4 Years Ago
Clenching your eyes shut, you could still see the red and blue flashing lights through your lids. This was a nightmare. There was no possible way this had become your reality. Head in your hands, you let your mind reflect upon the events of the past 2 hours.
____________________
Leaving the restaurant after yet another late waitressing shift, you stuffed your gloved hands in your coat pockets and headed for the subway station a block away. Just before swiping your MetroCard, you heard an announcement from the platform that the train you planned to take was going Express, meaning it would skip your stop. Begrudgingly, you decided to save the money and walk the ten blocks home. Not the smartest move, but you had done it before. Pepper spray at the ready in your pocket, you set off for your apartment building.
Ten minutes into your walk, you heard a stifled scream followed by a commotion in an alley across the street. Moving shadows along the alley's brick wall indicated someone was headed toward the street, in your direction. Some instinct inside forced you to hide behind the nearest car, peering through the window at the alley's entrance. Running at a staggered pace, a man appeared and paused at the sidewalk, bringing his hand up to his face. His left cheek was covered in blood, seemingly his own as he hissed at the touch of his fingers to the wound.
Looking up and down the street, he threw his sweatshirt's hood over his head and set off into the night. Crouched in fear, you stayed put for a good ten minutes before curiosity and a cramped foot caused you to stand and walk across the street. Entering the alley, you used the flashlight on your phone to illuminate the darkness. 15 feet in, your beam of light lingered on an abandoned high heel before you moved forward and saw a pair of legs. Rushing to come to the person's aid, you quickly realized there was a large pool of a dark, viscous liquid under the woman's head.
A hand flew to your parted lips, stifling the shriek caught in your mouth. Stumbling backward, you made your way out of the alley and called 911.
___________________________
Now standing near the edge of a ring of police tape, an officer approached you.
"Ma'am? I'm here to take your statement. Can you tell me what you saw?"
With a disconnected voice that did not sound like your own, you began to recount what you had witnessed. As you reached the point of entering the alley in the story, you stopped, breathing in a shallow manner and clenching your stomach with your hands.
"Are you alright?" asked the officer with concern. "I mean, that's a stupid question. Do you need me to call the paramedic over?"
A violent shake of your head, you declined.
"No, I just need to, uh...." you trailed off, lowering yourself to sit on the curb and putting your head between your legs.
The officer closed his notebook and sat on the curb beside you.
"Let's take a break. Talk about something else. What brought you to New York City?"
"Uh....school. Eventually. I'm still....saving up. Working."
"Oh. Where do you work?"
"An, uh....Italian restaurant. Few blocks down. Waitress."
"An honest living. What do you want to study?"
"Law."
"Ooh. Didn't picture you as one of those bloodsuckers."
Offended, you whipped your head in his direction, "Excuse me? I never said lawyer. And that's a blatant misrepresentation of an entire profession, I'll have you know."
Hands up in surrender with eyes wide he apologized, "You're right, I'm sorry."
The man cleared his throat and removed the police cap from his head, running fingers through his short-cropped dark brown hair nervously. Sllightly calmed and enjoying the distraction, you took in the sight of the man beside you. His eyes were a startling blue, a straight, Grecian nose between them. This late at night, it had probably been a long shift for him as the shadow of stubble upon his chiseled jaw was moving well beyond 5 o'clock. He wore a dark blue windbreaker jacket open over his uniform of the same color, a stiff but pliable bulletproof vest visible underneath. From what you could tell, he was pretty fit. Was it possible to see muscle definition under kevlar? Apparently so.
His long legs were bent, arms resting on his knees while still clutching his hat. He took a deep breath and donned his cap, taking the time to tilt it just so on his head as you quickly came out of your trance. Thankfully, he hadn't noticed your not-so-subtle observing. Standing with a grunt, he addressed you from above.
"We can finish your statement down at the station. You'll have to work with the sketch artist there anyway. Feeling any better?" he asked, offering you his hand.
You took it, rising on shaky legs but sure they could hold you before you released his grip.
"I guess I should have asked this before for the record, but what's your name?"
"Y/N. Y/N (Y/L/N)."
"Wish I could say nice to meet you, but a crime scene is rarely included in those situations."
You let out a small smile, "Thank you for your help, Officer..."
"Barnes. Officer James Barnes, at your service."
YOU ARE READING
In the Arms of Justice
Fanfiction[Officer Bucky x reader AU] Reader is a witness to a crime, tying her to the investigation as well as the police involved. She never would have guessed how that one night would continue to change her life years later.
