[2] Just A Lost Girl | Avallone the Avenger

CHAPTER TWENTY

My goal was to get at least twenty chapters in before I published it. Mission accomplished.

Bucky slowly walked towards Avallone and undid the straps that bound her to the table. She was shaking like a leaf being blown about in a hurricane, and I started to fear that this was the end.
I turned to Sam, but he was watching with curiosity, not fear. He - I don't understand.
"I won't beg for my life, because there is nothing to beg for. Kill if you so desire, and I know you do, because I can see it in your eyes. But I can also see fear and hesitation." Avallone observed.
What the hell is she doing? Bucky wasn't one to talk your way out of a situation. She was only nailing the last nails into her coffin.
"I don't fear." The Winter Soldier said. I was suprised. He wasn't one to talk much. "We all say that to ourselves, but we all know that the monsters under our beds, and the ones in our heads give us fear."
Bucky shook his head, like he was trying to rid his head of her voice. Was she actually getting to him? Nope. He picked up the knife and pointed it straight her.
"Don't play games with me, bitch." He snarled.
Avallone laughed. Shit. That was the last nail. "The name's Avallone. I think you should know that before you kill me. Maybe, just maybe, and this is my dying wish, is that that name haunts you, until you yourself die."
He dropped the knife in suprise. What the hell just happened? And why the hell am I standing here doing nothing?
"Sam, we need to help her." I whispered into my companions ear. Wilson shook his head and pointed to the scene that law in front of us. "She's getting to him. Just watch."
Both Avallone and Bucky were staring at the knife that lay motionless on the floor. It had been so close to piercing her tanned skin, yet there it lay, cold and lonely.
Within a matter of seconds, the Winter Soldier had punched a hole in the door, wrenched it open and was gone. Now was our chance. I pushed the doors open, and ran to Avallone, slinging her under my arm.
"We leave, now," I said, signalling to Sam. He nodded and and pulled out his gun, holding it across his body with two hands, ready to shoot any person, should we meet one.
I could already feel Avallone getting heavy in my arms, and Sam and I swapped jobs. Now, he was carrying her bridal style and I was in the front, my pistol at the ready.
We exited the shady warehouse with only killing three people. Avallone was put in the back seat, while I hopped into the front of the jeep and we sped away.
"Who the hell was that guy?" Avallone groaned in the back seat. She had just encountered one of the most dangerous men on the face of the earth, and scared him away.
I looked at Sam, but his eyes were glued to the road. That's so helpful. Turning so I could face Avallone, I told her. "That's James Buchanan Barnes, Steve's best friend from the war times. He also was frozen in ice and they uncovered him some time laterl. He only had one arm, and the men who uncovered him gave him the metal one." I said, explaining his main life story surrounding his Winter Soldier life.

Avallone's P.O.V.
I had just met Steve'e best friend? He seemed like an interesting guy. I couldn't say nice things about him really, considering he had just tried to kill me.
But, he seemed like he had a heart, beneath all that anger and sorrow. It was clear in his eyes. I saw it when he looked at me. It was like he was looking straight into my soul and was reflecting it upon his own face. It wasn't often I saw that.
"Oh." Was all I could say. There wasn't much more that I could.
Sam cleared his throat. "He is one of the most dangerous men in the world, Avallone." I swallowed the lump that had risen in my throat. One of the most dangerous men in the world? How? He looked so hurt that it seemed impossible for him to hurt anyone.
"I should contact Steve." Sam mumbled to himself. I just stared out the window, my eyelids starting to droop. I felt so sleepy. So sleepy . . .

Natasha's P.O.V.
I glanced back at Avallone, suprised to find that she was fast alseep. Her arm was lazily draped over her mid-torso, and she looked so peaceful. "I was freaking out when Bucky was pointing the knife at her. I was so sure she was going to die." I whispered to Sam.
He was silent for a few minutes, maybe thinking, I don't know. Then, he spoke up. "I was thinking the same thing. But, what's even weirder, is that he didn't kill her. I want to know why."
"Will we ever know?"
"Judging by how much James has told us so far - no."

Avallone's P.O.V.
I woke up again in an unfamiliar place, but this time Nat was standing over me, cleaning the wound on my forehead. The man who had kidnapped me had knocked me out in the hallway, driving the butt end of his gun into my forehead. If he had used any more force, I would have most likely been dead.
I shuddered.
"You all right?" Natasha asked, worried. I looked up, meeting her blue-green eyes with my own brown ones. "Yeah, I'm fine." I said. It wasn't really a lie as such. I didn't actually know how I felt.
"We've tracked down Harrison, and he has been arrested, along with the rest of his crew, and thrown into jail." Sam informed me, walking into the room. I smiled at him.
"Even....?" I asked, not finishing my sentence. They knew who I was talking about. Their glances at each other told me plainly. Natasha shook her head,
"No, he wasn't really working for them as such. Harrison just heard about him, hired him, and after he ran away from killing you, never heard from him again. Bucky has covered his tracks well, but we know where he is."
I looked back and forth between Sam and Natasha. "I should really be going. I've already spent too much time on this. Steve needs my help." Sam said, walking out of the room with a bag draped over his shoulder.

"So, what now?" I asked as Nat and I lazed on the couches. We were still in Paris, but have moved to a different hotel. Actually, we were staying in a bed&breakfast.
Natasha shrugged her shoulders. "I don't really know. I was so focused on getting you back, that I didn't care about anything else. I guess that we just keep travelling. Spain was next, right?"
I nodded, and we started packing our bags.
In the morning, we were gone.