NO GOOD DEED || S. REID

4.5

AS ACCUSTOMED TO WAKING UP AT ODD HOURS AS SPENCER AND KATHARINE WERE, this was entirely new. In fact, Katharine couldn't remember the last time that someone had physically come to their door at three in the morning.

Though, it wasn't like Katharine was sleeping when Bucky Barnes swung by. She'd been up, her sleep having been plagued by nightmares of the alien kind. In fact, she'd just been playing with Spencer's hair as she contemplated "what if the aliens had torn me apart?" when their doorbell rang.

Cautiously, Katharine got out of bed. She grabbed the gun she kept hidden behind the television in their room and made her way to the front door. She didn't turn on any of the lights and kept her footsteps light, passing the kitchen and finally arriving at the door. She turned the knob and opened it slightly.

Upon realizing that it was her friend Bucky Barnes who stood in front of her and not some random assassin sent to kill her, she tucked her weapon into the band of her sweatpants and invited him in. Still suspicious, as always, Katharine did a quick street check before closing the door. She'd have to invest in a new security system soon. Most likely one that included a camera by her front door.

"Not that I don't love having you over, Buck," she said, locking the front door, "but you couldn't have come at a more socially appropriate time? When the sun was up, maybe?"

She flicked on the living room light, inviting him to sit on a couch while she disappeared into the kitchen to grab him a water bottle. Katharine also poured a glass of strawberry juice for herself, having made a pitcher upon returning from their last case at Spencer's insistence. Something about the immune system and helping the baby.

"Sorry," he apologized, taking the water bottle from her. Katharine settled herself into the armchair facing him, pulling the knitted blanket over her frame. "But it was either now or never. Sam and I are leaving at five for Romania."

Katharine furrowed her brows. Romania...? Why would they be going there? She voiced her concerns, asking why they would be going so far away for training.

He avoided her eyes, instead, taking a sip of water and allowing the silence between them to stew. "We're not going there for training," he revealed to her, twisting the bottle between his hands. "There's been a lead on Nina and we were going to follow it."

Katharine blinked. There was a lead on Nina, and they were just going to follow it without telling her? She took a sip of her juice, biting the inside of her cheek as she tried to think about what to say back to him.

"We didn't want to tell you at first because we didn't want to get your hopes up," he explained. "But I thought you deserved to know."

"That and you didn't want me tagging along with you guys, right?" she accused. She searched his eyes and realized that what she had said was the truth. Sam and Bucky didn't want her to help search for Nina with them. The truth hurt a bit before she realized they most likely had her best interests at heart. She shouldn't really be running around Europe with a baby on the way, seeing her run around the United States was already enough to give Spencer a heart attack.

There was movement in the back of the house, Bucky's response freezing in the back of his throat as they listened to Spencer leaving Katharine and his shared bedroom. The duo sat in silence as her husband came into the living room, squinting due to the lighting difference. His hair was sticking up from when she had been playing with it, defying gravity as it often did. He also had his glasses on, which made Katharine's heart do loops. She had to admit, her husband in glasses did something to her.

"Babe, are you coming back to--" he stopped in his tracks, noticing that they had company-- "Oh, hey, Bucky. Didn't know you decided to stop by. Do you guys want me to...?"