Chapter 5
"Are you sure your friend will be alright by himself?" asked Harlow on their walk back to the motel,
"He threatened me to leave him alone when he started flirting with one of the bartenders so I think he'll be fine" Bucky laughed,
Bucky had offered to walk Harlow back to her motel, which ended up being the exact same one that Bucky and Sam were staying at.
They walked up to stairs and stopped at Harlow's door, Harlow stepped forward to unlock it,
"Well… aren't you coming in?" Harlow asked innocently,
Bucky smiled and followed her in.
"Welcome to my crappy motel room" Harlow laughed but her voice cracked,
"I don't make you nervous do I?" Bucky asked,
"What? Oh no I just don't make a habit of bringing strangers home from a bar" she laughed to cover her nerves,
Harlow moved to stand in front of Bucky,
"It was really nice of you to walk me back but I do recall some promises you made at the bar" she smiled,
"Did I? Ah yes the one where I promised you wouldn't need drugs to have your way with me" he laughed,
"Do you break promises Bucky?" she asked, letting her hands come up to play with his jacket,
"Never" he whispered, bringing his lips to hers as she thrusted her hands into his hair.
Harlow lost herself, in that moment they were a man and a woman not enemies.
Bucky broke away suddenly, "I need to tell you something before we go any further" he said, Harlow swallowed hard and nodded,
"I was uh in an accident a long time ago and I lost my arm" he said reluctantly to tell her about his arm,
"Can I see?" she asked curiously,
Bucky removed his gloves revealing the metal hand, then his jacket, then his shirt
Harlow stared but the silence became too much for Bucky,
"Pretty bad hey?" he whispered,
Harlow gave a small smile and lifted her hand to his face, "No, not at all".
Harlow pulled his face down to her. Their kiss was rough. Bucky gripped her hips and pulled her closer. He groaned softly, low in his throat, he wanted more. He led her to the bed and pushed her down, crawling on top of her. Their tongues entwined and their hands clawed at each other. Bucky played with the bottom of her shirt until Harlow gave him permission to take it off. Bucky gazed down at her body before colliding with her mouth again.
Bucky's metal hand drifted down slowly from her cheek, past her bra and to the button of her jeans. The cold touch of the metal forced Harlow to snap back into reality,
"Wait! We should probably lock the door" she laughed,
"Good idea" he said, getting up and making his way to the door,
Harlow watched as he did and her hand quickly disappeared under her pillow.
His guard was down, this was her chance.
Her fingers curled around the gun sitting under the pillow she had put there earlier. She slowly pulled it out from under it and stood up, took aim at Bucky's head and switched the safety off.
Bucky's reflexes were still as sharp as they had ever been, he heard the distinctive click, a sound no ordinary person was capable of hearing. He turned and kicked the gun out of her hand, making Harlow fall back on the bed, she threw her legs up and kicked Bucky in the chest as he charged at her, sending him backwards, but he quickly regained his composure.
Harlow threw open the bedside table draw to reveal a switchblade and lunged for his neck, a lot messier death than she hoped but she was determined.
Bucky was quick. He blocked the incoming blow with his metal arm but Harlow continued to slash, missing his eye by half an inch and cutting him on the cheek, he hissed in return.
Enough he thought,
Bucky latched onto the girl's wrist and twisted until she let out a cry and dropped the knife. With his other hand he grabbed hold of Harlow's neck, wrapped his metal fist around and threw her back onto the bed, squeezing tight keeping her in place. Harlow struggled against him, clawing at his metal hand but no matter how much she moved she couldn't shake him.
"Who are you!" he yelled while trying to read her,
Bucky noticed Harlow's jaw move wildly as if she was trying to chew something.
Using his now free hand he shoved his fingers into her mouth, careful not to be bitten. Harlow cried out in resistance but he got a hold of the small cap she had tried to bite down on, he pulled it out and observed it.
A cyanide pill.
He threw it on the ground and looked back at the girl who didn't meet his eye.
"You're not going to talk are you" he asked, tightening his grip causing her to gasp for much needed air.
It was only when Harlow's eyes started to close that Bucky saw how tight his grip had gotten, he lurched backwards as he had remembered that that wasn't who he was anymore, the girl coughed and gagged holding her throat now red from the pressure.
Bucky ran his fingers through his hair, the Winter Soldier would have tortured the girl until he got his information and then killed her quickly after but Bucky, Bucky had no idea what to do.
Bucky sighed, he picked up the gun and the knife to make sure she wouldn't go for them again.
"Get out" he said, fury radiating from his words,
Harlow looked at him with wide eyes as she tried to steady her breathing, "What?" she whispered,
"Leave and don't come back here, if you do I'll have no choice but to kill you" he said sternly,
Harlow couldn't move, she just stared at the Winter Soldier, the cold-blooded assassin was letting her go.
"I said go or do I have to make you?!" he yelled,
Harlow leapt from the bed and grabbed hold of Bucky's hand that was holding the gun, Bucky pulled back but Harlow pulled it so that the gun was aimed at her head.
"Kill me" she said, her voice quaking,
"What?" he asked, concern flooded his face,
"Just kill me… if you don't they will, I'm dead either way" she whispered,
"Who will?" he asked,
"Hydra" she replied,
Bucky almost laughed, "Hydra is dead",
"You of all people know the saying, cut off one head, two more grow back. Hydra will never die, there's always one weed that will continue to grow in it" Harlow cried, "Please I'd rather a bullet to the head than what Mr Fastner has install for me" she said,
Bucky paused.
"Mr Fastner is still alive?" he asked,
"Yes, he was the one who gave me this mission, he killed my parents and said that I have to prove my loyalty to Hydra" she said,
"He killed your parents and you still want to do as he says?" he argued,
"I have no choice! Where am I going to go? All I've ever known was Hydra, ever since I was a child I was told Hydra was good and that we were changing the world for the better. I know now that we aren't the good guys, we're the villains," Harlow cried, letting her hands fall to her side and sitting back onto the bed, "I have no one, I'm better off dead."
Bucky sighed, ran his hand through his hair and dragged one of the dining chairs in front of Harlow and sat down. Harlow backed up a bit afraid of what he might do.
"Is Harlow your real name?" he asked,
Harlow nodded.
"Well Harlow how about I make you a deal then, you tell me what you know about what is left of Hydra and I'll protect you from them" he asked,
"I can protect myself" she stated,
He almost smiled, "Yes I could see that, you put up a good fight but there's nothing wrong with asking for help. I know that more than anyone" he said,
"You don't trust me, how do you know that what I tell you is the truth?" she asked,
"Well I guess I just have to take a chance then" he said, sticking out his robotic hand hoping she would take it,
Harlow stared at his metal hand, the one that was choking her not ten minutes ago. Her eyes went from his hand to his eyes,
He can't be killed, she thought.
Harlow closed her eyes and deeply sighed, she raised her hand to his and shook it.
"Hydra ordered me to kill you as they knew you were too dangerous to have free" she admitted, "Hydra has a large base in Germany, when I left they were getting ready for something big" Harlow said,
"What were they planning?" Bucky asked,
"I don't know, they weren't about to tell a traitor's daughter classified information but I know whatever it is, it's happening in France" she said,
Bucky stared at her, processing what she had just told him.
"So do you believe me Mr Barnes?" she asked to break the silence,
"I believe you Harlow" he replied.