"You can run but you can never hide." A sadistic voice echoed around the darkness I was engulfed by. I didn't know which way to go so instead I stood there, my head aggressively shifting side to side. My heart was pounding within my chest as my breathing came out in shaky gasps, the fear swirling around my chest hard enough that I could have been sick.
A spotlight flicked on quite a distance away from where I was standing and within that spotlight was The Winter Soldier. But which one? I took a step back but I was grabbed from behind, cold metal fingers moving up my forearms and leaving goosebumps wherever they touched. "He will end you. Or I will." Once the fingers reached my shoulder, they moved down to my collar bone, resting just below the neck. I couldn't breathe now, it felt like I was being held down by a heavyweight that was resting on my chest.
Another soldier came into view, except this time it was Bucky. His eyes showed the exact same murderous look when he ruined my life. The makeshift Soldiers arm pulled away from underneath my neck and the minute it was torn away, Bucky's human hand reached behind me and grabbed me by my hair, pulling my head back aggressively while his metal hand encircled my throat. "Steve may have helped you last time but he's not here now." He growled lowly, "I will have no more failed missions."
I began to choke, my eyes staring into his ice blue ones that were void of any humanity he had in him.
A pair of rough hands jolted me awake and I sat up immediately, punching at the person in front of me. This caught them by surprise because they stumbled back a little bit, giving me space. My eyes flashed open but they stung a little bit as the sweat that was pouring off of me seeped inside of them. I used two fists to rub my eyes to get a better focus and when I did, I immediately got up off of the bed and started backing away from Bucky.
"Keep away from me!" I screamed at him, a shaky index finger of mine pointing. The nightmare I had was still burned into my mind and the fear I held for Bucky leapt into my throat. "Just... stay away!"
He had his arms raised up to try and communicate with me that he wasn't a threat, his lips pursed into a thin line. "I'm not going to hur—" I cut his low voice off.
"Don't lie to me. I-" My voice left me as a pounding headache came flooding into my mind, squeezing my brain. The headache was from the hit against the wall I suffered from the fake soldier. Memories coursed through my mind as well, taking me back to last night.
Bucky had saved me from my close encounter with death, yet my brain still handed out the nightmares of him trying to kill me. I couldn't even try to begin to trust the man before me because it would just be wrapped up and suffocated in the fear I held for him. "(Y/N), you need to sit down." His voice became impatient.
"No I don't. Now where are my keys?" Before Bucky could answer me, I had taken myself out of his bedroom and down the small hallway of his apartment.
"You're not driving." Bucky's voice demanded, becoming laced with anger as he followed me out into the living and kitchen area of his home. "You're in no state to drive. Can you stop ripping apart my apartment!?" His voice raised with the last sentence as he finally noticed me flipping up dirty dishes and moving towels out of the way to see if my keys were hiding underneath. I ignored all of his requests and circled around the spot I was standing in, my crazed eyes looking around at the details of his very minimalistic apartment.
Blankets and a pillow were sprawled on the floor, showing me that, that's where he slept. It gave me great comfort knowing that he hadn't slept in the bed with me. Empty beer bottles lay across his kitchen counter and some on the floor beside his little sleeping area.
An agitated huff left my system and my eyes moved over to Bucky who was standing beside his television, his arms crossed and his eyes staring at me angrily. "I'm in no state to be here either, Bucky. I cannot look at you without seeing the monster lurking within you. Now tell me where my fucking keys are so I can go HOME!"
My childish words cut him deep because when I stopped talking, he walked over to a cupboard that was hovering over his kitchen counter and he yanked it open. Inside I saw my handbag and he pulled it out, slamming the cupboard door shut. "You wanna go home? Fine!" He snapped, throwing my bag at me and I caught it, grunting a little bit in pain as it had hit the area of my stomach I was kicked in. "Don't expect me to just rock up to save your ass again, (Y/N). Now get out."
"Fine! I never wanted a protector in the first place. So it's a good fucking thing that you're throwing the title away." The room filled with a defeating silence.
We both stared at each other, anger dancing within our eyes after our showdown. My fingers tightened around my handbag, my knuckles turning white as I felt a pit of guilt grow within me from what I said to him and a part of me yearned for me to apologise for my childish spout to the man I had just hurt, but my stubbornness sucked all of the guilt up.
"GO!" Bucky shouted, breaking the silence between us. I immediately turned around on my heels, leaving his apartment quickly. His front door slammed behind me and I cringed at the sound before making my exit out of the building.
I kicked myself for acting like a total bitch towards him. Again. He had saved my life and all I did as repayment was shout cruel words at him because I wanted my keys to drive home. What was wrong with me?