Infatuation | Bucky Barnes

Chapter Seventeen

"Is this a fucking joke?" Tony spat out at the two of them.

Catherine and Phil both traded looks. She figured Tony may not take the news well, but what she wasn't expecting was such a murderous look on his face. Her nervousness only increased. She wanted Tony to like her. She wanted the two of them to get along. In her mind she had imagined a much different reunion. She thought the two of them might have embraced one another.

Tony's stomach churned at the sight of the woman standing in front of him claiming to be his sister. Catherine was dead. She had been dead for almost eighteen years. At least that's what the authorities had told them after searching for almost a year. He had done everything he was told to do. Don't pay ransoms. Hire the best detectives you could. Search the woods where the accident occurred. Check with local hospitals.

Eventually, the authorities came to the conclusion that she had either been kidnapped or wandered off and passed away. The last time he had seen his sister was when she was two years old. She was dressed in Christmas Pajamas with a purple coat pulled over it since it was cold at night. Their mother had pulled her hair up into two pigtails and Tony had used them as a bike handles to mess with her. He could still hear her giggle when he 'drove' with them

For eighteen years he had not only mourned his parents, but his sister. He never had closure. At least with their parents he had bodies to bury. There had been nothing in Catherine's casket. For eighteen years he looked at the same few pictures he had of her. He would light a candle on her birthday every year. He would put her Christmas stocking up every year. And every year it got harder to remember her.

"I-It's not a joke. I promise." Catherine tried to deescalate the situation. "I know how crazy it sounds. Believe me, I was shocked when I found out."

"Stark, we did a DNA test on her. It came back a match to the DNA you provided years ago." Coulson added.

"I want to do my own. You can follow me, Agent." Tony said to her.

Catherine glanced at Phil again and he nodded at her to go. She had to admit, it was awkward trailing behind your brother when he didn't believe you were really his sister. However, part of her was marveling at everything in the lab. There were so many machines and tools and she even got to see his Iron Man suit. She sat down at a chair in front of one of his many computers and he requested a hair sample while he swabbed the inside of her cheek.

"This doesn't make sense if you really are my sister. I mean, I looked for you. I spent millions of dollars looking for you. There was never any evidence." Tony said still baffled.

He still studied her carefully even if he still didn't believe that she was truly his sister. Her hair was a light shade than his, more like their moms, but there was no denying the eyes. It was the same eyes they had shared with their father. She had the same slopped nose at his mother. His eyes continued to search her until they landed on a familiar gold bracelet around her wrist. He reached forward quickly and grasped her wrist.

"Where the hell did you get this?" He sneered.

"The people who adopted me find me with it on. It had Catherine inscribed on it." She said. "Now, I recommend you remove your hand before I break it."

Tony withdrew his hand. "I...I gave it to my sister for Christmas. My mom had the same one. She loved playing with it, so I thought I would get her one."

The machine to the side of Tony beeped and he turned to look at it. It was a match. Tony gasped and slumped back into his seat. He looked back at the woman in front of him. His little sister. Catherine Stark. He didn't understand. How was it even possible. "I don't..."

"No one really knows what happened that night. Fury supposed that maybe I wandered off and was picked up. Or maybe someone saw who my parents were and thought they could make money off of me. The most likely scenario was that I was trafficked. Somehow, down the road, I ended up with Hydra. They trained me until I was nineteen. When I was nineteen I was sent on a mission to kill you." She explained. "However, on that mission my face was caught in camera and SHIELD tracked me down. They explained everything to me and gave me a second chance. I've been with them for a year. Fury wanted to make sure I wasn't going to kill you again."

"You had no idea who I was? Even when we met at that bar in Berlin?" Tony asked.

"No idea. Hydra lied to me." She replied.

Tony ran a hand through his hair as he still tried to process the information. "This is crazy."

"I know. It was difficult on me as well."

"That must have been a hell of a childhood, being raised by Nazi's."

"It wasn't the best childhood or normal, but I like to think I turned out okay."

"Well, you're the perfect combination of mom and dad, but the way you speak, it's a lot like mom as well." Tony told her. "I, uh, have a few things I could show you, if that's alright?"

"I would love that." She said sincerely and stood up to follow him.

"I have to ask because we're you know, Starks, but are you smart?" He asked as they walked into a living room that she assumed was his private one. He began to rummage through some old video tapes he had.

Catherine chuckled and took a seat on the couch. "Depends on your definition of smart. I can speak multiple languages. I can identify most of the world's weapons. I know how to build and diffuse bombs. Oh, I can fight too."

"Well...I...that's a little fucked up, but okay." He said stunned.

"I agree."

Tony sat down next to her after he pushed a video in. "This was a video mom took of your first steps."

It took a minute but an old video appeared in front of them. The first thing Catherine noticed was a young Tony on a lounge chair in what she assumed was a backyard. The frame moved and Catherine saw herself at about age one. She was dressed in a pink dress and she appeared to be walking. Behind her, stood her father who was walking behind her in case she fell. When she finally walked, her father scooped her up in his arms.

"That's my girl!" He cheered and even Tony clapped from his chair.

Catherine could feel tears streaming down her face as she watched more videos play. She had been loved. That was all that mattered. "Thank you for showing me this."

"Of course, and Catherine?" Tony asked

She glanced at him. "Yes?"

"I'm happy you're not dead." He told her.

"Me too."