A/N: guess who had this chapter done and accidentally deleted it

This girl right here

Also I changed the cover because I wasn't happy with it but if anyone knows how to do covers and wants to do one for me please lemme know lmaooo

Ok I'm done
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"It's in the eyes. Always the eyes."

NADINE

So few have stared at the Winter Soldier in the eyes and lived to tell the tale.

Nadine heard all the stories about him, about his kills, and his ability to disappear without a trace. She'd even met people whom were later killed, and their deaths were blamed on the Winter Soldier, but none of the things she'd seen or read were ever confirmed. His existence was never confirmed.

Until HYDRA dismantled SHIELD from the inside, that was.

Nadine had barely been an agent for 3 years when that happened. Natasha took her in at 18, and it took two years to train and unlearn all the shit she'd been taught for a decade. All of that, just to serve a mere 3 years for an agency that she didn't even fully agree with.

Fast forward now, two years later. If SHIELD still had the pull it used to, she'd be considered a mercenary, an assassin for hire.

A killer with no ties to anyone except those she'd grown loyal to.

Natasha was obviously one of them considering she saved her life. And now, because of that loyalty, she was face to face with one of the most wanted criminals in the world.

"You're wondering if I'm as much of a monster as they say I am." Bucky stated. They'd been staring at each other since they got on the van, but she never expected to make conversation with him, let alone for him to be the one to break the silence. Hell, to this point, she thought he was mentally scrutinizing her.

Actually no, scratch that, he definitely was scrutinizing her.

"I-" Nadine didn't know what to say. She didn't see any point in denying it, but she wondered what would happen if she admitted it. "Well, are you?"

He studied her with calculating eyes, but averted his gaze before saying anything. "Doesn't matter what I think when everyone else already has an opinion."

Huh. She didn't expect that. The way he sounded made it seem like there was more to the story.

Time for another approach, then.

"Er, well, James-"

"Bucky."

"Bucky," she corrected, trying to keep her tone level. "If I were to listen to what everyone else thinks, I'd be dead."

He opened his mouth to speak, but the van lurched sideways at that moment in a rough manner. "Rafiki," Taj's voice filled her ear and alerted her senses. "We've got company."

"Fucking-" Nadine reached over to the duffel bags they brought and pulled out a kevlar vest, strapping it on quickly under her jacket. "How many?"

"I count four cars," Dante replied this time, and she adjusted her earpiece so the static decreased. "Don't know how many men."

"Great, just great." She pulled out a semi-automatic rifle, checking to see if it was loaded before extending it over towards Bucky. She would've laughed at how dumbfounded he looked if it wasn't for the danger looming behind them. "What, don't you know how to use an AR-15?"

He grabbed the weapon from her, checking to see if the scope and the grip was appropriate for him. "You're trusting me with this?"

"You know, for someone who clearly hates himself for whatever shit he's done, you're trying really hard to make me not trust you." Okay, that sounded more acerbic than she'd intended. Sighing once in exasperation, she pinched the bridge of her nose, before turning her gaze towards him again. "Look, I don't know what you've done and I don't care about that now, all I care about is getting out of Lagos-"

"We're gonna have to separate."

"Dante, are you crazy?!"

"It's the only way, Dina." He replied, and she could hear the apologetic undertone in his voice. "Divide and conquer, and then we'll meet up and get the hell out of here."

"I second the plan."

Fantastic.

She decided it was best not to argue with them and instead just do it. Reaching up, she opened the latch at the top of the van and, after adjusting her rifle over her shoulder, she jumped, grabbing onto the edge to pull herself up. Before she could even react, though, she felt hands trying to get a good grip on her legs. "What the fuck?!"

"Stop fucking kicking my face and trust me!" Bucky grunted from below, tightening his hold on her thighs to balance her on his shoulders. "You better have good aim."

She'd feel insulted if she wasn't still startled by his action. Placing the rifle on top of the van, Nadine peaked through the scope and fired a few rounds, cursing as the two cars swerved to avoid getting hit. Normally, she'd have great aim, but balancing on an assassin's shoulders while in a moving van in the dead of night just made things a bit tougher. She did manage to crack one of the windshields, though, and take out the other car's headlights. She was about to aim for the other windshield when she saw one of them pull out a gun and point it at her direction. "Shit! Put me down, put me down!"

Bucky complied and managed to get her down without letting either of them fall on their faces. The bullets scattered on the top of the van, and when they stopped, Bucky huffed in a frustrated state, grabbing the AR-15 and placing it on his shoulder. "Tell your friend to slow down so I can get close."

"Are you crazy?!" The Winter Soldier gave her a look. "Okay, fine. Taj, slow the van down so Bucky can close to them."

"Is he fucking nuts?"

"Just do it!" She snapped, grabbing a bandanna from inside the bags. "Here."

She placed the cloth on his hand, noticing how he switched hands at the last minute so she wouldn't touch the metal one. After covering the bottom half of his face, Bucky pulled himself up and disappeared from her line of sight, the sound of gunshots and tires screeching her only indication that he hadn't gotten shot yet.

But Nadine was never one to sit around and wait.

Which was why she opened the door and hid behind the other one so she wouldn't get shot, and whenever she peaked outside with the rifle's scope, she'd get flashes of the Winter Soldier in action. He was on top of one of the cars, and she could've swore that she saw him rip the car door off, along with the driver, which made said car lose control and crash into another one. He then jumped onto the second one, the one with the cracked windshield, and punched through it, ripping out the steering wheel and sending it into complete chaos. He threw himself off of the car before it crashed, though, and with the help of his metal arm he slid across the ground to stop the momentum, sparks emanating from the friction of the movement. Damn.

"Holy shit." Nadine didn't know whether to be intimidated or awestruck. One thing's for sure, he was impressive. "Taj, slow the van!"

"If I slow it down I'd have to stop it!"

"Then fucking stop it!"

The van stopped, and Bucky sprinted the rest of the way there. After he threw himself inside, she went to close the doors, but a bullet colliding mercilessly with her side threw her off.

"Fucking-" she groaned, clutching her torso as the white hot pain was starting to flare up. Great, just great. "Right in the fucking ribs."

"Holy shit," Bucky muttered, closing the doors as the van took off again. Placing his hands on her biceps to pull her up, he set her against the side. His actions, though firm, were gentle, almost as if he were trying really hard not to rip her arm off like he did with the steering wheel.
And maybe he was restraining himself. Judging by what she'd just seen, Bucky clearly wasn't a normal human.

And she didn't know if she wanted to find out what he was.

Unstrapping her kevlar, his eyes scanned her body as he searched for signs that she wasn't bleeding. "It didn't pierce the kevlar," she assured, grunting whenever she took a breath because of the sharp jab it left her. It might've not hit her directly, but it fucking hurt.

Of course, she wasn't going to tell him.

"May I?" he asked, his gaze averting to her lower torso. She nodded, and his fingers brushed delicately around her side until they reached her lower ribs, a pained gasp escaping her lips at the touch. "Definitely gonna bruise, at the very least."

For some reason, Nadine's reaction was to laugh. Probably because of how ridiculous all this was. "Of course," she replied, shaking her head incredulously. Dante was gonna be pissed, that's for sure. "Nadine."

"What?"

"My name," she chuckled, amused by how confused he looked. "If you're gonna feel me up, might as well know my name."

"Nadine." Bucky tested the name, and she saw the corner of his lips lift in a ghost of a smile and his eyes glint with something that resembled respect. "A pleasure."

Silence surrounded them, but neither seemed to mind. They were too enthralled in the indescribable opia that seemed to engulf them. In such a close distance, Nadine could see the long, straight lashes that surrounded his irises, which looked like a dark and murky grey in the little light that they had in the van.

And for some reason, she couldn't stop staring at them.

That is, until the van stopped.

"Here we are kiddies-" Taj froze as he opened the doors and was welcomed with the sight, and his eyes drifted to Bucky's hand. "Well, damn, I leave you two alone for one car chase and-" the look on their faces must've been brutal considering he choked on his own words. "Never mind... uh, anyway, we'll be going on foot from here. Just half an hour, but then we'll be out of here in no time."

"Great." Nadine muttered between her teeth, shaking Bucky's hand off and forcing herself out of the van. It took everything in her to keep her gaze straight ahead and ignore Bucky's eyes burning a hole at the back of her head. She didn't know why that was happening, but she decided it was best to ignore it.

One thing's for sure, after this, neither of them would ever be the same.