Chapter 7

'Damaged people are dangerous. They know they can survive.' – Josephine Hart

A/N- My longest chapter so far so I hope you enjoy. The scenes in this chapter are taken from 'The Winter Soldier' movie. I'm sure everyone reading will know that already, but just making it clear that it's not my work.

He was in foreign territory and he didn't like it. He didn't associate with civilians let alone go on missions with them. All of his missions were planned to the finest detail. The location would be scoped out, he would know who the enemy was and nine times out of ten he would know the exact situation that he was walking into. This time he was woefully unprepared. He had run through what he knew about the mission for the majority of the day. He knew the layout of the Federal Bank. He knew the best entrance, he knew the exits and he knew where the information he was looking for would be. That was his only advantage. What he didn't know was how many hostiles would be in the building, would they be armed and how heavily. He could win a fight outnumbered, but even he wasn't infallible. A well-aimed bullet to the skull would kill him, enhanced healing or not. Not to mention the massive disadvantage of walking into enemy territory with an untrained, unarmed civilian.

He glanced over at her whilst driving the car that he had stolen and almost wished he hadn't. The fact that she didn't want to be there was obvious. If he was being honest he didn't particularly want her there either. He couldn't tell if she was angry at him or scared of him. She sat in the passenger seat of the car and had angled her body away from him practically pressing herself against the door, keeping maximum distance between them. The feeling that she was afraid of him, didn't sit well with him. But he didn't allow himself to dwell on it. He had to stay focused on what lay ahead. Once he'd seen what was inside the Federal Bank and the place where they had held him for the last few days he would have a better idea of his next step. For now all he had to focus on was getting into the bank, getting the information he needed and getting them both out alive. If he'd had any other choice he would have left her behind but he couldn't risk any lose ends. He was already looking over his shoulder, he didn't need another reason to watch his back.

He parked a block away from the Federal Reserve Bank, close enough that they could return to it if needed but not so close that it would draw attention. He got out of the car and told her to do the same. She sat in the car unmoving and for a moment he thought he would have to drag her out of the car by force, but when she finally emerged, slamming the door behind her he knew that even if she was afraid, her anger was prevailing. After sitting in silence and blindly following his instructions for the entire day she finally seemed to have found her voice.

'Where are we?' she asked, folding her arms in front of her. He knew she was trying to appear confident but the slight wobble in her voice betrayed her. 'Why have you brought me here?'

He couldn't stop the frustration from showing on his usually impassive features. Of all the times to start a conversation, the second before entering hostile territory was not the time. If there was anyone still in the building then they were presenting themselves as a wide open target.

'Keep moving,' he ordered her, wanting to get inside the building as quickly as possible.

'No,' she said more confidently. 'Not until you tell me where we're going? If you're going to kill me then just do it. Let's stop with the games and get it over with.'

In two short strides he grabbed her by the arm and hauled her from the open space to the relative safety at the side of the building. He didn't even care that he was hurting her or scaring her. For the first time that he could remember he was trying to do the right thing and he wasn't going to let her get them both killed. He was done trying not to scare her. Maybe she needed to know the reality of the situation.

He leaned in close to her, trying to intimidate her with his size. 'I am trying not to kill you right now,' he said, towering over her, watching as she gulped in fear and her eyes turned warily to his metallic arms which flexed automatically. 'Believe me killing you would make this situation ten times easier for me. You can't even begin to understand the danger that you are in.'

'More danger than being with you?' she scoffed doubtingly, clearly not believing him.

'Yes,' he stated blunted. 'Believe me when I say that I am not the worst thing out there.'

He watched as she processed what he said, her eyes automatically scanning the empty shadows around them, as if his words would somehow conjure these unknown threats. She considered his words and he could see as her mind tried to find a way out of the situation. 'But you could let me go,' she said pleadingly. 'Please, I won't tell anyone. I don't even know who you are.'

He couldn't let her go. He couldn't even contemplate it. Yet something about the tears filling her eyes made him squirm. He shook off the feeling and forced himself back into reality. 'You've seen my face and that's enough.'

'But I swear I won't tell anyone.'

'I can't take that chance. You got caught up in this situation and I'm trying to get us both through this alive. You want the reality, here it is. There are people who will be coming after me and if they know that you even know that I exist, that you've seen me, that you've spoken to me they will not hesitate to kill you but not before they've tortured you just to make sure you don't have valuable information.'

He felt a thrill at seeing the fear enter her eyes again. Good. She should be afraid. She needed to know what they were facing. 'I can't let you go because I can't trust that you won't tell anyone that you've seen me because that puts both of us in danger. I could have tied you up in your flat and left you there but you live alone and you have no family or friends in this country. How long do you think it would be before someone found you? You might not like it, you might not understand it, but right now you will do as I say because I am not going to let anything happen to ruin this mission. Do you understand?'

Ally just stared at him in muted shock. Two thoughts occurred her to her in quick succession. First he was afraid. She hadn't noticed that before, maybe because he hadn't spoken much before but she had seen the glimpse of it in his eyes. This 6 foot plus giant who was as strong as steel, had a literal metal arm and who had beaten Captain America in a fight was afraid. She couldn't even begin to understand who or what would make such a man fearful, but whoever it was, he seemed to think that she was now in danger from them.

It was a strange feeling. Knowing that you were at risk of being killed by a secret organisation. Yet Ally didn't feel the fear that she knew she probably should. Perhaps it was because the whole situation still seemed completely surreal that her brain refused to process it properly or maybe it was because this supposed threat was so distant from her that she didn't fully appreciate the danger. She honestly didn't see how anyone could be more dangerous than the man in front of her and yet for some reason he seemed to be trying to keep her alive. She might not understand it, but if he was willing to keep her alive, then she wouldn't argue with him just now. If she ran now then he would quite easily catch up with her and who knows what he would do then. But the second that he turned his back on her, the minute his watchfulness waned, she would make her escape and free herself from this situation. She just had to be patient and smart and wait for the right moment.

Secondly was a thought that probably shouldn't be in her head at that particular moment, yet she couldn't help it. He had basically implied that the reason she was in this predicament, being kidnapped by a killer and chased by an evil organisation was because she was alone and he was sure that she would die alone and be found in six months time only because the neighbours had complained of the smell and would break the door down to find her a mere skeleton still tied to chair having been eaten by a stray cat. It was a lovely thought and only a little bit insulting.

When the intense feeling of wanting to hit him had passed she realised that he was still waiting for a response so she gave a quick nod, not wanting to do or say anything that would make him change his mind. He seemed to be placated with that and turned towards the building beside them, pulling out a handgun and heading for the door.

The building they entered was dark. Empty. The unique musty smell that seemed to belong to disused buildings hung in the hair. It didn't take long for Ally to realise that he had been here before. It felt like no one had been in there for a long time. Yet he knew every turn without ever stopping or hesitating. He had been here before and recently. She followed behind him as he walked with his gun outstretched, scouting out every crevice, every doorway and every corner. It was so like something out a movie that Ally had to keep herself from laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation. The further they progressed into the building Ally began to recognise the building as a bank. Surely he wouldn't have brought her along just so that he could rob a bank?

Yet the bank was empty. Every room that they passed had broken furniture or paper strewn all over the floor. There was nothing here that he could rob. The place was completely empty. It was deadly silent. The only sound that she could hear were her own footsteps. The man in front of her moved like a cat, his feet making no sound at all. She could almost admire the grace in his movements if she wasn't so aware of their deadly purpose. Yet what was that purpose? What were they doing here?

She knew that now was not the time to ask questions. She had to make him think that she was complying. That she wasn't a threat to him so for now all she could do was follow him into the increasing darkness of the building. Not to mention that she was she was actually terrified. She had never liked creepy old buildings and this one was no exception, especially knowing that there were real threats that could be lurking in the shadows. Her heart was hammering in her chest by the time they started descending a flight of stairs- into what she guessed would be the vault. She had stayed close behind him the whole journey, fully expecting this mysterious threat he was afraid of to jump out and attack at any moment. When she let out a small scream and jumped as a cobweb brushed against her arm, he turned around and glared at her, giving her the full force of his ice cold gaze. She couldn't help but colour slightly under his glare and muttered a small 'sorry' before continuing to follow him down the stairs.

He paused in front of her when they reached the bottom of the stairs and he held up a hand to signal to him to stop. Ally peered around his shoulder to see a long corridor with numerous barred gates. The corridor seemed never ending with each set of barred gates bigger and stronger than the ones before. Ally felt as if she were walking into a prison with every gate that she passed through.

Inside the vault was dimly lit, but there was just enough light inside to make out the vault of the bank wasn't as empty as the rest of the building seemed to be. The deposit boxes were empty and half of them were lying open. Whatever they were here for, it definitely wasn't for stealing money. Although what it was that he wanted, Ally couldn't guess. The room was virtually empty. There were a few computers, some empty boxes, paper scattered all over the floor and a strange contraption in the middle of the room.

The soldier stood for a moment surveying the room, his eyes glancing scanning around the area. Ally was surprised when he holstered his gun and went over to the computers. Ally stood by the entrance feeling unsure of what she was meant to do. She didn't know what he was looking for or even what all of this stuff was. He let out a grunt of frustration, slamming his hand on the desk causing Ally to jump at the sudden noise. He stalked to the other side of the room and started rifling through papers. Some he threw away, but others he kept by his side.

After watching him for a couple of minutes, Ally's curiosity got the better of her and she moved to the middle of the room to get a closer look at the odd looking machine. It was a seat of sorts but with arm and leg restraints. It reminded her of torture chair she had seen in an old castle back home, yet this was one made of pure metal. Except it was strange. Up near the head there were metal silver arms with strange metal plates and wires attached. She couldn't even begin to imagine what it was meant to be for. Her eyes traced the wires which were attached to different computers. Ally wasn't a nurse or a doctor so she had no idea what all the numbers on some of the screens meant, but it wasn't hard to make out the picture of a brain scan on one of the screens and the outline of a person on another. Her eyebrows drew together in confusion. If this machine was some sort of medical equipment, why was it being stored in a bank vault. Who was it possibly for?

She gave a quick glance over to the soldier who was still preoccupied with looking through the piles of paper scattered about on the floor. He didn't even seem to have noticed that she had moved from the doorway. Taking her opportunity to look for more clues whilst he was preoccupied, she went over to the computer screens that he looked at when he first game into the room. Most of the screens showed the same message 'files deleted' and she understood why he had been so angry before. Any information that was there was gone. Feeling some of the same frustration that he had that she wouldn't be able to get any information she looked around to see what other clues she could get. There wasn't much in the room, but something did catch her eye. One of the computer screens was different. When she got closer she was surprised to see that it wasn't a computer screen, but a security camera with a split feed, one of which was for the room. Again that was strange. Surely if they wanted to monitor something, they would be monitoring what was outside the room. She watched herself on the screen as she leaned closer to examine the controls and the buttons while all the while keeping an eye on the man who was still at the opposite side of the room.

It took her a minute, but she eventually found the controls for the screen and set it to rewind. She watched back as they entered the room and then for a long time there was nothing but the empty room. She sped up the rewinding until the shot finally changed. She watched in reverse as people packed up the room that they were standing in, removing weapons, files and deleting whatever had been on the computers. They seemed to be in a hurry as she watched one man drop a file, hesitate for a moment and then decide to leave it behind. For whatever reason, they wanted out of there quickly.

When the room was empty again she rewound further. Her whole body was teeming with excitement and nervousness. She always loved solving problems and puzzles and she felt that she was about to get some answers. When people finally came back into the frame she jumped and quickly fumbled trying to play the feed again and stop it from rewinding. She'd gone back further on the recording than she meant to but it didn't matter. She'd found what she needed. She let out a gasp when she recognised the man across the room from her on the screen. Although the picture was in black and white and a little grainy, she couldn't fail to recognise the metal arm.

He was sitting in the chair that had interested and intrigued her so much. The room was full of people with some soldiers and what she assumed were doctors because of the white lab coats all milling around doing various jobs. Somebody was fixing the metallic arm, the bright flames and electric sparks glowing on the screen. Not that he seemed to notice. He was sitting in the chair, his long hair hanging around his face, but she could just make out his eyes. They were unfocused. Unseeing. Troubled. Suddenly, as if someone had just pressed an on switch, his face changed, his body twitched and in the mere blink of an eye he retracted his arm and then flung it out, sending the technician working on his arm flying half way across the room. It happened so suddenly and caught Ally off guard she couldn't help the shocked gasp that escaped her lips as she brought her hand up in surprise. She knew he was strong. She had felt that arm wrapped around her, crushing her. She knew he was dangerous, but she never for a minute that he would have the ability to send a man flying across the room like he was just swatting a fly.

When she refocused on the screen she watched as a man in a suit came into the room. You could tell he was important from the way everyone immediately straightened and lowered their guns on his command. He approached the man in the chair without any fear at all. This man was old, nothing special and certainly not strong and yet he wasn't afraid of that strong metal arm and what it could do. Ally was even more shocked when he slapped him across the face, sending his head flying to the side. Ally sat waiting for that metal arm to fly out again. For the retaliation. Yet it didn't come. He just sat there and accepted being hit, like he was somehow used to it. Ally suddenly realised why the older man wasn't afraid. He had probably done that hundreds of times before and knew that he could do it. He knew that he could assault the soldier and he wouldn't respond. For the first time Ally felt a small glimmer of sympathy towards him. Nobody deserved that.

They exchanged a few words, but even if Ally had been able to read lips the screen was far too small to be able to see their mouths clearly. Suddenly the conversation seemed to be over and the man in the chair leaned back and opened his mouth as someone put a guard into his mouth. Next the arm and leg restraints closed in around him and the chair tipped back as something clamped around his head obscuring part of his face. Ally was sure that she was breathing just as heavily as he seemed to be sitting on that chair. He seemed to know what was about to happen to him. He was afraid. She was afraid for him for she could guess what was about to happen. She knew that she shouldn't be watching this. She felt sick with what she was seeing. She knew that what was about to happen wouldn't be pleasant and yet she couldn't seem to tear her eyes away.

She watched in sheer horror as the man in the chair began to writhe in pain. His whole body went stiff as he arched away from the chair. His mouth was open, screaming in pain. A scream that although Ally couldn't hear it, she could imagine from the pain that was expressed in every tendon and vein in his shaking body.

She hit the stop button on the screen, unable to watch anymore. How could people do that to one another? She still didn't understand what they were doing. Her first instincts that it was a torture chair seemed to have been proven right. Were they torturing him into compliance? To make sure that he did whatever they wanted? Was that why he hadn't fought back. She almost thought about asking him when the screen in front of her jumped back to its live feed, showing the room as it was in that moment. Showing her standing in front of the computer screen and the soldier, dressed all in black, standing behind her with a thunderous look on his face.

A/N- Thanks again for everyone reviewing and following. I really appreciate it. The story is starting to get a little more exciting now and I hope you enjoy where it's going. Anyway, please keep reading and leaving me comments. I really love reading them.

To emilia, thanks for the review. Yeah I wanted it to be very reluctant between the two of them initially. He hasn't had to trust anyone in a very long time. He's better on his own, so I needed it to seem realistic why he would end up having to take her with him. I didn't want him to seem too mean and I didn't want her to just fall in love with him at first sight.

To Kitxo, thanks for another great review. I feel I may have backed myself into a corner with Mark. Not really sure what to do with him now. I had wanted to write an ordinary girl with no connections to SHIELD, HYDRA or the Avengers but it just seemed to fit. He had about a million different versions before I settled on this one. Including a version where Bucky killed Mark and had to take Ally with him as she was a witness, but I figured that might be too hard to come back from. So he just accidentally stabs her instead. Much more forgivable. I'll need to see where the story goes and see how Mark can fit into it again or if he'll just disappear. Hopefully we might see him again.

To Sapphire12985, thanks for taking the time to review and for following this story. Yeah he's trying so hard not to hurt her. After what happened with Steve and realising that he's not who he thought he was, he'd tired of fighting and killing people. He doesn't want to do that anymore. Although at this point he's desperate and fighting for his survival and even though he's trying to be better, he's got a lot of demons to work through. Hope you enjoy following Bucky's journey.