Protect My Heart (Bodyguard AU)

Part 6

Y/D/N knew he was getting into bad shit. But this was the only way to get good money! After his wife, your mom, died, he was at lost. A single father with a poor paying job. He didn't know how to take care of you! So he heard talk around town. Some shifty kinda guy needed smugglers. The pay was good if you did good. So through talking with different types of other shady people, Y/D/N had gotten through and was met face to face with Alexander Pierce and William Rawlins. Both men worked for the government, so they knew the ins and outs, the loopholes, the secret passages, all of it to get their dirty deeds done.

And now Y/D/N was a part of it.

After going through a successful test run, he was rewarded with $500 dollars and if he budgeted correctly, that could probably last you and he for two weeks. He was just starting out, so he wasn't gonna get greedy.

So aside from his regular job, when called upon, Y/D/N would work these smuggling jobs for Pierce and Rawlins.

It went on for years. From when you were 10 up to when you were 18. Upon hearing that you wanted to go to Los Angeles for acting, Pierce and Rawlins were generous. Y/D/N had been good and loyal to them. They gave $500,000 as a graduation gift to you, but at a cost.

Before going off to school, you were to help your father make deals with potential investors for Rawlins and Pierce's business. All men had a weakness for a young, pretty face and that was your job. To help persuade these men to put their faith in a shady business.

When you found out how your father truly came to this money, you were livid.

"HOW CAN YOU DO THIS TO US?! SMUGGLING?! ARE YOU SERIOUS, DAD?!"

"You shut the hell up, Y/N! I did this for YOU! ALL OF THIS WAS FOR YOU! So you could go to school! Have nice things! Have a car to use! ALL OF IT! FOR YOU!"

"You sold your soul to the devil, dad! I'm not worth it!"

"Yes, you are!" Your father ran a hand over his balding head, "You deserve it all. I promised your mom that I'd take care of you! Whatever it took! And this is what I did! And if you do this one job, ONE JOB, you get leave this all behind! You get to go to Los Angeles and become an actress like you've always wanted! Just please, Y/N, just do this. Then you can leave me and all of it behind."

That one job became many. Rawlins and Pierce always knew what's good for them and you were definitely good for them. So, throughout the entire summer, you were working jobs for them. The money that was to be given to you grew larger and larger. But you didn't want it. Not anymore. Not when you've seen all the bad stuff your dad and everyone else involved in the Rawlins-Pierce business got up to. You had to get out. You had to get you and your dad out.

That opportunity came, but at a terrible cost.

"WHERE THE FUCK IS THE REST OF IT, Y/D/N?! HUH?!" Rawlins got into your dad's face.

"It was a trap! The feds were waiting for us! This was all I could drag outta there!" your dad replied with fear in his eyes.

Rawlins unholstered his gun and your dad stumbled back, "You know...you think we don't notice? The small amounts of money disappearing? The drugs? The guns? You been dealing behind our backs, Y/D/N." It wasn't a question, but a statement of fact.

Your dad didn't come out alive that day. But you did.

You managed to slip from their fingers and fell into the hands of the police.

You told them everything you knew. All the names, all the places, every single detail you knew about Rawlins and Pierce. To compensate for the great deal you've gone through and for safety, they put you under the Witness Protection program.

You changed your name, taking upon your mother's name and grandmother's maiden name. Your history was erased and rewritten. You were able to go to school in Los Angeles. You graduated and became an actress, now under your real name and your mother's maiden name.

You started off with small roles, which then led you to making it big.

You thought, well, thought that Rawlins and Pierce had forgotten all about you. After the attempt on your life at the Napa Film Festival, you found out you were wrong.

That part of your life had caught up to you and you were desperate to escape it again.

____________________________

"Hey," you looked up from your cup of warm milk to see Bucky standing before you.

"Hm?"

"I asked if you were alright." he sat beside you on the couch, at a reasonable distance. You were suddenly having flashbacks of that night where you and he became vulnerable with each other. That night where he was kind and funny and soft. Not like the hard asshole he's been to you lately.

"Nightmares again," you mumbled, clutching onto your mug for dear life. But they weren't nightmares of the film festival...not that Bucky would know.

"You wanna talk about it?" he murmured apprehensively.

You shook your head, "Not really. I'm just gonna finish my milk and go. Don't feel like dealing with you either so.." you stood up to leave, but Bucky spoke up.

"I'm sorry," you froze in place, "I'm sorry I've been...a prick to you. You just-I-" he paused to give a frustrated sigh, "You make things so complicated for me."

You spun around, fury in your eyes, "I make things complicated for you?" the audacity of this guy!

"Yeah! I'm just trying to keep you alive and all you do is give me shit!"

"I don't need a protection detail twenty-four seven, Bucky! I don't need someone to check the public bathrooms before I go in or do complete and thorough background checks on the people I meet! It's so unnecessary!"

Bucky scoffed, "Oh, so keeping you alive is unnecessary?"

"That's not what I said, asshole, and you know it!" you took a step back and gave a deep breath. You allowed yourself to calm down a bit before speaking again, "I feel so alone right now. I'm isolated here with people who don't even truly care about my wellbeing, who only see me as some job! Don't you think I get to feel upset and give you crap about all this? My life has been turned upside down and I have no one, no one except for Steve, who's there for me!"

"So what do you want me to do? I still have to protect you."

"You can protect me, you can do your job, but-I don't know-be a friend as well?" you let out a dry chuckle, "I mean, the first night, when we got to know each other, I thought we were friends, ya know? Then the next morning you were just this frustrating dick that I wanted to punch in the face. You didn't see my reasons for anything. It was just your way or the highway. Can you do that for me, Bucky? Be my friend while also protecting me?"

He thinks back to his conversation with Nat. Honestly, even after that, he still hadn't kept in mind your point of view, how you felt about this entire situation. His mind had been too clouded about the job.

His usual clients were politicians, world leaders, people who were used to having their lives at stake. But not you. You were different. So he had to change his ways. Re-strategize to make this situation comfortable for all parties, while also keeping safety in mind.

Bucky gave a curt not, "Yeah, I'll-I can do that. Be a friend." he cleared his throat, "I'm sorry, again. I've been treating you like my usual clients. But you're not them. I'll do better."

You nodded back to him, "Thank you, Bucky. And I'll do better on not giving you guys shit."

He chuckled, "Thanks."

"Well, good night." You turned your back to him and headed towards the stairs. The last thing you hear is a mumbled 'Goodnight' from him.