Protect My Heart (Bodyguard AU)

Part 3

You woke up in the middle of the day. A bit groggy, but you felt well-rested. You sat up on the couch, stretching out your arms and legs.

"Oh good. You're awake." you looked back to see Bucky walking towards you with a plate of food and a glass of water, "I was going to wake you up." He set the plate and glass onto the coffee table in front of you.

"What time is it?"

"Nearly one."

"In the afternoon?!" you exclaimed with wide eyes.

Bucky chuckled with a nod, "Yeah. You look tired though, so I figured to just let you rest."

"Oh," you blinked up at him, "Thanks."

He shrugged, "No problem. Steve came by to check on you earlier. Said for you to call him when you wake up and all that. Anyway, made you some food. Eat up. Call Steve. All that. You didn't have plans today, did you?"

You shook your head, "Not really. Well, actually, I wanted to go grocery shopping. I should get out of the house anyway. Been cooped up for three days now."

Bucky nodded, "Of course. You go ahead and do what you need to do. Sam will bring up his car-"

"Wait, I can't use my own?"

Bucky shook his head, "We saw that it's a self-driving car. Those are unreliable and can get hacked into by anyone with the right set of skills."

"I haven't had any-"

"I'm sorry, Y/N, but as a precaution, you need to ride in the car that we provide. We know that they're safe. They're also bullet proof in case someone tries to catch us off guard."

You can't argue against that. Sure, your car was cool and drives by itself, but it wasn't bulletproof, "Fine," you mumbled before biting into the sandwich that Bucky made for you.

"Do you know what grocery store we're going to?"

"Haight Street Market."

"Alright. I'll send Nat and Hope over to-"

"Is that really necessary? I know the people there! I've been going for years-"

Bucky gave you a stern look, "Y/N, please, our job here is to protect you and that means scouting out every destination you'll be going to to ensure nothing and no one looks suspicious."

You rolled your eyes and mumbled, "Whatever," before taking another bite into your sandwich.

Bucky couldn't help but scoff, "You know, for someone who was scared shitless these past few days, you really don't seem like you care about staying alive."

"I just don't see why all this extra stuff is needed!" you threw your arms out, explaining yourself.

Bucky took a few steps forward, towering over you, "This 'extra stuff' are precautions to keep you alive. So sorry if we're doing our job." with that he began walking away but not before hearing you mumble, "Asshole" under your breath.

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You sat in the back of a sleek, black 2018 Toyota Camry. You stared out the window trying to ignore Bucky's presence at the other end of the car. Sitting in the driver's seat was Sam. You all sat in silence, completely aware of the tension rolling off you and Bucky, but not wanting to say or do anything about it.

When you arrived to the grocery, Bucky spoke to Sam, "Stay-"

"I want Sam to come with me," you stated plainly.

If you looked to Bucky, you'd see his jaw was clenched, "Sam stays with the car. Hope and I-"

"I really don't want to even be the same car with you right now, let alone a grocery store without wanting to punch you in the face. So Sam and Hope will accompany me. You stay in the car."

Bucky closed his hands tightly into a fist as he gritted, "Fine. Sam will go with you." he nodded his head, telling Sam to go. He fell back into his chair as you and Sam exited the car. He watched as you entered the small market, Hope and Sam following behind you, "Brat," he mumbled.

His phone began to vibrate and he pulled it out of his jacket pocket. Seeing Nat's number, he answered it, "Yeah?"

"How come you're not with her?"

He scowled, "The princess wanted him to go with her instead of me."

Hearing Nat chuckle just agitated him even more, "Already causing problems, I see."

"Have you thought that maybe she's the one causing the problems, Romanoff? Not me? Since she woke up, she's been giving me attitude!"

"What did you do?"

"NOTHING! All I said was that she couldn't use her car anymore because it was self-driving and that she can only use our company cars! Then she got all defensive about sending you and Hope over to the store before she got there! Miss Princess is so used to getting her way and when she doesn't she has to be a brat about it!"

"Hm...have you ever thought that this is hard for her, Barnes? Not only is her life in danger, but now she has us following her around everywhere and telling her what she can and cannot do. It's not something that she's used to."

"But it's for her safety!"

"And we know that but she doesn't. Not really. You yelling at her won't help. You just gotta explain it to her. Give her examples, speak from our experiences, Barnes. She's a frightened young woman who's life got turned upside down. Give her time to adjust."

"Yeah. Okay. Fine."

"Good."

_____________________________

"She has all four with her. Two in the store and two waiting outside. I can't make the grab for her."

"Report back to headquarters. We need to adjust our strategy. Figure out who we're dealing with."