Authors Note: I do not own anything of Marvels
Sorry for not only disappearing, but also for the cliffhanger in the last chapter. Hopefully two updates in two days can make up for it. I want to thank everyone again who has commented, followed, or favorited this story. It truly means a lot, and gives me a lot of inspiration to keep writing.
Chapter 9
Anthea stared back in shock, in complete disbelief of what he just said. If he noticed her shock, he didn't acknowledge it. Instead he just kept tracing her mark, a small smile playing at the corner of his mouth.
"They told me where to find you. Now that my mission is complete, we can be together." The man eyes seemed to brighten, and he smiled down at her. "I have waiting too long for this moment."
Anthea felt her breath catch in her throat. This man wasn't making any sense. From what the man was saying, there have been people watching her. Keeping track of where she lived, and possibly where she worked. What confused her the most was that this man thought he knew her, she thought he possibly had her confused with someone else. However, the man was holding on to her forearm with her soul mark on it, and he didn't look confused. He looked so sure of himself, like he really had been waiting for the moment they finally met. With that thought she could feel the panic rising in her again, "I..I don't understand, I. There has to be a mistake. I'm not who you think I am."
Anthea watched the man wearily, afraid of how he may react to her words. He surprised her however, by reaching his metal arm up to caress the side of her face. Anthea instantly froze as soon as the man placed his metal hand on her. With his hand placed on her, she could feel the slight shifting in his arm. Hear a mechanical whirling. She could only imagine the kind of damage this man could cause with his one arm alone. He spoke gently to her, as if he was trying to soother her. His metal thumb slid across her cheekbone, and she felt a shiver run through her. "There is no mistake Anthea, we are matched. You are mine, as I am yours. They have forced me to keep my distance from you, but no longer."
Anthea felt as if she couldn't breathe. She felt like her world was crashing down. She was never supposed to be in a situation like this. With an obviously dangerous man breaking into her apartment, only to tell her that they belong to one another. She had led a normal life for the majority of her life. She was just Anthea. All she wanted was to just lead a normal life, finish up her residency and become a doctor. Steve was the one that was supposed to have the unexpected life, not her. Steve's life could never be considered normal, but he kept her isolated from those parts of his life; and Anthea could pretend like Steve that they didn't exist. This man's words, however, could not be ignored. There was no pretending, this really was happening. But the man's words were still not making any sense. His words were impossible. "Please, there has to be some mistake. I already have one match, and my other match passed away a long time back. It's not possible for me to be yours."
Again, the man just gently smiled down at her. He removed his metal hand from her face, in order to bring it down to his arm that was still holding her. Anthea broke eye contact to watch what he was doing, an uneasy feeling settling in her stomach. She watched in disbelief as the man lifted the sleeve he was wearing to reveal her soul mark. Her soul mark, that was clearly visible on this man's forearm. She stared at the man's arm blankly, in a way not truly believing what she was seeing. It was simply impossible. Suddenly she reached for his arm, and began rubbing his mark. Trying to frantically rub away the proof that was on his arm. The man eventually reached out and placed his hand on tops of hers.
"I promise, it's real." He had a slight smirk on his face as he spoke.
"But that's not possible, Steve said.." Anthea looked up at the man in front of her. She looked past the man's long hair and stubble, and imagined the man with a clean shaven face and short hair. Steve had shown her pictures of Bucky before, and looking at the man in front of her, she could tell they were near identical. This man appeared to be Bucky Barnes, but it couldn't be possible. Steve told her he watched Bucky fall from the train, told her there was no way for a man to survive such a fall. Before she could lose herself in her thoughts anymore, she was broken out of it as she heard Steve yelling from her phone.
"ANTHEA! Anthea what's going on?! THEA!" Anthea stared down at her phone, realizing that her call with Steve was still connected. The man in front of her seemed to realize this too, as she saw the anger flash across his face. Suddenly, faster than she thought possible, she saw the man slam his metal fist down on her phone. The phone shattered into pieces. The man's fist coming down on her phone finally snapped her out of her trance, and caused her to retreat.
She kicked out at the man, while trying to escape from around where he was blocking her in. Her kick must have surprised the man, as he moved back to dodge and didn't immediately try to grab her. Anthea got to her feet and ran to her room. She slammed the door shut, locking it as fast as she could. She looked around her room, trying to come up with some sort of plan. Trying to find something to defend herself with. Anthea was barely holding it together, when she heard a gently knocking on her bedroom door.
"Anthea, open the door. It's time for us to leave, they expect us back." The man said calmly through the door.
Anthea could feel herself falling apart. She lost the only form of contact she had with Steve, and had no way to communicate with anyone what was happening to her. The man on the other side of that door was the man Steve warned her about, the man who sent someone from Steve's agency to the hospital. The man on the other side of her bedroom door was dangerous. And that same man was somehow her match. The match that fell from a train in World War II. The match that has been dead for 70 years, and would have been close to 100 if he were still alive. Steve had told her all of this and more, and Steve wouldn't lie to her about this. She could see the genuine heartbreak on his face every time he mentioned Bucky. Bucky Barnes was a hero, it doesn't make sense that his survival would be kept such a secret. Unless the people who found him, wanted it that way. No one from the allied side would have wanted that, so that meant that the people who found Bucky, the people who had him now, were not friends of the allies. Instead they were using a dead man to take out those who opposed them.
Anthea thought back on what he had told her so far. He kept mentioning a 'they.' 'They' told me where you were, 'they' forced me to keep my distance, 'they' are expecting us. Whoever this 'they' are, they have some kind of control over him. They also are the ones responsible for keeping him so young. They were the ones responsible for the man in the hospital.
Suddenly Anthea had an idea. She knew that she would never be able to overpower him, but she could warn Steve. The moment the phone was destroyed, Steve would have been on his way. Anthea knew that Bucky also was aware that Steve was on his way. Steve said he fought him earlier, so Bucky would have recognized the man on her phone screen. That caused her to pause, how did he not recognize Steve earlier. How did he not recognize his best friend, his match. None of this was making any sense.
"Anthea, I won't wait much longer. Open the door, it's time we left." Anthea could hear the hard tone in his voice. She knew he was getting impatient, trying to put as much distance and time between when Steve would get here. Anthea raced to her desk and grabbed a pen and piece of paper. She understood that she was going to be taken away, and if his knocking was any indicator, it would be in seconds. So she wrote down the only warning she could give him.
IT'S BUCKY
Anthea hurried to the door, the last thing she wanted was for him to break in and see what she wrote. Anthea took a deep breath as she stood in front of the door. With shaky hands she reached out to grab the knob and opened the door. He was standing on the other side, and looked slightly relieved when she opened the door on her own. He stood there staring at her for a second, before extending his hand for her to take. Anthea took one final deep breath, before placing her hand in his, and allowing him to lead her out of her apartment.
They left the apartment, and he led her down back alley after back alley. They were only walking for 5 minutes before she saw a black SUV parked at the end of the latest alley they were on. As they approached she watched as more men in black combat gear, exited the car. She noticed that all of the men were carrying guns at stopped in her tracts. At her sudden stop, Bucky turned to look at her and noticed where her gaze was stuck. He then moved in front of her, so he was blocking off her line of sight.
"Do not worry about them, I will not let any harm come to you. Now come, we have to go." He spoke softly to her, so that they wouldn't be overheard. He kept his gaze on her, and when she finally gave him a nod, he started walking again. She noticed now however, that the closer they got, the more Bucky began to move in front of her. When they finally got to the car, he was fully shielding her from the other men's view.
"It's about time you got here Asset, we told you not to take so long. You're be lucky if Pierce doesn't take her away after disobeying us. Now give her here." The man moved to reach behind Bucky, reaching to grab Anthea's arm. Before Anthea even had time to move away from the man, Bucky had his arm in his metal hand.
"You will not touch her. Nobody will touch her." He growled out as he squeezed the man's arm until Anthea heard a sickening snap. Bucky released the man and he fell to the ground letting out a scream of pain. The other men immediately raised their weapons to aim at Bucky, before what appeared to be the leader of the group stepped up.
"That's enough! Asset! Stand down! Nobody is going to touch your girl. We've already been here too long, and someone was bound to have heard Anthony's scream." The man ordered, as he tossed a black, canvas hood towards Bucky. "Now put this on her head, Pierce wants us to be extra cautious. Can't having her know where we are going." The man then turned around and proceeded to get back in the SUV. The others followed suit, with one man helping the man on the ground back into the car. Finally, Anthea and Bucky were the only ones remaining outside the car. He turned to her then, with an apologetic look on his face as he raised the hood. Anthea nodded slightly, and then Bucky proceeded to place the bag on her head, placing her in complete darkness. Anthea could feel her breathing becoming heavy, and Bucky placed his hands on her waist and lifted her into the car. She could feel him as he slid in beside her, and then he placed his arm back around her waist, holding her to him.
Anthea tried to remain calm, but she could feel herself starting to become hysterical. She thought she could be brave, go with him willingly. There was obviously something very wrong with the whole situation, and Bucky seemed to not even understand who he is. The men around him referred to him as 'Asset' only. She thought that she could be brave, thought that she could help make him remember Steve. Convince him to escape with her, and leave behind these men that are controlling him. But Anthea was beginning to realize that she's not brave, only a fool.
As if he could feel how hysterical she was becoming, she felt him lean towards her till he was whispering into her ear. "Don't worry, it will be over soon. Soon we will be home, and then we can finally be together." He then gave her a light squeeze, and Anthea could feel a tear sliding down her face.
