Tear in My Heart

5

You staring at him, staring back at you, eyes locked in surprise. Time itself slowed to a crawl, the entire world sliding forward in slow motion. It only took a few seconds for time to resume however, and then the chaos broke loose.

Apparently, you had accidentally let out a small scream when you thought you were falling, and evidently it had caught the attention of a few of the other museum goers. As Bucky pulled you to your feet, you could feel the entire room's eyes watching you. You could see Bucky's eyes twitching in fear, afraid that someone would recognize him.

"Thank you." You said slowly, wrapping your own hand over his metal one, in an attempt to hide it. You moved with him, allowing him to put his hand back in his pocket without being seen. You exhaled a collective sigh of relief when everyone went back to their previous engagements seemingly without recognizing who he was.

You stood there for a moment, doing your best to convince yourself that it wasn't a dream, and watching as Bucky studied you carefully, as if trying to decide what to do with you. Then, without warning, he started walking quickly towards the exit.

"Hey!" You hissed, trying to follow him without attracting too much attention. You followed him out the door, losing him momentarily at the entrance to the museum, which was swarming with people, before seeing him rushing down the street. Leaving your car parked where it was, you chased after him, catching up after only a few blocks. Not this time Barnes, you thought. There was not a chance he was getting away again.

"Hey!! Wait up!!" You yelled, following closely behind as he ducked into a dark alley way. You could no longer see him, but you knew where you were, and luckily for you, knew it was a dead end. If he wanted to leave, he was going to have to go past you. Finally you found him, standing at the end of the alley, his back turned to you as he faced the wall.

"I think you forgot something." You gasped, breathless from all the running. He finally turned around, only to find you holding out the piece of paper with your number on it. It was a stupid thing to say, but at the moment it was all you could think of.

Bucky scoffed as he took the paper from you, staring at you with the same perplexed look he'd worn the first time you'd met. "Why did you help me?" He asked softly, glancing over your shoulder.

"Because you needed it." You said simply, shrugging your shoulders as you kept your eyes trained intently on him, afraid he'd vanish like before.

"Do you know who I am?" He growled, crumpling the paper in his fist. You could see the anger flare in his eyes as he spoke, but astonishingly, you weren't afraid. Actually, you were more determined than ever to help him recover.

"Yes." You whispered, looking at the ground. You were afraid to look in his eyes, afraid that he would somehow be angry with you for knowing his secrets, knowing things that maybe he himself couldn't remember.

"You regret helping me then?" He said, and you could here the pain in his voice. It broke your heart.

"No." You said firmly, looking up at him once again. That was the one thing you were absolutely sure of. He cocked his head to the side, his face clouded in confusion as he studied you.

"Your lying." He said finally, apparently deciding that there was no way that was possible. It hurt you to think that he truly couldn't understand how someone could want to help him.

"If I regretted it, do you think I would have done what I did in the museum?" You challenged, "you know I could have blown your cover if I wanted to."

He seemed to have no answer, he simply stared at you, trying to figure you out as if you were a puzzle he couldn't solve. Gingerly, you took a step forward.

"Why did you follow me?" He asked, taking a step backwards and slamming into the wall. You could see him getting nervous, and could tell he didn't like being cornered.

"Because I wanted to talk to you." You said honestly, sitting down in an attempt to make him feel more comfortable. "and help you."

"Then you're more stupid than I thought." Bucky said, his voice tight as he stared at the street behind you.

"Why's that?" You quipped, completely unfazed by his insult. You were too happy at finally having found him to care.

"Because you knowingly followed a killer into a dark alley." He sneered, rolling up his sleeve to display his metal arm.

"You're not a killer Bucky." You said rolling your (Y/E/C) eyes in his direction. "None of that was you."

"I could kill you and no one would ever know."

"yeah, but your not going to." You said boredly. "If you wanted to kill me, I'd be dead by now."

"I... Wha–" he cut off his sentence, unable to come up with a reply. Eventually, he sighed and slid down the wall till he was sitting opposite you.

"Now that's better." You said, your doctor instincts kicking in as you leveled out your voice. He grunted in reply.

"I can help you." You said softly, getting up and coming to sit beside him.

"No, I don't think that I can be helped." Bucky said quietly, shaking his head as he watched you move beside him. He now had a clear path if he wanted to leave, yet he stayed put.

You were just getting ready to argue with him when the sirens started blaring. Both of you jumped up in fear. Suddenly a helicopter was above you, and cops cars were beginning to fill the street in front of you. Apparently, the episode at the museum hadn't gone unnoticed.

"Go." Bucky told you, shoving you forward with a sad look. You shook your head and stayed put, there was no way you were leaving now. "Go now (Y/N)." He shouted, pushing you away from him once again. Still you refused to move.

"Please (Y/N), go." He said, his voice softening to match the look in his eyes. That only served to solidify your resolve to stay with him.

"I'm not going to leave you." You said, taking your hand and placing it on his cheek. He froze in shock. Chills raced down your body, butterflies building in your stomach... until you heard the unmistakable click of a gun.

You broke away from him to look down the alley, only to be faced with the barrels of a dozen guns, all pointed directly at Bucky, and from what you could tell, only seconds away from pulling the trigger. Silently, you did the only thing you could think of.

You stepped in front of him.

You knew they wouldn't shoot him with you in the way. Or hoped at least.

"(Y/N) What are you doing?" Bucky hissed, trying to push you away.

"Shhh." You hissed back, "they won't shoot you with me in the way."

"(Y/N).."

"Shut up Bucky." You said calmly, or at least as calm as you could given the situation.

"You–"

"I said shut up!!"