a lion among wolves, bucky barnes (hiatus)

one.

WASHINGTON D.C.
2014

JUNE Ivanski was a very lonely girl.

Her breast was always filled with a tight hollowness that came from existing alone in the world. The chill was always there, the dread of being forgotten consuming her like a terminal illness that one had no choice but to accept. June's quiet desolation was something like an old friend. An old, untrustworthy friend that must always have an eye kept on them.

She drifted through the day exchanging  brief pleasantries with her coworkers, asking absently about their surface lives, but it went little beyond that. Night after night she retreated to a silent, empty apartment that was certainly pleasing to the eyes, but cold to the heart. No human embrace would welcome her home.

Though June had grown to accept her loneliness, she would never make peace with it.

That evening was no different. She slid soundlessly into her home, the soft eggshell walls waiting patiently to greet her. It was nearly five-thirty, and the gentle orange light of the sun fleeing from the dark peeked through the broad windows that made up most of the western wall of her living room.

As June kicked off her heels, wandering into the kitchen and smacking on a piece of gum that had long since lost its flavor, she recalled tiredly that she was behind on her cases. She had four on hold, one half-way through and only two completed. She was expected to have all of them solved by the end of the year. She lazily dismissed the thought, figuring that if the FBI wanted to relieve her, they would have done so long ago. The usual excitement of cracking criminal cases had been recently absent, deepening the empty feeling in June's chest that gnawed her persistently. An abrupt tenseness gripped her, something ticking in the back of her mind like a nagging warning. June tried to ignore her unease (she was never truly calm those days) as she tugged open one of her refrigerator doors. Her eyes scanned its illuminated shelves and decided  eventually on some cranberry juice, taking the jug and setting it on the wide island and crossing the kitchen towards the cupboard that housed her glasses.

The silence was suddenly disrupted. "Vy skryvalsya slishkom dolgo, Jekaterina."

You've been hiding out for too long.

The voice spoke in Russian. Sultry, smiling, smooth like velvet and firm as steel. June nearly leapt out of her skin, felt bile rise in her throat at the use of her given name, a name that had not been uttered in nearly six years. She fought her panic, swallowed the gasp of fright that perched just on the tip of her lips. Very slowly, she reached into the cabinet and took from it not a glass, but a glock. The handgun fit comfortably in her grasp as she flicked back the safety, and jumped around.

June's startled gaze met the unconcerned stare of a lithe woman with fiery hair and cat's eyes, leaning casually against the wall, concealed by dim shadows. The stranger cocked an eyebrow. "Vy derzhite gloki v vashikh kabinetakh?" You keep Glocks in your cabinets?

June gaped at the woman, her heart kicking feverishly in her chest. "Govori so mnoy po-angliyski," she demanded. Speak to me in English.

"Alright," Natasha Romanoff hummed, darting to a small dining table and pulling herself a chair. "It's not going to make my proposal any less controversial. Nice call with the firearms in your kitchen, though. I usually prefer keeping mine under the bar, but—"

"—who are you?" June hissed, the gun still hovering between Natasha's eyes. The agent forgot her next words and lifted her chin, a smirk pulling at her rosy lips. She noticed the peculiarity of June's accent. A concoction of her Spanish and Russian upbringing, soft and blunt and smooth and coarse all at once.

"My name's Natasha Romanoff. I work for Shield. I've come to recruit you." She said this as simply as though she was asking to borrow a cup of sugar.

June eyed her uneasily. "Agent Romanoff?" She scowled, suspicious and analytical. She knew that name. Whether it belonged to an enemy or an ally, however, June was unsure. "I'm afraid we've yet to meet."

Natasha shrugged, examining a knickknack that decorated the table. "We just did."

"Your introductions are a bit lax."

The mysterious woman cocked an eyebrow. "How so? I thought everyone was breaking into apartments these days."

June still did not lower her gun. "If Shield needed me, why didn't you use my personal contact instead of breaking into my home?"

"Times have changed. I'm operating outside of Shield. The only safe way to do things is physically." The next part Natasha mouthed. "Ears everywhere."

Though she was still bristling with aggravation, June understood the tacenda Natasha was trying to push. S.H.I.E.L.D. was down, and the news concussed her. What god was mighty enough to cripple the organization that had its hands buried in the lives of every waking soul?

"I get it." June bit her the inside of her cheek. "I'll listen."

"Well, I can't talk," Natasha said grimly, retrieving a smartphone from her pocket and passing it to June with a mirthless look on her face. "But you can read."

June hesitated, but set down her weapon and took the phone with a perturbed glance at Natasha. She scanned the screen rapidly, gathering the general gist of the briefing. Fury compromised. Limited to no allies. Steve Rogers on board. Assassination suspect: The Winter Soldier.

June pressed her lips together, nausea rolling through her. Names, names, all these names she knew and wished she did not. "Are you sure about that suspect?"

Natasha shook her head in disdain. "Not entirely, but I've got a few ideas. But I was hoping to get some opinions from the best asset in the FBI."

June rolled her eyes. "I'm far from the best. Are you going to pay me for this?"

"I like your way of thinking," Natasha pursed her lips in a grudging manner. "We'll talk financials once you've agreed to work with me. "

June lifted her chin unenthusiastically, crossing her arms over her chest in quiet compliance that Natasha caught immediately. Triumph flickered in her frightening eyes.

"Tak," she murmured coolly, "ty so mnoy?" So, are you with me?

June sighed, tracing the edge of her Glock with an index finger as she mulled over her options. She was painfully curious, hungry for details, thirsting for the same aspect of danger that tempted her into every assignment she had ever accepted. Her sensibility warned her gravely that Miss Romanoff was presenting herself on very rickety pretenses, and was likely not being entirely truthful with her. But the federal agent in June whispered that Natasha's evasiveness could be worked around . . .

"If I hadn't worked with Shield in the past, I wouldn't be agreeing to this. I owe Fury, I guess . . ." June dipped her head softly, shifting her weight and jutting out a hip. "When do we start?"

Nat jumped to her feet and snatched her phone back from June, smirking dangerously and starting towards the door. "Right now."

• • •
this was messy and gross but I'm so excited for you too meet June!! what are you thinking so far??

also before anyone tries to correct me about the Russian dialogue okay it's not supposed to be written like this: дом (house) because most of you are not fluent in Russian (I'm just now learning it lol for this I used google translate).