Don't Hide | Bucky Barnes |

33

"I don't understand, why take me?"

Tony looks over at me from the jet he had FRIDAY hover just below the helicopter we'd boarded. Seconds after the chopper took off, he pressed a button that enveloped both him and I in our suits and dropped the both of us to free fall towards the ocean and into a waiting Quinjet.

"I can take you back if you want" he quips with his dry humor, looking back forward. I crack a smile, shaking my head at the man.

"I'm behind grateful, but honestly a little confused" I explain further, pulling him back into the seriousness of the situation.

"You saved my best friend. Without you, he wouldn't have been able to walk on his own again," Tony answers, a somber feeling resting into the jet, "You could've easily flown away with Steve and Barnes, but you didn't. You risked being captured and your own life just to save someone you barely knew"

I stay silent, the gravity of his words hitting me. I never really realized how much I sacrificed when I jumped from that jet.

"I want to know why" he finishes, swiveling in his seat to face me. I ponder over my answer before a small smile ghosts my face.

"Because it was the right thing to do," I simply answer, fiddling with my fingers in my lap, "I would hope someone would do the same for me"

"God, can you stop being a good person for like five minutes? You make me feel horrible about myself" Tony exclaims. I chuckle lightly, pushing back my messy hair.

"You did the same thing, though, in New York," I inform, observing how his body stiffens, "You risked everything to save those people"

He stays silent, his now very serious face displaying his past trauma in the first real Avengers battle. I take his wordlessness as my cue to keep talking.

"There's good in everyone. You just have to know where to look" I continue, hoping he takes advantage of that lesson. Intrigue filters his gaze at my words.

"Which leads me to the second part of why I brought you along,"

I furrow my brows, not being able to stitch together where he's going with this. He scoffs when he sees my confusion and adjusts himself in his seat to be more comfortable.

"You do realize you and Barnes are perfect for each other, right?" He drawls out, his eyebrows raised. I feel my heart stutter in its rhythm at his comment. I laugh and look down at my hands, shaking my head at him.

"Tony,"

"And you do also realize that I'm, like, the farthest thing from stupid, right?" Tony interrupts, a smug smile on his face appearing when I look back up him in surprise.

"Come on, Dawn. You can't honestly sit there and tell me that you feel nothing for him" he pushes. I go to protest, but decide instead to give it up. He's already called me out on the matter, so there's really no point in arguing. I sigh, biting my lip.

"Of course I do," I admit, earning an even wider smirk from Tony. My gaze turns to the jet wall beside Tony's head as the feelings I've kept trapped inside begin to pour out.

"I mean, he understands me like no one else ever did or could, he makes me smile when I feel like it's impossible, and he's always there to protect me, to save me." I ramble, my stomach fluttering, "In the past month, he's managed to chase away the demons of my past that I've fought for the last ten years."

I pause, a small smile lighting up my lips.

"When I'm with him, I'm not afraid anymore, not of myself or of my past," I continue, my heart thundering in my chest as the confessions pour from my lips, "He lets me see that I don't have to hide anymore"