Infatuation | Bucky Barnes

Chapter Twenty One

Catherine watched the footage of Tony losing his mind at his party on her TV. Scenes of him blowing stuff up and then fighting Rhodey appeared on her screen. As soon as she got back to her apartment, she peeled her dress off and took a shower in an effort to distract herself. She couldn't believe the way he treated her. She couldn't believe she shot at him either.

She sat curled up under a blanket, waiting for a pizza to arrive. Her hair was in a messy bun and she was in a pair of matching white, silk pajama shorts and shirt with a robe over it. There was a knock on the door and she got up to answer it. When she opened it, she was expecting the pizza delivery guy, but it was Rhodey holding her breadsticks, pizza, and brownies.

"You're not the pizza guy." She pointed out.

Rhodey laughed to himself. "I paid him downstairs. I wanted to check on you. You looked upset when you left."

"Thank you. I owe you, twice now." She told him.

"Can I come in?" He asked.

"Of course." She replied. "Where's the suit?"

"I took it back to my place. I have to bring it to my boss in the morning."

Catherine opened the door more and let him inside. She took the food from him and sat it on her kitchen table. She pulled two plates down from the cabinets and handed him one.

"Want anything to drink? I have water and beer?" She asked pulling a beer out for herself.

"I'll take a beer." He replied. "Were you going to eat all of this by yourself?"

"Probably."

Catherine sat down on the couch with her food and Rhodey sat on the other side of her. He noticed the TV and sighed.

"How bad is it?" She asked.

"Pretty damn bad. He really messed up." Rhodey told her.

"Yeah." She said quietly.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'll be fine. I just didn't think family would ever talk to me like that. I also promised myself I would never point a gun at my brother again." She explained to him. "I lost control."

"I think we all lost control."

Catherine shook her head. "I can't lose control Rhodey. I don't want to be the person HYDRA wanted me to be."

"Cat...I didn't know you while you worked for HYDRA, but I know you now and I know that you love your brother and would never hurt him. You're still a good person." Rhodey told her. "I should probably go. I have to be at base early in the morning."

Catherine stood up and walked with him to do the door. "Yeah. Fury needs me in New York tomorrow. They found something big and wouldn't tell me on the phone. Thank you for stopping by and paying for the food. Again."

"You're welcome." He told her and walked out the door of her apartment.

The next morning she woke up to her phone going crazy. She picked it up to find messages from her fellow agents. She opened the first message she came to and felt her heart sink. It was a video of her pointing a gun at Tony, having her little breakdown.

"Fury is going to kill me." She said to herself.

Catherine quickly began to pack her bag since she already short on time. She put on a pair of black leggings, running shoes, a SHIELD t shirt, and a grey Nike hoodie. She put her messy hair up in a bun and pulled a hat on over it in an attempt hide her identity while going through the airport.

Since it was a nice enough day, she decided to walk to the airport. The less interaction she had with people, the better. Her mind began to wander while she walked. What did the world think of her right now? What did Tony think? Was this what it was like to really be a Stark? She didn't want her every move to be documented or for stories to be made up about her. The day had barely begun and she was already exhausted.