The Agent and Assassin (A Winter Soldier Love Story)

IV

I walked out the museum building with the assassin close behind me. I couldn't believe how easy this had been. He seemed to trust me easily and I guess this is exactly what Fury and Coulson we're expecting. I was warm and inviting when I needed to be and this broken man of an assassin seemed to need someone like me.

I walked in front, with him just a few steps behind me. I didn't mean to take the lead, I would have much rather him walked next to me so he couldn't take off without me being able to find him quickly. I would glance back every few moments to ensure that he was still there. Sure enough every time I looked he was still walking with both hands on his pocket and his head cast down.

I started going over everything in my head thinking of ways to tell him that I knew who he was without scaring him off. I could be honest and say he looked like the man in the museum and see his response. I could make up some kind of story possibly that I had studied WWII and Hydra but that wasn't likely. I just needed to approach him carefully. I guess my best option was to lead on and try to get him to tell me something about himself.

I walked to a small cafe that was only a few minutes walk from the museum. We walked in and took the farthest table from anyone. We sat down and he just looked around as if familiarizing himself with his surroundings.

"What would you like?" I asked him. He didn't seem to register that I was talking to him because he was looking at the television in the corner. I turned to look and saw it was the news report about the hellicarrier. It had been four months to the day since it happened and they were going over updates about the reconstruction efforts in the area. It also mentioned Captain America and he how they had seen someone dive in the water after him. I looked back at him and saw that he had a kind of pained look in his face.

"Hey are you okay? You seem to be a lot more interested in the news than anything else," I said to him. He turned his attention back to me.

"Yeah I'm fine. I've just had a pretty bad and crazy few months that you wouldn't believe. If you did you would run very far from me ," he looked at me dead in the eyes.

I leaned closer to him across the table and whispered to him. "Let me tell you a secret. If you're trying to scare me it's not gonna happen? I returned back to my original position."Now what would you like to eat. You look like you could use a sandwich and a soda."

''You know you don't have to buy me anything. I don't want you to tell me you care when you only pity me."

"I'm not doing this because I pity you, I'm doing this because I care," I said to him and gave him a small smile as I got up and went to order. I saw a small smile on the corner of his lips, but it quickly went away. I could have imagined it so I just walked away and ordered.

I came back a few minutes later and saw that he was still sitting there with his head down and hands in his pockets. I sat down and I put a sandwich and drink in front of him and the grabbed my own sandwich and water. He just kinda looked at it and then looked around. He then grabbed the sandwich and started eating using only his right arm. I noticed that he kept his other hand under the table, probably due to the fact that it was metal. He ate quickly and finished before I did. He sat there waiting for me to finish.

After a few moments of silence he asked, "What's your name? I've been sitting around and talking to you and I don't even know who you are."

I wiped my mouth and took that moment to decide if I wanted to to tell him my real name of not. I decided that it couldn't hurt so I answered, "Nicole. And you are?" I asked being polite and also because I wanted to know how he was going to respond.

He opened his mouth to say something then closed it, looking frustrated. "It's okay. Take your time," I said.

"My name was Bucky Barnes but I'm not sure if that's really who I am anymore."

"Well it's nice to meet you Bucky," I said to him. "There's something that I should probably tell you. I recognize you from the museum.  You look like the same person on the memorial of James Barnes. Is that you because if it is then-" he cut me off before I could say anything else.

"You're here to kill me aren't you? You have to be either a  S.H.I.E.L.D agent or are from Hydra?"

I had to collect my thoughts before I could answer. "I'm not from S.H.I.E.L.D. or from Hydra whatever those two things are. I just saw how much you looked like the man in the picture. I've also heard Captain America talk about a man named Bucky Barnes. I was in New York during the attack. I was a police officer and was helping the Captain with everything after. He mentioned you once. When I looked across the memorial and saw you standing there you looked just like him. When I talked to you, it seemed like you needed help and I wanted to help you because you looked like you could need it," I said this as convincingly as I could. I held my breath hoping that he would believe me.

"Why would you want to help me?" He asked.

"Honestly, you looked kinda broken to me and seemed like you could use someone to be nice to you for once," I told him. I was walking on thin ice with him right now. Anything that I said could sent him off and that was the last thing that I wanted. I tried to be as truthful as I could without telling him everything.

"You can't fix me if that's what you are thinking," he told me and looked me dead on the eye.

"I don't know how I would fix you even I wanted to. I don't know what happened to you after you died. Honestly I thought I was mistaken when I saw you. I wanted to show you some kindness though because you looked like you needed it ," I responded back to him not dropping my gaze. We sat there staring at each other for what felt like a lifetime before he dropped his gaze.

"Thank you," he said. I noted the way he said his thanks. It sounded almost strained as if he wasn't sure how to say it.

"Why are thanking me?" I asked him.

"Because you were nice to me and didn't have to be," he said to me.

"Follow me," I said after a moment of silence.

"Where are we going?" He asked sounding concerned and on edge.

"There's a motel I was staying at. I'm gonna show you a little more kindness and give you a place to crash," I said. I walked out and saw him hesitate to get up before following me out.