "Bucky" skin years ago. He was serious, controlled, levelheaded. He was definitely a James to her. Before she could tell him that, another man came into the room. This one was tall and imposing and was wearing an eyepatch. Lacey was worried for only a second before she heard James give a formal "sir" and felt his reassuring hand on her shoulder, silently letting her know she was still safe.
"Good morning, Miss Hannigan, it's good to see you up. My name is Nick Fury and I am the head of a program that was once called SHIELD. We're the good guys, I promise. How are you feeling?"
"I-I'm ok, I guess," she replied, self-consciously touching her hair. It had become so gross over the years with the minimal showers they had allowed her and zero hair products. She ducked her head in embarrassment when she realized these men probably thought she looked horrible.
"Good," the man continued. "There are many things we need to talk about but not until you've completely healed and rested up. I want you to know that you are absolutely safe here and no harm will come to you while you are under our watch. There's an apartment waiting for you as soon as you're discharged and Sergeant Barnes here is going to be staying with you to keep a watch on things. Our to-"
"Wait, what? Staying with me as in living with me?" This was all too much information to take in.
"Yes," the man said slowly. He looked taken aback that she had interrupted him.
"Why? I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. And I'm not hurt. I don't need round the clock care," she stated forcefully. She had been living amongst the HYDRA agents for so long now that she just wanted peace and quiet. She missed her privacy. Another part of her acknowledged that she was also scared. Lacey had never been around men much before her kidnapping. There were no ex-boyfriends or lovers. Hell, she had only ever been kissed once during a game of Truth or Dare in college. That had been awkward and weird and she didn't want to relive it. It wasn't as if Lacey was a prude or stuck up. In high school, she had been too shy to ever talk to boys. College had caused her to break out of her shell slightly, but by then she was too busy with work and classes to even think about guys. How was she supposed to live with one now? Especially one that definitely wasn't ugly. She snuck a glance at James out of the corner of her eye and noticed the slight look of rejection on his face. Was that because of what she had said?
"Miss Hannigan," Nick Fury said sternly. "With all due respect, HYDRA is not gone. You are still in danger every moment of every day. We don't know if they know we have you, but rest assured, if they do, they will come for you. They had you for a reason. So, you can either go out into the world on your own and risk being captured again...Or, you can move into the nice little apartment I had furnished for you and try to recover from the traumatic situation you were in for far too long. Barnes will not get in your way. He will not be there to be your babysitter. He will be a 24-hour protection detail to ensure your safety. Is that agreeable?"
Lacey felt horrible now. She had never meant to hurt James' feelings or seem ungrateful. He had saved her from hell, she owed him everything. She nodded to Nick and cast her eyes downwards.
"Good. Barnes, you're in charge of her now, I know you won't let me down. Have her back here in two weeks for a meeting and her first shrink appointment. The apartment is stocked with food, clothes, toiletries. If she wants anything different, use your charge card." With that, he left the room.
Lacey sat looking at her hands for an awkward few minutes before chancing a glance up at James. She was shocked to find him looking back at her. Her checks flooded with heat before she spoke. "Listen, James, I'm sorry for what I said earlier. It's just...I-"
"It's completely understandable, ma'am. Coming from your situation, I get that the last thing you want to do is live under the same roof with some scary-looking guy with this," he said motioning to his metal arm. To be honest, Lacey hadn't really noticed it until now. It didn't cause her any alarm but he seemed to be ashamed of it. "I promise I'll stay out of your way, it will be like I'm not even there."
That wasn't what she had meant at all but before she could tell him that, he was walking out of the room calling for a nurse to get Lacey's discharge papers waiting. Within the next twenty minutes, the papers were signed, a nurse helped her into a t-shirt and sweatpants, and she was being pushed in a wheel chair to the entrance of the hospital where James had parked a black SUV.
He came around to her side and opened the passenger door. Lacey was beginning to stand when he turned around, saw the struggle in her face, and lifted her up as if she weighed nothing. James carefully set her in the seat and reached over her to put on her seat belt. Lacey blushed and looked up over his head in embarrassment. He smelled so good and she got the sudden urge to run her fingers through the gorgeous hair that blocked her view of his face. Before she could make a fool of herself, however, James leaned up, closed her door, and walked around the car to get behind the wheel. Lacey took a deep breath to steady herself. This was going to be interesting.