I looked through the peephole and there he was; my insides twisted. He was standing outside my door, James Buchannan Barnes. Tentatively I slid the chain across and unlocked the door. He looked different. Unshaven and his hair was shorter. But his blue eyes were brighter, more vital and now they seemed focused. He was dressed casually; jeans, black hoodie, navy jacket and we was wearing leather gloves. And he he had a gun in his hand. Without a word he pushed by me and looked around my apartment expectantly. To my surprise there didn't seem to be any problem with his 'frozen' arm.
"There's nothing wrong with it" I pointed out, my voice was coarse.
"No" he agreed, whispering. "I needed a reason for you to let me in".
Suddenly there was a loud bumping sound coming from my bedroom. I opened my mouth in alarm and James put a finger to his lips telling me to be quiet. My blood ran cold. The bedroom door opened.
"Get down" he said forcing me to the floor with the cybernetic arm as he raised the gun with the other. My face met the carpet and I screamed as shots fired in my apartment, my hands automatically covering my head in a protective instinct. Splinters of wood and plaster from my door landed beside me after being hit and bizarrely all I could think about was how I was definitely losing my security deposit.
Three more shots and then there was a loud thud as something hit the floor. I was shaking uncontrollably. His hand curled around my arm above my elbow, he wasn't so much helping me to my feet but physically dragging me up.
"We have about three minutes until the authorities get here. We have to leave" he informed me. I knew he was speaking to me; I just couldn't process what he wanted. There was a body of a man on my lounge floor. He had a bullet wound right in the centre of his forehead, blood was pooling on to my beige carpet. I suddenly felt quite unwell. "Hey!" James grabbed my chin between his thumb and forefinger and made me look at him. "Lucy, listen to me. We need to go".
"I…I…" I didn't have anything else to say. He groaned angrily. I didn't move but my legs felt like jello. He grabbed hold of my hand and pulled me about across the lounge; I shut my eyes as we passed the lifeless body. James walked in to my bedroom and left me standing in the doorway as he opened my drawers & closet & rifled around pulling things out. The window was open, my curtains flapping about in the wind.
"Get dressed" he ordered me throwing articles of clothing on to my bed. "Now!"
Shouting at me was what tipped me over the edge and I heard myself wail in shrill alarm. I went from silent stupor to wild sobbing in a matter of seconds. I heard James curse he and brushed his hand over his head frustrated. He suddenly grabbed my shoulders and shook me.
"Stop it! You need to calm down!" He instructed. But I didn't. He looked torn for a beat and then he struck me hard across the face. It certainly shocked me in to silence. "I'm sorry" he said grimly and set back to work. He looked around the room and found my purse as I stood holding my cheek, it stung from the contact. He pulled a backpack from my closet. He emptied the contents of my purse into it, bundled what he had cast on to my bed in to the backpack and slung it over his shoulder.
He grabbed my red holey sweater and threw around my shoulders. Once again he gripped my arm with his hand and pushed towards the bedroom window. The man must have made his entrance using the fire escape and now we were using it as the exit. I stopped dead before the window. Something wasn't right. I looked down at my feet & saw pink fuzzy bunnies.
"I've still got my slippers on" I sniffed. He cursed again and I kicked them off and pushed my feet into my converse I kept by the bed.
James climbed through the window and then lifted me with ease through it. He lead me so quickly down the fire escape stairs it felt like I was flying. Once clear of the building I could hear the sirens of the approaching police cars but James didn't even hesitate he continued pulling me along the street quickly as possible. We didn't stop until we were about twenty blocks away. I could barely breathe, my throat and chest burned from the exertion. I had to lean forward gripping my shins as I tried to get my breath back. He didn't even look perturbed by the pace. Once I had rested a little we were on the move again, still quickly but not with the same sense of urgency. We carried on walking until the sun came up.
"I'm tired" I croaked, the first real complaint I had made. My feet ached and I was thirsty. I stopped dead on the sidewalk. James looked annoyed but didn't say anything. He looked up and down the street before making a decision. He tugged on a car door and it unlocked through his strength alone. James bundled me inside, fiddled around with some wires and then sped off. I was too exhausted to protest. Within moments the motion of the car sent me to sleep.
When I woke, the car had stopped. He had pulled up on the side of a road. We weren't in the city anymore. In fact I had no idea where we were but we were surrounded by trees.
"No more gas" he informed me. "Here, this was in the glove box" He handed me a bottle of blessedly sealed water and I drank it with a thirst I can honestly say I'd never experienced before. Before I downed it all I remembered my manners and offered him the rest. He shook his head. "Finish it, I've had a bottle already" he said and showed me and identical empty bottle. "Sign back there said we're about two miles out of a town. Think you can make it if we walk?"
"I'm still in my jammies" I realised. "I'm having the weirdest day".
James reached behind to the back seat and passed me the backpack.
"Get dressed" he told me.
"In here?" I checked, I was blushing furiously.
"I'm not going to look" he clarified and got out of the car. He leaned on the door facing away. I moved on to the back seat, tugged off my jammies and put on my underwear as quickly as I could. The jeans took a little tugging on, I wasn't really in the right frame of mind to tell him before these were my snug jeans. At least the Breton top and navy sweater were comfy and warm.
Maybe I'd watched too many movies but I wiped down everything I thought I might have touched with the arm of my sweater and got out of the car. We walked in silence for what definitely felt like more than two miles. Once we hit the town my hunger kicked in and I told him I needed to eat. He might be able to run on fresh air and super assassin skills alone but I couldn't.
We stopped at a truck stop diner and I ate the best bacon and eggs I had had in ages. James had the same and I realised it was the first time I had ever seen him eat. I watched him with fascination as he methodically cut and ate his food. When we had finished James surveyed a motel opposite the diner and deemed it suitable to rest there and decide our next course of action. I paid for the room with the cash that was in my wallet and once inside I flopped down on the lumpy bed and slept some more. When I woke up again the clock said it was three pm. I used the bathroom, made use of the shower and thanked God above for complimentary toothbrush and toothpaste. I came back into the bedroom and James was sat on the floor with his back to the wall.
I sat beside him.
"I'm sorry this has happened to you" he told me soberly.
"That guy was HYDRA right?" I asked. He nodded. "And he was at my apartment because of you?" James shook his head. "He was there for…for me?" I gulped. "How did you know?"
"Fogal" he replied. My eyes widened in surprise.
"But he disappeared" I pointed out.
"Not well enough" He half smiled. "I wanted everything on this" he explained tapping the arm. "He gave it up so easy. He's not as confident on his own, without his restraints and armed guards". He smiled darkly, enjoying whatever he was recalling. "He wanted to bargain. He gave me the names and locations of the other HYDRA scientists that worked on me but he omitted you".
"I wasn't HYDRA…" I interrupted anxiously.
"I know" he put his hand on my wrist, it was reassuring. "I asked him about you. He said that it didn't matter about you, you were a loose end that was about to be tied off".
I shivered, if he hadn't have showed up tonight it would have been me lying lifeless on my lounge carpet. I shook that thought away.
"Did it save him?" I asked but I already knew the answer.
"No" he replied empty. James reached in to his pocket and pulled out a flash drive.
"You're were easy to find" he told me handing it to me.
"What's this?" I asked staring at it upon my palm.
"Blue prints, design specs, test results, software. Everything on this arm" he replied.
"Why are you giving it me?" I asked, it suddenly felt very hot and heavy in my hand.
"I told you. You're my technician" he half smiled.
"I don't do that anymore" I shook my head and tried to hand it back to him.
"You work for Stark. Aren't you helping make the next generation of Iron Man?" James raised his eyebrow.
"No", I scoffed. I couldn't help but laugh. "I work on the maintenance team. I change light bulbs, fix electronic doors and rewire sockets in the cafeteria. They thought it was best they keep me away from sensitive stuff".
"I thought you wanted to help save the world?" he reminded me softly.
"Well I tried that once and I did more damage than help", I replied sadly.
James closed his hand around mine.
"The damage was already done long before I met you" he told me. "I don't blame you Lucy".
"Thank you. You saved my life tonight James, you didn't have to come find me, you could have let them..." I couldn't finish that sentence.
His gloved metal hand reached for my face and instinctively I ducked away.
"It's okay" he assured me, I was surprised at the rawness of his voice. His hand brushed away a wet stray curl of my hair and tucked it behind my ear. "You had a hair thing" he whispered.
I felt myself blush as his palm cupped my cheek, I winced slightly at the contact it was still a little sore from where he struck me earlier. He grimaced guiltily. "I'm sorry", he said and bit his lower lip. Keeping his hand on my face he looked at me right in the eyes. I could barely breathe. "I'm not the safest person to be around" he said mournfully.
"It's alright" I croaked. He shook his head.
"I have to get you to people that can help keep you safe" James said regretfully.
"Steve!" I announced suddenly. He dropped his hand instantly, like I had burned him.