the team doctor || bucky barnes (EDITING IN PROGRESS)

62.

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜱᴏɴɢ: ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ᴋɪʟʟɪɴɢ ᴍᴇ - ᴄᴏɴᴀɴ ɢʀᴀʏ

"𝐃𝐨𝐥𝐥, 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐈 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫."

~

BUCKY WAS GOING TO KILL HER.

But they were going to kill Bucky if she didn't go. She rationalized the two options in her head, and any option that kept Bucky alive was worth it to her. She just prayed that she could find a way out of this tower without him noticing.

She avoided him for the majority of the day. She skipped training, ate in her apartment, and tried not leaving. How she was going to get past a literal highly-trained spy, though, she had no idea. She fished through her closet for the cardigan Cody borrowed, finding it at the back of the endless row.

She felt nauseous as she put it on. She debated bringing a kitchen knife to stab him with just for asking her to wear that. But she didn't know if she could bring herself to stab someone. At least not in public. Nostalgic, she scoffed in her mind, remembering his words.

Of course, Bucky noticed her absence in training. He figured maybe she felt hungover or tired from the night before. He didn't want to overwhelm her, so he didn't go see her. He'd get enough time with her tonight.

"Hey, hypothetically," Bucky pinched the bridge of his nose as he spoke to Sam. "If you were going to cook dinner for someone--"

"I have been waiting for you to ask me this," Sam grinned.

"You know what? Never mind,"

"No, no. Sam at your service. I have mastered the 'I'll cook for you' thing,"

"No, seriously, you're proving me right on why I didn't want to ask you."

"Something sexy, like pasta and red wine, mmm," Sam moaned as he curled some weights.

"This is gross,"

"I'm not too keen on the idea of you and my bro, either, but she also deserves to have a good night--"

Bucky rolled his eyes. "For the love of God, stop calling her that."

"Never gonna happen,"

He walked away, ignoring Sam's protests. He'd figure it out on his own. He knew how to Google things now, anyway.

Meanwhile, Valerie stared at the clock with growing anxiety. Cody didn't even tell her a time. Was 7 o'clock a good time to go meet your ex/brother? She had no idea. She wore jeans with the cardigan, and paired it with some Converse. She figured she should probably be able to run. She contemplated telling Bucky about the threat, but she'd seen enough movies to know that usually resulted in the bad guy killing the person they were using to blackmail the protagonist. She really hoped that didn't come back bite her, but she was smart enough to know it definitely would.

So, instead, she'd do the incredibly stupid thing by meeting him in Central Park.

She took a deep breath as she looked out the peephole of her door, making sure Bucky wasn't in the hallway. She slipped out, walking at a fast pace for the stairwell. She needed to avoid using the elevator, which meant she was going to descend all sixty floors of this tower. She did so as quickly as possible, finally reaching the lobby.

This would be the hardest part. Slipping out unnoticed. She fidgeted with her cardigan sleeves as she peered through the window of the stairwell. There was security in the lobby, but they appeared to be huddling together over one of their tablets. It's now or never, Valerie, she thought.