Ordinary (A Marvel Fanfiction)

Chapter Fourteen

"You'll come back this time?" I asked hesitantly, biting my lip.

Bucky hovered on the window sill, turning back to look at me. He didn't say anything, but he leaned forward and pressed his forehead against mine, giving me a small smile.

I closed my eyes, reveling in his presence. I was falling hard for this man. 

"Do not keep this window unlocked." He warned, coaxing a smile onto my face.

"I wouldn't have to if you just left out the door like a normal person." I teased quietly. 

I heard a small chuckle before I felt him pull away. When I opened my eyes, there was no trace of him. I sighed and closed the window behind him, stubbornly leaving it unlocked.

When I turned back around to face my apartment, I came face to face with Captain America. I immediately felt a frown take over my face as I stared him down.

"I need to get a new lock for my door." I hissed to myself as I closed the curtains.

"A new lock would not matter if you leave your window open all night." He replied.

I snorted and walked past him into the kitchen. I poured two glasses of water and slid one over to him as he moved into the room behind me.

"Thank you." He murmured as he took a sip.

"It's the least I can do if I keep have people breaking into my apartment, Captain." I replied bitterly.

"Call me Steve, please."

I gave him a fake smile before taking a sip of my own water. I stared him down, waiting for the lecture that was sure to come. 

"I've known Bucky a long time." He finally said, looking down on his hands that rested on the table on either side of his glass. "He's my oldest friend and he has protected me time and time again. But now it's time for me to protect him." 

"I'm pretty sure a super soldier with a metal gun and a track record doesn't need protection." I snorted, rolling my eyes.

"I mean from you, Emma." 

I looked up to meet his gaze, refusing to let myself show any emotion. He returned my steady gaze with one of his own. I didn't say anything.

"You can't hurt him." He said finally, "I won't let you hurt him." 

"I don't know what you're talking about." I said, keeping my voice low. 

He slowly reached into his jacket pocket before throwing something onto the table in front of me. Bucky's mask looked back up at me; the mask he had used this morning to protect my identity.

"In all due respect, sir, I do not think I can hurt Bucky." I said, raising my gaze back up to look him in the eyes.

"You could probably do him more harm than most other people on this planet." He retorted gently.

"What do you want?" I gritted out. Underneath the counter, my fists clenched tightly together.

"I want to protect my friend." 

"I think it should be up for him to decide, don't you think?"

Steve leaned back and sighed deeply, as if this conversation were tiring him out. I took a deep breath and tried to relax.

"Bucky is damaged and--"

"No." I quickly cut him off. I stood up abruptly and glared down at him, my clenched fists at my side. "He's not."

Steve looked up at me in surprise. He obviously had not expected me to defend his friend.

"Just because he has gone through shit does not mean he is damaged." I continued heatedly, "I will not accept that kind of language in my house, especially about people I care about."

"If you cared about him, you would let him go." 

I slid back into my chair, gave him a cool look, and said, "The same could be said about you. Sir."

Nothing was said for a second. He stared me down with new eyes, clearly having underestimated me before.

"Do you have family in the military?" He finally asked, abruptly changing the subject.

I was a little surprised, but if he noticed, he didn't mention it.

"Dad and Mom both." I eventually replied, relaxing a little.

"And you?" 

"I'm going to school to become a nurse." 

"Not a doctor?" He raised an eyebrow, leaning closer over the table.

"I get to interact more with the patients as a nurse. I don't see the point in helping heal someone if you don't even know who you are helping." I said, simplifying the explanation to keep it short.

He looked me over again. To hide my nerves, I grabbed my glass and took another sip, giving myself a small break.

"I like you, Emma." He told me. "I think you're very disciplined and responsible."

"I'd probably like you too, sir, if it weren't for the fact that you broke into my home and lectured me about things that do not involve you." 

That coaxed a small chuckle out of him and I couldn't help but smile myself. Silence fell over the room and I could feel the somber mood creep back into the conversation.

"I have no intention of hurting Bucky." I said, breaking the silence.

"Be that as it may, I still do not like your relationship with him."

"Dislike it all you want." I said. "That doesn't mean I'm going to stop being his friend."

He sighed and said, "I hope you will come to reconsider that."

"I won't." I told him firmly.

I stood up and moved to the kitchen door, waiting for him to follow.

"Now, if you don't mind, I have work in the morning and I need to get some sleep. And if one more member of your team breaks into my home, I'm going to sic my cat on you."