He brought me back to life; A Captain America romance; Book one.

Chapter 26; You son of a bitch

I'm frozen in place. What is Lee doing here? How did he find me?

I try to speak but nothing comes out. He smiles, darkly. He knows I'm terrified. "What's wrong baby? I thought you'd be happy to see me after all this time." He laughs and takes a step closer to me. I instinctively take a step back, my back hitting the kitchen door.

He's clutching a walking stick. I notice that he has a strange limp. He looks terrible. His once soft, well kept, light brown hair is now shaggy and filthy. He has a scratchy beard and looks like he's lost a good twenty pounds. "It's been a long time." He looks me up and down, licking his lips. "You look good." A low growl escapes my throat.

He holds his hands up and cocks his head. "Hey, I just want to talk. I've missed you." He takes another, unsteady step closer to me and I frantically look around for something, anything to grab. He pouts and take another step.

Move, Ellie! fucking run!

But I can't. My feet feel like they're glued to the tiles.

I swallow the bile that is suddenly burning my throat. "What are you doing here, Lee?" I ask, trying to hide the fear in my voice.

"I told you, I just want to talk." He's standing about a foot in front of my now. I can smell the whiskey on his breath from here. "How did you find me?"

He smiles. "Oh a buddy of mine, you remember, Paul? Well he works for UPS and delivers packages in the area. Well, imagine my surprise when he calls me last week to tell me he had seen you and that you were working in an office on 2nd street. I, of course, had to come and pay you a visit." His tone is casual but with a hint of hatred.

I'm starting to get the feeling back in my body now. Standing there, hearing his sick, sadistic voice is starting to make my anger overtake my fear.

I swallow and take a step closer to him now. "And what are you hoping to get from this visit, Lee?" I say slowly, through gritted teeth. He looks taken aback for a split second, then smirks again.

"Well we were so rudely interrupted the last time we were together, so I was kind of hoping we could pick up where we left off."

My face contorts and I stare at him, baffled. My anger is now right at the surface and it's making me tremble. "What the fuck are you talking about, you son of a bitch?" His lips are pulled across his gaunt face in an evil, joyful smile. "Ah, there's my girl, always such a potty mouth," he tuts.

"Lee, I have no idea what you're talking about or why you're here but I'm only going to say this once. Get the fuck out of my apartment." Before I realise he's made a move, the back of his hand clatters me across my cheek causing a burning sensation. He grabs me by the throat and punches my face, causing my lip to burst open. Then, he grabs me by the hair and throws me to the ground.

He stands over me and pulls his good leg back, preparing to kick my stomach when I grab his other leg and bite is calf, hard. He screams in pain and stumbles back. "Well, someone has gotten a lot braver since the last time I saw her."

I leap up from the ground and plant my feet in front of him, raising my fists to my chin and wiping some of the blood away from my lip. He laughs, dramatically, gathering himself.

"You're not serious! Come on, Ellie. We both know you can't win. Not without the big man here to protect you."

I stop dead.

What?

He sees the confusion on my face and laughs, again. "Oh that's right. You were unconscious, half dead on the floor. It was the strangest thing... I'm standing over you, a bloody, pathetic mess of a woman pleading at my feet, when one of the fucking Avengers swoops in to save the day!"

I blink, uncontrollably, dropping my hands to my sides.

He's shouting now, furious. "The last thing I remember was being dumping outside St. Vincent's in Midtown, half dead."

I don't understand. One of the Avengers saves the day? What is he talking about?

"Then, would you believe, when I finally wake up after six long months, who is sitting at the end of my bed only Tony fucking Stark! He tells me to get as far away from New York that I possibly can or the next place I'll be going to is the morgue. It's funny. I had seen him skulking around a couple of times; in our favourite bar, outside the apartment building but I never thought anything of it. Until that night when I finally realised he must have been watching us. This!" He motions to his limp and walking stick. "That fucker did this to me! and I'm going to make him pay."

I can't think. My head is spinning and I feel like I'm going to throw up. Tony was there? He knew!

Tony has been lying to me all this time. He knew what had happened with me and Lee. I can't believe this! He He's been keeping this from me for months and months!

Lee interrupts my thoughts, again;

"Well, no one is here now. I admit, I know I'll never beat any of the world's superheroes in a fight. But I do know I can beat you. It's taken me over a year but I've got you on your own now and can finally finish what I started."

I'm snapped out of my daze when I see Lee darting towards me, his crutch raised, ready to strike. I'm in autopilot mode. I swoop to the left, letting his walking stick collide with the wall. He yells in frustration and runs at me again, with his fists raised this time. I block his punch with my forearm and drop to the ground, sweeping my leg around the back of his. He tumbles and falls on his back, laughing, manically, again.

"Not this time, you mother fucker!" I scream.

All the painful memories I've tried so hard to forget are suddenly flooding my head again. His constant comments, belittling me, his big black boot walloping me across the face as I lie defenseless on the floor. His hands wrapping around my throat, squeezing the breath out of me. The anger I feel, Malik and Berlin, Steve nearly dying, the betrayal from Tony.

I scream and jump on top of him, my knees crushing against either side of his torso and punch his face until my hands are covered in his blood this time. I yank his walking stick from the floor beside me and hold it against his throat. My hands are shaking as I lean down and press as hard as I can until his face turns blue and he goes limp.

I scream and fall to the floor beside him, sobbing hysterically. There's pounding on the door and voices shouting but I can't hear what they're saying. The memory and trauma of months of pain and torture is consuming me. The next thing I know two cops are helping me off the floor and leading me over the my living room couch. I put my head between my legs and gasp for air. One of the cops tends to Lee as the other tries to calm me down, asking me questions about what happened and informing me that a neighbour had heard the commotion and called them.

I can't speak. The shock of what I just did and what Lee just told me is making me woozy. I sprint over to the sick of vomit. After a few minutes, I slump down against the kitchen counter, my breathing returning to normal, slightly.

Three more cops have arrived, along with an ambulance crew. They're putting Lee on a stretcher and giving him oxygen. A female cop comes over to me and kneels down beside me, handing me a tissue.

"I- Is, Is he dead?" I ask, through my sobs.

"No ma'am. We're taking him to the hospital for treatment in our custody and he will be placed under arrest," she replies, calmly.

I close my eyes and cry, harder.

"Ma'am we're going to have to get a statement from you okay? You need to tell us what happened here."

I nod and try to control my breaths. The cop stands up and gets me a glass of water.

After another few minutes I've finally calmed down enough to tell her that Lee had broke into my home and attacked me and that he had beat me in the past.

She writes everything down and nods. "Thank you ma'am." She gets up off the floor and holds a hand out to me pulling me up.

"We'll give you some time but we'll need you to come downtown in a few days. Would you like us to take you to the hospital in the meantime?"

I look down at myself, trying if I have any injuries. "No. I'm fine." I say, quietly. She nods again and turns to leave. But before she does she turns back to me and says "You're a very brave woman, Miss Hart."