I gasped for air as I came to, still lying on the floor of my kitchen. The message from Doctor Price had stopped playing, however.

"Mrs. Miller, shall I contact emergency services?" I heard JARVIS ask. I shook my head quickly, trying to find my voice.

"No services. No." I said. I was panicking. I had no idea what I had just seen. The dream was almost too vivid. It was as though I was actually living it. I could actually feel the cold that seeped into my veins and the pain that came from tearing the shrapnel out of my leg.

After our mission had gone wrong in Sokovia, I was captured by the Ten Rings. They had held me hostage for two weeks before Tony's personnel had stormed the camp, freeing me and taking me home. I had spent another week in the hospital, healing from surgery as my leg recovered from the shrapnel. At least, that's what Tony had told me. And Fury. And my therapist.

"JARVIS," I yelled, the ringing had stopped but it was echoing in my ears, not waiting for a reply, "play back Fury's message." I gripped the edge of the counter, hoping he would explain the dream I had experienced. The computer read the date and time of the message again before I heard Fury's voice.

I heard him yell something unintelligible before I could make his voice out, "Agent Miller, things aren't going to make sense to you right now," I scoffed but froze when I heard what sounded like a window shattering. He had called me while he was being attacked. "You need to run. Call Sam Wilson and ask him about the Sokovia Recovery, he will tell you everything you need to know." I heard another crashing sound and the computer in Fury's car updated him on all the damages to his system. "But after that, you need to run. Far. They don't know you yet, but they will. I will find a way to let you know when this is all over, but right now, you need to go."

I felt tears prick my eyes at the memory of seeing Fury's lifeless body in the hospital. I knew there was no way he could contact me himself, but he had always had a backup plan in emergency situations. JARVIS spoke up again as I began pacing back and forth in my kitchen.

"Ms. Miller, your heart rate and body temperature are extremely elevated, should I alert Mr. Stark?" I stopped pacing for a moment.

If what Fury wanted was for me to run, I needed to run. And if I did, I couldn't have anyone knowing what was happening. Whether or not the dream I had had was real, I had no clue. But, hearing the seriousness of Fury's voice in his last message, I was beginning to believe it was.

"No, JARVIS. Please disable all security systems. And tell Tony I'm sorry." I began walking to my room before he spoke again.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Miller, I don't believe Mr. Stark would want me to disable my systems. It could put you in danger." He spoke calmly, but I didn't have time for him to be disagreeing with me. I altered my route to my room and instead headed for the hallway closet, where JARVIS' homing system was located. I unplugged the main system before he could say anything else.

"Sorry, JARVIS, but Tony needs to stay out of this one." I mumbled under my breath. With that, I stood to continue back to my room. But when I righted myself, I found myself staring into a pair of blue eyes. I shrieked in surprise, but he didn't even flinch. That was when I realized who it was. The Winter Soldier.

I felt my spine stiffen, the way it did in my dreams when I was in the middle of Sokovia, staring into the barrel of his gun. He didn't say anything, just looked at me as though he was trying to assess me.

"I don't know who you are," I started, "and I have no idea what you want, but if you're here to take me back to them, just get it over with." He held his ground for a few more moments before taking a step back, giving me room to breathe. That just confused me even more. Then he spoke.

"I don't know why I'm here. I didn't know where else to go." His voice held no emotion, but I could tell his breathing was shallow as he pulled down the neckline of his jacket to reveal a rather large wound. It was very close to his collarbone and throat, but it didn't look fatal.

"Now you want my help?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

"I didn't know where else to go." He repeated. "I can leave." He turned towards the back door again, but before I knew what I was doing, I reached for his arm.

Again, that was a mistake. He turned quickly and held my wrist with his metal arm, his grip was painful and I let out a grunt before he released it. "Sorry." He said, moving to flex his fingers before straightening them out again.

I shook my head before replying. "It's okay. I disabled my security, let me help you." I couldn't figure out why I wanted to help him. As far as I knew, he'd held a gun to my head way before our meeting in my front yard, and he could have had something to do with the men that had kidnapped me.

"I know." He said. I led the way to my kitchen, and pulled out one of the stools at the bar. As I reached for the first aid kit below my sink, I felt my phone begin to vibrate in my pocket. The soldier's posture changed, becoming more rigid than it was when he had sat down, if that was even possible.

I pulled my phone out, checking the caller ID. "It's Tony." I stated, holding it in my hand for a few more seconds before I tossed it on the counter and let it ring. JARVIS had probably alerted him about my system being disabled, and it was only a matter of time before someone came to check on me. When I had finally grabbed the first aid kit, I picked it up again, turning it off so he wouldn't try to call again.

"We have to be quick. I need to leave." I told the assassin, standing in front of him and signaling for him to pull his shirt down. His wound wasn't fatal, but it would need stitches. He was quiet as I cleaned the blood and dirt from it, his face didn't even give it away if he was in any pain.

He finally spoke up when I was threading the curved needle. I was going to have to stitch the wound closed for it to heal. "Why?" He asked. The way he was eyeing the needle made me wonder if he was asking why I was holding it.

"Why, what?" I asked, confusion clear on my face.

"Why do you need to leave?" He asked, his eyes moved from the needle, instead boring into mine. I knew I shouldn't trust him, but he hadn't killed me yet. If he was waiting for me to admit that I knew they were coming, he had to know there was no way I was going to make it out of my house.

"Because I don't need more people like you breaking into my house, let alone trying to kill me." He barely winced as I began stitching the wound. It was the first sign of emotion he'd shown all day.

"They didn't send me here. I wasn't going to kill you." He stated, his face blank again as I threaded the needle through his skin.

"That's what I've been told." I replied, focusing on stitching his wound. "But that doesn't mean someone else won't." He dropped the conversation at that, and I was done with his stitches a few moments later. "Leave those in for at least a couple of weeks." I told him, making eye contact. He nodded and I closed the lid of my first aid kit, leaving it on the counter instead of putting it away. I could bring it with me, especially since I didn't know where I was going.

I turned to the sink to wash my hands as well as the equipment I had used, also giving him time to adjust his jacket again. But by the time I turned around again, he had already left.

I sighed quietly. I didn't know anything about the man but I still felt slightly disappointed that he had disappeared.

I decided quickly to check the time. It had been almost half an hour since I had disabled JARVIS, and Tony would probably have someone at my house within the hour, so I headed for my bedroom again, grabbing a Nike duffel and a backpack I had gotten while I was in the military.

Heading for the bathroom first, I grabbed my toiletries. I left my makeup on the counter, figuring I wouldn't need it while I was gone. I switched the light back off and headed to my room, reaching my dresser and grabbing a couple of pairs of shorts and sweatpants, as well as shirts and sweaters.

I didn't know what all I would need. When I had enlisted, there was a directory of items that we needed to bring with, but I didn't know what it was like to be on the run. I didn't even know who I was running from, other than knowing their name. HYDRA was what fury had called them.

I stuffed one of the quilts on my bed into the backpack before making my way back to the front door. It had been almost an hour since I had disabled JARVIS, and I couldn't risk turning my phone on again- Tony probably had some way of tracking it.

I slid on a pair of shoes and headed out to my car; I knew where I needed to go.


I'm really, really sorry I missed last week! I have so much going on for my fall classes right now it's insane. I'm getting back on track, finishing up the next chapter for the second story! I really hope you guys are enjoying it! I need feedback!