Chapter 11

They hadn't made it to the end of the gallery before the shrill blare of the fire alarm echoed through the halls. Ally couldn't help but flinch at the loudness. It seemed wrong in the quiet stillness of the museum. As they strode through the next hall Ally watched the passing faces. She couldn't help but notice that every face held the same expression. The same look of confusion, as if they wouldn't actually believe there was a fire or that they actually had to leave the building until someone else led the way. Little did these people know that they were right. There wasn't actually a fire. Instead there was a secret, evil organisation hunting down a rogue soldier. Ally found herself nearly laughing of the absurdity of the situation. It was like something straight out of a movie. Regardless they were right. There wasn't a fire. He had warned her what they would do if they found him. They were clearing the building, trying to find him. Her stomach dropped at the realisation. The alarm must mean that they were already here.

'Don't turn around,' he said yanking Ally's arm and snapping her head back around to face him. He moved quickly and purposefully. She could tell that he was trying not to attract attention to them but she could also tell that he was not succeeding. Whether it was the deliberate way that he moved through the crowds, her panicked expression and hurried steps to keep up with his long quick strides or the security guards scouting the perimeter, speaking into radios and nodding in their direction but they were attracting attention.

He moved them purposefully through the ever growing crowd that were finally making their way towards the nearest exits. He kept a tight, nearly bruising grip on her arm as he steered her through the crowd. As the crowd bottlenecked near the main entrance she could sense his growing frustration at their slow pace. 'Keep your head down,' he commanded as he slowly manoeuvred them to the edge of the crowd, slowing to a near stop before pulling them into a deserted corridor.

Once they were free from prying eyes he picked up the pace, until she found herself nearly jogging to keep up with him, In front of them, at the end of the corridor she could see the fire escape. She couldn't resist but turn around. To take one last hopeful glance behind her. To see if anyone was coming to her rescue. To see if anyone was coming to kill them. The corridor was empty. She didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed.

Together they burst through the fire exit and out into an alleyway, only to come to an immediate stop. They weren't alone.

It took him less than four seconds to assess the situation. Twelve cops in total. All armed. One rookie, first week on the job. Inexperienced. An easy take down. Although he could be unpredictable. Two ageing cops, one overweight. All past their best. Four average cops. Perfectly adequate at their job. The other four were different. Suits. Highly trained. Bucky nearly smiled. If they were highly skilled they would be out in the field, not stuck in a suit on security detail.

Twelve in total. Easy.

That was until Ally moved behind him, reminding him of the reality of his situation. He didn't have the advantage. They did.

They were cornered. A quick two second glance confirmed what he already knew. No exit behind, a dead end street to the left and twelve cops with four police cars to the right. No shelter at all.

He had one option. He would have to fight. He would have to fight and protect Ally at the same time. It wasn't impossible. Yet that niggling sensation lingering in the pit of his stomach made him uneasy. He has brought her into this situation and it was up to him to get them out of it.

There were twelve guns. All pointed at them. At her. She didn't need to be a genius to figure out that they were trapped. The door behind them had already closed and there was only one way out. Ally started to raise her hands in the universal signal of surrender when he, James, or Bucky or whoever the hell he was positioned his body in front of her, keeping her firmly behind him with his metal arm. She turned her head to look at him, surprised by the gesture.

'Mam,' called the taller of the men in the black suits bringing her gaze to him. He edged forward slightly, his gun never straying from the target beside her. 'Mam, please step away from the target. Slowly. We won't harm you.'

The man looked at her kindly, motioning her to come to him. Ally couldn't remember the last time someone had looked at her with kindness and not cold blankness or distrust. Instinctively she leaned forward desperately wanting safety and protection. Black and white uniforms, red and blue flashing flights, shiny golden badges. It all screamed safety to Ally and safety was what she desperately wanted.

Yet between her and safety was a quite easily 200 pound man. A man who, even though he hadn't moved a muscle was definitely holding her back. 'Don't,' he muttered so quietly that she wasn't even sure he had spoken. Ally wanted to go to them. It made sense. It was what she had hoped for. What she had wanted to happen. Wasn't this the only way that she could escape from this? She would be rescued by the police, he would be arrested and then she could go back to her normal life. So why was she hesitating? She told herself to do it, to just take a step forward, but her body wouldn't comply.

'Mam,' the officer said again, bringing her attention back to him. 'We need you to move. Now!'

That niggling feeling continued to gnaw away inside of her. Every part of her screamed to move. To run. But that single word 'don't' had worked it's away into her mind and continued to play on constant repeat, plaguing her with doubt. He had warned her earlier, inside the museum. He had said they would torture her, kill her. Destroy anyone who had even laid eyes on him. But was he telling the truth or was he lying just to keep her obedient? But why would he even want her around? Surely he would have had an easier time escaping without her slowing him down.

Ally didn't know what to do. Who to believe. She knew she should trust the police but something about the whole situation just didn't feel right. She could tell that the officers were getting impatient. A slight shift from foot to foot, a tightening of their grips around their guns. She could see that they wanted to act. The officer in charge was still looking at her with concern but as his gaze slid momentarily to one of his colleagues, a look that barely lasted a second, something passed between them. She couldn't put her finger on what it was, but instinctively she knew. A flicker of the eyes to her direction, a nearly imperceptible nod of the head. In that moment she knew that James had been telling the truth. She knew that these men wanted her dead. And what's more, the officer knew it too.

Ally stared back at the officer. Both unmoving but she saw it in his face. She saw the moment he realised that she knew the truth. In that moment the friendly, kind mask slipped to reveal the hard ruthlessness underneath of a man who would do anything to fulfil his duty. He wasted no time in changing in target. In one quick adjustment he shifted his aim pointing the gun directly at her head and pulled the trigger.

A/N - Hey so I know it's been a while but I'm so happy to have a new chapter. I have two fanfics on the go (the other is on a different site) but I just found it so hard to write and get in the frame of mind for the characters plus I just couldn't get the chapter past a certain point. Then after a year of not writing I got a lovely review from elizabarnes384 and it put the story back into my head and here we are. So never underestimate the value of a nice review. It can honestly give the right motivation at the right time.