"he looked at her
the way she needed to be looked at
like the whole world could crumble
and he wouldn't blink."
-atticus
In which a mercenary and a super soldier meet through extraordinary circumstances.
Marvel | Bucky Barnes
Cover by @blis...
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"Why should I apologize for the monster I've become? No one ever apologized for making me this way."
NADINE
"Enjoy the rest of the festivities, everyone! We will resume our fight club in a few minutes."
Nadine didn't have time to process anything that was happening.
The moment her adrenaline finally released her from the haze, she had already been dragged out of the fighting ring and through the prison she'd just been in. Next thing she knew, she was blindfolded all in an attempt to impede her from memorizing a way out. And she couldn't, not this time. Her senses were all over the place and her mind couldn't seem to escape the ring. Her actions replayed in her head over and over, Bucky's wide eyes as he watched her almost kill the man searing into her memories.
He was afraid of her, she was sure of it.
When the blindfold was removed and the men let go of her, she found herself in a room that continued the old glamour theme of their location. It was decorated with portraits of people she didn't recognize and had a mix of vintage decor -like the small chandelier that hung in the middle- and some modern furniture. Dante and Taj were were tied to chairs, four men standing behind them, while Kaia and Emilia immediately stood up from their places on the red velvet couch. Unlike their male friends, neither of them looked hurt and mostly looked relieved that Nadine was alive. "So, I guess you won?"
"No, little Emilia," Kristina spat, making her way across the room to grab something. "She did not."
When she held a napkin towards her, Nadine stared at it, dumbfounded and suspicious all at once. What was her angle?
"For the blood," the Russian-American woman said in contempt at Nadine's lack of trust. But she couldn't blame her for being wary. This whole event was just proof that Kristina still enjoyed testing her, so it was hard to believe that she wasn't trying to get Nadine to let her guard down. There was always a catch with Kristina, she just hadn't figured out what.
Regardless of her motives, Nadine accepted the napkin, pressing it on her aching knuckles in silence until she finally couldn't stand the tension in the room. "Alright, I'll bite. What's it going to take to free them?"
"Always so direct." Kristina walked over to a small bar, placing two glasses on the table as she looked around for what Nadine could assume was alcohol to make drinks. If she remembered correctly, Kristina always liked a good negroni sbagliato. "There is a rare, powerful crystal sphere. Said to be alien. I had it, but my former right-hand man, Nikolai, now has it. I want it back."
And we're back to the alien technology. Great.
"Really, Kristina?!" Emilia screeched, making Kristina cringe at the shrill tone as she poured campari into a glass. Definitely making herself a negroni. "Dante's life depends on a magic 8 ball?!"
