Ordinary (A Marvel Fanfiction)

Chapter Eleven

Weeks passed and I hadn't seen Bucky since he left me at the hospital.

The first couple weeks, I was concerned something had happened to him. Maybe the men had caught up with him and he had been killed. I would have had no clue if anything happened to him, let alone have anyone tell me what happened.

The weeks following that, I simply grew sad. I thought I had done something to drive him away. Maybe he had finally grown sick of my antics. Or maybe he had grown too busy to spend time with me anymore. The thought upset me, but I found no evidence to disprove me.

Then I just became angry. I couldn't believe he had stormed into my life, ruined my rug, and then left again without an explanation. I was still angry the day I saw him on the old television of the diner.

"Louisa!" I yelled. "Can you turn that up!"

The woman on the screen described a gun fight near Manhattan that had expanded until the Avengers arrived, including the mysterious Winter Soldier.

I glared at the screen, anger rising up my throat. The only thing I could think of was confronting him about leaving me. Subconsciously, I knew it was irrational, but I brushed aside that thought as I threw my apron into the back, grabbed my jacket, and told Pete I was going on break.

I raced into the cold air, my cheeks immediately flushing red. The gun fight was only a few blocks over, so I knew I could make decent time. I didn't realize how ridiculous it was to storm into the middle of a gun fight until I was in the middle of an empty street with shots firing all around me.

"Emma?!"

I whirled around to face whoever called my name, only to be slammed into an abandoned car. Gunfire rained down on the spot I had been standing in. I paled, realizing what exactly I had gotten myself into.

"What the hell are you doing here?!"

I looked up into Bucky's face as he glared down at me. Despite the situation, I felt a little safer with his arms around me protectively. He had a mask over the bottom half of his face, hiding his facial features from everyone.

"Why are you so stupid?" He muttered, pressing me closer to his chest as he reached up to shoot over the hood of the car.

"Bucky—" I started.

He ducked back down to look me in the eye. His blue eyes pierced through me, and I realized how angry he really was. I lowered my eyes, keeping my gaze on his chest.

"Someone is going to recognize you." He muttered, almost to himself.

Without another word, he pulled my ponytail out, causing all my hair to shower down around my face and down my back. He reached up to his mask and took it off.

"What are you doing?" I asked, pulling away slightly. "Someone will recognize you."

"It's more important to me that no one recognizes you." He snapped, putting the mask on me. There was the scent of gunpowder and mint as the mask covered my mouth and nose.

"Come with me." He ordered, standing up in a crouch.

I couldn't find the energy to argue, moving so that I was ducked right behind him. I grabbed the back of his shirt, keeping close. I could feel a shiver dart up his spine as my knuckles brushed his bare skin. I smirked.

We made it halfway down the block before gunfire started up again. I could see various members of the Avengers dart around the street, but none of them paid much attention to me. Bucky had to block me from getting shot a couple times, swinging his metal arm out as a shield. I was amazed at the lack of damage the bullets caused the metal.

At one point he threw me to the ground and swung a car in front of me to block the bullets. I was amazed at his sheer power and strength.

Finally, Bucky pushed me into the open door of an abandoned restaurant, following me in. He tucked us both behind the counter, peering over the edge.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He finally asked, not even bothering to look down at me. "Only someone stupid would come here!"

"You disappeared!" I said, blushing about how ridiculous I sounded.

He looked down at me, his eyes wide. He finally crouched down to become eye-level with me. He looked completely incredulous of what I had said, so I just continued to avoid the awkwardness.

"You disappeared after cleaning my apartment that night." I rambled, "I didn't know if you were okay, or if I would ever see you again. I mean, one second a grenade is flying into my window and you're there, and the next thing I know is, well, nothing! You just disappeared. I just—"

The look on his face shut me up. We just stared at each other for a couple seconds until, finally, the look on his face softened. I smiled sheepishly at him, realizing he wasn't angry anymore.

"So what you're telling me," He said, "is that you stormed in the middle of a high-stakes gun fight to see if I was okay?"

I blushed, looking down at my folded hands. I was completely embarrassed. I didn't want to admit anything to him, but the look on his face made it feel as if he already knew the answer.

"Yes?" It came out as a question.

He shook his head at me, but a smile flitted over his face, taking my breath away. I found myself smiling back at him.

"You're so stupid." He told me, peering up over the counter again to survey the area. I smiled up at him, knowing he wasn't really that angry. I closed my eyes, leaning over to rest my head against his hip.

I couldn't have been more content.