"Don't scream"
Usually when someone says that, screaming is exactly what you should do. In this case, though, I have more of an urge to cry than anything else.
I stand rooted in the doorway of my apartment, my mind working and re-working to comprehend the image before me. I feel the door I have just opened lightly fall against my backside, slightly ajar due to my unmoving form.
I have to be hallucinating.
"Nick?" I breathe, my eyes wide.
I take a few hesitant steps inside, the door to my apartment clicking closed behind me. Blood sears through my veins painfully, inundating my ears with a rush of emotion. My phone tilts dangerously in my limp hand and I almost drop it in shock. Nicholas J. Fury is sitting in my living room.
Nicholas J. Fury is supposed to be dead.
"Hey, Dawn. Sorry to barge in like this" he responds, standing from the chair he's perched in.
I place my phone in the pocket of my jeans with trembling hands and take a few more hesitant steps forward. I swallow, my throat painfully dry and burning with the block of emotion that accompanies tears.
"Prove it's you" I command, my heart racing in my chest. The man who was the closest thing I had to a father smirks, obviously proud that I didn't trust him immediately.
"When I rescued you from Hydra you were holding an old photograph of your brother," Fury begins, adjusting his eye patch, "When I asked you later why you refused to kill on any missions, you told me it was because you didn't want to be like the people who took him from you"
I don't waste another second doubting.
The breath that I was holding breaks from my mouth, unshed tears blurring my vision. I jog forward, throwing my arms around the man whose grave I've visited. He freezes for a moment before hugging me back.
"I thought you were dead" I announce, pulling back and making sure to keep the tears from falling.
The day Maria Hill called and told me that Nick was gone, I cried for the first time in years. It broke my heart to know that the man who saved my life and gave me the chance to do something amazing with it was gone.
Now here he stands.
"I don't have time to die" Fury informs, surveying my apartment. I laugh, leaving him where he is and walking towards my mini kitchen.
My body still trembles slightly with adrenaline and my mind has the slightest pang of a headache forming behind my eyes as it whirs to believe the unbelievable encounter.
"Of course you don't," I respond, quickly starting my coffee machine and slipping my mug underneath the dispenser, "You also don't have time to socialize, so what's up?"
He laughs, shaking his head.
"You know me well." Fury announces. He stands in my living room, watching me prepare my coffee. The warm liquid soon begins to fill my mug, swarming the apartment with it's decadent scent.
"I need a favor from you," he begins, clasping his fists together before him, "I need Viper"
My back is to him, my eyes locked to my coffee machine as mechanical whirs fill the room. The smallest smile tugs at my lips, excitement bursting through my stomach with a fiery warmth. I stay silent, letting Nick continue his proposal.
"It's a mission, but not a public one" I hear him state. I nod, expecting this from him. Once the coffee has finished filling my cup, I switch off the machine and face him, mug in hand.
"None of mine ever were public" I remind the man, taking a long sip of my soothing drink to hide my riding giddiness. Nick nods, crossing his arms over his chest.
"This one requires extra care" the ex-director informs. I nod, taking one more drink before placing the mug down.
It's been six years since Nick Fury gave me my first mission. It was merely three months after he'd found me, I was only twenty years old. Everything I'd been assigned to do was low profile, keeping me from the eye of the public.
When S.H.I.E.L.D. discovered me trembling and abandoned in a raided Hydra facility six years ago, Nick decided to keep my identity a secret for my own protection. He kept no records of the mutations I possessed in the database, but rather kept my phone number on a slip of paper for when he needed it. I was beyond grateful for the secrecy measures he had taken with me when S.H.I.E.L.D.'s entire database was released to the public a year or so ago.
I don't know what I would've done if what was left of Hydra could've seen those records, could've known I was still alive.
"Whatever it is I'm in" I assure, nodding at the man before me.
I brush a stray lock of blonde hair from my face, letting it fall into the mid-length waves that rest down my back. I've missed going on missions more than he could ever know, more than I ever thought I would. Nick smirks, his singular yet perceptive eye noticing my rising excitement.
"Alright then. Dawn, meet James Buchanan Barnes" Fury responds. He steps up to the counter that separates us and pulls a pale yellow folder from the inside of his jacket, slapping it down on the desk. I can't help the amused smile that breaks on my face.
"You have one if these for everything, don't you?" I joke, my green eyes glistening with humor. He glares at me, not finding this funny.
"Can you focus please, Beckett?"
"Sorry"
I step up to the folder, my coffee now long forgotten as I flip it open. The air of seriousness has returned as I examine the first page within. A picture of a man in an outdated army uniform is clipped to the thin paper.
I furrow my brows, finding the name and picture extremely familiar.
"Is this the Winter Soldier? The same one that was involved in the whole Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. issue?" I ask, glancing up at Fury. He grunts, bringing a hand up to rub his shoulder in remembrance.
"That's him. After D.C., he fled." Nick explains. I look back down at his file, flipping through the pages available. The only things I really see are periodic updates on his estimated location and past assassinations they've pinned to him.
"So what, you want me to hunt him down? Nick, you know how I feel about killing" I begin to object, not caring who this target is or what he's done. When I lost Dean I made myself a promise that I wouldn't kill anyone. I won't let myself break that.
"No Dawn, I want you to observe him, protect him" Nick interjects. This catches me by surprise. My eyebrows raise, and I lift my gaze back to the man before me.
"You want me to babysit an assassin? One that almost killed you, Natasha Romanoff, and Captain Rogers?" I question, disbelief coursing through me. Nick sighs, running a hand over his face in a sign of clear exhaustion.
"Barnes was Steve's best friend and fellow soldier back in the war time," Fury begins, recalling to my memory the monuments that were dedicated to the young man in the Smithsonian, "Steve claims that Barnes saved his life, that he might've broken from his Winter Soldier mentality. Regardless of whether or not that's true, I need someone to keep an eye on him."
I let the information soak in.
James Buchanan Barnes, the same man who was said to have given his life for the end of Hydra, is the Winter Soldier. If Captain Rogers is correct, then every kill conducted by Barnes might not have been under his own will.
"If he's proposing that Barnes is still inside the Winter Soldier, that every murder was controlled by someone else, does this mean his crimes could be pardoned?" I inquire.
If this man is innocent, he deserves to have a chance to prove it.
"I believe so. And if Bucky Barnes can gain control of his given enhancements, I believe he could be of great help to this world" Fury continues. The purpose of my mission clicks into place and I can't help but allow a small smile to grow on my face.
"What?"
"Nothing. It's just, I never would've pegged you to be the kind of person who wants to save the man who almost killed him" I announce. Nick exhales slowly, placing his hands on the counter.
"I'll do anything to help protect this world, even if it means taking a chance on someone like the Winter Soldier"
I nod, reaching forward and closing the front of the folder. I slide it closer to myself, keeping my hand on top protectively.
"Where do I go?" I inquire, signaling that the potential risk involved in the mission hasn't scared me away.
"I'm not sure, but my biggest lead is Romania. Bucharest to be particular." He answers. I nod, my mind immediately whirring through details, clicking a plan together in my mind.
"I'll book a flight tonight, see if I can get an apartment or something over there. Only thing is if I'm staying over there long-term I'll probably have to quit my job" I announce, sighing at the thought of shutting down my life.
I'm more excited than anything, though, to have a purpose again. It's been hard spending the past few years of my life as a normal citizen.
After my encounter with Hydra, I was never normal again.
"I've already got a flight and living place ready for you. I have a connection in Bucharest who will let you stay at their home for as long as you need. As for your income, you won't really need one." Nick explains to me. This brings a smile to my face and a sense of comfort to the uncertainty of the next few months of my life. Nick Fury always had my back, and even now as a 'dead' man he still does.
"Thanks, Nick. I was starting to get a little restless," I inform, laughing lightly, "This whole normal-thing isn't all it's cracked up to be"
Fury chuckles, beginning to walk towards my door.
"I know what you mean." He states. The hardest part of being here and living this life is how alone I really am, how alien I've always been.
When my body was enhanced, it was made very clear to me that relationships of any kind were not possible. No one knows I exist, which is the best possible way to keep me safe. I can't help but wonder at what cost that safety comes.
Before Nick walks out of my apartment, he turns to face me once more.
"I know you're tired of being hidden, Dawn. I promise you, though, it won't last much longer"
I offer him a small, kind smile. His words inspire a flutter of hope within me.
"And Dawn?" He asks once more.
"Be careful. This could very well be the most dangerous mission I've ever given you"
"I will, Fury. I will"
And with that Nick Fury walks away, leaving me with the one thing I've been missing for years.
Excitement.