Bucky slammed the door of my apartment open, letting it slam against the wall behind it. I cringed at his sudden change of mood.
"Be careful!" I exclaimed, examining the wall to make sure nothing happened. "I'd like to get my security deposit back, you know."
"You can't do stuff like that, Emma!" He snapped, turning to glare at me.
"Stuff like what?" I asked innocently.
I immediately regretted it as his glare sharpened. I sighed, closing the door behind me and moving further into the apartment. I saw Banjo peeking around the corner of the couch, but he wisely didn't move closer.
"Why shouldn't I?" I said, moving to take my jacket and shoes off.
"I'm not safe." He said. "And I'm certainly not worth you endangering yourself just to talk to me."
"I wouldn't have to if you didn't decide to go off grid every now and then." I retorted, tossing my bag onto the couch.
"It's a part of my job!"
I rolled my eyes. I moved throughout the apartment, tidying up in order to avoid his gaze. He followed closely behind, refusing to let me forget his presence.
"Since when are you of any danger to me?" I exclaimed, whirling to look at him. "You have never once done anything to hurt me."
He glared down at me, breathing heavy. This was the most expressive I have ever seen him. That's how I knew how angry he really was.
"I have a bad past, Emma. You don't deserve someone with so many skeletons in their closest."
"Who cares if you have a bad past?!" I burst out, flinging my hands up into the air. "Because I certainly don't! I don't care what you've done."
"You should! I've killed people, Emma. Good people!"
I fell silent staring up at him. I knew he had killed people before. Hell, he's even killed in front of me. But hearing him talk about it in that ragged voice made me pause.
Bucky looked down at me with vicious satisfaction. He seemed both pleased and upset that what he said had finally reached through to me.
He turned away, moving to head into the living room. I followed behind, making sure to keep my distance. He stopped to look out the window, his back as stiff as steel and his fists clenched.
"Ten words." He said quietly. "Ten words can turn me into the best killing machine on this planet. Ten words."
I stayed silent, letting him speak. I felt a sort of relief that he was no longer angry, but I couldn't figure out if this was any better.
"Ten words and I could be ordered to kill you. Or any of the people you love." He continued. "And I wouldn't care. I wouldn't feel a thing about it. I'd be willing to do it even."
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
"I've killed a lot of people, Emma. It would destroy me if I hurt you too."
My eyes snapped open and before I knew it, I was across the room, my arms wrapped around his waist in a tight hug. I wasn't sure how it was even possible, but he seemed to stiffen even more than before.
"I don't care about your past." I finally said, pressing the side of my face into his back.
He took a deep breath as if to speak, but I cut him off.
"You're not going to hurt me, okay?" I whispered. "I trust you. I have since you burst through my window and killed a man and ruined my rug."
He relaxed a little at my words, but I could tell he still wasn't content.
"So I need you to do something for me, okay?" I murmured. I closed my eyes and held him tighter. "I need you to trust me too. I know my limits. If you even come close to making me uncomfortable, I'll stop, okay? I'll stop talking to you, or bothering you, or unlocking my window for you."
"You keep your window unlocked?!" He exclaimed, starting to turn to look at me. I held him tighter so he couldn't face me.
"Not the point." I murmured.
He paused for a moment.
"So can you do that? Can you trust me?"
I held my breath, nervousness flowing through my body. I wasn't sure what he was going to say and I really hoped to keep seeing him.
Truth is, my life changed when he came into it. I wasn't sure if it was for better or worse, but it changed drastically. And I wanted to see it through to the end.
Bucky slowly reached down and took my arms in his hands. I tried to resist, but between the metal arm and the super soldier genes he overpowered me and forced my hands to drop to my sides.
He turned around to look me in the face. I didn't avoid his gaze. I was too worried about his answer. He sighed and slowly reached his metal hand up to brush my hair out of my face. Chills spread from wherever the cool metal touched.
"Well?" I finally asked, my voice quiet.
He looked deep into my eyes and sighed again before nodding. Relief spread through me and I couldn't help but grin up at him.
"I don't like it." He admitted. "But I can't seem to stay away from you anyway."
My grin only widened.
"So you'll trust me?" I asked eagerly.
"I trust you."