Don't Hide | Bucky Barnes |

[1]

"Don't scream"

Usually when someone says that, screaming is exactly what you should do. In this case, though, I have more of an urge to cry than anything else.

I stand rooted in the doorway of my apartment, my mind working and re-working to comprehend the image before me. I feel the door I have just opened lightly fall against my backside, slightly ajar due to my unmoving form.

I have to be hallucinating.

"Nick?" I breathe, my eyes wide.

I take a few hesitant steps inside, the door to my apartment clicking closed behind me. Blood sears through my veins painfully, inundating my ears with a rush of emotion. My phone tilts dangerously in my limp hand and I almost drop it in shock. Nicholas J. Fury is sitting in my living room.

Nicholas J. Fury is supposed to be dead.

"Hey, Dawn. Sorry to barge in like this" he responds, standing from the chair he's perched in.

I place my phone in the pocket of my jeans with trembling hands and take a few more hesitant steps forward. I swallow, my throat painfully dry and burning with the block of emotion that accompanies tears.

"Prove it's you" I command, my heart racing in my chest. The man who was the closest thing I had to a father smirks, obviously proud that I didn't trust him immediately.

"When I rescued you from Hydra you were holding an old photograph of your brother," Fury begins, adjusting his eye patch, "When I asked you later why you refused to kill on any missions, you told me it was because you didn't want to be like the people who took him from you"

I don't waste another second doubting.

The breath that I was holding breaks from my mouth, unshed tears blurring my vision. I jog forward, throwing my arms around the man whose grave I've visited. He freezes for a moment before hugging me back.

"I thought you were dead" I announce, pulling back and making sure to keep the tears from falling.

The day Maria Hill called and told me that Nick was gone, I cried for the first time in years. It broke my heart to know that the man who saved my life and gave me the chance to do something amazing with it was gone.

Now here he stands.

"I don't have time to die" Fury informs, surveying my apartment. I laugh, leaving him where he is and walking towards my mini kitchen.

My body still trembles slightly with adrenaline and my mind has the slightest pang of a headache forming behind my eyes as it whirs to believe the unbelievable encounter.

"Of course you don't," I respond, quickly starting my coffee machine and slipping my mug underneath the dispenser, "You also don't have time to socialize, so what's up?"

He laughs, shaking his head.

"You know me well." Fury announces. He stands in my living room, watching me prepare my coffee. The warm liquid soon begins to fill my mug, swarming the apartment with it's decadent scent.

"I need a favor from you," he begins, clasping his fists together before him, "I need Viper"

My back is to him, my eyes locked to my coffee machine as mechanical whirs fill the room. The smallest smile tugs at my lips, excitement bursting through my stomach with a fiery warmth. I stay silent, letting Nick continue his proposal.