Easier Than Lying

19

I'm falling in and out of sleep when I hear yelling outside in the warehouse. My eyes snap open and I strain to hear more before getting to my feet as quickly as I can. I rattle the door, hoping maybe the asshole who last brought me water forgot to lock it, but it doesn't open.

"Help! I'm here!" I yell. I pound on the door until my hands hurt, hoping that whoever is out there can hear me and will come help and isn't here to do more damage. My side wound opens up while I'm yelling and banging, forcing me to step away from the door and lean against the wall to breathe through the pain. I feel blood soaking through the bandage and dripping down my skin and tears sting my eyes.

Suddenly, the door bursts open and the second that the glint of metal meets my eyes I collapse onto the floor, sobbing. Bucky rushes over and pulls me into his arms.

"B-Bucky? Is this real, are you really here?" I ask.

"I'm here. Oh Jesus Astria, you're covered in blood. Are you bleeding?" he asks, pulling his hand away from my side. Black dots cloud my vision and my breathing gets shallow.

"Don't you dare pass out on me Astria. I'm going to get you out of here," he tells me.

"Maybe you should use your shirt to stop the b-bleeding," I mumble. My head lolls back and I stare up at Bucky who's shaking his head and rolling his eyes, but the hint of a smile plays at his lips.

"You did a pretty good job bandaging yourself up. But we gotta get you out of here and you need to stay awake," Bucky says.

"But I'm so tired," I slur, he presses his lips to my forehead.

"I know sweetheart. Do it for me, okay? Can you walk?"

"Yeah, just get me out of here without getting either of us killed," I say, reaching a hand out so he can pull me to my feet.

"I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you, Astria. Just stay behind me." He leads me out of the room, holding my hand. We make it to the middle of the room, the door outside is directly in front of us.

"W-wait. I need a second Bucky," I breathe. He turns to look at me and I let out a shuddering gasp, holding my side.

"We're almost there, Astria."

"Going somewhere?" a voice asks behind us, my heart drops to my stomach. Bucky steps in front of me and I clutch onto his hand, my pulse pounding in my ears.

"Ulysses Klaue."

"James Barnes, just the man I was looking for. I see you came for your little pet," Klaue says.

"B-Bucky," I whisper.

"Just a second sweetheart, I know it hurts."

"We need to have a chat James, you're a hard man to get ahold of."

"I know what you want. He's gone Klaue, the Wakandans cut him out and he's not coming back," Bucky says, glaring at him.

"Oh, but he can come back. You see, I've been doing my research. And I've been talking with an old friend and he said that this psychological mumbo jumbo T'Challa used on you can be broken. So, it's up to you. Either you come with me, or my men open fire on you and your sweet little friend." Klaue aims a wink at me and I hide behind Bucky.

"How about we leave and you don't spend the rest of your life in prison?" Klaue laughs.

"Ahh, tempting. I'd make a decision, the men are getting impatient Barnes," he says. Sure enough, guns cock all around us. There are more of Klaue's cronies than I've ever noticed before.

"How do I know that you'll let her go if I agree to go with you?" Bucky asks. I suck in a breath.

"Bucky, no you can't." Klaue considers it for a second and then crosses his heart.

"You have my word. You come with me, Ms. Tomlinson goes free. I swear it on my mother's grave." Bucky turns to look at me.

"Listen, he's not going to let both of us out of here. You have go, Astria. My car is parked around the corner and Steve is on his way. Wait for him and then get the hell out of here."

"Bucky..."

"I'm serious. You need to get somewhere safe. I can't let you get hurt anymore, I won't put you through that. I couldn't live with myself if anything else happened to you." His blue eyes full of concern bore into mine, glazed over with pain and fear.

"James, I can't leave this place knowing you're going back in. And knowing that all the hard work you put yourself through to get rid of that monster is just going to go down the drain." He smiles softly and brushes a strand of hair out of my face, his hand gently cupping my cheek.

"It's going to be alright, I promise. I'll come back to you, it might not be today and it might not be tomorrow. Hell, it could be years and years from now, but I promise I'll come back." Tears flow down my face and Bucky's metal hand gently wipes them away. I reach up and hold the hand that's cupping my face.

"James..." Before I can say anything else, he leans in and presses his lips to mine. He pulls away and his eyes reach my own again.

"I promise. Now go." I take a deep breath.

"Wait! I have to tell you something. James, I..." Bucky kisses me again to shut me up before I can get the words out.

"Tell me when you see me again, okay?" I swallow hard and nod.

"Give him another black eye for me, will you?" I ask, making a smile cross his face.

"You did that?" I nod and he chuckles a little.

"Fucking pathetic," he mutters. He pecks my forehead with a smile.

"On my signal okay? There's no saying if he will actually hold fire once you make a move to leave. Get out and find Steve." I take a deep, shaky breath.

"Alright. Fine. You got me Klaue. But Astria goes free." Klaue grins evilly.

"Right, about that...we can't afford to have any witnesses here. Unfortunately I'm not exactly what you would call a "model citizen" and I can't risk her going to the police and them finding us, and it's just too much of a liability. Sorry Love," Klaue says.

"Now sweetheart, you have to go now," Bucky whispers to me. Without hesitating I bolt. A look over my shoulder tells me that Bucky ran towards the guards and I hear gunshots behind me. I make it outside and keep running until I run into what feels like a brick wall.

"Astria?!" a voice says. I look up into Steve's clear blue eyes and promptly collapse into his arms, the world going dark around me.