Only One

don't worry doll

I always wanted to be different.

I wanted to be a small part of something bigger. Bigger than myself. Bigger than the small hole of a town I'd grown up in. I wanted to be different, I wanted to make a difference.

I should have known better. I should have been more careful with what I had wished for. I should have known that every wish made true, comes with a price. That's why I don't make wishes anymore. If I did, I'd be wishing I could go home. If I did, I'd wish on every star in the sky that I could turn back time. Back to before I'd chosen to join S.H.I.E.L.D., back to before I'd decided to go on that mission.

Now, I know better. Now, I know I should never have left that small town. I should have accepted what I had, instead of wishing for more. Now I'm just tired. So damn tired.

I need a break. I need to find somewhere I can stay put for more than a few days. Only problem is, I don't know if a place like that even exists anymore. I think it's out of the realm of possibility for me. At least it wouldn't be within my reach any time soon, not while so many interested parties are so hot on my tail I can smell the smoke from their flames behind me.

I'm normally pretty good at telling when someone gets too close. I've had enough basic training to know the obvious signs of when I'm being watched, followed.

Only now, I'm beginning to wonder if that was ever true.

It's taken me too long to notice that whoever had been following me, was much closer than I'd previously thought. I know this because I can see their shadow, clearing out of the darkness, lit only by a street lamp. Then their shadow grows, moving forward and casting my tracker's face into the light.

Shit.

I wish it was a stranger. I wish it was anybody else staring back at me. Why? God, why did it have to be him?

"Please, don't run." He says, taking a few slow steps in my direction.

His hands are held up, palms facing me. He's not in his suit, just regular street attire and a navy blue jacket. It doesn't even look like he's carrying any weapons.

"I'm not here to hurt you." He continues, slowly closing the distance between us. "I just want to help."

"Stay back, Steve." I put my hand up in warning, voice trembling. "Don't come any closer."

He stops abruptly at my request, his feet freezing in place, and his arms falling to his side.

"Why not?" He asks, calmly. "For my sake, or for yours?"

I scan around me, looking for signs of anybody else. I'm having a hard time believing he came by himself, especially without any weapons, but I don't see any other shadows in the distance. I know that doesn't mean they aren't there, but it also doesn't mean that they are.

"You shouldn't be here." I take a step away from him. "You should have just left me alone."

My heart is racing. I mean it's pounding so fast that you'd thought I'd was a smoker who just ran a marathon.

"You know I could never do that." He states, evenly.

"For my sake, or for yours?" I throw his own question back at him.