The Darkest Path

7

Grace laid in bed, but couldn't sleep. Her thoughts kept running around to the same person. Her heart was pounding and she knew she really needed to sleep.
She had only two patients and an afternoon free, but that wasn't enough reason to lay down in bed thinking over and over about what happened.
Grace got up and walked around in her bedroom, looked through the high, large windows. She opened the balcony doors and stepped into the cold of the night. The sounds of the city that never slept reached her and she sighed. She wasn't cold.
Only determined to found out who the Winter Soldier really was.

- - -

A few blocks away the Winter Soldier made an unexpected sharp turn. He had killed that man, finished his mission and got a new one. He had seen his boss tonight. And he had seen Dr. Pierce. He could see her in his mind's eye. The smile, the dark blonde hair, the chocolate brown eyes... O, that smile.
A strange feeling made his chest, his heart feel heavy. Stop! He shook his head in frustration. He got so, so angry when he thought about what happened with those guys. How he touched her and how he talked.
    It made the Soldier feel sick and furious. He needed to suppress the need to kill them, because they wanted to harm her.
    His mind was going wild and a car rang because he got in the way. With a frustrated growl he drove off.
Why did he follow her? He had a mission, he needed to prepare himself, not find... distractions. Get control of yourself!
It was wrong — he had said it out loud when he was in her house. It was a beautiful place, it suited her light character. That feeling that had awoken a few days ago lighted up inside him.
He couldn't. He was a soldier. Soldiers didn't do... this.
The most important thing in his life was his mission. And he needed to finish it. It would only be complicated. If there only was a way to get rid of those feelings... But he didn't want for those feelings to get away.
How did this happen so fast? Was it even possible?
"Damn it," growled the Soldier and he drove back to the place he just left. He wouldn't go inside. No, it would be a disaster, difficult for both of them. The Winter Soldier took a deep breath and parked his motor.

- - -

Grace was very tired, but couldn't go back to bed. She knew that it would take a while before she really would fall asleep, so the cold air of the night would be her company for now.
She looked at the skyline of New York as she saw something. Grace blinked and first she thought that she had gone mad. She needed to stop thinking about him — but Grace was hundred percent sure she saw him there, crouching, on the roof of a building that was the same height as her balcony.
Instantly Grace gasped for air, couldn't look away. This is wrong, she could hear his words as he said them right now. And she knew he was right. It was wrong. A cliché. It couldn't be, for both of them.
But could she blame herself or him? Grace didn't know and she knew it was a very difficult situation. She hoped to get things clear in the afternoon.
She knew where to look. Grace had no idea if she would found something. She wouldn't know. It wouldn't surprise her if she wouldn't find anything — he was a Soldier, a spy, everything had to be secret. No one could know who he really was, that was dangerous. So Grace didn't keep her hopes too high. The disappointment was glancing around the corner and she felt it, but didn't care.
But for now she looked at the silhouette of the Winter Soldier, a building away, and she knew that she had fallen unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.

- - -

Grace almost didn't remember going to bed. But she had the most extraordinary dream, it seemed so real. She knew her mind was going wild and she needed to settle down for a moment. The afternoon off wouldn't help, she had plans.
She had stayed up, looking at the silhouette as the lights of traffic and buildings reflected on his metal arm. At some point she must've went to bed with such a sleepy head that she imagined something impossible.
In her dream Grace sat down on the floor, too tired to stand. She wanted to sleep so badly. And after some time, two arms, a metal one and one of flesh and blood, lifted her tenderly and carefully put her back in bed. His hot breath had rolled over her face and later his fingers had followed her cheekbone lightly, as feathers.
But it was just a dream. It couldn't be real. She took another sip from her coffee and prepared for her patients. The Winter Soldier wasn't one of them. Grace didn't know if she had to be relieved or disappointed. God, she hated the situation.
Two knocks on the door. "Come in!" Grace got up and welcomed her first patient with a smile. It was going to be a very long day. As she treated the young man her mind wasn't completely there. She knew that it was very unprofessional and maybe even wrong, but she couldn't help it.
    "Does this hurt?" Concentrate, Grace.
    "Like hell," growled her patient and he clenched his fists.
    "And when I do this?" She grabbed a warm towel and placed it on the leg of her patient, but her thoughts went to last night. She gave the warm wipe to the Winter Soldier as he cleaned his eyes and Grace bit her lip so she could return to reality.
Grace handled her patient and left for her short coffee break.
    She needed to stop this. It was impossible and probably would never happen. It was more likely for him not to feel the same way, he was trained to avoid feelings like this. But his words from last night told her something else.
    I feel very protective over you.
    I... don't have to strength to stay away from you anymore.
Those words made her feel warm and light, even though they probably didn't mean as much as she wanted. But there were other words that haunted her.
    This is wrong.
I have a mission.
Mission. Of course he had a mission. Nothing was more important than his mission, as for Grace were her patients. She would never risk a life and he would never risk a mission.
Was it even possible to fall in love that easy? She had treated him only a couple of times, always polite and professional. She saw him one time outside this building and then she fell.
Grace took a sip from her coffee. He probably was dealing with his mission right now and Grace was so scared. Scared because if he would finish his mission, succeed, she would never see him again in her life and it would leave her with nothing but pain. And she was scared that if he failed his mission, he would get punished.
She was aware of the punishments the soldiers got when they failed a mission. She had treated enough victims to know. But never the Winter Soldier. Grace was happy that she didn't, but didn't want to know how he would be punished. It wouldn't be lightly, that she knew for sure.