Ms. Behave [The Winter Soldier Fanfiction]

15. It's Not Over

I stroll into my office with intent to act as if nothing happened. I ignore the inquisitive stares from my co-workers and quickly get to business. No later than five minutes am I called to my boss', Mr. Hurtz, office. Knowing nothing good is going to come out of the meeting, I take my time.

"You called for me?" I ask Hurtz as I step into his office.

"A masked vigilante, huh?" He starts, his chilly steel eyes stabbing into my soul. Oh great. He knows. I hold my breath and brace myself for the inevitable. "You're fired. I can't have a makeshift Batwoman working here. We'll lose clients, we'll get pestered by reporters, and you'll be to distracted to effectively work... I'm sorry Ms. Brinestone, but I can't keep you here."

I pretend that I am OK with his decision to cut me loose. He's right about all that he said, but it's not easy losing a job that you've been doing forever. So, I don't argue with him, and I walk out with a crushed heart. I stomp my way into my office and angrily gather the things that I can carry. Then once I feel like an overheated CPU, I stop and take a deep breath.

What else is going to be taken from me?

"Yvette?" I hear a delicate masculine voice call. I turn my head over my shoulder to see Jondin. He saunters over as if not to scare me off and says, "I heard the news."

I let out a defeated sigh, feeling too dejected to be bitter. "Yeah..."

He comes to stand next to me, placing his hands on my desk just as I do. For a brief moment he just stares at me, but then he decides to finally open his mouth. "I always knew there was something about you," he begins. "but I didn't want to find that out the way I did." I watch as his eyebrows come down on his head. "Is that way you've been keeping me at bay for the past two years? To hide your true identity from me-"

"This is my true identity," I fiercely snap. "I am Yvette Brinestone. Day and night. The only thing that changes is my clothing."

Jondin scoffs. "Ms. Brinestone. More like misbehave."

Was that a pun? "Excuse me?"

"Miss... Behave. Get it? Ms. Behave. Misbehave-"

"Yes, I get it," I say, chuckling at his new punned nickname that he just gave me. "You are so dumb..." It's not everyday when I get to hear a grown man use a pun. "You're taking this awfully well," I affirm.

Jondin looks down for a moment and then directs his sight back to me. "So what are you going to do now?" He questions, completely dodging my statement.

I shrug, feeling the mixed feelings taking over once more. "I don't know, but I know that I'm going to miss this rather peaceful job."

"You might miss this job, but... I'm going to miss you. I mean, yeah I'll still bother you, but it won't be as much. Everyone else here is so uniform, but you're... You know."

Something ticks in the back of my brain. Jondin knows what I'm capable of, -to some extent- yet doesn't see me as any different. My eyes widen at the mental lightbulb that strikes my head. He's still with me, but why? What is it that he sees in me that others don't?

I think back to my previous thoughts about him when I was battling the helicarriers. Jondin sought out my heart. I realize that my mistake wasn't letting people in, but the people that I had chose to come in. I believed that Rumlow was the best for me, but I was wrong. Now I'm aware of my true mistake.

If you guys haven't figured it out already, I'm pretty much saying how I should have went with Jondin instead of Rumlow.

I'm so done with sounding like a melancholic cheese ball.