Target [Winter Solider/Bucky Barnes short story]

6.

[right, so the first chapter of winging it. :) here goes nothing ~ 7/26]

[hey guess what. I made a thread for Target. I'll be periodically posting updates, teasers, and other things related to the story on it. Go subscribe!! It's in the external link ~ 7/28]

Months of living on my own had taken it's toll on me. I wasn't sure if that was good or bad, but at that moment I didn't care if it were either.

Exactly three months and four days after I moved into my apartment, I was woken up by someone, or something, in the living room. I hastily dug under my bed, trying to find anything I could use as a weapon. After a few minutes of searching I spotted a baseball bat near my closet, kept there for this very reason.

"Right..." I mumbled, starting at the bat, "I forgot I had that." I picked the bat up and walked out of my room. I slowly made my way to the living room, holding my breath so I was virtually undetectable. I stopped at the end of the hall, which honestly the hall wasn't that long anyways, so I wouldn't be seen.

Standing by an open window, which I swore I had closed before I went to bed, was the man with the metal arm. The Winter Solider. I screamed reflexively.

"ALEX!" He yelled over me, lunging forward. I swung the bat at him as hard as I could, but he caught it. A hand, I'm assuming his free hand, clamped over my mouth.

"God you scream loud." He said. I gave him a dark look and licked his hand. Almost instantly he pulled his hand back and wiped it on his pants.

"Why the hell are you in my apartment?" I hissed, yanking the bat free. I held it tightly, ready to hit him if I had to.

"The window was open and I needed a place to hide." He answered. "I didn't know it was yours."

The story seemed believable... and the back of my neck wasn't burning.

"Against my better judgement, I believe you." I stated, backing away a little. "Why did you need a place to hide?" He opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by someone banging on the door. All at once the back of my neck was burning intensely and the feared assassin had a look of pure terror on his face. I looked at the door then back at the soldier. He shook his head frantically, silently begging me not to open the door.

"Open the door." A voice growled. I started backing up then turned and ran to my room. I picked up my bag off the floor and shoved clothes into it.

"What are you doing?" The soldier asked me from the doorway. I jumped and whipped around.

"Packing. Whoever is at that door intends to hurt me." I stated. "Please get out so I can change into something other than pajamas." He raised his hands in the universal 'I surrender' motion and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. I quickly changed into a pair of skinny jeans and a t-shirt and put my combat boots on. Whoever was at the front door knocked louder. I opened my bedroom door.

"Come on, we're leaving through the window." I told the Winter Soldier. He nodded and followed me back into my room and out my window. I climbed down the fire escape silently and started walking.

"So. Who are you?" I asked him. "Who are you really?"

"Your killer." He answered flatly. I raised an eyebrow.

"Ki- right. I'm your target. Why were you sent to kill me? I didn't do anything wrong." I said. I was walking ahead of him so I couldn't see his face.

"You're a threat. You must be taken out." He responded. This made me stop.

"So why haven't you killed me?" I asked. "You don't even sound like you believe I'm a threat."

"I- You don't know what- what I've-" He stammered. "What I've had to-"

He was cut off by tires screeching. A car was coming towards us, and it wasn't slowing down.

[Word count: 706]