Initiation ▷ BUCKY BARNES

THREE

ONE WEEK HAD PASSED SINCE THE DAY OF THE SHOOTING and Avery was still holed up in a rather run down motel on the outskirts of a small town she had no idea even existed.

The motel was in a poor condition and aside from Avery and the mystery man, only two other guests appeared to be checked into it. However, Avery wasn't fussed about the quality of the motel. The brunette was just glad that she was somewhere safe and on the road to recovery.

So far no one from the mysterious man's resistance had showed up which put him at ease whilst he was with Avery. Avery had noticed that he always appeared to be on high alert and silently skulked around the room as if a threat were about to appear at any second.

It pained Avery to see him so broken and paranoid, but he seemed reluctant to talk to her about anything and unless the two got closer there wasn't much that Avery could do about the situation.

The brunette had tried to pry some more information out from the man but her attempts had been pointless. Either he didn't want to tell her as he was worried about how she'd react, or he was just extremely stubborn. Avery couldn't quite tell whether it was the former or the latter.

Hearing the door of the motel open and then shut almost instantly, Avery's eyes diverted towards the entrance and smiled when she saw the man approaching her with what appeared to be a set of crutches in his hands. The brunette sat up carefully as a smile played on her lips, chuckling lightly when the man stopped before her and handed her the items.

Avery still hadn't been to the hospital since the shooting, but the man had been taking good care of her. He'd also made sure to regularly check on the girl during the day to ensure that her injuries weren't getting worse. It was only yesterday when Avery had grown frustrated on having to rely on him to walk. The brunette had then insisted that he take her to a hospital so that they could supply her with some crutches.

Of course, the man refused and Avery had sulked for the remainder of the evening, much to the man's dismay. The woman had heard him leave in the early hours of the morning but had no idea that he was going out to try and get some crutches for her.

To say she was grateful was an understatement.

"Where did you get them?" The brunette squealed excitedly whilst pulling the duvet off of her.

Avery's dark eyes hovered down to her leg — which the man had wrapped in a makeshift cast to prevent any further damage happening to it — and carefully placed her feet on the floor. With a crutch in each hand the brunette took a deep breath as she attempted to pull herself onto her feet.

It hadn't been excruciatingly painful but Avery had definitely felt a strain in her leg as she stood up. The brunette tried to hide the pain from her eyes and thankfully the man hadn't noticed – for if he had, he would've been urging the woman to take a seat on the bed once more and that was the last thing that Avery wanted.

"From a hospital a few towns over." The man finally replied, his eyes lighting up at seeing Avery so happy with the items.

He wouldn't tell her, but seeing her smile made his heart flutter. He didn't understand why but at the same time he didn't particularly care. It was a good feeling – he always felt good being around Avery. She kept him at bay from all the monstrous thoughts that plagued his mind and for the first time in a long while; he was happy, relieved even.

"Did you steal them?" The brunette asked with raised brows and a grin playing on her lips.

The man lightly shrugged his shoulders, "You needed them."

Avery said nothing more and instead tried to take a few steps forwards whilst firmly holding onto the crutches.

As the brunette hadn't walked independently for over a week her footsteps had been rather shaky, something which the man had noticed utmost immediately.