Hi! Author here, I'm just popping in to let you know that this chapter is involving a trigger warning as it will get quite dark. It will involve extreme violence.
My stomach was churning constantly the whole drive to the restaurant that my date would be in, telling me that something was off. But with the day I had, I decided to ignore it because I desperately wanted to salvage what was left and turn it into something nice and enjoyable.
I arrived at the French restaurant which looked incredibly expensive.
"Good thing you're not paying."
It was full of rich-looking couples who were either laughing or sitting there silently, just eating their food. I exited my car, grabbing my bag before shutting my door and shoving the key inside of it, locking it that way. I knew the button would fuck up. Once I ensured my car was locked, I walked slowly up to the entrance of the restaurant. The door was opened for me by a French man in a suit who greeted me with a smile. I nodded in response and walked into the restaurant, immediately being greeted by the host.
"Bonjour! Welcome. Do you have a reservation?" He had one arm bent in front of him, a towel hanging off of his arm and his other was behind his back. In other words, he looked like a butler.
"Hi!" I put on a false enthusiastic tone because I suddenly wanted to go home and eat Mac and Cheese in bed. "Um, my reservation is under Carson? Adrian Carson?" The host walked behind the desk and went through the signage book, his finger running down the list of names before it stopped.
"Ah! Yes. He's already here. If you'll follow me." He swiftly turned on his heels, strutting down to the back corner of the restaurant and I followed behind him, a shaky sigh leaving my body. I felt a gaping hole slowly open up within me as I got an even worse feeling about this date but once again, my stubbornness pushed it aside.
"Hi!" The man who I assumed to be Adrian stood up, "Adrian Carson. You must be, (Y/N) (Y/L/N)?" He beamed with a smile before walking over to where I'd be sitting, pulling my chair out for me.
Hm. He seemed nice enough. "Yes, I am." I smiled, sitting down in the chair and scooting it in under the table with his assistance, "It's nice to meet you."
"Likewise." He sat down in his seat across from me.
"Can I tempt you with any drinks?" A waiter appeared immediately at our table.
"Scotch, please. If you've got it." I requested with no hesitation. I certainly needed the alcohol if I was going to get out of this awkward phase and stop feeling so ill about it.
"No problem. And you, sir?" The waiter turned his eyes onto Adrian.
"The same." He smirked mischievously at me, his grey eyes glistening with an emotion I couldn't quite put my finger on but it made me feel off and this time, I didn't push it away. My guard went straight up and my legs pressed together under the table as they tensed, my body and mind now being void of any relaxation.
Once the waiter turned on his heels and disappeared, Adrian's full attention turned to me. His hands were clasped in front of him and his chin rested upon them. "So, tell me about yourself." He smiled, eyeing me intensely.
"Don't tell him anything."
I shifted a little in my seat and scratched my shoulder nervously, "Ah.." I chuckled, biting my bottom lip before looking up at him, "There's really nothing to tell."
A familiar feeling of small and insignificance washed over me like the ocean which scared me because... I feared the ocean. I couldn't swim. His intense eyes stared into mine and I swallowed the lump of fear that was forming in my throat but it wouldn't go away. "I-um..." I let out a dry exhale, trying to keep my voice smooth, "I have to go to the bathroom." My chair squeaked loudly as I moved it back, along the tiled floor of the restaurant.
My body pushed up from the chair and I walked rather quickly to the women's bathroom and locking myself behind one of the cubicles, sitting down on the toilet and breathing in quick gasps, my heart tightening. I crossed my arms over my chest, to apply pressure as I still panicked, fear coursing through my veins. Something was off about this man but I couldn't just leave because I had a feeling he would follow me and I knew it wouldn't be good if he had my address.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and unlocked it, whipping up Bucky's contact, my index finger hovering over the call button but something stopped me.
"You don't feel safe with Adrian enough already. Why bring someone else into the mix?"
I inwardly groaned and locked my phone, not bothering with contacting Bucky. He hadn't responded to my 'apology' anyway, not that I blamed him.
My arms crossed back over my chest, applying pressure which took quite a few seconds to start slowing my breathing and getting rid of the panic attack... but that didn't stop the massive chill I had running down my spine which dropped my body temperature tenfold. "It's okay... it's okay." I soothed myself as I gently rocked back and forth on the toilet, shivering.
I felt brave enough now to exit the bathroom, but my guard was up just in case anything with this man went south. My feet shuffled me back over to my table slowly, but I grabbed my handbag that was looped onto my chair, getting ready to tell a lie as I wanted to make my escape. "I'm sorry, Adrian, I'm not feeling well." I put on a fake sad smile to seem genuine, hoping that I was pulling it off.
"Oh! Let me walk you home." Adrian stood up quickly, throwing a couple of bills on the table to pay for the drinks that had still not arrived yet.
"Oh!" I quickly stated, "I drove here." I gulped as quietly as I could, careful to not give off any indication that I was frightened by him. I reached into my bag, feeling for my keys and I held them in a way that had each key in between my fingers. The man before me didn't look so impressed and he swaggered over to me slowly.
His next words sent a jolt through my body and I gripped my keys harder, causing the indents to dig into my fingers. It was painful but I was too focused on the situation at hand to really notice. "I didn't ask." He whispered to me, his voice laced with danger and intimidation. My breathing stopped, my heart pounding at my rib cage, I should have snuck out of the bathroom through the window.
"Why didn't you do it?"
"I don't know!"
I bickered with myself but it was quickly ended when he touched my back, pushing me forward. We manoeuvred past the tables that contained other guests before he forced me out of the restaurant door. My stomach told me to wait until we were at a fair distance away from the greeter in front of the restaurant to ask questions because I knew deep down if I caused any problems in front of civilians, I'd be in even deeper shit.
"You're always getting into trouble." Alyssa's voice rattled in my mind. Yeah, no fucking shit. Adrian had pushed me past my car, his head looking side to side and then behind him - probably to ensure that there were no witnesses. He then shoved me into an alleyway, his body pressing up against mine, holding me to the mould growing wall, his face inches from mine. "What do you want? Who are you?" I asked quietly, getting ready to yank my keys out and slash him.
"You don't get to ask the questions, you slimy little bitch." He spat at me and immediately my hand exited my bag and I brought my hand to his face, hitting him. The keys glided hard across his skin, a glimmer of red shining in the little light we had. This caught the man by surprise and he backed off of me immediately, holding his face. Adrenaline coursed through my veins and I kicked him in the stomach, causing him to also fall back as he held one hand to his face, swiping at the blood that fell from his cuts.
I made a run for it, using the time I had bought myself to my advantage but I cried out in pain as my hair was grabbed, yanking me back into the alleyway. Suddenly his hand was over my mouth and I could taste metal; his blood. I also heaved from the disgust I felt. His other was holding me tightly around my waist, my back pressed firmly against his chest.
"Shh." He whispered in my ear, "Not. A. Peep." My breathing stopped and I felt my legs begin to tremble and if it weren't for my attacker holding me up, I would have fallen to the floor. I tried my hardest to not make a sound, scared that if I did, I'd get hit.
"Boss?" Adrian called out to the shadow that was approaching the alleyway, getting ready to turn in and what I saw before me, sent me into a frenzy. He lookedexactly like The Winter Soldier. His arm was metal, the same familiar red star glimmered in the light. The man's face was covered by a very similar mask, only his ice-blue eyes were revealed. I began to claw at the arm that was wrapped around me hard, fear striking through me as I wanted to get away but he held me in place, his hand tightening over my mouth.
"Let her go." The soldier commanded in Russian and I felt the pressure of my attacker disappear as his arms dropped from around me. I couldn't move or make a run for it. I was trapped; Adrian was behind me and the soldier was in front of me, his heavy footsteps echoing off of the walls as he made his way to me. Immediately he outstretched his metal arm and grabbed me by the throat, lifting me up off of the ground, and squeezing my airway closed. I struggled to breathe and I coughed out for air, my hands slapping at the metal arm harshly but it wasn't budging.
Black spots began to fleck themselves in my vision and it wasn't long until I was thrown like a football into a nearby wall, the back of my head colliding with it harshly. The throw was inhumane: nothing a normal person could do.
I didn't get time to recover and regain my vision as I was grabbed by the hair and dragged across the floor by the soldier. I opened my mouth to scream out but Adrian kicked me harshly in the jaw and it caused me to bite my cheek hard, blood filling my mouth. The soldier flung me up, holding me in front of him and I let the blood that had flooded my mouth, pour out. The thick sludge rolled down my chin and it seeped in between my chest, a long red line staining my skin.
"B-Bucky!" I sobbed out his name, assuming that it was him that was attacking me, "P-please. Stop!"
"This is not Bucky... consider me the person who finishes his failed missions."
A makeshift Winter Soldier... I felt sick to my stomach. Not only from the injuries I was suffering from but it was because I couldn't escape my past... no matter how hard I tried. He backhanded me now, sending me flying in the air and I landed on my face harshly on the floor. "Please!" I pleaded once I rolled onto my back, looking up at him as I felt blood piss out of my nose. "Leave me alone. I've done nothing wrong."
My begging was ignored, the soldier getting on top of me as he held me down by the throat, the cold metal wrapped around me. He squeezed my throat harder this time and I thought my eyes were going to pop out. The air I had was now completely cut off and it sent me into another frenzy, causing me to kick my legs but they were barely moving because of his weight atop of me and Adrian had grabbed my legs to hold them completely in place so they couldn't move at all.
"You. Are. My. Mission." The soldier growled and I began to experience my vision blur once more, my body becoming limp. I allowed my eyes to close, thinking that this was the end of me.
Suddenly, the soldier wasn't on me anymore and my legs were no longer held down. My eyes opened slightly and through my blur, I saw three men fighting but as I didn't have the strength to watch the events unfold, my eyes fell closed once more and I laid there, the darkness beginning to consume me.
"(Y/N)?" I felt a warm hand and a cold hand pressed to my shoulders. "Keep your eyes open for me. Come on." The familiar voice encouraged, keeping me out of the complete darkness but I still didn't have the strength to open my eyes. "Shit!" I heard him mutter under his breath before he lifted my body up, his metal arm wrapped around my back while his other arm scooped me up from behind my knees, cradling me.
And honestly, that was all I remembered.