Love & War

Stakeout

Chapter 9:

- 2 months later -

Y/N's POV:

Its been two months since we found out about Hydra's plan on recreating The Winter Soldier. These two months have been...hectic to say the least. No new information has been found about Hydra's plan, which put everyone on edge. It was a sign that they were planning for something big and weren't dumb enough to screw it up this time.

All of us have been working non-stop, trying to break down Hydra's plan by every single thread. The team has been training nonstop, just in case of a sudden attack.

Tony has been monitoring the known Hydra bases and their every move, making sure not to miss anything that they're planning. While the rest of us have been alternating on stakeout missions, everyone except me.

The team thought that it was better for me to get all the training I could. They said it wouldn't be smart to recklessly go on stakeouts, near one of the most dangerous associations on the planet, without any knowledge of properly defending myself against them.

For the past two months I have been learning hand on hand compound with each of the team members, as well as knife throwing, and how to handle guns. I needed to be prepared for anything.

Currently, I am in the compounds shooting range, holding a Glock 26, waiting on James to meet me down here. James has been the one teaching me how to use certain weapons like guns, knives, and explosives.

He and Tony believed that I would need all training involving any weaponry just in case something goes wrong on a mission. James has been really good with training me and has been patient with the time that it's taken me to learn.

Speaking of which, things have been rather quiet between James and I. Ever since the party, something's changed between us. I initially thought that we had made up after everything that went down, but still, something seems off. My feelings for him remain the same, but now I have absolutely no hope that he may have the same feelings for me.

"Hey."

My train of thought is interrupted by James' voice as he walks into the room.

"Hey." I say as I turn to face him.

"Ready to get started?" He asks, avoiding eye contact.

"Yeah." I mutter and take my stance.

He goes on to guide me on how to handle the gun properly, and accurately aim at the target in front of me. The target in this case was a human cutout, placed ten feet away from me.

"Shoot on the count of three." He says, stepping a few inches back. I sigh, releasing my shoulders and aiming at the target. "One..two..three."

I pull the trigger, the bullet enters the bottom corner of the target. If this was a real person, I'd probably be dead. James sighs and crosses his arm.

"We've been practicing this for two months, and you're still fucking up." He says, frustration in his voice.

"I just have a lot on my mind...I'm sorry." I shrug.

I look back at the target, feeling disappointed in myself. I get back into my stance and hold the gun in front of me once again. I sigh as I stare closely at the target, feeling anxious but determined.

I was getting ready to pull the trigger, when suddenly I felt a warm embrace around me. I let out a low gasp as I saw James place his arm against mine, lining them up. He wraps his hands around mine, re-aiming the gun. My back is pressed against his chest, the closeness of his body instantly calms me down.