Monster

The next morning, I woke to the sound of my phone ringing on the nightstand. I jumped out of bed, scrambling for the phone. It was still dark out, and I didn't recognize the number. I hated taking unknown calls, but I was in this situation due to an unknown number. I pressed accept and brought the phone to my ear.

"Hello?"

"Kitchen, now," the voice snapped.

"What? My kitchen?"

"Now." Then he hung up.

My heart was racing, and I flung the covers off and hurried to turn on the light. If someone was in my kitchen, I didn't want to meet them wearing pajamas. So I pulled on some jeans and tucked the sparkly pink knife into my back pocket. I could hear voices downstairs when I stepped into the hall. It could have been Hydra, but Steve's voice was unmistakable. And he sounded calm. I crossed the hall and tapped on the guestroom door.

"Bucky? Are you awake?"

There was no answer. I pushed the door open and peeked inside. The room was empty, and the bed was made. But the room still smelled like his soap, and the pillow was rumpled from sleep. He at least tried to stay the night.

"Great," I muttered. Then I hurried down the stairs to see who was demanding to meet me in the kitchen.

The entire group of them was waiting for me under the dim lights. Sam, Steve, and Romanoff were standing with their arms crossed. And Director Fury was seated comfortably at the kitchen table. I stopped short when I saw him.

"Director Fury? I thought you were dead."

"Almost," he said, tenderly climbing to his feet. "What the hell did you do?" he snapped. I looked at the other faces. Sam and Steve both appeared apologetic. Romanoff looked like she was studying me.

"What do you mean, what did I do?" He roughly set his hand on the table, which looked like it only caused him more pain.

"You blew your own cover."

"The job was to get Bucky to make contact with Steve, which he did. My job was to help them, which is what I'm doing."

"Your mission was to be a prop. You were supposed to stand in the background while Rogers handled the situation." I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Last I checked, I wasn't taking orders from you anymore. Or anyone else, for that matter. I'm not getting paid for this job. Therefore, you don't get to choose how I do it. Bucky came to me, and I did exactly what I was told to do. I played the role just as asked. It wasn't my fault that he came to me first, but I still did what I had to do and got him to talk to Steve. I made sure he was safe."

"I'm not worried about his safety. I'm concerned about the safety of everyone else." Steve flinched from the corner of my eye.

"He's not a monster, Fury. He's just a man, and he's responsible for as many deaths as you are."

"Excuse me?" he asked, cocking his head to the side. That was when I finally took in the way he looked. He was beaten and bruised and dressed like a civilian. I probably wouldn't have given him a passing glance on the street.

"Bucky didn't know what he was doing. And he's trying to fix it. You still seem to be making excuses for why you pointed guns at half the world."

"My job was to protect this world."

"And an excellent job you did with that, right? Bucky didn't know what he was doing. And his job didn't almost take the lives of thousands of people. Including my sister."

"I want you off the mission. I want you to cease contact with Barnes immediately." I laughed. Exhausted and irritated. All I could do was laugh.

"You honestly think that's the solution? He's better than all of you at finding someone who doesn't want to be found. He'll find me no matter where you send me. And I think pissing him off might not be a good idea. I blew my cover to gain his trust. But he already knew anyway. Your plan failed. Mine didn't. I've had more contact with him than anyone these past few weeks, and I know what I'm doing. I don't work for you."

"No, you don't. You work at a diner, and I can put a perimeter around your house."

"She's the only one who can get through to him," Steve said in my defense. "If you put a barrier between her and Bucky right now, you risk tearing down all the work she's done." Fury cut his eyes to Steve.

"With all due respect, Captain, Agent Hayes wasn't emotionally stable enough for this kind of mission in the first place. I thought that'd be something you'd consider before asking her. Her therapist advised me to stick her behind a desk where I could keep an eye on her. Severe Post-Traumatic Stress, prone to violent outbursts, and suffers from regular memory lapses."

I gritted my teeth and shifted from one foot to the other. I knew they'd probably read my files thoroughly before even considering me. Still, I didn't like having my dirty laundry just hanging out for everyone else to see.

"With all due respect," Steve repeated. "That's the reason Bucky went to her in the first place. She understands what he's going through. If you take that link away from him, you're potentially putting a lot of lives on the line."

"It's okay, Steve," I said, hands on my hips. "Fury didn't want me to succeed. I was just bait. Fury isn't angry because I blew my cover. He wanted to prove that Bucky was dangerous to innocent people. He's mad Bucky proved him wrong. But Bucky isn't dangerous unless you make him dangerous. So I will keep working with him regardless of what orders I'm given. I know I'm not emotionally stable, but Steve's right. That's exactly why Bucky and I work well together."

Fury leaned his knuckles against the table and glared at me with one dark eye. His anger was thick in the room, and I hated that he was trying so hard to point the finger of blame at Bucky. Bucky did a lot of terrible things. Including filling him with bullets, but he wasn't responsible. They were trying to make him a martyr.

"If he kills anyone," he said slowly. "A single person. A damn dog. It's on you." I nodded quickly.

"I won't let that happen."

"You better hope you're right."

"I will be. Now, if you don't mind, please get the hell out of my kitchen. And ring the fucking doorbell next time." I turned and marched back down the hall.