Officer Barnes

Chapter 2

            You had gone over your story twice with Sam and Steve. They had written down everything you said, but they seemed skeptical. Why would anyone be after you? You wish you knew. After thinking for a second you offered a suggestion.

"Is there anyone Pietro helped put away who could want revenge?"

You couldn't think of any other reason someone would be after you. You were a humble writer. A very boring, ordinary writer. Your husband had been a cop, and in movies, that was always a plot point. But you weren't in a movie and how likely was it that some guy came looking for revenge?

Sam and Steve looked at each other and shrugged. You sighed. Hopefully the supervisor would be more inclined to believe your story. All you knew about him was that his name was Bucky Barnes. When Pietro was alive, you knew every officer in the detachment, but after his death, you avoided going to the station.

The sound of wheels on gravel alerted you to another arrival. You tensed, but Steve looked out the window and announced it was the super. You relaxed again, resigned again that you would have to repeat your story again. You picked up your coffee cup and took a few sips and your fingers lightly tapped against your cup.

Steve met Bucky at the door and gave him a brief update, so you had a chance to watch him for a minute before he met your gaze. His eyes were a piercing blue color under frowning brows as he scanned you quickly, then again, more slowly, as if to reassure himself you were okay.

Your first impression of Bucky is that he was huge. Thick corded arms crossed against his chest as he nodded his head listening to Steve. He was solid. He exuded an aura of calm, and you immediately felt safer having him here.

No wonder he'd been given this job.

For some reason, you suspected from his serious expression, he knew more about what happened this morning than you did. You didn't know exactly know what he knew, but just as you were sure this hadn't been a simple robbery, you were sure he knew why those men were in your house.

You felt a chill run down your spine. Strong or not, this man was bringing trouble with him.

~~~~~

The pictures didn't do her justice, Bucky thought. Standing in the entrance to the hallway covered with broken glass, he had a second to examine you. You were good-looking, even mussed up and shocked. Bucky then shook himself mentally. Now it not the time or place. Not ever the time or place.

Steve had given him a quick rundown of your situation. Steve was skeptical, but Bucky knew those men had been looking for you. He could tell Steve the real reason people were after you, but it was still a covert mission, despite the obvious leak that had resulted in Thomas's shooting and the break-in. He needed to keep the information as private as possible, even if he did trust Steve. He had no authorization to reveal anything to anyone but you.

He glanced back at you. You were watching him intently, waiting for him to do something.

He considered telling Sam and Steve on their way so he could tell you what was going on with your brother. Then he could take you to Lychford, switch vehicles and get you to the hospital in Toronto. He thought for a moment but decided against it.

The people who were after you were not going to give up easily. They may have been temporarily thwarted, but they will strike again when they have the chance. If they saw Steve and Sam leave, they might return. That would only leave Bucky to protect you, which if they came back with reinforcements...it wasn't a risk he was going to take.

He needed to get you to Toronto, ASAP. But he wanted to take you in a less conspicuous vehicle, not his cop vehicle. He couldn't prove it, but he suspected someone in the Toronto Police Department was revealing information. If there was a mole, they might have access to information like his plates and possibly even his vehicle's GPS location. He thought about his options.

They needed to take you to the detachment so he could get updated information and head to Toronto with proper security. Maybe then they would know if someone was spilling information. Now, all he has to do is accomplish this without make Sam or Steve suspicious. It wasn't standard procedure to take a home-invasion victim in. However...

"Miss Y/n, I'm Bucky Barnes. Steve told me what happened and that you think this could be connected to your late husband. Would you mind coming into the detachment and filing a report? Then we can look into some of your husband's old cases, see if anyone he incarcerated might be looking for revenge. They might not be aware he has passed."

He could see surprise on Steve and Sam's faces and the comprehension on yours. He felt a surge of admiration for your intelligence. You accepted his invitation at face value, but he could tell you knew there was more to it. You didn't say so. This would make it easier to pull off.

His phone rang. Toronto again.

He clicked on the call button. "Give me two minutes." He slipped the phone back into his pocket so no one could see who was calling.

"Officers, you take Y/n in your vehicle to the office and get her report. Y/n, if you'll give me your keys, I'll lock up."

You were chewing your bottom lip. "Unfortunately, as I told Steve and Sam, the thieves took most of the contents of my purse, which includes my keys. There's not much more to steal anymore, so if you could just close the door?"

Bucky nodded, watching you carefully, knowing you were going to be upset when he revealed more information to you.

You went upstairs to grab a few things. Bucky knew you were in shock.

"Turn up the heat in the car," He said under his breath to Sam.

He watched you guys get into the cruiser, and after he got back into his own vehicle, he took his phone back out. He listened to the caller as he pulled out of the driveway a few moments after.

"Can you repeat that?"

~~~~~

You sent a reassuring text to Natasha. You were grateful she had called the police in time. Something big was going on, and you needed to talk to Bucky Barnes, he seemed to know what was going on.

Sam was at the wheel, and to fill in the time, Steve turned around and started to tell you about his wedding plans.

"So Peggy is having problems getting the right colors for the tables. She says they've got peach napkins, but our color is apricot. To me, its all orange—"

Sam suddenly broke in, hid eyes on the rearview mirror.

"What's with that truck behind us?"

You and Steve turned to look. A big SUV was closing in on you guys fast. Too fast. If the driver didn't slow down...

Steve yelled, "Get down!" He was reaching for the radio when the first impact hit.