A/N: Dark Doo Wop by MS MR

Cara stared at the door of his the book store, bracing herself silently. She had been reprimanded at work before, but never here, in the real world. She was incredibly nervous, hands balled into fists at her sides. Taking a deep breath, she pushed it open.

Mavis was busy stacking books at the shelf beside the front desk. She looked when the bell rang, signaling Cara had entered, and paused, turning towards her with arms crossed.

Cara, resisting the urge to shrink away under her harsh stare, struggled with something to say. Mavis remained silent, and Cara would almost prefer it if she would just start yelling at her. There was setting her gaze that reminded her of the look Fury gave whenever she screwed up on an assignment, a cool sense of authority, and worse, a barely visible disappointment.

"Well," Mavis said finally. "Where have you been?"

"I..." she began. "I was with Bucky. He was sick."

Not a lie. Good. Tell the truth where you can.

"You didn't call in."

"I was distracted. He was really, really sick, ma'am," she said, wincing as she heard the last word slip out. If this was a real mission, and she had let something like that happen in front of a particularly observant target, it could blow her cover. It was a habit though. Habits were hard to break. "There... There were times I didn't think he was going to live."

Mavis shook her head. "What happened to your eye?" she said. "And hands... Is someone hurting you? Are you fighting?"

Cara sighed. "I keep messing with the wrong people."

"Listen, Cara," Mavis said. "You're a nice girl, but you stopped showing up to work for almost a week, no warning. That warrants getting fired."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry," she said. "Bucky... Bucky got sick, really sick, and didn't think about anything other than him. I'm sorry."

The older woman sighed, running a hand through her short hair, as the bell on the door jangled, just as the phone on the front desk, and someone walked in. She glanced "Look, I'm not happy, but you're the only one here right now. Go help that gentleman over there. But there is a very good chance that you're losing your job after today."

Cara nodded, taking a step back, and looking at the man who just walked in. He was young, handsome, with dark red sunglasses on edge of his nose, and cane held in the crook of his arm.

"Hello," she said pleasantly. "What can I help you with today?"

"Hello," he said, flashing a small smile. "I was wondering if this bookstore has a Braille section. I've tried a few, but no luck. Said that I would have to order them."

"Well, you'll be pleased to hear we do," she said. He smiled, and held out his arm. "

"Do you think you could show me where?"

"Of course," she said. She took it, gently leading him through the maze of shelves. "I'm Cara, by the way."

"Matt."

"Nice to meet you, Matt."

"And you, Cara."

She stopped in front of the section in question. "Here we are," she said. "Need anything else?"

"No. No, I think I'm okay," he said, reaching out to brush his fingers over the backs of the books.

"Alright," she said. "I'll be over here if that changes."

He nodded, flashing a smile before turning his attention back the books. The bell on the door rang again. She walked back to the front of the store, before a gut feeling stopped her, and she paused behind the bookshelves. She could see where Mavis was just hanging up the phone between the spaces in the books. She could not see the newcomer, however, and she didn't dare move.

"Hello," Mavis said. "What can I help you with today?"

"I'm looking for something," a new voice said, male, possibly American, although there was a trace of an accent that she couldn't identify.

"Anything in particular?"

"A woman. Her name is Cara. I believe she works here."

"Well, she does. She's here now-"

"Good," the voice. "Thank you. That will be all." There was a sudden rustle of cloth, and then a sound that Cara did know, a bullet flying through the air, quieted by a silencer. Her hands clenched at her sides as she watched Mavis fall to the ground, heart beating faster. She took a step back. The newcomer blocked the main exit. She heard him reloading the weapon. That was not a way out at this point. There was a back exit, but she wasn't sure if she could get there without him noticing. And Matt, shit, she had a civilian in here with her. Her bag was by the desk . There was a handgun there. If she could get there, she might have a chance of killing him before he killed her. Her phone was there too. She could call Bucky. Bucky could help her. She remembered him grabbing her hands last time, telling her that she could have done that. He had looked disappointed that she didn't.

But, one part of brain thought, if this was HYDRA, it could be a trap. She couldn't let them get him again, not if she could take care of this herself. Calling him would be a last resort.

"Cara," the voice called out, dragging out her name in a singsong way. She heard his footsteps coming closer to her. "Cara, little Cara, come out now."

She took a few steps back silently, descending farther back into the maze shelves.

"Why are you hiding? Your father wants you to come home. you've had your fun here, but it's time to go home."

Her hands began to shake, and she felt sick, nauseated with shudders running up her spine. The voice seemed to echo from everywhere. She couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from.

"Come on out now, child."

It was right in front of her. She could see his suit through the books. She could see his abnormally pale hand, holding the gun. She could see his profile, shadowed by the light streaming in through the windows. If he turned, he would see her.

The man sighed. "I did not want to come to this, but we grow impatient. This building will burn. Everyone in it will die, except for you, if you do not come out now."
She didn't move. She couldn't move.

He snapped his fingers. She glanced over, where one of the panels on the walls began smoking. She flinched, looking back at the man. He was staring straight at her. She jumped, taking another step back.

"You're going to let everyone here die?" he said. "Because you are being stubborn? You are selfish, aren't you?"

"Stay away from me," she said, and her voice was low, barely more than a whisper. "I'm not going back with you. Stay away from me."

The smoke began to get thicker. And she weighed her options. If she could get to her bag, she would have a chance of getting her and Matt out of here. Mavis too. The woman had to be alive. She hadn't seen where she had been shot. It didn't have to be a fatal wound. It didn't even have to be that. She'd get all three of them out of here alive.

She made her decision quickly, slamming into the bookshelf hard, so that it toppled forward onto him, and diving to the side. A bullet ripped past the air where she had been. She scrambled past the shelf, and to the desk, when she snatched up her phone, and the gun.

She wasted a moment weighing the options about calling Bucky. She wasn't sure she need him. She could possibly handle this all on her own. But, she should call for backup, even if she didn't end up needing it. She knew how to learn from her mistakes, even it took a few tries. But then again, this could be a trap. HYDRA had been working with the Deathless, and this could be an opportunity to grab them both. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if she knew that he was with them again because of her. Besides, even if that didn't happen there was the chance Bucky might find out who she was. He would learn that she had been lying to him. He would hate her.

Her last thought confirmed the words the man had said to her. She was selfish. She wanted Bucky here. She was scared, and she wanted Bucky here. He made her feel braver.

She found his name, calling him. Holding the phone between her shoulder and ear, she checked the gun, making sure it was loaded and ready. He picked up on the third ring.

"Cara, what's happening?" he said, and she could tell he already knew something was wrong.

"I need help," she said. "I'm at the bookstore. I need help."

"What is it?"

Her throat closed up, and she paused. She knew he noticed it. "Please, Bucky, just get over here-"

She broke off when something hit her head, and she fell to the ground, the phone and gun falling away from her. She fell to ground, the blow, making the world turn black for a moment, raising the gun, but it was knocked out of her hand as well. She could hear Bucky yelling over the phone. She caught her name, and tried to sit up. Almost immediately, she felt a wave of nausea wash over her. Touching the place where she had been hit, she winced, and looked at her hand. It came back red.

The books were now catching on fire. There was more smoke than before. She began to cough.

The man knelt down (he was holding some sort of metal rod. That's what hurt so bad, shit), and gingerly picked up the phone, like it was infected with something.

"Is this the Soldier?"

She heard Bucky yell something. She took the opportunity to ease herself towards the gun at her side.

"I apologize if Cara has wasted your time. Feel free to move on. You won't be seeing her again."

He hung up, just as her fingers brushed the handle of the gun.

"Don't do that, Cara," he said, sounding like a parent scolding a child. "Now, I'm going to be be taking you home. Your father misses you."

"That monster is not my father," she snarled, and lifted the gun, firing immediately. Unfortunately, even the best marksmen will be off if the have a head injury, and it bullet only lodge itself in his arm. He regard the wound coolly.

"You little bitch," he said calmly, walking forward. She tried to aim again, but before she had the chance, someone else came out of nowhere, kicking the man sharply in the chest and easily breaking a few ribs. Snatching the iron bar from his hands, the person struck it up across his chin then head. They turned to her.

"Matt?" she said. He knelt next to her.

"You okay?" he said.

"Yeah," she said. "Yeah. Thank you."

She rose to her feet, and swayed, nearly collapsing into him. Her head ached, and her vision swam. He kept a hand on her arm.

She looked back down at the gun in her hands. Carefully, she lifted it up, ignoring how her hands were shaking, and fired it once, twice, three times into the fallen man. One bullet hit the chest, one missed completely, and one hit his head. Matt stared at her, at least vaguely in her general direction, and she could see a flicker of horror on his face.

"He wasn't going to give up," she said, words tumbling out before she could stop him. "He... He wasn't going to give up. He wasn't going to leave me alone. I had to do it, I have other people I need to think about, there are other people I need to protect."

"Who was he?" Matt said.

"He worked for someone," she said. "A bad person."

She looked away, coughing again, flinching again as a piece from the ceiling fell, sending up sparks.

"We need to get Mavis," she said, voice shaking, taking a step in the direction of the crumpled woman.

"It's too late," Matt said, tilting his head slightly, as if listening to something.

"No, we have to get her out," she said.

"Cara, she's gone," he said, pulling her towards the door. "It's too late, I'm sorry. There's nothing we can do for her. She's gone. Come on."

Cara stared at the body, as one of the book shelves erupted in flames. She flinched, feeling the heat of the flames, even from this distance. Smoke filled the room. She took a step back, leaning into Matt as he helped her limp from the building. She turned back for a moment, watching the store being consumed by flames. Her legs gave out, and she fell to her knees, bowing her head. An innocent woman was dead because of her. Because she she didn't know how to protect people.

There were sirens in the distance. She was aware of Matt standing behind her, and he was talking to someone, explaining what had happened. He left out the psychopathic killer, and while Cara was faintly curious as to why he did that, she couldn't really bring herself to care. Someone put there hand on her shoulder and she flinched, pulling away. She looked back up at the flames.

This was her attempt at a normal life, and it was literally going up in flames.

Her head felt like it was splitting down the middle. She wasn't sure if she could stay upright for much longer. Her bones ached with exhaustion. There was a dull feeling of numbness settling in her chest. She couldn't feel her hands. The sirens got closer. Maybe they were already here. Maybe they were already here. Nothing felt real right now.

It was all falling apart.


The ambulance lights flashed above her as she sat in the back, legs dangling off the edge, a paramedic saying something she couldn't quite catch. She had a mild concussion, and was apparently in a state of some sort of shock. She hadn't said anything. The blanket was rough around her shoulders. She stared out at the burning building, now mostly smoke and ash, watching police and firemen swarmed around the it. They had said that it was probably an electrical fire. She didn't correct them.

Matt was gone, after they had made sure he wasn't hurt, had been sent off to give his statement to the police. He had given her his business card, saying that he was a lawyer, and that if there was anything he could do to help, give him a call. She had nodded vacantly, wondering how a law firm was going to do her any good, but he was already gone.

She had managed to stammer out a few words of her own for a for her statement, but it was clear to everyone that she was shaken, and had a head injury, and they left her alone fairly quickly.

"Cara!" she heard someone shout. Her head snapped up. "Let me through! Cara!" Bucky was pushing through the crowds, running towards her. She stood up quickly, pushing away the paramedic, and talking a few steps forward. He met her before she could move far, as she threw her arms around him. He held her tightly.

"I got here as soon as I could," he said. He leaned back, taking her face in his hands. "Are you okay? Your head. You're bleeding."

"Concussion," she said. "I'm fine. That's it."

"What happened?"

"I-I-" she said, before shaking her head. She couldn't tell him what had happened. she couldn't let him know what had happened. She couldn't let him know. She hid her face in his shoulder.

"Hey," he said. "Hey. It's alright. You're alright. I'm here."

"She's dead," Cara said, her voice muffled. "Mavis is dead, and it's my fault. I couldn't save her."

"What?"

"There was someone," she said. "They were looking for me. They shot her. They burned down the bookstore. I panicked and called you."

Tell him.

He can help you.

You can fix this.

Tell him who you really are.

"That wasn't your fault, sweetheart," he said. She began to laugh. It sounded wrong even to her.

"But she's still dead," she said. "And I could have stopped it."

"Hey, we'll talk about this later," he said, leaning back. He looked at her, thumb running over her cheek. "You're okay. That's the only thing that matters."

She stared at the ground, still shaking her head.

"Can we leave?" she said, voice cracking.

"Yeah," he said. "Yeah, we can leave."

"I mean leave. For good. Not go back to the apartment. Start running now," she said. "Bucky, I can't do this anymore. I can't stay here anymore."

She looked up for him, and she saw a flash of guilt pass over his face. He was blaming himself for this. He thought this was because of him. He thought that she was leaving a life.

"Yeah," he said.

Tell him, the voice in the back of her head said. Don't do this to him. Don't do this to yourself. She ignored it.

He wrapped an arm around her waist, and pulled her in the direction of a quieter area of the crowd. A few people gave her some strange looks, noticing that she was leaving the ambulance. One of the the paramedics called after her, telling her to wait. She ignored them. Bucky was more alert than her, and she trusted him to make sure they weren't followed. She couldn't focus now anyways. She had about enough brainpower to make sure that they were positioned so that anyone passing by would consider them a happy, normal couple out for a romantic walk (not that she exhausted and could barely stand, and that Bucky would probably have to start dragging her soon).

The streets began to clear out within a few block, and she could tell that Bucky was planning out their next move. She should be helping him. She had more experience in this world than him. But all she could think about was Mavis falling to the ground dead, just for answering a question.

You are selfish. She knew that.

She just didn't know how to fix it.

"Cara," Bucky said suddenly. She looked up at him. "I'm sorry. About everything. You know that, right?"

"You don't need to be sorry."

"I do. I sent you away. I shouldn't have done that, I knew it was dangerous," he said. "And I knew...I knew that I was dangerous."

"You're not dangerous."

"I am-"

"Barnes," she said seriously. "Shut up."

He did so.

"And if you really need me to say it, I forgive you. You're ridiculous and adorable for thinking I need to, but I will always forgive you. No matter what"

He smiled to himself, speaking very softly when he spoke again. "You know, doll? That's really nice to hear."

A/N: So this is largely unedited, but I was trying to get it up before tomorrow, or I would just be in this endless loop of procrastination. Any mistakes will be fixed when I'm not half asleep.

Don't know when I'll be able to get the next chapter up, as the next few weeks are looking a bit crazy. If I disappear, I promise, I'll be back.

I also cut out the beginning of this which had a cameo from a Constantine character, because said character lives in Brooklyn (in the show), and I'm super obsessed with Justice League Dark and Hellblazer right now. It wasn't really fitting with the story, and not a ton of you guys watch the show, so I left it out to avoid confusion. If anyone is actually interested in reading it, I can post it as a one shot.