Frostbite: The Time In Between// Book 6 of the Frostbite Series

Chapter 2

"Welcome home, Miss Flint."

I jumped at the sound of FRIDAY's voice as I entered the compound late Sunday evening. T'Challa had just dropped me off a few acres away from the compound and I was hoping I could sneak in quietly without disturbing anyone, but clearly I wasn't about to sneak past the eyes and ears of this facility.

"Hey, FRIDAY. Keep it down, I don't want to wake anyone up," I said. "And don't tell Tony I'm-"

"Don't tell Tony what?" The light flicked on in the kitchen, revealing Tony sitting at the table. The drama queen really set himself up to be sitting in the dark when I got home. "That you're..." He shot his cuff and checked his watch. "Two hours late?"

I sighed impatiently, my eyes rolling and walked into the kitchen. "I find it really hard saying goodbye to Clint and his family, so do the kids."
No, it just takes a long time to travel from Wakanda. And Bucky is stubborn... So am I. 

"Yeah? Well, next time be home by six, I don't want to call a search party," Tony said.

I fought back the urge to roll my eyes. I pulled my bag further onto my shoulder and walked further into the compound. My eyes were on the elevator so I could quickly get to my room.

"You don't have to call a search party each time I'm late," I said.

"So it's going to happen more than once?" Tony asked.

I stopped in my tracks and turned to face him. 

"No, that's not what- Tony this is the first time-" I began.

"What's the probability that you go running off to find Captain Spangles? You're a criminal, so if you go missing, that puts you in more trouble than you're already in, and, it puts me in trouble," Tony pointed to himself.

"The probability is zero to one," I answered. "The one chance is only probable if you keep treating me like a kid and having a stroke each time I break one of your rules."

"Those rules are set up to keep you out of trouble with the UN," Tony argued, standing up.

"I'm already in trouble with them, you said so yourself," I replied. "I honestly couldn't give a damn about them and what they'd do to me if I got in more trouble."

Tony stared at me, not in shock but in a loss for his own words. This man wanted to argue, but with the way I was holding my attitude, this wasn't doing him any good.

"Got anything else you want to say?" I asked, holding out my arms. Tony put his hands on his hips and looked down. "Okay, I'm going to my room."

I turned and headed towards the elevator. It opened upon my arrival and I stepped inside letting the door close behind before I turned back around to press the button to my floor.

~

James the kitten was running towards me as soon as I opened my bedroom door and turned on the light.

"Hey there, little soldier," I smiled down at him as he jumped around me and attacked my feet playfully. "I missed you, too."

I kneeled down to scratch behind his ear. The chain around my neck hung down and James got up on his back paws to bat at the one dog-tag that remained on the chain. The other dog-tag was back in Wakanda, now hanging around Bucky's neck. I stood back up and threw my bag onto my bed. I walked to my dresser, pulled out a clean pair of pajamas, changed, walked to the bathroom and began brushing my teeth vigorously, still worked up over my feud with Tony.

Staring at myself in the mirror I began to notice the difference that Bucky mentioned; I was skinny. My arms had lost a bit of the muscle I had gained after so many years of fighting with the Avengers. My waist was smaller, my legs had a wide gap between them in comparison to when I had more of an hourglass figure. Being alone in the compound for a year had definitely taken its toll on me. I didn't put much thought into eating regularly, I spent a lot of time in my room just sitting.