Fiery Hatred || Bucky Barnes x OC

dirty money

After Bucky left Harley he headed home to shower, scrubbing off the thoughts of her off his body. He quickly changed into another stupidly expensive suit and screeched off to the office in his AM Vantage.

He stepped out of his car, tossing the keys to the valet and strutting inside. He nodded at the pretty receptionist who almost swooned over him, and headed straight for the elevator. The doors opened to the top floor. His floor. And he stepped out immediately greeted by Steve who was looking more flustered than usual. 

"What is it?" He grumbled, still striding towards his office. 

"Zemo's here."

Bucky's whole body tensed up at the name. 

"Shit." He mumbled. 

"Exactly, what are you gonna do?" He asked as they stopped just short of the office door. 

"What I always do. Talk my way out of it." 

Steve patted him on the back, nodding his head to him in support. Bucky straightened his back, fiddling with his rings before pushing open his office door. He stepped inside and was greeted by three men. Helmut Zemo stood hands clasped in front of him. His hair was perfectly styled and his face was fixed in that arrogant smirk. Behind him stood two larger men, Brock Rumlow and Eddie Brock. Bucky stepped in extending his hand for Zemo to shake.

"Zemo."

"Barnes." He spoke in a thick German accent, gripping Bucky's hand firmly in his own. Bucky nodded at the other two men before making his way to his desk and lowering himself into the tall backed leather chair. 

"So what can I do for you?"

"You know what we're here for." He dictated, pacing the length of the room. 

"Right." Bucky nodded sucking in air through his teeth. "It's not ready yet."

"How long have we known each other James?" 

"About seven years." he replied.

"And in those seven years have you ever known me to be a patient man?" Bucky shook his head slowly. "So, when I give you a deadline, I expect it to be done by the deadline. So, why is it not done?" 

"We've run into some, legal issues." James sighed pulling a file from the drawer beside him. He flicked through it slamming it on the desk and pushing it towards Zemo, tapping his fingers on it harshly. 

"So you pay them more, problem solved." He exclaimed spinning around to face Bucky. 

"It's just not that simple Zemo." He replied leaning back in his chair. "We didn't get as much as we thought from R. Blaze and even if we had, they wouldn't have accepted it."

"Listen James," Zemo started stepping slowly towards Bucky's desk. "I have a lot of customers that are about to become very unhappy. Very rich, very powerful customers. You make it happen." Zemo stormed out of the room, tweedle dumb and tweedle dee following closely behind. 

Bucky stood from his chair, crying out angrily and swiping his hands across the desk sending everything flying across the room, scattering over the floor. 

~~~

"Harley, please let me in!" Reed called from the other side of her front door. 

"Fuck off Reed!" She yelled back, completely and utterly not in the mood to even see hi, let alone talk to him. 

"Come on Harl! Please. I'm sorry." She ignored him. "I didn't know and I'm sorry."

"But you did know!" She screamed her nails digging into her palms. "You knew and you didn't fucking say anything."

"Just open the door and I'll explain everything. Please." He begged. She could hear the regret in his voice and a pang of guilt shot through her. She sighed loudly before opening the door slowly to see a sorrowful Reed. She nodded her head towards the couch inviting him in, shutting the door loudly behind him. Reed placed himself on the sofa, Harley seating herself on the chair opposite. 

"Talk." She said behind gritted teeth. He let out a shaky breath running a hand over his hair. 

"Just to start, I'm sorry." He sighed, trying his hardest to look her in the eye, which Harley was avoiding fervently. "When I first knew I was coming back to New York, I messaged Logan asking if I could stay with him while I waited to find my apartment. He told me that the two of you broke up but you were on good terms. I told him that I was going out for some drinks I invited him not even thinking that you were going to be there, and it might be awkward." He reached out a hand placing it on her knee. "I'm sorry." 

She exhaled, finally looking up at him, knowing she couldn't stay mad at him forever. 

"It's okay." She nodded, Reed smiling at her brightly. "However, I am going to use this against you for at least a few months." She winked at him, getting up to sit beside him. 

"That's fine with me. Hey, I've actually got a few errands to run today, you want to come with me?" 

"I would love to but, I can't, I have an early shift at Poison." She admitted checking the time on her phone, and rising to her feet.

"I shall get out of your hair then." Reed agreed standing up to join her, he meandered to the door before turning to face her drumming his hands on his thighs. "Oh yeah, Nat asked me to tell you that Sharon is coming down to visit this weekend."  

"Thanks Reed, I'll call her. See you later." He waved energetically at her before slipping out the door. 

She wanted to call Nat immediately, but she had to get ready for work. She could just call her later. Instead, she turned on her music, blasting it as loud as possible. Slipping on her 'work jeans' and an old band shirt, she prepared for her long journey to work. She swayed slowly to the music, humming along to the melody, picking up her gloves, jacket and helmet before grabbing her set of keys and strutting out the door. 

Her work shift was pretty normal, serving the same twenty guys she saw all the time, almost knowing their orders by heart. It was always quiet on weekday's, leading to extensive boredom. Consuming any of the alcohol was strictly against the bars policy but days like this made her consider ignoring that rule. Rules were meant to be broken, right? Harley snuck sips of tequila from the bottle, only enough for a light buzz so she wasn't so fucking drained. Just as her shift was coming to a close her phone chimed in her pocket. 

"Dad?"

"Hey Devil." He spoke s if they were totally fine. This is how having a fight with Johnny Blaze worked. He'd hold a grudge until he needed something from you, and Harley could take one guess as to what it was. 

"You're going to ask me about the gala aren't you?" She said, more of a statement than a question. She heard her dad sigh over the line.

"You got it kid. So, can you do it?" He asked hopefully, already knowing that she would never be able to say no. 

"I'll do my best."

A/N: hey guys, before anyone starts yes i know Zemo is Sokovian in the mcu, i modelled him after both the films and the comics and it was just easier for me to make him german like in the comics so yeah ;p love y'all and i hope you're enjoying the story so far xx